Norlan and Dawn at the 2012 Ya Gotta Regatta - they are all smiles! Notice Lynn and Doug in the background presenting awards. Help us continue to provide accessible and inclusive sailing.

Dear Sailor,

In the Spring of 2013, I led a "Taste of Sailing" for a group of Boy Scouts with my buddy Jon. Jon wasn't much of a sailor, but he believed in the mission. Money was tight and he was doing me a favor. For reasons lost to time, only one DSC powerboat was operational... and "operational" was a euphemism at best.

It was a gusty spring day, with winds from the southeast. After running through all of the preliminaries, we did a short sail around some practice buoys...Then our motor cut out. I wish I could say that I was surprised, but that's how we got along in those days.

I did all the tricks one does, yanked on the pull cord, and the engine roared back to life. Desperate, we raced back to the docks so that I could attempt to launch an untitled and unregistered zodiac from "the beach," knowing that our powerboat would likely fail again. The engine sputtered but Jon limped back out to corral the kids.

Temporarily abandoned, the fleet of Access dinghies (Hansa 303s) scattered like a shotgun burst towards all points of the harbor. The seat on one boat broke; another was riding low in the water. Kids were screaming. By the time I'd dragged the rubber boat down the embankment, (thank goodness the engine worked), two of the dinghies were plastered against the Tiki Barge; one was on the rocks; and Jon was adrift in a beleaguered Whaler.

All of the youth made it back to the docks in one piece, but our lack of preparation caught up to us. Needless to say, the Scouting group did not return for a repeat experience.

Ed Duggan, tireless advocate for inclusive and adaptive sailing, competes in the 2012 Ya Gotta Regatta. Ed believed we should reach for the stars.

In that instance, like many before and many since, we had attempted to scrape by on one wing and a prayer. But our luck had run out. We did not have the money to do things the correct way, but in our desire to serve others we made the call against the odds and defied what I knew to be sound judgment.

The 2012 & 2013 Sailing Instructor Training Classes. The Sailing Instructor Training Program has been a cornerstone DSC program for over 20 years. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we need individual donor support for this program more than ever.

Here's the deal: We - The DSC - need your financial support. I do not want to continue to choose between quality and opportunity. Our organization has always relied on luck or we have gone without. Both options have been detrimental to our long term success. As one does in hard times, we have consistently pushed our luck to the brink. Sometimes things have gone our way... and sometimes they have not.

I could drone on with other stories of how our luck failed us: about how Lynn had to rely on a 14 year old to rescue a Hansa dinghy after its servo motor died; about how we had to forego fleet maintenance for a year so we could pay down our debts; about how we had to sell our cruising fleet to stay afloat; or about how operating short staffed has often felt like our only fiscally appropriate option.

Santa sails the servo-motor-assisted Hansa 303S in the 2011 Ya Gotta Regatta. The servo motor enables sailors who lack arm strength to compete against others. Pulling the servo-assisted Hansa 303S offline was one of those hard choices we have had to make.

I love our hardscrabble, get-it-done attitude. We make every dollar count. We focus on the people, ALWAYS. But I do not want to ever be in the position again where we cannot serve people safely. We should be forced to choose between quality and access. We should not have to settle for worn out, broken, and unkempt.

If you love community sailing, please make a financial contribution today. Just as importantly, please share our story with your friends, family, and professional networks.

I would like to get to the point where we are operating on the kind of luck that comes from being well prepared. Help us be prepared for the opportunities that await.

If you would like to be better prepared about how to share our story with others, CLICK HERE for our fundraising toolkit.

Thank you for supporting The DSC, and thank you for sharing your story - our story - with others.

Sincerely,

Stuart Proctor

Executive Director

The Downtown Sailing Center

Our Gangway Awning, 2012/2013. It is a lovely welcome to Baltimore, isn't it? Angel investment and corporate donations enabled us to improve our entranceway in 2013.

Our "working" powerboat fleet, summer 2012. Thanks to donor support, our powerboat support fleet has come a long way.