November 2021

Commodore Comments

Yay!!

What a great time we had at our 34th annual Endless Summer Sailboard Classic! We did it!

I want to send out a huge thank you to all of our wonderful sponsors, volunteers, and all who stepped up and took the time to make it happen.

Kicking it off on Friday evening was Rick & Judy Knerr serving up wings and thangs which were absolutely delicious!!!! At the same time, we had the opportunity to listen to the talented Bruce Graybeal who serenaded us with relaxing tunes to start the weekend of events.

Thank you to Sandy Layne and Chrissy Hill for keeping registration organized and pleasant for all our participants and we can’t forget our web mistress Deb Berlinger who is behind the scenes making things easier for all of us. Of Course, the site set up itself was done with great efficiency by Wright Finney as usual. We were also lucky to have Mr. John Gilbert whose commitment to our club brought him back to Shell Point from Daytona to help out all weekend long. I am grateful for his dedication and want to thank him again for rescuing me when my entire rig became detached from the board.

Thank you, Leah Chapin who was able, to get up early both mornings to serve us up some great breakfast and coffee! Saturday and Sunday afternoons had the amazing Hungry Tiki Grill led by the fearless Dave Denmark, crewed by Perry Morris, Chris Lane, Bob and Sue Strauss, and Ron and Judy Harrison, and featuring RC Cola and Moon Pies. Ron Harrison deserves extra praise for pulling double duty taking photographs all weekend long.

Raising a toast to the race committee chaired by Will Glen and assisted by Rick Knerr and Mark Voight. Will was able to challenge our advanced windsurfers out on the water with great courses both days plus take some great action shots! Talk about multi-tasking and going above and beyond. Great job Will!! Our novice fleet was well taken care of by Tina -Teensy Mazanek who is always excellent at engaging our newest windsurfers in fun competition and comradery keeping them coming back for more.

A great big Cheers! to the beer truck crew who never stopped the good vibes flowing thanks to Adam & Andrea Bennett with help from Susan Freshwater-Shoemaker and many others tapping in and out to assist all weekend long.

Our weekend would not have been complete without our very own DJ Bobby G. playing all the songs that get us up and on the dance floor. His music Saturday night was so good he even got yours truly on the dance floor! He also took care of getting the trophies for our racers which were received with great big smiles.

The Perry Williams Sportsmanship Award was also given out during the weekend. The overdue 2020 award went to Mr. Mark Powell and the recipient for 2021 is Mr. Joe Sisson. They are both top notch sportsman and very deserving.

Saving the best for last of course was a very well-spoken dedication by Kristin Korinko and plaque presentation in memory of our beloved Lee Chapin.

No other event could make me feel so absolutely humbled and honored to be a Commodore of the SPSC as the Endless Summer Sailboard Classic. As my reign in 2021 is nearing the end I have been blessed by all of my fellow club members who are truly dedicated on so many levels. Thank you all and thank you again.

All my best always,

Rose McCaffrey

2021 Commodora

Novice/C-Fleet ES 2021

~ by Tina “teensie” Mazanek

We had 7 registrants with 5 of them on the water this year. In the first heat on Saturday, Kristin “Krash” Korinko followed the rabbit*, Bill Olson (who happens to be her fiancé), and came in first place. Donna Duncan, our most persistent racer, came in second. Andrea LeBeaud swam around the mark (yep-that's allowed in Novice/C-fleet) finishing third. Debi “Barbi” Baber, from the Atlanta area, finished fourth. Sailing on a board for the third time ever, David Hatos, sailed on his SUP/windsurfer, which was not ideal for the conditions that day. Even though he did not finish, he did make it back to shore. George Jenkins and Kim Brown registered as racers for what we used to call a “point of pride”**, but did not race.

For the second heat, David followed rabbit #2, Andy Waters. David ditched his rig and using club equipment, took first place. Andrea, swam around the mark and most of the finishing leg to capture second. Barbi and Krash went a little off-wind eventually finishing third and fourth respectively. Donna kinda followed them and went even more off-wind (almost to Live Oak Island). Though she didn’t finish, she made it back to shore on her own!

I asked them if they could handle one more race before the lunch break. With an enthusiastic “yes!”, they were off. This was the best race for the fleet as all racers started and finished! Krash took another bullet and I thought she was gonna pee her pants from excitement. David, using his Hobbie experience & getting the hang of windsurfing, came in second. Barbi, with a little on-the-water coaching from her boyfriend, Chris Voith, came in third. Donna stuck with it and finished fourth. This time Andrea sailed the distance of three races and combined with some swimming, came in fifth.

We had one race after lunch. This one was the most difficult and I was glad that both Bill and Andy served as rabbits. The wind was getting lighter, shifting a bit and there was a strong current. By this time David sailed like a pro taking another bullet. Krash came in second. More than one person asked if we shouldn't go out to get her in a rescue boat. I said, “heck no, she’s gonna make it.” So, we waited and watched for about a half-hour as she tacked, then tacked again, and again and again....to finally get around that darn mark. You could tell that she knew where she wanted to go but was challenged in getting there. When she crossed the finish line, everyone on the beach cheered! She had the biggest smile on her face! Donna and Barbi did not make the mark and wisely sailed back to shore. Andrea had to leave before the start of the fourth race, we missed her.

Early winds on Sunday were out of the northeast around 18-20. These were not conditions for beginners, so no racing. The wind did shift and lighten up a bit so David had fun just sailing around.

For sure, we would not have a Novice fleet without the dedication of Bob Graves, our program coordinator for the lessons program, and this year’s instructors: Bill Olson, Linda Downey, Dan Olivier, Mac Paschall, Joe Sisson, me, and Perry Morris (yep that’s right, Perry Morris!).

My personal thanks to John Gilbert. Using Bob “Baab” Andrews boat (thanks Baab), John set our course and was our biggest cheerleader.

Thank you to the fleet-I had a great time!

Scoring:

Points are based on where you finished in a certain race so first place gets one, second place two, etc. DNS (Did Not Start) means you made the decision not to start race so your score is calculated by the number of registrants (7) plus 1=8, DNF (Did Not Finish) means you gave it a heck of an effort but did not round the mark and is calculated by the number of racers plus 1.

*rabbit: an experienced windsurfer who sails with the fleet to show them the way to go (rabbit often goes back to the course after finishing to coach racers)

**point of pride: old timey term, used for those who were not necessarily going to race but registered as such (rather than as guest) to contribute to the club’s fundraiser

Endless Summer and Fleets ~ BobbyG

This year we limited the Sport fleet to folks who have raced sport once since they started sailing, and the fleet only had two out of the seven people that had done that. All the others were racing sport fleet for the first time. What was great to see was how they all pulled for each other, a camaraderie that began when Tina had them in the Novice fleet. and they cheered each other on. Though I know they all wanted to win, it was amazing at how well all of them did and how they handled adversity, never giving up, encouraging each other.

The folks that normally sail sport year after year graciously accepted sailing in the longboard limited and had a good time. We had trouble deciding if we were to start with the unlimited fleet or the sports fleet, thus making the scoring difficult, but the folks that sailed in it competed well.

In the future, I hope that all fleets outside of the unlimited can sail the same courses at the same time. In this way, the people new to the sport fleet can see what the more experienced longboard limited sailors do, and maybe ask questions after the race. We also need to get rid of the longboard description and just have an open fleet wherein you can sail whatever board or sail you want.

Click on Race Results for pdf version

The 34th Endless Summer Classic ~ by Joe “Rummy” Reid

On the weekend of October 15th, 16th and 17th, the Shell Point Sailboard Club held its 34th annual Sailboard Classic. Rose McCaffrey was the Commodore in charge. I drove the 1300-mile trip down from Pennsylvania to see my old friends, make new friends and observe how things have changed over the last 23 years.

I was able to set up my motor home in a parking area across the road from Shell Point beach. Soon I was joined by Jack May and a few other people coming for the event with campers or tents. The first thing I noticed about the quaint little community of Shell Point, that I knew, is it has developed into many large homes built on stilts. As in the past the local people still came down to watch what was going on, but instead of walking they now drive golf carts that probably cost more than my car. Seeing these drastic changes in the community validated our foresight as a club to have the land purchased and designated to be a county park for everyone to use and enjoy for free. The days of the old thatched tiki huts on the beach are gone, but the beach is still accessible to everyone.

The core group of organizers has remained the same over the last twenty years. As you watch Wright Finney directing the event set up, Rick Knerr keeping everyone organized, Perry Morris was inflating the marks, Dave Denmark (aka Digger) picking up all the extra slack it brought me back to years past. I met many new club members and I had the pleasure of meeting Mike Boll’s parents.

Friday night's welcome party seemed very much the same. Beer flowing freely from the beer truck, music down the beach, and Rick and Judy making wings for everyone. The first night of “Party Animal” tryouts was in full force. By the end of the night there were three or four leading candidates. As I walked around visiting, I ran into several of my old sailing friends from the 1980s and 90s: Scott and Julie Williams, still on an old Fanatic board; Richard and Chris, who now have a child in college, and I’m still wondering how he ever found such a nice person to put up with him; Chris Voith from Atlanta, just to drop a few names. I have to say one of the nicest gestures happened Friday night when William Treischel, “Dr. Cracker” brought a good bottle of rum over for me to help him drink.

Saturday started with some notable old-time sailors and some of the newer sailors arriving and a morning meal. Noticeably missing were the group of sailors from the 18 to 25 age group. F.S.U. sailing must not do windsurfing anymore.

The racecourse was set very well for the better racers, for the less experienced racers it was very challenging. The “Starts” were set close enough to shore so that the spectators could easily see what was going on. The current from the channel being more powerful than the light winds, made for some very interesting starts. Some of the legends were able to watch some of the racing from our seats on the beach, it was really fun to watch and share with each other how we would race it. Like when Jewels covered two others on the way to the finish line. There was one great finish with Chris Voith beating Mark Powell at the finish line. We also started down memory lane remembering some of the things we did and telling big stories about the old times. I wish that I had had a tape recorder going because I think some of the story tellers were telling a bit of an exaggerated tale or two. We talked about some of the true legends of the club, Mike Boll, Brian Barr, Hulon Whitton, and Perry Williams. How they helped shape the way the club handled situations and how the sailors sailed. Talking with people made me think about how short life is, and how we all should make time to have fun and not harp about the parts we can’t change. This may be the last time I get to share time with these friends. I really enjoyed each story and moment I was able to spend with each of them. Throughout the day there were several trips to the motorhome with friends for safety meetings.

During race time the lunch was being set up. I am not sure how many burgers, dogs and other grill items were sold, but I know Dave’s crew were busy. Dave recommended the daily special of a RC Cola and a Moon Pie.

After the Saturday races were completed, racers and spectators gathered at the local fire house for dinner. Great food was provided by Possy’s! I had the shrimp and grits dinner, it was fantastic. I am told the chicken dinners met the same standard. After we all ate, Rose had the honor of giving out the door prizes. She did this very well, except for one thing, she did not call my number for the bottle of rum. I did notice she had a better arm and throwing accuracy than the University of Florida quarterback did in the football game against LSU.

We ended the evening relaxing on the beach with DJ Bob’s music, drinking, dancing, and visiting with old and new acquaintances. I am honored that many of the board members made the effort to introduce themselves to me and the other old timers along with welcoming us back home for this event. I am really sorry I did not get to meet all the new board members. I am sure we could have learned from each other. I did meet many of the new club members and that was really nice. Seeing Chris Graves, Mac Pascall, and others out there dancing brought back good memories. Meanwhile some of the “Party Animal” contestants were eliminated and some excelled.

One of the funniest introductions I had was with one of the club members I had not met before who said “so you are real, I was beginning to believe that you were just a story they made up”. Just think in twenty plus years these unbelievable stories will be about Digger.

Sunday started with a breakfast featuring sausage wrapped in a pancake. They were surprisingly good. Followed by some more light wind racing. I am sad to say I had to start my trip back before the awards were given out. This year they were really cool etched glasses. After the racing awards the 2020 and 2021 Perry William Award was presented to Mark Powell and Joe Sisson. Followed by the flagpole and dedication to Lee Chapin. Oh, and the Party Animal was awarded too Kristin “Krash” Korinko. I was rooting for Kristin.

I had a fantastic time while I was at Shell Point for this event. Reminiscing and laughing with old friends while reliving moments that happened decades ago was fun. Seeing how the club has grown and became part of the community brought me great joy. At times like these I realize what good friends are and why I miss the good old days of sailing.

To play, press and hold the enter key. To stop, release the enter key.

Free Windsurfing a Scam?

~Laura Least

When I first moved to Tallahassee Florida from Kentucky, I was excited to be 90% closer to a beach. With this I wanted to try some beach sports, and this ultimately led to my google search: “windsurfing classes near me.” Sadly, most of the lessons were in Tampa, Florida and a painful $275.00 a lesson so you could imagine my excitement when I found Shell Point Sailboard Club advertising FREE one-time beginner windsurfing lessons. I was jumping up and down at the idea of getting to finally try this out. I needed details so I scanned the advertisement for further information and found on the website the contact information for a man named BOB. Shortly after the excitement of the bargain wore off, I started thinking about how this was TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE and I was probably going to get scammed.

The wheels in my head began to turn, I am either going to learn to windsurf, have my identity stolen, or be taken prisoner by a pirate named Bob. I decided I liked the odds against the suspected internet scammer, so I scheduled a lesson. In the back of my head, I figured I would email him and give him hell if he tried a fast one on me. Shockingly, Bob did not ask for my social security number or my credit card information. He kindly asked me to sign a waiver and bring it to the date of my lesson.

The day of practice came, and my husband and I pulled up to Shell Point and to our extreme surprise there were actual coaches on the beach and windsurfing equipment. I was also able to meet this “Bob” character and he was real and not an internet scammer to my surprise. My husband Ryne and I have been enjoying the Shell Point Sailboard club for 3 years now and we wouldn’t trade this experience and the people for anything.

Turtle Menace update ~ by Anonymous

Many of you may have scoffed at my article about the vicious turtle uprising, thinking it was just silly. I wish it were so. After the article came out two turtles on the Munson trail, NOT gopher turtles, tried to hem me in so that I could be attacked by their minions. I was riding along when I spotted one, albeit a small one, in the trail so I was able to get around it, but within 30 feet, there was another. I know their intention was to slow me down so that their army hiding in the underbrush could attack, but I just pedaled faster and got the heck out of there. This proves that ALL turtles are working in unison!

It was then that I realized that they had one of their own elected to congress, and he has risen to be a very powerful politician. "McConnell is the first openly Otherkin member of Congress. His species identity is turtle," the edit to Wikipedia said at 3:26 p.m. under the "Personal Life" heading for McConnell. Just be complacent as the turtles take over, you’ll see, and then it will be too late. The only answer now is turtle soup!

Martini Etiquette for SPSC Members and Assorted Hangers-on

After a major martini etiquette faux paux by one of our members (witnessed by those at NIMBY XVII), the SPSC Board determined that the proper etiquette for drinking a martini should be formalized in a series of steps so that the unwashed can at least aspire to look refined.

When the martini Mixmaster honks, you immediately go to the martini table and pick up your martini and your martini only. We need to do this quickly, so the martini master knows whether he must make more. Your martini will have a toothpick with two olives skewered. DO NOT TOUCH THE OLIVES until you get to Steps 8 – 15.
Toast. You don’t need to know all the words first time, but you do need to pay attention. HEY YOU, I said PAY ATTENTION to what is being said.
Here is the four-part SPSC martini toast, as unmercifully butchered by the martini cultists. The syllable accents are shown.
- "Na zdrowie" (Poland), pronounced by us as: Nas-tro'-ve-ya.
- "Za tee-byá (Russian), pronounced by us (very incorrectly) as: Zai-beece'.
- "Kanpai" (Japan), pronounced by us as: Kan-pie'.
- "Festoons" (Wakulla County), pronounced in your best southern accent as: Fay-us-tewns'.
Take a sip and savor the wonders of the botanicals in gin. Vow to stone allwho would substitute vodka.
Keep sipping.
Keep sipping.
Keep sipping.
Repeat Steps 4 through 7 only until the top of the upper olive is exposed above the surface of the gin. When this happens, you may call for a SLAP. If no one else is ready, then you weren’t following Steps 4-7 and you were gulping instead of sipping. I SAID SIP.
When everyone agrees to a SLAP, pull your stick of olives out of the gin, holding it with your thumb and forefinger, and slap the olives of the other imbibers while yelling Nas-tro'-ve-ya in unison with everyone else.
Gently crush the first olive in your mouth, savoring it with gusto, then follow with a sip of martini.
While holding the toothpick with the remaining olive, push this olive down to the tip of the toothpick using your middle finger on the same hand. To clarify, this is a one-handed operation. Don’t embarrass yourself by using two.
Reinsert the toothpick and olive in the gin.
Repeat Steps 4 through 7 only until the top of the last olive is exposed above the surface of the gin. When this happens, you may call for a HAPPY ENDING (formerly called The Finish). If no one else is ready, then you weren’t following Steps 4-7 and you were gulping instead of sipping. Once again, I said SIP and savor.
When a HAPPY ENDING is agreed to, pull your last olive out of the gin, holding the toothpick with your thumb and forefinger, and slap the olives of the other imbibers while yelling Nas-tro'-ve-ya in unison with everyone else.
Gently crush the second olive in your mouth, savoring it, and then follow with the last sip in the glass.
Do what you want with the toothpick.
Return the martini glass to the serving table when it is empty and compliment the martini master on a fine mixing job.

NOTE: All SPSC martinis normally come with two bleu cheese-stuffed olives on a toothpick. If (heaven forbid) you do not like olives or bleu cheese, there are plenty of beautiful women and men in the club who do, but they may not care for the gin. Etiquette does allow you to share, just don’t be showy about it or expect anything in return.

Bonaire 2022 ~ Chris Graves

Some of the usual Bonairians plus some new folks are headed to Bonaire June 25 through July 2.

Bonaire is part of the Caribbean Netherlands and lies in the southern Caribbean 50 miles (80 km) to the north of Venezuela, 30 miles (48 km) off the East Coast of Curacao, 86 miles (138 km) east of Aruba. Bonaire is 24 miles long by 3-5 miles wide covering approximately 112 square miles.

Average wind at the end of June is 19.8 and stay in a very narrow band. Its windiest in the morning and afternoon with lulls noon to two. Average high 89 average low 81.

The locals are friendly and speak English, Dutch, Spanish, and Papiamentu. The currency is the U.S. dollar. The supermarkets have anything you could want and some interesting products from Europe. The main tourists are from Europe with several flights daily from Amsterdam. A passport is required for travel. There are currently covid protocols in place which I hope will be gone by travel time.

Lac Bay with its flat, warm, shallow waters is the perfect place for Shell Pointers to rapidly develop their skills. Lessons are available and its a great time for short board wannabees to try out lots of different gear. Best of all you don’t have to rig any thing!

The best place for windsurfers to stay is the Sorobon Beach Resort directly on Lac bay. The chalets are equipped with a small kitchen and fridge so you can eat at the chalet as you will be exhausted and it saves money. The resort had served a huge breakfast every morning pre-covid and hopefully it will return again.

From Tallahassee, during the summer, there is one flight a week, on Saturday on both Delta and American airlines to Bonaire.

Budget about $20 a day in taxes and fees

Chalets are $320 but allow triple occupancy

Gear for a six days at Jibe City is $385

Once I know how many people will be staying at the Sorobon and windsurfing I will try to get some discounts. Jibe city incuded free gear insurance last trip.

SPSC Club Meeting –Tuesday, October 12th, 2021

Called to order at 7:30 even though six members present were exhausted from a rousing game of bowling an hour prior.

Place: District 850. The food and beer, just like last time, were great, with Will, Jo, Kristin, Rose, Perry, and Bob bowling before with NO ONE breaking a 100. We had a blast.

Attendance: 13 members showed up to this new great meeting venue that they are graciously letting us use for free, a decrease of 3 people from last month.

Commodore: Rose got the minutes accepted. No kudos this time around on how wonderful they were. In moving the conversation to the Endless Summer since she is chair, she mentioned how many people had registered so far. Bob asked about ice which needs to be at the beer truck by 4 on Friday. Volunteers were asked for and Joe stepped up after a moment of silence when I guess everyone prayed about it. Rose assumed all chairs for the different areas of the event were good. A need for tents was mentioned.

Vice Commodore: I Got Nothing sayeth Jack. If this keeps up when he becomes Commodore, meetings next year are going to be super short.

Scribe: Thanked Tina for a great article on the C/Novice fleet and everyone there thought it was great.

Purser: We have money in the bank! Membership numbers are low but don’t include all the people re-upping via the Endless Summer registration. Will have some expenses for the stand for Lee’s memorial and possibly for some replacement bulbs and such. The memorial presentation will be at 2pm. We will be getting two porta-johns and one 20x30 tent for the regatta.

Endless Summer: Rose mentioned supply issues with the original shirt color so men’s shirts will be a different make and color than the ladies shirts. The ice we get is used for the water fountain in addition to the drinks and food for lunch. Will Glenn is the race captain and there was talk about scoring and boat access. Everything was in order.

Events for 2021:

October: Endless Summer: October 16-17
November: Atlanta Fall Classic: November 6-7
Presnell’s: November 18-22
December: Christmas Party: December 11
Festivus: December 19

Old Business: Constitution updated with the voted-on changes from last meeting

New Business: Chris Graves has a tent for use by the SPSC. Dave made a motion to buy two new tents. Lots of discussion, name calling, cussing, etc. after which we voted and decided not to buy them now.

Next AND last meeting is November 9th at District 850. Come early and bowl, throw axes, or play the bunches of other games they have, or just eat and drink and cheer others on!

Adjourned at 8:17:34.