A Talk on the BTAC was given by Ashley at the October meeting.
Ashley gave a talk on the work of the Barton Turf Adventure Centre.
This is the charity chosen by the current and previous Commodores. 
Dee and Debs presented Ashley with a donation of £350 at the meeting.This being the proceeds of their charity fund for 2020 and 2021.
See story below
BARTON TURF ADVENTURE CENTRE – A SHORT HISTORY
The story starts in the 1950’s, when the Director of Education for Hertfordshire recognised the value of outdoor activities and took groups of school children to Barton Turf during the school holidays to sail on Barton Broad. The campsite was a field rented form a local farmer and the young people had to set up the camp, including the camp kitchen around the fire pit, dig latrines and rig and launch boats.
In the 1970’s Hertfordshire decided to make the Centre more permanent and purchased the current site from Cox’s Boatyard and the Farmer, rumour has it that this was done via a compulsory purchase order!
The Centre was developed over several years, mainly by volunteers. Buildings are mostly redundant prefabricated school classrooms from Hertfordshire schools which were dismantled, transported and erected on the site. The marshland was dug out to provide jetties to moor the boats (Staithes in Norfolk) and the moorings.
Eventually, a Head of Centre was appointed, and wages paid by HCC, in line with the other outdoor Centres being developed by HCC. Schools were encouraged to use the Centre, for Sailing during the summer months and Geography Field trips at other times.
In 2003 a reorganisation of the Outdoor Centres was undertaken, at this time HCC had, I believe, 5 outdoor centres, one in Norfolk, one in Snowdonia and 3 in Hertfordshire. The review recommended that this was reduced to one centre in Hertfordshire, the centre at Barton and two in Hertfordshire to be disposed of. A campaign was started by the Hertfordshire Sailing and Canoeing Association to save Barton Turf. This was also supported by several councillors who refused to close the Centre and tasked their officers with finding a way to keep it open, at no cost to HCC.
The operation of the Centre was put out to tender. The Council Officers served the staff with redundancy notices and shut the Centre before the tender process was complete. BTAC-Services won the tender and were granted a 25-year lease. Unfortunately, this process took approximately 18 months and the lease was not agreed until mid-way through July 2005, too late for most bookings that year.
BTAC has been building up the Centre, both in terms of the activities offered, facilities and services provided for groups since taking on the Centre, although the main activity is still sailing. Boats have been improved and renewed and additional craft have been purchased. Canoeing and Powerboating have been added as additional on water activities.
The accommodation on site is in tents, these have been repaired and replaced as needed and each tent is on a concrete base with 4 beds and mattresses in each. In the past groups using the Centre have had to self-cater, BTAC is able to offer a full catering service for groups who prefer this.
Additional activities such as environmental studies can be offered, as well as teambuilding and conservation.
The latest project is to provide a drying room for clients, which is currently underway, and they are seeking funds to fit this out, for a dehumidifier so that clients can dry wet clothing overnight. The estimated cost for this is £750 to £1000.
The Donation from SOCA will go towards this purchase
Who they are & what they do
Barton Turf Adventure Centre (BTAC) is a 7-acre private campsite and sailing school originally established for Hertfordshire schools’ use. Now run by Di Smith, Ashley Cato and Sheila Fishwick, its activities are open to everybody, but especially schools and youth groups.
They offer tuition for a range of adventurous (chiefly watersports) and environmental activities using Barton Broad and the 14-acre private nature reserve. The Centre has its own slipway into an arm of Barton Broad, and can launch and recover boats of up to about 6m in length, 2m beam, 0.5m draught (keels up). Wider boats have to be manhandled over the side of the quay, or launched through Cox’s Boatyard (for a fee). Boats may be moored overnight.
The camping facilities are open only to schools and other organised clubs and groups, and (subject to availability) to those booked on multi-day courses at the Centre. They have 11 permanent tents sleeping four each (in beds! but you need to bring your own sleeping bag and pillow).
Barton Broad is the second largest of the Norfolk Broads and arguably the best for sailing.
It has been subject to substantial improvement project recently undertaken by the Broads Authority aimed at restoring the silted broad to clear water. The project on the whole has been a success and Barton Broad is once again a real boating paradise.
The Broad is home to numerous wildlife, including many species of birds, fish and even otters who have returned to the Broad. The edge of the Broad is all nature reserve, and much of it is fenced off to provide fish-free areas where microlife can breed without being eaten. The Broad lies across the River Ant, and there is a certain amount of pleasureboat traffic moving through it. The Broad is about 2m deep at most. Power boats are subject to a 5mph speed limit.
Hythe marina was a new destination for all of the crew, Primarily a residential marina, it is quite pricey for visitors but a lovely place to overnight. 
Jetstream’s crew’s thanks go to the organisers and all our SOCA friends for a thoroughly enjoyable weekend’s sailing.
Saluki Skip
Day 4 Eastbourne to Northney
This year for a change, SOCA organized a sailing event in the Solent as well as the 
Having covered another 5Nm in Cloudy sun but still a headwind, 13:38 found us beside Netley Great Dome and 14:30 saw us safely moored up in 
Hythe Marina berth 26C courtesy of a berth owner who lent us his as he wasn’t using it. We had traveled 14Nm
Unbeknown to us our leader had sent a WhatsApp message that they were going to Osborne Bay, but not having any Wi-Fi we didn’t get this message and pressed on to Cowes, and Sheppard’s Marina. 14:15 found us in a berth awaiting the rest of the fleet. Come 17:00 they turned up having had a hard sail against the tide getting to Osborne Bay before anchoring for an afternoon tea stop.
The September meeting, topic “
Largs is famous for being the site of The 
Very Strong Southerly Winds forecast for the next few days 
However the weather was too bad for the paddle steamer to follow its original route as as well. We had decided to catch Waverly at Largs, but it was impossible for her to berth there so we had to make a mad rush to Greenock to catch it there, arriving with a few minutes to spare. 
Following a late-night arrival aboard Konitsa, a Beneteau 323, which was to be our home for the next two weeks, our bunks found us soon sound asleep. A morning walk around the village of Astros found the lighthouse, WW2 gun emplacement and amphitheatre (we were later to discover that several villages have their own modern amphitheatre, used for communal events, starlight film shows etc. Our flotilla skipper used them occasionally as the location for morning briefings). Of course, the location of the bakery was the most important find. Greek bakeries are renowned not only for their bread, sadly subject to inflation, no longer 1 Euro, but now 1.20 or 1.30, but also for spinachi (spinach and feta pies), an amazing array of biscuits and pastries providing a real waistline challenge.
A f4-5 easterly breeze had built up quite a chop going across the Thames but it was on our hindquarters so we flew across, surfing down the waves. An exhilarating sail but I really should have put a reef in!
SKYLARK was towed over 500 miles on July 19th to Largs in Scotland to join another 30+ Shrimpers for the rally,.some had already been in the vicinity sailing for a few weeks before. We arrived late Sunday night where we stayed at a local B&B and arranged for SKYLARK to be hoisted into the Marina the following morning
SKYLARK was then taken out for a shakedown trip for the rest of the day to Little Cumbrae to check all the re-masting and rigging etc had been performed correctly. In the evening there was a group meal at 
The paddle steamer struggled to Rothesay on the Isle of Bute, where some of the passengers disembarked to visit the town, we continued to the Kyles of Bute but had to turn back before we reached the end due the weather. The return trip then returned to Rothesay to pick up passengers and then onto to Greenock where she berthed with difficulty due to the offshore wind.
