New Year’s Day at the Boathouse was a great event. More than 50 people joined in the fun.

Hats off to the swimmers who made the polar plunge. Piers braved to the cold water for 7 and a half minutes. Keith and Melissa Camp-bell brought Pegasus around to the boathouse and beat to the dam in 25+ knot wind with 4 passengers; brisk but not bitter cold.

I am looking forward to the coming year. With the new tractor and RIB coming to us in the near future, our resources are improving. The shared boat program is alive and well. The sailing instructors are talking about up-coming classes with enthusiasm. I want to thank everyone who made donations for the Zests, Teras, tractor and RIB. I know every-one in the club hopes we are successful in our endeavors to promote sailing and assist in the growth of the sailing club. Thanks to all of our partners and may this year provide us with opportunities to strengthen our relationships.

Finally, the AquaJet 14 arrived from Florida. Six TSC members “supervised” the offloading of the RIB at Norris Marine in Norman. Many thanks to Norris Marine for facilitating the delivery at their business. While the RIB is there Norris will make some minor repairs so it will be ready for classes in June.
As Commodore, I have the duty (privilege) of attending the LTEF board meeting(s). Last night was the annual board meeting and much discussion was devoted to the use of donated funds for specific projects directly affecting the sailing club. It is my sincere hope that sailing club members and anyone else associated with the boathouse or LTEF, that there is absolute confidence in the administration of those donated funds.

As I looked around the table I felt total trust in the in the members of the board and the boathouse management. The only goal of all concerned is to advance the welfare of our various programs and the well being of the boathouse. All of us benefit from the use of the boathouse. I hope we all feel gratitude for the endless hours of donated time and effort that go into the operation and management of the boathouse and the supporting programs associated with it. If we had to pay for all the services provided by our members and partners we would have been out of “business” a long time ago. Rest assured, your donations are being meticulously care for.

As most of you know, the Shared Boat Program (SBP) is growing and it has become an integral part of our community sailing program. The keelboat classes use the SBP boats for the on-the-water skills training. The keelboat students are associate members of the sailing club when they pay for the keelboat class. Some of the keelboat class graduates have become part of the SBP crew. We are excited about their continued interest and involvement in sailing and the sailing club.

The TSC board will be proposing new language to be adopted into the by-laws and standing rules of the TSC. Thus far, an ad hoc committee has been shepherding the program but, the board feels it is time to establish a standing committee to oversee the SBP. Committee members will include TSC board member(s), two crew from each shared boat, the boathouse manager, a LTEF board member and the SBP manager who is appointed by the TSC board.
I hope each of TSC members will continue to support the SBP by voting for the by-laws change in an upcoming club meeting.

No one can claim that life is not interesting or challenging. I missed seeing everyone at the March pot-luck however, the TSC board had its virtual meeting to conduct business. Thank you, Lorrie. All events scheduled for April have been canceled and May events are pending. Let’s see how things progress in the coming 4 weeks. We certainly are hoping our June sailing classes will happen as planned.

Those enrolled in the CPR class that was scheduled for Mar 21st can still go online to complete the 5 hrs of training and print your certificate. We will schedule the hands-on portion when the pandemic has subsided. Work on the AquaScan RIB is progressing. We are still planning on having the summer sailing classes.

Please, stay in touch with each other while we are prohibited from meeting in person. Let someone on the board know of illness (if you wish to share). There may be something we can do to help. At the very least we can send good thoughts your way. Be careful out there and hopefully we will soon meet again.

I hope all of you and your families are managing to stay sane as we deal with the restrictions imposed by the COVID 19 pandemic. We miss seeing you and we hope conditions will improve by the first sailing class in June. The sailing instructors are discussing options for class management that will allow them to continue with the class and maintain safe conditions for everyone involved. I am confident a solution will be found. The June 1st class is full so, we will be looking for volunteers to assist with boat management and class safety.

We will not meet at the Boathouse for the May pot-luck due to park restrictions but, we have a solution. The program for May is to be a primer on sailing rules of the road and the race starting sequence. The program will be posted on YouTube so you can view it at your leisure. Please watch the Thunderbird Sail-ing Club Facebook page for the URL so you can find the program.

As a result of the pandemic we have missed our pot-lucks and fellowship for a few months.

We are hopeful that we can meet on the grass for some food and music in June. We will let you know if our June meeting will take place. On a positive note, our summer youth classes will take place with small classes and individual lessons. The sailing instructors are working with the parents to assure them that all precautions are being implemented to protect students and volunteers. No classes are larger than 6 students and some people will have private lessons because they could not meet the changes in the class schedule. US Sailing has been helpful in providing guidance for class management during the pandemic. Many US Sailing schools will conduct classes with reduced class size just as we are.

The Thunderbird Sailing Club is alive and well. We will soon be back together as a group.

June has been a busy month for the sailing instructors and a few volunteers. Two successful sailing classes and two private lessons. Clearly, we aren’t reaching the numbers we have in the past but, the program is alive and we should be able to keep the lights on for awhile. We love the boats and we love the new tractor. Thank you to all who supported those major acquisitions.

The Summer Equinox Picnic was a great success. I counted 39 attendees. The band was eager to please so, we can excuse the minor difficulties they experienced. It was great to see everyone in person after months of separation. The board will be discussing the July meeting. Hopefully, we won’t be forced into another lock-down due

July has been a very busy month with youth classes and private lessons. Thanks to everyone for the sup-port of our sailing activities during July. The Navy Engineers (Sea Bees) are experiencing the boathouse, some know how to sail, most don’t. We will share our knowledge with them during the month of Au-gust each Fri, ten sailors at a time. In return, the Sea Bees are offering to work on the Boathouse. We are hopeful that all the technicalities can be worked out to the benefit of both organizations. Thank you, Keith Campbell. We enjoyed a picnic at the boat-house for our July potluck and we will probably do that again in August. We will send out a notice when our plans are confirmed. TSC purchased two new racing buoys. We will get those prepped and in the water in the near future.

For those who don’t know, Chad Cox passed away. Chad was a long time supporter of the sailing club and boathouse. He enjoyed Wednesday lunches at the boathouse with a few members of the club. We offer our condolences to Chad’s family.

The TSC Board hope you have been making the best of the pandemic and all that goes along with it.

SMALL GROUP YOUTH SAILING LESSONS REPLACE SAILING CAMPS
With social distancing the rule, it is not feasible to hold sailing camps in the same fashion as in the past. As it turns out this is a great luxury! Working with a small class few kids is wonderful. Registration for classes was shut down very early in the pandemic. The first class of 2020 was postponed from June 1 to July 6. The inter-mediate “sailing better” class was moved to July 13. The June 15 – 19 class was cut to 6 kids outside on the verandah. An extra class with 4 kids was added to the week of June 22.

The RS fleet has been great. With the boats coming up dry after a capsize and the ability to reef the sails down in higher wind. We found that the kids were able to sail with more confidence and advance faster. Almost every day of class we were able to send as small armada of orange and yellow sails sailing across the lake. Classroom work was limited to brief lessons and discussions on the verandah with plenty of distance and ventilation. The bathrooms were wiped with Lysol and mopped each day. Each kid used the same boat and helmet all week and on Friday the boats were washed down with simple green to disinfect and remove lake scum. Many thanks to Christian, Mike D. Iris, David C., Mathias, Linda, Gavin, and Mike O. for helping.

Even though many events have been canceled there has been a lot of activity at the boathouse. We have had a great response to the Family Sailing Days and the OU sailors have been active. We continue to sing the praises of the Zests and Teras as we continue to introduce people to sailing.

he Layton Memorial Regatta is scheduled for the end of September but, because of the logistics of that race we have determined it to be unsafe to hold that event. The purpose of the Layton Regatta is to raise money for the maintenance of the pontoon boat. We still need to maintain the pontoon boat so we are asking that those who would have supported the Layton Regatta either through crew participation or by do-nation do so again this year. The goal this year would be to raise $500. We replaced two tires of the trailer this year which cost $200 so the funds are needed to keep up with routine maintenance. Please, consider making a donation. Send your check to Fredrica and she will make sure that money is earmarked for the pontoon boat.

The Hiram Douglas Promenade will be October 24th followed by our monthly club meeting. As stated at the September meeting, this will not be a race. Rather, it will be an opportunity for all of us to do a long sail together before the weather turns nasty. We will start at the same time and sail a course as a group, sort of. No trophies or long ceremonies. When the details of the event are set we will send out a notice via email. As with all our events we hope to raise some money for our general operating expenses. Due to the shortfall in sailing class fees this year we hope all of you will make a donation to help pay for insurance and overall boathouse maintenance and TSC expenses.

Greetings to the new members and much appreciation to all those who continue to serve the club and its mission to advance sailing in our community. With that in mind, we are looking forward to the November meeting during which the new officers are voted in. We need someone willing to fill the Rear Commodore position for the coming year. If you are new and want to support the club by serving as a board member, please let any current board member know you are interested. We will gladly fill the slot with an old guy/gal as well.

October has been a busy month at the Boathouse and for TSC members. For those who haven’t been to the Boathouse in a while, it has a new roof. The SeaBees from Tinker AFB volunteered their labor to complete the job and LTEF paid for the materials, which were ordered by one of our members at cost. Many thanks to all those involved in this major project and special thanks to Keith Campbell for coordinating the personnel under his command.

The adult keelboat class was a great success and we welcome the new sailors into the club. Some of the graduates have already joined the shared boat program.
The Hiram Promenade consisted of 10 boats and very light air until the very end so, those who stuck with it enjoyed a fair wind finish. Thanks for your donations so far. If you forgot or haven’t decided to send a few bucks our way, please do so. The Boathouse will need all the help it can get come next summer.

We certainly have had some wonderful sailing weather during November. Of course, the October ice storm, power outage and subsequent clean-up were/are inconvenient and costly for some. I hope things are getting back to “normal” for everyone. With new restrictions being imposed by the State Parks we are back to reduced gatherings until the COVID numbers are reduced to non-critical levels.

Our gathering in December will be virtual. Hopefully, we will get to say hello to everyone via ZOOM.

The club is also participating in the Norman Christmas Parade. It will be held in Andrews Park in Norman on Dec 12th. We will decorate and rig a Zest. It will be a static display as the cars drive by thereby avoiding any large gatherings. We are still excited to promote the sailing programs and we look forward to filling our sailing classes again in 2021.