Happy New Year!

This edition of my status report seems to be in line with the themes of the season: resolutions, new initiatives and new beginnings.

The Boat:

Well we finally have the boat out of the water and into the shed for a winter of fixes, upgrades and performance enhancement.

I am very pleased to let you know that Boat Services Kingston have come on board as an in-kind sponsor and will be looking after the boat this winter. Ross Cameron and Niilo Armano will be keeping 680 in their shop just outside of Kingston and will be working on bottom, doing some minor repairs to the keel and rudders, and will be generally getting 680 ready for racing in the spring. It is a huge relief to have the boat in such capable hands, and I am sure that we will be ready to get sailing as soon as the ice is out of the harbour in the spring.

Fund Raising:

The next big event for the team is the Toronto International Boat Show, and this week we are trying to get everything ready for the show. I will be doing two seminars, January 13 at 1400 and January 14 at 1400. This will be a great opportunity to get the word out a little further about the campaign and with any luck draw in some more individual donations.

We will also be talking to a variety of vendors at the show about equipment and supplies for the coming year, and I hope that we will be able to set up some more in-kind sponsorships at the show.

Training:

This has been a big focus of mine over the holidays and Alison and I are finally getting back into our gym routine. Our goal is to get into the gym at least 3 times a week, and do a mix of cardio and weight training. I think it will take me a little while to get the new program sorted out, as my past training programs have been geared toward round the buoys racing, and now I need to alter these gym routines to fit long distance, single handed sailing. I’m enjoying the time in the gym and am looking forward to getting back into shape for the coming season.

The other bit of news is that I finally kicked the nasty smoking habit. I gave it up on the 29th of December, and have been sticking it out ever since. Smoking has been a constant battle for me, and as I get into this new phase of training it was the perfect time to give it up. It has not been easy, and I have had my good days and bad, but on the whole I’m winning the battle. (Just want to send out a huge thanks to Paul and Alison and made this one happen.)

Education:

In my big “masta” plan I have set a bunch of learning and education goals for myself, and I am now starting to get into that program. Over the winter I need to learn a pile of stuff: celestial navigation, studying the COLREGS, buoy systems, ship’s lights at night and many other things. I’ve set my self a schedule where I can pick away at individual topics and hopefully get through everything by the time we get sailing again. (Learning this stuff is a life long process, so I’ll do what I can as go along.)

What’s Next:

After we get back from the boat show, I am hoping to work on some local fund raising events. Everywhere I go I come across people with some great ideas for fund raising and events that we can run, and I think it’s time to start putting those ideas into a plan of attack.

It’s also time to start working on the modifications to the boat that we have been planning over the past few months, and I am looking forward to diving in and getting my hands dirty in the shop, installing new equipment, working on the wiring and knocking off as many items from the task list as possible.

The other big upcoming task is to take a look at the website and do some updating and upgrades. We have an awful lot going on and we need to make sure that let people what is going on and how they can help. I’ll be sure to let everyone know what’s happening with the website, but be sure to stay tuned to my blog for latest updates.

Thats it for now. I hope you have an awesome start to the year and that you are trucking along with your own “masta” plan.