A Photo & Discussion Forum for Wharram Design Enthusiasts

Final PCA Report

Dear PCA "Members"

Below are two reports - the first being the Committee Report prepared for and read at the AGM held on 4 January 2011 and the second being the AGM Results.

2009 - 2010 COMMITTEE REPORT

This Committee Report serves in place of either a Secretary’s Report as at the date of the Annual General Meeting the position is still vacant with the author of this report as the only nomination put forward for election in that position at the Annual General Meeting.

During 2009 and 2010 the Committee communicated mainly by email and telephone, continuously seeking new persons to stand for the vacant positions and attempting to resolve the issues surrounding the continuation of the PCA. The Committee has worked diligently to continue the ethos and intentions of the PCA during a very volatile period without appropriate officer-leadership. It was noted that, through the hard work and dedication of Anita Hook, the PCA continued to function and in fact had been able to produce magazine issues 74 through 75, that latter of which was distributed just last month.

Below is an outline of the major decisions reached by the Committee over the past 18 months.

• In the first half of 2010, the Committee reviewed the status of the membership payments and the services (or lack thereof) that had been provided during the 2009 year including the fact that only one magazine had been provided instead of the constitutionally required three. The Committee then agreed to provide gratis extension of membership to all members who had paid for the 2009 year and such extension to continue until 30 days after the next Annual General Meeting scheduled for 5 January 2011.

• It was noted that Remy Roy had not paid any membership fees and that his membership had been provided gratis since he commenced giving editorial assistance. The Committee agreed that Remy Roy’s gratis membership would be terminated as at 1 November 2011.

• The Committee reviewed options for future publication of the PCA’s flagship magazine, “SeaPeople” on the internet as well as inclusion of past copies on an internet site entitled “archived issues.” The Committee agreed to put the option to the membership at the next Annual General Meeting.

• Various Committee members had received communications from Remy Roy which indicated that he may have plagiarised several articles for printing in recent issues of Sea People. The Committee have been unable to determine if all such allegations of plagiarism had, in fact, occurred but it was noted that it appeared Remy Roy had plagiarised articles in relation to the Lapita Voyage and Eric de Bisschop, such plagiarism was not discovered until after publication in Sea People. However it was confirmed individually with each Committee member that at no time had any committee member or officer of the PCA authorised, requested or agreed to Remy Roy utilising any materials which were not original and provided to him directly or indirectly by the members for publication. It was further agreed that if the original authors could be determined, prior to any future electronic publication those authors would be requested to re-provide their original articles.

• The Committee further reviewed the inability of the PCA to source a new full time secretary and treasurer and it was agreed, that should no person(s) come forward by 15 November 2010 the Commodore would, as soon as possible after that date, call an Annual General Meeting proposing necessary resolutions to place the PCA into hiatus and utilise current monies to pay:

• any outstanding invoices for magazine printing and related costs;

• refunds for membership standing orders already received for 2010 or 2011;

• costs associated with calling and holding an Annual General Meeting in January 2011;

• costs for removal and on going storage of PCA merchandise and materials;

• costs, should the members resolve, for set up and maintenance of an internet web page and electronically publish all prior issues of Sailorman and SeaPeople (with the exception of articles which may have been plagiarised by Remy Roy per above);

• a gift of appropriate white goods for Anita Hook in recognition of her and Ken's devotion, dedication and services provided to the PCA over the last decade.

AGM REPORT

RESULTS OF VOTING

A total of 54 votes were received by email (42) and post (9) and by personal attendance (3). All votes counted indicated “yes” for all resolutions. The votes were counted by John Wilkie and verified by Kat Wilkie and Anita Hook. An independent non-PCA member was also sourced within the venue and asked to re-count and verify. Ms Karen Fraser of Portsmouth kindly volunteered her services and duly verified the count.

A number of members provided supportive comments and a number are reproduced below:

I believe the idea to go electronic is a very sensible one. The same has been done with the American 'Multihulls Magazine'. This MM started in 1975 and now is fully electronic. The same is possible too with the quite successful 'Multihulls World', the English translation of the French magazine 'Multicoques'. Both still are in paper version too.

The best wishes for a very interesting and special magazine like the Sailorman, later Sea People.

Nico Boon

I used to edit 'The Sea People' for a hectic year or so, and Olly (Mullett) accepted the role of treasurer at the AGM one year. The PCA accounts were then not passed to her until the week before the next AGM, which led to her resignation, quicksmart . <sigh>

Thank you for shouldering the burden. We are keen supporters of the Wharram cause, and have taken a sly pleasure in humiliating huge mono-hulls in Canadian waters for the last 11 years. The Tiki 30 is a truly remarkable design. I feel an article for the proposed web magazine coming on....

Ben Mullett

The circular is the first that has come our way in a year, and different people with different experiences will have a range of views. Mine is that the PCA is important and to let it drop is just another disaster in the ocean.

You may wish to accept this brief story to be taken into account at the AGM-

We had wanted a boat for the Mozambique coast and bought plans for the 36 x 16.5 ft Tangaroa I ketch, 1973?

A trip to Canada was convenient in 1974, to return with the sails from Jeckell's, free of transport cost, bravo.

A year afterwards the writing was on the wall in Rhodesia for all to see, but It took 14 years to finish the boat, in 1984.

By 1984 we had experienced, personally, a nasty bush war of 3-4 years, and had survived the back-lash afterwards. We (I) had managed a visit to England on business every two years, and to return with brass screws, winches, compasses, sextant, tables, log, and whatever other essentials not available, and not made in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe.

We called that boat 'Boa Gente'; the 'Good People' in memory obviously of the many slaughtered on the way. Building the boat, and finding the materials to build it, gave me hope in a situation that had no end. The only hope was to finish the boat, and clear out with our two small children, to somewhere.

Not so easy as it sounds; Mozambique was unstable and you had to avoid the problems at the border with South Africa, designed apparently, to keep the bush war and the after-math in Zimbabwe.

That the boat took 14 years to finish is an indication of the stress of the employment, and of the war and the build up to it, but it kept hope alive! The mag was an important part of that-a very important part, and over the years a series of articles was published in the mag upon our experiences in building and sailing. We hope that these were of some benefit to others.

To sink is easy enough, to build and to ride the wave is another.

Keith Viewing

Thanks for your positive action. There is such a lot of interesting information and knowledge out there, it is a shame if we can’t have some sort of forum to share it. 

Best regards.

 Don Brazier

My only comments being that it would be nice for members to have some privileges additional to those of the general public when accessing any PCA website and it would also be great if any future electronic copies of a PCA Magazine could be archived in such a way that off prints/hard copies could be printed in B&W or Colour by bone fide paid up members of the PCA e.g. available in PDF format for members.

Keep up the good work - it's a great community. Hopefully, some folks will come forward to take the pressure off the existing committee. It would be a great shame if the 'hiatus' lasted too long - there is too much to lose.

John Goodman

Thanks for Mark Fawcitt:

The Committee, and especially Anita Hook, wishes to express sincere appreciation to Mark Fawcitt. On behalf of Anita, John Wilkie read out the following words:

Mark Fawcitt took over the printing of the SeaPeople in Dec 2004 (mag 58) soon after the PCA decided add colour to some of the pages. As a helper to Ken in the stuffing of the magazines, & with my "value for money hat on - (for the PCA members)" - I have noticed a great improvement to switching to his services.

When the PCA was at Speed print - in black/white era - the PCA often got dozens of magazines that had what I would call "a print show through" ie page 16 showing a shadow on page 15 - not easy for readers & definitely not what I would have expected for my money/subs.

The PCA paid for these magazines; but in reality can never expect members to accept such magazines. We also found that because the PCA was just a small association - it was felt we weren't taken seriously.

The PCA tried Friday Prints when switching to colour - but found the paper too shiny (especially when in your boat, on the water). Then Ken was recommended to and saw the work of GS Print - the price seemed reasonable.

My own 1st impression was - "print quality consistently good - & stapling ok" these magazines are all good enough to send out & sell as back issues.

Occasionally the PCA has had problems; which Mark has taken on board & tried to remedy - but sometimes he can only work with the photos supplied by the editor. Where there was a major problem (eg tiki8m pics in mag 60), Mark was happy to reprint the colour centre spread free of charge - so that we could include a better centre spread for the membership. He has also supplied - free of charge - extra copies of every edition that he has printed (which for me cancelled out the minor niggles of stapling problems!)

Latterly, with Ken's illness, & then the organisation of getting the following magazines out - Mark has helped out yet again. He once said to me that he enjoys producing/printing the SeaPeople - something that shows in his work, & that I have noticed especially on this last magazine 75 - where he has put in so much of his own time & effort.

Maybe this is his way of saying thank you to Ken. But without Mark - the PCA would not have had such a good printed magazine.

FUTURE OF PCA

Should, at any time in the future, someone want to resurrect the PCA the procedure is actually quite simple.

• Find at least two people willing to act in official capacities – Treasurer and Secretary – plus either one of them or someone else to provide volunteer services as Magazine Editor.

• Those people (called Fred and Joe for the purpose of these instructions) place UKP x membership fees each in either the PCA bank account OR in an envelope addressed to the PCA to be banked at a later date.

• Fred and Joe then call a meeting of the members (ie Fred and Joe) and nominate themselves in the roles and set a date for an AGM X days later.

• On that date, Fred and Joe hold another meeting and vote themselves into the roles. Fred and Joe are now the secretary and treasurer of the PCA.

• Fred and Joe contact John and Kat Wilkie via email (katfish1@ iprimus.com.au) or via Anita Hook (anita.hook@ hotmail.com) and John and Kat will provide to Fred and Joe the details of the storage facility, bank accounts, past membership lists, copy of the constitution and any other details / assistance necessary to re-start the PCA.

TREASURER'S REPORT

Funds

Account No 1 Balance as at 12 November 2010	£6,041.06
Account No 2 Balance as at 10 May 2010	£1,003.31
Petty Cash	£225.03
TOTAL	£7,269.40

Outstanding Accounts

Cardnet for December 2010 and January & February 2011	£60.00
Anita Hook expenses (mags 74 & 75)	£2,184.03
Kat Wilkie expenses (removal & storage £406.50, AGM costs £28, gift for Anita £189.99, bank fees to date £28)	£652.49
Refunds for standing orders 2010 payments:	£1370.00
Standing Orders for 2010 for which no details are held:	£93.75
TOTAL	£4360.27

Accounts Awaiting Submission (approx figures only)

New internet site fees for 5 years plus US site establishment & related bank fees	US$ 707.9 = £436.28
Kat Wilkie expenses (extra removalist fees, printing and postage for standing orders refunds & AGM results plus related bank fees)	£200
Storage fees for April 2010 to March 2012	£680
Cardnet to May 2011 (ie until cancellation)	£80
TOTAL	£1,396.28

Balance of Monies expected after all accounts paid, approx

£7,269.40 minus £4360.27 minus £1,396.28 = £1512.85

These funds will remain in the PCA bank account until such time as further decisions are made regarding the future publishing of Sea People.

WHAT HAPPENS NOW

1. Notification to Members of AGM Results / Refunds

This report will be provided to members by email where an electronic address has previously been provided; by snail-mail where one has not; and published on the Wharram website. Refund cheques will be included in the snail-mail notifications. It is important to note that John Wilkie will be travelling from the date of the AGM until end of February 2011 and will not be in a position to provide the report until March 2011.

2. Electronic Publishing of the Magazine Archives

John Wilkie will organise the provision of the Secretary's copy of all back issues of Sailorman and Sea People to a former member who has agreed to voluntarily scan and e-publish them. The particular members who have facilitated the establishment of the new internet website and e-archiving of the past publications wish to remain anonymous to the PCA membership generally but we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to them for enabling the PCA's history, knowledge and intellectual property to survive into the future. The address of the PCA's new website being www.pca-seapeople.net (and hopefully a link) will be placed on James Wharram's website as well as the Wharram Builders & Friends website. At this point in time all prior issues of the magazine will be available free of charge to the general public. So please do NOT send any further monies to the PCA or anyone purporting to represent the PCA and cancel your standing bank debit orders immediately.

3. New Articles

Please submit any new article material, advertisements, meeting notices or other content either by email to John Wilkie at katfish2@iprimus.com.au or by snail mail to 31 – 41 Pakenham Road, Greenbank, Australia, 4124. As soon as possible there will be a section on the new website entitled “Issue 76”. At this point in time, it is envisaged that access to future issues of Sea People will be available free of charge but this may change when and as the PCA funds diminish. Be patient whilst things are organised and if you want to know how things are progressing feel free to contact John & Kat Wilkie.

4. Hard Copies of Past Magazines and Other Merchandise

Unfortunately, we are unable to provide actual printed copies of past magazines or other merchandise because they are all in storage at a facility in Bournemouth. If someone comes forward willing to stock and distribute those magazines / merchandise on behalf of the PCA, appropriate arrangements will be made with gratitude. For those of you unable to access a computer or printer and would like one off articles or magazines, please contact John Wilkie at the above address with your request and John will attempt to scan, print and mail to you the article/s. This service will be a gratis one provided by John so therefore there may be short delays and the printing will just be black and white copies made straight from his home printer but there won't be a charge and it will be provided with a smile.

5. The Association

The PCA still exists and John & Kat Wilkie will ensure that the magazines / merchandise remains safely stored for anything up to five years. At any time someone wants to resurrect the printed magazines in past and future editions, John & Kat Wilkie will provide assistance to achieve this. For the foreseeable future the PCA won't hold AGMs, will NOT collect any fees or sell any magazines / merchandise but it will continue to publish (via the internet) articles, advertisements, meeting notices and other information. Plus it will continue to be a meeting point for those of us who love catamarans, the sea, the lifestyle and each other.

Final PCA Report

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