“Sunrise, sunset, swiftly flow the days….”
That 1964 tune from Fiddler On the Roof popped into our heads - not once, but three times in the past week. But we can explain: three recent events added to the Summer Sailstice calendar all had sunrise-sunset themes – which we think is a total terrific idea.
· Sail Sand Point, a non-profit community boating center in Seattle’s Lake Washington, will celebrate their first participation in Summer Sailstice with a Sunrise-to-Sunset sail on Saturday, June 20. On that day, the club will open at sunrise - 5 a.m in those northern climes – and stay open until sunset, about 9 p.m. Season pass holders may start sailing boats (that they’ve already checked out) immediately, and can sail as little or as long as they want until, well, sunset. Once SSP’s normal open boating hours begin (10a.m.-4p.m.), they will offer free keelboat rides (on their two SB3 sportboats), free refresher classes, and the usual rentals from their fleet of Optimists, Lasers, Flying Juniors, Hobie Waves, Hobie 16s, Catalina 14.2s and disabled-accessible 2.4 mRs, along with kayaks and stand-up paddleboards. There will be food trucks on hand, plus various shoreside programs yet to be announced. (We certainly hope one of them will be an onsite team of massage therapists for anyone who actually does sail from sunrise to sunset!) Click for more information.
Why they call them “Optimist” dinghies. A Sail Sand Point student getting that feeling all new sailors can identify with.
· On the other side of the country, Community Boating, Inc., of Boston, is also opening their doors at 5 a.m. on Saturday, June 20, for those interested in getting an early start on their. . . wait for it . . . Summer Sailstice Sunrise Sunset Sailing Spectacular. Their very alliterative day will run through 10 p.m. (but anyone interested in the night sail must sign up in advance). For those new to sailing, CBI will offer free orientation classes every hour on the hour from 10 am. to 4 p.m., and is teaming up with another local business, Athleta, which will offer fitness classes on the dock and inside the boathouse through the day. CBI is one of the larger sailing schools in the Boston area, with 80 Centerboard Mercuries (14 of which are fitted with fixed keels for sail training), 5 Rhodes 19s, 6 Sonars, 2 Ideal 18s, 13 Lasers, 18 420s – and 40 or more kayaks and windsurfers. Click for more information.
Boston’s Community Boating, Inc., has as many varied sailing programs as they do boats. Well, almost.
· If Sail Sand Point or Community Boating, Inc.’s programs aren’t hard core enough for you, consider the Oakville 24 Challenge, a 24-hour Laser sailing marathon, to be held on the Canadian side of Lake Ontario. Each entered boat will have a team of three skippers, who will rotate as needed to complete a 24-hour marathon sail. (Each skipper can sail for up to three hours before being relieved). The start is at noon on Saturday, June 20, and the winning team will be the one that completes the most laps of a 2-3 mile course (off Oakville’s Coronation Park, located on the far western shore of Lake Ontario) by noon on Sunday. For night sailing, boats will carry the appropriate lights, the marks themselves will be lighted, and there will be areas set aside for the ‘off watch’ skippers to rest. What a great idea!
But wait, there’s more: What makes this ‘first annual’ event even better is that all monies raised will go to local sailing schools, with the specific goal of purchasing one or more new Lasers “to help support the most committed and talented youth sailors in our community, who can’t afford a new boat themselves, to continue their development,” as the website puts it. The entry fee is $100/boat and each team commits to a fundraising goal of $500. This event is run by the Oakville Club, a sailing/recreation club located on Sixteen-Mile Creek in Oakville, which is about 20 miles southwest of Toronto. Click for more information.
With its idyllic riverside setting and proximity to Lake Ontario, The Oakville Club prides itself on numerous sailing activities, which in the summer months include both regattas, daysails and club cruises.
If your organization is planning any sort of sunrise-sunset event – even if you’ve never seen Fiddler On the Roof - please let us know and we will include it here.
We’re pleased to note that with the approach of warm weather in most of the northern hemisphere, new Summer Sailstice events of all descriptions are rolling in daily. If it keeps going this way – and we have every expectation it will - it’s shaping up to be the biggest Summer Sailstice ever!
