Independence Day

This is a picture, off the back of the ferry, looking back on Rockland Harbor. Sitting the the parking lot of the Vinalhaven library, making an entry in the blog, with the fog rolling right in front of me is not making me miss home much. We have been provided with a wonderful place to stay. The view and accommodations are picture perfect... thanks so much to the Carpenter's for making it possible! We are enjoying the company of their dog.

We arrived at the island at 2:15 pm on July 4th. Karen greeted us and helped transport us to the Carpenter's house. We settled in and took a short bike ride into town before heading over to the Cochran's for the evening. It was nice to meet and talk with a few more people involved with Island Sail and the discussion was very helpful. Jon's & his wife Dianne get high-marks as hosts... it was 4-star 4th of July. Buzz Cochran (Island Sail Instructors - Staff Member) was the pyrotechnics engineer for the evening - providing the spark for a wonderful fireworks display... actually we all held sparklers on the porch to close the evening out. I have video, but posting it seemed like providing evidence in some way :o)

We have just finished our second meeting with instructors (Marissa, Sarah, Taylor, and Buzz). We met Thursday morning at the boathouse. It seemed like a good meeting to me. I was impressed with communication from leaders and sense their appreciation of responsibilities and knowledge of the many day-to-day operational tasks of Island Sail. I tried to communicate that I was also interested in the development of Island Sail in ways that extend out beyond those day-to-day tasks. I didn't want the first meeting to be about what I want to see... evolving Island Sail is work I want us to do together. I will say again to instructors... I hope that this season will be a summer full of challenges and learning for everyone - with a sincere effort being made to leave Island Sail a better program than it was when we started. We met again this morning for breakfast and I am confident that Island Sail will sustain growth and enhancement under our leadership this season. Taylor said she wasn't involved in sports at school, but by the end of this summer I hope that she and others feel like this was a team experience. I will be coaching :o)

After breakfast (Surf Side - yum for breakfast!) we headed up to the boathouse and moved a few of the 420*s out in front... ready for launch. One was wicked heavy... having filled up somehow while upside down (Karen, feel free to comment :o) The docks still have not been set. Karen is planning guide them in this afternoon and get one of the chase-boats in the water (Thanks to Lance for his help!). We put one of the motors on the skiff that will be launched (... wondering what the big blue X is on one of the motors - Deb, feel free to comment :o). We also dug out the Opti bladders. Sunday we have planned to have instructors come at 4:30 pm and would welcome anyone around to come down to the boathouse and help out. We will be launching boats and start to rig boats. Monday we will finish getting things in place. If anyone has a grill on the island... we could plan to have a cookout or sandwiches at the docks for dinner on Sunday. The forecast is for clouds, but not rain on Sunday and early forecasting for the 1st week looks pretty good. I hope everyone has a good weekend!