
We are now sailing down the back side of the wave of our club's active season.
The Bonfire on Saturday, January the 18th at Lynn and Ed Sims' Beach was the epitome of who we are.
We had some of the active sailors out on the lake challenging the wind, their skills and each other.
They wrapped up just in time for the gathering of the more social part of the day which was centered around the bonfire, the spirited conversations (or should I say, conversations aided by spirits) and the food. Thank you Ed and Lynn for the delicious bratwurst and hot dogs that have been the wonderful tradition of this event that rolls into sunset, twilight and nightfall. The club recognizes and is so blessed to have your generous support in sharing your location with us on these events. Again, thank you so much.
Oh yes! We had a raffle and many winnings this time...OBRS flag, Lottery scratch-off tickets, sailing books, and a big pot....$43. I should know, my wife's visiting brother, Erik, won it (the pot) and was smiling all the way back to Sweden.
In looking forward to the second phase of our season, there are some things worth noting for the future. We have a new young adult club member, Ross Martin, who has been sailing with Ed's "Point Blank" crew on the Intra-lake-races and he is adding a San Juan 21', named "Pivot", to the up-coming Spring Intra-lake-race competitions. The result of this will be an expanded Ocala Sailing Club presence on those lakes and an opportunity for more of our OSC "sailors in waiting" to jump on board and take part in these thrilling events. There will be room for ... and need for... volunteer crew members for these two sailboats. We are hoping that maybe some of the other members with sailboats may be inspired also to sign-up for these events. It is an opportunity to challenge your skills and to meet many interesting comrades in sailing. As a result of these outreaches in competition from our club, we have attracted sailors from other lakes to attend our regattas and races. Be sure to keep watch on this Newsletter as it comes out each month as we will print a calendar of these events for you to consider. Talk to Ed Sims, Ross Martin or me if you are interested ~ it is really a good way to get excited about sailing & racing.
Also, besides Ross Martin, Ken and Sheila Renfro have recently become new members of the club. They have moved to Florida from Alabama. Ken sailed with me during the Bonfire event and was a great compliment to my performance that day. Looking forward to seeing a lot more of them. Also, at the tail-end of our Bonfire we were joined by Jim and Lisa Edens and their daughter who drove down from the Gainesville area. They have been to a few of our events and socials and requested a membership form after the Bonfire. The Brat-wurst must bring out the best. Jim is an active sailor who is also currently building a fiberglass trimaran from plans in his shop. He has invited interested OSC members to come up some Saturday and check it out. I am interested and so is Larry Moore, so how about it? Lets get some folks together and go up in my van.
There are a lot of interesting things happening with the club this month. Little Joey's Restaurant is coming up on the 6th. We plan to have a sailing armada on Lake Harris to make a friendly invasion on the Hideaway Restaurant for lunch on the 15th.
There will be some of us out for Lemon Point sailing on the 16th. And my wife, Mai, and I are hosting the February membership dinner meeting.at our house on the 20th.
Looking forward to seeing you!
Your Commodore,
Art Twitchell