Hi Volunteers,
It’s been a busy start to 2023 for Making Waves HQ.
In this edition of Breaking Waves, you will read about changes to our Communications Policy, details on the crew calendars, upcoming training, David Pescud's most recent award, cancellation of the Sydney Regatta, EOI for the Northern Campaign, volunteers call out and going digital with manifests. For news in your region click on the links at the bottom of the page.
We are delighted to announce the launch of Making Waves in Brisbane this year, located at Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron (RQ). To celebrate our expansion and welcome Brisbane to our fold, RQ will be holding a Gala dinner on the 5th May 2023 to kick our Queensland endeavours off.
Wendy and volunteers supported the Geelong team by delivering our Newcastle based TP52 Wot Eva in January, to Royal Geelong Yacht Club. The office is working hard to secure local government grants to enable the rollout of the Winds of Joy program later in 2023. (Further info on the delivery in Sydney Newsletter).
Newcastle has taken delivery of its new program yacht in January, a Sayer 44, aptly named ‘JOY’ [formerly named ColourTile]. Wendy and volunteers have spent time getting the vessel adjusted to suit the needs of our participants.
Thank you to those that have been able to assist with both deliveries. Having another boat in our fleet enables us to roll out more programs, creating options for other events throughout the year. If this is the start to our year, 2023 is going to be an interesting passage.
Catherine Barker
Volunteer & Program Manager
IMPORTANT POLICY CHANGES
All volunteers new and old, please go to the Making Waves School and read the updated Communication Policy. This policy has been amended to align with national child protection laws, ensuring we [MWF] and you [volunteers] are compliant and acting appropriately and in accordance with legislation.
In short, MWF volunteers are not to photograph or film our participants on personal devices. We have purchased Go-Pros for all locations to take images for numerous commercial and branding purposes.
We are not taking photos as an extra gift to our clients [schools], teachers are able to take photos of their pupils, in accordance with the Department of Education policies, but entirely up to the teachers.
All photos taken on the Go-Pros are for office usage, if there are images we have posted online, you are able to re-publish on your personal feeds.
If you are keen to shoot on the Go-Pros, please go to Making Waves School to find a guide to assist you with set-up and usage of the Go-Pros. In the coming weeks we are going to look for volunteers who may be able to assist us with our social media presence, if you are a social media guru and possess camera skills, please let us know by emailing us.
(Below is extracted from the Go-Pro guide)
CREW CALENDAR
The calendars for all locations in 2023, are available and ready for you to register your crew spots!
We have been notified that some people in Victoria were unable to secure crew spots due to positions being filled already. Please remember to add your name to the waitlist if you are available and interested in a date. This will enable us to know our overall crewing availability.
TRAINING
Friendly reminder about the process for moving up the crew ranking system.
Everyone should have received a Crew Accreditation Handbook when they were inducted on-water, contact the office if you need a new one, or didn’t receive one.
In this booklet is a list of what key skills are required to for each of the crew ranks. It’s up to crew to manage with their Skipper the development of skills required to move to the next Crew Level.
For example, if you need more assistance to understand a skillset listed, discuss with your Skipper prior to the guests arriving. During that sail your Skipper may help you to understand and complete a task as an opportunity for skill development.
If you feel you have successfully completed the task and learned the skill, request your Skipper to sign off in the booklet.
All Skippers can sign off your acquired skillset in the Crew Accreditation Handbook up to CL3, Wendy will assess those wanting to move from CL3 to Skipper. Any further questions around the process can be directed to Wendy.
ON-WATER TRAINING
SYDNEY – On Kayle training for Man-overboard procedure will be on Monday 27th February & Monday 13th March.
This is a great opportunity for new volunteers to learn our MOB procedure, or those who need a refresher. Please go to the calendar and secure your spot.
ONLINE TRAINING
Updates to the Communications Policy can be found by clicking on the MWF School link or hyperlink. Instructional manuals for the Go-Pros & tablet can also be found on the volunteer 'Home' page.
NEWS
OAM Award
Congratulations to Making Waves founder David Pescud, on being awarded an OAM for Service to people with disability.
David founded Sailors with disAbilities [now MWF] in 1994 and has been a great advocate for the rights of people with disabilities, taking thousands of people sailing over 25+ years.
Making Waves GM, Julian Martin said, 'Like all great entrepreneurs, David started a fantastic thing here. He established a wonderful organisation for us to build on.'
Sydney Regatta
We have decided to suspend the Making Waves Regatta which was planned for March 2023.
Though the Regatta provides a wonderful showcase for Making Waves, we have had to reassess its priority and our resources due to our rapid expansion into Geelong and Brisbane.
Due to our growth in three states and our increased reach to almost 5,000 participants this year, (compared to 2,600 last year), the team at HQ is stretched, prompting the change.
We will be announcing an exciting way for groups and organisations to experience the thrill of yacht racing with us over the coming months. Watch this space!
Northern Campaign
The planning for the Northern Campaign (NC) is well under way, and you would have received an expression of interest yesterday by email. Register your interest ASAP.
In big news we will be going back to Bundaberg after a few years absence, and we will be taking part in the Brisbane to Hamilton Island Race as well as the Hamilton Island Race Week. There’s a lot to get excited about.
For this year’s campaign we will use Joy for the Northern Campaign, as Kayle will be getting a bit of a birthday over the winter period in preparation for the Rolex Sydney to Hobart, which is a nice segue to keep an eye out for an expression of interest for this as well.
Volunteers
As always, we need more volunteers, particularly for the Wright of Passage program at Woolwich Dock in Sydney. Contact the office for more information.
In January 2023 Afloat magazine, a volunteer call out was published for Making Waves. Click on the magazine picture to view.
A short article about two of our volunteers that sailed two-handed in the Sydney to Hobart 2022 is also included in this publication (but not to do with MWF).
Manifest Update
We are excited to announce the change from paper manifests to digital manifests (excluding Melbourne). Sydney, Newcastle & Geelong boats are now equipped with a digital tablet for the purpose of documenting manifest updates. Instructions are also included to assist with the development of the digital manifest process. Here is the process in short:
- A copy of the manifest is emailed from the office to the tablet.
- The document will be opened in a default app “Write on PDF”.
- Follow instructions onboard to update any details on the manifest.
- A digital pen is secure in the tablet case at the back of the tablet, use this for Teacher signatures and any updates.
- Extensive instructions will be included on the Making Waves School and located on the boat. If you have any questions, please call the office.
CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW FOR NEWS IN YOUR REGION
