If you find that at all depressing, a lot about the club is depressing these days. The new piers, the federal-penitentiary-style concrete-block hallways, the blanket surveillance, the locked doors with controlled access, the total prohibition on beer aboard the big boats (wink, wink), the seething discrimination, etc. There were some good comments on a lot of this on a recent Facebook post.
And how about those two chairs from the old Hoofer lounge, now stuck in the hallway like some sort of half-assed museum pieces--with surveillance cameras directly overhead!
If it all has you teetering on the edge, you can get free mental health care at UHS if you're a student (others are outta luck). Please do get help before committing social faux pas like libel, slander, false police reports, inappropriate touching, and so on. These are all ongoing problems in Hoofer Sailing, especially with staff, but counseling may be all that is needed. Hey, at least no one is stealing outboard motors anymore! (Did they ever?) In a police state, theft generally isn't a problem, but things like libel and slander that are harder to spot persist and flourish.
If you choose to seek help, contrary to what you might assume you'll impress friends and colleagues alike with your strength and maturity. There's a 94% chance they'll think more highly of you for it†.
As for the piers, I personally had more than one person tell me this summer that they didn't quite feel safe--wet, slippery, sloping surfaces bouncing up and down in the waves, with nothing to grab on to. In all fairness, they don't bounce as much as I thought they would, but the old piers were level and had posts every 15 feet or so (also great for tying up keelboats). Now all we have are cleats at toe level. Maybe over the long winter, someone can dig up stats on how many individuals went into the water unintentionally this summer...
†According to UHS promotional flyers.
Hello, I just found this blog, recommended by a friend of mine who is an instructor. I've been a friend of hoofers for about 5 years, and a member for the last 2.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with alot of the posts ive read, but recently more and more have been ringing true so i felt I needed to comment.
Even though you come across as a bunch of bitter jackasses, I can understand where you all are coming from. I know why now. The things I've seen in my short tenure, Id have thought impossible in a club that lauds itself as "Inclusive" and accepting, run by students, etc.
The fact of the matter is and everyone knows it, the appearance of being virtuous out weighs actually being virtuous, and unless your disability involves a wheelchair or physically photogenic attributes, no one wants you around. Its as tho the only disabilities or races that matter are those that can be put on a smiling "Diversity" billboard advertisement.
As to student leadership, it does not exist. No student has a voice at all in how the club runs or operates. The powers that be have gone to great lengths to make the appearance of student governance, but every vote is discussed and board members are "guided" by advisors how they are to vote. Noone has ever taken a stand and shown spine, if a board member shows signs of not agreeing, they are replaced, or the minutes reflect the vote was "Unanimous".
Hoofers has an incredible potential to be something great, and this post has rung true for me on so many levels, i feel frustrated beyond belief at what an authoritarian, oligarchical dystopia it has become. How can I help you and your cause? What can we do to return the club to actual student leadership? or is it doomed to be a puppetocracy for the next couple of years until it is dissolved into an approved "rental" company only and all tradition and ethos is lost forever?
-Salty
Hoofers HAD potential. Now all it has is stupid rules, written by bureaucrats at meetings in windowless rooms with only two objectives in mind: 1, protect their own jobs, and 2, turn a profit. Hoofers now spits on its own constitution every moment that it operates.
ReplyDeleteI and many people cannot agree with this statement strongly enough.
DeleteThis is the trend in America. The Nanny State does it all for us. Which means we get what the Nanny thinks we should get. Even then the Risk MGMT Nannies have to pare things back further.
DeleteThat is why we have bouncy-bouncy floating docks that meet the lowest common denominator. Just a bunch of plastic boats to look good on College catalogs, giving the illusion that this is the happening spot. It's not. Club is not not even a shadow of what once was with involved volunteers and student government.
No, this is no longer a special place. It is just more of the same as seen everywhere else. Like some chain restaurant found around a suburban mall. All the uniqueness and character squeezed-out and replaced with what we have today.
This is a great club with so many opportunities for sailing on Keels, middle sized boats and racing dinghies. And Scows!
DeletePlease stop with all the belly-aching about this and that. The glass is more than half full people! It's near the brim.
Negativity breeds negativity. Take a moment and list the positives of the Club and see if that helps get your mind in the right way of thinking. Choose positiveness and put that good energy into making the Club that much better.
@The Glass is More Than Half Full:
DeleteYou are 100% correct: one can still sail here, still learn to sail, drink lemonade, and go to BOC meetings. That's about it. Thus as you say the glass is at least half full. What you cannot do any more is sail safely, sail comfortably, go Tech racing, kick back with a beer (despite being 25 or even older), court members of the opposite sex, have fun, become an instructor even if you're qualified, walk down the lakefront without being surveiled, and about 50 other things you used to be able to do.
Until a few years ago, you could do all that and more, i.e. the glass was completely full. Now as you say, it's half full. Thanks for confirming everything the critics are saying on this blog.
And when I say sail safely, the ONLY drowning in Hoofers happened the year AFTER the no-alcohol policy was instituted. Do the math.
Sad truth, comment on optimism. That is not what I perceive the posts I have been reading. The person who produces this blog, and sadly,too many of his fans LIKE the way he does this.
ReplyDeleteIn their minds,the club cannot succeed because it does not fit in the mold of their old-school boats,booze, and the occasional drowning.
Sorry,but do not expect any optimism from this guy. Just do what you need to do in order to have fun.
The "Occasional drowning" happened because of the alcohol ban, we all knew it would happen, we all know more are to follow. The only function the ban served was to stop people from asking for help when they needed it. it is a symptom of a larger problem. The "Good Idea committee" of over regulation and burdensome control. Not to mention the rampant discrimination and "Popular kid" oligarchy.
DeleteI was hoping Hoofers could fend off the take over. I was wrong. noone has a spine there anymore.
uh, can you explain what you mean? Drownings seemed coupled with the no alcohol rule in your mind. How would people who are drinking want to ask for help?
ReplyDelete"You all knew it would happen"? Do you mean drownings? Is THAT acceptable to you? I am confused, and apparently you are also.
No offense intended, but when you put stuff like this out, how about explaining what you mean?
Are you really that daft? "Alcohol Ban" did not prevent alcohol on boats as we all knew it wouldn't. The ban was to openly shield the Union from responsibility for the cost of occasional ding that they could pass on to the dinger... The unintended consequence that we ALL KNEW would happen was that fewer people would ask for assistance in sailing, or radio to life saving for help in an emergency when they needed help, because they were fearful of consequences of being caught with alcohol... This DIRECTLY WAS THE CAUSE OF BAGABIR MOHAMMAD'S DEATH!!! He would be alive today if the alcohol ban didnt paralyze skipper Rabbas with fear of being caught. She would've radioed sooner for assistance. How do you willfully reject reality in favor of a perfect vision of how the world SHOULD work?
Delete75 years with no alcohol ban and NO deaths. 1st year of prohibition first death, with many more to come. 1+2=3.
I don't follow the logic that more alcohol on boats leads to more safe conditions. I am very appreciative of Hoofer's alcohol policy and current emphasis on safety. I am a relatively new member, and I agree with the previous poster - the glass is definitely half full. There's a lot to like about Hoofers. Sure, just like any organization, there are negatives and politics. But hey - we get to sail on boats that aren't our own. What a privilege. But of course there are restrictions. I mean, if I want alcohol on a sailboat, I can just buy my own boat, right? Then I can do whatever I want, and I'll be liable. You can't have safety and complete lack of restriction in an organization like this. There are just too many variables and people using these boats. I trust that some of us are responsible with alcohol, but it goes without saying that not everyone is.
ReplyDeleteThank you for a more positive and adult view of things. From my own firsthand accounts, the alcohol policy and safety rules have made Hoofer's a better place to be.
DeleteFollowing the alcohol ban, there was less mess to clean-up in the keels on Saturday and Sunday mornings. People cleared their own empty bottles and cans from the boats for good reason: They didn't want to get nailed for liquor on the boat. So that worked well!
And a wonderful decline in the number of drunk girls or drunk boys tumbling out of keel boats and vomiting in broad daylight on the docks. This was a safety issue for the vomiteers. Furthermore, it reflected poorly upon all of us Hoofers to be known as a bunch of drunks growling on the docks and doing lord knows what on those boats with those drunken girls and boys. Date rape comes to mind.
Hoofer's had a wonderful past and is reinventing itself as a place to learn how to sail, operate high-performance motorboats, and expanding horizons through updated modern fleets. The Club is warmer and inviting to new people and is much safer due to new policies. Glad someone else out there sees the big and now brighter picture for Hoofer's!
"reinventing itself as a place to learn how to sail" what a crock of shit. The number of lessons has gone down by 50%. The club is not any safer than it was when students ran their own safety committee. I'd love to be an optimist, but can't swallow the BS just posted.
DeleteWhat a false utopian view of willful ignorance to reality! You only forgot to mention that the "Less desirable races" and persons with disabilities have also been placed into camps where they can be taught how to concentrate better, freeing up REAL people to learn and thrive without the hindrance of inferior persons.
DeleteAnon - Despite the Hoofer Web Site stating that it has an accessible sailing program, it does not. Here's a thought. Get off the Internet and go restart that program. That would be a positive thing to do. And, get that High Performance Motorboat rating while you're at it. You'll find that frown turned upside down as you help others.
Deleteo_o. I WAS the change. I RAN accessibility sailing. I HAVE my high performance rating...
DeleteI was unfortunately thrown out of hoofers BECAUSE of my disability, and therefore can no longer BE that source of good.
I run 2 not for profit 501.c(3) orgs to help people. But I cannot do any more good at hoofers, because I have an "unpleasant disability" and was asked to never come back by the owner of hoofers himself...
Anon, sorry to hear that you got booted by the owner of Hoofers and sorry about the shmear on my part. . Keep-up the good works!
DeleteAH, Komerade Elsmo. Took me a second... lol.
DeleteWell it's not David Elsmo's Sailing club yet, Anon. At least not by name anyway. But he certainly has the reigns of control. It is kind of a shame I was on the BOC when we hired him. If only we knew then, I feel your pain tho.
The fact is he is where he is. And If he doesn't want people like you around, what can ya do? nothing.
When power is abdicated, power is taken.
DeleteUW Settles 850,000 for wrongful death of Yu Chen. In the article, there is a recreation of the event in animation. This should generate a lot of convo among the Hooferites.
ReplyDeletehttps://madison.com/wsj/news/local/crime-and-courts/uw-pays-to-family-of-windsurfer-killed-in-collision-with/article_849f49d5-bfa2-5f3d-9797-ab9bb35285c6.html#utm_source=madison.com&utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletter-templates%2Fbreaking&utm_medium=PostUp&utm_content=d8514f991a32ed2d2be9987c3f311f5dccbb1c64
You old guard had your turn. And you plowed the Club with your Booze Crewz and your shady shenanigans spreading far and wide throughout the land.
ReplyDeleteTime to let the Millennials rule. They are digital natives so they know that the internet is reality and all else is just opinion.
Oh the wonderful Club they will create and fill with new and awesome features such as green screens to simulate actual sailing for social media posts and a safe place in the Union that resembles a ranch house basement.
Behold the Millenials! Move over Boomer, virtual sailing, virtual club socials, and real Merit Trophies for anyone who shows-up in person or online. Your Hoofer Club membership includes Photoshop experts to put you in the picture so that you don't have to leave the comfort of your parents basement.
Despite best efforts with a new marina, unless the City of Madison and Dane County figure out how to increase water quality and flow from the Yahara Lakes, having a sailing club becomes moot.
ReplyDeleteThe water is at a high-level and it contains unhealthy B-G bacteria and other forms of kungabunga that makes people sick. I have had it with that lake water causing red bumps, rash, itchiness, pink eye (no one farted on my lifejacket - grow-up!), jock itch and explosive diarrhea. Where's the fun in any of that? The water quality is so bad that even the water fowl are projectile pooping all over the place. And, that stuff is not good for children and other living things.
Ice-boating is beginning to look less dangerous than warm weather sailing. If you bust up an arm or a leg at least you wont have Pink Eye and diarrhea cha-cha-cha at the Emergency Room.
Moot. You sure are having a run of bad luck with health issues related to the lake. No big news about water quality. But the rising waters and inability of Dane County and Madison to act and clear the channels does pose challenges.
ReplyDeleteTry some Cortisone cream on the rashes and itchiness. The OTC creams do not do much. Check with your doctor for a stronger topical cream. Another good tip is after sailing or boarding is to change into dry clothes right away. The alga really is sticky so get some strong soap and a washcloth and scrub.
Feel better.
Try some Cruex on the man orbs down below.
ReplyDelete