Luff 'N Laff June 2024
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If you have a question and don't know who to ask, just reply to this email and we'll forward your question/comment to to the right sailors!
| Our Gulf Coast Sailing Club Mission:
As Naples and Southwest Florida’s leading volunteer sailing club, we support inter-club racing, cruising, day sailing, social events, and boating education for the benefit of sailors and their families. Let’s keep it fun.
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From The Commodore:
The Commodore shall be the senior officer of the Club
|  | Trudell Kolpack
Greetings!
June is Renewal Month for GCSC, RENEW and you can take advantage of the Wahoo membership opportunity as well as all the other activities we offer!
Looking forward to seeing you on June 12, we have first hand accounts of adventures during the Most Memorable/Return to Reality Regatta, and updates and info on the Tequila race series that started today, June 1.
Come learn more about the Tequila races and parties!
Speaking of parties, we hosted the Davis Island sailors and GCSC sailors at Moss Hall for the Awards party on May 25. We had 100+ sailors attend! Thank you to Susan Watkins, Cheryl Goldberg, Julie Fitzgerald and Doug Foss for hosting!
A great time was had by all, lots of trophies given, and we recorded it for you!
Click the image to Watch the Awards on our YouTube channel:
Looking forward to seeing you on Wednesday the 12th! PLEASE RSVP!
We need to set up and have food for everyone.
The last 2 months we were short of food because many did not RSVP. We're sorry for the inconvenience!
So now everyone who RSVP's and guests, will get a blue dinner ticket. Non-RSVP's will get a red ticket. Blue tickets will be served first.
If all else fails, just reply to this email and we'll add you so you get a blue ticket!
Reminder! We are now corporate members of Wahoo's Club of Port 32 Marina, Naples!
This is a new GCSC Member Benefit!
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What does this mean?
It means all GCSC members can get an annual $99 membership! Savings of $300+!
- 2 indoor restaurants (one open all the time, the other for events and parties)
- Heated pool
- Poolside bar and outdoor restaurant seating
- Inside bar
- 20% Discount to rent boats in Naples and Marco
- Locker rooms with saunas
- Outside hot tub
- Reciprocals!
- Frequent Live Music by the pool!
- And more!
The club is located behind the Naples Airport at 475 North Rd, Naples, 34104
GCSC intends to hold various functions at Wahoo's, including Skippers' meetings, social gatherings, etc.
Members can bring guests, the public is welcome anytime there is a live band, and a day pass is available if you're not a member!
We are meeting there after Tequila races now, so join us!
It's a great place to gather with family and friends!
And it is a $300+ savings off their regular membership because of our corporate membership.
One Wahoo membership is for the whole family!
Drop in during their regular hours and see the facilities. You can get a free day pass from Kristi to try it out!
Instructions to join are below.
Reminder: We have a new way to welcome new members to the Club and help all members with questions.
Everyone (especially new members) are invited to the ORIENTATION TABLE at our monthly member meetings. Starting at 6:00 PM join a director and/or Flag Officers at the orientation table to get acquainted, get your questions answered, and have an informal overview of all the club offers.
Then the meeting starts at 7:00 PM.
We look forward to seeing you at the member meeting on June 12!
Trudell Kolpack
Commodore
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How To Join Port32 Marinas Wahoo's:
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When you want to join Port32 Wahoo's, you'll have to show Kristi at Wahoo you are an active GCSC member.
You can do this by showing her your Profile on our website:
3. Click on your name in the upper right hand corner
4. Click on Profile
5. Take a screenshot and print it to show Kristi in person, or email it to her with the contract. You can also show her your profile on the phone when you are at Wahoo.
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Please Welcome our Newest Members!
| April & May 2024:
We have 167 Memberships, and 284 Members.
Gulf Coast Sailing Club welcomes the New Members who joined GCSC in April & May:
George and Colleen Entrikin
Frank Scerbo and Angela Fabiano
Suzanne McDonald
Pete Knopf
Steve & Francis Riggs
Lisa Shuryn, Alexis and Marjorie
WELCOME TO GCSC!
Any members (especially New Members) are invited to the ORIENTATION TABLE at our monthly member meetings.
Starting at 6pm, join a Director and/or Flag officers at the ORIENTATION TABLE to get acquainted, get your questions answered, and have an informal overview of everything the Club offers. Then the meeting starts at 7pm!
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From The Vice Commodore:
The Vice Commodore is responsible for Membership, Communications, and Volunteer Coordination activities for the Club.
| John Steiner
Greetings GCSC Members from your Vice Commodore!
Dear GCSC Members,
It has been my privilege and pleasure to serve for two years as Vice Commodore.
The GCSC volunteer spirit and Corinthian sailing culture are to be celebrated and sustained.
To that end, I am pleased to turn over Vice Commodore duties to Laurie Conrod.
She served capably as Communications Director for GSCS for the past two years.
I now transition to a term as a Director of GCSC and look forward to more fun and excitement on the water and at landside events!
Best regards,
John Steiner 847-337-5077
Vice Commodore
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From The Rear Commodore:
The Rear Commodore is responsible for the On The Water activities for the Club.
|  | Bob Andreini
May officially wraps up our 2023-2024 season. We held over 50 On The Water events covering Racing, Cruising, Day Sailing and Small Boats! What a season it was and it would not have been possible without the help from our members who have spent countless hours planning and executing all of these events! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!
While it was a lot of work, we all had a fantastic time doing it! Lots of friendships were made in the process. If you are looking to get involved and increase your opportunities to get "on the water", please get involved. As we look towards planning our next season, we are actively looking for volunteers to help plan and execute our events. Some roles require a significant time commitment (such as Fleet or Race Captains), but we have so many opportunities for you to help in a small way. The more volunteers we have the less time each person has to commit and the quality of our events significantly increases!
If you are interested, please email me and we can discuss!
Cheers,
Bob Andreini
Rear Commodore
RearCommodore@gulfcoastsailingclub.org
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Sign up for the GCSC Crew Board
So far about 26 people have updated their profiles to select the Crew Interests. Please make sure you complete your profile. This includes your picture, enter your sailing experience in the Biography section and any contact information you would like to share. The Membership Directory search is only available to members who are signed into the website.
The purpose of the Crew Board is to match members with skippers or boat owners. By updating your profile, you can let other members know if you are either looking to crew on someone's boat or if you are a skipper / boat owner and are looking for crew for your boat.
For more details and instructions on how to update your profile and then how to search the membership directory please go to our website under the On The Water menu or by clicking here. The Crew Board page has instructions for how you can update your GCSC website profile, provide your sailing experiences, contact details and select the appropriate interests to let other members know you want to be crew, or you are looking for crew.
As always, please go to the club website where you can find all of the currently planned events and check back on a regular basis to look for additions and updates.
If you are interested in helping to plan and coordinate any of the events below, please let me know (RearCommodore@gulfcoastsailingclub.org). We have a FUN group of members already highly engaged.
Even if you are not a boat owner, this is a great way to get involved in YOUR club, get to know people, and get out on the water.
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Tequilia Summer Series Fun Racing
Beginning June 1 running approximately every 2 weeks.
All boats are welcome!
Racer / Cruiser friendly pursuit racing!
No cost, but register to get on the scratch sheet.
Not racing: Watch the emails for after parties.
Typically at Wahoo's
All members are welcome!
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Regatta Recap
The Most Memorable and Return to Reality closed our racing and Boat Of The Year (BOTY) series. The event is also a long-distance cruising event for those who are not so keen on the racing part. Thank you to Jerry Watkins for organizing and coordinating with the Davis Island folks to pull this off for the 8th year!
The Most Memorable (Naples to Tampa):
3 boats from GCSC started.
Winds were extremely light out of the south. Especially through the night.
Congratulations to Dragon Fly Plus and Eagle One who finished 1 and 2 respectively.
Believe was DNF - but managed to make the end of party!
Shout out to the Davis Island Yacht Club for hosting our GCSC members and boats for the week at their club. Many thanks!
Return to Reality (Tampa to Naples):
25 boats from Davis Island (and GCSC) started.
Due to light winds the course was shortened to Ft. Myers Beach. Then at the start, the course was shortened again to wait for the winds to fill in. Shortly after the start, the winds were around 15 kts and we were all off to a great start. But then during the night, once again, the winds dropped to 4-6 kts making it impossible for 10 boats to finish.
For the results, you can get them here on Regatta Network (look for RESULTS POSTED!)
The crew of s/v Believe (Bob and Michelle Andreini) decided to stay through the week and made this a true cruising event. We explored Davis Island, Tampa and St. Pete and made a couple of great friends in the process. There are plenty of restaurants, museums, art galleries, waterfront activities, electric bike tours and a lot of history. There is so much to do you can easily spend a week or more around Tampa Bay!
Did you know that from the Tampa Bay bridge to Davis Island is about 25 miles! That's 5 hours at 5 kts... Although it's a long way, we felt it was worth the effort and are looking to do this again next year.
The Sunshine Skyway Bridge, Tampa FL (thanks Susan Watkins)
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DAY SAILING
Fleet Captain Day Sailing: Peter Russo
| | Boats needed to take sailors!
Going out sailing for a day or few hours, would like to take other members out on your boat to help them learn more about sailing from your experience?
If so, please send me your dates and times when you are planning on going to sail and I'll setup a calendar event for people to sign up and go with you. Please include your name, email or text info, boat information, how many guests you can bring, and what each person needs to bring with them (lunch, beverages, gloves, etc).
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Attention - Who wants to go day sailing?
Or maybe a sunset cruise?
We are looking to charter a sailboat for up to 6 people right here in Naples! There are a couple of options, and the cost would be about $80-100 / person. This is an excellent opportunity to get out on the water for a half day, day or sunset cruise.
If this is of interest to you, please email: daysailing@gulfcoastsailingclub.org
We are looking to schedule several events over the summer and fall depending on interest.
| Stay tuned for the next Day Sailing event, and always check the website Calendar!
Now Let’s Go Sailing,
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SMALL BOATS
Fleet Captain Small Boats: Doug Foss
| | If you are interested in learning more, reach out to
Doug Foss
| | | Message from the Small Boat Fleet Captain
I am excited to announce that the Collier Country Sailing Center will shortly receive a large Hobie Cat with a Jib!! This boat can accommodate up to six individuals. This is going to greatly enhance the Sugden Sailing events.
Also, I am currently working with the Collier County Sailing Center to offer more sailing events at Sugden this coming season. More on this, once all details have been worked out.
Additionally for pocket cruiser enthusiast, beginning in October, I will be offering day sailing events on my Compac Legacy in beautiful Gulliver Bay. We will depart from Calusa Marina in Goodland and sail to Coon Key or Gullivan Key and back. Approximately 4 to 5 hour round trip sail.
As your small boat fleet captain, I am always open for suggestions on how to improve our small boat sailing program. Please provide me with any comments and/or suggestions and ideas for increasing our on the water activities.
Thanks!!
Doug Foss
Small Boat Fleet Captain
|  | ADULT LEARN TO SAIL PROGRAMS
Adult Learn to Sail Programs are offered by Collier County at the Sugden County Collier Sailing Center.
This is an 8 hour program over a 4 week period (i.e., two hour sessions per week). This includes classroom instructions and on the water instructions. Cost $150 |
Member Meeting June 12 at 6pm
(Always the 2nd Wed. of the month)
PLEASE RSVP! WE NEED TO SET UP AND HAVE FOOD FOR EVERYONE!
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🏨 Location: Moss Hall at Moorings Presbyterian 791 Harbour Dr. Naples (Signs are posted)
👨🏫 Speakers: James Lotspeich, Bob and Michelle Andreini, and Tim Cooley - Adventures During Most Memorable and Return to Reality Regatta! ⛵ AND ⛵ Jeff Gage - Tequila Racing Updates! ⛵
🍴 Serving: Ham Sandwiches, Baked Beans, Potato Salad
🍪🍰 Please bring a dessert to share! (Feel free to take your dessert home if it's not gone after the meeting!)
🍺 🍷BYOB (Water and Iced Tea provided)
Please Note: Non-Members and Guests are $15 each, payable at the meeting. Thank you!
Non-Members and Guests will be credited the $15 if they join the club at the meeting!
The last 2 months we were short of food because many did not RSVP. We're sorry for the inconvenience!
So now everyone who RSVP's and guests, will get a blue dinner ticket.
Non-RSVP's will get a red ticket. Blue tickets will be served first.
If all else fails, just reply to this email and we'll add you so you get a blue ticket!
Thank you!!
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Renew (or Start!) Your Membership!
| JUNE IS RENEWAL MONTH!
Our fiscal year is July 1 to June 30, so memberships expire June 30th each year.
Renew or Join Now! The annual membership fee is $115 and will cover your membership until the end of June, 2025.
Club dues allow the Club to provide:
⛵ Races & Cruises planned and put on
⛵ Day Sailing events planned and put on
⛵ Raft-Ups planned and put on
⛵ Charters planned and put on
⛵ Small Boats Events planned and put on
⛵ Sugden Sunday Fun Day's 🏊🍔 planned and put on
👩🏫 Monthly meetings planned with activities for engagement, fun, food, and occasional speakers
🎉 Parties with food
😋 Comradery with your fellow sailors
🙋♀️🙋♂️Unlimited volunteer opportunities
You can complete the payment process online with PayPal or a credit card.
If you prefer, you can mail a check for $115 to Gulf Coast Sailing Club, P.O. Box 2121, Naples, FL 34106 and your membership will be manually renewed.
Please include any changes to your contact information.
We look forward to seeing you at events, on committees, and on the water!
| Our Very Own GCSC Online Store!
You can also get to the Store on the website at Membership --> Merchandise (see pic below)
Please Note: Because all merchandise has our logo, it can be returned only if defective. If you need help with the Store, please contact Michael Charalambous michael@charalambous.us
Thank you Michael for setting up this Store for GCSC!
| Do you have a boat or equipment to sell? Equipment you need?
GCSC BURGEES and NAME TAGS:
You’re a member – say it loud and proud with a GCSC official Burgee or Name Tag!!
(Not a boat owner? Hang it at home or in your office!)
Burgees are large (17” X 25”) fully embroidered – not printed. $65
Name tags are magnetic (no damage to clothing) and feature our logo, your name, and either “member” or your boat name if you choose. $11
E-mail Paul Carlson the exact spelling of your name and whether you want to have a boat name added to your name tag at least a week before a meeting so he can deliver it to you at the meeting: skippersail1@gmail.com.
Pay Paul with cash or check when you order.
| Sailboat For Sale!
1991 Catalina Capri 22, wing keel, hull 670 – ‘Heartthrob’ $2,000
For more information and full equipment list, please contact:
Heartthrob is currently berthed on Moorings Bay, outside my condo at 2800 Gulf Shore Blvd North, Naples. I’m moving, so I’m hoping to find a good home for my boat with someone who will enjoy sailing her.
See pdf attached for all details:
| Sailboat For Sale!
Cathun Sun Too (pdf) is a beautiful boat and perfect for cruising/racing in SW FL.
Please contact Tom or Mary beth:
| Our Club thrives on your expertise, enthusiasm, and your presence!
This is a list of current volunteer opportunities - and there are always more, so if you have a desire, let any flag officer or director know what that is and we'll help you find a spot you love! We appreciate you 😃
The fastest way to get to know your fellow sailors and members is to volunteer!
😃 Committee Members - Landside Events - help plan, execute, and set up & clean up at member meetings as well as social events. We have the blueprint, many hands make light work!
😃 Communications - Want to help getting the word out about the club?
😃 Sailing Certification Program Chair 😃 and Certification Captains - Help members improve and prove their sailing literacy so skippers can recruit them for crew.
😃 Race Captains - We will train you!
😃 Race Committee - We will train you! | |
Do you have a sailing story to share with the rest of us sailors? Please submit your story to Michael Charalambous or Laurie Conrod at newsletter@gulfcoastsailing.org.
| Our Gulf Coast Sailing Club Mission
As Naples and Southwest Florida’s leading volunteer sailing club, we support inter-club racing, cruising, day sailing, social events, and boating education for the benefit of sailors and their families. Let’s keep it fun.
Our Gulf Coast Sailing Club Strategy
· Be an innovative volunteer and non-profit organization of beginner, intermediate and experienced sailors.
· Provide year-round on-the-water and land-based activities for our members, their families, and their guests.
· Build a robust sailing program by interfacing with all southwest Florida sailing clubs and coordinating interclub activities.
· Build community outreach through supporting local boating programs and marine industries.
· Actively support sailing and seamanship education programs.
Our Gulf Coast Sailing Club Core Values
· Maintain a welcoming and friendly environment for all.
· Respect all levels of experience and interest.
· Exhibit leadership, Integrity, and honesty.
· Have fun!
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