Chuck Gordon, Commodore Welcome from the 2018 Bridge This year (2018) the Neuse Sailing Association is celebrating 45 years of sailing and fun in the sun! Our club has been active for all these years due to an energetic and loyal membership and the countless hours of volunteer work! We look forward to continuing this tradition with the help of each of you. Your 2018 Bridge has had its first meeting and has begun the planning and organization for a great year. If you go to the website, the 2018 Events Calendar has been posted and we encourage you to start making your social and cruising plans. We look forward to seeing you at these events and would appreciate your help with any of these activities. If you would like to volunteer please contact the person in charge of the activity or contact me ( Chuck Gordon, 919 880-7879 - call/text or email, chuckgordon55@yahoo.com). If you have questions, suggestions or concerns please contact any Bridge member and we will address the subject. Our new website is an excellent tool and I encourage you to familiarize yourself with its content. The Forums are great communication tools which allow us to efficiently communicate with each other. Please remember that when you register for a Cruise, register for its forum at the same time. Take the time to go browse the site. We want to thank Commodore Sharon Stephenson and her 2017 Bridge for their hard work this past year! It was a great year and they have “raised” the bar for the 2018 Bridge but we promise not to disappoint ! Happy Holidays and we wish you a great New Year!! Chuck Gordon
A Look Ahead to the 2018 Season We want to open by saying that we are looking forward to the 2018 cruising season and proud to be co-Commodores of Cruising for the coming year. We have put in early orders for fair winds, following seas, and sunny skies! We have been busy since the Commodore’s Ball throwing around ideas and finding out what we signed up for! We are both happy and fortunate to say that we have had several people reach out to us to step up to the Cruise Captain role for almost every event. That really removes a lot of stress from this role so early in the planning season. Thank you to all that have signed up! So – what do we have planned? A bit of the traditional, and a bit new, or at least “renewed”, locations are planned. For what seems to the current #1 location, the club will book end the season in Ocracoke for Memorial Day and Halloween. This year it is the 300th anniversary of Blackbeard’s death, so it should be a great time to be a pirate in Ocracoke! Prior to Memorial Day we will have a shakedown cruise in mid-April with a “follow the wind” mantra just like long-term cruisers do. For the weeklong, plans are still formulating however, we have something along the Albemarle loop route with Edenton as the goal in mind. We are also considering how we can add an extension to the weeklong for those that are able to spend more time out on the water. The Dog Days cruise in July is forming nicely with a 3-day cruise planned to Little Washington, and the Lazy Days cruise is shaping up as both a water and land based event. Labor Day will return to the long tradition of Cape Lookout, and the Fall Cruise is still TBD. For your advanced planning, we are planning a few 3-day cruises over “regular” 2-day weekends: Spring Cruise, Dog Days, and Halloween. The cruise schedule in its formative stage is already posted on the NSA website. You can view the schedule by clicking here. If you have input, or would like to help as a cruise captain or in other ways, please contact us at: vccruising@neusesailingassociation.org Have a great winter, spring cannot be far away! Jeff and Pat Kenyon
2017 NSA Photo Contest Enter today! Only three weeks left to submit your entries. This year, you, our members, will choose the photo contest winners –so give yourself and fellow NSA members something to ponder by submitting your best 2017 photos this month. You only have a few weeks left so don’t delay! You’ll find the NSA website, www.neusesailingassociation.org, is ready to receive them. Entering a photo is easy, and here are the steps: 1. Select PHOTO CONTEST in the upper menu bar on the NSA homepage and click on the category you want to enter.
2. Click the upload button on the category page. 3. Once the photo file has uploaded, click on the photo to add a caption.
If you’ve added photos to the NSA website over the past year, you’ll need to upload them again in the appropriate category to enter the photo contest. Submissions will be accepted throughout Dec.; the last day to enter will be 01 Jan. 2018. Lynn Scott
2018 Kicks Off with Social Events Looking ahead to 2018, we are kicking off the year with our two winter social events: the Oyster Roast on February 24th and the Shrimperoo on March 17th. The Oyster Roast is a great time to Vice Commodore/Socials
NSA Participates in Spirit of Christmas It was a cold wet day for A Christmas Buffett – Jimmy Style, this year’s I want to thank all the NSA members who helped with this project. We Sharon Stephenson 
Keeping Your Profile Updated is Easy Your profile on the NSA website is an important tool for the club. For example, cruising captains can use your profile to help with marina slip assignments. Also, timely communications from the club also access the email in Happy Sailing! Bill and Susanne Lovelace |
catch up with fellow NSA members while making sure your membership is up to date. Typically, the Oyster Roast is a members-only event, however members may bring a guest for an extra $10. The Shrimperoo serves as one of our main recruiting events and is open to the public (guests pay $10). Both events will take place at the Oriental Marina and Inn. We'll have a Member Center set up at each event to assist members in renewing their membership and for any guests wishing to join the club. As usual, we ask all members to bring a side dish or dessert to the event. Don't miss out on these great opportunities to reconnect with your NSA friends!!
theme for Oriental’s Spirit of Christmas Parade. The weather, however, did not keep the NSA and other hardy souls from walking and riding through town to celebrate the event. The attire tended more towards heavy winter clothes, rather than shorts and Hawaiian shirts that the theme suggested, and we had many club members and guests riding and walking in the parade. According to 
initially had a planning meeting at the New Village Brewery attended by several creative members who came up with our float plans. Later several members came to start the decorating process and then even more folks showed up Saturday morning to complete the final preparations as and participate in the parade. This was another successful venture by our club. Fun was had by all! Pictures are in the NSA webpage gallery at this 
your profile. So even after you have registered as a member, if you have an email or vessel change, it is important to keep your profile updated. Updating is easy to do anytime: after logging into the site, you will see your name in the upper right of the banner, just above the "Neuse Sailing Association" title. Click on your name and you will see your profile with a blue "Edit" tab on the upper left side of the page. Clicking on the "Edit" button will allow you to change or add to your information. One fun aspect of your profile is your "avatar" where you can upload a picture of yourself, or your favorite picture of yourself from the last Halloween cruise, or anything that represents you. If you have any questions about using the website, feel free to email us at