August '22 Breeze

August 2022

August Festivities

BIRTHDAYS

8/07 Steve Dunn

8/18 Jessica Lewis

8/19 Graciela Schempp

8/26 Leigh Weber

8/27 Gordon Fraser

ANNIVERSARIES

8/09 Keith Webster & Michelle Johnson

8/14 Gordon & Julia Fraser

8/14 Jeff & Jennifer Zimmerman

8/18 Steve and Mary Jo Dunn

8/20 Sam & Grace Boyle

8/25 Dave & Sue Porter

Tall ships coming back to Erie

August 25-28

A rare opportunity to board and tour the classic sailing ships of old, from private yachts to the war of 1812 Brig Niagara. Sail the day away on select ships, and enjoy the festival’s live music, children’s activities, marketplace, and food vendors. Sue and I volunteered during the 2019 Tall Ship Festival and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. For more information, and to volunteer visit https://www.tallshipserie.org/visit. For a pictorial review, to get an idea of the Tall Ship Festival, a 2019 Program is available in the club house.

David Porter, Board Member

Construction anyone?!?

Our sailing school continues to grow, and with that our needs and equipment are growing also. The time has come to move out of the classroom and construct a dedicated School Equipment Shed! We are in need of a VOLUNTEER to take on a leadership role to help with this project. The responsible person would be required the following tasks:

organize an initial meeting to discuss requirements
prepare shed build plan
estimate budget based on material that's available, material that needs to be purchased and labor
organize volunteers, materials and tools to construct the shed OR source an vendor to help with the build process... the more work we are able to do ourselves, the more cost effective we will be

If you think this is something for you, and are willing to step up to support this effort, please email Ron or Lidia to volunteer or discuss any questions you may have! THANK YOU!

Use of school boats

With the increased number of members who are new to sailing, there's been additional interest in the use of our school boats - which is what our sailing community is all about!

In order to assure the safety of all members and their guests, as well as, the well being of club-owned and personal equipment, we have implemented a competency check out process - if you'd like to take out any club-owned boat, please see one of our instructors in order to demonstrate your skills. This includes the club's safety boat. Once you obtain instructor's signature, that class boat will be available to you on first come first serve basis. A list of instructors and their contact information can be found on our website. Please note that unless you are under a direct supervision from one of our instructors, you must also sign the boat out for the day and note any damage, missing equipment, incidents, etc.

Any questions, please contact Lidia.

First Sail - volunteers needed

Our First Sail program has been gaining momentum this summer, with increased number of requests from people to get out on the water! This initiative, endorsed by US Sailing, is meant to be a 2-hour introductory sail for those who are new to sailing. The nominal fee for participants benefits our Sailing School.

We'd love to see more members get involved in the program and help with taking folks sailing. After all, you'll be spending time doing what you love!

To learn more about the program, visit our website, or find out additional details on the US Sailing website under First Sail.

To volunteer, simply email Lidia. All requests will be emailed to the group and handled based on skipper's availability.

Kids Day on the Bay - thanks for attending!

The 3rd Annual Kids Day on the Bay was yet another a great success. Regardless of the less than ideal weather forecast, Mother Nature graced us with a beautiful sunny day and a healthy breeze. With the 11 kids in attendance, we sailed 2 Optis, 3 Sunfish, the Topper, Flying Scot and the American.

This day, usually well enjoyed by the kids and adults alike, would not be possible without the efforts of our volunteer instructors and parents' involvement. A huge THANK YOU to everyone who helped out, especially our Safety Boat crew for keeping an eye on all the boats and making sure everyone got home safely.

Venice Beach Summer Party... a night to remember!

Members turned out in force for PCC’s Summer Party on Saturday, July 30th! We planned for a laid-back Venice Beach California vibe and Ron Gallagher set the mood perfectly with his beach side bar and also turned our own little beach into a little SoCal heaven. Dr. G, as he was known, served up his exclusive esoteric substances, in this case perfectly legal Painkillers and Electric Blue Margaritas. The party then moved to the porch for some of the best street food L.A. has to offer. Dessert included a sweet tribute to Sue Porter, who just this week was released from that daily rat race we call work. Happy Retirement Sue!

But we weren’t finished yet! Our members came to party and party they did, to the eclectic music of the fabulous Salmon Frank, back for an encore after last year’s fall party. The music and dancing continued unofficially after the band wrapped up with our own tribe of crazy ladies dancing on the porch until…well for a very long time.

This party was labor intensive, and I need to thank so many great friends who dug in and put this together. Lori Gallagher, Kathy Soriano, Michelle Johnson, Robbie Fusetti, Heather Jager, Grace Boros and Sue Porter you were awesome! Thanks so much! And what would a party have been without a few drinks? Tom Ristvey and Ron Gallagher thank you for the free-flowing bars. A special shout out goes to Pat Donnelly, jumped in to assist with what turned out to be a great number of bottles.

So now we turn our attention to the final party of the season, which will be a multiple year class reunion. Don’t forget to email me those embarrassing senior photos and we’ll see you all in September.

Pam

PCC Members Testing Their Skills in Bigger Waters

Two club boats (Wingman and Mersea) recently spent nine days cruising western Lake Erie. Weather was near prefect for the entire voyage and several days provided perfect winds! Stop overs included Middle Bass Island, Put in Bay at South Bass Island, Kellys Island, and Sandusky. Crews were Ryan and Jamie Paglia and Erik and Patti Bardy.

Input to our monthly newsletter is encouraged and greatly appreciated! Please email articles and photos to Breeze Editor in Chief, Lidia Gray at szarak2000@yahoo.com by the 25th of each month.