By Dick Leonard
This is my
first time as Fleet Captain of MORF. Actually, it is my first time to even
serve on the committee in any fashion and I had some anxiety of jumping
in with so little experience with this bunch. But I have found that, without
exception, it is a very comfortable group to work with. So far, anyone
approached has not had the word “no” in their vocabulary and I really appreciate
that. So keep practicing your “yes” word and we should have another great
year.
At least for
a while the Arctic fronts have decided to stay north of us and Mother Nature
apparently is going to just tag us (at least for the next few weeks) with
Pacific fronts which are comparatively mild. According to the weather guys,
that means that our low temperatures aren’t going to be too brutal. The
sun does look a little brighter and the Wednesday night races only require
5 or 6 layers of clothing. Actually, the Wed. races haven’t really been
too bad. One of the nights was completely windless and one provided a great
natural opportunity to rinse our sails, but the rest have turned out a
lot better than one would expect. Even some great sunsets as we’re heading
out the gap.
As far as
business is concerned, the committee met after the Jan. 10 race and will
be meeting regularly on the first Thursday of each month. Any comments
or issues are welcome; just get the word to any of the committee members
including me. I’ve been in touch with Jim Dinn who is the Race Chair for
CCYC and the race schedule for the year is shaping up. So far, no regattas
during Jan. or Feb. but there are at least 12 races spread out over the
rest of the year.
The starting
line rocks on the breakwater have been repainted and should be highly visible
for at least several months. This time we used parking lot paint which
promised to have “extended life.”
Other breaking news:
There is a
group of Type A behavior competitors who are trying to start up some informal
J/24 races on some of the uncommitted weekends. This model of boat is starting
to regain some of the local popularity that it had in the 80's. I think
that there are about 8 in the area. Although it may not be a MORF event,
most of the J/24 owners are MORF members.
For those
of you who use the hoist please be advised that it is now safe, I believe.In
December the hoist would go up even if the down button was pressed. That
makes for a scary time as you watch your boat hanging about 6 feet over
the water for over an hour.Chip
Ducrest, owner of the Merit 25 Tropic Avenger, appeared at just the right
time and rewired the electric motor, with new insulation and terminal clips.
So, Chip has become St. Chip to me.
Since we would
like to get all of our members re-registered, make a conscious effort to
get your applications and checks to Kirk Mason, the treasurer. The application
is available on this web page, I believe.