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Chatting With The Commodore
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Valerie Rhodes,
WSA-OC Commodore
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Early April brought sunny skies and steady winds and the 4th Annual Anchors Away Youth Sailing (AAYS)
Regatta. AAYS was launched 17 years ago by WSA-OC members KC Matlock and Susie Campbell and has been run by Midge Patrick for the last several years.
The AAYS program gives kids in the foster care system, primarily through Olive Crest group homes, an opportunity to sail with volunteer skippers and safety crew one Sunday of each month.
The Annual AAYS Regatta and Barbecue was added four years ago to give participants an opportunity to work together as a team driving a boat, trimming sails and competing in a fun regatta. This year's event took place on Sunday, 4/3. Aventura Sailing Association donated the use of a few boats, Dolphin Safari took a boat full of kids whale watching and, after a fun day competing in the regatta, participants were treated to an afternoon picnic with games like tug-a-war and football and a much-anticipated barbecue. (Everyone was starving after a hard day racing!)
This year, WSA-OC was asked to staff the picnic and, with the help of Dee Carroll, WSA-OC Philanthropy Chair, we had a great turn-out by WSA-OC volunteers! Food4Less provided all the fixens for the BBQ and, with the help of many volunteers, over 100 kids and volunteers were served up a yummy barbecue! It was a wonderful event for a really important cause. Thank you to all who participated.
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Skippers and first mates ready to compete along with the kids participating in the AAYS Regatta
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The April meeting topic of "What If ...??? Savvy Solutions for Sailing Snafus" garnered a lot of great discussion from our five breakout groups. Each group was given the same five problematic situations in which they were to come up with solutions.
The Background Information: You are on a 34' sailboat and are familiar with the location a
nd function of all of the equipment aboard. The boat is properly equipped with all required safety equipment, a basic tool kit and everything is functioning properly.
In addition to yourself, there is one other individual on board and they have a basic understanding of boat operations.
The "What If ..." Problems:
- Painter Meets Prop
- Lost Steerage
- Fire on Board
- Taking on Water
- Boom!!!
Click to read about the scenarios specific to each problem and the solutions each group came up with and shared with all in attendance.
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Catalina Full Moon Social Sail Weekend
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Join fellow members for a fun full moon social sail weekend to the Isthmus at Catalina Island! We will depart on Friday, May 20th and return on Sunday, May 22nd, the full moon will happen on Saturday, May 21st. The weekend will consist of several planned (optional) events, such as: group dinner, happy hour, hike, barbeque and raft-up.
This will be a wonderful way to utilize the "Navigation for Local Cruising" information we will be learning about at our May general meeting (see below) and an even better way to get to know fellow WSA-OC members!
The cost of the event will be $60 per person, which secures your travel and accommodations aboard a member boat, mooring fees and barbecue. Once your payment is received you will be emailed additional details regarding the trip
(provisioning the galley, gear needed, departure time, etc.). As with all of our on-the-water events, space is extremely limited.
Sign up now so you don't miss out on the fun!
***This event requires preregistraion as well as a current WSA-OC membership.***
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Bill McNeely will be the featured speaker during our May 2016 general meeting discussing the topic "Navigation for Local Cruising." Bill is the the author of Cruising Catalina Island, star of Cast Off for Catalina DVD and former US Sailing navigation instructor at Orange Coast College.
If you're feeling mystified by GPS, in LORAN or RDF withdrawal, can't tell magnetic from electronic, heard there are no charts printed anymore or just want more control over where your boat (sail or motor) is going this meeting is for you ... i.e. everyone.
Bill will be sharing his navigation tricks he's used while sailing in Southern California, San Francisco Bay, Vineyard Sound, Narragansett Bay, Chesapeake Bay, the Caribbean and everywhere there is wind. Bill is well-known from Annapolis to Seattle for his dynamic, enlightening and entertaining talks.
Tuesday, May 3rd
6:30 - 7:00 p.m. Happy Half Hour
7:00 - 9:00 p.m. "Navigation for Local Cruising"
24707 Dana Drive
Dana Point, CA 92629
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Membership Has It's Privileges!
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Several local area yacht clubs have extended guest privileges to WSA-OC members. Specific privileges may vary by club but typically include the use of: bar, showers, snack bar, guest docks, hoist and ramp
(if available). Please call the yacht club you wish to visit in advance, for more specific details. Keep in mind, we are
guests of these facilities and should act accordingly. The following is a list of clubs where we currently have guest privileges:
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| Mark Your Calendar's Now! Upcoming WSA-OC Events* |
WSA-OC has events* planned through the end of 2016. For more information, view our
All Events page on the website, where you will be able to read more detail about each event as well as additional events that aren't listed below. As each event gets closer more details will be provided via the various WSA-OC online outlets.
July 5th ~ ~ No General Meeting
September 6th ~ ~ No General Meeting
September 18th ~ ~ OSeas: Long Beach Charity Race
Reminder: All of our activities and events, except our monthly general meetings or where stated otherwise, require you to be a WSA-OC member in good standing and also require paid in advance preregistration. That being said, if you're not a member we'd LOVE to have you. We have a lot of events planned through the end of 2016 and we hope you will
join us today so you won't miss out on the fun!
*Subject to change
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Come Race With the OSeas
The OSeas may have begun as a way to enter LEMWOD. However, it is so much more than a once-a-year race team. The OSeas are a gateway to participate in many of the weekly summertime races held at almost every yacht club.
We are currently building up our database of members interested.
Several notable SoCal racers have contacted us looking for experienced race crew to participate in the many races from Long Beach to San Diego.
For questions, information, or to help coordinate a training session, with the OSeas please email
Karen Pacella at
oseas@wsaoc.org
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REGISTRATION OPENS
APRIL 18th
The wait is almost over! Registration will open on Monday, April 18th.
Act fast, as registration will be limited to 200 people.
The cost to attend will be $195 per person and will include presentations from four experts in the field of marine biology/ecology, five meals, entertainment and much, much more!
The OAC page on the WSA-OC website has a lot of new content, via the drop-down menu such as the FAQ page, among others.
Contact OAC
for additional information of how you can become involved.
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| Brenda Highly aboard Autumn Moon prior to the start of our Racing 101: Practice Regatta on April 20th. In the background is Sol Mate (left to right: Deborah McDougal, Tamara Tatich, Cindy Wynne and Valerie Rhodes). Photo courtesy of Susan Carle. |
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Do you have your WSA-OC burgee? Do you have a trip planned? If so, we'd love to see photos of the WSA-OC burgee accompanying you in your travels, hopefully to exotic locales. Happy Travels!
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| The WSA-OC burgee (top) flying on Campbell's Sloop before the AAYS Regatta on April 3rd, in the exotic locale of Dana Point Harbor. |
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Thank you to Dee Carroll who stepped up and volunteered to be the Chairperson for the newly created Philanthropy Committee. Dee went above and beyond the call of duty for her very first event, the AAYS Regatta. Well done Dee and thanks again!!!
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March 20th, 2016, was a great day for our second "Racing 101: Practice Regatta" sailboat race. There were 14 WSA-OC members who participated as crew, four skippers and the committee boat crew. The winds were good (unlike the last time we hosted this event) and the competition even better. All of the boats were only separated by a few seconds and the overall winner ultimately had to be determined by a tiebreaker, which was a practice start.
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Racing 101 organizer, Wayne Wallace, checking his list once, then twice only to find everyone was not naughty, but played nice. Photo courtesy of Susan Carle.
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What A Deal
We are currently offering a combination deal on our logo merchandise: a split-neck polo style shirt, a baseball cap and a window cling decal all for the low, low price of only $37! There is a limited quantity and special price ends 4/15.
Purchase now!
UPDATE: Only sizes large and extra large are still available.
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| Laguna Beach Indy (scroll to the bottom) |
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The SCYA 2016 Race Calendar & Yacht Club Directory is now updated and online.
Check out pages 96-98 for the WSA-OC feature.
Of course you can see all of the race and yacht club information as well.
Have you recently received a sailing award or trophy? Did you get a new boat? Do you have a sailing or marine photo? If you said "yes" to any of these questions, let us know. Don't be shy! Email us at:
info@wsaoc.org
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WSA-OC member Diane Berol is once again graciously inviting our members to take her sailing classes at no charge aboard
Celtic Song. The following is her schedule for the months of April and May:
April 17th MOB drills/Reefing
April 20th Basic sail trim/Safety
April 30th Docking
May 4th MOB drills/Reefing
May 8th Basic sail trim/Safety
May 14th Advanced training
May 21st Overnight to Los Coronados
All classes will be held from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
If you want to participate or would like more information,
RSVP to Diane. Enrollment will be first come, first served and participants are responsible for providing their own lunch.
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Sea Gals, in Long Beach, a sister organization, has a perfect Sunday summertime opportunity for you aboard the Long Beach Sailing Association's Catalina 37 boats, which are what is raced during LEMWOD.
No experience is necessary to participate in the Sea Gals events, just your desire!
Register now for the summer Sea Gals sailing events. All WSA-OC members are eligible for a $10 discount off of the $50 event fee.
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Volunteers are needed to help teach or share knowledge with all boating events - sabot sailing, canoeing, kayaking and stand up paddle boarding - on May 1st at Newport Dunes Back Bay.
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Welcome Aboard 
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WSA-OC continues to grow, thanks to all of you for being WSA ambassadors.
Welcome to our newest members:
Nickie Anderson
Linda Halcom
Jennifer Henning
Debbie Kraemer
Linda Urette
Happy Sailing!
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WSA-OC
Board of Directors
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WSA-OC
Commodore
Valerie Rhodes
Vice Commodore
Kathleen Brown
Rear Commodore
Gabi Schwaiger
Treasurer
Wayne Wallace
Secretary
Brenda Highley
Membership Director
Risa Scott
Director (Racing)
Karen Pacella
Director (Programs)
Melanie Green
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Newsletter Editor
Tracy Gallucci
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