Ahoy fellow sailors, boaters and friends of the sea!
As we come to the end of 2024, I am thrilled to look back at all that we have achieved together as members of the Women’s Sailing Association. It has been a year full of growth, learning and camaraderie both on and off the water, and I am so grateful and proud to have served as your Commodore.
 
One of the highlights of this year was the successful update of our bylaws. It was a collaborative effort that involved input from our WSA leadership and voter approval from our members. I want to thank each one of you for your dedication and commitment to making our organization even stronger. These updated bylaws will guide us into the future and ensure we continue to uphold the values that are at the core of our association 
 
I’m also delighted we have seen a significant increase in membership again this year. It is a testament to the wonderful community we have built here, where members can unite to share their love of sailing, support one another, and grow both personally and as sailors/boaters.
It was a goal of mine, along with my boat partners, KT Reiter and Karen Cooper, to provide an opportunity for sailors, no matter their experience level, to sail and/or race this past season on our Andrews 26, Ladies First. We had quite a crew list! Thank you to all who came aboard!
 
Looking into the year ahead, you have just voted in an amazing Board of Directors for 2025. These talented and dedicated individuals bring a wealth of experience and passion to their roles, and I have no doubt they will lead us to even greater heights in the coming year. I am looking forward to supporting them as we set sail into the new year and embrace the opportunities that lie ahead.
 
In closing, as we reflect on the past year and look forward to adventures that await us in 2025, let us remember the joy of sailing/boating, the beauty of the ocean, and the bonds of friendship that unite us as members of the Women’s Sailing Association of Orange County. May the winds be ever in our favor, and may our sails carry us to new horizons and unforgettable experiences.
With gratitude.

December 3 - Giving Tuesday

December 12 - WSA-OC Holiday Party – American Legion Yacht Club, Newport Beach

Time: 6:00 pm-10:00

December 20 - National Ugly Sweater Day

December 21 - Winter Solstice

December 24 - Christmas Eve

December 25 - Christmas Day

December 25 - Hanukkah 

December 26 - Kwanzaa

December 31 - New Year's Eve

‘Tis the Season to be jolly, and WSA-OC membership has a lot to celebrate and be grateful for this year.
 
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to create and execute an exceptional list of On-The-Water Events for 2024:
 
February ‘Galentine’s’ – 40 members on 5 boats
March ‘St. Patrick’s Day’ – 40 members on 6 boats
April – cancelled due to weather
May ‘Harbor Cruise’ – 30 members on 5 boats
June ‘Sailstice’ – 30 members on 5 boats
July ‘Catalina Extravaganza’ – 42 members on 8 boats
(August and September – boat owners volunteered for Philanthropy events)
October ‘Huntington Airshow’ – 23 members on 4 boats, at 4 marinas
October ‘Sail Clinic at Westwind’ – 14 members
November ‘Friendsgiving Duffy’ – 38 members on 4 boats
 
Amazing! We had 21 boat owners participate and provide 43 opportunities for members to come aboard, and 257 of our members registered and were OTW in 2024. All participants and boat owners are responsible for elevating WSA-OC’s on the water experiences. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You all helped us fulfill our mission:
 
WSA-OC Mission Statement
WSA-OC is dedicated to enriching the lives of women through expanded access to sailing related activities and educational opportunities. WSA-OC is committed to preserving and protecting our oceans and contributing to our local community through on-the-water philanthropic activities.
 
Let’s celebrate together and honor our boat owners at our Annual Holiday Party on December 12th.

What a year we’ve had! We blessed our boats at the start of the year and learned so much: about different types of sails, being on a race committee, chartering for the BVI, sailing from Fiji to Australia, sailing on the Transpac, racing offshore from San Francisco to San Diego, going from being a day sailor newbie to being on the Board of U.S. Sailing, offshore adventures including the Bermuda Triangle, all about the Star of India, and what it’s like to live on a boat. Wow, what great speakers we enjoyed!
 
I’d like to thank all of you for allowing me to serve as your Rear Commodore this year, and I look forward to planning our on-the-water adventures as your Vice Commodore next year! 
 
Although we don’t have a General Membership Meeting this month, I hope you will all join me at our annual Holiday Party at the American Legion. To those who have donated items for the Silent Auction, a big thank you; we have some great items to bid on, as well as a Brighton necklace to be raffled off!
 
I sincerely hope you get to spend time with people you love on Thanksgiving, and I’ll see you on the 12th with your dancing shoes on.

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 November:

Cathy Lee-Saxton: December 4
Sharon Campbell: December 9
Lorrie Lausten: December 16
Ken Nedler: December 19
John Papadopoulos: December 19
Theresa DeVito: December 20
Sylvia Stevenson: December 29
Judy Fusco: December 29
Eileen Boylan: December 30

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

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!
 
Visit the Ship Store website here to discover a treasure trove of new merchandise carefully curated by our Ship Store Director.
 
The store is brimming with goods, apparel, and more to meet all your nautical and seafaring needs. You can also purchase inventory at our next General Membership Meeting!

I hope you have enjoyed our last edition of The Whistle for the year and my final newsletter as WSA-OC’s Communications Director. My two-year tenure as Communications Director has come to an end, and it has been my privilege and pleasure to serve in this capacity. The last two years have been personally fulfilling as I have built new friendships in this wonderful community of ours, and I am proud of all we accomplished and how we have grown as an organization.
 
In overseeing and directing WSA-OC’s communications and marketing for events, I aimed to ensure our members received timely and accurate details about all our on-the-water events, general membership meetings, and philanthropic opportunities, with the goal of increasing our membership’s participation. I also sought to leverage our social media and communication channels to attract new members and re-engage inactive members. Working behind the scenes on the Board of Directors, I developed and implemented new operating procedures for communications, contributed to the revision of WSA-OC’s bylaws, and provided organizational support and attention to details to help ensure our members received the best experience possible.
 
I am happy to report that over the past two years, WSA-OC has more than doubled our membership! We saw many inactive members return and renew their memberships and successfully recruited new members to our community. Our on-the-water-events consistently sell out and our monthly membership meetings are well attended. It brings me joy seeing our members eager to participate in our club.
 
I look forward to continuing to make a positive impact on the organization next year as Secretary. Whether you are a new member or have been a part of this club for many years, I encourage you to stay connected and hope to see all of you at our events ahead in 2025!