Keep it positive please!

Any negative comments and I will ask Rick and Mary to delete your post.

If you want to give your friend props for helping out a n00b, by all means do it here. Give yourself a pat on the back? Do it here! Maybe you're a n00b and someone helped you get on the water? Let's hear it.

Let's all learn from people that are making a difference in their home port. This is a thread for the acknowledgment of good deeds.

What have you done for the betterment of sailing in your community? Don't be shy. Post away...

J

Okay, since you are asking about TODAY, a guy just called and asked how and where he can learn to sail. He's right here on the island for the summer. So I told him, "Sorry, can't help you."

Just kidding, folks. This is like manna from heaven. I talked to him for quite a while and gave him the number of someone from our Wave fleet who is experienced in teaching people how to sail. Hopefully, we will gain another fleet member.

Also, we have an extra Wave available, so we are going to post something on the bulletin board at the general store to get more people interested in coming out and sailing with us.

Plus, we have a standing invitation to the club's junior sailors to come out and race with us on their 420's and FJ's and Lasers, or whatever-all they use. But so far they haven't done it. Sometimes one of the junior camp instructors will come out and race with us on a spare Wave.

I'd like to say thanks to several people for helping Wet n Wild regatta.
Our sponsors,
Catsailor Magizine, OnlineMarineStore.com,
West Marine,
LayLine Marine, Zkik sailing
Murrays Marine,
Hobie Cat Corp,
Surf City Catamarans.
These people generously donated to our regatta and our raffle helped to make the event a success. We put the sponsor logos on all our t shirts 80 of them sold out, And as an extra bonus to our sponsors their logos well be on the Round Treasure Island shirts as well.
Thank You all.

Gave away a Hobie 14 to some kids last Sunday then on Thursday spend the night building some Laser storage racks at a local club where we are getting a weeknight series together.

TODAY? Today I didn't do Jack (actually Jack, I spent an hour at S.I.R. watching the Porche Club go round and round!) but YESTERDAY I took my Prindle across the lake to my Doctor's house, and I took him out in 10-15 knots for an hour.

First I had him just sit on the tramp and watch me traping and steering, and I had him do the jib in the tacks. Then after about 30 minutes, we switched places and I let him steer while I trapped and worked the main for him. He was flying a hull and grinning from ear to ear! Next time we go out I'll have a harness on him and put him on the wire, steering for sure. I think he's interested in buying a cat now.

I don't know if he's interested in racing, -one day at a time- but I'll slowly lead him in that direction, especially if he gets a cat of his own, which I am trying to find for him now.

He just bought a Hobie Adventure Mirage trimaran kayak with sail, he's the guy I mentioned who is interested in the Everglades Challenge, or he thinks he is!

I'll keep working on him, he's got two sons who would be great crew, ages 18 and 21. When I get my Blade back up and running, I'm going to give him a taste of the spinnaker.

Maybe I can get some of his Doctor buddies to give up golf and start sailing as well?

The day before yesterday, I took a friend out sailing a Valk sailboat and taught him how to sail it in about 2.5 hours. TYou guys won't know the Valk design but Phill and many Dutch people do. He enjoyed very much and want to do such evenings of after work sailing more often.

Best part is that we can rent these boats fro 25 bucks an hour and it is day light overhere till 10:00 PM. Not need to put on wetsuits either. Just nice cruising in a open sailboat of 22 foot length.

Today ? Well, we'll see in the next 2 years whether today will be a turning point in the beach catamaran scene. The missing link of the sport we all love could have found it's momentum today. And just as with the F16's back in 2001 it happened in the last week of mei !

Wouter

This could be a great thread, Jeremy. Thanks for starting it, and I hope it keeps going forever.

This friend of a friend whom I don't know very well knocked on the door the other day. He's in his early 20's. I answered the door, and he introduced himself and excitedly told me that he and his wife got a sailboat for their first anniversary. So I walked over to his house and wedged into his carport was a beatup Nacra 5.2. I invited him to the harbor the following Tuesday when I had an opening in my schedule and I'd help him rig it up and take him for a spin.

We rigged the boat up and hit the water. Sunny Santa Cruz, 15-18 knots and flat as can be. Those two kids are hooked! Happy anniversary!

J

In addition to the normal fair of awards, I created new awards for our regatta last weekend for:

Best In Show
Best Classic
Best Under Construction
Sportsmanship Award
Best Stunt


Some guys and gals that don't always win awards walked away with something this year.

Sunday's a day off but I spent the last three weeks rebuilding Sabots for the juniors program. If you're ever looking for a working vacation Jake... I also gave out $2000 in scholarships a week ago.

Tomorrow we put the dock back in the water and get the chain replaced on the moorings for the juniors boats. Classes start in a little over a week. We've now got 15 boats so we'll have 30 kids in each class.

Jake, back when I raced Flying Scots, at the big regattas they always gave out trophys for:

1. Furthest Distance traveled to the regatta
2. Top Husband/Wife finish
3. Top Parent/child finish
4. Top Junior team (age 16 and younger)
5. Top Female Skipper
6. Top all Female crew
7. Top NEW sailor (first year or First Regatta if there were more than one)

ETC.

The point was, there were a lot of trophys and lots of people went away with one, and a smile, and lots of people came back next time.

While I was out in a Safety Boat for today's club regatta, my wife sat in the picnic shelter out on the point, enjoying the weather and the view of the boats on the water.

A young man came out and joined her and said he had just moved here from Chicago, and had sailed as a kid. Now he was looking to buy a boat and for a good place to sail. She gave him the spiel on the club, and told him about our bulletin boards with boats for sale. She gave him my name as a contact for questions, and he said he would probably join, based on her friendliness and helpfulness.

I just spent 3 very long days on a signal boat out in the middle of Lake St. Clair, calling starts and finishes of 6 classes in the Detroit NOOD Regatta (T-10s, Etchells, C&C 35s, S2 7.9s, Level 123 and J105s - yes, it was the "4kt s**t box course".)

I also met Carrie Howe's brother at the bar (he was wearing a "Team Hobie" jacket), talked up with Mr. Clean and his lovely wife, Mer - and how stoked they were to go out on an N20 after the Tybee.

What's really scary? At the age of 49 - I was the youngest of the 7 people on the signal boat. By a lot.

It wasn't me but credit where credit is due.

"To All Officers, Board & Members:

On Thursday, May 28, 2009 GYC hosted a Field Trip to our Club for the kids from the Gulfport Recreation Center.

Volunteers Dorothy Whyte, Jim Craver, two new members, Susan Hutchinson & Myra Schwarz, Bob Feckner, Fred Metcalf & I worked the event. We had 32 kids from ages 6 to 11 years old. Fred & Susan had the kids wearing a trapeze harness and riding the rail on the Hobie 16. Bob, Dorothy & Jim were doing tactical moves on the sunfish. Myra and I were showing videos of catamaran sailing. They especially liked "T.R.O.U.B.L.E." (it's on UTUBE). The last event was a quiz show game of "Who Wants To Be A Sailor?" MC'd by Fred. (GYC's version of "Who Wants To Be A Millonaire?) We gave out prizes and medals, pencils, pencil sharpeners and special coloring books we made promoting GYC. It was a smashing success. It was so much fun & the kids were totally great!

I believe it was a great event and a way to give back to the community. Hopefully we'll get some kids who will be interested enough to be future sailors. (One young girl wanted a membership application, so I gave her one.) Bob took some pictures and will submit them to the Gabber along with an article for publication.

I want to thank all of the volunteers who helped with this event and made it such a terrific success. Also, I wanted to let everyone know that we are constantly working to promote sailing and our club in the most positive light.

We have attracted many new members this year and we are getting many more inquiries as well. Four new members with monohulls have joined the club and rented our wet slips. We now have all of our wet slips filled as of this date. That's a first in at least 5 years as far as I know. We only have 4 to 5 dry slips left as well and that's since adding 6 new dry slips with tie downs.

Again, I want to thank all that participated and the next time you see a volunteer at GYC just say "THANK YOU" to them. Without volunteers the club would not exist.

Thanks,
Mary Ann"

Just washed my boat..

By staying off the boat this weekend I helped raise the level of respect for sailors everywhere.

Had a good training session at ABYC - Steve Hansen took delivery of his new F18 and got his girlfriend suited up in full Zhik kit from the Sailing Pro Shop. Jeff Newsome and Bill Westland practiced on a borrowed Infusion - both are A-cat guys who are going partners on a Wildcat for the F18 Championship. Dan DeLave took his two nephews out for a spin on the Tiger - there were big smiles on that boat. Dennis Key drove up from San Diego to sail with me for the day - we tuned a bit with Jeff and Bill. While at the club, I had the pleasure of informing someone their time on the wait list for a yard mooring was over. I also listened to a proposal for a non-profit that would lease Tempests (a 22-foot keelboat) to members between 20 and 30 years of age (career/family-building age and harder to own a boat).

I'm pleasantly tired, my boat seems sorted out and tuned, and there are good events on the horizon. I am content.

On Saturday I ran our cadet family sailing morning, it was pretty windy so we only had a dozen kids out in oppis and most gave up after 30 mins to an hour, The kids are aged between 7 and 14, but a hardcore of three stayed out all morning, getting some great practice and really improving, my own three older children 7, 10 and 12 were not in the latter group but I was pleased they gave it a go.

Today I am teaching at our Monday evening after school cadet group this is a well established group, we will get around 70 children on the water tonight, with loads of adult volunteers, helping with everything from rigging the boats, supervising, safety boats and providing hot food. I joined this sailing club three years ago as it has the best kids sailing in the area and it is the best thing I ever did. No catamarans yet but I am working on that.

Gareth

Well Nothing today because it's Monday Morning.

Yesterday I helped a new Hobie Tiger owner at our club rig his boat up for the first time. He was missing a few parts and I tossed those to him for free.

He's a new sailor. He's never sailed in his life. But has a nice Tiger now with wings. He took it out yesterday in drifting conditions and got back to shore somehow.

Then I helped him pull his boat up the beach with a flat tire on his cat trax. I informed him that was the last time I'd help until he fixes his trax. Then I explained how to fix them.

More SCHRS stuff, I do SCHRS stuff most days.