Dates for your Diary

November 19th 2020
​​The 2021 DCA AGM will take place online via Zoom on Saturday 13th February at 6pm GMT.  To take part in the AGM you need a computer or smartphone and you need to register. Full details and the registration form can be found in the Members Section AGM page.
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​After a short break, the AGM will be followed by a talk given by John Welsford, one of our foremost small craft designers. John is based in New Zealand but will be able to talk to DCA members wherever they are  thanks to the wonders of technology.   The talk is scheduled to begin at 7.30 pm in the UK, which will be 11.30 am in California, 8.30 pm in Europe and 8.30 am the next day where John is!   

You need to register separately   to listen to John's talk. The form can be found on the  AGM Registration page.
The North West Planning Meeting will also take place via Zoom on  Saturday 6th  February at 11am.   To take part in this you need to email John Hughes, the NW Regional Secretary. More information can be found on the North West Rally Programme page.

Obtaining back copies of the Journal 

October 19th 2020
​It has been possible to purchase a CD with back copies of  Dinghy Cruising for some time now and this is still the best way to access the  Bulletins and articles that were published in the early years of the Association. To supplement this , however, you will now find a page on the website with details of the contents of the Journals published in the last ten years. You can browse through these and, if you are a member, you can then  ask for a pdf copy  of  any you would like to read and these will be sent to you by email.   

There is still time to get the subscription bonus!


​October 16th 2020
​Anyone joining  the DCA from 1st September onwards will have their subscription carried over to cover the whole of 2021. So the remainder of this year is effectively free!  New members will get the 2020 Winter  Journal   and all four Journals in 2021. 
​So don't delay, join today!

​Dinghy Cruising 247 - page 55


​August 27th 2020
DCA 247 should be with you any day.   The wonderful story of John Owen's 1951 trip to France in a 14- foot dinghy is missing the last ten words on page 55. So here is the complete final paragraph:

As I was anxious to be through the traffic lanes before dark we had the sail down and shook the reefs out, hoisted it again, put all our gear on the weatherside and took the lee floor boards out, so that she should be clear for bailing. Then we went home! 
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Dinghy Cruising 247 - Autumn 2020

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​August 16th 2020
It's at the printers! 
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​Super edition which will be mailed or emailed to members by the end of the month. Something to look forward to...  but   the last line  of the article which ends on p.55 has gone awol.   Don't worry - the missing words will be posted here so you will know  how it ends.

Subscription increase

August 6th 2020
At our last AGM we discussed income and expenditure for the Association. Our largest expense is production of our excellent quarterly journal. This provides one of the most important ways for our members to communicate. Many years have passed since our last subscription increase and we are now at a point where the production and postage costs of the journal alone outstrip our annual subscription income, eating into our reserves.
​Our new subscription arrangements will differentiate between UK and overseas members, whose postage costs for the journal are considerably greater. However the journal will continue to be offered in  pdf format for those members who prefer it. Overseas members who choose the pdf option instead of a paper copy will pay the same rate as UK members.

​Those members who currently pay by Direct Debit, saving us a considerable amount of work, will have their annual debit altered automatically, with email notification by GoCardless of the increase in good time for their consideration.

Here are the new annual subscription rates for 2021 onwards:
UK members          £30 which includes either a paper or pdf copy of the journal
Overseas members       £35 which includes a paper copy of the journal; £30  which includes a pdf copy of the journal.

Dinghy Cruising 246 - Summer 2020



​June 23rd 2020
The summer  Journal is currently being printed. We have been fortunate to find a new printer that has been able to stay in operation  throughout the lock down and we hope to be sending out copies to members by the end of June. Lookout for it and enjoy!

2020 Rally programme cancelled

June 6th 2020
Very sadly the DCA have decided to cancel the entire 2020 rally programme because of the Coronavirus outbreak. The Committee took the following points into consideration:
  1. The virus has not gone away and we all remain “at risk”, especially those of a certain age and with underlying health problems.
  2. Although sailing clubs and camp sites are slowly reopening, they have much to work out in terms of managing social distancing and maintaining hygiene in shared facilities. 
  3. Travelling longer distances for leisure activities may still be frowned on by locals and law enforcement officials whatever the government says.
  4. Government rules are far from clear, can change at any time and there are different “rules” in different parts of the UK.
Taking all these  uncertainties into account would place an unreasonable burden on our rally organisers and the DCA does not wish to  encourage any "gatherings" which  could compromise people's health. 

Members will hopefully be able to enjoy sailing alone where permitted and may agree to sail in company with other members at their own risk and without official endorsement from the DCA.   We all hope for better luck in 2021!

Journals available to the general public

​April 30th 2020
The DCA has decided that during this time of lockdown when frustrated sailors are confined to their homes, we should make the two most recent copies of our wonderful Journal available for anyone to read. We hope that any non-members who do download and enjoy reading the Journals will consider joining us so they can receive future copies.

Go to the Journal page to download Dinghy Cruising 244 (winter edition) and Dinghy Cruising 245 (spring edition). 

The Naylor Noggin
​A Celebration of the Years of Dinghy Cruising Accounts

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​April 29th 2020
A folder which outlines the history of this DCA Award and provides thumbnail sketches of all the winning cruise accounts over the years written by Paul Constantine, is now available to download. It makes for fascinating reading and will encourage you to root out old copies of the Journal, buy the CD if you haven't got them or borrow them from the library, so you can read the accounts in full. To download a copy of the folder go to the DCA Library page.

Another "lockdown" video from Roger Barnes


​April 16th 2020
It is Easter 2020. I am still in "lock-down" due to the Covid-19 pandemic, deep in the county of Somerset, southwest England, and I continue to work on my cruising dinghy.

Paper envelopes


April 3rd 2020
If Dinghy Cruising 245 had been posted to you as planned, it would have been sent in a paper envelope. This is how it will be in the future, thus fulfilling the expressed wish of many members.
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Dinghy Cruising 245 - Spring 2020

April 1st 2020
DC 245 ​should have been dropping through Members' letterboxes this week. It has been compiled and printed but sadly the staff at Printworks have been forced by the Coronavirus outbreak to close their premises to protect their staff, a number of whom are at particular risk should they encounter the virus, and the final stage of assembling and stapling the magazine has not been completed. We do not know how long it will be before Printworks can return to normal but the Journal will be posted to all Members as soon as it is available for distribution.

In the meantime a pdf copy of the Journal is being emailed to all DCA Members who have provided the DCA with a working email address. This email also contains a password to enable DCA Members to download the Journal from the website. If you are a DCA Member reading this and have not received an email directly from us and one from our distributors - RightSort - with the Journal, then either we do not have your email address or it is out of date or incorrect in our records.or you are using a work email that does not allow our messages through. Please contact the Membership Secretary to resolve this or use the Contact form on the website.  

Rallies and the coronavirus outbreak

April 1st 2020
Our planned rally programmes for 2020 for each Regional Group have been published on this website. However, as most will know, the lockdown following the coronavirus outbreak means that no rallies will be taking place in the foreseeable future. We will be following Government advice and rallies will only resume when we have been told it is safe for us to move about and once again take to the water.

A video message from DCA President Roger Barnes

​It is late March 2020. In "lock-down" due to the Covid-19 pandemic, deep in the county of Somerset, southwest England, I work on my boat and try to answer viewers' questions.