Chair Chat

Deadlines!!!!! I am always up to them, with lots going on with the boats this little note keeps getting pushed to the back.

Firstly I would like to congratulate our new editor, Simon for his first edition of ‘195’, certainly one of the best so far. It is now up to us to ensure that we provide him with the material he needs to keep it up.

As I write this letter the boats are in Middlewich for the Folk & Boat Festival. The crew who bought the boats to the Potteries deserve a mention here as it proved to be a very difficult trip, the Trent and Mersey is not a President friendly canal. Well done to all those involved. After a very successful weekend at Etruria we moved them last weekend, only a short distance but with a lot of obstacles in the way. I promise a full account of this trip for a later edition but suffice to say that with having to take the cloths and running gear down (and put them back up) on both boats for Harecastle made it a very long weekend.

A few weeks ago we held a introductory day for new members who wished to crew the boats. This was one of the best attended ever. Everyone enjoyed the weekend and a lot of new talent emerged. I would like to thank everyone involved and welcome the new members. I hope you find the experience of crewing the boats as enjoyable as I do. President can be a bit of a challenge but very rewarding and certainly the company always makes it fun.

The next year is going to be very busy. The new engine and Presidents hull and cabin restoration together with a lot of work planed for Kildare over the winter is going to keep us very busy. We are carrying the engine back to the museum from Waltham Abbey on President and hope to deliver it to the boat on 24^th August in the afternoon by vintage transport - details later.

The challenge starts on July 8^th to raise the funds for our restoration programme with the Midsummer Steam Evening at the museum. This should give us a firm foundation to the fund and we will then need every member’s help to complete this task. We estimate that by the time it is complete we will need in the region of £25,000 so please get your thinking caps on to find ways of raising this enormous sum. Contact me with any ideas PLEASE.

Finally, if you are crewing this season have a safe trip and enjoy yourselves. If you are not crewing then volunteer to help at rallies and events, we need all the help we can get.

Best wishes for the summer and I hope to see you on the cut sometime.

David Powell     ( Chairman of Friends of President )