Call me ex-commodore. My term as NLSC commodore ends on Halloween (sic), and Kevin Crothers takes over the helm [and he gets to take over writing this stuff.] It’s been a pleasant, exciting time, but it’s time now for me to sail with a fair wind. I’ll still be around to offer advice and/or get in his way.
There’s a college tradition that a retiring professor gets to give one final lecture, laying out their accomplishments, philosophy, and advice for successors (sort of like getting to give your own obituary). Does this apply to retiring club officers? I’ll try to keep it short; here goes:
Tack now or hold to our present course? It is a balancing act, keeping our traditions, knowledge, policies, and everything that has worked so well for us before, while also not being afraid to venture off the charts into new activities and actions (see below for some of the things – traditional and innovative – that we are developing and doing.)
Singlehanding, while fun for the skipper, is a potential problem for the boat – and for an organization. I’ve been trying to get more people involved – primarily so that the ship of state will still be under command if the sole skipper is unable (or unwilling) to man the helm. I believe that all of us in the NLSC should be able to take over if and when needed. This not only applies to having all of our crew as knowledgeable and experienced as possible, but also to sharing our abilities to run the ship – and the club.
So as I go below, here’s the current course to steer:
This month we will have our annual Trip Chairs’ Meeting. This is a great chance to learn what is involved in organizing and executing a sailing trip – everything from local trailerables to overseas charters. You don’t have to organize future NLSC trips to attend (but we hope you will). You will learn a lot in any case. Please come. Free pizza. (FREE PIZZA!)
We had our other annual training event last Spring, our Skipper’s Meeting. This was well attended, and again those who came learned how to prepare themselves to be the skipper on a charter sailing trip. As a follow-up, the Board has recently adopted a policy for qualifying new trip skippers. Actually, we are not in the business of certifying skippers, but do have some guidelines for what certifications, knowledge and experience you should have in order to be a skipper on our club charter trips. Look for details in this issue of our newsletter and on our website. Thanks, Kevin, for organizing all of this.
We had a great sailing season, with trailerable trips to Lake Pepin (twice), Lake Minnetonka, and Lake Mille Lacs. We also had charter trips to the Coast of Maine, the Apostle Islands, and Isle Royale. And we are in the process of planning trips for next year, all over the world. Coming up: NLSC Club-Sponsored and Endorsed Trips to the Florida Keys, the BVI, and elsewhere this winter. And our new “Spar Of The Moment” program to connect “wanna crews” with “have boat – need crew” for last-minute unplanned chances for all of us to go sailing.
Your education chairs, Joan Gilmore and Jake Smith, have been developing a new program called "Icebreaking Navigator", to help welcome and integrate new members into our club. Look for details in our newsletter and on this website. This winter they will also roll out our Virtual Lending Library program - watch for it.
Tom Cronmiller will be taking over the duties of Purser. Thanks to Lisa Broom who has done an excellent job of keeping us afloat (financially). Tom was our past purser (back when we called the position “treasurer”), and managed also to leave office with a healthy balance sheet and enough funds in the bank to cover any losses if our trips don’t make their budgets. Play it again, Tom.
Your Board has established a new procedure to prioritize and plan our finances and club budget on a yearly basis, and Lisa the Purser has made a great start developing a budget and spending priorities. This will help keep us solvent, ensure that club trips don’t end up driving our trip leaders into bankruptcy, and all this without the need for a federal government bailout (so far).
We are going back to the Minneapolis Boat Show with a booth to promote our club and to attract more sailors. This will be at the Minneapolis Convention Center, January 21-25, 2009.
Our annual Holiday Party will be held on December 9, same place as last year. See more information elsewhere in this newsletter (and on the website).
Your friendly webmaster (that’s me) has been developing an on-line membership directory. This will make our membership data available to all our members in a timely manner, and also eventually may enable each of us to maintain our own contact and related information. (Paper copies of our roster will continue to be printed and distributed as usual.) Look for an announcement, coming real soon. Meanwhile, IF YOU DO NOT WANT US TO PUT YOUR ADDRESS, PHONE, and/or E-MAIL on-line, let me know as soon as possible (send e-mail to NLSC_MAIL@YAHOO.COM). Note that the on-line directory will be password-protected, and available only to active (read: paid-up) NLSC members.
And speaking of our award-winning Internet Website, NLSC.ORG, we have been expanding it to provide information and links to as much stuff about sailing as possible. This includes connections to outside sailing resources for everything from learning about sailing, to connecting with other club members, to ever better ways for you to spend your money (a necessary sailing skill).
Since Kevin is becoming our new commodore, we have a vacancy for his current position of Sailing Trips Coordinator. Here’s your chance to get a lot of recognition and satisfaction for a job that looks like a lot more work than it really is. We are currently taking nominations for this open position – the Board will select from the large number of candidates we are expecting to apply (!).
The rest of our Board members and volunteers are still on duty. As you know, they have done a great job in planning our meetings, marketing our club, and developing and presenting programs and delivering education on topics like knot tying, cooking, docking, eating, rules of the road, more eating, gear, boat building (coming this month!), sailboat racing, and travelogues to places from Lake of the Woods (Canada) to New Zealand (South Pacific). And did I mention food, as in our annual Carolina Shrimp Boil and summer potlucks? And then there’s our Swap Meet, and our Ship’s Store offering NLSC clothing, other merchandise, and (real soon now) a club burgee to display on our club trips and on our boats.
Thanks to everyone I mentioned above – Kevin (sailing trips guy), Lisa (finance and newsletter gal), and Joan & Jake (educators) - and also to Jay Biggs (vice-commodore, burgee and ship’s store guy), Ron Carlson (promotions guy), Peter Cotton (scribe and minute-taking guy), Jerry Sicard (meetings and programs guy), Marge Collins (membership and roster gal), and lots of people (LOTS OF PEOPLE!) who led trips, lent us their houses, presented meeting programs, organized social and other events, provided their boats, and participated in our meetings and trips.
Meanwhile, I’m looking forward to my new position as Immediate Past Commodore, and to continuing as your Webslinger.
Farewell, fair winds, and thanks for all the fish.
- R^2
Bob Rouda
Webmaster (still) &
Commander (retired)