As you all may know I started this race 30 years ago, with start out of the Caribbean Club. At that time the bar and boats got along just fine. After I bought Rick's Place Motel, we then had two friendly launching sites. I never dreamed that after selling the motel the Caribbean Club would be managed by radically crazy people.
That left Gilberts where at first they were very friendly. That is one year. Then the next year they were not. Then nice, then nasty. It has indeed been perplexing to all of us.
I do disagree with how bad Ann's Beach is. Boats go afloat only when they are not secured properly. We have been lucky the Village has not harrassed us about its use.
As you all might recall I suggest this new venue that David pointed out almost two years ago and pretty much was told it would not work. Now you want it. Fine. From my standpoint it is a lot easier to operate and much more comfortable than sitting on a sandy beach all day. And I don't have to clean my house for a Friday night meeting.
I am however not comfortable on how this was handled without conference with me. I would have thought I would be the first person you would have talked to about the change. Enough said!
If there are no objections, I will make the necessary changes to the NOR and SI's
Good sailing,
Rick
Rick,
I'd like to personally thank you for all the effort to keep this really great race alive despite all the challenges. Each of the few times I participated it has been an adventure of one sort or another, and I always wanted to come back once the bruises cleared up...
As to Anne's beach, I don't think you're allowed to tie off on Mangroves, which tends to make it dicey (get in trouble or go looking for your boat). Having someone like UKSC offer to allow the boats overnight at their facility is huge.
The bar facility can't hurt either, and I'm sure they'll make a small mint on those folks that night. How far is the club from Lomeyer's house?
I do recall spirited discussion about changing the start/route a few years ago, and the overall opposition at the time. I presume the bi-polar attitude at Gilbert's may have swayed those opinions over time..
So, if the locations eventually DO change to Islander/UKSC, could this possibly open up the event to boats slightly larger than beachcats?
It would give me an excuse to ride the coat-tails of you hotshots...
