Kids Afloat came to the SCCA Annual Meeting and made a boat.
Seven Seas Cruising Association Annual Meeting, Melbourne, FL, Nov. 9-11 By Roy Laughlin
T
he Seven Seas Cruising Association (SSCA) holds its annual meeting every fall in Melbourne. In spite of redundancy, SCCA’s meetings are hardly routine. This year, about 16 cruising boats anchored off the old Eau Gallie section of Melbourne during the second weekend of November. A steady procession of dinghies arrived at the newly rebuilt Pineapple Pier, bringing people from their boats to the meeting. A couple hundred more attendees arrived by car and plane. In the most ironic twist, the season’s first strong cool front came through on Wednesday and Thursday before the meeting, sending most of the cruisers to the more protected south side of the Eau Gallie Causeway. This anchorage is about a mile from the repaired pier. Damage from the hurricanes of 2004 and ‘05 was repaired this spring and early summer. The framework for the annual meeting is consistent from year to year, with some evolution to address changing conditions cruisers face across the globe. The combination of daytime events and evening socials is a consistent framework in place for several years. But from year to year, professional speakers, workshop topics and vendors in the exhibition hall change. This year, installing offshore communication equipment and selecting a service to support it was the topic of seminars on Friday afternoon and Saturday. This general category also included getting news and weather information. Other topics included offshore medicine and first aid, tying and splicing lines, sail-handling and personal experience presentations. Seminars were scheduled from Friday afternoon through Sunday afternoon. Workshops, numbering up to a dozen participants, are
a second strong draw for the SSCA annual meeting. This year, topics included women sailors and sailing experiences, family life aboard with a focus on home schooling young children, a writers’ forum and “Meet SCCA Board Officers.” It seemed no one remained silent for more than a few minutes due to the ample opportunity to take a turn contributing experiences and ideas. Here’s an example of information-sharing that would likely not be available anywhere else: In the Friday’s women’s forum, a topic was, “Money, Finances and Paying Bills.” Several participants described locales where debit cards, or credit cards or cash were more beneficial to use (and where electronic payments could not easily be used). In some respects, the workshop format best characterizes the SSCA spirit. That spirit fosters camaraderie, mutual assistance and shared benefit of experience. The Saturday morning marine flea market is always a popular event. This year, the range of stuff on sale went from stainless rigging, books and tools to a dinghy with motor and sewing machines for textile sewing on board. With the change in the economy, buyers looking for bargains were quick to act. Several tables were bare before 11 a.m. The annual meeting is also the best time for officers, the board and the organization managers to meet face to face with members to hear what is being done right and what more is needed. According to Amy Thurman, SSCA’s new home base manager, SSCA has about 4500 memberships worldwide involving more than 9000 people. With a global membership, daily experience in the United States pales against the circumstances elsewhere. The primary goal of the SSCA officers is to give cruisers anywhere the information and resources to be prepared to successfully deal with weather, crime on the seas or hostile governments. It’s a tall order. In the past year, the SCCA has added member resources both at the home base in Fort Lauderdale and on its Web, accessible across the world. At home base in 2007, SCCA began: • Offering for $3 charts donated by members. These can be obtained with a phone call. • Expanded an already extensive reference library. Its holdings are intended to be used at the home base (the volumes do not ordinarily circulate). • Compiled a cruising reference library on DVD. This DVD has crucial information that might be needed while cruising. • The monthly “Commodore’s Newsletter” has grown to 45
36 December 2007
SOUTHWINDS
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