FROM THE HELM New Free Online Youth Programs and Yacht Club Directory – Update Your Current Programs Online On April 1, we launched our new online directory of Southern Youth Programs and Yacht Clubs. Every April, we used to publish an annual list of Southern youth sailing programs. I found a need for an interactive online directory that was a central location listing all Southern programs that could be updated as needed. On April 1, we launched such a directory. Since both yeararound and summer programs change regularly, this allows organizers to update their programs any day of the year. We uploaded the 2012 list into the directory. Program organizers can register in the directory, claim their program and update it as needed by simply logging in and making the changes—any day or time of the year. Others can also register and add a new, unlisted program. Each listing has its own page to ensure complete information, along with a photo or logo. A Google map on that page locates the program. For those searching for youth programs, you can search by name, city, ZIP code, or miles from a ZIP code in 10 Southern states (North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas and Tennessee). The directory also includes Southern yacht clubs. Searching for a yacht club can be done on the same basis with the same tools. We uploaded our existing clubs to the directory. Clubs also get their own pages with photos and Google maps. Clubs can register and claim their listing or add a new one. Please send me feedback on this site. I am trying to make it user-friendly and need to hear from our readers. You can find the directory at www.southwinds magazine.info, also accessed through our main website, www.southwindsmagazine.com.
Stories Wanted We are looking for stories for our last page. These are generally unusual stories that could be funny, interesting, sad,
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May 2013
SOUTHWINDS
STEVE MORRELL,
EDITOR
happy, learning experiences, thoughts (no poetry, please)— and other more subjective writings. Learning experiences are often the best, since just about everyone has had one. I don’t mean how you learned to sail, but experiences when you learned something on your own. When I was in the construction business, I learned that if you’ve never cut your saw cord, you hadn’t been doing it very long (and that’s true). Same for sailing. If you’ve never had an experience that really taught you something—that was perhaps a close call, sometimes bordering on disaster— you haven’t sailed much. And if you expect to sail without ever having one, then you are dreaming. It’s what makes sailing great—as much fun as it is, you are often right on the edge of something happening that can be a real eye-opener. We are also looking for boatyard stories—inspired by a story in the February issue called “Surviving Boatyard Burnout.” I told my own story in the March issue. (Available in back issues online.) Send any stories to editor@southwindsmagazine.com
Talk About Stories Our cover shot looks like a serene tropical setting over blue waters. But you must read what it’s connected to on page 70. It will not be nearly as much of a surprise as what these charterers found in the waters of Belize. And they thought they knew how to relax.
Correction In the April issue, we misidentified a boat that was pictured in the Good Old Boat Regatta article. On page 41, the boat that was labeled as Into the Mystic was actually Impulse, a Bristol yawl, owned by Bob Abberger of Tampa, FL—who informed us of this error. Mr. Abberger wrote that he has sailed in every Good Old Boat Regatta since the first one was held in St. Petersburg in 2010. Our apologies, Bob. Nice boat, by the way.
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