Archive for January, 2010
Chicago Strictly Sail
I had never been to the Chicago Strictly Sail show before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Chicago is a water loving community and the city has done a very nice job of making the waterfront accessible to everyone. The show in Chicago is held in Navy Pier, which is quite unlike the show Annapolis Boat Show and Strictly Sail Miami that I’ve been to. I heard from many people that I ran into that the show was approximately 25% smaller than it has been in the past and it did seem pretty small.
I started my day in the elevator with a man and his friend who had come to the show to buy a boat. He had his camera ready and he knew exactly what he wanted…something around 17 feet that could sleep 4 comfortably. And he was serious. I wonder if he found it?!? Even though the show was smaller, I do think it was a good sign that someone really did want to buy a boat and get into sailing.
I made stops at the booths of some of our vendors and had quick meetings. Of course, I had to explain to many of them why Ed wasn’t there. “He’s in Grenada for Grenada Sailing Festival. Poor guy, I know…Well, if it’s any consolation he is racing on a J24.” Luckily, I went last year and it is a great event. Can I say, I’m a little bit jealous though?!?
I met with Ron Miller from Nexus. He used to be our Tacktick rep, but has recently started at Nexus and their electronics products look interesting. We are happy to have this as an option for our clients when they are looking for new instruments.
Next up was a meeting with our rep, Nathan McKinley, from Kaenon. I ended up jumping in and helping him out as he became swamped with people wanting to check out the newest Kaenon shades. We’ll be placing an order for Kaenon’s to restock our supply in the next week after selling out of many of our styles at Key West Race Week. If there is anything you want us to order, let us know. Kaenon has many new styles and some great options in the lower price range now as well.
Ronstan was next and Ben Moon filled me on on the latest and greatest. The Orbit blocks, which are some of my personal favorites, have some new additions to the family. Instead of just having the becket, many now have a swivel head and shackle option. The new Jib Car Lead system look like it could be pretty sweet as well. The Carbon Battlesticks received a face lift this year too with a new grip for decreased hand fatigue.
The Melges booth was busy with both Harry, Andy and Jim Gluek showing off their beautiful boats. Melges 20 #160 and all of the scows smelled like they had just been pulled from the molds yesterday! I had my first opportunity to race on the Melges 20 at the first event of the Miami Melges 20 Winter Series in Coconut Grove in December and can’t wait for my next chance! The boat is a blast and feels a lot like the Melges 24, but at the end of the event, I could still feel both of my legs! I’m definitely sold…now to figure out how Sail22 will get one. If you are offered a chance to sail on one of these great little boats, find a way to make it happen!
Spinlock has one of my favorite products of all time, the Spinlock Knee Pad. They have saved my knees so many times on the Melges 24 and Farr 40. If you don’t have them, I highly recommend them. They have been upgraded a bit with a new higher density foam and are slightly more ergonomic. I am putting in an order this week to replenish the Sail22 stock for sure! Their Deck Vests are definitely the best if you are looking for an inflatable PFD and their clutches and jammers have new options for the jaws now too.
Unfortunately, I some how missed Ron Rosenberg from McLube. Look for a new McLube logo on our Sail22 trailer soon which is part of an ad that will be in Seahorse Magazine for the McLube products. I was fortunate they picked my photo to use for the ad and am looking forward to seeing it in print and on the trailer. As always, Sail22 highly recommends McLube HullKote, OneDrop and SailKote. We always have plenty in stock and samples as well, so stop by at the next event and see the new graphic and pick up a McLube sample!
A great group from the Maxinkuckee Yacht Club met at the show and visited our very own Rear Commodore, Matt Grant of SailRite. We discussed our upcoming season on Lake Maxinkuckee and then we headed to dinner at Ben Pao’s. Excellent food and company!
Photos from Key West 2010
Ed did a great job taking photos at Key West this year. Check them all out here. These are a few of my favorites:
Key West Race Week Bike Rentals Sail22 Discount!
We have arranged for Bike Rentals Key West to offer a great deal to friends of Sail22. For the past two years, they have delivered and picked-up bikes for teams. This year they are offering the same delivery service again for $55/week. This price includes road side service for any flat tires, light issues, etc.
They also have a few new deals we are excited to offer teams to make things more affordable. They will shuttle you to the Bike Rentals Key West from your house to pick up your bike and drop you off back at your team house when you return the bike. This offer is available to friends of Sail22 for $45/week. The best price option we were able to negotiate is for someone who can go on their own to and from Bike Rentals Key West…at $39/week for the rental!!!
If you are interested in any of these deals, call Bike Rentals Key West at 305-295-7777 and tell them “Becky at Sail22 sent you” in order to get the special Sail22 rates. Please let us know if you have any questions or need any help arranging your team bikes.
22 Goals for 2010
We have spent some time talking this week about our 2010 goals and what we would like to accomplish. As we start our third season with the Sail22 Box Trailer, we are looking forward to a busy 2010. Some of our goals are personal, some are business related and some are just random. So, here’s our list:
1) Finish the Bus Barn:
This has been a labor of love by Ed’s Dad. We have three barns at Sail22 headquarters in Culver, Indiana and this is by far the one with the most character. Bill started renovating it when Ed bought the house in 2007 and put in a new concrete floor that year. Since then, he has come up with some great designs for it, framed it out, added a new front door, some windows, steel siding and built a workshop. For 2010, we want to finish the barn…which means raising the roof, finishing the inside, complete with loft, kitchenette and bathroom.
2) Finish Garage/Man Cave:
Lets face it…the Sail22 F250 doesn’t fit in the single car garage, so it might as well be the “Man Cave”. Luckily for me, Ed put in a door from our side porch to the garage this year, so I can now get there without going outside. We keep our bikes, paddle board and golf cart here, but we want to actually put up some drywall, put in a durable floor and maybe add a few windows so Ed has a place to retreat to when he wants to tinker on our toys.
3) Remodel Back Porch into storage, mudroom, office area
We have an unheated oversized closet in the back of the house. We need to make it functional space for us and are thinking about making it extra storage for the kitchen, a small office area and a mudroom this spring.
4) Finish Side Porch:
We started this project last spring and made a ton of progress. We basically need to put the finishing touches on the trim and find a rug. In 2009 we put in new windows, ceiling, lights, painted, door to garage and floor.
5) Paint all trim in the house that needs to be painted:
Ed’s Dad did a great job installing lots of new baseboards which are primed, now we just need to paint them.
6) Redo white guest bedroom:
We decided to go with a surfing/beach theme for the upstairs bedrooms. One of the rooms looks great, the other needs some work. We bought new sheets already, but want to paint it, find some furniture that matches, etc. The white has served it’s purpose…and was definitely better than what was there before.
7) Organize bedroom (closet, clean out clothes, buy dressers, laundry sorting).
We are the worst when it comes to our bedroom. We travel so much that we are much more comfortable living out our bags than we are with having a closet, dresser, etc. So, this year, we’re going to sort through our clothes, donate what we don’t use, buy a dresser or two, clean the closet and try using them.
8 ) Quotes on bathroom redos
Both bathrooms need to be redone. We have ideas and have talked about them, we are just a little afraid of what it may mean to rip out the bathrooms in a house that is over 100 years old. Did I mention that our master shower is under the stairs!?!
9) Find Dining Room Chairs
We have some…they just need to be replaced.
10) Organize Front Closet
Our front closet has a bunch of office supplies and lots of sailing gear we don’t use. We started the process of cleaning it out by having a custom built desk made for our living room which should be done in February. This should help us be more organized. Cabinets, filing drawers, shelves…whohoo! We also sorted through our spare gear and have boxed it up to give to the kids at Box of Rain, one of our favorite youth sailing programs. If you have extra gear you want to donate, let us know and we’ll get you connected to them. We heard that sometimes many of the kids do not have the proper gear, so they can’t sail. Sail22 wants to make sure that is not the case. Do you have anything you can donate in your spare gear?
11) Power wash house & clean all windows…self explanatory…
12) Take a trip to a new country
This was a goal I set for myself in 2007 and now it is a Sail22 yearly goal. We have been very fortunate to visit Trinidad & Tobago, Grenada, St. Maarten and Barbados in 2009. Potential events that could help us with this goal are Etchells Worlds in Dublin, Ireland and a J24 event in Bequia.
13) Take a photography class
Always more to learn. I want to work on figuring out different techniques and become a pro at using Aperture software.
14) Run a half marathon
This is one of my goals. I ran the Newport Breakers marathon in October 2007 in 4:16:12. Since then, I haven’t really enjoyed running and I can’t say I felt that great when I finished that one which hasn’t made it easy to love again. At the half way point, I felt great. I think it’s a good distance to try and get back to. Ideally, I’d like to do it in under 2 hours. Time to get an iPod touch and fire up my Nike+ account again which really helped me track my mileage. Also, I’m thinking about using a coach. More to come on that.
15) Road bike & mountain bike more on a regular basis
Both of us really enjoy biking, we just haven’t had a regular plan for doing it. I finally got a mountain bike again this fall and went once. Ed has been busy tweaking my bike into a much better bike with carbon handlebars, a different stem, new pedals, bar ends, grips, (and this week he upgraded my frame too!). I have an awesome Rocky Mountain Element, so now we can mountain bike together. Ed’s nephews and brother are also mountain biking, so we have more company. We both have road bikes and just need to get out more and use them.
16) Move stuff out of storage
I put almost all of my belongings in storage in November of 2008. I wasn’t really sure where life was taking me and where I would be long term. Now I know. 
We are planning to move things in the spring from storage to Culver, keep what we want to and find homes for anything we can’t use.
17) Build Deck
We have a great area in the back of the house and would enjoy it more if there was a deck. Ed has some ideas…
18) Launch AlwaysHappyGear.com and blog at AlwaysHappyLife.com
We’ve been working on the logos for this and are getting ready to launch in the first quarter of 2010. Stay tuned!!!
19) Organize & shred anything we don’t need
Sail22 generates a lot of paperwork. We try to be as green as possible and say “No thanks” to receipts, extra papers, etc. We have moved to being a paperless company with regards to our billing system and receipts.
20) License and find a nursing/NP job in Indiana.
I have been looking for a nursing job in the Culver area for a long time it seems. I recently discovered a great children’s hospital in Ft. Wayne and a few NICUs in South Bend.
21) Eat healthier on the road.
We are definitely guilty of eating because it’s easy at a fast food restaurant versus eating healthy meals when we are traveling. We’ve started to try and pack a cooler with at least lunch and some fruit for when we start out. Definitely trying to eat a little healthier out to dinner too.
22) Set aside time to do more active things 4 times/week.
We figure we are usually able to get our act together to go meet someone for dinner or drinks, so we should be able to do the same with going for a run, bike ride, paddle board, walk, etc.
