January 2023
Commodore Comments
As I pondered my “Feats of strength” accomplishment at Festivus, toppling our ever-steady Jack May for the Commodore position, I marveled at how fortunate we all are to have such a great place to sail and enjoy each other’s company. Shell Point Beach can be socked in with fog, under a spectacular mackerel sky, with few clouds at all, or under a deluge, and it can still be a very special place because of the people. Our club has a wonderful group of members representing all levels of windsurfing ability from very interesting backgrounds. We get together for a bunch of events each year. Several dates are already set on our calendar for 2023. Registration for our renowned lesson program is already open and the sign up form is on our website at https://www.spsc20knotsnob.com/lessons. We also offer free practice sessions to our new members prior to the Stephen C. Smith Regatta in April.
Who knows, you may come down to just watch the water and then make a lifelong friend, or experience a rare flock of white pelicans coming home to roost at our surrounding wildlife refuge.
I hope to see you soon at our next meeting or at the beach,
Mark Powell
2023 SPSC Commodore
Your 2023 Officers and Board Members
Commodore: The Italian Stallion himself, Mark Powell!
Vice Commodore: Kristin “Crash” Korinko
Purser: Wright Finney, graduate of Trump University
Scribe: Bob “I read it on the Internet” Graves
Past Commodore: Jack May
At Large Board Members: Rose Lane, Joe Sisson, and two of our newer club members who have stepped up (or in it?), Charlie Witherspoon and Andrea LaBeaud.
FESTIVUS 2022 ~ Jack May
Before I start, I am providing the following link for those unaware of Festivus. That should save a paragraph or two!
Festivus in the Shell Point Sailboard Club has several functions. First, another day to party following the Christmas party. Second, to handle the graceful transfer of power between the outgoing Commodore and the new Commodore. Finally, to spend time with club members and their families.
Feats of Strength
This Year the incoming Commodore challenged me to a Puffin Race. If you’re not familiar with these little Knee crushing Dinghies, you should come down to one of the races held by the ABYC. It’s a friendly group and a great way to see if you like Dinghie sailing. I thought it was a great time. Mark Powell, the incoming Commodore, offered to have me show up if I wanted to practice before the event. I thought, why would I want to practice if I plan to lose this race? Although I feel that if I did practice, I would have fallen short of Mark’s Skills. Did I mention it was cold? I spent half an hour sailing in the “harbor” and enjoyed the practice.
Later during the Festivus frolicking, we returned to the harbor for the race with a sizable crowd set to see my demise. I was unfazed. Mark and I used the George Washington way of standing in the boat while sailing. Without going on too long, I started the race while Mark was 20 paces behind me. What’s a good race without Cheating?
Nevertheless, Mark overtook me despite my best efforts to take him out on the downwind leg. Mark won, and I was relegated to being Ex Commodore. The crowd on the beach seemed to enjoy the racing as if it were a match race between Oracle and Red Bull for the US Cup.
The Airing of Grievances
It’s hard to be too serious about the Airing of Grievances when you have been given one of the Prized Martinis made by our World class Mixologist Perry Morris. These beverages are made to perfection with his signature hand-stuffed blue cheese olives!
There were several calls about impropriety, buggery, and just plain old whining. All were met with quick rebukes from club members. But ultimately, we are all a better club for going through this cathartic process.
The Festivus Miracle.
First, I must say this is my first time hearing of this. Richard Hill was credited with the Festivus Miracle for Providing A large bottle of some expensive Gin for the Martinis. Nobody will know why the club Curmudgewon did this. What happened? Was it the Christmas Spirit? What could make someone’s Heart grow to the size and power of 100 Grinches? Stay tuned. There were promises made this would be an ongoing Miracle.
Thanks to all who attended. There are some great pictures on the SPSC Facebook group.
Happy New Year!
FESTIVUS 2022 ~ Bob Graves
Another Festivus has come and gone and this one was a classic. We had our Festivus miracle, our feats of strength as our incoming Commodore Mark destroyed the current Commodore Jack on the racecourse. The destruction was epic. The airing of grievances was had, of which there were few, just showing how lucky we all are. Thankfully there was plenty of beer left over from the Christmas party that we all partook of along with the 20 martinis Martini master Pervy made, some from the miracle bottle.
Thankfully there was plenty of beer left over from the Christmas party that we all partook of along with the 20 martinis Martini master Pervy made, some from the miracle bottle.
The weather was beautiful and being at the beach was the place to be. Our bonfire was needed as the sun started to set and cooler weather started moving in. More than a hundred pelicans flew over to help us celebrate. What a great club we have!
Camping at Torreya State Park ~ Joe Sisson
As you probably know, there's a contingent of campers within our windsurfing club. I think of it as a way to get together with your friends without having to drive home at night. Over the years we've progressed from tenting to tow-behind pop-ups to hard-side "trailer homes" and even some class-C motor homes. In October, a few of us went to the Fall Classic at Lake Lanier NE of Atlanta. In November many of us camped at Presnell on St Joe Bay. Between those two events, a small group spent three nights at Torreya State Park on the banks of the Apalachicola River North of Bristol.
Torreya, named for a species of tree that grows there, has a small campground with only a couple dozen campsites. We were able to reserve 3 adjoining sites, allowing us to set up next to each other. One of our group got in touch with an old friend who lives in the area. Turns out this friend has a boat and offered to take us on a ride up the river. With a local expert as our guide, we traveled several miles upriver from Bristol as far as Torreya where we could see Gregory House high above the river bank. Along the way we stopped several times to view archaeological sites. At one stop near Alum Bluff I showered under a waterfall flowing down one of the many steep heads that characterize the eastern shore. From our vantage point on the water, we saw a number of bald eagles and at one point a flight of wild turkeys crossing the river. What a fantastic adventure!
The next day we hiked one of several trails from Gregory House down to the river. The trail was somewhat overgrown from infrequent use. We were relieved to discover that a noise coming towards us on the trail was not a bear, but rather another couple hiking in the opposite direction. One night a front came through with hard steady rain that lasted the better part of an hour, leaving the next day clear and cool. That night, after enjoying another round of good food and s'mores around the campfire, I was able to see the spiral Andromeda Galaxy in the dark sky overhead.
All in all, a wonderful trip shared with great friends. I'd go there again.
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SPSC 1983
SPSC Board Meeting Minutes – Tuesday, December 6, 2022
URGENT NOTICE: Since there was NO Club meeting, thus no minutes, the scribe has generously seen fit to edit and publish the minutes from the board meeting. I am not going to mention the incredible supper of Red Grouper, asparagus, tortellini, and salad that we had but is published in the board minutes for board member eyes only.
The meeting was called to order at 7:37 pm and the minutes accepted unanimously.
Commodore: Jack was getting teary eyed as his reign was coming to an end, though he did announce he was coming out with superhero NFTs for us to remember him by. We applauded Jack for his leadership followed by a sigh of relief that he made it through.
Vice Commodore: Will be on the board of a new US/Canada LT class organization. Trying to get the 2024 LT worlds in Cascades Lock in Oregon. Next LT worlds is in Australia for which I am practicing. Not clear on where the LT US nationals for 2023 will be held.
Scribe: Joe spoke about his stay at Torreya state park and promised an article about it. Thanked Mark for taking the club meeting minutes for November and thanked Laura Least for her great article on being a martini apprentice. Laura wasn’t there, since she’s not on the board, so hopefully when she reads this she will know she was thanked. I hope.
Purser
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Bank balance: We have a positive bank balance.
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$324 for web hosting and $275 for year-end trophies.
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Memberships: 67. Scofflaws were mentioned. When some names were mentioned, we scoffed, thus the origins of the word scofflaw, according to your stably genius scribe.
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Discussed the Endless Summer revenues and expenses and we are up from last year. Went over the ES expenses and revenues since 2017.
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Sports thongs came up as a substitute for getting t-shirts in the future, at which point many at the table ran to find an outdoor bush to lose suppah in.
New Business
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Xmas party
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need to get Turkey and Ham.
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Need donations box for Shriners
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Some discussion on donation to help Jessica deal with unexpected issues with her newborn.
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Bob will bring monitor to display SPSC pictures from past events.
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Xmas is at 7:30.
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Shriner rental is $500 and total expenses may be around $1300 including booze and food
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Daniel Craig’s presence was announced
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Festivus at 3pm on the 18th. Bring hors d’oeuvres if you wish.
Next Board Meeting
Meeting is January 3 at Bobs house
Adjourned at 9:03