Southwinds Sailing June 2004 - Southwinds Magazine

participating in last year’s celebrationwas an El Toro, with the largest boat aSanta Cruz 52.Summer Sailstice is not simplyabout where you sail, how you sail orwhy you sail. This global holiday forsailors is intended to celebrate the freedomwe all have to sail. If you haven’talready planned to go sailing, or racingor cruising on the weekend of June 19-20, organize your friends, your yachtclub, your class association or your kidsnow and make your Summer Sailsticeplans. Summer Sailstice 2004 is not to bemissed. For more information, visit andsign up at www.summersailstice.com.Fair winds!■Regatta Time in AbacoJuly 2-10, Abacos, BahamasOne of the largest and most popularregattas in the Bahamas. Starts withthe captain’s meeting on July 2 and theneight days of racing and festivities in theAbacos. Web site: www.rtia.net, Jon andCarol Ewing, (305) 665-0316, Fax: (305)665-0318, E-mail: lightning@cofs.com.See regatta advertisement page 23.Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway(AIWW): NMMA and MOAAJoin Growing Coalitionfor Grassroots Effortto Save the AIWWWhat is the AIWW and what is theproblem? The AIWW connects Virginiato Florida, providing for a navigable waterwaythat is vital to this nation’s infrastructure.The AIWW is used by variousgroups, not least of which are thethousands of recreational boaters whoseasonally travel to and from Florida inan effort to escape the harshness of winteralong with various commercial entities.Congress originally authorized theAIWW to be created and maintained ata depth of 12 feet. Unfortunately, due toa continuing decline in budget allocationsto the Army Corps of Engineers,the entity responsible for the AIWW,there is currently a backlog of maintenanceprojects, and it is estimated to take$38-million to restore the AIWW.Why should I care? The U.S. CoastGuard closed the AIWW in December2003 at Lockwood’s Folly Inlet, NC, becausethe depth there was less than threefeet at low tide. This closing has createdserious safety concerns and delays in fuelshipments to military bases along thewaterway. Safety is a very real concernthroughout the AIWW. A recent fatalityof a professional captain in South Carolinaincreases concerns about the dangersboaters face when they are forced to leavethe AIWW and travel the ocean. The AIWWis going to close unless it is funded!How do I get involved? Please contactyour member of Congress regardingthe funding crisis affecting theAIWW by visiting NMMA’s B.O.A.T.Web site. You can customize the letterto suit your company or simply add theaddress of your elected representativeand send.Please copy jgabriel@nmma.orgwhen you respond to your elected representatives.For more information, please contactNMMA’s legislative counsel, JeffGabriel, at jgabriel@nmma.org or (202)737-9764. Also contact Rosemary Lynch,Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway Assn.(703) 719-7273.Post ICW Conditions Online:www.atlintracoastal.org.This Web site has a discussion pageso that users can communicate witheach other and post waterway conditionupdates that will help others.■New Round The World SailingRecord for Fossett and Crewon Cheyenne: Nearly six daysfaster than previous mark,April 5, Isle d’Ouessant, FranceFifty-eight days, 9 hours, 32 minutes,45 seconds after taking the start on February7, American skipper Steve Fossettand his international crew of 12 aboardthe 125-foot maxi-catamaran Cheyennecrossed the official WSSRC start-finishline at Le Stiff lighthouse on the Frenchisland of Ouessant (Ushant). They havejust demolished the two-year-old RoundNEWS & VIEWS FOR SOUTHERN SAILORS SOUTHWINDS June 2004 21