February 2023
Commodore Comments
As we wait for the water to get warm enough to go windsurfing without a wetsuit, a few brave folks in the SPSC have been sailing more conventional craft.
The Apalachee Bay Puffin Fleet has been running their frostbite racing series every other Sunday and several SPSC windsurfers have been taking part and even winning races! Races are held in the Shell Point Boat Ramp basin and there are usually a couple of boats available to swap out with other skippers and give the boat a try.
A few photos of the “action” attest to the closeness of the racing, which is great fun! See if you can pick put some of our sailors. Including your Commodore, Scribe DJ Bobby Graves, Past Commodore Jack May, Past Commodore Joe Sisso , Past Commodore Mary Rolling, Past Commodore Bob Andrews, and Vaughn Williams (who also may have been a past Commodore at some point).
Next race day will be Feb. 26. It’s a great way to sharpen up your sailing, racing, and starting skills. C’mon down and try it out!
Mark Powell
2023 SPSC Commodore
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From the computer of the Training Coordinator , written by an AI*
The lessons schedule for 2023 is out and available for viewing pleasure at https://www.spsc20knotsnob.com/events Also listed in the events are the dates for the Smith regatta, the Endless Summer regatta, and the Atlanta Fall Classic regatta, all out in plenty of time so NO CONFLICTS should occur.
We start our lessons season off with the FSU sailing club, which should be a great and fun class. As has been the tradition over the last two years, we will have a practice day on the Sunday afternoon after a lessons day, with the only change being practice days will be from 11-3 instead of 12-4. Why the change? We will be doing a summer race series this year and hope to have a lot of our newer sailors join in after practicing all day. The Sunday after the FSU club lessons day will be a practice summer race series day, so if you need a tune-up for the Smith Regatta, COME ON DOWN!
For those that didn’t get the mass email about the Kids Learning to Windsurf book, you can find it by going to our lessons page (https://www.spsc20knotsnob.com/lessons) and clicking on it.
*Adult Idiot
SPSC Club Minutes, Tuesday, 1/10/2023
Place: District 850
19 people in attendance, great turnout! Hopefully we will get a bigger room next time.
Commodore: Mark is happy to be the new Commodore once again! Christmas party with Daniel Craig was awesome and Festivus was great!
Vice Commodore: In the tradition of some past commodores, Kristin was IGN (I Got Nothing!)
Scribe: Thanked Joe for his great article on Torreya State Park camping and Jack for his on Festivus. Bob indicated that if anyone felt inclined to share an article, to please do so.
Purser: Was absent, but the Commodore gave an approximate of our balance and the scribe indicated we have 75 memberships!
Upcoming events and actions:
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Miscellaneous
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Will investigate a safety plan for all our events. Jack is coming up with a form of what information is needed.
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Looking for program ideas for meetings.
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Many upcoming events already listed on the website.
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Wind Ceremony is March 25th. Jack May is chair
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Need to get a good date and information for a swap meet.
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$700 for a projector for meetings and such approved!
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Perry indicated the shower by the trailer had busted pipes and the cutoff valve by the spigot does not close all the way.
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Someone suggested we should have an AED available on the beach. Kristin and Tina will be evaluating the cost.
Mark started the presentation on Saildrone which was fascinating with some humor mixed in to keep it entertaining. We all strained to see it on his laptop but managed. Mark spoke about his experience when flying into hurricanes and the surface effect the waves have on the water near the center of the storm with the air bubbles being trapped from wave after wave. These Saildrones have been in and come out of Category 4 hurricanes, monitoring the whole time. They are also being used to map the ocean floor and can sail independently for a year before sailing itself back to dock for maintenance.
Meeting adjourned at around 8:05, I think, because after the presentation I much didn’t care what time it was.
