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From the Helm
Dear Members – our apologies for lateness with the Monthly Board Newsletter this month – not only was it a late Board meeting due to the return of Board members from holidays, but also delayed because of Australia Day, not to mention the latest COVID lockdown!
Hope everyone had the opportunity to catch up with family & friends over the holiday period and enjoyed some well-deserved down-time before the start of another hectic year. 2021 started with lots of positive thoughts by everyone and one of those positive steps, was finally welcoming home our weary solo circumnavigator, Jon Sanders!
Ron Greer, Commodore
Club Major Projects
SERVICE JETTY – tenders for the entire works including demolition closed on 1st February and will be reviewed by our Senior Project Manager and members of the Maintenance Committee to determine the successful tenderer. It will then be reviewed by the Board for final approval and development of plans to commence work.
FIRE & EMERGENCY SERVICES – significant progress has been made with DFES who acknowledged last design submission as complying with standards and requirements. Next step is to have a Design prepared by the Fire Consultant which is aiming for 15th Feb and submit to DFES by end Feb 2021.
SOIL CONTAMINATION – final sampling results are expected to be received by end February and will then determine next steps and attainment of acceptable levels with DoT.
DINGHY CLUBHOUSE – stage 2 of plans to rectify roofing and structural issues will form part of planning over next few months, including discussions with Dinghy section representatives.
SITE DRAINAGE ISSUES – as has been reported previously, the Club has been communicating with Fremantle City Council, and latest advice received from them confirms that a budget request has been submitted to carry out a survey to determine location of the drains. Interim investigative work will also be done, but all is pending their budget approval.
JETTY REPLACEMENT REVIEW – the study by WGA has commenced and will be updated on a monthly basis by the FSC Planning Committee to the Board. The objective is to determine the feasibility of gaining life extension of existing jetties rather than replacement and provide a more manageable financial planning strategy and protect our greatest asset.
Marine Environment
Unfortunately, the Container recycling program has hit a “snag” due to cross-contamination in the bins because not everyone was separating the cans from other waste. We are working on a plan and hope to have reinstated soon.
DoT Lease Update
An update on the Lease dispute was discussed at the January Board meeting with no change to their request for $760,000pa rent and declined to provide information on the methodology that they have used. The Club is working closely with its legal advisers and the Board agreed if it is necessary, we will go to arbitration to resolve the matter.
Board Succession Planning
The Board needs to commence succession planning with the AGM this year requiring four (4) board members to stand down in accordance with the constitution.
Membership
As of 31 December, the club now has 3,087 members, 59 of whom have joined our new “local” Trial membership category.
Section News
Angling, Game Fishing & Dive
Game Fishing: Moving positively towards another great event – keeping positive with weather at this stage and great new sponsors involved.
Angling: Unfortunately, the King George Whiting comp had to be cancelled at the last moment due to weather conditions, but the kids clinics all went ahead with very happy kids returning home with their exciting catches.
Dive: Weather hasn’t been on their side either during the month, but they did manage to get a half day of diving in during the month before having to call it quits.
Also need to thank our divers for the work they do on replacing anodes in the FSC marina and the Club marks & moorings which is a huge job with 27 of them requiring regular checks & repairs.
Sailing: Quindalup cruise was well patronised with 23 boats participating, and a significant increase over previous years.
A maintenance plan needs to be put in place to catch up on much needed repairs to FSC boats, particularly the SB20’s if anyone is interested in giving a hand?
Registrations for Fremantle to Exmouth Race & Rally have now closed and we have over 40 entries! This is great news and guarantees it will be a very exciting event. If you haven’t completed your Safety Sea Survival course yet, please contact Sailing office for next dates asap.
Topic nights will start again in Feb – keep watching for dates and subjects!
Power, Bosuns, Pipes & Drums
Power: Raft up held in Mandurah on Australia Day was very successful and well attended.
The annual Family Fun Picnic Day was scheduled for Saturday 13th Feb but has been rescheduled for 13th March because of lockdown.
Bosuns: after eating a very sumptuous Xmas festive feast, they needed a bit of time off to rest and recuperate for what we expect will be another busy year ahead. Thank you Bosuns!
Pipes & Drums: An amazing performance at the Burns Night held in January, and made us all very proud. In addition, they also performed at the Welcome home ceremony for Jon Sanders.
Duty Officers: To Greg Hancock and his band of merry Duty Officers – performing above and beyond the call of duty, now also assisting members and visitors on how to download the SafeWA app, making sure they scan, sign in and helping keep our Club and members safe.
From the Desk - of the CEO
Well, another year is upon us and everyone was hoping for a year of “smooth sailing” that is until we were forced into another COVID lock-down at 6pm on 31st January! Fortunately, we had sufficient time to get through the formalities and celebrations of welcoming home Jon Sanders, literally with about 1 hour to spare and it was déjà vu, closing the Club’s doors once again.
We can no longer be relaxed about protecting our own hygiene and safety and want to encourage all members to do the right thing to ensure our Club and all of you are safe in the coming months. What happened last week, shows how quickly things can change.
Take care and say safe everyone!
Karen Baldwin, CEO
Finance
Total income for December finished $466,881 compared to $423,263 in December 2019. It was a very busy month, with a significant increase in function activity well exceeding budget and last year. Net profit (before dep) for the month was $58,026 (12.4% of total rev) compared to $47,867 (11.3% of total rev. YTD totals are well behind same time last year due to the four months of COVID shutdown.
With the Club’s financial year finishing on 31 March, It’s now budget planning time and preparing for a better year ahead.
Organisation & Club Culture
With recent changes in Club staff, we are undertaking a review of several roles and restructuring to better suit the needs of the Club. This will include a dedicated focus on Sponsorship and broader marketing scope as well as management support in operational areas.
In last six months, very pleased to advise, no workers comp claims, no protocol issues and only minor complaints which have all been resolved quickly with members.
Corporate/Governance
Important reminder to members of the Code of Conduct which everyone, whether a member or a guest, are required to abide by. Protocol procedures will be followed with anyone who seriously breaches conduct.
Also, a reminder to all Members, that your new E-purse accounts will not appear on your monthly statements – this information can only be obtained from the POS registers in the bar or restaurant.
Legal / Insurance Matters
Club Marine Claim: there has been no further information regarding this matter which is now under more detailed investigation.
Membership Activities & Events
December saw us celebrate the Annual Club Xmas Party with a fabulous show by the Blues Brothers who had everyone up dancing – even Duffy wanted to join them on stage!
We then had the “White Party” on New Years Eve which was attended by around 150 members and guests on the Sunset Deck.
A new event on the Club calendar was the “Burns Night” in honour of the famous Scottish Poet Robert Burns and it was amazing! Just under 100 guests, many in Scottish attire enjoyed a delicious meal and all the ceremonial traditional of honouring the Haggis, led of course by our very own Pipes & Drums band.
Marina & Maintenance Matters
The Club owned Marina pens are still running close to 100% occupancy, with the hardstand 100% full and a wait-list of nearly 30 members trying to get a spot.
Boatyard kept busy right up until Xmas, and only had a very short break until getting busy again mid-January. The new scaffolding equipment has been set up and ready for use. The signage reminding contractors and members of new rules has been up since 1st January.
Repairs to badly deteriorated headstocks also commenced early January, starting on H Jetty, and we apologise for any inconvenience this has caused to boat owners.
Welcome New Members!
As reported last month, we had to combine all the new members from both the November and December intakes, which means I have a very long list and not enough space to welcome them all by name – however, we want all the new members to feel welcome and enjoy being part of our Club and a very special community of like-minded people. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask as we are here to help!
Club Volunteers “Thank You” Breakfast – Sunday 17th January 2021
What a wonderful morning and a lovely way to say a very special “thank you” to our many volunteers. FSC currently has 208 registered volunteers and of those, approx. 85 of them were able to join us for the breakfast and receive acknowledgement from Commodore Ron Greer on behalf of all Club members to express thanks for everything that you all do. The list is long and varied, with many volunteers involved in more than one activity or section and without all the hard work and loyalty, our Club would not be the outstanding success it is today.
