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Well, the temperatures have climbed into the 60's for three consecutive days, and winter is on the run...I hope! There were sailors in the Anchorage Marina boatyard (Holland) over the weekend, getting a jump on a few projects, and it won't be long now until boatyards all over the Great Lakes will be filled with the joyous sounds of sanders and an occasional curse as a $35 quart of VC-17m is inadvertently kicked over. The weather isn't all that has changed recently - there have been some changes within the GLSS, and I'd like to use the first Rode Show to tell you about them.
Foremost, the reins of leadership have passed from Tom Munson (and Barbara telling him which rein to yank on), to Patrick Nugent. Many thanks to Tom for a job well done, and congratulations to Patrick. There is much to deal with this year, and I'm confident that Pat will continue in the fine tradition of past GLSS presidents. Currently, the position of Vice-President remains unfilled, Wally McMinn will remain as Treasurer, and Michael Garcia will continue as Recording Secretary. New Board members Paul Schloop and Tony Driza were elected to fill the two remaining vacancies, and Tony was elected to be your Corresponding Secretary/Newsletter editor/Rode Show writer. Patrick had a lot of hats in his closet! Blair Arden will continue working behind the scenes to keep our little chunk of cyberspace in the form of the GLSS website up to date. If you haven't done so recently, check out the website at http://webhost.sailnet.com/glss/. Our goal is to make the site your source for the most up to date information on the state of the GLSS, including access to the Solo Challenger, and the Rode Show. That pretty much takes care of the administrative spring cleaning, so onward we go!
Our sailing season was marred last year with the loss of our fellow competitor Mike Silverthorne during the Lower Michigan Scramble; it goes without saying, that we miss his infectious laugh and willing hand immensely. In last year's Chicago-Mac, what could have been a similar tragedy was averted when Fred Ball was rescued from the inverted hull of his 50' trimaran Lucretia by Cal Karr. Much has gone on behind the scenes so to speak since then, and I'd like to bring you all up to date on what has transpired.
Anytime an incident occurs such as Mike's or Fred's there is a natural tendency to examine the procedures and equipment in place, and to take an introspective look at how we as skippers operate within that framework. There were a fair amount of emails that went back and forth once Fred had recapped his experience for us (look for a reprint of Fred's ordeal, and some additional comments from Tom Munson in the next Solo Challenger). Some of what was exchanged was pertinent only to multihulls, such as the inverted egress hatches, some applied to anything that floats, such as call-in procedures.
Opinions surfaced that maybe we should mandate carrying an EPIRB, or a handheld VHF all the time; in my own mind the thought of what I would do should I end up in the water had me re-thinking some of my own procedures. The fact that Fred's incident had a happy ending didn't mask the fact that singlehanded sailing has the potential to be extremely dangerous and potentially deadly; each skipper is the first and last line of defense against a mishap, and while other competitors will help if they can, the variables are such that a timely response to a critical situation may be nearly impossible to achieve. In what I can only categorize as chilling in light of what transpired later, after Fred's rescue, Mike Silverthorne commented to me in an e-mail that..."when you have a hot rod boat you expect to lose them very quickly (they sail out of radio range), the problem is you can never know why they aren't checking in."
After Mike's accident, there was a concerted effort to find out, why? Dave Rearick, Paul Schloop and I spent considerable time at Mike's boat trying to re-create what may have happened. I retrieved data from his GPS and was able to re-construct the track that fateful evening; the aforementioned trio met with the Allegan County Marine Division deputy Ken Giles who was present the morning Mike was found, and as a member of the Marine Division, he was able to make a few recommendations based on his experience as a diver, and boater. Many emails were exchanged among various members, and the crux of them seemed to indicate that there was a need to examine what we do, how we do it, and can we do it better. Toward achieving that means, a Board of Directors meeting was held on December 8, 2002. Attending were Tom Munson, Wally McMinn, Mike Garcia, Dan Pavlat, Bob Van Eck, Dave Rearick, Rob Robins, Jim McLaren, Alan Veenstra, and Chuck Drummond; invited non-board members were Joe Turns, Bill Smith, Matt Scharl, Bill Erdmann, Paul Schloop and myself. Each was given the opportunity to express their thoughts, and present ideas, which could make the sport safer. Matt Scharl offered his perspective from a multihuller's viewpoint. Tim Kent even weighed in via email his thoughts, as one who has lived non-stop in a harness for weeks on end. It was agreed that a safety committee consisting of Paul Schloop, Matt Scharl, Joe Turns and myself should be formed, the purpose being to solicit recommendations from the membership, organize it into a report, and present it to the Board to see if changes are warranted. Tom Munson put out an e-mail back on December 13, asking for input, and in his final President's Message in the Winter 2002 Solo Challenger, he again asked for comments and suggestions for the committee to consider. Briefly, those who took the time to comment represented nearly every conceivable viewpoint; there is agreement on some, but certainly not all of the input that I've received. Our goal has been to review the procedures, make the changes that seem to be warranted, and have them in place prior to this season's races. The Board will be meeting tomorrow, March 18th to consider the information received over the past few months. There will be two safety seminars this year put together by Rob Robins; the first is scheduled for April 19, 2:00 PM at North Star Sail Club, and another in Michigan City, time and place TBA. It's a chance for some hands on demonstration, open discussion, and seminars including one on communications and rescue safety by CWO Bradbury of the U.S. Coast Guard - it's also an opportunity to bring a prospective entrant or two into our ranks, so please make the effort to attend one of them.
When the final verdict is in, I'll put it out for you to consider. In the meantime, happy sanding, and please don't be the one that kicks over my can of VC17!
Cheers
Tony Driza