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AGM 2019                                                                                                                                                      Jane Plit

Thank you to those of you who attended our AGM.

It was held at the Royal Cape Yacht Club, who set the hall up beautifully for us. We began with coffee, tea, juice, and freshly baked muffins, and then got down to business.

I’m pleased to say that the day went well, and there were no contentious issues raised. We had a delicious light lunch on the deck at the yacht club.

Our invaluable Wentzel team, who have kept us fed and watered as far back as my membership goes, and then a whole lot more, are going to be stepping down from the committee. They will still be involved, and happy to assist, when they are in town, but Ken will no longer be taking sole responsibility for the clubhouse.

Our new manager of the clubhouse is Glen Esterhuizen. He will be bringing in bartenders to assist him and Arno will continue to help out when he is available.

Lynda is happy to continue to run the Kitchen, with Robyn and Morne, when they are in town, but that said, this is the year the Wentzel’s plan on travelling, and need the freedom to go off and explore the planet.

While this is an enormous cause for gastronomic panic, we will endeavor to keep you well fed and watered. As we deal with the reality, we may need to implement a more regular plan, so please bear with us, and if any of you has a secret yen to cook out of a shoe-box, and deliver mind blowing meals, please come to me and let me know! It is once a month, generally, and may just be on the odd occasion this year.

We say goodbye to Hennie Botha, Rory Mitchell and Shane Williams, who will be leaving the committee, but they have said that if we need their help, they will be happy to oblige.

We are very happy to welcome Enver Deedat back. Enver will be handling our monthly outings. We also welcome Peter Blows back. Peter will be specifically involved in our social responsibility initiative.

We had arranged for those who were keen, to join us on an ocean excursion on “Tigger 2” and this will go down as one of the highlights of my year.

We were helped on board, and set ourselves up on the covered top deck. For me, the wind in my hair, and an ocean breeze is the best way in the world to shake free of any mental issues, and I just love it.

We were treated to a dolphin encounter, where they joined us on our journey, in their hundreds. I shot down to the front of the boat, where their antics took place right beneath my feet. After a ten-minute display, they headed off to entertain another boatful of people, and we were heading slowly back to harbour.

I lay on the deck to enjoy the rumble of the motor, and the rocking motion of the boat. Not long after I lay down, there was a definite change in the pitch of the motors, and my inner compass alerted me to a change of direction. We picked up speed, and I sat up to see what was happening.

Our boat hand had told me earlier that there had been whales in the bay, and so we sat, eyes peeled, to catch a glimpse of a spray. We didn’t have to wait too long. We encountered three whales, two of whom just indicated their presence by blowing, but the third… no words… Oh, my, he was spectacular. He came closer and closer, until we could see the details of his barnacles. He did fin waves, and emerged from the water, and gave us a couple of close up “V” for victory, tail salutes.

We could not have asked for more. Those of you who didn’t join us, missed out on a fabulous outing, but if you are keen, perhaps we can do it again.


24/02/2019