Emailing - Percy Priest Yacht Club

Date: 10/16/2020
Subject: Email To The PPYC Membership
From: Communications Director

PPYC Newsletter

Commodore's Corner

Ahoy sailors! NOTE: We need a membership volunteer for a maintenance project. Our Carolina Skiff trailer would benefit from a bumper on its support, a simple 2x4 fixed by sunken head carriage bolts then carpeted. Paul Latour has the carpet. Please Email me at Commodore@ppyc.org if you can volunteer. I can send you 2 photos.

We are researching an off-site location for our membership Annual Meeting and am awaiting notification from one organization to be held on Saturday, January 9th between 2-4pm. In the past, we have held this meeting on Sunday afternoons, but I was told recently the attendance last January we changed to a Saturday had a greater turnout than holding on Sunday. I will advise confirmation of this date as soon as I hear, but please put that date tentatively on your calendars.

A reminder for you 2020 upgraded members, this will be your first opportunity to officially vote on all club business for 2021! PPYC is your club and needs your discussions and votes! I will also be contacting all of you qualified Provisional members in the next week to submit your upgrade applications to full voting members which will need to be signed by 2 Board members and yourselves. I’ll give you all the instructions! I hope to submit all applications at our November 2nd meeting.

Our new Bylaws (that are posted on our website) outline the committees and their descriptions that have been established for 2021. I would like each of you to start thinking about on which committee you would like to serve next year. They are:

* Membership Committee
* Competitive Sailing Committee
* Social Committee
* Sailing Committee
* Asset Committee
* Communications Committee
* Club Boat Committee
* Cruising Sailing Committee

Missing all of you. I will be at the Equalizer race this Saturday about 8:30am to welcome our racers, especially our out-of-towners – perhaps I’ll see some of you there!

Kathy Ware, Commodore

Upcoming Events And Other Items Of Interest

Upcoming Events

Join us for the 2020 Fall Off Regatta -- Registration Now Open

Percy Priest Yacht Club cordially invites you and your crew to attend the Fall Off Regatta. This year the Fall Off Regatta is going to be a little different, as you might expect. In addition to some changes because of the pandemic, we will be running a Pursuit Style Race. This means each different type of boat will have its own start countdown. The faster your boat is, the longer your countdown before you can cross the start line. Whoever finishes first, wins! The courses will be distance races. So, depending on the wind, the course may round some islands headed north toward the dam. Or, it may head south toward Hobson Pike bridge. This regatta is open to all sailboat types in three classes: Spinnaker, Non-Spinnaker and Bee Fleet. Skipper and crew of all skill levels are invited to join in. We especially want this race to be conducive to the Bee Fleet or other cruisers who want an excuse to get out and see a little more of the lake with your fellow sailors. If you haven't raced before, make sure to send an email to racing@ppyc.org so we can assign you a countdown time for your boat’s start.

Reservations for the Equalizer Regatta (October 17-18) have been open for several weeks now. It looks like turnout will be good, including out-of-town registrants. Unfortunately, we had to cancel the Octoberfest Regatta because of complexities arising from the COVID-19 protocols.

The Christmas Dinner And Social has been cancelled. We’re sorry, but it simply will not be possible for us to have a meaningful gathering this year that is compliant with our COVID-19 policy. Also, all remaining 2020 events are being updated regularly to reflect current status, so check them out on the Events Calendar.

Our Annual Meeting is scheduled for 2:00-4:00pm Saturday, January 9th. COVID-19 restrictions will make the clubhouse unsuitable as a venue this year. We are investigating options nearby and will change that item on the Events Calendar when we have made the necessary arrangements.

Please check the special page we've added this year to keep you regularly and frequently updated on the overall status of the Coronavirus situation, including its impact on our Events schedule -- Coronavirus Updates.

Communications Corner

As I head down the stretch of the best sailing months of the year, I’m in a good place after a terrible start. The COVID-19 pandemic has made 2020 a memorable year for all of us. For me, the worst part was not being able to sail at all for the first half of the main season (I didn’t own a boat until late July, and the Club Boats were not available until about that time.) Also contributing to 2021’s challenges was “learning at the helm” from a Club management perspective for this “Rookie” Board member during a year in which almost nothing was “normal” (thanks to other long-time club members with more Board service under their belts, that didn’t turn out to be problematic for the club.) The unique challenges associated with the latter, although not completely behind us, are definitely on the decline — and buying a boat took care of the former.

As to why I’m in a good place. ... There’s something about enjoying Nature by sailing that for me is somehow different from other ways of enjoying it like hiking, camping, downhill skiing, other activities on or in water, etc. It’s that feeling I get when I’ve readied my boat to take me wherever I want to go with only the wind for propulsion, motored out just far enough to put that propulsion into action, and cut the engine. There’s no sound of an engine, no smell of its exhaust — and if there are no people around who don’t have a clue what I’m trying to say here playing loud music or otherwise making noise, just the sound of swishing water disturbed only by the unobtrusive mechanical sounds associated with helm and sail management. If I’m having this experience in coastal waters, I’ll hear louder sounds of swishing (perhaps augmented in higher winds by sounds associated with wave motion,) and I may see dolphins or porpoises doing their wave-like jumps as they pass within a few yards of me. In some regions, I may see a few pilot whales or even gray or humpback whales in similar moves.

So now, as the main season winds down, I’m back to a good place more like last year (“a good place” being, of course, sailing whenever I want 😊⛵️.) In another month or so, I’ll be sailing less frequently until probably late February or early March simply because there will be far fewer days per month when wind and other weather conditions — especially temperature — are optimal for doing so. When it’s feasible, of course, I’ll go out to minimize “withdrawal symptoms,” enjoy “moments” like I’ve described here, and whet my appetite for the fun awaiting me next Spring. By then, I’m thinking we’ll either have COVID-19 behind us or at least we’ll have settled into living with precautions that strike a more reasonable balance between controlling its spread and causing the social, psychological, and economic problems associated with business shutdowns. So I’m looking forward to a more “normal” year in 2021. 👍

Don’t forget to check the Coronavirus Updates page regularly for the latest information on how that plan relates specifically to PPYC [Link below.]

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.

Return to Previous Page