Offshoreonly.com - Diplomacy 101 - How to communicate with your local sailing community

The following is an email I sent to the sailing community about this upcoming Barnegat Bay Poker Run:

Good Morning Bill & Bob,

Hope all is well. I am just sending this email to remind you, the BBYRA and the other sailing clubs in the area that we will be conducting our Barnegat Bay Poker Run this Saturday.

We will have a total of 40 boats for this event. Our members will be arriving at the Toms River Lobster Shanty around 8:30-9:00am. We will be departing the Lobster Shanty at 11:15am and heading up river under escort by the NJ State Police. The majority of the distance traveled up the Toms River will be off plane as we have done in the past.

Once our group reaches the mouth of the Toms River, 20 boats will head north under the Mathis Bridge and proceed inside Kettle Creek for a card stop. The other 20 boats will head south to Waretown for a card stop.

The Kettle Creek group will head south once the card stop is completed in Kettle Creek. They will head under the Mathis Bridge and proceed south to Waretown and eventually to the Manahawkin Bridge.

Please let us know if you will be sailing this Saturday and approximately where? We want to do our best to avoid your races so we can both share the bay and enjoy the day Saturday.

Please feel free to contact me on my cell @ 732-674-2946 or Jerry Monroe @ 908-910-0329 anytime.

Best Regards,
Dave Patnaude
President
NJPPC

And this was their reply which I thought was pretty cordial:

Dave.........
I hope you and your members are well and enjoying another summer on Barnegat Bay! Thank you for the reminder about your Poker Run.

The BBYRA is racing again this Saturday and most likely will be positioned in the vicinity of the mouth of the Toms River anywhere between Long Point and Good Luck Point. The exact location is impossible to determine at this time since much of the decision as to where the race committee sets up and the race course itself will be determined that morning based on wind direction and velocity.

The fleet will be on the race course by 8:30AM with morning races starting at about 9:30 and lasting until around noon. Judging from the information in your e-mail your fleet could coming down the river at about the time our sailors are completing morning races. It is quite likely that our paths may intersect as your racers come down river. I would just ask you to remind your competitors to be mindful of the large wake they throw even when operating at slow speeds, and the cumulative wake of so many boats at once can be extremely disruptive to tiny sailboats. Also, many of our competitors are children and novice sailors and the huge wakes they may have to deal with can be intimidating and frightening. The afternoon races begin at about 1:30PM and we will be operating roughly in the same area, again depending on what the wind dictates. For the most part the BBYRA will be west of the ICW channel as your fleet passes under the Mathis Bridge headed south. Again I would just ask your competitors for courteous treatment and respect for the rules of the road..........extending sailboats the "right of way".

Thank you once again for your reminder. I hope your group has another enjoyable event on the Bay!

Best Regards...
Bob Morrow
Vice Commodore, BBYRA
Principal Race Officer

Pretty cool stuff - if you don't have a good relationship with your local sailing yacht clubs, a little communication goes a long way!! :D :D (well with most people :evilb: )