Mountaineers Sailing Newsletter 2007 Sailing Update Basic Crewing Course – Seattle  We have 71 students enrolled in the class, and the lectures and the at-the-dock sessions are completed. We have scheduled 20 sails in May and 18 in June, largely to satisfy the students.  As usual, we will permit students to sign up in class before turning the sails over to the office and the web for general signup.  This year many of the students are from within the Mountaineers, and I had the feeling that many of them knew more about knots than I did (Mountain climbers?).  Mike Brough and I updated much of the classroom material for this year, and Mountaineer skippers Linda Youngs, Carl Harrington, Rich Clapp, Joe Grande and “Chief Grinder”, George Harvey, supported the classroom teaching. Linda, Carl, Rich, Joe, Mike, Bob McClure, Bob Gross, and Nancy Merson all contributed to the fantastic offering of 16 at-the-dock sessions and 38 sails generously given to support the sailing class. The attentiveness, enthusiasm and appreciation of this years students will reward these skippers. New Boats, New Skippers We are excited to welcome three new skippers to the Mountaineers…  Joe Grande who owns Whisper, a Catalina 320, has joined the Mountaineers Seattle Sailing Branch to offer sails from his Lake Union location.  Joe is past Commodore of the Seattle Singles Yacht Club, and has a wealth of sailing experience, including several foreign charters in the BVI, Tahiti and France. Carl Harrington joins our skippers with Poisson, a Yankee Dolphin 24.  He keeps his boat in Edmonds, and offers sails especially convenient for crew living north of Seattle.  Carl is an ASA certified Instructor through Advanced Coastal Cruising and has his USCG 25 ton inland license. Nancy Merson has offered her Jenneau 34, Serenite, for Mountaineer sails. Nancy has completed numerous sailing courses and has a wealth of sailing experience, and sailed with us on one of the two Mountaineers boats cruising in Croatia last September.  Nancy keeps her boat on Bainbridge Island and offers Kitsap County residents and those willing to take the Winslow ferry over to Bainbridge a wonderful chance to sail from Bainbridge Island. …and one new boat! Linda Youngs has changed boats; her latest is an Ericson 26, Aspera, which she berths at the Jim Clark Marina on Harbor Island.  Linda offered sails in February and March, when most of the rest of us were staying indoors. Watch for Linda upcoming sails in her new boat. We've also lost a couple of boats/skippers.  Tom Pozarycki has sold his J-42 Wind Walker, and is currently between boats.  Tom may be available as a skipper for foreign charter cruises, and has accomplished several to the BVI recently.  Frank Thorp has retired from sailing. We will all miss Frank’s participation. Captain Mike Congratulations are in order to Mike Brough, who has completed the study and testing required and has been granted his 50 ton Coast Guard captain’s license. Upcoming Foreign Sailing Cruises So far, I have been able to recruit only one skipper for a foreign sail, myself!  I am chartering a Beneteau 47 for one week sailing on the Amalfi coast of Italy in September. The boat quickly filled up with the crew from my trip to Nice, France in 2004.  If you are interested in a foreign charter cruise in 2008, let me know, and twist the arm of your favorite skipper to charter a boat.  Because without skippers, the Mountaineers don't have a sailing program! Coming soon! The slide show from the sailing trip to Croatia will be posted shortly.   Hope to see you out on the water, Hal Tobie Sailing Chair Feeling nostalgic? Read the Newsletter Archives for a trip down memory lane.
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