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   MAC GALLEY NEWS: This Friday Night (27 Jan 2012)

The galley will be serving from 18h30

Hake & Chips R38 
Chicken Cheese Burger & Chips R28
Hot Dogs R10 (Single)
Hot Dogs R16 (Double)

Bar will be open as per usual.

Hope to see you all!

Abby

Chicken Soup for MAC A note to the Sail Committee that I thought we needed to share, even more! – Ross “Hello Everyone I just wanted to share something special which occurred yesterday evening. . . A young new sailor, Lorenz who is 8 years old, phoned me just a while ago to tell me how much he enjoyed sailing yesterday. I have never received a personal call from an eight-year-old so spontaneously sharing his joy and accomplishment. The exuberance in his voice was totally tangible, genuine and honest. He said he could not wait to go again and wanted to know when that would be and when the Intermediate course was starting. From a trainer’s perspective, there is nothing quite like getting this sort of feedback from the ‘horses mouth’ so to speak and it is very encouraging and heart-warming. The words continued to tumble out………..He said he particularly enjoyed sailing on the Pico with his friend Leo, and they have agreed that they make a really good team and would like to sail together more often. He actually analyzed his sailing with Leo on the Pico, agreeing that some of the capsizes (self induced) were perhaps not in the best positions in relation to the shore. He agreed though, that they were really cookin’. Lorenz’s Mom tells me that all the two boys can talk about is sailing. Lorenz’s understanding and grasp of the sport in such a short span of association and his maturity, is something that I have not often witnessed. I watched them and was amazed at their performance, especially considering neither had sailed a mere 3 weeks ago! They got themselves out of difficulties with ease, the only thing showing for it were very large smiles when they eventually came back to shore, which was much later than the parents had planned for (I got wrapped over the knuckles for this!). More exciting yet, the last two sail courses included some others with tremendous talent, and with the correct nurturing and coaching, they could become champions of the future – I believe we could easily have some more ‘Ryan’s & Daniels’ in the making. Cheers Axel PS – Little Lila who went sailing with me yesterday for the very first time at the age of 4, is Lorenz’s sister. Just imagine the potential here if this young girl continues to sail? “ : mac@milnertonaquaticclub.co.za Added by : Ross Cowing on 25 Jan 2012 Positive and exciting change...... click to enlarge  We are working on an exciting new project that we think could be of tremendous benefit to the club. Obviously, we will be keeping you informed as we progress but I thought I would at least pause for a moment and ask...... Do you remember when the office wasn’t open weekends? Do you remember the benches and unkempt bushes tucked round the side? Do you remember when there was only two TV’s in the bar - one small and one old? Do you remember the old Green Windsurfing storage areas? Do you remember the rusty old combo of braais? Do you remember how much we spent repairing the old Oppies? Do you remember when the office was on the other side? Do you remember the dreary notice boards? Do you remember how much money (and members) the club was loosing? Do you remember when the club almost lost it’s lease lease revoked? Do you remember when we stopped the ‘runners’ and ‘scouts’ using the club facilities? Do you remember when we had no security lights in the car park? Do you remember the luke warm showers and lights constantly tripping? Do you remember what the old galley looked like? Do you remember the state of our Rescue Boat? Do you remember the verandah without the ‘all weather’ blinds? Do you remember the old windsurfers slipway? Do you remember what the tiles in the Gents bathrooms looked like? Do you remember our first ‘Boat show stand’? Do you remember the “ Big club makeover ‘ day? Did you remember us beginning sail lessons again? Do you remember the fun at the Potjie Competitions and Heritage Day braais? Do you remember the year we hosted more national regattas than any other club? All of these developments and changes have been as a result of various dedicated individuals who are committed to making a difference....and it is brilliant to see it paying off and happening! Watch this space for more exciting stuff! : mac@milnertonaquaticclub.co.za Added by : Ross Cowing on 10 Jan 2012 MAC Juniors at Oppie Worlds In the last few years, MAC has invested in the junior sailors and today, our junior sailing division boasts some of the top talent, not only locally, but nationally and internationally. It is, therefore, of little surprise, that three of our gifted young sailors were selected to represent SA in the OPTIMIST Worlds, being held 30 December 2011 to 10 January 2012, in Napier, New Zealand. Qualifying has not simply been a case of turn up and sail...the campaign has been long and challenging as the sailors competed against the best that SA can offer. Many regatta's, hundreds of kilometres, and thankless dedication from the parents, MAC Sail committee and countless others ensured that three of the five SA representatives were from MAC. Well, there was a (little) tremor in New Zealand, but the arrival of the MAC boys shook buildings. In the opening qualifiers, our three MAC Sailors from "the little Rietvlei" have performed in the top half of a field of over 200 boats. Take a handful of talented youngsters; send them overseas without their parents, and their maturity and drive has become evident. The "Team" have represented themselves, and MAC, admirably and are, therefore, a huge source of pride for what they are achieving and how MAC as a venue is creating tomorrow's sailing talent. Please join us, therefore, in extending a massive round of applause and Happy New Year to our "sailors of tomorrow". Know that when the future ocean racing fleets and international campaigns are running, these are some of the names that'll feature in these events. Thank you to Daniel Spratley, Ryan Barnardo and Travis Barrett for being such ambassadors to SA sailing and for bringing pride to MAC. Thankfully, the generous sponsorship from Twice2Much, Hitachi and Gill sailing gear has helped the boys with their team uniform and equipment needs Have a great New Year and we look forward to your celebrated return to MAC. : mac@milnertonaquaticclub.co.za Added by : Sail Section on 3 Jan 2012 Thanks to all that have helped and wishing you all the best! click to enlarge  This did go out as a Newsletter( colorful one attached!), but just in case........... Just a quick note to wish you and your family all the very best over the festive season. Let me also take the opportunity to give you a brief overview of some of the things happening at MAC. Obviously a great deal more has happened at the club and such is technology that various people report a great deal of it. Most of what we have to report is posted on Facebook and the website so apologies to those who have read some of this news there! What follows is an overview of bits and pieces that don’t make it to the website, or get lost in the midst’s. Please have a look at our website and feel free to contribute. Perhaps the most significant thing affecting us all this year has been the building of the Nature Conservation offices. It all got off to an unfortunate start when it was discovered that certain processes and procedures had not been followed and the neighbours had not been consulted. This resulted in a delay in construction. I do have to say that as the project nears completion is is a great job and certainly will contribute to a very positive ‘first impression’ to Rietvlei – it certainly puts a bit of pressure on us as they have set a refreshing new standard and we will certainly be considering our options once the dust settles. Although we have all been affected, I would like to record our real appreciation to the power boaters who were the most affected, and as a result of the construction delays, remain affected! Sincere thanks to you guys for your patience and understanding. We certainly hope to at least reward you with a decent storage facility in the near future. On the aquatic front, many of our members have achieved great things again…representing the club, province and country in various disciplines. In addition, we also hosted a number of national events and regattas. MAC is a firm favourite in many different sporting federations, not only because of the incredible locality but because of the facilities we have, and not to forget the members who go the extra mile to make things happen. Darryn Ridgway of South Africa Wake Board Association had this to say in his annual report “Milnerton Aquatic Club, Rietvlei, Cape Town, was the venue for stop four of the National Pro Tour - The great thing about this event is Titch Mitchell, Mark Burton-Moore and Laurence Gutridge. From the layout of the course, obstacles, generators, tents, food, all you do is arrive and everything is sorted.” Regatta’s, gatherings and other fun stuff Masters ‘n Blasters events have continued to gather momentum and the windsurfers in general have certainly ‘upped their game’ since the upgrade of the storage facilities, the introduction of some decent hire equipment and replacement of our beginners training gear. Well done guys, you really have energized the club! The recent introduction of the mid week ‘Twilight sailing’ is gaining momentum and it certainly has the potential to become a firm favourite over the next few summer months. Improved training equipment Our training facilities in general received a boost this year as we were lucky enough to get a grant from Lotto. Not only were we able to repair and replace some windsurfing equipment, we are now able to invest in some wakeboards, waterskis and safety equipment for our Powerboating side, it also helped refund the club kitty that we used for the purchase of the 5 new Oppies. There is still cash to spend and this money was applied for and allocated to more sailing equipment and significant emphasis will be on investing in equipment that can be used to train adults as well as juniors. The “Ladies @ Launch” continues to be a popular initiative and as a club we want to broaden our offering – getting bums of all ages on boats! The revised bylaws We were not expecting the repeal of certain bylaws to take as long as it has but we are assured that there has been significant progress and it is approaching the Mayor’s desk at long last! This means that we should hopefully be able to introduce some youngsters to Junior Powerboat racing as the bylaw allows for U16’s to be skippering a boat (albeit under controlled circumstances). We have the boats, we have the youngsters – we just need it to be legalized! Not only will this introduce an additional activity for youngsters who may not be interested in sailing or windsurfing, it is also a great opportunity to introduce powerboats to everyone, hopefully with a view to creating a crop of guys able to assist with ‘rescue @ regattas’. This year 10 of our ‘sailing’ youngsters managed to get their skippers licenses and they have all proved to be a big help with rescue duties, as well as being able to have a whole lot more fun on those days where not a breath of air blows. Talking of skippers, over 150 skippers did their Skippers course at MAC/ Rietvlei this year. The office has names of the various people who offer it. Whilst on the topic of powerboats – There has been a tremendous amount of discussion with Nature Conservation with regards to our tyre barrier on the slalom course. It continues to break up and deteriorate and it has now been condemned. We did try and get another wake barrier but Nature Conservation were not happy with the hodgepodge of colours. What has been agreed is that the area will remain clearly demarcated, with restricted access for slalom skiers only. We are also waiting for confirmation that we can install another jetty, just to the right of the clubhouse, parallel to the existing municipal one. As soon as we get that go ahead, we will remove the tyre barrier and rejected wake barrier and install the jetty simultaneously. Power boaters will also be pleased to learn that ‘tubing’ is now allowed at Rietvlei. Safety remains an absolute priority and we urge everyone to exercise extreme care – the vlei is big enough for sensible, responsible and considerate people – please co-operate…..as we really would not want to have it banned just because of a few cowboys. Repairs and maintenance. We have recently begun a little landscaping around the pool area and the feedback has been very positive. Many thanks to Sean de Nobrega and Gary Grinstead for his help with the picket fence alongside the pool (Paul Vivian junior and Jon Kukard will also feel they deserve a mention! ☺ ) In addition to the landscaping already mentioned, we are aware that the clubhouse is in desperate need of attention but practically we need to wait for the naure Conservation development to end. We also hope to spend some money on the pool. We are well aware that a number of members really enjoy the facility and we go to great lengths to keep it sparkling clean. Alan Jones does a stirling job, but between the howling South Easter, the youngsters rinsing themselves after being in the vlei and the sheer age of the pool and filter this is becoming a full time and often a frustrating and fruitless job! The social side of the club remains a mainstay, with the Annual Potjie Cookout remaining a firm favourite. More recently a number of members gathered at the Waterfront for the Volvo Ocean Race, as guests of Puma on their Deck for a complimentary beer, a few handouts and a special discount on all their clothing. It was a great evening and although the Puma boat had broken it’s mast en route, the party continued in full force……enthusiastically following an impromptu theme of “The show ‘mast’ go on!” Talking of things ‘social, this years theme for the New Years Party is the MAC Mad Hatters High Tea party’ – We have the same band as last year as well as Rene and her team organizing things so it promises to be the sell out success it was last year. R50 a ticket, wear a hat, bring a picnic basket and come enjoy – Kids under 16 are free! Buy your tickets now – they are limited. Well, that’s all I have as a quick wrap up – here’s hoping you all have a great holiday! Certainly hope to see you down at MAC, but in any event, please be assured that we will continue to offer every member great value for money, a place to relax and enjoy and the very best facilities for our members who want to achieve great things - it’s a place we can all be very proud to call ‘my club MAC ’. ........and a special, special thanks to those members who go the extra mile to help! See you on the water Kind regards : mac@milnertonaquaticclub.co.za : December 2011.pdf Added by : Ross Cowing on 24 Dec 2011 Please stay off the grass. We have recently landscaped a portion of our grounds near the swimming pool. Part of this landscaping exercise involves rehabilitating the lawn which has been damaged by so many cars driving and parking on it. All this traffic has also led to regular damage to the lawn sprinklers as well, which means that huge tracts of grass cannot recover not to mention the dangers involved with children and cars sharing the same space. The reality is that we have allowed this situation to spiral out of control and we are now paying the price. It simply cannot continue. The Club rules are that cars are only allowed onto the grass area in exceptional circumstances and only to offload. We know that the car park is full of power boats, we know there is congestion at the Sail Park gate BUT The grass is dying, the sprinklers are damaged and some people are abusing the situation Do your bit to help the club – Carry your stuff from the car - Please obey these rules and help us avoid unpleasant and unnecessary aggravation. : mac@milnertonaquaticclub.co.za Added by : MAC Office on 29 Nov 2011 New News Article Your Name Your Email Article Date Page Title Url (optional) Body Image No images uploaded Files No files uploaded Urls url 1 url 2 url 3 Security Check Please input the following numbers into the text block : 7683

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