Date: 8/13/2006
Name: Don Juan
email: don.olivejr@gmail.com
subject:RE: National Association Membership
I'd like to thank Doug Longhini for his comments and echo some of them. I remember lying in a tent at Black Beard Yacht Club at my first Eastern Nationals. I had just driven almost 700 miles from Louisville, KY to New Bern, NC with a boat I had sailed only once. Actually, I had never sailed a boat period before I purchased the SJ21. As a new owner, I eagerly googled "San Juan 21 Sailboat" and found the Class Association and a NOR for the Eastern Nationals. I quickly sent off my membership money and recruited a crew mate for the regatta. We were off.Once arriving in New Bern it wasn't 5 minutes before we had made some friends, gotten some tips, been given a gift, and felt like we were part of a new community. Lying in my tent late that first night, I remember telling my girlfriend, "Aren't we lucky to have bought a boat with such an active an friendly class."
Join the class. It's one thing sitting in front of a computer reading posts from other SJ21 owners. It's another thing sipping a beer, swapping stories, hearing tall tales, and realizing these are going to be friends for life.
Don Olive
San Juan 21 Class Commodore
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