The program for the Fairfield Harbour Yacht Club (FHYC) general meeting on February 9 will feature a bit of club history and a lot of fun. What's a blooper? Googling, it's "a mistake, especially an embarrassing one witnessed by other people." Anecdotes and stories are memorable, and in retrospect - a painful mistake can make a great story. We can all think about our own unique events.
Many boating clubs have awards for these teachable moments; FHYC awarded the "Red Marker" from 2001 until 2019, and Blackbeard Sailing Club has the "Blunder Bucket." Notables from both clubs have qualified for these awards.
So how did FHYC come upon the Red Marker award? An FHYC cruise leader (who happened to be Commodore) warned cruise participants to "watch out for crab pots" several times. The Commodore watched so carefully for crab pots that he ran aground near a red marker; the wind pushed him further aground and eventually, he needed to call TowBoatUS. The Fleet Captain built an award that looked like a red marker, even writing a poem about the incident, and the Red Marker was given along with the serious and fun awards given in the fall of 2001.
This program will feature 5-7 of your friends and neighbors who will describe their problems and what they learned from these events in 2-3 minutes. After each presentation, we'll have 2-3 minutes for comments or questions from the audience (please limit remarks to 30 seconds to allow others to speak). A bell will ring; if we're tight on time (we all want our social wine and snacks).
Nonmembers are welcome; the February 9 meeting will be at the Community Center at 7 pm.
Quoting others: Wisdom comes from experience, and experience comes from mistakes; mistakes increase your expertise, and experience decrease your mistakes!