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The not-for-profit Salty Dawg Sailing Association will be hosting four rallies this year. Each rally is an opportunity for sailors to cruise-in-company, with the safety, camaraderie, and passage-preparation assistance that only a rally can provide, with minimal requirements and minimal costs. Meet new friends and re-unite with old ones. Kids and pets are always welcome.
- The Homeward Bound Rally (formerly East Coast Rally) will be leaving from the USVIs in early May for various ports on the US East Coast. For the first time, SDSA is considering adding a gathering in Bermuda for those departing from the Caribbean. If you might like to do this, please email [email protected] so the organizing committee can see how much interest there might be.
- The Downeast Rally will have three legs, leaving from Hampton, VA in early July, then to Newport, RI, then on to Chuttyhunk, MA with a final landfall in Rockland, ME around July 10. Cruisers can join the rally at any port. Of course, there will be meetings to help cruisers get ready, socials to meet the other participants, and rendezvous all along the way. The Downeast Rally is the perfect opportunity to gain experience sailing overnight in the ocean in the company of other Salty Dawg boats and with experienced shoreside staff support.
- This year the Dawgs are thrilled to be able to include the Maritime Rally again. This rally will leave from either Provincetown, MA or Penobscot Bay, ME in mid-July for points in Nova Scotia, including Cape Breton and Bras D’Or Lakes. Again, Salty Dawg socials will be plentiful. Nova Scotia has an attractive sea-bound coast, with quaint fishing villages, numerous isolated coves and historic sites.
- The Caribbean Rally will depart Hampton, VA around November 1 going to your choice of the Bahamas or Antigua. This cornerstone rally meets late in October with meetings, seminars, and Q & A sessions to help get cruisers out of the cold and into the fun of the Caribbean. A crossing to Antigua usually takes 10-14 days. The crossing to the Bahamas 7-8 days. Upon landing at your winter season destination expect social and educational activities, both planned and spontaneous, to be abundant. The Caribbean Rally is not only the largest organized flotilla of cruisers leaving the US East Coast for the Caribbean—but the most fun!
All social events will be carried out in compliance with local Covid-19 guidelines. All rallies will have weather support and routing by Chris Parker and the Marine Weather Center, as well as shoreside support and emergency response team from an experience team of cruisers to help ensure a well-run and safe rally for all. Each departure date is weather-dependent and at the discretion of the captain as to each boat’s readiness.
Rally registration and more information can be found at www.saltydawgsailing.org/rallies
Not sure if you (or your boat) are ready to go? Increase your blue water knowledge by enrolling in the Salty Dawg series of webinars. Hosted by experienced offshore and industry professionals who really know their trades and the rigors of the cruising life, these webinars cover everything from insurance for cruisers, how to buy the right cruising boat, rally sailing, communications at sea, weather and routing, safety equipment, storm tactics and more. Webinars are free for Salty Dawg members. Non-members pay just $25 for each series of webinars. Check them out at www.saltydawgsailing.org/2022-webinars
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The First Salty Dawg (Rescheduled) Thanksgiving Day Regatta was held in Falmouth Harbour, Antigua, and was a smashing success. Nine determined cruisers, ages 8 - 80, tried their hands at small boat sailing in Pico sailboats from the Antigua Yacht Club. There were spills, for sure, and massive equipment failures, but once the initial issues were worked out there was fierce competition in the single elimination competition. In the end, it came down to one boat and a husband-and-wife head-to-head. Congratulations to Hermione Pattison of sv Alisara for beating Douglas over the line in the closest competition of the day.
The first heat was plagued by a dismasting and the loss of a center board. The second heat went smoothly but there were tip-overs and broken glasses in the third. The fourth heat was a father-son head-to-head as Douglas Pattison outpaced his 10-year-old son, Arthur and in the fifth heat 8-year-old Alice Pattison joined her mother as they beat out Bill Wheary by a good margin.
The competition was fun and fair and a good time was had by all.
Watch the fun here.
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In the Spring of 2020, as the world was becoming paralyzed by the COVID-19 Pandemic, The Salty Dawg Sailing Association sprang into action and organized the Homeward Bound Flotilla to help 473 sailors in 184 vessels get from the Caribbean to the east coast of the United States. It was an extraordinary effort involving on-shore coordination, 24-hour emergency assistance teams standing by, weather routing, tracking, and fast-paced thinking.
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English Harbor, Antigua, BWI
Sailing Vessel Allegro, owned by Salty Dawgs Sharon and Lee Demarest, was the first to cross the finish line and the over-all winner of Antigua’s annual Nelson’s Pursuit race. Lee and the all-Salty Dawg crew (consisting of Jim Felds, Mark Hoenke, John Hueber, Brian Schuemacher, David Tesar, and Bill Woodruff) expertly piloted the 1984 Tayana 52 cutter-rigged cruising boat over the 16.1 mile course in 2 hours, 20 minutes and 15 seconds (sailing at an average of 7 knots) beating out 23 other boats.
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Co-Founder of the Salty Dawg Rally
It is with profound sadness that we announce the sudden passing of Linda Marie Knowles. Linda died unexpectedly of a heart attack in her home in Vero Beach, FL on November 14, 2020. She was 71 years old.
Born in Buffalo, NY and raised in Eden, NY, she was a devoted wife of 36 years to her husband William (Bill) P. Knowles. They spent the last 15 years living on their sailboat Sapphire, cruising from the Northeast to the Caribbean each year. During this time, they founded the Salty Dawg Rally in 2011. The organization has grown to become the Salty Dawg Sailing Association, one of the premier sailing associations in the world, with over 800 members and many events each year. Linda served as Vice President from 2013 until her death. The ocean became their home, and the Salty Dawgs her passion.
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