Fleet Captain’s Comments

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.

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