Bahamas 2015?

Sign up now for Hoofer Sailing Club's 2015 Spring Break cruise!

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.

WHO is Ian Walter?

And why is he so afraid? His infosheet displayed in Memorial Union shows Bucky Badger, not Ian Walter.

Is somebody after him..? Does he owe money to the syndicate? We don't know. All we know is that his flyer outside the restrooms doesn't show his photo while everyone else's does. That's silly because all anyone has to do to see Ian is go here: http://hoofersailing.org/?q=node/156

Hmm... that doesn't really look like Ian either.

The flyer concludes with "Ian is the model of what should be expected from any leader." As in, hiding his face..? Not the norm for HSC leaders to be sure.

NOTE: Due to the unusually early end to the sailing season due to the horrific weather, this post is the first in a series of employee profiles that will continue until the weather improves.

C-Cup report

It's been a fun week so far, with the winning team to be announced tonight. Also a special week with the 75th anniversary. Perhaps the strangest thing so far has been yesterday's "beer garden" right outside the clubhouse/Mendota lounge. It was standing room only--probably because all you could do was stand. No place to sit, and no more enjoying a beer under the canopy or anyplace else either.

The Union really likes this arrangement because they can keep an eye on us there with all the surveillance cameras. If anyone tries to leave the fenced-in area with a beer or give a beer away, they've gotcha. And there were enforcers everywhere--servers, guards, security, building managers, other paid losers checking wrist bands, etc. Susan Dibbell even made an appearance so she could provide Union director Guthier with a first hand report.

Anyway, gotta get moving here... we are leaving (by boat!) for the reception at Jo's within the hour. Well try to get some shots of the formal sail there. More later.

Cold sober

Comin' up, it's COMMODORE'S CUP July 18-26!

C-Cup '14 will have all kinds of fun including: sailing, urinating, throwing things, vomiting, mooning the Betty Lou, and... NO BEER.

Yes, read that again: NO BEER!

The plans were originally to have beer service, but this changed due to the new rules which are starting to get really annoying. As explained now on the C-Cup Facebook page:

"There will be no beer service this year as our budget cannot pay to have paid security at our event."

Wow. Some of you already new that, but this is a landmark event--a sea change in HSC operations. Of curse, you can walk back and forth to the Terrace and get beer, but that just ain't the same. What kind of party is it when you have to run to the nearest bar every time you want another cup of beer..? Aack.

Hey you! Lemme see that water bottle!

Carologue

Check out this Hoofer blog written by Carol -----. Long-time Hoofers will know who she is since she used to be very involved in the clubs. Her post is a bit off-the-wall, with some, er, colorful language, but it contains some very interesting stuff (and links). We really like some of her terms: scheme, power structures, horrific, and kafkaesque.

It might be a good idea to post any comments here as well as on her blog which she may or may not still be checking.

Guthier's wet dream

We often slam HSC in this forum just because there's so much crap going on that deserves to be criticized. But this time we agree with this recent discussion started by Erin Luken about the Union's new alcohol policy. Also this thread (be sure to expand comments).

The new policy basically prohibits any and all alcohol at Hoofers except for beer sold through catering (with their great selection and pricing). This "prohibition" even includes beer/alcohol on boats, even on keelboats on Friday and Saturday night! We know they are serious because of all the alcohol monitors, building managers, etc on patrol at Pirate's Day. The new policy is Nazi bullshit. Why?

1. Wisconsin has a tradition of drunkenness, ranking #1 in the U.S. in binge drinking, #1 in heavy drinkers (ref2), #5 in beer consumption. and at or near the top in total alcohol consumption. The Union director is from Indiana so he doesn't understand this. (And that beer ranking is a little hard to believe too--we must be higher than that.)

2. Wisconsin is #1 in drunk driving and is the only state where first-time drunken driving is not a crime (alt ref). This means we can handle our liquor.

3. Alcohol tastes good, especially mixed with other kinds of alcohol. (Iced tea anyone?)

As a longtime HSC member, I am personally offended that management believe we can't handle our liquor. Do they expect us to sail sober? Even on a Monday or Tues afternoon lesson, there is usually beer on board. This is because alcohol helps protect against sunburn and skin cancer if you forgot your sunscreen (which is likely if you've been drinking). What right does the UW have to endanger students' health and safety by making us go out without protection?

As I type this, I'm looking at a red and white cooler under the next desk.... it is opaque. Huh.