Typical of Saturday afternoons in Havre de Grace during March, a group of sailors launched their Lasers on March 22 to race on the Susquehanna. The Havre de Grace YC fleet calls their series frostbite racing, and this year much of their sailing has been, well, frosty. Finally, though, just two days after the spring equinox, racers were able to sail in a balmy breeze. Tony Iocono, Fleet Captain said, “The bay is perfect this time of year, and frostbiting is a special aspect of sailing, my favorite. Jeff Andrews and his team at Tidewater Marina are very supportive of our fleet; launching is simple, and the sailing area is immediately off the dock.” Iocona emphasized his goal is for Laser frostbite racing to return to its former popularity on the Upper Bay. And now with Jim Albert as the skilled and committed race officer, the fleet manages to get off several races each Saturday. “While the weather is cold, the camaraderie is warm. There is nothing quite like steering down a wave in a brisk southerly breeze in the winter”, Tony said with a grin.
After this particular Saturday frostbite, racers were invited to join in the fun at the Havre de Grace Yacht Club’s annual sock burning party. This most casually planned event of the season simply asks sailors and friends to bring their old socks for burning as well as some sort of food to share. Because we never plan beyond that, there is always the danger that everyone will bring brownies; instead, we enjoyed German stew, mac and cheese, meatball subs, and much more—along with lots of brownies. The fire was warm, the beer was cold, and spirits soared with the knowledge that warm weather is on the way.
The heat was turned up by Commodore Al Caffo who had already called the Havre de Grace Fire Chief to get permission to hold flare gun training at the party. Caffo’s concern? “You don’t want the first time you use a flare gun to be when you really need it”. Knowing that sailors usually have expired safety flares lying around, he thought we could get training on how to use the equipment properly while using up outdated flares safely. And have some fun doing it! The fire chief approved and even notified all other authorities in the area. Sailors were instructed in flare and flare gun use, and we all took our turns using them, aiming them out over the water. The “grand finale” was done for the photo op.
So the day went from chilly racing to warm sock burning to red hot flares in just a few hours. Winter socks are off, the HDGYC is officially ready for spring racing, and our tune up race and another social are scheduled for April 17th.
~by Betty Caffo
