Monroe Boat Club Sail Fleet

	Lake Erie's Friendliest Club
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Monroe Boat Club Sail Fleet

Monroe Boat Club can trace its Sailing History back to early days as Monroe Yacht Club. Monroe Yacht Club had Miss Cordelia Greening as many as 100 yachts from the Detroit & Toledo areas participating in the annual regattas held on the 4th of July.

Many people attribute an increase in women sailing to the America³ syndicate that sailed for the America's Cup in 1992. Well, it could be women in sailing started right here in Monroe. Miss Cordelia Greening, daughter of Commodore Chas Greening, the first Commodore of Monroe Yacht Club, came to considerable attention as an expert yachts-woman in the 1911 races.

Monroe Boat Club welcomes any yacht to participate in their regattas, provided the skipper/yacht are registered with an active ILYA or AYC affiliated yacht club.

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Michaud’s Quest to Sail the 50 States
Submitted by Al Michaud, July 2007

One fall evening in 2001, I was taking a shower and thinking about all of the places I had been sailing. I counted about a dozen different states where I had sailed in over my 25 plus years of sailing. So I came up with the idea, a quest, of sorts, to sail in all 50 of the states in the US. It seemed like a fun thing to do, and it may take 20 more years to complete, but I figured "why not?" Then again, maybe I'm just all wet!

The rules are simple—sail on any kind/size of boat, iceboat, windsurfer, landsailer, or regular sailing vessel. Wind conditions don't matter, but I am still trying to decide if it's ok to sail across a river that divides two states and call it sailing in both. But hey, I make up the rules and who's keeping track anyways!

Now, if all I did in the summer was travel around to sail, accomplishing my task might be pretty easy; but since we live so close to the lake and only a mile from the boat, and since our prime sailing season is the same as most of rest of the country, taking off on a road trip to sail is not very realistic. Why go somewhere else when everything I need is already right here in my own backyard? So there lies part of the challenge…time. Another is finding a boat to sail on in each place. So far, it's been pretty easy to link up with a sailor or rental by going online and either searching "sailing" in the location I plan to visit or searching yacht/boat clubs in the area. After arriving at my destination, one icebreaker I use to get a ride is to explain my "quest" and ask if any one needs crew for a local race or for just a cocktail cruise.

One of the most memorable sails I’ve had was with the cadets at Maine Maritime Academy in Castile, Maine in late October 2003. At the time, DR Kwapis (son of club members Dennis and Pat Kwapis) was attending the academy and he managed to get me onboard their training ship for a late afternoon sail. The training ship, the Bowdoin, is an 88' Arctic schooner that was built to sail in the polar regions of the world. The Bowdoin has made 26 trips to the arctic. That day, the winds were up around 25 knots and for the first time that year, the ship hit 6 knots! The crew was hootin’ and hollarin’! It was a fun ride.

So, how many states have I sailed in as of June, 2007? Twenty-three. Just last week I sailed (raced) in Portland Oregon on the Columbia River during Rose City Yacht Club's regatta. This summer/fall I still hope to sail in Missouri and Kansas. Both states can be accessed from Kansas City.