Why isn't HSC doing another spring break cruise this year? That's explained in our previous post. There have been other rumours, though, so maybe we shouldn't all have skipped all of the BOC meetings over break (Mike?)... there is a spring break cruise this year after all. Only, it's not an official Hoofers trip.
Why not? Because Hoofers can't or doesn't feel competent to run them anymore. Instead, a new organization, er, website has popped up (and a klunky one at that). All it is is a website created by JustinC last fall as a front for Greg Bammel to continue "Hoofer" spring break cruises in spite of the UW's (or the Union's) ban on them or refusal to approve or underwrite them. An LLC (limited liability company, as in, it's your fault not mine), YachtXP claims that it has 'partnered' with Hoofers to run another spring break cruise (despite the $10,000 in damages done last year). Although their website, too, claims sponsorship by HSC, the whole thing is just a way of getting around any prohibitions on further cruises. Why else wouldn't HSC organize and run the trip itself?
Hey, we're adults and we can flip off the UW and go sail in Florida if we want to, and get sh*t-faced too if we're over 18, er, 21.
How about this line in the terms and conditions: Any damages to YachtXP vessels may be charged directly to your credit card.
Evidently the organizers (hi Greg!) will be collecting credit card numbers before cast-off. What if I didn't cause the damage and it was the incompetent skipper's fault..? I think YachtXP derives its name from the fact that you'll need a PC running Windows XP (or Windows 7) to calculate all the damages come next April.
Monday, January 19, 2015
Sunday, January 11, 2015
Bahamas 2015?
Just kidding. There will be no club cruise this year due to the big screw-up last year. The fellas pictured at right are mostly to blame, some more than others (Hi Greg!). Collectively they and their crews did over $10,000 in damages to the charter boats last spring (March '14). As a result, the University has once again disallowed HSC club-sponsored cruises in Florida or anyplace else--indefinitely. THANKS, GUYZ.
It is sad that despite the presence of some truly expert sailors in the club, skippers were chosen largely based on their party reputation (hi Doug!) and on how much liquor they can hold (hi everyone!). Naturally, the party captains' party buddies were the first to sign up for the cruise, and you can imagine the rest. See this post for details on some of the damage done to the four boats last year.
It's doubly frustrating/amusing/depressing given that some club leaders worked so hard to get spring break cruises going again after a 20 year hiatus. That long absence was due also to UW Risk Management prohibiting club-sponsored cruises after the disaster in 1993 where major damage was done to several boats, including shredded mainsails, a burnt out engine, a punctured hull, lost equipment, etc. (Yeah, yeah, we know, that time it was the storm of the century, but what does that say about your seamanship..?)
The new Hoofer mantra might be: You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you can't sail a charter yacht in a drunken stupor. Well, maybe once every 20 years.
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