April 1, 2025

Ahoy Mates,

Well, spring has finally sprung! The Sunnyland show has come and gone. We have azaleas and dogwoods in bloom, warmer temps, chirping birds and pollen. Its also time to get out there in your boats, or at least start getting them ready. We had great weather for our March workshop at Robert and Patsy Blanchard’s place. Steve Filarsky (the gold leaf man) was to be our main presenter but he came down with Covid a couple of days before. However, the show still went on with a huge helping of Blanchard hospitality and a “dog and pony show” on lines and knots by yours truly. Thanks Robert and Patsy!

We had two boats and four members participate in the Sunnyland pre-show cruise this year. John Justice brought “Fins” with Neal Keeter as crew and Jim Hartman brought “Loon” with Jim Dean as crew. From all accounts, a good time was had by all, except for the careless tugboat wake that caused cosmetic damage to some of the boats.

With the coming of the warm, and not yet hot, weather, the month of April and beyond offer a bunch of opportunities for us to do what we do. April 12^th is the Cape Fear Community College boat show in Wilmington. Our chapter is one of the show’s sponsors, as well as providing a scholarship to the boatbuilding program, so please do try to attend. See poster in the newsletter. By the way, if you attend any shows or related events, please do submit any photos and reports to the newsletter editor. May 3rd is the NC Maritime Museum show, which we also help sponsor. Please support their efforts and plan to show your boat or at least attend.

Also coming up in May, Cindy Jordan has made her family’s vacation home available to us May 16-20. Sign up for a fun time! Also that weekend, we will be assisting with the clean-up of the Tar-Pamlico River area from 10 AM to noon…no heavy lifting, dodging snakes or alligators. Just carrying the bags of trash to the dock. Lastly, John Justice has supplied two of our old boat show t-shirts to ACBS HQ which will become parts of quilts being made to commemorate the 50^th anniversary, one of which will be raffled at the event. We have also been asked to provide five small items for the ACBS time capsule. If you have any creative ideas of what to include, send them to me.

One last note: I have had to abandon my email address because I could not send anything as that server is no longer being supported. You can reach me at pappyhills@gmail.com going forward.

Have fun and be safe!

Yours in classic boating, 
Alan Hills, President