June 21 UPDATE: No one signed up yet so the testout is rescheduled for June 25.
June 24 UPDATE: Cancelled again--no takers! One wonders if it's because of the assigned instructor, or perhaps people are wise to this scam.
Hey everyone! There's still time to sign up for this year's ASA 101 testout scheduled for June 11! The cost? About as much as an annual membership in Hoofers! ($200 for non-students--plus the cost of HSC membership.)
Passing this worthless course qualifies you to take more worthless ASA courses (and more importantly, at least to paid HSC instructors, helps to support their drug/alcohol habits). Seriously though, ASA ratings are worthless. They're for people who aren't good sailors but who want to be able to say, "Look, I'm a good sailor... I got an ASA rating! (or two) Whoo hoo!"
Good sailors, i.e. competent, experienced sailors, don't need ASA ratings, e.g. to charter a boat. The last thing I would ever do when reserving a charter is to tell them I have some ASA ratings from Hoofers. If you do that you're guaranteed to get extra scrutiny from the charter master when you arrive, and probably a testout too. Charter masters can smell the fear.
If you want to be able to go and charter, say, a 37 ft. cruiser (monohull) in Florida, just learn as much as you can on regular Hoofer keelboat lessons, get a skipper rating or two, and then start teaching keelboat lessons! Alas, that last item isn't up to you--the club simply won't let some people teach. You have to be either (a) super party boy, (b) a groveling workaholic who loves fibreglass resin and power tools, or (c) butt-buddies with the right person(s). Seriously.
Nor does teaching keelboat lessons guarantee you'll become a good Hoofer sailor, but it sure helps.
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The ASA prices are pretty outrageous. I'd be interested to know the rate at which instructors are paid to teach those.
ReplyDelete"The requested records are being withheld due to attorney-client privilege. If you disagree with this determination, you can petition the district attorney for mandamus for release of the records, or try suing the university yourself, sucker!"
ReplyDeleteI love coming to this site for a laugh. It's like Hoofers has their very own mini-Glenn Becks running around. Hoping to see "Buy Gold now!!" ads up on the sidebar soon.
ReplyDeleteASA ratings at Hoofers are optional. There's nothing stopping a person from going somewhere else if they can find it cheaper. I don't suppose you know any nearby places that have it cheaper do you? Nope, of course not - Hoofers exists entirely in a vacuum, and things like ASA rates and instructor pay, even if much lower the national average, are still incredibly high!
Since you're curious - instructors are paid the normal instructor rate for ASA lessons.
By the way, Fleet Commander, great seeing you at the auction last Friday. Maybe next time you'll stick around and bid!
Hi "Anonymous", glad you like the blog. Some of it is indeed intended to be funny, e.g. the comics.
ReplyDeleteAs for the auction, I'm afraid I couldn't make it. Nothing up for bid was worth coming that far for. Perhaps it was a cardboard cut-out of me you saw..? Or perhaps you really have no idea whose blog this is.
ASA courses at Hoofers are a great value and we have excellent instructors in this program. Also, Hoofer sailors are world renown for sailing ability and talent. Just because one gets a credential doesn't necessarily make one an expert in that field. Becoming a good sailor requires ongoing practice and a willingness to learn from others. Hoofer Sailing Club has many gifted Keelboat instructors that are an excellent resource to help fellow Club members worked towards mastery. ASA courses are optional over what is a very, very fair price for what is otherwise unlimited boat use and instruction.
ReplyDeleteAbout your earlier post re: Instructor Poster and being cool.
Instructors are held in high esteem by Club members and even the people along the Terrace. We have to enforce the rules about life jackets, boat capacity and take turns performing security on the Lakefront. In effect, we are Madison's 'University Bay-Watch'. Granted, not as glamorous as David Hasselhoff and Puh-mella Anderson, we do our best. Offices have office parties, instructors have instructor parties. Unlike the Bilderberg group, we have to hold the parties where we can after our weekly ritual know as 'lottery'. Very few can withstand the pain and agony of the 'lottery' which is a form of purgatory on Earth. Yet why do we do it week after week? So that we can schedule lessons that meet the needs of the Club members. It is only natural that we meet afterwards, have beer or lemonade along with some Rippin' Good Cookies. Sharing, storytelling etc. are cathartic and help us rejuvenate our inner Hasselhoff. (Um, maybe not the best person given recent events, but you get the idea).
The photo poster is to help Club members identify their instructor at the beginning of a lesson. When a student asks where their lesson is if they are running late, we ask who the instructor is and point them out on the poster. This makes it easier to find the class along a very busy shoreline. It's all about meeting the needs of Club members. Fleet Commander, I hope that my comments have put your mind at ease about Instructors being part of some elite society. Now excuse me, I have to go practice the handshake for my Skull & Bones Fraternity reunion.
Cookies and lemonade, eh? Heh-heh. I've been to a few instructor parties myself, and although there is sometimes non-alcoholic alternative for the few who don't want to drink, there is always FAR more beer and liquor, and lots of drunk people, so your comparison to David Hasselhoff is actually good in that regard.
ReplyDeleteBut the real issue is that the whole paid-instructor thing separates some club members, instructors and their buddies, from the rest of the club. If everyone who's competent to instruct on a given fleet were allowed to do so as a volunteer, most *paid* instruction could be eliminated, cutting membership cost AND allowing many more people to benefit from teaching as a learning experience.
Ah, but that would destroy the "instructor-as-a-status-symbol" culture within HSC, which is what it's all about for those in the know. Some of the very best sailors in the club are not even instructing anymore, either because certain people didn't like them or because they got disgusted with the whole sailing instructor culture at Hoofers. I would name names but my post might get deleted.
If you did get "hired", you must have some friends, or maybe you threw the best instructor party last year. It says nothing about your qualifications to teach sailing.
Anonymous claims:
ReplyDelete"We have to enforce the rules about life jackets, boat capacity and take turns performing security on the Lakefront."
When was the last time somebody was penalized for sailing a boat over capacity?
That guy's whole post is a gag test, I think he copied it straight out of the instructor manual.
ReplyDeleteThat agonizing "lottery" he talks about is simply the assignment at the weekly instructor meeting of less desirable lessons, i.e. not keelboat or J, to paid instructors. If it's so painful, then quit you jerk - and let a volunteer do it happily at no cost to the club.
More disturbing is his comment that "Offices have office parties, instructors have instructor parties". Such thinking has no place in a club like HSC.
Pirate's Day is June 18 and is one of the most celebrated all-day events in the Hoofer Sailing Club. Participants are divided into teams, based on skill level, and search for clues leading to the Pirate's Treasure.
ReplyDeleteMuch like a scavenger hunt on the Lake, each clue leads to the next and whoever finds the treasure first gets to partake in the spoils!
Pirate attire is highly encouraged.
Dear Fleet Commander,
ReplyDeletere: "perhaps you really have no idea whose blog this is."
That seems easily rectified. Why not post under your real name and take credit for your work? You clearly spend a substantial amount of time and effort on the project, why not put your name on it?
Hey "942.01", that day is coming.... but you may not like it when it finally arrives.
ReplyDeleteAnd, FYI, a statement can only be defamatory if it's false, and every factual statement in this blog is absolutely true and verifiable. Moreover, when public employees are the subject of criticism, a statement not only has to be demonstrably false but also has to be made with actual malice, which is an impossibly high burden of proof. Hence public/state employees rarely sue journalists (and when they do, they lose).
Of course, there are other ways of fighting critical journalism--strong arm tactics that Union managers and UW Legal know all about. Maybe you can talk to them.
Thanks for the comment.