NSA Officers and Directors

 Kathy Kenny
 Vice Commodore - Social Media 

 vcsocialmedia@neusesailingassociation.org

Sharon Stephenson, Dinghy Poker Run Director

Chuck Gordon
Past Commodore 2023

commodore@neusesailingassociation.org

Chuck and Sharon have been longtime NSA members who have been involved in many club activities, events and leadership positions. Chuck was introduced to sailing when he met Sharon and after years of patient tutelage has become a sailing enthusiast. They presently sail Pelikan, a Beneteau 373 and are looking forward to being on the water more frequently now that they have retired.

Directors

2024

Buddy Taylor

Buddy and Marie are still employed, part time sailors, living in Bahama NC (not The Bahamas).

They love their time away with the NSA.

They started with a Catalina 30 at Oriental Harbor Marina. Now they sail a Hunter 33 out of Whittaker Creek.

Werner Wildenburg

Up until 2021, Werner was a life-long weekend powerboater in the Great Lakes.  Fore the past 15-plus years, during weekday evenings, he has been club-racing one-design sailboats out of the Cleveland area.  He and his wife Calley relocated to New Bern in 2022.  He purchased his first sailboat (a Hunter 386) with a plan to cruise/learn the inner banks NC area.

In 2022, Werner joined Blackbeard’s Sailing Club to further hone his racing skills on the Neuse River.  By the end of that year, he realized NSA was the next step in safely learning his way around the inner banks.  He and Calley attended numerous cruises in 2023 and found out what a fun club NSA is.

2025

     Pat Thomaier

Cara Keys

Cara and Jason have been members of the NSA since they discovered Oriental and brought their 22’ trailer sailor down in 2017.  After their first overnight in South River where the weather turned rough overnight, it was decided.  “We are gonna need a bigger boat!”  Now they sail an Endeavour 32 based out of Pecan Grove.  We really love the sense of community and adventure we have found in the club.  Everyone has been very helpful, encouraging and quick to lend a hand (or a tow) when needed.  We are both still working but “One Day” we will make it to the Bahamas in our own boat.  Until then, we enjoy hanging out with all the great friends we have made in the club. 

 Oh – Cara was VC of Finance for 2 years and Jason was VC of Cruising in case anyone wants to know.

2026

Carl Crothers

Carl and Donna Crothers have owned four sailboats since they began sailing on Tampa Bay in the early 1990s. They currently sail Sanctuary, a Beneteau 423. They joined the NSA in 2012 and moved to Oriental from Winston-Salem in 2015. Carl has served in most officer roles on the Bridge over the years, including twice as Commodore, 2016 and 2021. Donna served as Vice Commodore for Membership for several years until 2022.

 
Tony Nelson

Tony is an avid sailor, cyclists, drummer and all around nice guy which on most good days, many can agree with. Being of Jamaican decent, English born and raised in Brooklyn, unlike Jason Bourne, all three of his passports are legal. 

Tony came to sailing whilst a Boy Scout at camp each summer in upstate NY. Noticing that kayaking and canoeing took continuous effort to keep moving, Tony quickly realized that once you got the sail up, you could grab that beer that was poured into a soda bottle (that didn't end well) and just relax. 

Early adulting got in the way of sailing till the mid 90's when he would sail his beat up, free to him, Hobie 16 off Emerald Isle in Bogue Sound from time to time. One day he thought about big boat sailing and learned about the Oriental School of Sailing, located in..... Oriental, NC. This immediately brought a question....where the heck is Oriental, NC? Tony came down and took a week long class based on the U.S. Sailing course. From there he chartered from the sailing school, mainly a C&C 26 where he quickly ran aground and scared the living crap out of his young boys. Not to be deterred, he kept at it and soon through word of mouth, secured a part-time job with NOAA validating depth soundings throughout the Neuse River and Pamlico using trial and error. 

Tony has a Beneteau Oceanis 361 named Hemispheres which is named after his favorite Rush song, dealing with the battle between heart and mind and the balance between them. Tony has been coming to Oriental for almost twenty years now and had relocated permanently to this quaint village, specifically the theater district three years ago. 

You'll usually find Tony at The Bean most mornings and the brewery solving social issues and world problems. When not in Oriental, he frequents Ocracoke, Beaufort and Cape Lookout as the goto spots with Hemispheres, creating what we all know as "Tony Events". So let's all bow our heads for a moment of silence for the club as we all welcome him aboard as a new director.