While the ground is covered with snow and the lake is a solid block of ice it is less than 90 days before we will see boats on the water. Remember that your dues need to be in before March 15 to guarantee your slip location for 2021. We will begin making slip assignments toward the end of March. At this time we are anticipating a better season than 2020 but we will still be faced with restrictions and limited social activities. The social committee has already started planning events where we can practice social distancing yet enjoy meeting up with our fellow sailors. As we get closer to the season we will have a better idea of our limitations and will be posting updates to the calendar on the web site. We are also looking at methods for us to make members aware of events without having to access the website. More on this later.
There are a few updates I want to share with you a couple of updates and enhancements that have been made. First are improvements to the club’s O’Day 17. We replaced rotted and broken boards in the cockpit as well as repaired a leak in the stern of the boat. We are also adding a bridle to the boat so that it can be launched using the crane rather than launching from the ramp. This should make launching easier and quicker. Using the bridle will require some basic training to do it safely so we are requiring that everyone using this boat be checked out on the proper procedure to launch the boat with the crane.
GoHoist has sent us an updated maintenance procedure that needs to be done with each use of the hoist. This procedure is very simple and is related to lubricating the sheaves. We will conduct training sessions so that everyone using the hoist has first hand knowledge of the procedure. We have also added skid plates to the hoist to make it easier to use and it eliminates the need for the plywood plates under each leg. If you have not been trained on the use of the hoist and wish to use it please let me know so that we can schedule a complete training on the use of the hoist and the jacks. The training is a requirement for the use of the hoist.
At the end of April we will begin our training classes for the season. We are getting an early start with the intent of getting all who are new to sailing on the water as soon as possible. In March we will post the sign-up for the April class. The training will start with a classroom style training on terminology, points of sail, weather, right-of-way, safety, basic navigation and knots. In the weeks that follow we will do on the water training which will be more of a one on one type training. For those that would like to be trained on the Sunfish the on the water training will be in the June time frame since you will get wet!
Looking forward to spring and seeing everyone on the water. 2021 will be better than 2020.