Scuttlebutt Sailing News recently published a write-up about WindCheck (issue 4860).  Being recognized as a vital part of the sailing community by such a well respected publication and Editor as Scuttlebutt and Craig Leweck is humbling, to say the least. It makes me proud. The title of the piece is “The Ties That Bind.” It got me thinking of all the ties that I have with the great contributors, advertisers and sailors featured on the pages of this magazine, some of whom I have known for years; others as a result of the work we do at the magazine. Sailing has given me some of the closest and most valued friendships in my life and WindCheck has contributed greatly to that.

I love walking a boat show, especially a spring show. Everyone is excited for the coming season and all it will bring. Last month, WindCheck organized the  Connecticut Spring Boat Show at Brewer Essex Island Marina, in Essex, CT.  We’re proud to be part of this terrific event and partner with Brewer Essex Island Marina, Essex Boat Works, Yacht Brokers Association of America and YachtWorld to make it happen.

Editor’s note: Many of our readers enjoyed an article in our April issue by Helen A. Jankoski entitled “Stonington Dinghy Club Celebrates 50 Years of Fun.” Longtime SDC sailor Kathy Sinnett had this to say:

Proud to be part of the Wednesday night sailing. Great people, fun and food!

Kathy Sinnett, via email

Michael Dean Cavanaugh (September 27, 1961 – April 26, 2017) touched many lives with his generosity, humor and courage. He was the kind of friend who was always excited to see you – whether he knew you from school, work, sailing, golf, cycling or his extensive involvement in the Mystic, CT community.

I returned from a delivery and had time to read the April issue of WindCheck with Ernie Messer’s great article on the Marion Bermuda Race [“I’m Doing the Marion Bermuda Race” ]. I’d like to share a great option for weather and routing that is very new. FastSeas.com is a free site with weather models and a sophisticated departure and routing module. The exciting thing is that it works with an InReach device! You can get weather and routing on the high seas without needing a satellite dome or HF radio rig.  

I text a query to FastSeas from my little InReach, and FastSeas returns text messages with Wx and steering instructions! I pair my Delorme (now Garmin) InReach to my iPhone and it’s a great system for cheap. FastSeas also works with satellite and email queries. I have no financial interest in FastSeas or InReach, but I do love both.

Rick Gard, Milford, CT

Rick – Thank you for the tip. If you are using FastSeas in the Marion Bermuda Race, we’d love to hear about how well it works.

There are few moments so rewarding as completing a complex or difficult task. And when that task is completed to expectation or above, we are rewarded with a big exhale of relief and accomplishment…and maybe even a cold beer. I know it’s already May and the time for bellyaching about getting the boat ready should be well behind us, but as we often experience here in the Northeast, our weather this spring was less than predictable; Mother Nature despondently holding onto the cold and wet far too long. But, as soon as the needle on the seasonal barometer rises and the temp on the thermometer signals a green light, it’s time to exhale, pull the sails and summer clothes out of the closet and chuck the skis and sweaters to the back. I would normally be sharing these sentiments in our April issue, but this year we seemed to be mired down in winter well into commissioning season and go-time hurried in quickly. No time to exhale (or have that cold beer) yet!

Dexter Alden Holaday, a lifelong resident of Noank, CT, crossed the bar on April 10. He was 72.

A nationally and internationally known yacht surveyor, Holaday was a U. S. Navy veteran who served aboard the submarines USS Tusk and the USS Angler during the Cold War. He attended the University of Connecticut, the University of Rhode Island, Mitchell College, Middlesex College, Suffolk University Law School, Three Rivers College and the Westlawn School of Yacht Design. He received a Masters Degree in Marine Surveying from the State of Connecticut and held a U. S. Coast Guard license for over 40 years. Additionally, he spent many years as a service/yard manager at several marinas in southeastern Connecticut.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Derek Rupe’s article “Adventures in Docking” [April 2017]. 

It reminded of the words my father told us when we grew up sailing out of Norwalk, CT. He said there are two ways to dock a boat. The first is to come in like the summer blockbuster that everyone remembers, and the second is to come in like that B movie that everyone forgets. He’d say, “Let’s try to be that B movie! I’ve shared that story with my children and over the years I am very thankful they “make me look good” coming in.

Carleton Mitchell, an American yachtsman, is quoted in saying: “The trickiest part of a voyage or cruise may turn out to be the short leg between any harbor entrance and dock, both on the way in and the way out.”

Alan H. Liebnick, Fleet Captain, Milford Yacht Club, Milford, CT

Editor’s Note: Many readers enjoyed our interview with author and safety at sea advocate John Rousmaniere and we recently received this letter:

Dear Mr. Rousmaniere,

Wonderful interview and much appreciated emphasis on safety. I just finished reading Fastnet, Force 10. Thank you for the poignant and riveting story of the Fastnet Race of 1979. As a “landlubber,” your account gifted me a better understanding of the sport of sailing, while imparting to me a profound respect for those men and women who fully engage their love of sailing, providing us armchair sailors with a sense of something we’ve never experienced.

One of the articles many readers anticipate seeing in every issue of WindCheck is Sound Environment. Since our very first issue in 2002, WindCheck has featured – at least once monthly – articles about environmentally relevant and important topics such as beach cleanups, clean regatta practices, water quality issues, protecting marine wildlife, and many other rallying calls for an ecological cause.