Dear DUC and DSBC Members

We are a month away from mid-winter and the shortest day of the year. Over this relatively chilly period, we see an increase in the use of gas and water in the club as members forsake the outside showers for the comfort of the hot water showers inside the clubhouse.

To assist in keeping your membership fee increases as low as possible please try and do the following when using the bathrooms:

• Please rinse ALL sand off your body and feet before entering the club house. There are taps at the club entrances to the beach specially to rinse sand off feet. Be careful not to slip and fall when entering the clubhouse with wet feet.
• Please do not wash sand off small children in the basins – they are not exempt from being cleaned of sand before entering the bathrooms. Sand rinsed off in the inside bathrooms contributes to blocked drains and expensive plumber bills.
• Limit showers to a max of 3 minutes army style. 1 min soak. 1 min wash with soap/ shampoo with water switched off. 1 min rinse. This will help conserve not only water but gas usage too.
• Do not allow young children to use the bathrooms without supervision as for many of them, the bathrooms are fun water parks as well.
• If you are rinsing off watercraft in the club wash bays please conserve water by not leaving the water running while chatting about the fish caught or the waves that tipped you off your ski.
• Please be mindful of excessive water usage at all times and use the club water and gas as you would in your own home.

Homeless Winter Migration

The mild Durban winter weather not only attracts holiday makers and tourists but also the homeless that usually base themselves in the more lucrative Gauteng begging economy during the warmer months.

The wooden boardwalk in front of the club is a public through fare and as such, you may be approached by a more skillful or con man type of beggar than usual over this period. They will usually spin a story about having been dispossessed and needing money for petrol to go to a job interview in Richards Bay (they will even swing car keys in their hands) or money for bus fare to get back to work or home. Some beggars will scratch in a waste bin in front of your table and put a morsel of waste food in their mouths to elicit sympathy from you and tug at your heart strings while looking at you with pleading eyes for a handout.

If you do not want to be hassled at the club by these antics and approaches, you will have to politely ignore these approaches because if you do succumb and give money or food, they will only come back. There is a reason why every traffic light has someone looking for a handout!

Acceptable Handouts

If you do feel the charitable spirit to assist someone in need while at the club, please consider Hansie the car guard who assists members in the club parking. Hansie is not homeless but he does live from hand to mouth without any savings to fall back on in his advancing age. He helps members avoid bumping into pillars with the cars while parking, looking after their vehicles, belongings and keys as well as assisting the club in managing the parking areas.

Hansie works for tips only (except for a Sunday when he is paid by the club) and he is a skilled artisan in metal work and welding if you are looking for some assistance in this regard. To supplement his income, Hansie also sells large jars of homemade pickled onions for R60 which are available behind the club kitchen counter.

There is also Anand in the open car park who would also welcome a tip or two for keeping an eye out or assisting you in the car park.

Use of Club Braai Stands

Members are welcome to make use of the club braai stands if they would like to take advantage of the mild winter weather to braai at the club. (Not so great when the beastly easterly is howling). Members can bring their own meat and salads but all drinks must be bought from the club. If you bring all your own food, then you must also bring your own cutlery and crockery

You can order salads and rolls from the kitchen which in this instance will include the use of the club cutlery and crockery. Orders for salads must be made to the kitchen and acknowledged as received at least 36 hrs before your braai – not on the day!

Braai stands are always available, and you are expected to share braais with other members if needed. If there is already a braai going on your arrival, you can ask the members using it if they mind if you join them. A great way to meet your fellow members!

The procedure to use the club braais is on your arrival at the club, is to ask one of the grounds men to set up the braai for you. The grounds man will put charcoal in and light it for you. The rest is up to you.

If you don’t know who the grounds men are, the main two are Sandele and Fish assisted by David and Nkosi and some casual groundsmen over weekends. You can ask the bar or other staff to point them out for you.

Heads Up – Potjie Comp June 16th

The June 16th Public Holiday this year falls slap bang in the middle of the week on Wednesday. Because it Is not school holidays or a long weekend, we expect to have a busy club on the day if the weather is good. (Hopefully the COVID 3rd wave is not an issue either!)

In anticipation of a potentially popular day at the club, not only do we have a potjie comp planned, but we have also lined up two popular live music acts, The Situation Band and IGAL.

The DSBC and DUC have a number of sporting disciplines and we would ideally like to see each section ( Ski boat, jet ski, fishing ski, surf ski, spear fishing, SCUBA, Under Water Hockey, Water Polo, SUP and Social) put together potjie teams and challenge each other to a cook off.

Please find attached an entry form and you can contact Lizell directly lizellbright@gmail.com for more details

Live Music This Weekend

On Friday 21st May DJ Spike will be entertaining members from 4.30pm to 8pm
HAPPY HOUR is from 4pm to 6pm every Friday
On Sunday 23rd May, IGAL will be playing from 1pm to 5pm

We look forward to seeing you at the club

The PWC Team