Okay, it's finally happened. I'm this close to owning my first boat: a 1975 Cal 29'. <

Now, when I start a new project, I tend to go a bit overboard (figuratively, not literally ). I have signed up for a boat safety course given by the US Coast Guard Auxillary. I'm planning on signing up for a sailing class or two. I've started loading up my library: Don Casey's Complete Illustrated Sailboat Maintenance Manual, The Sailor's Handbook, and a couple of knots books. The boat itself has chart books for the Chesapeake Bay and Intracoast Waterways between here and Florida. I'm definitely planning on attending some of PMU's courses.

I've sailed enough as a crew member to have some familiarity with the things. But I know I'll need alot of time at the helm before I really feel comfortable.

So what other suggestions can you seasoned sailors offer me? How else should I prepare and educate myself?

My luck. I've had family reunions the last two Cock Islands. Ah well! I can't blame anyone by myself this time, since I was put in charge.

So why is this boating related? Well, a number of family members wanted to go sailing while they were here. So in an effort to make lemonade from lemons (or whatever the appropriate cliche' is), I asked several members of the club who were participating in Cock Island if they would mind some passengers along for their return journey. Dave Arnold(Fair Winds), Jim Beaudry (Pegasus), Steve Ritz (Excelsior), Jeff Rogers (Halaha)), and Dick Beaver (Ellen B) said 'yes'.

Jim and Jeff were the ones planning on leaving the earliest, at about 9 - 9:30 a.m. So we piled the 20 planning on going into 3 vehicles and headed from our places in Sandbridge to Portsmouth 'early' Sunday morning. Jim came by shortly after we arrived to say he was ready to head out. So we peeled off the first group and they sailed away.

Jeff found us right about that time and told us he was in a bit of a fix. Seems he'd left Halaha the night before and came back that morning to find her sitting on a sandbar. He showed my family of landlubbers the sad sight of her slightly tipsy body in the water and said he was hoping the tide would come in enough by noon to be able to free her. That was no problem, since Dave and Steve weren't planning on heading out until about then anyway.

One nephew planning on coming was having troubles dropping off a rental car. They went to two different Hertz rental agencies before they finally headed over to the airport. Luckily, the later departures allowed them to make it in time to catch a ride, too.

Dick was the next to take off. So we divided off the next group and they sailed away.

I really appreciated Dick taking on this task for me, since I really didn't know him.

The rest of the group headed over to the Cock Island Lounge for some coffee and snacks while they waited for their turns. Meanwhile one of my sisters and I drove over to Ft. Monroe to catch the folks at the other end.

The first group arrived and we sent them to Portsmouth to finish the car shuttling. About that time, I got a phone call from Steve Newman, who was riding with Dave. He asked where the passengers were that were supposed to be sailing with Jeff and I told he to check the lounge. Later I learned that Jeff was stuck in place until about 5 p.m. that evening.

We picked up snacks for the later groups to munch on, then waited for them to arrive.

Winds picked up more as the day progressed and the later boats were able to sail a bit more than the earlier ones were.

Everyone arrived at the other end with smiles on their faces and stories to tell. They all were quite impressed with each of their captains and crews, for the chance they were given and the knowledge the captains and crew shared with them on the ride.

So again, a big THANK YOU to the captains and crew!

Please see the Crew List page. Nancy Rohe would like to serve as a crewmember. Let's get her out on the water! Call me (867-1028) for her contact info.

Dennis Miner
Rear Commodore for Racing

Check out the new Crew List page under Racing. You can sign up if you want to crew or you are a skipper looking for crew.

You did it, wonderful.<br /><br />Thanks

You did it, wonderful.

Thanks

There's a couple of ways that we can handle this. One is to use the 'content' area, where I put your first post. The other is to implement some 'blog' software. I think the latter will be easier, and I've input the software today. I'll send you email with instructions for using it.

--Anne

Great work!

Suggestions:

I would like to have a photo gallery for PMU, and if possible, I would like to increase the # bytes I can upload to the photo gallery.

I would also like a link from the PMU page to the PMU photo gallery, or have it displayed on the PMU page.

There should be a place on the PMU page to add comments.

For 2007, I want to upload text and photos from the classes - sort of a "Cliff's Notes" for each class. If I can do this, I'll need a mechanism that allows me to do this.

- Jeff

OPCYC's Pointer Maritime University is in it's second year. Our mission is to provide free quality instruction on maritime issues of interest to our membership. We cover emergency first aid to sail trim, blue-water cruising, diesel maintenance, and everything in between. The level of instruction is geared to the majority of our students - when we talk first aid, we're not discussing sunburn, minor cuts, or jellyfish stings. We're covering heatstroke, heart attack, and amputation. But when we do knot-tying, we'll show you the reef knot and bowline as well as a fisherman's bend, rolling hitch, and anchor bend. One thing we have is great instructors. This is not the blind leading the blind - we have instructors with many transatlantic passages, perennial race winners, technical subject matter experts, and Emergency Medical Technicians.

Last year, our freshman year, went surprisingly well, with very few hiccups. We had 17 different classes on 15 separate class days. We had 377 student-days, and 119 different students in 2006. Michael Turner and Tim Bonniwell are the valedictorians of the class, having attended eleven classes each. Quite a few folks attended more than four classes - each of these people has received a "diploma" suitable for framing from PMU.

Mark Wolfe has joined me as the Training Captain for the 2007 season, which will allow us to get even better coverage than last year. We're going to have a great crop of instructors this year, including people from North Sails and Eastern Burlap, the region's best fiberglass repair experts. We've decided to repeat the classes that drew the most students last year, and add some new classes as well.

All classes were held at the OPCYC Clubhouse until March 10th, when we moved into the classroom at the Ft. Monroe Fitness Center. Our school year started in January, and runs hot and heavy almost every Saturday morning from January through April. Classes normally will be 9 AM through noon, but we will schedule some other events on other days and dates. Stay tuned to the Web Site and the Helmsman for updates as we get closer to school days. In addition to these, if your E-Mail address is listed with us, and if you live within driving distance of OPCYC, we'll keep you posted with frequent updates and reminders during the school year.

See you in the classroom, and see you on the water!
Jeff Rogers
Dean, PMU

Hi folks!

I just wanted to add a 'hello' here to get the topic started.

I think I was a mermaid in my last life; I love everything related to the water: boating, fishing, scuba - just about everything that doesn't involve lots of noisy engines. Having grown up in the desert, I feel I'm now making up for lost time.