Dinghy Cruising Association
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Join the DCA



DCA Members at the 50th Anniversary Rally at Cobnor in 2005

The Dinghy Cruising Association is the friendly club with a sense of adventure…


  • It's for sailors and families who use boats for more than just racing
  • There are Regional groups who organise rallies where people can meet and sail together, usually enjoying a picnic on a beach or in a quiet creek
  • Members receive the 100 page journal Dinghy Cruising four times a year and can    use the  online discussion forum
  • Technical advice is freely available and books may be borrowed from the Association's extensive library​
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Lunch break!
Annual Subscription Rates 2022
​Members  living in the UK         £30     p.a.
This includes   delivery of the quarterly journal Dinghy Cruising either as a paper copy by post or as a pdf copy by email.

Members living outside the UK   can pay
either £35  p.a.      This rate includes delivery of the quarterly journal Dinghy Cruising as a paper copy by post
or                  £30    p.a.      This  rate  includes delivery of the quarterly journal Dinghy Cruising as a pdf copy by email
 New or rejoining members can make their choice of journal format on the application form.  Existing members should notify the Website Editor if they wish to change from a printed to a pdf copy of the journal or vice versa.
The DCA's preferred method for members to pay their subscriptions is by direct debit  arranged via   GoCardless.   Direct debits can be set up for any applicants based in the UK, USA, Eurozone, Sweden, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. 
​
In countries where the Direct Debit option is not available, applicants can pay by PayPal. 
​

If you live in the UK,  you can still pay by posting a cheque or postal order  to our Membership Secretary, along with  a completed application form which you can download below.
What happens if you join late in the year?
Members who join  the DCA  from September  onwards will not be expected to renew their subscription until a full year has elapsed. So it is a good time to join and enjoy an extra Journal as part of your subscription!
​Please note ALL members agree to  the   Rules of the Association
and should familiarise themselves with   the DCA Data Privacy Policy   before applying.

Application for membership

1.       RESIDENTS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM
​If you are resident in the UK and wish to apply for membership of the DCA whether you are joining for the first time or rejoining after letting your membership lapse, please complete the following online application form.     ​If you want to pay by cheque or postal order, do NOT use the online form but download the printed form you will find in section 4 below.

When you have completed the form and clicked the Submit button, you will be redirected  to the GoCardless website where you will be able to complete your Direct Debit mandate for £30.   This will be a one-off payment covering your first year's subscription. The Membership Secretary will change it to a recurring payment in due course, so that your subscription will renew automatically in future until you cancel it.
Application Form 1 - for UK Residents
2.    RESIDENTS OF THE FOLLOWING COUNTRIES:
Australia, Austria, Belgium,  Canada, Cyprus, Denmark,  Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland,  Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the USA.
​GoCardless is available in these countries and you can , therefore, set up a Direct Debit to pay your subscription.  So   whether you are joining for the first time or rejoining after letting your membership lapse, please complete the following online application form. 

​When you have completed this form and clicked the Submit button, you will be redirected  to the GoCardless website where you will be able to  set up your Direct Debit mandate.  The Membership Secretary will notify you   of the amount you will be paying in your local currency for whichever Journal format you have selected.  This will be a one-off payment initially covering your first year's subscription and will be changed to a recurring payment  in due course, so that your subscription will renew automatically in future until you cancel it.
Application Form 2 -for Residents of Countries Listed Above willing to pay by Direct Debit
3.   RESIDENTS OF ALL OTHER COUNTRIES 
If you live outside the UK and not in any of the countries listed in the previous section,   and you wish to apply for membership of the DCA, whether you are joining for the first time or rejoining after letting your membership lapse, please complete the following online application form. 

When you have completed the form and clicked the Submit button,   your details will be forwarded to the Membership Secretary who will contact you to arrange payment via PayPal.  Your    initial payment   will cover your first year of membership membership.   You can set up a recurring payment with PayPal for future subscriptions.
Application Form 3 - for Residents of All Other Countries
4.       APPLICATION FORM FOR POSTING IN THE UK
Only choose this option if    you want to  pay by UK cheque or postal order. Download, print, complete and post the form with your cheque or postal order to the address on the form.
Download Application Form

To help you decide if you should join, here are some thoughts from current members about their reasons for belonging and a poem by the daughter of one of our members:

Michael:  The DCA provides me with, in no particular order:
  1. An excellent magazine, worth reading, and a source of solace and inspiration when sailing is not possible.
  2. A friendly Facebook page, where I can get advice, support, encouragement and information from experienced and well intentioned people, free of charge, and within hours (sometimes minutes) of asking any question.
  3. A chance to meet like-minded people in a semi-structured way: a rally, a camp or a day's sailing.  You can "socialise" remotely, sharing the same stretch of water whilst choosing your own level of solitude.
  4. A chance to meet like-minded individuals because we get to "know" each other well enough to make actual contact and meet up.  (So far, I have not taken anyone up on this, but the idea is there for this season.)
  5. A sense of belonging.  I am not just some middle aged saddo living out Swallows and Amazons fantasies in an old fashioned boat.  I am a "dinghy cruiser" and a member of an association that most other sailors have at least heard of.
  6. A sense of legitimacy.  We live in times where anyone who does anything unusual — let alone risky — is the object of suspicion and criticism.  People's reactions soften when they find that in fact there are many thousands of other people who do the same.
  7. Social activities.  Having a chat and a laugh with other sailors who can reminisce about a long row back in an unexpected flat calm or the quiet of a favourite anchorage is a different thing from talking to racers about equipment and techniques.
As things stand, I think the DCA is a pretty good thing, I value my membership, and the club is worth cherishing. 
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​Steve: The unique selling point of the DCA is its events. It's at the events that specialist knowledge is exchanged, either by admiring a home-built or extensively modified vessel being proudly explained by the owner, or around the camp fire over a beer and a BBQ dinner, or at an annual meeting. I believe that the members of the DCA are the most knowledgeable, experienced, inventive, creative, adventurous, interesting (I could keep going) collection of individuals with incredible specialist knowledge. The DCA brings specialists together. It gives a voice to and encourages the dissemination of expert information to other members. Easily overlooked from within, astonishing to view from outside.
Lottie, age 11  (pictured at the top enjoying a lunch break with her brother) wrote a beautiful poem  after  their day out sailing.
​Here are some extracts from...    The Deep Blue
The deep blue, 
A mystery to me
But all I know is...

The sight of white horses  skimming the waves
Mermaid's hair beneath the boat
Gliding away to the bottom of the deep
The sound of seagulls   soaring above
Crashing waves   upon the hull
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​The deep blue
A mystery to me
But all I know is...

The smell of salt   h
its me full on
Musty seaweed   never ever gone
​
The feeling of plunging   your hand in cold water
The sand in between   my frozen toes

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The deep blue
A mystery to me
But all I know is...

The taste of salt  on my cracked lips
A McDonald's Happy Meal   after a long hard trip
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Join the DCA

The friendly club with a sense of adventure. For sailors and families who use boats for more than just racing.

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  • Home
  • About
    • Origins
    • News
    • Contact us
  • Cruising
    • Getting started >
      • FAQs
    • Living aboard
    • Taking the family
    • Safety
  • Dinghies
    • John Welsford talks about designing boats
    • Michael Storer talks about becoming a boat designer
    • Boat reviews
    • Technical Articles
    • Roamer and Rebell
    • YM Designs
  • Rallies
    • Calendar
    • Rallies in England >
      • South Coast
      • North West
      • North East
      • South West
      • East Coast
    • Rallies in Scotland
    • Rallies in Wales
    • Rallies in Ireland
    • Rallies in North America
    • Rallies in France
    • Rallies in the Netherlands
    • Rallies in Scandinavia
  • Journal
    • Archive >
      • Back Copies
    • Digital Subscribers >
      • 2022 Journals
  • DCA Library
    • Good Reads
    • Book Reviews
  • Join the DCA
  • Members Section
    • Renew/Update
    • Forum
    • DCA Shop
    • Membership Lists >
      • The Lists
    • Photo Competition
    • DCA Awards