Hello Chris
Welcome to the warm and cuddly world of model boating. 
The guys at New Brighton are a great bunch who will go out of their way to be friendly and will only poffer advice when asked, however whist you are waiting for the pool to reopen you could travel over to Runcorn and have a play on the water there, again it is populated with a very nice collection of modellers who are very friendly and approachable.
Not all modellers are doddering shambling wrecks (like our web master) some of us are young, virile and quite "with it".
The main thing, and to me the most fun thing apart from meeting the many "odd balls" is to enjoy and relax.
Paul