Notice to OPO Mariners, February 1st, 2006
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Hank Schmitt, P.O. Box 2032, Halesite, NY 11743
631-423-4988, 1-800-4PASSAGe, Fax 631-423-9009
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Editorial
I just got back last night from our one-week sail aboard Avocation from St. Martin to the BVI and back. Everyone had a great time and we saw a lot in one week and had two overnight sails. (In fact there is still one berth left for the next week charter Feb 19th to the 26th if you are interested.) Before that I was in Ft. Lauderdale at the annual Yacht Brokers Convention promoting our crew services to 130 yacht brokers. Tomorrow (Thursday) I fly to Chicago for 4 days for the Strictly Sail Show and plan to see many members there. After that I will have 3-weeks at home to get caught up in the office and work on a few winter projects.
One of those projects will be announced in the next Issue of Windcheck magazine.
Windcheck is the local free sailing rag in the Middle Atlantic States that is
similar to Lat 38 on the West Coast, Spinsheet on the Chesapeake Bay and Points
East in New England. OPO and Windcheck are teaming up to offer a one week
cruise this summer starting with participation in the Leukemia Cup in City
Island NY (near Manhattan) Friday August 4th. From there we will sail to
Huntington NY, Milford Ct, Greenport NY, Block Island, Stonington and then
finish near Windcheck headquarters in Black Rock near New Haven. It will be
called the Wincheck Roundabout and will invite up to 25 boats to join us
for this week.
Years ago (1987), long before any of the production Rendezvous that are
so ubiquitous now, I organized what we came to call the Mother Duck Cruise.
The week is designed for both new sailors to cruising and for folks that
may not belong to a yacht club that has a summer cruise. For OPO members
that live outside the area this will be a great chance to sail in a new area.
What's great about this for OPO members is that it creates opportunities
for our members to join boat owners and other members for a week of sailing.
It is too early to ask who wants to put in their hat to become a crew, but
we are looking for any OPO members that have boats that want to join the
Roundabout. Windcheck and I will be working on the itinerary and getting
sponsors to plan events for us during the 10 day cruise so details and
even one or two ports may change, but right now I would like to know
who is interested in joining us with their boats. Later you can let
me know if you will also be looking for crew to join you. Avocation
and perhaps one or two other boats will be offering bunks for a fee,
but we are especially interested in folks that want to have others
help them and join them for the week for free or chipping in for expenses.
Boat owners letting me know in the next few days will be put on the list
and mentioned in the first Windcheck Notice in the next issue. By teaming
up with a local magazine we are leaving most of the promotion to the magazine.
However all the boat owners joining will be able to use OPO members for
their crew needs. So lets hear it from old Mother Ducker Veterans and
newer OPO members that have boats that want to join us for this great
midsummer LI Sound Roundabout.
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Bermuda One-Two Presentation
February is Valentines Month and also has been designated
as Women's Heart Healthy awareness month. On Friday February
24th Moe Roddy, who raced her boat Red Dress Racing in the
last Bermuda one Two event, will be giving a Power Point
Presentation in Huntington New York. Any members that live
in the area are welcome to come listen to her speak at
Harbor Fitness for Women in Huntington NY (8 West Shore Rd,
just two block from Huntington Harbor). The Fitness Center
belongs to my wife Cathy who many of you know from her
covering the office while I am away. It is a chance to
get together in the winter to talk sailing (and fitness)
and to meet Cathy and her club. There is a $10 donation at
the door. I will send out another reminder the week before
the presentation, but put the date on your calendar if you
want to come listen to Moe. If we are lucky her boyfriend,
Bill Biewenga, may also be able to join us.
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Winter Program
Heineken Regatta Fully booked
March/April 2006 BVI Spring Festival - Tortola The BVI Sailing Festival and Regatta are back to back and cover the spectrum from fun sailing to serious racing. Fly into Tortola Monday March 27th and stay until the following Monday April 3rd. The night of March 27th is the first party opening the BVI Spring Festival. As the web site states, the first three days are racing over to the Bitter End Resort for small boat racing and parties with a race to and from the resort. Upon return to Nanny Cay (where the boat will be docked) the serious racing starts with three days of around the buoy racing. This is a mixture of fun and serious racing. We will be chartering a center cock[it Bavaria 51 for accommodations besides the crew staying on Avocation the Swan 48. The Bavaria will be our support boat for the week and a place to keep our supplies and extra gear while we are racing the 2nd half of the week. The sailboat is included in your fee for the regatta.
April/May 2006 Antigua Sailing Week - Fly into St Martin Friday 28 April (or fly into Antigua Saturday April 29th to Saturday May 6th) or sail back to St. Martin and depart later. Five days of racing. Antigua Sailing week wraps up the Caribbean Circuit for the season and is considered the Granddaddy of them all. We raced last year in the non-spinnaker division since we had just sailed down from the states the week before. This year we are moving up to the full on spinnaker racing division like the other regattas. Antigua Sailing Week is five days of racing starting on Monday. Again some crew will have the choice of sailing from St. Martin with us (18 hours) and then back after the regatta while most will be flying into and out of Antigua. We already have dock space in English Harbor and we will be chartering a 45-foot catamaran for our support vessel. The first two days of racing have finish lines in Dickinson Bay and Jolly Harbor, so we need to have a floating support boat to stay aboard rather than places ashore. Hence the 45-foot catamaran as opposed to staying in rooms ashore. The boat is once again included in the fee for the week. Join us for this last and granddaddy of them all.
The price for all three Regattas is the same. $2100 per person. The price does include accommodations ashore and a van in St. Martin for the Heineken Regatta. For the BVI and Antigua Regatta we will have a support boat to stay aboard. You do not need to make any hotel or car rental reservations. OPORT Sailing Team members get a $500 discount. As of January 1st we are taking $500 deposits to secure a berth with the full amount due 30 days before the race. I will be mailing invoices to participants this week. We are getting set up for credit cards this month so if you wish to pay with a credit card we will let you know as soon as we get everything set up.
The following trip had a lot of interest when we first sent it out last month and it looked like it filled up right away. However half the crew decided they could not make it after all so we are offering this again this month. Spend a week on a big cat, get certified to dive and see the end Of Antigua Race week and the passages over to St. Martin. The boat will also be sailing north with us May 14th so there is the option to dive for one week and then sail back to the states.
May 2006 Scuba Dive Trip - OPO Member, Swan Skipper and Dive Instructor, Tim Tulloch has offered to put a dive package/sail week together if we can find the right boat and crew for him. We have found a boat, the 45-foot ex-Moorings Catamaran (also owned by an OPO member), that we are using for our support boat for Antigua Race week. That means we can offer Tim and the boat for a week for a dive week/sailing week. Crew would meet Tim in Antigua May 6th and depart from St. Martin the following Saturday May 13th. Tim can certify you for diving. If you sign up Tim will need to be in touch with you to get pre-course material to you. You will sail and dive with Tim as captain and dive instructor. Tim estimates it will cost about $350 in tank rentals and training materials for the open water Padi course. The cost for the boat is $1000 per person for the week. All other boat expenses will be divided by the number of crew berths (Hopefully divided by 6). If you are interested in this unique dive and sail opportunity please let me know. Tim is a very nice guy who has been an OPO member for a long time and has worked his way up to delivering Swans for us and boats trans-Atlantic on his own. We will put you in touch with Tim directly after you sign up to get all the dive instruction material to you beforehand. Tim's PADI instructor number is 192633. The courses offered are from Open Water to Dive Master. Tim will conduct the exams on the boat.
May 2006 Trip North - Our annual passage from St. Martin to Newport with a stop in Bermuda departs St. Martin May 14th. Crew would arrive the day before May 13th and the passage will take two weeks until Saturday May 27th. We have been making this passage annually since 2000. This is a very good first offshore passage since we start in warmer waters and work north to the more challenging 2nd leg from Bermuda to Newport. We will have two or more Swans making the trip. In addition, his year, for the first time, we are also offering to crew a 45' catamaran for the growing OPO segment that wants to experience sailing offshore on a catamaran. The cost to sail on a Swan is $2665 per person and to sail the catamaran $2465. The price includes everything except your airfare and meals ashore. All onboard food, fuel, linen, taxes, captain and boat are included.
June 2006 Bermuda Return - (Two Swans a 48 and a 45) This June 24th we will be sailing back from Bermuda aboard Avocation after the Bermuda Race. This is a great time to make a 1st Offshore Passage or add 700 offshore miles to your resume. We will sail to Huntington NY and the trip will take about 5 days. The trip is $1000 per person, which includes all provisioning, fuel, linens and captain. I will most likely be making the passage as captain. Sign up early since this will fill up fast. In fact we only have one berth left, but have recently added a 2nd Swan to our passage back. This other Swan is one of the million dollar Swan 45's that will be sailing to Westport Ct, but leaving at the same time. In fact this is the boat that won the Bermuda Race two years ago.
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For more information please call us today at 1-800-472-7724
1-800-4-PASSAGe
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