SIBC 2020 Vision Kick-off

Note: Please enjoy the Nautical vocabulary and terms in this article.

All hands were on deck (in attendance) on January 22 at Delagal Sunset Pavilion for the 2020 Vision Kick-off for the Skidaway Island Boat Club (SIBC). Commodore Paulette Hamilton, our Skipper (Captain of our Ship), was ill (under the weather) and was dutifully relieved of the duty of getting us underway (energy provided by wind) by the Vice Commodore (Seaman) Susie Fusco. We all appeared to be seaworthy (in good condition to be operated) and, therefore, enjoyed an evening of great food, friendship, and entertainment.

Some of our mates (sailors) were bottle fishing (transported their own liquor), as most of our events are BYOB, but all held fast (held firmly) and were onboard (part of the team). Nobody was caught between the devil and the deep blue sea (caught between any difficulties) or at sea (in a state of confusion) for the evening. As we continued to chart our course (followed our mapped plan), the event reflected the splendor of a sensational evening as everyone mingled on the poop deck (part of the boat where guests roam freely) completing their Ice Breaker Game (I’d like to get to know you)  of a nautical crisscross word game. The winner of an embroidered SIBC canvas tote bag was Joan Page.

Each year, SIBC chooses a charity for which it raised funds through 50/50 raffles. Last year and again in 2020, we chose Tiny Houses. Tiny Houses is a Not-for-Profit charity that provides “tiny houses” to homeless veterans in Savannah. We were extremely proud to present a check for $3,300 to Tom Taylor and Cindy Murphy Kelly from Tiny Houses Administration. The total cost to build one house is $10,000, so all of the membership of SIBC as Pilots (navigators) have put our rudders (an underwater plate for steering our boat) and moored (docked our ship) by voting to honor this same charity for 2020. Knowing we are one-third of the way towards building our first Tiny House. We hope to exceed our 2019 donation. We kicked off our 2020 fundraising with our first 2020 raffle drawing won by Randy Hill. He generously bowsed (to hoist) his winnings back to a donation to our ongoing 2020 charity fundraiser of Tiny Houses.

The membership enjoyed a fabulous culinary buffet of beef tenderloin, herbed salmon, spinach salad, roasted vegetables, herb roasted red potato wedges, glazed carrots, topped off by peach cobbler generously served by Paul Kennedy Catering.

Our next meeting is February 25 at Skidaway Island State Park’s Pavilion. This potluck meal will be complemented by one of our sailors, Ruth McMullin, sharing her pictures and humorous stories of several of the trips she and her husband Tom took on their 11-foot cat rigged Penguin they received as a wedding present. It was designed by Phillip Rhodes, who designed the Rhodes 19s raced on the island. Additional stories will be shared while traveling on their 30-foot Pearson 30 which they raced successfully and cruised extensively. Recently, they moved up to a 40-foot IOR One Ton X-402 built in Denmark. They have chartered boats in Europe, the Caribbean, and Australia. Tom was invited to race in the first-ever Soviet International Invitational in what was still Leningrad (he came in second). They left January 30, 2020 to sail from Grenada, where they look forward to visiting old haunts (Tobago Keys, St. Lucia, and Union Island). Join us on February 25 to find out if they repeated their adventure when they drove into a coral reef off Palm Island. See you on February 25 to find out what happened!

For membership information, please contact Membership Director Jean Kovaleski, (610-657-1772 or jkov@ymail.com).