The temperature hovered around 60 degrees and the winds were 18 mph or above with gusts to 29 mph. Facing those conditions, most canceled. However, 20 veterans and one service dog did participate. NYCP members were everywhere—setting up registration, baking “sailing chips” (cookies), on boats providing physical assistance to vets, and making sure everybody had everything he or she needed. Their members also provided the custom-designed flags depicting the six yacht clubs’ burgees and special W.A.V.E. logo given to all participants. Organizers deemed the waves and wind too strong for special guests on sailboats, so Fort Walton YC members volunteered their powerboats, and extra hands were provided on deck.
Seven Seas Cruising Association Recognizes Jerry and Gaila Brandon of St. Marys, Georgia as the 2012 Cruising Station of the Year From SSCA Gaila and Jerry Brandon. Photo courtesy SSCA. Seven Seas Cruising Association (SSCA), the largest organization of voyaging cruisers in the world, announced in October that Jerry and Gaila Brandon of St. Marys, GA, are the 2012 recipients of the Bateman Cruising Station of the Year award. The award is presented to a volunteer Cruising Station host who has assisted visiting cruisers, and particularly SSCA members, in a significant capacity, and who has made an effort to promote SSCA and recruit new members. The Brandons started assisting mariners over 30 years ago when they hosted families for the Ocean Classroom’s Semester at Sea program. Gaila’s son participated in the
Semester at Sea, and the couple began receiving mail and arranging laundry and other services for those on board. When this program ended, the Brandons continued to welcome boaters to St. Marys from their Riverview Hotel on the waterfront in downtown St. Marys. In 2001, the now famous “St. Marys Thanksgiving” got started when several cruising boats took refuge in St. Marys from a nor’easter that hit the Georgia coast the day before Thanksgiving. A local cruiser who had swallowed the hook, Charlie Jacobs (formerly aboard the sailboat Thirsty Whale) suggested to Mike Derivan on the sailboat Sweet Dreams— who was one of the visiting cruisers—that a potluck Thanksgiving might be just the thing to lift their spirits. Since boat galleys are not usually up to roasting turkeys, the
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