Sail Chicago Tell Tale

Issue 1: January 2025

It’s Volunteer Reporting Time
Gerry Stacy, Chairman

Happy New Year, and farewell to 2024! Thank you to all our members who gave so much of their time last year to keep our organization running. We all enjoyed another great summer of sailing because of you.

Now that 2024 is over, we all have one last job to do and that’s to complete our volunteer reporting. This is an important step in our annual volunteering process because it:

— Helps maintain accurate volunteer and position records
— Confirms that members met their 2024 service time requirement
— Lets Sail Chicago know if you want to continue in your current volunteer position in 2025
— Gives an estimate of how much time our members are spending volunteering.

Members should have already received an email from the volunteer team listing your assigned positions for 2024. Click through each position, provide an estimate of the hours you spent doing the work, and tell us if you would like to keep that position in 2025. If we missed any volunteering that you did, you’ll be able to indicate that also.

Please complete your reports as soon as you can after receiving them. We will close the reporting process after March 1, record service time flags for 2024, and open the volunteer site to signups for 2025. Remember, any volunteering you do after January 1 counts toward your service time requirement for this coming summer and your membership renewal in 2026.

If you have any questions about volunteering or the reporting process, please contact the volunteer team at volunteer@sailchicago.org.

Sail Chicago Has a New Boat!

Sail Chicago’s new boat is a 15.5-foot used Novurania Fiberglass with Hypalon inflatable pontoons and a 90hp Yamaha outboard motor. This boat is to be used primarily as a Maintenance Utility Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB). It will be docked in a 30’ slip at Belmont Harbor during the summer, close to a hydraulic lift (for stepping and un-stepping masts) and a marine-grade fuel pump for re-fueling our fleet of Colgate and Rhodes.

Come see it up close in the boatyard on Saturday, April 5, 10am-12pm at Sail Chicago's 3rd annual Open House in the Boatyard!

Sail Chicago Maintenance 2025

Big changes are coming this season, made possible by the recent acquisition of our Maintenance Utility RIB.

Summer Colgate boat teams will be replaced this summer with RIB Maintenance teams. These teams will be responsible for refueling, restocking supplies, VHF batteries, and all repairs. Multiple weekly scheduled runs will be made from Belmont Harbor to Monroe Harbor. Each team will make one run per week and service all boats. Having the Maintenance Utility RIB makes this possible and will help us to be more efficient and consistent by allowing us to service all boats simultaneously.

Last year, we utilized a hydraulic crane located on the North end of Belmont Harbor to step and un-step Colgate masts. We will do the same this year. Dock space is plentiful, and the procedure is much safer. This also reduces the number of volunteers needed from 10 to 6 per session.

Maintenance Volunteer Opportunities

If you have been counting, yes, we have eliminated nearly 80 maintenance volunteer positions between the Boat Teams and mast step/un-step. However, 20-30 new positions have been created for the RIB Maintenance Teams, and up to 20 positions have always been left unfilled each year. The winter/spring boatyard work offers unlimited opportunities to learn maintenance techniques and satisfy your volunteer hours requirement.

Available Now: 3-4 virtual positions for processing work orders, data entry, and analysis. Contact Rich Costello via Slack.

Winter/spring: Boatyard volunteers are needed to prepare the fleet for the upcoming season. We meet every Saturday (February through April) from 10am to 2pm, weather permitting. Watch for announcements in Slack for sign-ups (available soon). These sign-ups are your best chance to satisfy volunteer requirements early.

Summer: The RIB Maintenance Team (new) sign-up will take place in March. RIB Skippers must be trained and checked out on the RIB. We anticipate 10 RIB Skippers and 10 RIB Crew. Watch for announcements in Slack.

Spring and fall river trips along with mast stepping/un-stepping will be the same as last year, and we will utilize SignUp Genius once we have firm dates. Specialty Teams (electrical, essential equipment, and tops/bottom hull repairs) will also be the same as last year.

Please monitor Slack closely so that you can get the volunteer job you want before it is taken. We will be on the water before you know it!

For questions or comments, please DM Richard Costello, Maintenance Coordinator, in Slack.

Basic Navigation Course

This season’s course will teach sailors basic navigation skills and techniques that can be used within sight of land. Its primary focus is on the use of paper charts and will teach sailors how to read a chart and its symbols, convert between true and magnetic readings, plot course and position, calculate time/speed/distance, and take bearings and fixes. In addition, there will be a brief review of some basic information on chart plotters. Completion of this course is a prerequisite for Sail Chicago's Bareboat Cruising class.

The course dates are yet to be determined, but will fall on a Saturday and Sunday, from 9am to 4pm at Columbia Yacht Club, most likely in February. Note that sailors must attend both days. To gauge attendance, please send a slack note to cruising director Chris Schuler. Once class dates are scheduled, we will list the course on the Sail Chicago website for sign-up.

Prevent the Winter Blues!

Wondering what to do this winter while you wait for sailing weather? Member Ed Stasica recommends a visit to Port Edward Restaurant in Algonquin, a unique dining experience where they take nautical decor seriously. While there, enjoy one of his recommended books: The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger; God Forsaken Sea by Derek Lundy; or Fatal Storm by Rob Mundle.

Help Our Multimedia Crew

Interested in helping with Sail Chicago's Instagram page or YouTube channel? The multimedia team has decided to use Instagram as a way to communicate our message as volunteer-driven, community sailing organization. The channel will be specific to videos about instruction tips that are unique to Sail Chicago and its fleet of boats. Please reach out to Adi amenayang@gmail.com or Doug ddsink@icloud.com if you are interested in helping out. In the meantime, check out the new Sail Chicago channel.

Merch for Sale

Check out our cool line up of Sail Chicago merch. We’ve sourced T-shirts, polos, jackets, fleece, and hats from top quality vendors, all embroidered with our burgee logo. Take pride in Sail Chicago and wear your merch at social events and on the water. Gift cards are available in increments of $25.00.

Buy Merch

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