Teresa Smith Galoob's restoration of her 1982 Rooster Class Sailboat earned her Second Place in this year’s ‘Restore a Small Boat Competition', with prizes from New England Ropes, Good Old Boat Magazine, 2K Yachting, and Spiroll Chafe Guards, but that’s not where Teresa’s story ends. As an active member of the Thunderbird Sailing Club, in Norman, OK., Teresa has been involved with bringing sailors together for regular and annual sailing events, including Summer Sailstice.
‘Summer Sailstice rates high on the scales to me, personally, as an attractive event to many either globally, or even individually, in planning and organizing a celebration,’ Teresa said.
The TSC’s first Summer Sailstice (2015) was celebrated in fine style in conjunction with the club's 2nd annual MESSABOUT. The event was attended by numerous sailors enjoyed the excellent Oklahoma, summer weather in an interesting array of boats, including three Puddle Duck Racers, two Roosters, a Caledonia Yawl, and something that apparently looked like a small Dory, along with a Potter 15, a Sunfish, a Laser, a McGregor 26, a canoe, and a couple of kayaks.
Summer Sailstice sailing, 2015.
‘Being centrally located, not only in Oklahoma, but nationwide, and with at least four major fresh water lakes available for recreational sailing and boating activities, there is no shortage of on the water activities and celebrations in Oklahoma!’
This year’s MESSABOUT was due for October, so when Summer Sailstice 2016 came along Teresa and her husband, Mike, met up with fellow TSC sailors for some practice tactics, racing and pleasure sailing on Lake Thunderbird. Although the arrival of afternoon storms caused the fleet of Optimists, a Vanguard and a Laser 2 to abandon their plans after just a couple of hours, the weather only dampened the sails, not the spirits of the sailors, several of who were recent graduates of TSC’s Sailing School.
Summer Sailstice sailing, 2016.
Despite summer having come to a close, the Thunderbird Sailing Club is continuing a schedule of fun events such as the ‘Fall BoatHouse and BoatYard Cleanup’ on Saturday Oct. 22, and the ‘Hiram Douglas Memorial Regatta’ on Sunday Nov. 6th.
TSC is also involved with lake-related educational and safety programs through the Lake Thunderbird Educational Foundation. The foundation operates in partnership with TSC, Norman Sail and Power Squadron, OU Sailing Club and Team, Heart of OK Chapter, American Red Cross, Coast Guard Auxiliary and Scout Ship 5790. To date, they have raised over $190,000 to build and operate a community center with a boatyard, boathouse, ramp and dock.
For more information about the Lake Thunderbird Education Foundation or to join the Thunderbird Sailing Club, go to http://www.thunderbirdsailingclub.org/ and http://ltef.org/
And if you have a winter restoration project in mind, take lots of photos and lots of notes. We'll be looking for entries for the Summer Sailstice 2017 'Restore a Small Boat Competition.'