NMHF’s August Broadsides!
It’s been a great and busy summer for us all. What a time we’ve had, and it’s due to the efforts of so many of you. Thanks for everything. Take a look at what has been going on and what’s coming up. I’m sure you’ll find something to catch your fancy. See you soon!
Thanks Volunteers - AWC / DC Parks & Recreation trips a great success!
Crewmembers we’d like to thank:
American Spirit Deliveries for Fall - Wanna Cruise?
Spirit in Schools Summer Report- Thanks to DC Children & Youth Investment Trust
BIG Regatta Benefit for KSS Just Around the Corner
You Can Help Support KSS Too!!
Frappuccinos All Around! NMHF Wins Starbucks Foundation Grant
The National Capital High School Sailing Program is looking for Volunteer Instructors!
Join us Aboard the Royal Clipper for a Caribbean fundraising cruise of a lifetime
Pirate Raid on Camp Riverview
“It was a dark night, but well suited to their
purpose” In early July, a pirate ship was sighted near the mouth of the Potomac with the crew in full regalia and the ship “dressed to the nines.” As she dropped
anchor in the small bay, the ship’s boat could be made out, pulling for the
shore with four hearty souls. The raid of Camp Riverview was underway.
The raid started as a partnership between DC’s Park & Recreation Department and National Maritime Heritage Foundation. Nora Bryan, of Park & Rec. decided that it would be fun for the kids at Camp Riverview, the Department’s summer camp at the mouth of the Potomac, to experience the excitement of a pirate raid during “Pirate Week.”
After coordinating with Deena Justice, their camp
coordinator, we settled on July 6th as the date of the raid. That
left the planning to us. Captain Duncan Hood (aka “Capt. Grizzle”) scraped
together three valiant crewmembers: Rashad “Black Jack” Humphries, Heather
“Lefty” Nueleid, and Happy “Happy” Olmstead. We left Gangplank Marina on
Tuesday evening and headed 100 miles downriver for our rendevous. Traveling
overnight, we accomplished the 20 hour trip in good time, arriving off the
banks of Camp Riverview just in time for dinner (pirates always know when
dinner is served).
The pirates burst in among the campers at 18:30 hours
and sent them, as a screaming wave, against the back wall. After taking the
lead counselor hostage, she was released with a promise from the campers to
help us pillage the shores on the next morning. The next day dawned with a
hint of rain, but we skirted disaster and had winds up to 15 knots, perfect for
our purposes.
Then after dropping off our victims, it was off with the eye patches and upriver for the lot of us to home, hearth. We’d like to thank DC Parks & Recreation Department for their support, and the staff and campers of Camp Riverview.
Thanks Volunteers - AWC / DC Parks &
Recreation trips a great success!
This summer, NMHF received a grant from the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation to support 20 student visits to “American Spirit throughout the summer. While aboard, students worked on “heaving the lead,” “hurling the chip,” knots and navigation. The idea behind these trips was to expose kids to the capitol region’s rivers and give them educational experiences that they might not otherwise get. These 2 ½ hour trips have been running through the summer, and we’d like to thank all of our members who crewed for us and made these trips the success that they were.
Crewmembers we’d like to thank:
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Kathy Bateman |
Colin Hood |
Jack & Jill Schutt |
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Mark Black |
Julian Karpoff |
Tom Sliter |
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Joanne Brignolo |
Rhiannon Knol |
Rod Spicer |
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Steve Brody |
Len Koenick |
Mirielle Varil |
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Nancy Bromberg |
Colleen Leibmann |
Leigh Washburn |
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Davey Brown |
Fran Mahnke |
Bill Washington |
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Henry Cheng |
Lew Miller |
Phil Weeks |
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Carl Cole |
Heather Neuleib |
Eric Weil |
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Peter Corbett |
Happy Olmstead |
Michael Whitmire |
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Jan-Erik Homan |
Lee Rogers |
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Rae Sinanan has a pretty cool job. Rae is the Director of Promotions and Partnerships for Cultural Tourism of DC, and her job is to find interesting things to do for both tourists and locals in the DC area. Rae approached us last Spring to offer “Culture Cool” historic evening cruises on the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers during the dog-days of August. Historian, Lee Rogers, has been leading these trips and filling our heads with stories and information from the Revolution to this day. It’s been a wonderful time and a chance for us all to see our area in new and interesting ways.
These trips have been so successful that we’re thinking of bringing them back in late September. Keep an eye out!
American Spirit Deliveries for Fall - Wanna Cruise?
Have you ever wanted to take a longer trip than just a few hours? Have you ever wanted to sail to a distant port yet also wanted to be close enough for friends to visit? Well, here you go!
Duncan Hood will be conducting four deliveries this
Fall: One from DC to Annapolis, one back from Annapolis to DC, another from DC
to Annapolis/Baltimore, and one from Norfolk, VA home to DC. Cost of the trip
is $50/pp to cover costs of fuel and food - pretty cheap for a chance to cover
160 miles, experience the challenges of long-distance sailing, make new
friends, and work with great people. We are beginning to set crew lists now.
Give us a call and get on board!
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September 18-20 DC to Annapolis for the BIG Regatta |
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September 25-27 Annapolis to DC |
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October 8-10 DC to Annapolis for Schooner Race |
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October 11 Annapolis to Baltimore and evening Schooner Race festivities |
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October 12-15 Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race to Norfolk/Portsmouth (full) |
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October 15-17 Portsmouth, VA to Washington DC |
Spirit in Schools Summer Report- Thanks to DC Children & Youth Investment Trust
Wow, what a summer for Spirit in Schools! We
received a grant from the DC Children & Youth Investment Trust (DCCYIT) for
combined visits for our Spirit in Schools (SIS) program and field trips on
“American Spirit.” This proved to be a cool combination, allowing students the
opportunity to learn parts, sailing theory, compass use and navigation, and
shanty singing on our small boat, “Spirit,” before heading out on the big boat
to experience these subjects first-hand.
Thanks to Peter Gutmacher at DCCYIT and a big thanks to one of our favorite volunteers, Fran Mahnke. It has been a challenging and exciting summer. Thanks to everyone for all of your tremendous efforts.
BIG Regatta Benefit for KSS Just
Around the Corner
The third annual BIG Team Regatta is coming up on Friday, September 22, 2006. Due to the hard work of the committee, this benefit for the Kids Set Sail program is bigger than ever! It has already sold out with 16 teams participating this year. These brave souls signed on to bring home the BIG Team Regatta Championship Clock for honor, glory, fun, and most importantly the kids. Look who’s joining us this year:
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You Can Help Support KSS Too!!
Tickets are still available for the spectator boat and for the BIG Team Regatta party, which will be catered by our friends at Phillip’s Seafood. This year’s regatta is sure to be bigger and better than ever. If you are interested in volunteering to help in any way, please contact us at email@nmhf.org or in the office at (202) 547-1250.
Frappuccinos All Around!
NMHF Wins Starbucks Foundation Grant
The Starbucks Foundation has
joined the list of those helping NMHF bring the American Spirit Education
Program to the youth of DC. Grants from the Starbucks Foundation provide
organizations support in the development of innovative learning opportunities
for youth in arts and literacy and environmental 
education, and the American Spirit
Education Program presents an exciting hands-on environmental and maritime
education program that covers physical orientation, physical measurements,
biological survey, interrelationships, human impact, and conduct water quality
testing in the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers while on a two and a half hour
sailing cruise.
If you or anyone you know would be interested in taking a group on an American Spirit educational trip, give us a call at (202) 547-1250. American Spirit will cruise the rivers until the end of October!
NMHF ran its ever-popular Kids Set Sail summer camp
program for three weeks this summer in late July and early August. Youth from
programs including the Washington Jesuit Academy, the Boys & Girls Club,
YMCA and DC Park & Recreation all got their first taste of sailing during
their time at the waterfront. The students learned how to sail with the help of
a fantastic group of sailing instructors, led by Happy Olmstead and Oliver
Whitney. This picture is from the Washington Jesuit Academy’s outing during
this first week. As you can see, all had a great time during their week at Kids
Set Sail!
Sunny skies, warm weather and steady breezes highlighted the second DC Sail Open House & BBQ of the season on Saturday, July 29. Once again, DC Sail members, Kristine Dunne and Jennifer Peterson helped coordinate the BBQ for the large crowd. DC Sail members and volunteers took out over thirty non-members for a sail too! Many thanks go out to Jennifer and Kristine for their help with this great event!
The National Capital High School Sailing Program is looking for Volunteer Instructors!
Many of you have expressed interest in volunteering
with kids in our programs. Well, here’s your chance! The National Capital High
School Sailing Program is looking for volunteers to teach High School beginner
sailors the fundamentals of sailing. We are looking for people to come
Wednesday and Friday from 4:00pm until 6:30pm to instruct at our facility at
the Gangplank Marina. Please email Oliver at owhitney@nmhf.org
if you would like to help us out!
In addition, National
Capital High School Sailing is always looking for new
team members. If you know of any DC-area schools or high school students
who would like to participate in our program, please contact Oliver Whitney, owhitney@nmhf.org.
DC Sail staff changes for the Fall season
This month, several DC Sail employees will depart at the end of August to attend their first year of college! Malcolm Miller will be traveling to Pitzer College in Claremont, CA and Peter Gossens will leave for the University of Vermont in Burlington, VT. On behalf of everyone here at NMHF, we would like to recognize and thank them for their hard work and dedication to the program over the summer.
Pete and Malcolm will be replaced by several new staff who instructed during this season’s Kids Set Sail program. J Nickerson, Erica Contini and Joe Schmitz will be working for DC Sail through the end of the Fall Season. J, along with several of his co-workers from Koala Marine Services have already begun to help with much-needed boat maintenance projects on our fleet of Flying Scots and FJ’s. Many thanks to J for his help!
Join us Aboard the Royal Clipper for a Caribbean fundraising cruise of a lifetime
This February, the Royal Clipper will set sail
through the Caribbean. Will you be aboard? Sales have been strong as we now
have 17 guests signed up. Modeled after the legendary tall ship, Preussen,
the Royal Clipper is equipped with 42 sails as well as state of the art
navigation systems and modern comforts. At 439 feet, the Royal Clipper offers
the ultimate sailing experience with 
accommodation for 227 guests. The voyage begins
February 4, 2007 from Barbados. The ship’s route features stops in St. Lucia, Dominica, St. Kitts, Illes des Saintes and Martinique before returning to port in Barbados on Feb. 11. In addition, the history of naval warfare will be explored through a
series of lectures aboard the boat.
For more information contact Events Around the World Inc. by phone: 212-462-4970, or by email: eventsaroundtheworld@earthlink.net.
Please note, Labor day closed:
All programs will be closed over the Labor Day Weekend, September 2-4. Best to you all!