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Paul Griffin,
The Commodore's Log New Year, New Faces, New Ideas Hello and welcome to 2019!! I hope all our members rang in the New Year somewhere in style alongside friends and family. As you are all are hopefully aware, we have several new faces entering our leadership ranks including Tracy Vail and Robert Pugh as Vice Commodores (VC) of Communications, and Mary and Kevin Guilfoyle as VC of Special Events. For all of these new leaders, 2018 marked their first full year with the NSA. Though they have not been with the club for long, it may feel like it due to the gusto with which they have taken to club activities. In fact, last year Tracy and Robert participated in every single NSA cruise!! We also welcome a relative newcomer, Buck O'Neal to his first year as a Director and our long time member, Donna Crothers as VC of Membership. I am extremely excited and honored to have the support of these folks, as well as our existing board, in leading the club in 2019. With these new faces, come fresh perspectives and new ideas. At our 2019 planning meeting in December, we discussed our calendar of events which many of the VCs will explain throughout this newsletter. We also discussed new ideas for the club. I’d like to briefly highlight a few that we plan to action in the 2019 sailing season: o Launching a point system to promote participation in club activities and corresponding recognition at year end for special milestones (e.g. persons who attended the most cruises, persons who sailed the most nautical miles) o Embedding environmental clean-up events in our cruises o Organizing NSA-only events for members such as NSA day at the brewery or a dinghy raft-up o Hosting a new members social to introduce new members to the club and the bridge members in a more intimate setting These are just a few of the ideas. We have a few more that we plan to explore at our next Bridge meeting. Please hold tight as we build out these ideas and come back to you with more specifics in the future. We’d love to hear from you as well! Feel free to message me directly (919-210-6494, griffinpaulj@gmail.com) if you have any new ideas you’d like the club to consider. Paul Griffin s/v Blue Mind Commodore
Cruising Outlook Start thinking about cruising (and being a cruise captain) now! Winter is here, but Spring is around the corner. You should have received your first cruise invitation for the Easter Cruise at River Dunes. Registration is open now and will remain open until April 6. If you have a “credit” remaining from last year’s Heartworks event, this is an opportunity to use it. The website event calendar is getting updated so look there for updates and details as they develop. You should have also received a Survey Monkey survey from Jeff Kenyon’s gmail account soliciting input on the Weeklong Cruise itinerary. If you have some intentions to join the weeklong cruise, we hope you will take the time to complete the short 5 question survey. Below is the 2019 cruise schedule and tentative locations. We have a few items of note this year that I would like to highlight. We are swapping the Ocracoke and Cape Lookout weekends for cooler temperatures at anchor for Memorial Day, and dockage in Ocracoke when it is hotter for Labor Day. With the 4th of July landing on Thursday, we anticipate many will have off Thursday and Friday that week, and we are looking to cruise to Little Washington for a 4 day cruise. Croakerfest is the prior weekend, so everyone will be able to participate in both events. The Weeklong is June 15 – 23, but we are looking at “cruise extensions” or back to back cruises north and south this year. See the survey and send us your input. Finally, we are looking for cruise captains! This is not a daunting task, and you have the Vice Commodore of Cruising to assist you along the way. We ARE a volunteer organization, so we hope you can step up and help on one of the cruises. Send a note indicating your interest to vccruising@neusesailingassociation.org. The cruise captain duties are straight forward, and include the following (VC of Cruising helps all along the way): · Work with VC Cruising on scheduling dates, location, marina, and any additional information you want to collect as part of the registration page (all boat and contact information is automatic) · Develop the notice for the event for NSA members announcing the cruise, including sign up information, dates, location, and any other pertinent information. (VC Cruising will post to the website and develop the registration form unless you are familiar with the NSA system) · Work with marina or other facility to reserve slips, communicate boat and contact information, etc. · Decide whether cruise will be BYOB or if NSA will provide beverages. If NSA is providing food and/or beverages, arrange for that to get to and from event. · Decide whether there will be a dinner out, pot luck or other social gathering · Coordinate and organize the event · Communicate throughout the event so participants understand what will happen, where to go, and when to be there · Provide VC Cruising with a summary of the event for the Neuse Juice 2018 Cruise Planning Calendar:
Jeff Kenyon s/v Calitri Vice Commodore Cruising Welcome to Our New Members! It’s not yet prime sailing season, but we have plenty of new members signing up to join the NSA during the past month. It’s a smart thing to do – joining now entitles you to attend the ever-popular Oyster Roast on Feb. 23, yet your membership is good until April 2020. And while it is not the height of sailing season, plenty of people are getting out on the water, as we saw at the New Year’s Day Instead of Football Regatta. New Yacht members this month are: Glenn Sikes and Michele DePietro of New Bern, with SV Borealis, an Aurora 40 which they keep at Whittaker Point Marina; Ken Gilbert and Sharon Millican of Oriental, and Bill and Donna Falquero of Chapel Hill, with SV Mariposa, a Sabre which they keep at Pecan Grove Marina and share with Ken and Sharon. We also have a new Patron member, Scott Pickard of St. Bart’s Yachts. Scott and St. Bart’s are looking forward to helping sponsor some NSA events in 2019. When you meet our new members, be sure to introduce yourself and welcome them to the club! If any new member has not yet received a Welcome Burgee, please contact me at vcmembership@neusesailingassociation.org. If anyone wants to replace a weathered burgee, I have a few available at $25. Just let me know, and we’ll get it in the mail in time for our sailing season. Happy New Year! Donna Crothers s/v Sanctuary Vice Commodore Membership
NSA Oyster Roast 2019
The second event of the year -the Shrimperoo is scheduled for March 23rd 2:00pm at the Oriental Marina. This event is open to the public and more information will be coming soon! Kevin and Mary Guilfoyle V/C Special Events “Meridian” Albin 36 vcspecialevents@neusesailingassociation.org SCOO, NSA and ODC will be joining together to offer our members and the community at large excellent opportunities for learning! There are lots of interesting and valuable topics planned so mark your calendars. You won't want to miss a single one! All seminars will be held at the Town Hall from 9-12 unless otherwise arranged.
Vessel Safety Exam The Cape Lookout Sail & Power Squadron has again graciously agreed to partner with the NSA for the Vessel Safety Exam. It will be scheduled for some Saturday in April that will be announced in future NJ publication. Very simple and free exam that results in peace of mind and a decal indicating successful completion. Please be on the look out for future data regarding sing up and date. Thanks, and here is to a safe boating season for al of us. Brian McLamb s/v Serenity
Misto on World Arc
A South African holiday for Misto With Misto safely in the V&A marina in Cape Town, Ros and Howard spent three glorious weeks visiting friends and having the most wonderful safari in the Kruger Park. We flew all around South Africa to visit folks we have not seen for 20 years, but it only seemed like yesterday when we left. In the Kruger we were treated royally and saw the big five, rare wild dogs and countless other birds and animals. Finally we drove the length of the coast. But now it's back to more watery matters. David Talbot has joined us for the next leg to St Helena and Brazil. We have some issues to sort out with our new sails and sailbag and the weather is not ideal for this week's departure so it remains to be seen if we actually go on Wednesday or delay it for a few days. We are already looking forward to see all our NSA friends in the middle if the year and it just remains for us to wish everyone all the best for 2019. Ros and Howard Cheetham
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It’s time for a “shuckin” good time at the annual NSA Oyster Roast ! All NSA Members be sure and mark your calendars for February 23rd 2:00pm on the grounds of the Oriental Marina and Inn. This is an NSA members and member-invited guest event. Each member is allowed to invite up to 2 guests at $10.00 per guest. Everyone is asked to bring either a side dish or a dessert. There will be a membership table set up to help members renew their membership or to assist any guest wanting to join. Please help us make this event the great success it has been throughout the years. We need volunteers to help roast the Oysters, set up before and clean up after the event. Helping at these events is a great way to get involved while having a fun time! 