MICHIGAN SAILING CLUB

Reopening June 19th!

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Dear Sailors,

I know you’re anxious to get out on the water!  Our target date to reopen for boating is Friday, June 19th. The club is currently open for swimming and picnicking.  This is a long but full of important information. Please take the time to read it.

First – huge Thank You! to our COVID Safe Start Committee for poring through 100s of pages of documents related to Michigan laws and CDC guidelines for businesses to reopen. This team has developed a comprehensive set of guidelines based on the MI phases of opening. We are currently in Phase 4.

On Sunday June 7th the board met with this committee comprised of Sandy Hubar, Ron Sell, Kay Stremler, and Jim Rennell. Donna Snyder and Cyril Grum were in attendance to offer comments from the legal and medical fields. Our faculty advisor, Neil Marsh, was in attendance via Zoom. The board approved the committee’s Safe Start Plan as attached to this email. Implementation Team Leaders were assigned for each portion of the plan. You may reach out to me or the Team Leaders if you have additional questions or concerns.

The Implementation Team Leaders are:
Club Communications: Patrick and myself
Buildings & Grounds: Ron Sell
Fleet Management: Mel Racelis
Instruction: Jeff Kaloustian
Racing: Ovidiu Adam
COVID Response Management: Sandy Hubar
Insurance & Liability: Carey Jones

Here are our priorities for the safety of club members: (it’s nothing you haven’t heard before.)

1) DO NOT COME TO THE CLUB if you are have a fever/cough, are feeling unwell, suspect you are sick, or have had recent contact with someone confirmed or suspected of having COVID19.
2) Stay 6′ apart from those not in your household.
3) Wear a mask when indoors or closer than 6′ outdoors.
4) WASH YOUR HANDS – OFTEN!!!!
5) Don’t touch your face.

Additionally, the state requires that we have the following in place before we reopen. By law, we must have:
A) Reduced operations with limitations on activities to support social distancing.
B) Cleaning and disinfecting of common equipment.
C) A COVID management plan.

I am attaching the complete approved MSC Safe Start Plan for you to read. Here is a link to the full “Safe Start” plan. The highlights are below. In general, think of this season more like going to a park or camping rather than going to the club. Be self-reliant and remember the adage “Pack-it-in/Pack-it-out.”

  • We will have a strict new club Sign-in/Sign-out procedure to support COVID contact tracing. If needed, this information will be shared with the local county health department. This is in addition to the boat sign-in/sign-out procedure.
  • Bathroom and changing rooms will be available. Use at your own risk. We are an all volunteer club and do not have staff to regularly clean bathrooms. We will attempt to supply hand soap/sanitizer, toilet paper, and paper towels as usual, but there is no guarantee they will be available. Please bring your own bathroom supplies (and take them home) in case of short supply.
  • The kitchen is closed.
  • The clubhouse should only be entered for short periods to use the bathrooms/changing rooms or get supplies. No congregating inside.
  • We will rig a limited number of boats, concentrating on single-handed boats, a few family boats, and paddlecraft. We may rig more boats as conditions and demand allow. This will be determined by the Fleet Captain.
  • Boat use is limited to single-handed sailing or multiple household members in a boat. Boats should be rinsed after use.
  • PFDs will not be commonly available as we don’t have a reliable way to disinfect them between users. We encourage sailors to buy your own PFD. A discount is available to members on the MTI brand compliments of distributor Ron Sell (details to come.) A limited number of club-owned PFDs will be available to rent for the season ($10 each.)
  • Instruction this year will concentrate on getting current members rated. No Beginner lessons are scheduled. This may change with conditions and demand as determined by the Vice Commodore. Intermediate and racing clinics will be offered on-line. Limited in-person lessons will be offered by appointment.
  • Racing will concentrate on single-handed sailing or household members in a boat.
  • Sorry, no Fourth of July club potluck this year. All club-wide events are on hold.
I ask us all to work together to implement these new operations to keep our members safe.
Thanks for all you do to make the Michigan Sailing Club a friendly and safe place to be!

Fair winds,
Meg

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