Emailing - Percy Priest Yacht Club

Date: 4/17/2020
Subject: Email To The PPYC Membership
From: Communications Director

PPYC Newsletter

Commodore's Corner

I don't have any current updates yet on the resumption of club activities, as the Board will meet (via ZOOM) on May 4th with some further determinations. I am cautiously optimistic that part of our country potentially may start living again by being carefully able to go back to work and hopefully, we are on the downside of the peak from this horrendous disease which has done such destruction to all of our lives. Continued prayers for all those on the front lines caring for the sick, for those suffering grief, and all of the methods of transportation that are bringing food and supplies to our stores, so we can survive. Prayers of strength and wisdom to our leaders to help define our next steps so critically important to our psychological and economic survival.

I thought I'd share a tidbit with you for those who don't know that over the years, we've had two marriages that have happened with members meeting through PPYC and eventually getting married. First, Carl and Christine Hellerqvist (and I missed their marina wedding being overseas on a company trip, but Bob held down the fort in my absence). Next was Jim Shamblin and Sara Tamas who joined the club to increase their sailing skills, and I then watched my friends with joy as Jim proposed on blended knee to Sara at LATH one special night (and no one took pictures!). Well, we now have a third marriage in the works from a relationship that has grown through friendship and sailing, namely Katie Wilson and Matt Pfingsten who got engaged on Easter Sunday. They knew each other through another organization but truly came together in LATH (Matt is one of our LATH skippers).

Here's how it happened: They ordered breakfast from First Watch on Easter Sunday morning, because it's their 2 year anniversary. When breakfast came, Matt set the table and in the middle was a big box. Inside the box was a small box. Inside that box was a note that said "look behind you". And when Katie turned around, Matt was kneeling and pulling out the ring box. What a romantic that Matt is. I loved it! They are planning a Halloween wedding next year. Please feel free to send them congrats!

Kathy Ware, Commodore

Upcoming Events And Other Items Of Interest

Since all of our activities are cancelled through May 31, the only thing we'd like to communicate here is the importance of keeping in touch with us regularly on the overall Coronavirus situation -- as it relates to us, specifically.

All of our scheduled activities for 2020 remain on the Events Calendar, with “CANCELLED” in the titles of those up to and including May 31 and “TENTATIVE — To Be Re-Evaluated May 4“ for all items in June and July.

Please see the note Charles added in the Communications Corner section below about a special page we've added to keep you regularly and frequently updated on the overall status of the Coronavirus situation, including its impact on our Events schedule.

Communications Corner

One of my high school teachers always gave her class some parting advice as the last session for an academic year was coming to a close. She said “For the rest of your life, make it a point to learn something new every day.” For me, that advice really “sank in.” I turned 75 this month, and I can honestly say that I have consciously tried to do that over 20,000 times since that last day in “Miss Stella’s” English class.

In this home-bound situation, I’ve had time to reflect on that a bit — of more than 20,000 things, how many have I not forgotten? That reflection caused me to think of educationally-focused times like my college years, a couple of mid-career years in which I took courses to qualify to sit for the CPA exam [which I passed,] and many self-learning experiences like studying the Bible, teaching myself how to play several musical instruments, and — guess what? — leaning to sail and sailing for over 35 years. So I thought I’d just mention a few subjects in which I realize I’m reasonably well-versed but probably wouldn’t be absent my love of sailing. ...

Astronomy as it relates to celestial navigation. ... The physics and thermodynamics of global wind patterns that explain things like why weather systems generally move through our area from West to East. ... Global tide dynamics in the context of planning coastal cruising excursions. ... Types of clouds and how they portend upcoming weather. ... The physics, thermodynamics and fluid mechanics of wind as it relates to the forward motion of a sailboat. ... Sailboat architecture and why you rarely if ever hear of a monohull keelboat being capsized by the wind. ... Marine radio protocol. ... Navigation lights and how they can reveal the type and direction of boats within sight at night. ... Harbor protocols. ... ... ...

These are just the top-of-mind things that came to me as I wrote this article. I’ve found not being able to sail during this time has made me want to refresh my knowledge of things about sailing I haven’t use for a while, so I've added that to spending more time on my music these days. I’m really enjoying it, and I highly recommend it.

Please Note. We’ve added a special Coronavirus Updates page to the Member Resources section. We will post the most current PPYC-specific information we have about the Coronavirus situation there. You can access it through the Member Resources Menu, by clicking the link in the top banner on this page, or by clicking here: Coronavirus Updates

Charles Jones, Communications Director
communications@ppyc.org

Thanks for reading this communication. We'll see you around.

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