Aloha Sailors,
Our first sail of the year is coming up fast! My apologies for not getting this email out sooner. Our board has been working very diligently getting things organized to kick off the year.
The Sledgehammer race is scheduled for February 26th but first, we have the Coast Guard Auxiliary coming down February 18th. Dust off the bird poo from your boats and let’s get them ready and safe for sailing!
This is a work day and we welcome all club members to help spruce up the club and their parking areas in preparation for the sailing season.
Joe will be grillin’ up chilli dogs and will be available to teach our members the ins and outs of being a Principal Race Officer/Officer (PRO/OD) of the day and Race Committee (RC).
Al Wehren will be present accepting volunteers for PRO and RC for the sledgehammer and spring series races. We have updated the website and request that all members RSVP using the Events Sign Up Page. See Link Below
February 18th – Work day / Coast Guard Inspection
February 26th – Sledgehammer Race
The past few years have been really tough with the effects of covid and many of our friends and family have been struggling not only with the pandemic but also with, well, life! There has been a core group of KSC Members that have held this club together. Taking care of club maintenance, finances, and keeping it running while we all paused to catch our breath.
I believe some thanks are in order.
Michaela & Joe Dubose – have consistently performed the majority of the maintenance around the club for years. Every weekend, maintaining sprinkler systems, club facilities, lawn maintenance, trash, etc. On top of this, all the administrative, board required work, and volunteering for entire sailing seasons as PRO or RC.
Alicia Starsong – Alicia has quite literally kept us afloat with her hard work, stringent, detailed and focused mindset as treasurer. She has also brought in many new members and kept active BISF, Aloha Sailing and her youth program which directly translates into a large portion of our racers. Liz Crabtree started us on the path to gain our 501(c)(3) status which Alicia completed. This is NOT easy work.
Our other board of directors – Billy, Judy, Daniel, Brad, Al, Chuck and Donna have all put in a large amount of time providing for the club as well.
Suffice to say, it’s A LOT of work to maintain our club, to give back to all our membership, a place where we enjoy a common interest and a passion for sailing.
It’s time for change and active participation.
I urge our entire membership to participate whenever possible. As a club we are afforded many advantages you will not see anywhere else in Hawaii. We (luckily) are not just some random Yacht club where you pay hundreds of dollars for a steak fry and champagne; then sign up for the occasional yoga session (although that could be a nice addition).
We are a sailing club through and through!
We have a unique mix of “on the water” events as well as social events, which I hope to expand over the next two years. We have access to a clubhouse that sits right in the harbor, and we have the cheapest boat storage in the State! I would hope our membership does not take this for granted, but quite frankly, we will not survive too many more years without active participation.
Although the following is not the easiest to write and somewhat negative or somber, I believe it’s important.
To our members who have special parking privileges:
Our sailing day turnouts have been down right abysmal for the past few years. I understand COVID, however, we have to remember why we joined, why we sail, and get back into it! Our members want to sail, they want to crew, they want to learn! Our club goes nowhere without your support and participation in events.
If you have special parking privileges you are required to:
-
Keep your parking spot clean and free of weeds/rubbish
-
Participate in 4 sailing event per calendar year
-
Signup for 2 events as PRO, RC, or Grillmaster
-
Participate in, at minimum, 1 work day per calendar year
– If you have a boat that you are working on, work on it and crew for another, or sign up for extra events, or provide help around the club
If you are habitually noncompliant, your board of directors may hold a meeting to determine your future at this club.
Now that we got through that! A few things on the lighter side…
Al Wehren is working on fixing the seat on the committee boat, lend him a hand if you can!
Joe installed a new Bimini last year and Michaela is working on the cushions for the bench seat as well!
One more “Thanks” due. – Kim (what’s your last name lol) Kim, spent a lot of time creating our website. Much work went into building a very useful tool for us. I have (finally) taken the time to learn its ins and outs so we can continue using it, evolving it into something we all utilize and contribute to. So the following features have been updated and are available to all of our members, check back often:
-
All Calendar Events for the year have been updated. Just about every page has a calendar widget which shows relevant events for that section. You can navigate to “Members” -> “Event Sign ups” to RSVP for PRO, RC, Grill master, and Potluck.
-
Email post@konasailingclub.org – All Active members are now able to send an email to this address and it will post your story in our “News & Updates” section within 30 minutes. Soon, these posts will be linked to our social media. So please, share your sailing stories with us! Your subject will be the title, add a picture before your message if you wish, and type away!
Mahalo everyone who made it this far in my rant.
I am excited to see you all on the water and at the potlucks this year. I can’t do this Commodore thing without you. If you have any suggestions, ideas for new events, anything YOU would like to see change or happen please let me know. This is YOUR club, let’s turn it into something you love.
Your Commodore,
Casey Mayes