February 2026
Mark Your Calenders
March 21st - 2026 Wind Ceremony
More Information and Registration Details
Coming Soon
A Short and True History of The Wind Ceremony
Once upon a time long, long ago (1978), there was a dude who lived in Tallahassee (but who now lives at Shell Point). His name was Jim and one day he decided to take a vacation to a little island called Ibeza. They had windsurfers there and he caught on fast. He liked this new sport called windsurfing and he came back, bought one and brought it to Shell Point. Jim was good; he could free style and go fast and he sailed his windsurfer for years at Shell Point. He even taught many others how to windsurf, including this writer.
One after noon Jim . . . read more.
Kicking off the New Year Right ~ Ted Avellone
Seeing as I hadn’t sailed nearly as much as I had hoped to in 2025 my son Thomas and I decided to start off 2026 right, so on January 24th we packed up our boards, gear and wetsuits and headed down to Shell Point Beach. There was a pleasant southwesterly breeze, and we were between the insane January cold snaps, so while the water was still pretty chilly, with a shorty wetsuit it was quite tolerable.
As usual a couple of hiccups became evident while we were on the beach setting up. First, we discovered that somehow the cooler we use to hold all of our smaller gear somehow had about a half inch of water in it and everything in it was moldy and stunk of mildew. It dawned on us that the last time we sailed was at the Endless Summer in October and it rained on the way home and some water must have blown into the cooler. After washing everything off we then discovered that somehow we were missing the rope-pulling wrench which made it very difficult to get our downhauls fully tensioned. (When we were done for the day I discovered it in the bottom of my mast bag; I had forgotten I put it in there when we packed up last time.) It also became evident that we did not have a quite long enough mast extension with us for Thomas’ sail, but in the end we made do and it worked fine. (Gotta get a 490 mast one of these days!) Next, despite having had a full year to do it, I still hadn’t properly screwed down the skeg of Thomas’ board and throughout the day it actually came off twice in the shallows; thankfully it was seen and recovered. We were both glad we had discovered all of these things on a “clean out the cobwebs” day like this rather than dealing with them at a regatta. Next time we will be ready!
Once on the water we decided to go around one of the tripods. I was on the LT with its stock 5.7 meter sail and Thomas was on an old Mistral One Design 1996 Olympic board with an 8.5 meter Maui Scream sail and carbon boom we got from a Club auction at a Smith Regatta a while back. We finally got going, and man did it feel good to be out on the water! Such a beautiful, pleasant, mild day. Unlike just a couple of years ago when I was able to routinely out-sail Thomas in both speed and not falling in as much while tacking & jibing, it was evident that day that despite my having a good head start, he had fully turned the corner as he easily outpaced me and rounded the west tripod far ahead of me.
Upon returning to the beach I remembered that I had brought a GoPro with a headstrap, and I got it and put it on. We decided to go around both tripods this time, and I set out to physically touch each of them as I passed. Somehow, I succeeded, without crashing into one, or fouling my sail on them, or falling in. After we got back to the beach again Thomas put the GoPro on his head. Upon seeing the footage later I was astounded how high his board was running in the water and how often it was planing in what seemed the slightest gusts! In comparison I’m used to seeing my LT board sluggishly plowing through the water looking more like one of those half-submerged drug-running submarines from south America you see in the news than the seemingly lighter-than-air flying carpet of a board Thomas was standing on. I need to lose some weight!
After a little while we noticed another sailboarder out on the water to the west and headed our way, which turned out to be past Commodore and world-champion sailor Mark Powell, who ended up graciously spending a good half hour giving Thomas some tips on tacking and other techniques.
Overall it was a great and productive and enjoyable day, and we can’t wait for spring weather and races and regattas and just sailing around for the rest of 2026.
SPSC Club Meeting Minutes – Tuesday, January 13, 2026
By 6:30 pm many members were seated in our usual back room at District 850. It was evident that for 2026 the long tables had been repositioned 90 degrees from their usual orientation. Waiters clad in black made their intermittent rounds, bringing in food and taking orders. Members ate, drank, and generally carried on easy, lively conversation, topics ranging from politics, the weather, and cryogenically frozen heads, the late (perhaps not?) Ted Williams having been invoked by a typo on the Club Agenda.
New Commodore Rick Upson made his first Club meeting appearance decked out in the dazzling resplendent majesty of formal Club Commodore regalia, to wit, donning the official jacket and carrying the staff.
At 7:00 pm Rick introduced himself and called the meeting to order.
Rick moved for the approval of the minutes of the Club meeting of November 11, 2025, which was seconded and passed unanimously at 7:02 pm.
Commodore’s Report: A moment of silence was observed for our dear old friend, founding member and long-time purser Wright Finney, who sadly passed away on January 2, 2026. Following the moment of silence he announced that Wright’s Celebration of Life memorial will be held on January 31, 2026, at Bevis Funeral Home in Tallahassee, with reception to follow at the Shriner’s hall where we have the Club Christmas parties. In lieu of flowers people were encouraged to donate to the Stephen C. Smith Memorial Regatta Fund in Wright’s memory by clicking on the “Donate” button on the Club’s site. Per Deb Berlinger, the Smith gives that amount to the American Cancer Society.
Rick then announced that the Club will need a new Registered Agent to replace Wright in that role. Kristin Korinko graciously and immediately volunteered.
A short discussion regarding what occurred during the Feat of Strength competition took place, and it was noted that the victor (Rick Upson) and the defeated (Ted Avellone) likely had somewhat differing accounts of the event, both of which have now been reduced to writing and which will be available for all to read once the Newsletter comes out.
Vice Commodore’s Report: Vaughan Williams announced that at the previous week’s Board meeting it had been decided that he, Rick Upson, Pia Lehtonen, Ted Avellone, and Bob Graves comprised the Constitution review committee, and that among other things it will address the $250 maximum expense currently in it which needed to be increased, and that any changes had to be approved by 25% of the members, so about 25 people would need to sign on. The Committee will figure out how to best get that done soon.
Vaughan also announced that there were five (5) Club caps left, all in green, $20 each, and if there was more demand we could order more. Also, there were apparently about twelve (12) Club Burgees ordered, but due to Wright’s passing it was uncertain where things stood regarding getting them made, and if we couldn’t figure it out we would give refunds.
Purser’s Report: Bob Graves, previously the Scribe, has graciously taken over the Purser’s position following Wright’s passing. Due to this shift in responsibilities Ted Avellone agreed to be the Scribe. Bob discussed the Club’s finances and a special thanks was given to Marina Byrd who advised Bob that taxes only needed to be paid for the people who actually raced in the regattas, not on non-racing attendees who were technically “spectators.” Glee was expressed over the fact that the old checkbooks and old account worked. Comment was made about Synovus bank being bought out, possible changes coming even they said no new changes.
At-Large Officer Reports: Ryne – absent. Pia – “IGN.” Rachel – “IGN.” Bailey – came in later; almost got volunteered to be tied to a table by Rick with Trucker’s knots.
Kristin Korinko thanked Bob Graves and Ted Avellone for stepping up to the Purser and Scribe positions.
Rick Upson announced that the Wind Ceremony would be on March 21, 2026, which had the approval of the band members as it aligned closely with the vernal equinox (when the path of the sun moves across the equator and into the northern hemisphere signaling the beginning of the long anticipated period of warmth, music, and fun) and that the Smith Regatta would take place April 24th through 26th, 2026.
Rum & Root Beer will be held in August; more discussion will take place as it gets closer. It was pointed out that the Endless Summer date will depend on the FSU football schedule (which elicited roars of laughter and cries of “who cares?”), and the Atlanta Fall Classic was discussed as taking place on October 2, 2026.
The Christmas party was scheduled to take place on December 19, 2026 with Festivus to be held the following day. Spirited discussion immediately ensued, with some members saying holding it the next day could be hard for those who overly exerted themselves the night before, while others said ending the Christmas party a little earlier than usual like we did a couple of weeks ago made things a lot easier for everyone in general, plus, it was very beneficial to be able to simply bring the leftover food and still-cold beer to Shell Point the next day for Festivus celebrations. The force of this latter argument seemed to hold sway and it appears Festivus will indeed be held on the Sunday after the Christmas party.
As Rick Upson and Bob Graves’ “Everything you ever wanted to know about tie-downs” dual-hosted Club presentation was about to begin, a fidgety Jack May moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:40 pm; the motion passed, albeit with one defiant and righteously indignant “nay” from a member who felt that the presentation was an integral and worthy part of the meeting.
Rick’s part of the presentation covered the use and application of the “Trucker’s knot,” a practical, fast and relatively easy knot employed to tie things down to other things, such as a sailboard to a roof rack. This knot can be quickly cinched tight and will not loosen, and in Rick’s opinion this is far superior to the land-lubberly use of straps, since we were sailors here and sailors use ropes and lines to secure things and not fancy straps. Rick stated that only Dacron or polyester rope and not nylon should be used as nylon stretches too much.
Bob’s part of the presentation covered the use of the “Chinook Wrap-Straps,” a well-made and handy tie-down solution for those unable to navigate the complexities of tying knots. This bougie accessory is sure to fit in with one’s collection of slip-on shoes and clip-on ties. Bob stated to never use ratcheting straps as you can easily overtighten them and crack your board.
When the presentation was over the “true” end of the Club meeting was at 7:58 pm.