Sailing Science Center News

F50 Catamarans Racing in front of Alcatraz

May 2019

Vol. 2, No. 9

Welcome to the May issue of the Sailing Science Center News! We have a boat load of things to celebrate this month, ranging from spectacular weather, to some great new volunteers, to one of the most exciting, high tech sailing events of the year being held right here on San Francisco Bay.

The theme of our newsletter this month is Going Social! as we welcome in our new Social Media Czar, and make public three new social media accounts. In our Leadership Corner the theme is Persistence. Few people quit at the bottom of the mountain, but as the terrain gets steeper, and the going gets harder, that's when they drop off; and this is why we honor and celebrate the ones who stick with it to make it to the top.

Continue reading to get all the savory details...

Half of what separates successful entrepreneurs from unsuccessful entrepreneurs is pure perseverance.

– Steve Jobs

Volunteer Spotlight - Charlie Deist

Young, smart and energetic, Charlie Deist is one of the newer volunteers on the SSC project. We were introduced to Charlie by volunteer John Bechtol at the St. Francis Yacht Club after the Wednesday Yachting Luncheon on February 20. Charlie was immediately interested in the project because of the "human factors" aspect. This is less surprising after you learn that he has a prior history studying human factors through a medium called MovNat that involves exercise through natural movement, something he both practices and has written about.

Charlie also quickly and accurately identified the fact that we didn't have much of a social media presence (read "none") and is now helping us to change that. This past month we crowned Charlie as our Social Media Czar and he is now managing our new Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts. You can read more about our entry into these areas later in this newsletter.

But back to Charlie... Born in Marin shortly before the Loma Prieta Earthquake*, Charlie has spent most of his life in California except for an 18-month stint split between Washington D.C. and Brooklyn NY. He has an older sister who lives in Petaluma and he holds a BA in Economics from Cal, which he puts to good use producing a radio talk show, called the Bob Zadek Show. You can hear the show Sunday mornings on 860 AM. If that's not already a pretty good life, Charlie is about to get married, with a date set this July.

Not surprisingly, Charlie is also a sailor. In fact, the day we met him he had "commuted" on his 1965 Columbia 24 sailboat, Tara, from Berkeley to San Francisco. This is the second of three boats he has owned since he started sailing in 2013, the other two being an Ericson 25 "fixer-upper" and an Islander 24. While most of his sailing has been of the cruising variety, as we interviewed him for this piece he was on his way to race in the Berkeley Yacht Club Friday Night series. We think you'll like racing Charlie!

We're very excited to have Charlie on the SSC project to manage the social media, help us extend our outreach, and generally embody the character and values we care about. Welcome aboard Charlie!

*There's no proof that his birth actually caused the quake.

SailGP

While constructing this month's newsletter banner, we began with themes of May Day and Cinco de Mayo, but then began thinking that we were starting to stray. This is the Sailing Science Center after all, not the monthly holiday review.

More appropriate to the month, our project, and the Bay Area is the May 4-5 event called SailGP. This is grand prix racing sailboat-style, and combines the latest science and technology with the sport we love, sailed right here on San Francisco Bay. It's hard to think of anything more appropriate for the San Francisco Sailing Science Center to celebrate.

To underscore that point, our volunteer event this month is an outing on a gorgeous 54 foot sailboat for volunteers to watch the racing on May 4.

There is only one guarantee of losing, and that is if we quit.

– John C. Maxwell

April Volunteer Event

Rewarding and celebrating our volunteers is a top priority on the SSC project. One way we're doing this is through our monthly volunteer events. Last month that was a trip to the Exploratorium's April 11 After Dark event. Six of us showed up for this fun, social and educational evening. Thank you to Billy Sarno at the Exploratorium for helping to make this happen and to our Volunteer Coordinator, Morgan Davidson, for managing the invitations.

Pictured above: George DeVore, Victoria Marcus, Jim Hancock, Meagan Strout, Paul Kamen and Mike Beller. At right: Mike Beller

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Inside Hangar 3

On April 2nd we got our first official viewing of the inside of Hangar 3. It's our goal to house the Sailing Science Center in this building when the time comes. Gerry Tierney of architectural firm, Perkins+Will, joined us to help estimate what work will need to be done. Nothing we saw in the building diminished in any way our feeling of its appropriateness for our intended application. To the contrary, it strengthened our belief that this will make a terrific future home for the Sailing Science Center.

Thanks go to TIDA, Rich Rovetti, Loraine Lee, Gerry Tierney and Perkins+Will for making this happen.

Entrance Tunnel

North Foyer

Top: Inside the Hangar

Bottom: Roof Structure & Lighting

The most difficult thing is the decision to act. The rest is mere tenacity.

– Amelia Earhart

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We're Social!

SSC now has Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts. We encourage all our members to like, follow and retweet our pages!

Twitter: @sailingscience

Facebook: San Francisco Sailing Science Center

LinkedIn: San Francisco Sailing Science Center

For additional thoughts, suggestions, photos, memes or articles you wish to share, email Charlie Deist directly at socialmedia@sailingscience.org

We'll be contacting Elon Musk and Donald Trump to get their advice on best Tweeting practices.

Mystic Seaport

Through volunteer Paul Kamen, we have learned that the Mystic Seaport Museum, in Mystic Connecticut, has been creating and displaying exhibits similar to what we have in mind for the Sailing Science Center, if a little more child-focused. Thanks to Paul we got links to the videos below.

Discovery Barn (1:37)

Explore Kids (2:17)

We've reached out to Mystic to talk to them about what they're doing, and in June Paul will be making a trip there to check it out in person. Good job Paul!

Small Stuff

Volunteer Project Listings

We've been adding to the list of projects for volunteers. There are lots of small, closed-ended ways you can contribute and share your special skills. Check out our website for volunteering opportunities.

Active volunteers are eligible to participate in the monthly volunteer events featured in this newsletter.

SSC Office

In April we finished painting the SSC office, hung pictures, moved the furniture back in place and did some small repairs.

We now have a warm, cozy place to work and meet. It's one of many small steps on our journey. Thanks to all the volunteers who helped get this done!

Leadership Corner

While perseverance isn't a guarantee of success, quitting is a guarantee of failure. It's the easy way out when the going gets tough. Unfortunately, it's the option too many people choose.