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CCWA | CURRENTS | July 2001 |
What follows is an edited version of our newsletter "CURRENTS". To get the full printed version, just join the club using the membership form below, and get the complete newsletter delivered to your mailbox every month. Send submissions to the newsletter to LooseClu@prodigy.net. | ~~~~~~~~~~ |
Commodore's Notes: The Greatest Sailing Sport in Corpus Christi by Chip Biery The last few weeks I've had the opportunity to teach our favorite sport to the kids at the Corpus Christi Yacht Club Summer Camp. These are the sons and daughters of the big boat sailors that sail along side us out on the bay. Most of these kids had only seen a windsurfer from afar. I was approached with the opportunity to teach a windsurfing program to these kids as an option to their small boat sailing operation. It was a great chance to spoil these kids. My son Dylan was hired on as the other instructor. That meant that Dylan had one of the rarest of job opportunities; a paying job in the windsurfing business. Judging from the response of the kids, we must have done it right. The windsurfing dock became the place to be. Kids were lining up for a chance to practice. We often had to mediate arguments arising from one child getting more sailing time than another. Dylan and I worked to make sure that every boy and girl had a chance to learn to sail. We have now brought more than one hundred new sailors into the fold. So, as every summer camp comes to an end, there is always an Awards Ceremony. And that is how I found myself, holding the microphone and acting as Emcee of the big event. Now all of you know that I wouldn't let an opportunity like that pass. I made a great speech of what a treat it was to bring the sport of windsurfing into the forefront of the camp scene. I was able to expound on the virtues of teaching the youth of Corpus Christi the joys of windsurfing. I paused before my closing remark and took a moment to look out at the moms and dads. Before me were arranged the finest in the local sailing scene. It was then that my closing remark came to me. I looked out upon the crowd and said, " I'm just happy that I had the chance to teach your kids to enjoy the greatest sailing sport in Corpus, Windsurfing." Well, it was a great speech! Kind of left the crowd stunned. Weren't they here to celebrate Yacht Club Camp? They didn't realize they had sent their children to Mr. Chips Windsurfing Camp. I enjoyed my ultimate success when the son of a boater told his mom that he enjoyed Windsurfing more that boat sailing. Mom looked at him and said, " That's really great but don't tell dad that!" Chip Editor's Puffs: by
Roy Tansill New(s)
‘n Stuff
Sightings A
Response From the “Southern Boys”
New Guy in Town....
2001 Whataburger
Wrap-up:
Final Plan for Bird Released
That’s the plan and as you can see we won’t enjoy the improvements until
next year when some things will begin to take shape. Undoubtedly
there will be some problems and conflicts as vacationers and construction
activity vie for space on the beach but after these ‘growing pains’ are
over, a nice place to sail should become an even nicer place to sail,
camp, fish, swim or just to spend a day at the beach. The final report
does mention that many decisions are yet to be made (both the bollards
and cable as well as the road surface are specifically addressed in the
May 25th report as items yet to be worked out). I’ll bring along
my copy of the Final Plan to this month’s meeting at Crab Lumley’s home
so any of you who weren’t on the NPS mailing list can get a look at it.
Meanwhile if you have any thoughts about what would be better than steel
cable and bollards to keep vehicles off the most sensitive beach areas
please drop Jock Whitworth or Ken McMullen an e-mail or letter and share
your thoughts- they will consider any reasonable alternatives. You
can also peruse the plan on the NPS web site: www.nps.gov/pais once
on the page, click on “in depth” then “park planning”
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Apr., May, & June '01 |
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Bombs Away! ....The other day I picked up the Corpus Christi
Caller Times (Saturday, June 23) and read with some interest that the Navy
would like to turn Padre Island National Seashore into a bombing range.
I’m sure you all have been keeping current with current events and won’t be one bit surprised to know that the Navy has worn out it’s welcome bombing the squat out of the tiny island of Vieques in Puerto Rico and is consequently shopping around for a new target of opportunity. It only seems logical for them to change their sights from the Spanish Virgin Islands and zero in on our little island. I have spent time on both and the similarities between Vieques and Padre Island are uncanny. Both are beautiful, unspoiled, undeveloped, unique, and have great beaches. Both have lots of plants, birds, turtles, and other endangered species. Both obviously share ideal conditions for a bombing range. In fact, I have a small secret to share with you. For months, I have been negotiating with the Navy and we are very close to coming to terms on a long term and very lucrative contract. Worldwinds and the US Navy will joint venture a “Go Big or Go Boom Adventure Sailing” program at Bird Island Basin (and we all know that adventure anything is a very big deal these days). Details still need to be worked out, but the general concept is to paint bull’s-eyes on all of our sails and then have the Navy use our customers as moving targets. An early sticking point was the use of our beginner classes. This could have been a deal breaker but I had to draw the line in the sand somewhere - I am very much a humanitarian at heart. Well, that and the fact that it is just way too hard to replace that much beginner equipment. In future newsletters I will keep you updated as to the cost of this new thrill sport. It is still too early in development to know for sure, but I am kind of leaning toward cash in advance………. OK, I CONFESS that I did make part of this up. The Navy only wants to use Padre Island for amphibious landing training. Big deal. Nesting turtles have to be smart enough to get out of the way of large tracked amphibious vehicles. The bombing range itself would be limited to only about 100,000 acres or so of South Texas mainland. Whoa, maybe they can figure out a way to combine the bombing range and the proposed spaceport. Now that would be one serious tourist attraction! Even without all the bombs, missiles, and amphibious assaults, Bird continues to be exciting. Typical afternoon thermals have given us many days in the 6.5 to 5.0 range. And don’t forget “Freaky Friday” when the morning winds were Northeast at 35-45mph and the mid-3 meter sails were way too big. The Worldwinds staff was under tremendous pressure board testing some new 85-liter Tigas. Unfortunately, the wind didn’t last long, and after a couple hours we had to go all the way up to 4.5. I’m sure you can understand just how disappointed we were. For almost real time reporting on the day-to-day happenings out on the beach, check out the forecast page on our web site. John gives frequent (and very insightful, I might add) running commentaries on our recent sailing conditions. Also, don’t miss John’s Tip of The Month for pointers on how to improve your sailing skills at whatever level. WORLDWINDS ARUBA ROAD TRIP UPDATE: August 6-13th. We still have some space left so don’t miss out on a good deal. $699.00 including accommodations, equipment, airport transfers, and a BBQ party. Plus John will be giving daily clinics all included in one incredibly low price! How do they do it? - They’re crazy. Well, I don’t know about that, but we certainly do intend to have serious fun and we want you to join us. There are still a few spots available so call or e-mail soon. BIRD ISLAND DEVELOPMENT UPDATE: The final Recreational Use Plan for Bird Island Basin has been completed and signed off by superintendent Jock Whitworth. It has been determined that an Environmental Impact Study is not required for this project and will not be prepared. It appears we are on the way toward engineering and construction drawings. I visited with Jock recently and he felt some work could begin as early as in the fall (probably the construction of additional permanent toilet facilities) while the necessary drawings are being completed. Jock is out of town this week but I will meet with he and Ken McMullen soon and get a better idea of what will be happening next. I did ask Jock about any changes to the Alternate 1 plan and he noted that there is one addition of a tent camping only area at the north end of the shoreline road. Issues such as cable and bollard barriers and road surface materials will be worked out during the engineering phase and they are taking these concerns seriously. This is all good news for the windsurfing community and when you throw in the Navy’s desire to help out with the demolition/earthmoving work, the project might even come in under budget. A real win-win deal for everybody! Don Jackson (361) 949-7472 www.worldwinds.net Webmaster's note: The word is that the bombing range is now a dead issue. |
Ed’s Note: Peak wind data
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CURRANTS... Letters to the Editor | |||||
U.S. Open
Thanks for putting on another great event. And you even got the wind gods to cooperate. This year's event was much improved from previous Opens. In addition to thanking the staff and CCWA volunteers, I would also like to put in a good word for two specific people who invested a lot of time and energy to promote windsurfing - Ellen Faller and Roger Jackson. In the four days of the Open, Ellen and Roger must have exposed over one hundred people to windsurfing, through their land simulator and on the water classes/clinics. As a fellow instructor, I can really appreciate the nearly 12-hour days that they put in. Although the racing was challenging, I had it much easier than they did. And you never know. Maybe some day one of their students will be back at the Open to compete. Barry Ritchey MOWIND NEWSLETTER
MOWIND is a volunteer group of active racers and windsurfing event organizers in the Midwest. We help coordinate the yearly Midwest event schedule and provide a standardized set of rules and scoring methods. MOWIND Events are covered by regatta insurance. Purchasing regatta
insurance to hold one event is very costly. In the past, this
expense discouraged people who wanted to organize a new event. Now,
for a minimal fee, a Midwest organizer can run a regatta as a MOWIND event
and save hundreds on insurance costs. For more information on MOWIND
event insurance, contact Rick Guindon at: rguindon@omegatechnical.com
THE MOWIND NEWSLETTER IS SENT VIA E-MAIL TO ITS MEMBERS AND TO ANYONE ELSE WITH A PASSION FOR WINDSURFING |
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WHATABURGER 2001 THE SERIES | |||||
See you next season. |
Volunteers Wanted: The club sponsored events, both races and fun events, need people to help out on and before the events. This is particularly true for the US Open. One year, the CCWA was a sponsor and had a booth at the Open; but we didn't have sufficient help to man the booth throughout the event. We don't want that to happen again! Similarly, other events suffered because of a lack of help. How about volunteering your help this year? Just phone an event coordinator and offer some help. |
Name:______________________________________Phone: ( )______________ Family membership, list names of family members:_____________________________________ ____________________________________E-mail Add:_________________________ Address:_______________________________________________________________ City:_________________________________State:_________________Zip__________ Please enclose $20 for individual; $30 for family (1 year membership) Mail To: CCWA, PO Box
81453, Corpus Christi, TX 78468
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Used Gear: | Classified ads are free to
members, non-members: $5.00
Please submit the ads by the 25th of the month. Mail ads to: LooseClu@prodigy.net |
‘99 Seatrend 260
85ltr ‘All Terrain Vehicle’ excellent condition- no dings $500 Call:
Roy Tansill e-mail: LoseClu@prodigy. net
Mast: Powerex-Z-Axis-Wave 2pc 370 one year old $195 Call (361) 992-2274 ask for Louis |
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