Hydrographic Society South Africa

News
Revival of The Hydrographic Society of South Africa (HSSA)
After a number of years of inactivity, it was decided to try and make 2002 a comeback year for the South African Hydro-graphic Society. Three stalwart members decided, over a few drinks at Royal Cape Yacht Club, that to revive the Society, it was important to make the get-togethers informal (and not call them meetings); to ensure that they are held regularly (once a month); to invite as many of the marine community to attend (members and non-members alike) as possible and to provide a forum for like-minded corporations and individuals to mix in an informal environment.
Critical to the success of this plan of action was to provide a guest speaker every month to talk to the Society on marine related matters, relating on, but not limited to, hydrographic aspects. A further incentive for attendance was that the Society would sponsor the drinks and snacks (thanks to the interest generated over time on a rather stagnant Society bank balance!).
Since February 2002, the Society has had a get-together every last Tuesday of every month at the very central and pleasant facilities offered by the Royal Cape Yacht in Cape Town. What started with seven attendees at the first meeting now draws more than 20 regular members. Corporate and individual membership is on the increase, which has allowed us to maintain our free drink and snacks policy without having to delve into our capital account! We have deliberately kept individual (R60) and corporate membership (R700) low in order to build up our membership and attract younger members into the Society.
We have been privileged to listen to very good presentations from both local and overseas speakers, ranging from Vessel Tracking, to Modernisation of the GPS, to South African EEZ Surveys, to Installation of Multibeam Sonars. Most presentations have been of a technical instead of a commercial nature, which has resulted in a good forum for debate, during and after the presentation.
Recently, the Society organised a very interesting visit to the UK Research Vessel ‘Charles Darwin’ whilst she was mobilising equipment in the Cape Town Water-front. Our thanks go to the crew for not only organising a ship’s visit but also for providing an extremely well presented talk the night before.
As the year draws to a close, we will be encouraging members to attend the planned AGM so that we may start the New Year with a more formalised structure and hopefully a few new faces to take over the helm of the Society.

For further information on the HSSA and planned activities, please contact Aubrey Price (aop @reson.co.za) or Eddie Guild (e.guild@fugro-survey. co.za).

Contact
The Hydrographic Society of South Africa
P.O. Box 487
Paarden Eiland 7420
Cape Town, South Africa
Tel: +27 21 511 5926
Fax: +27 21 511 5927