On March 2nd, we’ll have John Millar, the designer and builder of full size replica
Revolutionary/Colonial era sailing ships, such as HMS Rose, the Continental Navy sloop
Providence, the brig Lady Washington, and is now building 12 copies of Colonial and
Revolutionary War Tall Ships. Want to know more? Google the organization he runs:
http://www.colonialnavy.org/ .
On March 9th, Jeff Orrick, the Chief forecaster for NOAA Wakefield will come to tell us what they can and can’t predict for weather on the Bay. He’s a sailor too, so he is a sort of kindred spirit and understands what we want. He’ll explain why we can’t have it.
There is no PMU on the 16th because of the OPCYC St. Patrick’s Day Party.
On March 23rd, we’ll have Dan & Kika from Sailing Uma. For the uninitiated, this is just a young couple who chucked it all, bought a boat, and started sailing. Dan was born in a log cabin in Western Canada, while Kika is from Port au Prince, Haiti. Here’s what they say about their philosophy:
Although we have goals, aspirations and a plan for our future, we know these are all just guidelines. For us, it is much more about enjoying the journey than fixating on the destination. We fully understand that tomorrow it could all change and we hope you’ll join us as we grow and develop over the years. Our boat “Uma” is a 1972 Pearson 36. She is neither fancy and expensive, nor cheap and flimsy—to us, she is perfect. We wanted a name that carried with it the motivation and rationale that led us to buy her in the first place. Her name was inspired by the Portuguese number 1 (uma), meaning first or primary. She is our first step.
These kids (really, they are) are living the dream, sailing wherever it seems nice, financing their way by hook or crook, more or less living in the You Tube limelight in a sort of ultimate reality show. Right now they are sailing north and should be here by March 23 rd to join us.
On March 30th , Paula Miller from VDOT will be here to tell us all about the HRBT Expansion Project. Ready your questions, because she’s the one with the answers. My question is “Why do they have to have that bend in the road just before the mouth of the tunnel? All that does is cause people to slow down, then they crawl through the tunnel. They speed up once they can see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
A Brief Preview of April PMU:
On April 6th, we’ll have Rob Owens and George Punigan who are reps from one of the most reputable paint companies, to tell us how to paint our boats.
On April 13th , we’ll have Mark Wheeler, the guy who fell overboard in Lake Michigan, at
night, in a storm, while his boat was surfing downwind under spinnaker in the Chicago-
Mackinac Race. Yes, they eventually got him, which is why he can be here to speak to us. Not only Mark, but his whole crew will be here. We’ll be able to hear what they did right, what they did wrong, and what they plan to do differently next time. Yes, there will be a next time! This class is part of our PMU Safety at Sea initiative. Later in the summer, we’ll do live on-water Man Overboard training. We expect to have a large crowd for this event, so we’ll be using a different venue for this class. And oh by the way, Mark is the immediate Past Commodore of HYC, and was the navigator on the boat that just won the IRC 1 division in the Caribbean 600. This is not a rally, it’s an offshore race run by the Royal Ocean Racing Club.
April 20 First Mate Training: Many of our boats cruise with just a couple aboard. What to do if the “Captain” becomes incapacitated? Like MOB training, this is a safety related issue. Or on a more gentle note, how about, let’s do some boat handling training without the spouse aboard, so there’s less yelling next time you go out together? PMU has done this before and the participants report that it was very useful, very informative, and gave them much greater confidence in handling the boat. We will start with a briefing in the clubhouse on basic safety procedures, then we’ll go down to the boats. We are asking for volunteers with boats to take some “First Mates” just a few hundred feet away from the dock, teach them the rudiments of safely operating a boat, which should include backing the boat and docking onto a T-Head. The rationale is that in an emergency, you wouldn’t need to put the boat into her own sli
p. Norm has already volunteered his boat. We need two or three more boats, each with perhaps 4 or 5 “First
Mates” aboard. Ideally, your boat would be at OPC Marina because it’s so close. But if you keep your boat anywhere nearby and are willing to volunteer as an “assistant instructor” for some “First Mates”, we’ll find a way to make it work.