Next message: Rick Emerson: "Re: Radar mounting height"
Gee Ken. You feel warmly in the matter?
Actually, I don't blame you much. The leadership of the SSCA has
always been autocratic, high-handed and sanctimonious--it was often
embarrassing to read between the lines of the President's message and
divine what was really going on with the SSCA board. There must have
been blood on the floor many times after a meeting.
It is pretty clear that there is a vicious "cruisinger-than-thou"
faction inside the SSCA that strives to continually raise the bar for
Associates aspiring to be full Commodores. That puts the
organization in the awkward position of being so amazingly successful
at continually taking in more and more Associates and encouraging
Associates to take up the cruising/liveaboard lifestyle that an
unprecedented number of Associates are actually taking the plunge and
becoming full-time cruiser, which increases the pressure to create
more Commodores, which makes the status less exclusive, etc., et al.
There is also the problem of relying more and more on the funding of
their ever growing operations with Associate dues and on depending on
Associate worker bees at functions while never allowing Associates
any voice in the operations--even areas that have nothing to do with
the Bulletin or Cruising.
During all those years while Gayle and I were running SSCA Cruising
Station Guam, we hosted a lot of SSCA cruisers passing through the
Marianas. There is a decided difference between the folks out doing
it and the crowd that hangs out around Ft. Lauderdale. It was
because of the warmth, charm and generosity of the former that we
stuck it out. Never got a word of support or thanks from the home
office until we closed the station to return stateside.
Rick - nh2f
Xapic, Westsail 32
Annapolis
nh2f-abs.net
