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EAGER FOR THE SURF, sailboats ai
Outing
BY SUSAN USHER
After a week of sporadic thundershowers and hovering
gray clouds, morning broke fair and bright Sunday?a
perfect day for sailing.
Sun rays tapdanced on the surf, adding a sparkle to
glassy seas broken only occasionally by a low whitecap.
Each time a teasing wave rolled gently to shore, the three
beached Hobie catamarans or "cats" shivered in anticipation,
thoroughbreds eager to run.
Eagerness was evident also in the light step and
quick moves of the eight crew members?two instructors
and six students from Camp United Methodist Church in
Shallotte.
Two hours behind their informal schedule, the boats
pu.sneu oil trom tne west end of Ocean Isle Beach at 11:30
a.m., bound for Battery Island, an Audubon Society sanctuary
across from the Southport waterfront.
Riggings adjusted, a wind indicator added to one
vessel and mainsheets to another and they were off.
First in the water were instructor Bobby Williamson
and students Tonya Russ and Krissi Smith. In quick succession
they were followed into the surf by students Steve
Scarborough and Rob Waples and then a second instructor,
Freddie Mintz, and students Karen Pittman and
Mary Beth Russ.
Right behind them, in a "chase boat" were Mr. and
Mrs. Price Thomas of Holdcn Beach, available for help if
any problems arose.
It was a "graduation" day of sorts for the si*
.students, who had completed a summer-long sailing class
offered through their church cuniniufiity. The class was
part of a activity-packed summer with programs for
children and youths of all ages in the church, coordinated
by a summer intern.
A sailing class was proposed by Mintz, and Williamson
agreed to help out.
"I felt like the kids didn't have enough to do in the
summer," said Mintz, a Shallotte native and avid sailor.
"When I was a boy I would liave given anything to learn
to sail.
"1 love it enough I wanted to share it."
Williamson's mutual love of sailing may come
naturally. His grandfather, Horton F. Milliken of
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TRAPEZINC keeps Scarborough and other crew mem be
catamaran in case of a slip-up.
The Sandfiddler Lii
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. SI AFf PHOTOS Bv SUSAN USHER
id crcw arc almost ready for launching.
I Celebrated i
Shallotte, and great-grandfather, the late Captain A.A.
Milliken, both sailed the commercial vessels that
Shallotte merchants relied upon for for merchandise. The
boats, with names like the George Slover and the
Chaneey T., plied the rivers and also ventured "outside"
to the Atlantic Ocean for the trip to Wilmington, N.C., or
points south.
With the paving of the main roads, the necessity for
the sailing boats vanished?and with it the boats
themselves.
Williamson says he'd like to see a revival of local in/
. w
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TAKING HER OUT...and soon they're s
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rs attached to the MINT/, reviews crew assignments as V
Rats and Rob Maples stand by.
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1/ you re setf-em picked <x ineligible f.x
health crwrrage and a great new set of
enrolled on Medicare you may he qua
benefits through our Medicare Supple
personal protection to anyone else Tal
MUNSWICX INS. SfRVICES, INC
U S. 17. S.P O Bo? 79 Supply NC 1
7S4 B672 'Alf r S PM 7S4 6096;
THE BRUN
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KOB WAPLES AND STEVE SCARBOROUGH adji
sailors' Grad
terest in sailing?for leisure enjoyment this time around,
not business.
With six new touting buffs to their credit now, the
class may prove to be that new beginning. Class membership
was restricted to senior higlts only.
"They're (sailboats) pluy, but not something you can
just hop in and take off," said Mintz. "It takes a long time
to learn to be a good sailor."
Four of the six students?two boys and two girls?
want to continue mastering tiieir skills nd will sail with
Mintz and Williamson on future trips until they're ready
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ilhouetted against the sky, on open water.
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Mary Beth Ku*t.
Personal i
Special Agent mi.
group invurai * t-vw have complete [?
ratrv And if ytxi re 65 of older and
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menrpUri So before you truM your IMM
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SWICK BEACON, Thursday, August 15, 1985?Page 9-B
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75/^4 ii
i
ist the riggings for their solo voyage as a crew.
uatiorY
to venture out on their own.
The hardest thing (or the class, said Mintz, was
remembering the specialized vocabulary?nautical
jargon such as "mninsheets" for the ropes that control
the "mainsail".
Several members of the class got off to a fast start,
though the trip Sunday took a lot longer than expected.
Steve Scarborough of Holden Beach and Hob NVaples
of Shallotte soloed together?manning the only boat of the
trio that didn't include an instructor on the crew.
"We did great! We had a ball!" Scarborough said
upon their return. "1 learned more in that one day than 1
had in all my sailing with Freddie.
"He had taught me a lot. The difference was doing it
all by ourselves rather than with the instructor. This was
the first time we'd done it all by ourselves, takeoff, landing?all
of it."
Scarborough, who hud a small amount of sailing experience
prior to the class, sailed with Mintz in two recent
regattas, finishing fourth in their division in one
event.
Sunday's trip was beautiful?but long. Rather than
the 2- to 2-Mi-hour journey one-way they Irnd anticipated,
the run to Southport was closer to a jog, taking about 5- to
5W hours.
After a good start, the wind died down to what Scarborough
called "pretty slack" before shifting from northeast
to a more favorable soulli-soutlieast us thev tnitde
their wuy up the count tout urounrt (unwell Wcuch Into the
Cape Fear River.
"it was a good day to learn," Scarborough said. The
winds were strong enough for he and his boatiuatc to try
their skills, but not stroiu: enough to create any handling
problems.
After a picnic lunch?it was nearer suppcrtime- of
chicken and other goodies, instead of sailing south, they
called home.
"We couldn't have gotten back before dark," said
Scarborough.
So William Waplcs and two other parents met the
sailboats at the Southport Marina und the eight trallcrcd
home, one more sailor's lesson stored away for future
reference.
^|^h9r^hhh
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CK al the rear are Karen Plttman, Freddie Mlnli and
J
le Blizzard
tt week, August 23-24
IRUNSWICK PLAYERS
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