Can you believe it’s already past the midpoint of 2024? Time flies when you’re having fun, and our recent annual Catalina (Two Harbors) trip was definitely that…FUN! A big round of applause to our Vice Commodore Candice Coleman for organizing such an incredible itinerary. The weekend was a blast, and it was fantastic to have several LBWSA members join us for our Progressive Appetizer night. I look forward to more exciting adventures ahead!

If you haven’t visited our Ship Store website recently, it has been revamped and it is now easier than ever to shop for all your WSA-OC swag online! Please check it out by clicking the link here and discover a treasure trove of new merchandise carefully curated by our Ship Store Director Lisa Woods. The store is brimming with goods, apparel, and more to meet all your nautical and seafaring needs. This was quite an undertaking and I want to recognize the hard work and extend a huge THANK YOU to Lisa for improving our Ship Store experience. 

For those interested in helping with one or both of our annual philanthropy events, Adventure Sail in Dana Point Harbor on August 10th or Women in the Wind in Newport Harbor on September 7th, please reach out to our Philanthropy Director Jane Frisz ASAP. It truly takes a village to coordinate these events each year, and we couldn’t do it without our fabulous members who volunteer and/or donate items for goody bags for the participants we serve. Please reach out to Jane at: philanthropy@wsaoc.org

Enjoy the rest of your summer and I hope to see you on the water, at a membership meeting, or at a pop-up event soon!

Fairwinds & following seas!

 August 10 - AdventureSail Philanthropy Event - Dana Point Harbor

August 11 - Stand Up to Trash Yoga, Beach Cleanup and Lunch & Learn

August 11 - Summer Olympics Closing Ceremony

August 12 - Annual Perseid Meteor Shower - Peak Night  

August 14 - General Membership Meeting – Wind & Sea Restaurant

Time: 7:00 pm

August 26 - Women's Equality Day

August 30 - National Beach Day  

AUGUST RACING CALENDAR

ALYC

August -  Sundowners 

BCYC

August - Taco Tuesday - Evening Series

DPYC

August - Thirsty Thursday Races 

NHYC

August - Twilight Series 

SSYC

August - Hibachi Series

I am grateful to report a successful 2024 Catalina Island Extravaganza! Thank you to everyone who participated, for making this event extraordinary. Be sure to follow WSA-OC on Facebook (via both our Members-Only Group and Public Page) and Instagram, to see all the fun photos our Director of Communications Lindsay Steinmetz posted.

There are currently no OTW Events planned for August or September because our boat owners are participating in WSA-OC’s philanthropic events in Dana Point and Newport Beach during this time. Keep in mind that WSA boat owner members sometimes post sailing opportunities in our Members-Only Facebook Group, as Lori Romano did in July when she invited members aboard No Ka Oi out of Shoreline Marina. These types of announcements of pop up and social opportunities are another good to reason to join the Members-Only Facebook Group, so if haven’t already joined/started following our social medias sites, I recommend you do so today. I also encourage you to continue spreading the word about all the fun we have in this club and invite new friends to join! Keep posting on social media and sharing about your experiences with your WSA-OC friends this summer!  

 
I look forward to seeing you all at the August 14th Membership Meeting in Dana Point and sharing more details about our Catalina Extravaganza.

I hope you all enjoyed last month’s General Membership Meeting presentation by our own DJ Platt, who shared her experiences and what she learned racing off the shore of California! This month’s speaker, Marie Rogers, will also share her love for the sport of sailing.

Marie has quite the impressive sailing resume. She was the second woman in 118 years to become the Commodore of the historic Los Angeles Yacht Club (LAYC); there she established a sailing school and LAYC Community Sailing. She is the recipient of the 2021 BoatUS/National Women’s Sailing Association (NWSA) Leadership in Women’s Sailing Award and the Southern California Yacht Association (SCYA) Peggy Slater honoree, awarded to the individual who best demonstrates outstanding contributions to the enhancement of women’s participation in the sport of sailing. She serves on the Board of Directors for the National Women’s Sailing Association and is also a Director at SCYA where she chairs the Inclusive Boating Committee. She is also currently serving on the Board of US Sailing. 

An avid racer, Marie competed in the 50th Transpacific race, where she didn’t see the diversity she hoped for, prompting her to recruit a diverse offshore team for future races. That effort resulted in the creation of a nonprofit organization, Offshore Racing Outreach, which competed in the 2023 Transpac as Team Good Trouble. Marie also races close to home on her J/29 Rush Street, and does coastal racing on Marie, a Nelson Marek 55, that she shares with her husband Bill. She loves making deliveries, cruising, and teaching sailing.  

I am very honored that she is sharing her time and expertise with us. I hope you will join us at Wind & Sea for our August meeting!

Happy August!!

It’s almost time for our annual philanthropy events, AdventureSail and Women in the Wind. These events are our chance to share our love of the ocean with girls and women who are experiencing hardships. Our goal is to inspire and empower them and make them feel cared for and pampered with gifts and a day on the water.

The AdventureSail for girls from the Boys and Girls Club of San Clemente will be in Dana Point. It is only weeks away on Saturday, August 10th. We have an amazing list of volunteers, boat owners, and gift bags for the girls, and I will report on the event at our August meeting and in our next newsletter.

Women in the Wind, in partnership with Soroptimist will be on Saturday, September 21st in Newport Beach. If you would like to offer your boat, provide items for gift bags, or volunteer on the day of the event, please contact me at philanthropy@wsaoc.org You’ll be glad you did!

Happy Birthday to Our Members

At WSA-OC, we celebrate our members’ birthdays by recognizing them in our newsletters and at our monthly meetings. We celebrate the following members with birthdays in August:

    Sandra Alsina            August 2

     Traci Gallucci             August 3

     Lori Johnson              August 7

     Greta Boye                August 9

     Susan Carle               August 17

     Cathy Enriquez         August 20

     Tammy Rones           August 21

     Patti Day                   August 30

     Terry Hafler              August 31

Mid-Year Membership Update
 
During the first half of 2024, WSA-OC welcomed new members and increased our membership from 140 members to 166 members! We have hosted over 13 membership events, including a weekend trip to Catalina, which is our most popular event of the year and from which we just returned. If you have ideas for improving our events and/or increasing our membership, please let me know. I’m looking forward to seeing each of you at our upcoming events.
 
Auto-Renewal Process
 
During 2023, we announced a new process for renewing your membership. Great news: your membership will automatically renew on your membership anniversary date. There is no need to remember to renew manually. Now, you will receive an email two weeks prior to your membership anniversary date notifying you that the card we have on file from last year will be charged for the next year of membership. 
 
If you no longer want to renew your membership, you can opt out or cancel your membership and you will not be charged for the renewal. You can cancel your auto renewal membership and/or update your information such as your address, boat ownership, etc., by completing the form on our Existing Members - Update Information webpage

I hope you have enjoyed this month’s edition of The Whistle.

You can remain informed about all WSA-OC happenings and events by visiting our website, which includes our calendar of events and meetings. I update this calendar regularly when event/meeting organizers solidify details of dates, times, and locations. I also email all members at the address we have on file with the details of meetings and events (including links to sign up). If you miss an email, I post those details in our Facebook Members-Only Group and Public Facebook Page as well, so be sure to keep an eye out for opportunities to get involved. You can also find our past editions of The Whistle on our website if you miss the email I send on the 1st of every month.