EASTER IN AVALON FLEET SAIL
April 2nd - 4th

This is the "first" fleet sail of the year and a great "first timers" sail for new graduates to get their feet wet (so to speak)! Easter is always a great time to see Avalon; the homes there have lovely yards, and the hillsides are filled with wild flowers.

We will leave at 8am on Friday, and have a BYO cocktail party on my boat that evening to share details of the trip over. On Saturday night, we will try to arrange an Easter Egg Hunt and BBQ. In the past our night time egg hunt was great fun, but we need lots of sailors to look for the eggs. If we only have a few boats, we will gather at a local restaurant that evening, instead. On Sunday, we head for home.

SOOOO! Make your reservations and join us!

I will hold a skippers meeting on Monday, March 29 at 7pm in the lounge. I will have handouts and will go over how to pick up your mooring, how to be safe on your boat, what you might want to bring with you, etc. Call me if you have any questions. Annette Cook 949-632-9565 CaptainCookRN@cs.com

NEWPORT TO ENSENADA RACE
April 23rd

Have you often thought of chartering a boat and doing the Newport-Ensenada race? I was new to the Aventura Racing Program, when I got the urge. In 1994 I had been racing all of 8 months, when I decided to enter the race. We chartered a Hunter 34, My crew consisted of Tom Johnson, Jim Howe, Cindy Wynne, Joe Perez, Ed Perkins and Dave Gibbs. Nobody except Gibbs had ever been past Oceanside, needless to say, we all were a little inexperienced, but gutsy. Of the 19 boats in the class, we placed 11th, not that great, but it was a great experience and lots of fun. The same year I crewed on the 725 mile race, the Baja Ha,Ha. That was a blast.

Since then, I've done the Ensenada 6 times, DNF once, placed 4th, 3rd, 2nd last year, and finally in 2009, took first place in the Gennacker Class, on Summer Wine, my 42' Catalina. I've had a great crew, for the past 3 years; Vi Gonzales, Rich Bennett, Doug Ellner, Bob Crummly and Floyd Sanford. David Applegate and Steve Hinton have also been on my crew, in the past. Since then, Cindy Wynne has won the All Women's trophy and most recently our own Annette Cook, who won it last year and is looking forward to defending her title. Our trophies are in the lounge.

If you've been wanting to do the race, act on that urge now and charter a boat for the race on April 23rd. Go to www.nosa.org for more information and entry form.

I can provide more information, if you're interested, also Annette Cook, who has won the All Women's Race to Ensenada more
than once, would be happy to assist.

Walt Gonzales