Here's the Latest News from SEAS Monmouth
as of May 5, 2021
Columbus Day Cruise and Cruising Course
What getting away was meant to be …
Although the summer is just around the corner, it's not too early to begin thinking about our annual Columbus Day weekend Chesapeake Cruise and Cruising Course, especially given the tough year we’ve had with COVID. Before you know it, the summer heat will be subsiding, the autumn winds will be picking up, and the Chesapeake will once again be calling. Autumn Chesapeake sailing can be a really exciting experience! Every year this cruise is a fun-filled adventure, and, a great sailing learning experience. 

This year SEAS has four boats, including two boats for the cruise and two boats for the cruising course. Crew sizes will be 5 people on a cruising boat, and 6 on a cruising course boat, including two instructors. This makes for great social events at boat raft-ups and going ashore! You may remember sitting at dockside restaurants in Annapolis, St. Michaels, or even New Jersey, watching boats dock and sailors work, wondering what it would be like to be part of it all. Well, here's your chance! 

The itinerary will begin on Friday evening, October 8, with your arrival at the boats in Rock Hall MD's Haven Marina, perhaps after a day at the Annapolis Boat Show just across the Bay. We will depart on Saturday, October 9, for our three-day cruise, returning on Monday, October 11, in the late afternoon. We'll spend one evening with our four boats tied together and anchored in a quiet cove watching the sunset and sipping cocktails, and the other evening at one of the Chesapeake's bustling ports – Annapolis, St. Michaels, or Baltimore Inner Harbor.

The cruising course is designed to give you the experience and training you need to serve as crew on larger boats, whether you’ve never cruised before or were just a “passenger.” In the four classroom sessions and three days on the water, you’ll learn about navigation, anchoring, using the radio, plumbing and electrical systems on a boat, safety, clothing (what to bring), weather, using the engine, steering the boat, docking (how to use dock lines and fenders), sailing (what are all those "extra" control lines for?), living on a boat and much, much more. 

The cost of the three-day cruise is $382, plus a $250 refundable security deposit. The cruising course is $451 (which includes all course materials), plus a $209 refundable security deposit. The per-person cost of food and incidentals is extra (approximately $40-50). 

If you're interested in the cruise or cruising course, contact Ray Kimber at raykimber@comcast.net or 732-809-3718. For more information about each, including an application, go to Cruising/Cruising Course Application. 
Special note about COVID:
We’ve all been doing our best to stay safe during this pandemic, and we at SEAS Monmouth want you to be safe and feel safe during these cruising activities. In this spirit we’re requiring that all of our cruise and cruising course participants have completed their vaccination or vaccination series at least two weeks prior to the cruise date (October 9) with any one of the approved vaccines. In addition, you may wear a mask at any time during these activities.
Work Session on the Rhodes
There will be a Rhodes session on Saturday at 11AM

Who:    Anyone that might use the Rhodes this year
Where: Monmouth Sailing Center, 46 West St, Monmouth Beach, NJ
When: Saturday May 15th, 11am
What: Paint bottom; Wash/Wax; Remove Stays for measuring

Please contact Mike Kunkel at 862-432-0391 or makunkel@gmail.com and let him know your availability for this work session
Annual Skipper Review Meeting
Wednesday May 19, 2021 07:30 PM
Annually SEAS Monmouth requires all skippers, no matter what level, to attend an annual Skipper Review meeting. All club members are also welcome to attend. The agenda is to review the current processes all skippers and sailors are expected to follow when using our fleet of boats. There will be time for Q&A at the end.
Topic: SEAS Annual Skipper Review Zoom Meeting
Time: May 19, 2021 07:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

Meeting ID: 890 0418 6430
Passcode: 983118

Dial by your location
    +1 929 205 6099 US (New York)

Meeting ID: 890 0418 6430
Passcode: 983118
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kd4h1yryue
Boating Safety Certificate
The State of New Jersey requires everyone operating a motorized vessel (this includes sailboats capable of operating under power) to have a Boating Safety Certificate. All levels of skippers and any person taking the helm of a SEAS motor powered vessel is required to possess a state of NJ Boating Safety Certificate as required by law. All crew who take the helm should have their BSC card with them. This is the skipper's responsibility. If a fine is levied for a violation, the chapter will not reimburse for it.

Online courses which meet this requirement are offered by Boat-Ed. Their website is www.boat-ed.com/newjersey/ 

The online course fee is listed at $39.50. Their website states:

"You may complete the course at your own pace. The course can be
completed in one sitting or a little at a time over several days. Log in and
out at any time, and we'll keep track of your progress. Most students finish
the course in a few hours."
"After passing the course, you will have 365 days to attend the state-
required In-Person Exam to complete your Boating safety certification."
It's Time To Renew For 2021!

Renewing your existing membership is easy; just click on the link below.
Creative Volunteer Needed!
As the person who has been writing this newsletter for the last few years, I am the first to admit that it doesn't have much visual appeal. I've seen other newsletters and messages sent out by other organizations using Constant Contact, and it's obvious that there are people who can do a much better job than I do.

I'm hoping that you are one of those people, and that you'll volunteer to step in and help SEAS Monmouth get a better looking newsletter. I'll be happy to remain involved and to provide the content, so you wouldn't have to worry about that. You would make it look better, with graphics, color, all that stuff I'm no good at.

Maybe you're not the person, but you have a son or daughter who's a marketing major at college? Would they like the opportunity to put their skills to use, and have something to add to their resume? We'd love to have them help us out!

If you able to help out with this in any way, please get in touch at graham.blundell@gmail.com
We need speakers and/or topics for our monthly meetings
If you know someone who can present a topic of interest to SEAS members, or if you attended a meeting somewhere else that had a presentation that you think would be relevant at a SEAS meeting, please let Joan Venezia know. If you are able to speak with the person about coming to a SEAS meeting that would be great, but if all you have is their name and contact information, with some background information about their topic and where you saw them, email it to Joan at joan.venezia@hotmail.com and she'll take it from there!