Though most are familiar with the beer & pizza free-for-all Keelhaul falling on the first Wednesday of every month, few realize that the hard-working & dedicated Administrators of TSPS reserve the second Wednesday every month to meet for steering the organization. A lot goes on there.

Since this has been going on for years solidly with a quorum satisfied and business being conducted almost without fail every month, I thought Members might benefit from an update; if there is interest, this could become a monthly feature.

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The Bridge is made-up of 10 Committees, overseen by The Commander. Two Committees could do with additional Member support: Membership and On-the-Water Activities. Why don’t you volunteer?

TSPS ’24 Bridge: Commander William Van Alstine, Brandan Morris Executive Officer, Svetlana Ilyushechkina Social Activities & Administrative Officer, Claude Strobbe Educational Officer, Jeff Canaday Assistant Educational Officer, Timothy Langley Secretary & Legal Officer, Maria Tenold Treasurer, (vacant) Membership Chair, Ashley Smart Squadron Webmaster & IT Head, (vacant) Boating Activities Chair.

Here is a condensed synopsis of the Meeting last week:

7:00 Commander Bill Van Alstine opens the Meeting: quorum acknowledged, Minutes from June are accepted, today’s Agenda re-confirmed.

7:02 Treasury Report by Maria Tenold: cash-flow is stable and in the black; insurance for boating activities is being changed to a new provider without interruption; discussion of Member-value and how to enhance it includes general recognition that Education needs to be broader with more on-the-water training, Skipper Training, celestial-navigation, Boat Handling, First Aid, Diesel Maintenance, and the like. There was also discussion on compensating Instructors for their efforts, which received wide agreement. Classes for passing-the-JRMA-tests virtually vs in-person was also discussed: Classes are geared to coincide with the JRMA tests offered seasonally, so increasing the number of students is a priority. To attract more students, TSPS needs to be more appealing to sailors, and Membership needs to include lots of opportunities to actually sail. Maximizing the use of the Hayama boats means increasing the number of available Skippers… which means TSPS needs to have a clear path from budding sailors going from accomplished sailor to Skipper.

7:32 Membership by Bill Van Alstine & Maria Tenold: current membership stands at 108 individuals. There appears to be some discrepancy on the Mailing List: registered, paid-up Members are not 100% accounted for. Maria is compiling the data and confirming accuracy for a full-report next month. There are lots of potential Members who want access to the lovely Hayama Marina sailboats: Alex D. is in charge of this and managing the WhatsApp Group “Hayama Sail & Crew Finder”. This is a tremendous resource for TSPS and should receive more attention. Finally, there seems to be a discrepancy of listed TSPS boat-owners … checking for accuracy.

7:46 Education  Claude Strobbe is in the midst of preparing a current roster of students to take the August Class II JRMA licensing-test (8/10); expects ~100% pass-rate. The next Class will start in September with the test in October. Currently Zoom-call scheduled for July 29, in-person on August 4, JRMA test August 10. A discussion on uploading teaching materials for limited-access on the TSPS webpage. Claude also proposes more on-the-water training for those who pass the test and receive their Class II licenses: currently there is no ‘process’ so these individuals are left to fend for themselves. TSPS should do more to engage them and weave them into the sport. A good discussion followed about the USPS Boating Course and how essential it is for Skippers. It is roundly felt that every Skipper for the Hayama boats, and individuals taking-out the dinghy, must first pass this course. In fact, it is deemed so essential that probably the original basic course should be included in the Membership Fee and all required to take the course. In any event, it is already in-process that all Bridge Members pass the course. More on this in the next Meeting.

8:00 Cruising & On the Water Activities Maria is maintaining for the time-being her position as Chair to take over Treasury; Vlad is temporarily stepping-in but a dedicated individual is sought. Maria acknowledges the attraction of sailboat racing and recommends TSPS focus on developing these opportunities. Currently there are two yacht Owners who are actively engaged (Claude & Darren)… and a dozen or so Members for crewing. Some thought perhaps training and developing racers on the Hayama boats was a good option. Also a discussion on cruising, ie, organizing several boats to head-out together for distant destinations or jointly to overnight jaunts. Some incentives should be offered to Captains and slots for Members to join as crew. This used to be a big component of TSPS activities in the distant (way before Covid) past. A wide discussion over liabilities and accommodating the standards of USPS (where Instructors are purely on a volunteer-basis); also, paying-for Skippers might violate the insurance parameters we enjoy as an NPO. We are looking into this but essentially TSPS must develop other incentives rather than cash-payments, it now seems. Stand by for more on this.

8:13 Website and IT Report Ash Smart reports that Google Analytics has been successfully embedded into the website so we can, going forward, calibrate the impact of stories posted on Skuttlebutt, visits to the Calendar, independent searches for “sailing in Japan” for Bridge analysis.

8:15 Any Other Business Commander Bill proposes the Fall BBQ to be held at Lake Inawashiro on September 7; 3 hours from Tokyo. This will be a two-day event that offers wind-surfing, wakeboarding, canoes, sunfish dinghy, BBQ on Saturday night. Target is for 30+ people. Lodging is scarce (30-40 minute drive) so camping is a recommended option. TSPS not providing alcohol. Requires volunteers for Lifeguarding, cooks, set-up/break-down, ski-boat skippers (probably fee-free for volunteers). A discussion on timing due to racing on that weekend in Sagami Bay; also, proposed that this event fall on a three-day weekend instead. To be discussed and decided after polling the Membership. Also, given the August date, the August Bridge Meeting is proposed to be cancelled; the week-earlier Keelhaul, however, is solidly endorsed.

8:30 Closure of the Meeting  Commander Willian Van Alstine closes the meeting with appreciation to the Bridge, and again reminds those who can to join the August 7th Keelhaul at Pizzakaya: Bridge host is Ash.

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