(There are now videos going up of the club and our boats. You can go to this link for a trip around the race course aboard the "War Eagle" and view the other videos while you're there.)

Saturday October 17, 2009. It was a might nippy for this sail with high North winds and very cool temps. This led to a weak showing and those that braved it didn’t do so for long.

Those present were:

Ray
D Day
Murphy
Sunshine
Crash

And a very few brave guests.

There’s nothing much to report this time, so I will keep it short. Capt. D Day ran his UL-1 and it was getting pretty squirrelly. I ran the Pro Boat runabout “Eat My Wake” and she loved the water conditions. I also ran the Nirvana "War Eagle"...she is used to the conditions and always takes anything I give her. Sunshine was to run the Nirvana “Crimson Tide” but it had rudder servo problems. We took a few pics and short videos, but I don’t think I will post them this time.

Crash

Saturday October 3, 2009. This was the FDR Sail on Pine Mountain Georgia. President Roosevelt was a huge boat lover and this event is the first annual to celebrate his love of boats and introduce others to the enjoyment we find in the hobby. After two years of planning and waiting we got the 1st of what we hope will be many great FDR regattas in the books. The weather was absolutely perfect. We had plenty of sunshine and a gentle breeze, with temps in the mid to upper 70s and low 80s. The threat of rain never showed. The “Rangers” and “Friends of the Park” were the best hosts you could ask for. They provided and cooked dogs and drinks, a sound system with great sailing music, a rain gutter regatta to go along with the RC regatta, a table to buy/build free sailing boats and a really nice nautical knot tying shop/table for the young sailors. They also had cool give away of nautical related items like a 2000 piece puzzle of ships of the line in battle (I scored that after whining for it), a cool book, boat kits, koozies…etc.

We set up early and had a great showing of club members and boats.

Those present were:

Mr. & Ms. Scooter
Mr. & Ms. Ray
Mr. & Ms. D Day (new member)
Murphy and his grandson Michael (new member)
Sunshine
Crash

And about 150 guests.

We expected a Den of Scouts and had an entire Pack show and it was really a sight. The pics are a must see to appreciate the crowd of smiling faces. We got in one Nirvana race and it was the longest race in history as the wind just died and the 3 laps took forever. Capt. Ray was the 1st skipper across the line, but everyone was a winner in this one, just for finishing. Capt. Scooter and I thrilled the crowd with demo runs of the Chris Craft Runabouts while Capt. D Day was the crowd favorite with the UL-1 Hydrofoil. We had no mishaps and no children or wildlife was injured during the event.

The afternoon wound down with a presentation to the club of a nice trophy for helping with the event. We all had a great time and look forward to next year. Several Rangers expressed the desire to get sailboats and enjoy the hobby.

Photos/videos are or will be available to see at the MMBC thread at RCGroups (go to link in links section below) and/or the MMBC Message Board.

Crash

Saturday September 5, 2009. It was a soggy day in Alabama. After over a week of rain the ground is saturated even though the temps were nice it was really humid. The threat of rain kept most skippers away today. Only a few of the most dedicated Captains showed.

Those present were:

Earl
Scooter
Crash
Mike
David
Joe (made a brief appearance without a boat.)

And few guests.

Nothing much shaking today except Crash killed the ESC in his Chris Craft “Eat My Wake” by over powering it. (Note: The ElectriFly C-55 can NOT handle a 5250mah 2 cell lipo powering a Titan 12 turn brushed motor for long before it cooks.) She now has a new C-55 and Titan Marine 23 turn motor waiting to be tested.

The next sail will be at FDR State Park in Georgia.

Crash

Saturday September 5, 2009. It was another pretty day for summertime in Alabama. We had a good showing of skippers and boats today.

The sailors today were Captains:

Burke
Earl
Scooter
Murphy
Crash
Mike
Sea Dog
Roger
Goose
David
D Day

And guests

We had a handful of assorted sheet boats, and managed to get in a couple of races. The tug Belinda was pretty busy with buoy duty and rescues. We nearly lost a boat that a young sailor brought after it suffered a jammed rudder and capsized during the retrieval. We also had a Fast T hit a USO and get airborne and have its hatch come off and only the bow was sticking up after it filled with pond water. Capt. Earl...your busted...sorry no pics available of either of those events. Capt. Murphy got his float plane into the air for a couple great flights. A gust of wind did flip it upside down after it had landed the last time. Finally Capt. Sea Dogs run of bad luck continued when he smoked the electronics on his SV-27.

Photos/videos are or will be available to see at the MMBC thread at RCGroups (go to link in links section below) and/or the MMBC Message Board.

Crash

Saturday August 22, 2009. It was a NOT a typical, hot, humid, windless, dog days of summer type of day in Alabama. It was a absolutely beautiful day with mild temps and low humidity and a nice Northerly breeze to top it all off. Not surprisingly, we had a good turn out of sailors and visitors.

The sailors today were Captains:

Scotty
Burke
Earl
Scooter
Murphy
Crash
Mike
Sea Dog
Sailor Man
Ron
Ray
Roger

And guests…and if I left your name off the list it was not on purpose, it’s getting hard to keep track.

Some of us were at the pond by 7:30 am. We again had a handful of assorted sheet boats today, and about everything else you can think of that floats. We welcomed another new member to the crew, Capt. Mike. The Captain has been visiting for a while, but this time he finally decided to give up his signature to one of the club forms. The tugs were plenty busy today with fast boat rescues.

We had a good deal of drama when a Nirvana collided with Sea dogs destroyer and the entire super structure went to visit Davy Jones Locker. Sea Dog posted a great story about recovery attempts at the RCGroups thread…a must read. A mess of photos/videos were shot and they are worth viewing. They are or will be available to see at the MMBC thread at RCGroups (go to link in links section below) and/or the MMBC Message Board.

We also had Montgomery Advertiser show unexpectedly and did a photo/interview for the Sunday paper. We got a whole page of color press coverage there, and no sooner did we get done with that then a camera crew showed and did an outstanding video of the club. I think it’s the best one done yet. It is available for viewing at the Montgomery advertiser web site.

You can go to this link and view the video)

Crash

Saturday August 8, 2009. It was a typical, hot, humid, windless, dog days of summer, in Alabama kind of day. We still had a fair turn out sailors and visitors.

The die hard sailors today were Captains:

Joe
Burke
Earl
Scooter
Murphy
Crash
David

And guests…

Some of us were at the pond by 7:00 am. We had a handful of assorted sheet boats today, but the wind was nonexistent. The glass smooth water made for perfect motor boating conditions. We welcomed another new member to the crew, Capt. David. The Captain has been visiting for a while, but this time he brought his new Pro Boat Formula Deep-V and man did it fly. What a sweet boat. Capt. Joe showed with a brand new Pro Boat Coast Guard Motor Lifeboat. That thing is highly detailed, right down to the non skid deck, and she ran as great as she looked. The only rescue today was my P-88 NAVY crackerbox boat after flipping over. I ran the UL-88 NAVY hydro and took some interesting on board footage. Mike showed with his UL-1 hydro as most of us were packing to leave. It was getting very warm by then. A lot of photos/videos were shot and they are worth viewing. They are or will be available to see at the MMBC thread at RCGroups (go to link in links section below) and/or the MMBC Message Board.

Crash

Saturday July 25, 2009. It was a very warm and light wind type of day. Humidity was a little below normal and that made it tolerable. We had another very good showing of sailors and visitors.

Present today were Captains:

Joe
Burke
Roger
Earl
Scotty
Goose
Scooter
Murphy
Crash
Seadog
Diehard
Rudy
Crunch

And guests…

We had in the neighborhood of 8 Nirvana s and a few other assorted sheet boats today. We ran 3 tugs to include Seadog's newly modified Atlantic Harbor Tug “Opelika”. We also saw Seadog's Spruance Class Destroyer DD-985 USS Cushing (Seadog served aboard her) and WWII troop transport USS Pinkney APH-2 (Mrs. Seadogs grandfather served aboard her). Several other power powerboats also got wet. The only rescue today was a snag and drag of Capt. Roger’s Nirvana after it lost rudder control and found itself on Omaha Beach. There is an on-board video of this rescue. Capt. Murphy brought 2 aircraft today and although the float plane had mechanical problems and was unable to fly…his other aircraft did make a few flights and thrilled the crew with aerobatic fun. A special treat was in store for Crash. The club presented him with a very cool plaque for his time spent on the club and he is very appreciative. A lot of photos were shot and they are worth viewing. They are or will be available to see at the MMBC thread at RCGroups (go to link in links section below) and/or the MMBC Message Board thanks to Captains Earl and Crash.

Crash

Saturday July 11, 2009. It was a warm, but good day to sail today. We had a very good showing of sailors and visitors.

Present today were Captains:

Joe
Burke
Bill
Earl
Ray
Goose and 2 Jr. Captains
Scooter
Murphy
Crash
Roger
Whit
Rudy

And guests…

Wow…it was sheet boat heaven today! We had in the neighborhood of a dozen of these boats on the water….the most seen in a good while. It was good to see Capt. Ray again…and it was he that took the win in the race today...congrats. We welcomed 2 new skippers, Captains Roger and Whit, and watched them christen their Nirvanas. A couple of cracker box boats and a hydro ran today too. No rescues to report…very unusual. A lot of photos and videos were shot and they are worth viewing. They are or will be available to see at the MMBC thread at RCGroups (go to link in links section below) and/or the MMBC Message Board thanks to Capt. Earl and yours truly.

Crash

Saturday June 27, 2009. The sailing was very good, wind was just about right and we sailed early before the heat set in. We had a good showing considering the heat.

Present today were Captains:

Joe
Burke
Die Hard
Earl
Doodah
Goose
Crunch
Murphy
Crash

And guests…

It was a very unusual day in that the only prop driven boat to show up was the rescue tug “Belinda”. It was sheet boat paradise! We had a variety of them, a Paradise, Victoria, Tippecanoe, RC Laser, and a handful of Nirvanas. Capt. Murphy brought his really cool float plane. It had a very short 2 second flight before ground looping into the drink. Tug to the rescue. No damage other than a smoked ESC and a little ego…thank goodness:)Pictures are up at the MMBC thread at RCGroups (go to link in links section below) and the MMBC Message Board thanks to Capt. Earl.

Crash

Saturday June 13, 2009. The sailing was good, wind was just about right and it was overcast so the heat was not a problem. The rain set in around 10:00 so it was a short day.

Present today were Captains:

Scooter
SeaDog
Die Hard
Earl

And guests…

I was not able to make this sail, but those that did had a good time. Thanks go to Capts. Earl and Sea Dog for the report and pictures. Pictures are up at the MMBC thread at RCGroups (go to link in links section below).

Crash

Saturday May 30, 2009. We had another nice day to be at the pond. It was in the mid 80s, low humidity and the winds were 5-15 mph out of the NNW.

Present today were Captains:

Scooter
Trooper
Burke
Crash
SeaDog
Joe
Scotty
James

And guests…

We had a fair turn out, and we were really glad to see Capt. Scotty and James again. There were about 5 Nirvanas and the various other sheet boats out today with a colorful collection of other boats. Only rescues were yours truly when the “War Eagle” left port without being powered up and needed dragged back. Also the “crackerbox “Claim Jumper” needed her usual rescues. It was Crash’s day for the drama. I T-Boned the wall with the “Claim Jumper”, side swiped the wall with the Chris Craft “Eat My Wake” and did Omaha Beach landings with the “War Eagle”. I did win the sheet boat race though. Pictures are up at the MMBC thread at RCGroups (go to link in links section below).

Crash

Saturday May 16, 2009. Although the weather looked threatening, and we had a 60-80% chance of rain…it held off until afternoon, and we had another nice day to be at the pond. It was in the low to mid 80s. Winds light and variable.

Present today were Captains:

Scooter
Trooper
Burke
Crash
Murphy
Joe

And guests…

We had a light turn out, most likely due to the forecast, but it just goes to show the weathermen were wrong again. We had a hodgepodge of sheet boats today and I brought about everything except one thinking if the rain let loose I didn’t want to have to deal with it too. Only one rescue today when Capt. Burke needed the RC Lazer dragged back to port. Welcome to a new member, Capt. Joe. The captain and his new Paradise sailboat are the first to find the way to our club via the new Hobby Shop. I didn’t get a lot of pictures today, but there were other cameras at the pond and hopefully more photos will show up at the MMBC thread at RCGroups (go to link in links section below).

Crash

Saturday May 2, 2009. Another nice day to be at the pond, maybe one of the last before the heat sets in. It was mid 80s with tolerable humidity. Winds 5-10 with much higher gusts.

Present today were Captains:

D-Day
Scooter
Sea Dog
Trooper
Goose
Rachel
Crash
Murphy

And guests…

Lot’s of action today. We had several unlimited light hydroplane boats tearing up the water and needing rescued after imitating 747s and trying to fly. Captain Sea Dog had his beautiful scale ships hit the ground after the table they were on got blown over by the wind and it was good to see Captain Murphy again and his new tug. There are lots of really good photos available for viewing over at the usual place…and I will let the pictures tell the rest of the story. Go to the MMBC thread at RCGroups (go to link in links section below).

Crash

Saturday April 18, 2009. A real nice day to be at the pond with 5-10 mph wind.

Present today were Captains:

Die Hard
Scooter
Sea Dog
Trooper
Goose
Jon
Crash

And guests…

We had 7 Nirvana s and numerous other boats to show today. Capt. Trooper brought his new footy "Survivor" out for it's maiden. He also got his first rescue with his Atlantic tug "Sharon" after a football rolled into the pond. Capt Scooter had his "Liberty" tug today too. Capt. Sea Dog brought his 1/144 Destroyer and a SV27 along with a sheet boat...everyone had a sheet boat. I brought a mess of boats (5) and didn't have time to take many pics, but there are some up at the MMBC thread RCGroups. I had to rescue the P-88 "Navy" cracker box boat 4 times before I used up a battery pack on it. I could not keep her prop down....too much power. No mishaps today...just a really pleasant sail.

Crash

Oh...I almost forgot...the races...the old salt "War Eagle" and Capt. Crash had the field covered today...

Saturday April 4, 2009. A absolutely gorgeous day to sail. The temps were in the 70’s, no humidity and a light breeze. I was surprised at the light turn out today and assume yard work was the culprit.

Present today were Captains:

Scooter
Burke
Goose
Crash

Capt. Die Hard made a brief appearance and Capt. Goose brought 2 of his flock.

We had 3 Nirvana s and a RC Laser for the commerce raider “Prince de Neufchatel” to prey upon today. I also put 5 miles on the UL-88 “NAVY” hydroplane. A few pics of the sheet boats were taken and they are at the MMBC thread at RCGroups (go to link in links section).

Crash

Saturday March 21, 2009. It was another perfect day to sail, with a nice 5-10 mph swirling wind and as a result we had a very good turn out.

Present today were Captains:

Die Hard
Scooter
Sea Dog
Trooper
Rudy
Burke
Goose
Jon
Doodah
Crunch
Sunshine
Crash

And lots of guests…

We had 10 Nirvana s and numerous other boats to show today. Rather than trying to list them all here I’ve decided to let you go to the MMBC thread at RCGroups (go to link in links section) and look at all the photos. I would like to mention that we did have our first loss at sea…Capt. Davy Doodah Jones’ brand new Footy “GoSpectre” is on the bottom of the pond. We’re all sorry for your loss Captain…it was bound top happen to someone sooner or later…we hope you will build another.

Saturday March 7, 2009. A perfect day to sail, a little windy at times but, all in all, perfect.

Present today were Captains:

Die Hard
Scooter
William
Grant
Murphy
Burke
D day
Crash

And numerous guests…

Capt. William decided to join the crew (welcome to the club Capt.) and brought out a fleet of new boats to play with to include the maiden voyage of a scratch build Sprucan destroyer the USS Cushing, which he served aboard…sister ship to the USS Elliot which I served aboard, so of course I drool all over this model….every time I see it. It's not finished but getting there. He also maidened a very nicely painted Nirvana “Stars & Stripes”, a PT looking boat and a cabin cruiser that ran very nicely that his lovely wife sailed.

Capt. Grant AKA “Trooper” got the maiden on his Nirvana “Sharonana” and his new Atlantic Harbor Tug “Sharon”…hmmm seems to be a theme here. I’m going to have to meet this Sharon person to see why she already has 2 boats named after her.

Capt. Murphy brought out a newly painted and re-sheeted Nirvana “Wendee” and his really cool Footy “Zane”.

Capt. Burke brought his Laser “Stinger”.

Capt. Scooter had his tug “Liberty”, his Nirvana sheet boat “EZ One” and his new Chris Craft “Freebird” with him.

I added the power factor with the cracker box boat P-49 “Claim Jumper”, the UL-88 “Navy” hydroplane, the refurbished Chris Craft “Eat My Wake” and of course the indispensable working tug “Belinda”. The UL-88 took a hit off a USO “Unidentified Submerged Object” at 40-45mph and caused some minor hull cracks….and took on some water….another turtle bites the dust!

Other than the claim jumper needing rescued twice and the mini-rio, that Capt. D-day broke out, also needing her services…it was an easy day for the rescue tug. Pics are posted at the MMBC Thread @ RCGroups.

Saturday February 21, 2009. A nice day to sail, be it a little windy.

Present today were Captains:

Die Hard
Scooter
Doodah
Rudy
Murphy
Grant
Jim
Crash

And numerous guests…

I had to leave the sail early so if I missed anyone or anything I apologize. We had at least 6 sheet boats in the water today. Capt. Murphy showed up with a newly repainted slick black Nirvana, the repairs and new custom automotive paint job the result of a backing over the boat with the jeep…we might need to rename this boat there Capt…..how about “Speed Bump”. It’s amazing the boat survived at all. Capt. Grant got a maiden voyage of his new Nirvana, the “Sharonana”. Capt. Doodah tested his Crackerbox “No Wind Situation” and may be finding out she is like mine…over powered…but hey that reverse gear is pretty cool there Capt….kept ya out of the wall this time. Capt. Scooter had to get out the good ole kayak again to rescue a visitors “Dicky Fireboat” and Capt. Rudy’s Blackjack 26 which got stranded too after he tried to rescue the Fireboat off Omaha Beach. I'm beginning to think he is enjoying getting the kayak out every week. Me…I got to the pond way early and tested the newly refitted Chris Craft cruiser that I acquired the previous Monday from Capt. Scooters shipyard. She was renamed “Eat My Wake” and ran with excellent results….but could be a little faster….hmmmmmm

Saturday February 7, 2009. The first absolutely perfect day to sail in some time brought out the sailors and spectators.

Present today were Captains:

Crash
Die Hard
Sunshine
Scooter
Doodah
Rudy
Burke
D-Day

Visting Capts:

William
Leslie
Jim

And numerous guests…

We had 8-9 sheet boats in the water today. Visitors came from as far away as Birmingham and Alabaster to sail with us. We got a sailing lesson from visiting Capt. Jim and his slick black Nirvana as he put half a lap on the field in the Nirvana race….nice sailing man. Capt. John showed with his brand new UL-1 Unlimited Light Hydroplane and proceeded to flip it on the first run and beach it on the next. He is awarded smooth move of the day and for his great Normandy Invasion imitation, and affectionately awarded the new name of Capt. D-day. Thanks to Capt. Scooter for the rescue in his kayak. We did mange to get in a display of speed with the hydros and the crowd loved it. For a lot of great pictures go to the “MMBC Thread @ RCGroups” in the links section.

Sunday January 25, 2009. The normally scheduled Saturday sail was once again washed out so we moved the sail back 24 hrs. It was a cool, 40-50ish, damp day with very light winds making it almost impossible for the sail boats…although at times a little breeze would come up. It was perfect conditions for the fast electric power boats though.

Present today were Captains:

Crash
Die Hard
Murphy
Scooter

We had a few folks stop by and try out Capt. Die Hard's fire boat. Capt. Crash had to rescue the UL-88 “NAVY” (unlimited light hydroplane) after it took out a buoy at 40+ mph and flipped a few times. Damages are repairable and she will be back next week. The buoys will be redesigned to remove the broom sticks from inside making them less harmful to the fast boats.

As a side note we had 2 new members to join our club this week, adding another Nirvana and another UL hydroplane.

Welcome Capt. Jim and Capt. John.

Sunday January 11, 2009. The normally scheduled Saturday sail was washed out so we moved the sail back 24 hrs. It was a cold, 40ish, damp day with 10-15 North winds and stronger gusts… but three of us die hard sailors went for it anyway.

Present today were Captains:

Crash
Die Hard
Murphy

We had a few folks stop by and try out Capt. Crash's sailboat and Capt. Die Hard's fire boat. No rescues were needed today. We played hard and after 3 hrs called it time to go to the house and get some coffee and a warm bowl of Chile.

Saturday December 27, 2008. The sail day was windy … but some of us braved it and had a great time. Today we had 10-20 mph winds and the sail boats had more than they could handle at times and it was too rough for the cracker box boats…but the fast boats did just fine.

Present today were Captains:

Crash
Die Hard
Rudy
Burke
(and a few guests)

The Montgomery Advertiser showed and spent a good amount of time with us today…we made page 2 and 7 of the Sunday paper as well as the online paper with lots of photos and the story. The link to that is:

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20081228/NEWS01/812280324

We hope to see you at the next sail.

Saturday December 13, 2008. The last regular sail was a wash out… but some of us met this past Saturday and had a good time. Todays sail day was a good day to play and we had enough boats in the water to keep things interesting.

Present today were Captains:

Crash
Scooter
Die Hard
Rudy
Doodah
(and a few guests)

The rescue tug was very, very busy..again. In fact it was one of those days where about everything that could go wrong with the power boats did. Everything except Capt. Crashes new UL-88 "NAVY" Unlimited Light hydro needed rescued including the tug ”Belinda” after her 6v gel cell decided to die. Capt. Scooter ended up getting his kayak in the water to rescue boats and buoys. I’m glad he was there…thanks Terry! For more details and pictures go to this thread at RCGroups:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=965826&page=2

We had to call it a day by 2:00pm due to no rescue craft availability….but it was still a fun day.

Tuesday November 25, 2008. I found the latest issue #154 of "Model Yachting" magazine in my mailbox today. In this issue are a number of articles and photos about the Nirvana to include quite a few of our club. We didn't get on the front cover but we did make the back cover...Capt. Crunch took that beautiful photo but did not get the deserved credit in the magazine. Great shot...thanks Capt. The issue also includes a story about how our club formed. Good reading...get a copy if ya can.

Saturday November 22, 2008. Last weeks regular sail was literally blown out… so some of us met today…for an informal gathering. It was a little cool but very nice over all. We had a light come and go wind.

Present today were Captains:

Sunshine
Will
Crash
Scooter
Die Hard
Rudy
(and a few guests)

Diehard, Scooter and Will all tried new boats today. The rescue tug was very, very busy. The 3 crackerbox boats needed rescued…some numerous times. Capt. Sunshine finally got to test drive the P-49 “Claim Jumper” and did pretty well except for when she T-boned Capt Wills Crackerbox…lets call it the “Get Squirrelly” for now…cause that’s how she runs when a hot battery is put in it (need some trim tabs there Capt. Will). Lucky no damage done to either boat. “Get Squirrelly was given a brutal initiation today. Not only was she T-boned but got run over by a Black Jack 26. The only thing she didn’t do was join the “Wall banger” club. “Get Squirrelly” gave the P-88 “NAVY” boat a good run today….her first real test. They ran around the course neck and neck when given the same power packs….a whole lot of fun is a coming!

Saturday November 1, 2008. Fall is here and the weather is wonderful…sunny and cool. We had a fairly light wind and turn out today. The usual die hard members showed though.

Present today were Captains:

Murphy
Crash
Scooter
Die Hard
Rudy
(and several visitors trying the boats out)

No new boats to talk about today, but Capt. Rudy did bring out and maiden his new float plane…pretty cool! No wrecks or rescues except for P-49 “Claim Jumper” after she flipped coming out of turn 3 (the hairy wall turn). A pretty quite day for the rescue tug “Belinda”…and a very enjoyable day for all.

Saturday October 18, 2008. Wow…what a great day to sail…sunny, cool and windy…lots of action and fun had by all. No rescues were made today although the Capt. Scooter’s “Freebird” flipped for the first time I can remember and Elvis got his hair all messed up…thankfully he left no oil slick though! Capt. Murphy showed off his new “Footy” boat…it is very cool…and much faster than I thought possible.

Present today were Captains:

Sunshine
Murphy
Crash
Scooter
Die Hard
Burke
Ray
(and numerous guests)

This was the last morning sail for awhile and we look forward to seeing the members come out on Saturday afternoons from now on.

Saturday October 4, 2008. It was a hot and windless day and only a few diehard sailors made it to the pond. The water was glass smooth …ideal for speedboats…but not for sailboats.

Present today were Captains:

Rudy
Crash
Die Hard
Sailorman

While we only had 2 Nirvanas present, we also had the cracker box boat P-88 “NAVY“, the Batfisherman, a tug, Capt. Rudy’s lightning fast Black Jack 26 and another V-hull speed boat he brought. The Batfisherman had ESC thermal issues and had to be rescued twice. The P-88 had to be rescued after it flipped.

We had a whole lot of visitors today….but called it a day by 11:00am as the heat was too much without any breeze to cool us. The next sail will be the last morning sail of the summer. We will go to Saturday afternoons starting in November.

Saturday September 20, 2008. Yours truly decided to do another media day and we had a couple of TV stations show at the pond. Unfortunately we had a light turn out of members…everyone camera shy? Capt. Scooter interviewed with WSFA 12 while Capt. Will and Crash were filming with WAKA 8. WAKA spent the better part of 2 hours filming for “Positively Alabama” that airs on CBS 8 every Thursday night at 6 PM. This Thursday the 25th will be about our club.

I also tried my best to do a photo shoot. Steve Lang, the Class Secretary, wants a photo of the Laser and Nirvana sailing together on the cover of the upcoming issue of “Model Yachting Magazine”. Capt. Burke brought out his newly acquired Laser “Stinger” and we tried to get some worthy photos. The shots are posted at the Nirvana thread on the RCGroups site in the links section below…we shall see what happens.

Present today were Captains:

Will
Rudy
Murphy
Crash
Scooter
Die Hard
Burke
(and numerous guests)

While we only had a half dozen Nirvanas present, we also had Capt. Burkes Laser, Elvis and the Freebird, 2 Cracker box boats, the Batfisherman, 3 tugs, Capt. Rudy’s lightning fast Black Jack 26 and the 18 Gun Schooner Prince de Neufchatel weathering the conditions.

Capt. Murphy joined the “Wall Banger Club” today when he T-boned the wall with his Crackerbox “Yea Baby!” The Crackerbox P-88 “Navy” was skipping along nicely, hopping from one wave to the next and then did a high speed barrel roll, and lost it’s prop when it came back down. Rescued again!

It was very windy today and a challenge for all the boats and Captains. I think all the boats took on some water in the rough conditions. The schooner even had her deck awash as she took water over the top of the bulwarks and had water running out the gun ports….very cool! If you missed today’s sail, you missed a great one. Maybe we will see ya next time….fair winds to ya.

Saturday September 6, 2008. Whew…it was like being at the sauna today….but we still had about half the crew show up and got in some slow motion racing as the winds were not very cooperative.

Present today were Captains:

Murphy
Crash
Sunshine
Scotty
Brian
Scooter
Die Hard
Sailorman
Burle
(and numerous guests)

We had 9 Nirvanas present and most were in the races. Today was Capt. Crash’s day as he put a lap on the entire field to take the first win and won the 2nd race as well…:)

Capt. Scotty tried out a cool new power boat by Megatech…a “Caribbean Cruiser”. It only made one uncontrolled run, but looked really good as it ran across the pond into the reeds…charge the transmitter batteries next time Scotty! Capt. Murphy brought the improved "South Hampton" tug and produced his new “Danvo” Cracker box boat…”Yea! Baby!” It has a very cool paint job and ran pretty well for the first run too. Other boats present were the “Freebird” and Batfisherman. They thrilled the young ones as they chased each other around the pond.

Capt. Sunshine cruised the pond with her "Miss Sunshine" Nirvana, sporting the new decals and sail candy...she looked good and sailed good placing 2nd in the race she ran.

The tug “Belinda” performed her duties as usual but needed rescued after wrapping a plastic bag around her prop….thanks Terry….sorry no pics of that rescue….just as well though.

Saturday August 23, 2008. Todays sail was canceled due to Tropical Storm Fay.

Saturday August 9, 2008. Today was as perfect as it gets weather wise in Alabama in August. After a record low around 59 degrees and very low humidity, we had a nice cool NW breeze to start the day ending in a nice SW direction around noon.

We had a crowd for sure. Some 5 or so new Captains with new Nirvanas from the Dixie Sailing Club showed to try their hand at RC sailing. Several have decided to join the MMBC and will probably start/join a new Dixie RC Sailing Club too. We had a total of 12 Nirvanas in the water at one time…a new record for us. Here is the list of the Captains at the pond today…if I left anyone out I apologize, just let me know and I will update this post.

Doodah
Ray
Murphy
Crash
Crunch
Sunshine
Scotty
Scooter
Die Hard
Burke
Rudy
Bill
“D”
Alan
Ron
Burle
(and numerous guests)

Boats today included:

12 Nirvanas
1 Tippecanoe
1 Batfisherman
1 Chris Craft
2 Crackerbox’s
3 Tugs (including Capt. Scooters new Liberty Tug)

Tug “Belinda” stayed very busy today rescuing several Nirvanas, the Batfisherman after drive shaft problems, the P-88 “NAVY” Crackerbox after it flipped in turn 3… twice and her driver and throttle man after they decided to go swimming.

It was a very enjoyable day and we hope to see all of our new friends back again real soon. For a mess of great pics go to the MMBC RCGroups Thread in the links section on the front page here.

Saturday July 26, 2008. It was a typical hot day at the pond with marginal sailing conditions. We still had a pretty good showing of skippers and boats though, to include Captain Scooter with his Nirvana and Chris Craft, Capt. Doodah with his Nirvana, Victoria and Crackerbox, Capt. Die Hard with his Nirvana, Capt. Murphy with his Nirvana, tug, and Tippecanoe, Capt. Fastenuff (Morris) with his Newport 12m, tug, Admiral cat, and another speedboat (that I think belonged to the Capt), Capt. Dick and the first sail of his new Nirvana and Capt. Crash with his Nirvana, tug, and 2 crackerbox boats. We also had a number of visitors.

The tug “Belinda” performed her assigned buoy duties, but did not have to make any rescues today. No one joined the “Wall Banger” club and things were a bit slow due to the lack of wind but the speed boats were good fun to watch and I’m sure to play with too. Capt. Fastenuff had a video camera attached to his tug and we hope to see some more great footage.

Capt. Burke sailed the Nirvana “War Eagle” for awhile today and officially joined the club. Welcome, we look forward to a long friendship. Capt. Sunshine…who’s been AWOL all summer…decided to buy the bright yellow Nirvana formerly owned by Capt. Blaze and has renamed her Miss Sunshine. I’m sure we will see that boat back in the water soon. That brings the current total of known Nirvanas in the club to back up to 14 and once Capt. Burke finds what he wants…it will be #15.

The only known casualty of the day was the Titan 12 turn motor in Capt. Sunshine’s crackerbox P-49 “Claim jumper” which cooked off after Capt. Crash did a test run. Crash is still searching for the right motor/prop combo for this boat. The good news is the crackerbox boat P-88 NAVY ran pretty well with her new prop and cooling systems. She is finally ready to rumble.

Saturday July 12, 2008. Another hot steamy day at the park but the wind did come up and give some great sailing conditions and help cool things a bit. Showing today were Captains Scooter, Doodah, Die Hard, Will, Scotty and Crash. We had a number of visitors to include, prospective Captains Burke and Bob.

Today’s sail was an open sailing affair as Captain Crash was feeling under the weather and not up to doing the buoy duties. The tug “Belinda” never left the transport vehicle. 5 or 6 Nirvanas were in the water as was a much faster crackerbox boat P-51 “No Wind Situation”. Capt Doodah continues to improve her performance each week and she is very close to race readiness. Crash ran the “Batfisherman” a few times but it is having some motor issues…. it’s not its normal speedy self.

Not much excitement to report today and no pictures either.

The Commodore has received word that Beverly aka Captain Blaze is moving to Virginia soon and will not be able to sail with us any more. We want to wish the Captain bon voyage and fair winds. We will miss you.

Saturday June 28, 2008. It was a hot steamy day with early sprinkles at the park. The wind was swirling around the bowl shaped pond at about 5-10mph. Showing today were Captains Morris, Dick, Murphy, Scooter, Crunch, Doodah, Tom (now known as Die Hard), Will, and Crash. We had visitors to include James, prospective Captains Burke and Bob and their 90 something father/grandfather...wow. We hope to see them back again soon.

The Commodore gathered the club for a brief meeting today. With the inclusion of more and more members and various new boat types, safety was discussed. The club agreed to be more safety conscience and look out for each other and especially visitors. The club also agreed that it wanted to remain a club, but stay an informal club, with no dues, officers ...etc. The members agreed to sign “Hold Harmless Agreements” at the next club sail and the Club Commodore will keep them on file. All members will be required to sign an agreement. The club unanimously voted to drop the “Theater” pond as a alternating meeting place due to various reasons including: extremely poor launch facilities (an accident waiting to happen), dangers of hurting wildlife, too many children, the parking situation and generally poor sailing conditions. The “Vaughn Road” pond is the clubs’ home port for all regular future sails.

Capt. Murphy showed with a new toy, a twin 380 powered 18” Hydro. Unfortunately it also ran like a toy…it needs some serious work to get up on plane and take off! Capt. Morris showed with a new toy; a twin 550 powered 40” "Admiral” cat. It ran ok for a RTR, fairly scale like in speed.

Captain Doodah is making good progress on his Danvo built Crackerbox boat. It was definitely faster today. Capt. Murphy’s South Hampton tug finally got the power plant working the way it should…only problem now is those twin belt driven 380s are power hungry and the 7.2v battery pack gives out too soon. Capt. Scooter got his Chris Craft “Free Bird” overhauled with a new motor and ESC and it runs great now. Other boats showing today; Capt. Morris had his Atlantic Harbor Tug, Capt. Murphy also brought along the yacht “Ragtime”, Capt. Crash brought the P-88 “NAVY” crackerbox boat, the club workhorse tugboat “Belinda” and the Wilga floatplane.

The club also produced 7 Nirvana yachts and today it was Capt. Will who out skippered the rest of us in the races. Congrats to Capt. Will.

(For lots of good pictures/videos be sure to check out the RCGroups link on the Home page in the "links section". It is a lot easier to upload there and we can get a lot bigger pictures too. Be sure to register and join in the discussion there...let's show everyone we are a fun bunch of sailors.)

Saturday June 21, 2008. This was a non-meeting sail day that started as a test session but got a lot more fun. Capt. Doodah showed around 7:30am with his Crackerbox. He is still having problems with the new Danvo "Cracker Jax" boat. It is porpoising and the trim plates on this boat are made of ABS, glued on and not adjustable….not a good design at all. Motor power is also questionable....but the hatch design is better than the vac-u-cracker and things like motor, trim plates and even rudders can be changed...something to think about when choosing one of these boats. Capt. Tom and his lovely wife also showed early and the Capt. got in some more sail time with his new Nirvana. Capt. Crash brought both of his new Crackerbox boats, the tug and his Wilga float plane for her first flight since repairs following her….you know it….CRASH….a few months back. It took forever to find a motor mount for that plane…so he bought 2 just in case he loses one.

Capt. Murphy showed with his Nirvana, Tippecanoe and South Hampton tug. His tug has issues but we finally realized that the counter rotating props are working against each other. One is in forward the other is in reverse. No wonder he had no power, no reverse and could rotate in place. He needs to reverse one of the motor leads. Capt. Crash asked Capt. Murphy to take off, trim out and hand the Wilga controls to back to him, as Capt. Murphy flies several times a week and Capt. Crash flies once in a blue moon. Capt. Crash landed her softly and this worked great the 1st time….but the next time Capt. Murphy decided to do a low flyby before handing Capt. Crash the controls and clipped a bush on the island and spiraled her in. Luckily she fell into the water and not on the island and the damage is minimal and she will fly again very soon. “Belinda” got her first, and more than likely not her last air/sea rescue.

Soon after this we had several of the local flyboys to show. This was as a result of one of our visits to a flyboy meeting. We welcomed Capt. Morris as brought out his huge 12 meter sail boat and an Atlantic Harbor Tug. We also welcomed Capt. Dick who has a new Nirvana but didn’t bring it today. Visiting with them was James.

Capt. Morris took our first club video and I will try to post the link at RCGroups. We had a tug boat push off and Capt. Morris soon found that even the modified direct drive 1:1, 7.2v Astro motor with stock prop was no match for the stock 6v Bristol Motor and the 2.5:1, 55mm four blade prop of “Belinda”. We re-propped Capt. Morris’s Atlantic with a 35mm four blade and we went at it again. This was a very close match up but “Belinda” is still just a little stronger. Capt. Morris broke the coupler…in this battle so the Atlantic needed rescued.

Tug “Belinda” stayed pretty busy today…also rescuing a Nirvana after the batteries got too weak at distance to control her….that was a challenge due to the distance and old eyes. Rescue was done on the Crackerbox “Claim jumper” after she dropped her shaft.

Later Capt. Rudy (the same Rudy that had chased the Batman in the bass boat with his blue offshore V hull months ago) showed with a Black Jack 26 brushless….and a car full of planes. Capt. Crash absolutely was dying to see how the Crackerbox P-88 NAVY would do against someone and here was the 1st opportunity. Although the BJ26 was only in the water 30-60 seconds before it found the “Wall” it was long enough to see that the P-88 NAVY was faster than a scalded dog! No match...even from the stock BJ26…now to work out the over heating problems in her. The wall….Capt. Rudy temporarily lost signal while making the turn toward the wall and the boat went to wide open, rudder locked….not a good thing…as Capt. Crash can tell ya. Capt. Rudy will need to reprogram that boat to go to the off position when signal is lost…not wide open. Luckily again…the damage was pretty minimal to the two sponsons.

We now have a new sub-club within the club….2 members strong…”The Wall Bangers”…not a club you aspire to belong to!

So…today we picked up 3 new members and another Nirvana. Pretty good for a non-sail day!

(For lots of good pictures/videos be sure to check out the RCGroups link on the Home page in the "links section". It is a lot easier to upload there and we can get a lot bigger pictures too. Be sure to register and join in the discussion there...let's show everyone we are a fun bunch of sailors.)

Saturday June 14, 2008. Today was a first...only 2 Captains showed. A combination of heat, humidity, no wind and threatening weather was too much for most. Capt. Crash arrived early to test 2 new boats. He already had several tests on the brand new Cracker box boat P-88 "NAVY" when Captain Scooter arrived with his Nirvana and "Freebird". Capt. Scooter took some pictures of the new boats which are now on the web site.

Capt. Crash also tested another bass boat driven by none other than the "Joker". "Batman" should be on the look out as "Joker" is lookin for a "RUMBLE". Tug "Belinda" never left port today...a good thing. Today was a good day for electric boats but not so good for wind power, although the wind did start to blow a little by around 10:00am, which is when Capts. Crash and Scooter decided to pull out before a rain cloud arrived.

Saturday May 31, 2008. Today’s sail, even though we went to summer meeting times starting at 9:00am, was still HOT and humid…summer is here. We had a good turn out though. Present were: Capts. Scotty, Brian, James, Will, Crunch, DooDah, Tom, Ray, Murphy and Crash along with numerous guests and visitors.

We had 10 Nirvanas and various other boats to include the repaired “Batfisherman” and the repaired Cracker box “Claim jumper” as well as Captain DooDah’s brand new Cracker box “No Wind Situation”.

Rescue tug “Belinda” earned her keep making no fewer than 5 rescues to include both Cracker boxes: “Claim jumper” after she flipped in a turn, “No wind Situation” due to engine and radio problems and a couple of Nirvanas due to a rudder problem and one that snagged a buoy with its keel.

We also were visited by Jamie, President of the Prattville Flyboy Club. He brought one of his electric aircraft doing low flybys of the pond. We look forward to seeing him again.

Today belonged to Capt. Crash as he won the race with “War Eagle”. No Crashed boats to report on this sail so it was indeed a good one.

Saturday May 17, 2008. Today’s sail was another memorable event. The weather was once again perfect and we had a record 10 Nirvanas on the water. Members present were Captains Murphy, Crunch, Will, Scotty, Brian, James, Tom, Scooter, Ray and Crash. We also had other family members and guests to try out the boats.

Capt. Murphy showed off his new power plant in his South Hampton tug and the club had it’s first ever “Tug-O-War” between the “Belinda” and the “South Hampton”. The “Belinda” was too much for Capt. Murphy and the South Hampton… even with her 2 beautiful new belt drive motors.

The club also saw the first of the new Cracker Box race boats hit the water…and the wall…as Capt. Crash lived up to his name again. Only a couple of minutes into her maiden run the “Claim jumper” had a electronic speed controller (ESC) melt down, causing the throttle to stick wide open, then have loss of rudder control and T-bone the wall at full speed….ouch! Capt. Crash says she will repaired and be ready for round 2 at the next club meeting.

Sunday May 4, 2008. We were once again blessed with a perfect day to sail. We had a large turn out of both members and visitors as we sailed at the Vaughn Road Pond. Present today were Captains Blaze, Sunshine, Doodah, Crunch, Murphy, Scooter, Tom, Ray and Crash. The club brought out 8 Nirvanas, 3 other sailboats and various other boats.

Today we had another close encounter with a venomous serpent and a very bizarre encounter with a very large sea creature of an unknown nature that literally created quite a splash as it attacked and apparently tried to sink Capt. Scooters Nirvana. Capt. Tom sailed his new Nirvana “Ragtop” for the first time…and it sailed very well.

The racing was great and today it was Captain Crash and the “War Eagle” that took the honors. The rescue tug was called into duty as Elvis and the “Freebird” required assistance and Capt. Crash lived up to his name again when the stone wall jumped out and bit the Batfisherman on a high speed run causing significant damage.

Saturday April 19, 2008. Today we sailed at the Theater pond. The weather continues to be perfect, sunny, the mid 70’s with a gusty swirling 5-10 mph wind. We got an occasional gust that made sailing interesting. At one point the “War Eagle” was hit with a gust while running with the wind, took a nose dive and had her hull completely vertical with only the main mast, part of the keel and the rudder showing above water. It was quite a site as she popped back up, lay over on her side, and then righted herself. It was real fun sailing today.

Present were Captains Sunshine, Scooter, Murphy, Crash and Will. We had a lot of visitors to include Tom who has decided to join the club. We look forward helping him acquire the boat of his dream and can’t wait to have him join the fleet. The usual boats were present today to include 4 Nirvanas, Capt. Murphy’s Tippecanoe “Ragtime”, the rescue tug “Belinda”, the Batman driving his newly painted “Batfisherman” and Capt. Sunshine’s newly crewed Bristol Bay boat the “Motley Crew”.

Tugboat “Belinda” performed the day’s only rescue when Capt. Crashes straw hat went for a sail. That was a difficult rescue. Next we had a small copperhead, 3’ long and about thumb size in diameter come ashore at the launch site. Capt. Crash held down it with a pole, but didn’t have a means to kill the snake and it finally wiggled its way free to swim off to terrorize again some day.

Capt. Will finally got his new Nirvana into the water for its maiden voyage (a long story) and it turned out to be very fast, even winning its first race. Congrats go to the Capt. and boat with no name.

All in all another great club sail.

Sunday April 6, 2008. A very nice day. Captains Sunshine, Murphy, Scooter, Doodah, Crunch and Crash were all present and racing today, but it was Capt. Crunch’s day today as he lead the way with his beautiful “Black Hawk” Nirvana race yacht.

Capt. Murphy showed off his new Tippecanoe race yacht “Ragtime” and then proceeded to complete his maiden voyage with her. She sailed great…very fast and agile...and will be very competitive in the Open Class.

We had a few interested prospective sailors try out the boats and hope we see them again.

Saturday Mar. 22, 2008. Sunny, mid 70’s, 5-15 mph variable winds, it was a very, very nice day. We sailed at the Vaughn Road pond today after securing written permission from the City Parks and Recreation Dept. The consensus is everyone likes this pond better.

A great turn out today…8 Capt’s were present: Captains Scotty, Brian, Sunshine, Murphy, Scooter, Doodah, Crunch and Crash.

Capt. Crash helped Capt. Scotty assemble trim out and launch his new Nirvana for the first time. She was looking good on her maiden and Scotty said she sailed great.

Other boats (not Nirvana's) present were Capt. Doo-da’s Victoria “Kashmir”, Capt. Scooter’s Chris Craft “Freebird”, Capt. Crash’s bat bass boat…which ran great with a new motor, the Tug “Belinda” and the 18 gun schooner “Prince de Neufchatel” flying the dark flag.

No rescues today but Capt’s Murphy and Crash continue to live up to their names. Capt. Murphy broke a mast fitting again and Capt. Crash ran the schooner full speed, head on into the stone wall after a wind gust caught him by surprise.

The “Prince” did manage to entangle and capture one the Nirvana’s by running her bow sprit through the Nirvana’s back stay rigging and then sent a boarding party to look for booty….ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

We had several visitors and hopefully we will see them again soon.

Sunday Mar. 9, 2008. Sunny, low 60’s, light and variable winds, sounding like a broken record, but it was another very nice day. Present were Captains Sunshine, Murphy, Scooter, Doodah, Will and Crash.

Capt. Doodah launched his new Victoria “Kashmir” for the first time. She was looking good on her maiden, and will sail in the newly formed “Open Class” of sail boats until there are enough Vics to have a class of their own.

“Miss Titanic”, with Batman at the helm, tried a new hot 8.4V battery pack, motor and speed control but got a little too hot, cooking off that new motor after finishing a crowd pleasing run. It seems the motor cooling system is not up to par with the new higher voltage setup. Hey she didn’t Crash today!

The “Freebird” made her usual appearance, and only one rescue attempt was made after a Nirvana ran aground on the other side of the pond and ended up with the rescuer being rescued after the tug wrapped weeds around her prop in the shallow water next to the bank.

We once again had several visitors/possible new members sailing and hopefully we will see them again soon.

Sunday Feb. 24, 2008. Although the winds were at times non-existent, we were blessed with a very nice day today. Present were Captains Sunshine, Murphy, Scooter, Jim and Crash.

Capt. Jim, AKA Capt. Doodah, launched his new Nirvana “Miss Magic” for the first time. It sailed well and was one of the only boats not needing rescued today, which brings us to the tug “Belinda”.

Good ole “Belinda” performed flawlessly, sporting a brand new more powerful motor and another gear reduction unit. She is several times more powerful than ever before and needed every bit of that power today as she made a record 5 rescues…. 3 sailboats, Batman in the “Miss Titanic”, and Elvis in the “Freebird”.

“Miss Titanic”, with Batman at the helm, true to her name, took a wrong high speed turn and ended up on the rock ledge…only minor damage to her hull this time…a little more glue will be required to reseal the new cracks.

We had several visitors/possible new members sailing and hopefully we will see them again soon.

Sunday Feb. 10, 2008. Today’s biweekly club sail was held in 72 degree sunshine and a gentle 5-10 NW breeze. It was yet another stellar day for sailing. Present today were Capt’s Murphy, Sunshine, Scooter, Crunch, Blaze and Crash, all sailing Nirvana Racing Yachts. Our newest member, Capt. Blaze put her yellow Nirvana “Life’s a Breeze” through her shake down maneuvers and showed us all how to put together a proper sail protector. No wonder she was Admiral Chester Nimitz’s secretary! Capt. Crunch presented his newly painted “Black Hawk” Nirvana with black hull, white deck and yellow cabin; looking sharp there Capt.

Tugboat “Belinda” showed with an all new power plant, two man crew and lots of weathering. She looks the part of a working tug now. She went about setting up the race course and when finished, it was discovered that the new crew member/line handler aft, was MIA. The search party was unsuccessful… he was no where to be found; he was lost at sea on his first day out. I guess he should have been wearing a life jacket!

Capt. Murphy presented a cool race countdown CD, and we had some very hotly contested races; but it was to be the “War Eagle” and Capt. Crash’s day.

Upon return to port, it was discovered that the missing crewman was hiding down in the engine room….he was not lost at sea…he was shirking his duties! Captain’s Mast was held and the crewman was awarded 50 lashes, bread and water for 3 days, and loss of pay and liberty call for 2 weeks. He will have straighten his act up if he wants to remain a part of this crew!

We picked up another new member today…welcome Capt. Jim!

It was another great day of fun and camaraderie. The club continues to get bigger and better every day. Thank you everyone for making this a great club to be a part of!

Sunday Jan. 27, 2008. Well….where to start on today’s events? On a hunch that the weather was going to be perfect, which it was…Captain Crash placed an online ad in the “Montgomery Advertiser” about Sunday’s upcoming sail. The ad was almost instantly online and in print. As a result we had an enormous turnout at the park. WSFA TV was also notified and did a very nice interview and piece for the Sunday evening and Monday morning news. The Advertiser sent a photographer who took some nice photos which are now in the photo section here.

Present today were Captains George, Terry, Crunch, Sunshine and of course Crash. Capt. George managed to get in a maiden voyage on his beautiful new South Hampton tug. Tug “Belinda” was busy with her usual duties to include rescuing a ball that a little girl lost in the pond and a rescue of Elvis after his Chris Craft “Freebird” had engine problems.

A lot of folks got to try their hand at sailing and we had at least a half dozen commit to joining the club…the event was a huge success and we will try to do this a couple times a year.

Sunday Jan. 13, 2008. Today’s club sail was great. The weather was incredible. Captains Sunshine, George, Terry, Steve and Crash (formerly known as Slick) all sailed their Nirvanas today. We had a few potential new sailors also try their hands at sailing today. Tugboat “Belinda” was kept very busy with rescues and mark setting/retrieving duties. She even needed rescued herself after wrapping the tow line around her prop. Other boats making appearances today was Captain Terry’s pleasure craft “Freebird” and Captain Crash’s bass boat.

Tuesday Jan. 1, 2008. We had to cancel our rained out normal Sunday sail and move it to New Years Day…so this is the first sail for 2008. Today was another sunny southern day with temps in the upper 40s and winds N 15-25. Captain George was already sailing his yacht “Chubasco” when Capts. Sunshine and Slick arrived. Captain Terry showed with his re-propped Chris Craft “Freebird” and the new driver…favors Elvis a little if ya ask me. She is a beauty. Captain Tom and his grandsons, Captains Brian and James arrived and we put another new Nirvana through sea trials. Captain Crash tested a new prop on the tugboat “Belinda” and managed to do a “Titanic” on his new Pro fisherman Bass boat. It was a good day at the park.

Sunday Dec. 16, 2007. Today’s sail was interesting. The temperature was in the low to mid 40s with a cold gusty 15-25 mph NW wind. Captains Sunshine, Terry, Tom, Brian and James all stopped by for a while, but only Captain George and the Commodore got boats wet today. Tug boat “Belinda” set and retrieved the marks, and tested a new rescue device, while the racing yachts “Chubasco” and “War Eagle” tested their limits. Both Nirvanas’ did remarkably well considering the conditions.

“War Eagle” could have used some bow planes and a periscope after imitating a submarine (only the mast was showing above water) on several occasions when hit with a gust, while running with the wind. The watertight hatch did its job well. All in all it turned out to be a nice afternoon once the sun came out. No photos today…too bad…the submarine shots would have been classics!

Sunday Dec. 2, 2007. Another wonderful day to play. We welcomed Capt. Terry to the club and then brought his brand new Nirvana II to life. Capt. Terry brought a fleet to play with including a beautiful Chris Craft. Capt. George brought his shiny new black Nirvana II "Cubasco" to life today too. We now have a fleet of 4 Nirvana’s and hope to double that by the years end.

We had 5 others to try out the sailboats on this perfect day to sail. A gentleman from Scotland "Tom", visiting the pond with his two grandsons, now expects Santa to bring them some shiny new boats. I was amazed how quickly the youngsters mastered the fundamentals of sailing. Capt. Sunshine took photos and sailed today too.

The temp was in the mid 70’s with a nice southerly 5 – 15 mph breeze. It doesn’t get any better than that for these sailboats. Tugboat "Belinda" performed her duties of mark setting and retrieval without a hitch. No boats needed rescued this time….highly unusual.

Thursday Nov. 29, 2007. We are now an Official Nirvana Fleet. We are listed as Nirvana Fleet #8 in the Fleet Listing section at Model Sailing Center which is in the link section in the column to the left.

Sunday Nov. 25, 2007. Today’s sail was postponed due to bad weather forecasts. We are moving it to Dec 2nd and moving the sail day on Dec 9th back to Dec 16th and adding Dec 30th as the last club sail day of 2007. We have received communiqués from several prospective new members and hope to see you soon.

Sunday Nov. 11, 2007. It was another spectacular day for sailing in Montgomery Alabama. The weather was absolutely gorgeous! We had 5 or 6 visitors try out the sailboats today. They all had fun and said they couldn’t believe how easy it is to sail one of these boats. Tug boat “Belinda” earned her keep as she rescued the fishing trawler “Bristol Bay” after a power failure, the “War Eagle” as she ran aground and the racing yacht “Crimson Tide” after she set sail with out being powered on. The later was the most interesting as the tug had to chase down the fast run away yacht, turn her toward shore where she beached herself out of harms reach and then snag and drag her back to port with the tow line. It was a very enjoyable day and one that will be remembered.

Saturday Nov. 10, 2007. The Hamfest/RC Expo went well with several prospective new members showing interest in the club. It was also fun to visit with old friends from the RAMM Model Airplane Club.

Sunday Oct. 28, 2007. Another picture perfect day for sailing. We had a good turnout and lots of fun for all. Even guard dog Missy Lou had fun.

Sunday Oct. 20, 2007. It's official! We became American Model Yachting Association (AMYA) Club #259 today.

The Founding Members are:
Robert Franklin
Belinda Franklin
George Arauz

Sunday Oct. 14, 2007. We had a nice sail with a couple of Nirvana II race yachts, the schooner "Prince de Neufchatel" and the tugboat "Belinda" on the pond. It was a perfect day to sail.