Blue Marsh Sailing Association

Commodore Tony Stajkowski was interviewed for a May 26, 2009 Reading Eagle article. Click below to read the article:
Berks boaters don’t have to travel far to pursue passion

The Blue Marsh Sailing Association has be promoting sailing activities on Blue Marsh and surrounding lakes for almost 30 years.

On April 18, six members of BMSA Team River Rats made a trip to Edgewater, MD and took a kayak tour of the West River, just south of Annapolis, courtesy of the Smithsonian Research Center. The Adairs slept over Friday and Saturday nights with the Vanino’s on Conrad and Barb’s boat, while the Rutolo’s opted to make the round trip drive all in one day.

The weather was absolutely perfect and the scenery was gorgeous. We paddled for about two hours and then had box lunches on the gazebo overlooking the Bay. We saw all sorts of wildlife, including: blue herons, osprey, kingfishers, lion-mantled jellyfish, and a water snake that Barb-the-Snake-Charmer lifted up with her paddle for all to see.

After lunch we drove over the Bay Bridge to check out a launch area for the Spring Cruise and then drove to the Vanino’s boat for happy hour. Conrad entertained us for some time with his amazing sailing stories, including the one about Barb playing Peter Pan while hiking out on Conrad’s catamaran, many years ago.

It was a fun day and a great way to warm up to the new sailing season.

Joe R – Team River Rat

FRIDAY, DEC. 5
6:30 PM
LOWER HEIDELBERG FIRE CO.

DINNER:
HAM – prepared by the Millers
SIDE DISHES – prepared by you at home and brought or all to share
CAKE – provided by BMSA
BEVERAGES – available for a donation, or you may bring your own
SANTA will attend to facilitate our gift exchange, so bring a rapped gift if you want to participate!

Hi Fellow sailors,

We enjoyed a couple nice days of sailing at Nockamixon over the weekend.  Hopefully the hot weather will break by Wednesday as predicted and the thunderstorms will be over so we can go to the Marsh on Wednesday.  If the plan changes we will e-mail.  Plan on getting that boat out-the Regatta is coming up soon.

We have had good turnouts recently for our midweek sailing so why quit yet with this good weather? We will be going up at 4:30 to get an earlier start. If you think you will be there and want a ride let me know so we can watch for you. Tom 610-223-3593 (cell)

Our vagabond had six boats, thirteen crew, and plenty of good sailing. Boats participating were: Bob Ciferri, and crew Dante Pietrinferni; Neil Hoffman and crew Judith Lraines and Heidi Moser; Marty and Nancy Katzen; Tony and Mary Stajkowski; Tom Stoner and crew Rick Crump; Louis Barr and crew Armando Antonini. Louis sailed over from Middle River and Neil came down from Havre de Grace. The other four boats launched at Elk Neck State Park and sailed south against a good wind. After almost six hours of sailing the 16 mile trip had to be completed underpower. Aftrer a quick swim or shower we convened at the Harbor House restaurant for a delicious meal. An electrical storm knocked out the power just as we were presented the check. The dilemma was resolved by the old fashioned way of paying cash using a battery powered calculator and flashlights. We retred for a good night’s sleep enhanced by the patter of a light rain and thunder in the distance.

On Sunday Mother Nature gave us another windy day but clocked the wind around from the North! This resulted in having to again work against the wind but this time against the tide as well. We had to motor a good part of the return trip and found that motoring on the tacks to windward and sailing the tacks that were reaching was an effective tactic. All in all it was a fun vagabond with lots of good sailing. Ask Mary about her unexpected dunking! Tom Stoner

Last week we had four boats- Lou, Dante, Katzens, and myself. We even had enough crew to go around and fair winds to make it interesting. The weather bureau claims the rain will end Wednesday morning and it will get warmer. So come on out- the summer will soon be over! Tom Stoner 610-223-3593

We have six boats making the trip to Worton Creek. We will be taking slips on Saturday night in order to take advantage of the showers, swimming pool, and dinner at the Harbor House. Why not join us? Bring your boat and crew- we have no crew space. Give me a call to be included- slips are available or anchor out. Tom 610-678-0683

This weeks midweek sailing will be Wednesday, August 15. Accuweather forecast calls for mid 80’s with 10 MPH winds. See you there!