In this issue:

General Sail Meetings DATE CHANGE! - - Claire Zepeda

Once again General Sail/Bakers/MI weather has become a Bermuda Triangle. But All is Not Lost! We will circumnavigate to next Wednesday, March 19th.

 

 

 

Come one, come all! Think Sailing! Think Spring!! 

Boat Launch Scheduled...but first...

The maintenance team was originally scheduled to begin working on the boats this Saturday, March 15 but, for reasons know only to the person who took this picture, it has been cancelled.

 

Barring us getting 10 more inches of snow from a freak winter storm in the middle of March, the maintenance team plans to get to the boats on the following dates to get things rolling:

(Boat Captains may send out a request for assistance on specific projects for the above dates)

 

Tentatively Scheduled dates for an "ALL HANDS" maintenance effort are:

Awards Dinner Reservations!

 Announcing the Annual Awards Banquet/Membership Meeting Dinner.   Join us to acknowledge ASI achievers, accomplishments and contributions on Saturday, March 22 at Baker's of Milford. Social Hour (cash bar) begins at 6:00 pm, dinner at 7:00 pm followed by acknowledgements of accomplishments over the past year. 

 

 See old friends and meet new faces as we anticipate the new sailing season.

Fog Dog Award Nominations - - Claire Zepeda

It's that time of year again! For our newer members, this annual award (approved by the ASI Board in Oct of 2010) is given to a person in the club who typifies the definition of a Fog Dog.

 

The American Heritage® Dictionary defines Fog Dog as a bright spot sometimes seen at the horizon as a fog starts to dissipate or a bright or clear spot that appears in breaking fog. For ASI, the Fog Dog nominees are beacons, shining lights, making unique and nautical contributions to our amazing organization and its wonderful members.There are many people in the club who give most generously of their time and talents - often with limited or no recognition of their contribution.

 

The nomination process itself is an opportunity to acknowledge and thank some of those members.Nominations should include a descriptive narrative explaining why this person should be nominated, what specific contribution he/she made, how they were a Fog Dog in the club, and how they furthered the goals and Mission Statement of ASI. Please send them to clairezepeda@gmail.com

 

The narratives will be published in the Burgee, balloting will follow in late February and results will be announced at the Annual Awards Banquet. Our past Fog Dog recipients were Bill Lane, Jack Townsend and Don Caley. Who has been a Fog Dog for you?

 

Sign up now for the 2014 Advanced Level 1 sailing class!

ASI’s advanced Level-1 sailing class completed another successful season in 2013, with a full roster of 10 students and some very positive student feedback on the curriculum, which continues to improve. The 2014 advanced L1 sailing class is now open for prospective students to reserve a spot.

 

The purpose of the class is to build on basic ASI L1 instruction to take students to the next level of sailing skill and confidence. Content includes reinforcement of key concepts taught in basic L1, instruction on more advanced techniques and controls (including flying a spinnaker), and sharing of practical tips in a wide variety of sailing topics. This class does not cover racing rules, techniques, or tactics. Some potential students include capable rated L1 sailors, new L1 instructors, L1 racing students, future L2 students, and even L2 or above sailors who would like to refresh or strengthen their basic understanding of sailing concepts. You must have paid your 2014 dues, be up to date on volunteer hours, and be rated to take the class. Unless you have significant sailing experience prior to joining ASI, I recommend taking this class only after you have completed at least one full season as a rated L1 sailor.

 

The class will be taught at Kent Lake 5 times this year, with 2 students per class date. Class time is spent roughly half at the dock and half on the water over a 7-8 hour period. The cost is $35 paid in advance to the Sail Secretary.

 

Class dates are: Sunday, May 25th, Sunday, June 15th, Saturday, July 5th, Sunday, September 14th or Sunday, September 28th.

 

If you are interested in taking the class, please send an email to:

Steve Poulos at stepoulos@yahoo.com with a copy to our sail secretary,

Lisa Drumm, at secretary@sailasi.org.

 

Include the following information:

• Full name and current rating

• Confirm you have paid your 2014 dues and volunteer hours are up to date

• Years since you were rated L1, as of January 1st, 2014

• List of all class dates that will work for you, in order or preference (first, most preferred)

 

Responses will be prioritized by the order in which I receive your email request for each open class date. Based on the responses I get, I will fill out and publish an initial student roster in the Burgee before the end of April and will contact selected students so that they may confirm their position and pay the fee to the sail secretary, holding their spot. Please do not pay until I have confirmed your spot via email. There are no refunds and you must pay the fee within 7 calendar days of being confirmed by me that you are on the student list or your spot will be released to the next interested student.

 

Several potential students who could not find spots last year have already expressed interest in this year’s class informally, so I would encourage you to respond soon via email before these few class dates fill up.

 

Thanks, Steve Poulos, Adv. L1 Instructor 

North Channel Time-Share Lottery--Update

2014 Lottery   (Trudy Morse, Norm Schmidt, Don Degrazia)

 

Keel Boat Coordinators Needed!

Thanks to Tom Langolier for stepping up and volunteering to be Maintenance Captain for Interlude.  More help is needed...please consider becoming more involved with your club. It is fun and rewarding. The following are available:

 

Level 2 Manager- Work with the maintenance team and Level 4 Managers to coordinate level 2 keel boat prep, launch, oversee timeshares and float plans.

Level 2 Maintenance Manager- Coordinate Level 2 maintenance activities and boat improvements.

 

If interested or need more details, please call Suzanne Benloucif at 734-276-0569 or email sbenlouc@umich.edu.

1. go to the website:   MeetUp.com,
2. In the grey search bar at the bottom of the screen, search for “Sailing” within 25 (or 50) miles of your home and
3. you should see our ASI MeetUp thumbnail, click on it.

All is Not Lost---Richard Jagers

Items to help you be rescued...

Four items recommended by the USCG to have attached to your life jacket:

 

Optional: a hand held VHF radio, GPS, rescue streamer (replaces green  

dye), Epirb or Ppirb (personal locator beacon)
As a member of the SAR team the hardest part is locating people in the  water. Once located there are a variety of methods to rescue them.
Want to learn more about Boating Skills and Seamanship?The USCG Auxiliary is teaching classes starting March 20, 2014. This  is a 4 week class that covers many topics including:

Boating safety and NAVIGATION prerequisite for ASI Level 2 class.
For a list of all the upcoming classes close to your zip codehttp://wow.uscgaux.info/peclass.php?unit=091-18-11
Additional classes are offered all the time, so check back often.
Thanks for your help in making our State a safer boating area.Richard JagersUSCG Auxiliary - Assistant District Staff Officer - Public Education

Sailing Turquoise Waters?

 

A Caribbean sailing week is being considered for late January/early February 2015. This is not an ASI sponsored trip, but an attempt to organize a week for anyone who might be interested.

 

We are considering USVI and/or BVI.  Do you have a preference?  Are you interested in being a captain or crew?  We normally do the last week in January to get good weather and keep costs down (pre-prime time). 

 

Are you interested?  

E-mail and let us know: bviusvi2015@gmail.com

The Final Word--Mike Perrin