by Commodore Jim

 

We are underway for our Boat Club adventures of 2013.  I hope that you all had a great holiday season, and with the colder weather, are now planning on model boat projects for this upcoming year.  In that light, I thought that it would be best to give you the current status of our Club, along with our general plans for the year.

The Admirals Club currently has a paying membership of about 35 members.  Given the dues that are generated from these members, along with donations that we get throughout the year, we can plan our events.  The membership is getting older, so I am planning for fun events that don’t tax us too much, either financially or physically.

This year will be the Club’s 25th anniversary of holding an annual Regatta.  The past two years we have had the Regatta at the Boat House in Forest Park, and that’s where it will be held again this year.  Mark your calendars for September 28-29 and start praying for good weather!  Last year’s Regatta was a lot of fun, and we will be working and planning to make this one even better.

We will continue to have our Club monthly sailing sessions at St Ferdinand Park (SFP) pond in Florissant on the first Monday of each month, and also on the third Sunday.  A couple of times we may sail at the Boat House or some other location, but SFP is our normal sailing location unless otherwise announced.  The public is welcome to watch us sail, and this relaxed atmosphere gives members a chance to talk boating ideas and solve problems.  Our normal business meetings are held at St Stephen’s hall in Ferguson following the first Monday sails.

We are also planning to be at several other events – the Westport Toy Show for static public display on Sunday February 3rd  will be the first.  On Sunday afternoon of February 10th and on March 10th we have made arrangements to sail indoors at the Mehlville High School swimming pool.  That will provide a couple of warm winter sailing events and give skippers a chance to check out their boats.

Throughout the year we will also arrange for a picnic and will participate at some neighborhood festivals if we get invited and the weather cooperates.  So our initial plan is to have a lot of opportunities to get your boats wet and for you to have some fun, without having to venture too far from the St Louis area.  These sailing sessions should be within our financial and physical capabilities.

I am looking forward to an active summer for our members, and would like to invite anyone interested in model boating to come out, watch our boats, ask questions, and get involved.  My main objective is for all of us to have FUN.  And as a submarine modeler, I always look forward to seeing more targets (rrrrr, boats) on the water. 

Commodore Jim