KKC committee

Minutes of meeting March 7^th 2010 

Present: Jeremy (Chair), Lorna (vice chair), Kev (treasurer), Bridget (secretary), Neil (bosun), George, Maurice, Andy, Joe, Jake 

1. Purchases – there was some discussion about what kit the club needs to purchase in order to get members onto the water. Neil will order 10 neoprene decks from Lomo and the invoice will be sent to Kev. Neil will check how many airbags we are short and order some.        NMacd
2. To reduce the amount of kit going missing it needs to be labelled somehow as KKC equipment. Various suggestions were made, including spray paint, logo printed on at time of manufacture, labels etc. Neil will identify a suitable method. NMacd
3. Beginner trips/intro to river paddling – there are a number of young adults and adults attending the pool sessions who are now ready for a trip on the water. It was suggested that a 6 week course starting the Sunday after Easter (11^th April) should be planned. George pointed out that some potential leaders might prefer Saturday to Sunday and it was agreed that the day could be negotiated so long as the participants were told well in advance which day to turn up each weekend. The course will initially be open to club members only and will be aimed at moving regular pool goers onto the river.  To encourage commitment to the 6 weeks of the course participants would be asked to pay a fee at the start - £10 was suggested. There was then some discussion about whether it would be possible to assess for BCU 3* at the end of the course – this will depend on numbers and on leaders, but might be possible.

Whether or not an individual can be accepted onto the course will depend on their paddling ability as demonstrated in the pool and will be subject to a decision by those teaching the course. Alan would be a good person to identify suitable candidates given his work with the beginners in the pool this winter.

The number of participants will depend on the number of leaders available. Graeme and Russell Cathcart could be assistant leaders.

Jeremy will arrange some training for potential leaders before the proposed start date of April 11^th.        JW

Potentially we could run another course later in the year aimed at complete beginners.

Identifying leaders – George and Neil  - Jeremy will put an e-mail out to the club to identify other potential leaders.      JW

4. Prestwick Promenade Centenary Celebrations – we have been asked whether the club would like to be part of the celebrations on June 26^th.  We could have the use of the sailing club facilities on the day.  There was some interest in this and Bridget will find out more about what the organisers have in mind.   BDO
5. Slalom boats – the purchase of these was agreed at the last committee meeting, but has been held up by decisions over what size of boat to buy.  Maurice, Russell and Graeme are well in to the slalom scene and keen to get other families involved. They will be training on a Tuesday evening at Doonfoot once it is light enough. Taking part in slalom does require a number of weekends away and considerable commitment from parents, but is a good way for young people to get in to kayaking.

Maurice will order two suitable slalom boats (Neutron and Logic) and send the invoice to Kev. The club logo and web address will be built into the boats. MC

6. South Ayrshire Access forum – due to work commitments John Paschke wishes to stand down. George agreed to take on the role.    GMcm
7. Club silverware – the club has three silver cups from the 1960s which are currently at Bridget’s house. Bridget suggested that it would be good to use the cups and present them annually. She will try and find out more about the cups and whether it is OK for us to change the award for which the cups were originally gifted to the club. Bridget suggested that an award for dedication to teaching at pool sessions could be a use for one of the cups. George, Jeremy and Neil wondered about a race for a descent of the Doon. Jeremy suggested having an award ceremony and dinner. BDO
8. Club trips – Kev suggested that the Tuesday evening sea paddling trips could commence from 6^th April, meeting as last year at Doonfoot at 7pm.  Another sea paddling weekend to Tayvallich would be good. Jake was keen to go on another sea paddling weekend. Once again it was pointed out that using the club forum to organise and publicise river and sea trips is the best way to make sure the whole club has access to the information.      All
9. Pool sessions – Kev pointed out that The Citadel are reviewing their Standard Operating Procedure. Jean will be e-mailing a draft to Kev. The Citadel would like to be able to identify a ‘responsible person’ at club pool sessions so that their staff know whom to approach (and beginners know whom to approach). There was discussion around how that person could be identified – maybe a brightly coloured vest – and how that person would be ‘volunteered’ each week. Bridget was not keen to go back to the rota system that we had a couple of year ago as it had plainly not worked.

Currently there are too many people seal launching from the side of the pool. And also too many private boat owners who drop off their boats at the side of the pool and do not come back to pay their pool fee.

There was some discussion about what was a safe number of boats for the pool – Jeremy was not aware of any ‘standards’ or ‘recommendations’. 

The meeting closed.   Date of next meeting still to be decided. 

Bridget Oates

March 18^th 2010