Report on the Tall Ship Trip by Diana Smith
November 1, 2004. The first leg of our schooner adventure included Kathy Kean, and Vesta Gettys, and me, along with the other people on board who had done the Great Chesapeake Schooner Race and were returning to Baltimore. We left Portsmouth on Monday morning in bright sun and had a great day of sailing with good wind.
NWSA member, Jeannie Poole, provides a brief summary of the Great Schooner Race, which preceded the cruise.
Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race 2004 (preceded the Mystic Whaler cruise)
by Jeannie Poole, NWSA member
The festivities began on Wednesday, October 13, with a parade of sail through the Baltimore Harbor. Aboard theMystic Whaler, we responded to the cannon fire from “The Pride of Baltimore II”” with shouts of “Fire in the hole” followed by our own cannon fire. That evening there was a party for all the participating crews. I believe there were 33 schooners that participated in the race.
The starting gun was fired at 1340 on Thursday, south of Annapolis. We faced every kind of condition during our 39 hours 8 minutes before we crossed the finish at Thimble Shoals, north of Norfolk. There was light wind, gusting winds to 35 knots, warmth and sun, cold and rain, thunder showers, favorable tide, unfavorable tide, head winds and then finally a great westerly. Aboard the Mystic Whaler we had a variety of levels of sailors. We all stood watch and took the helm, practiced charting and checked the bilge. It was such a rush and feeling of accomplishment when we finally docked in Portsmouth and realized that we were second in our AA Class. Only 13 of the 33 boats in the fleet finished the race. Portsmouth threw a great party for the crews with a great awards ceremony.
It was a pleasure sailing with my friend Judy Clarke. We met last fall on the Mystic Whaler during the NWSA cruise to NYC. The best part for me was sailing against my daughter, Kelly, who is a crewmember on “The Pride of Baltimore II”.
We are disappointed we don’t have a burgee for the Oregon Women’s Sailing Assn
Joan Thayer, Marianne Mullowney, Gail Hine and Sue Corl at Horseshoe Falls
October 22, 2004, Portland, OR. While attending the US SAILING meeting in Portland, Oregon, NWSA board member Gail Hine, arranged an evening with the Oregon Women’s Sailing Association. The informal get together was held Friday evening at the Rose City Yacht Club. a floating clubhouse. It was a wonderful evening for these two organizations to share experiences and for those of us from NWSA to see another area of the country through the eyes of sailing women.
Among the women, was Nancy Erley, a woman who has made 2 circumnavigations and currently has sailing school for women, tethysoffshore.com. If you’re interested in sailing in the northwest, check out the site.
We hope to do similar gatherings when NWSA is in your neighbor.
October 22, 2004 Portland, OR – US SAILING Annual Meeting NWSA is a member organization of US SAILING. Under the current structure, NWSA falls under the Women’s Sailing Committee and we report on our activities at the fall and spring US SAILING meetings. There is a proposal for a restructuring of US SAILING. Under the proposal, NWSA will be part of Recreation, along with other noncompetitive councils and organizations. There will be lots of discussion before the next US SAILING meeting in March 2005. See the US SAILING website for more details on the restructure. And please provide any feedback you may have to us a wsf@womensailing.org.
October 9, 2004. Annapolis, MD NWSA board members attended the Annapolis Boat Show to catch Pat Henry’s seminar lecture on her circumnavigation over a period of years. Pat now has a sailing school for women, Coming About, in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Mexico is a nice place to visit in the fall-spring time frame.
Women’s Sailing Conference
June 5, 2004
Corinthian Yacht Club
Marblehead, MAConference Co-chair and NWSA Secretary Sue Corl and NWSA Vice President Val Cook