Women Underway in HHSA

On Thursday, April 12, 2018, we had our monthly Women Underway meeting at the Herrington Harbour North Gedunk. What looked to be a meeting of three turned out to be a party of seven. Attending were Eunice, Emily, Dale, Debbie (new member), Bev, Kathy and Margaret.

This month’s meeting had no topic, except to enjoy good food, wine and the company of fellow sailors who all are itching to get back onto the water. When Bev stepped down last month, we had a fleeting moment of “What do we do now,” but we decided to go ahead with the April meeting – a great decision.

We decided to continue the monthly meetings throughout the year. Since there never will be a perfect place or time for everyone, we agreed to continue holding the spring and summer meetings on the second Thursday of each month, between 6:30 pm and 8:30 pm, at the HHN Gedunk.

We all agreed that we preferred to keep the meetings informal (unless someone wanted to cover a specific topic). We also discussed what we wanted to get out of the meetings – the unanimous response was to have a group where we could form friendships and gain more confidence about sailing. There are so many topics we want to talk about, including docking (a perpetual issue), sailing in storms/squalls, developing a custom boat or crew manual, knot tying, docking (did I mention this?), “when boats meet” (i.e., crashes), close calls, safety and communication on boats. Finally, we all want to have more on-the-water and hands-on get togethers. For example, we will try to secure a boat and practice docking maneuvers. This probably would occur on a weekend to allow more time.

For the benefit of our newer members, Emily and Bev talked about the history of Women Underway and the Women’s Regatta. The 2018 Women’s Regatta will be on Saturday, June 16. We encourage all women to either register a boat (it can be someone else’s) or crew on a boat. If you aren’t ready to race but want to see the action, you are welcome to come aboard Zalek, the Race Committee Boat. Remember to come to our June 14 meeting which will be a pre-Regatta discussion (and whatever else we bring up) – what to expect, tips, etc.

We hope that members will take turns coordinating a meeting – mainly, this would involve communicating on the Forum and, if desired, selecting a topic or arranging a presentation. If nobody steps up, then we will continue to meet on Thursday evenings and go from there. It is requested (but not required) that members either post on the forum or register if they are going to attend.

Mark your calendars – the next two meetings will be Thursday, May 10 (open discussion), and Thursday, June 14 (pre-Women’s Regatta discussion). If anyone has an idea or wants to “sponsor” a meeting, post it on the Women Underway forum.

A big thanks to all who are keeping this group vibrant and growing.