A lifetime on the water

Growing up in Western Pennsylvania, my life experience included sailing on the rivers that cut through the Mon valley and converge at Pittsburgh at the point. I remember the gentle rides we took on both powerboats and houseboats. My grandfather Bob had a great lakes v hulled cruiser that was powered by twin grey-marine diesel engines. When he pushed the throttle over to full, the wake would cause smaller boats to have to maneuver to avoid getting water inside their hulls. The damage to nearby boat docks could be sever too so he rarely ever opened the engines all the way up. But even though I saw some small sail boats from time to time, I was always a power boat kind of guy.

As soon as I was old enough, I traded the houseboat for submarines. I thought it would be a great adventure and was anxious to be out from under the repressive rule of my parents. Within a few days of reporting to boot camp, I learned my first lesson about what hard core repression really was. As the years went by and I gained some rank, the repression became more palatable, and I eventually became a Chief and later a Chief Warrant Officer. Riding submarines and later a submarine tender in the high seas of the north Atlantic, I considered myself a seasoned sailor. Part of that meant that I leaned to not let the water overcome my sense of adventure. Even riding through several typhoons and a couple of Nor’easters challenged me but did not frighten me. I just felt like the work we had done to train and learn the seas rhythms was enough to get us back home.

Fast forward to my seventy first year.

All of my life’s experiences finally caught up with me a few years back. I won’t go into the details but suffice to say that I am a 100% service connected disable American veteran. I stay active and do not ask or expect any pity from anyone. I made the choice to serve my country in uniform and knew at the time it might have consequences. To be fair, like all young men, I thought I was bullet proof. But the Vietnam war was winding down in 1972 and the Cold War was about to reach a few operational peaks that no one saw coming. As a submariner, I just did the job we were assigned to with long patrols and longer deployments around the world. Months underwater with no sunlight surely played a role in wearing us down. I feel that in my bones sometimes, along with the other issues I have now.

A few months ago, one of the members of my local Veteran’s Club made a presentation at our monthly meeting and told us about a sailing regatta that was coming up in my in Charleston Harbor. The flier said that the event was designed to honor US Veterans and Active-Duty military, The 2025 Military Regatta would have approximately 40 sailboats participating. The event is sponsored by Blackbaud and administered by the Charleston Ocean Racing Association. The best part was that veterans and active-duty folks were being solicited to be the crew members on the boats that would race. No experience was needed, in fact, you never had to have even been on a boat before. CORA would assign you to a boat and make sure that each boat had some representation on board on the day of the race. Most important, everything for the veterans was free. The only cost would be the dinner in the evening.

This event is a charitable race that Blackbaud has sponsored for a while now and has committed to doing so next year.

There are other sponsors as well that help defray the cost. you can see their names at the end of the post on the winners’ ceremony pictures.

Overcoming concerns

Now I will have to admit that Debbie (my commanding officer) was not exactly thrilled with me going on a racing yacht of any size. She has seen me overcome a number of things in the thirty years, but this one was something really outside of her comfort zone. Secretly, doing something like this has been on my bucket list for a long time, but I also had a few concerns. Part of the festivities include an observation boat that is filled with people who want to just enjoy the thrill from a more comfortable location. And one that has much less risk since it moves just fast enough to observe and stay out of the way.

Plus, there is tons of great food and a reasonably priced bar. Debbie eventually ended up going on the observation boat and had a really great time. There was a marginal cost, but Debbie assured me that the food was plentiful and worth the price.

Thanks to Tom Holcombe and his wife Lisa for escorting her from the hotel to the boat and back. It’s great that the submariner core value of looking out for our families came through.

But letting her husband go on the boats took some real begging.

I finally told her that I may never have a chance to do something like this again in my life and she finally realized she could not talk me out of it.

We stayed at the Marriott Courtyard (one of the other sponsors) and I walked to the Charleston Yacht Club to find my boat. I was assigned to the Sayonara and she was tied up right behind the club. Dave, the Captain, greeted me and we started preparing for the day. Withing a short time the two other sailing partners Henry, (US Army Veteran) and Charley (US Marine Corp Veteran) joined Dave and Dick (Dave’s father-in-law who was also an Army Veteran). Dave is an experienced sailor and gave instructions to Charlie and me about what to expect once we got underway. Charlie is a 20 something that is attending college at the Citadel and expressed hope to become a navy officer after graduation. I believe he will make a great officer or will succeed in anything he does. Charlie also did most of the hard work in adjusting the sails to meet the needs. A good friend of mine tells me that if you have hard work to do, send in the marines. We were blessed to have Charlie.

While Dave, Charlie and Henry got the boat ready, we started telling sea stories nearly from the start. Some really great sea stories. My main role was trying to stay out of the way and not allow the moving parts to get tangle up in my feet. I would like to think that I did my part with the best ability I could muster.

Underway

Once underway, the wind provided the best experience we could have hoped. At the closing ceremony, the Mistress of Ceremonies said that the day was a Champaigne sailing day. I had never heard that expression before, but it was pretty accurate in my estimation. We maneuvered through the course and made some timing elements that would help later to determine exactly when the optimal time was to make turns at the designated course points. Dave executed some excellent turns, and I got a chance to understand that my secondary role as ballast was important. Shifting the weight at just the right times made the boat operate with more efficiency. Also shifting the sails to meet the changing winds and course turns.

The race is on

When the race began, the different classes of boats would begin their individual races. We were in the cruising class, so we went last. But the feeling as we finally began our run was nothing short of electric. You could feel the wind in your face and the salt spray as turn after turn was made. I don’t know much about the racing expectations, but I felt that everything I was watching on our boat as well as the other contenders was flawless. Everyone on the boat was acting together to make sure we got every last knot out of the boat. As we approached the finish line, Dave announced that we were going to beat the guy who was still slightly ahead of us. Moment by moment we gained ground and just before the finish line, Sayonara slid past her competitor, and we all shouted! I have to admit that the other boat crew all waved and some even smiled. But we were the winners for the day.

Time constraints kept us from having another go at it.

But a wonderful dinner at the club was waiting for us. Also waiting for us was the awards ceremony that gave out the three levels of awards to the three classes.

I felt honored to be on that boat and honored that my Captain put everything into the day. I feel the same about all of the volunteers that did so much to honor all of the veterans that participated. The food was incredible and the folks that did so much that day (and I’m sure the lead up to the day) made it an awesome experience. At the awards ceremony, the leadership from Blackbaud announced that they were all in for next year. That is great news for the participants, but also for the organizations that benefitted from the funds that were raised. The Regatta benefits Fisher House Charleston http://www.friendsoffisherhousecharleston.org and Veterans on Deck http://www.veteransondeck.org.

Both organizations directly impact the veteran community which certainly needs our help. The lengthy wars we have fought in my lifetime have produced a large number of wounded warriors that have an abnormally high rate of suicide. Suicide claims the lives of too many of our brave men and women. Activities like this not only help raise funds and awareness, but they also benefit the men and women who need the activities like the regatta to help themself find a sense of purpose and dignity.

Thanks to Blackbaud and all of the sponsors for their dedication to our veterans

Captain Reed Koepp, Deputy Commander Joint Base Charleston… Also, one of the Military members that helped on one of the J boats

They even help old sailors like me.

Becoming disabled was not on my list of things to do when I signed up for the navy over fifty years ago. I try not to dwell on my limitations but sometimes the past overcomes my positive attitude, and shadows fall around me when I least expect it. A personal message to Dave and Kristen; You are both Rock Stars in my book. You didn’t just give me a ride; you helped me on a day when I was struggling a bit. Despite some of my physical limitations, you never made me feel like anything less than a valued crew member. I am thankful for the day and thankful that we met. I believe that is the spirit of the event. I hope that the existing sponsors stay on board and new ones will step up as well. This event helps in many ways to serve our veterans community.