Dear Members of The North American Station, 

The Station has continued to be very active since my last letter. 

Pre-COVID (which seems like a LONG time ago!): 

I traveled to Seattle in November where Ann Noble-Kiley and I spoke at Seattle Yacht  Club to a group including 2019 Cruise participants and NAS members regarding our  many years cruising in Scandinavia, culminating in our Stockholm Archipelago Cruise.  NAS member Doug (and Susan) Adkins were our hosts and included NAS member  Henrik (and Rebecca) Strabo for dinner at the Adkins’ lovely home. Henrik provided a  tour of his new boat, Iduna, a Hinckley SW42 similar to Golden Eye – see photo.

The Governors met in early December, unanimously electing 20 excellent new Full  members (see names below) and, as Honorary member, KSSS Commodore Patrik  Salén. A Long Range Planning Committee was formed and Nick Orem appointed chair. 

The Annual Meeting in December was a “full house” including presentations by  GKSS Commodore Casselbrant, KDY Commodore Kjærsgaard and KNS Vice  Commodore Klippenberg. Post Captain Godshalk reflected on a very satisfactory  2019 including the Stockholm Archipelago Cruise; TAR and Five Club regattas at  Marstrand, GKSS; Junior Exchange; and Scandinavian participation in the 12 Meter  Worlds and the NAS sail in Newport aboard KNS Commodore Agerup’s 12 Meter,  VEMA. 5C Team members Quinn Collins and Tyler Miller spoke regarding their experiences in Marstrand. Richard West was elected Secretary and Michael Geagan  was re-elected Governor. The elections by the Governing Board of 20 new members  were ratified. 

• The Christmas Dinner was subscribed to the capacity of the NYYC Model Room and  included, in addition to Former US Ambassador to Denmark and NAS member  Laurie Fulton (and her guest Veronica Dillon), a record number of Scandinavian members and guests: Swedish Counsel General (NY) Annika Rembe and her  husband, NAS member Rolf Lundström, Swedish Honorary Consul Lena Granberg  (and her husband, Kim Noble), KSSS member Robert (and Åse) Hansson, NAS Past  Post Captain Johann (and Ninoue) Kahm, Honorary Member Hans and NAS member Eva  Drakenberg, Hjalmar (and Britt-Marie) Schibbye, Eva Urban (and her children, Gustaf and Siri), Per and Anne-Charlotte Säve, Peter Lyth (and his wife, Lena Tuvene), Eric  Hellström, Torben Pind, Mariann Ajlberg, and Maria Møller; and guests: KDY  Commodore Carl Erik Kjærsgaard and KDY Past Commodore Lars (and Kirsten) Ive (and their son, Anders); GKSS Commodore Robert Casselbrant (and his daughter, Alice);  GKSS Past Commodore Rasmus Bergström (and his daughter, Evelina), KNS Rear  Commodore Nils (and Marie) Klippenberg; and KSSS and 2019 Cruise Committee  member Tomas (and Louise) Östling. Awards were presented as follows: Blunt White to  Michael Geagan for his continuing service as Webmaster; Paul W. Adams Award to  Hans Drakenberg for his (and Eva’s) decades of service to The NAS; The Pehr Sparre  Award to Gale Sherman for her thousands of outstanding photographs of NAS members  during the past three cruises; The Post Captain’s Award to yacht Hiro Maru, owned by  Hiro Nakajima, in recognition of her dramatic victory in the 2019 Transatlantic Race; and  2019 Cruise Awards to Robert Hansson, Tomas Östling and Gustaf Urban for their  outstanding contributions to the success of the 2019 Cruise. As usual, the dance floor was  full until closing time. David Tunick, Dinner Chair, again delivered a “perfect” event to  end a great season – thank you, David! 

Early in 2020, we launched a 75^th Anniversary Fund Campaign, initially to the  present and past Governors and officers. The initial response was extremely  gratifying: $25,000+. We plan to invite all members to join them later this year. 

The Governors met telephonically on March 3. Among topics discussed was a report  from the Long Range Planning Committee regarding: 

The aging of the membership – the Committee made several  recommendations including forming an advisory committee of younger  members to guide our actions to remain attractive to younger candidates o NAS finances – recommendations related to the frequency of The NAS  hosting of, and budgets for, TAR and 5C. 

Then, the pandemic upset our plans for 2020: 

• The Governors met “virtually” on 29 May and 
  • Elected eight excellent new members (see names below) 
  • Amended the Rules of the Membership Committee to authorize the Chair to grant  membership to the widow or widower of a deceased member 
• Received a report of the Nominating Committee that it intends to nominate Nick  Orem to succeed Ernie Godshalk as Post Captain at the 2020 Annual Meeting • The Commodores met “virtually” on 3 June. Ernie introduced Nick Orem as his proposed successor. The primary topic of discussion was the schedule of TAR/5C and the next  cruise in 2021-2023. The Commodores agreed to meet again in early October. • The Spring Meeting was reformatted as a “virtual” meeting on 6 June: o Officers and committee chairs reported on status and plans 
  • Dave Brown, chair of the Nominating Committee, reported that the Committee  intends to nominate Nick Orem to succeed Ernie Godshalk as Post Captain at the  Annual Meeting 
  • The elections by the Governing Board of eight new members were ratified o Draft minutes will be available on the website 
• The Clambake, TAR/5C, Junior Exchange and Annual Dinner have all been cancelled – the last was particularly regrettable as, in addition to all the aspects of the Dinner that  make it such fun, we were planning a gala celebration of our 75^th Anniversary and  expected all five Home Club commodores to be present to celebrate. 
• On 18 June, The NAS joined The Cruising Club of America’s New York Station in a  Zoom meeting in which we were entertained by NAS member Juan Corradi describing  his recent book, “The Voyages of Pirate.” 
• We have planned a Zoom meeting on July 9 to reminisce regarding the 2019 Stockholm  Archipelago Cruise. Please look for an invitation email with details. 
• The Annual Meeting will be held “virtually” on a date to be determined, likely Friday,  December 4, 2020. 

This is a bittersweet moment for me, an abrupt end to the wonderful years in Scandinavia, thanks  in large part to The NAS. I was introduced to the region on the 2011 NAS cruise, which included  celebrating NJK’s Jubilee in Helsinki, and subsequent tour to Savonlina for opera. Fabulous  NAS cruises in Denmark in 2014 and Sweden in 2017 set the stage for the finale: the 2019  Stockholm Archipelago Cruise. In the meantime, I was honored to be offered membership in two 

of our Home Clubs, made many good friends at each of the Home Clubs, cruised to their  facilities on multiple occasions and met regularly with their commodores, including at their  homes and mine. We cruised from north of the Arctic Circle on the west coast of Norway to the  interior lakes of Finland – and a reprise of the opera, this time arriving by boat. Starting in 2014,  I sailed in or attended each TAR and several Five Clubs and was gratified to help Juniors on  Exchange. For the wonderful new friends at the Home Clubs, and unforgettable experiences, I  would like to express deep appreciation to The North American Station, which has made all  these things possible – a life-changing experience for me. Thank you! 

Thank all of you who are contributing in so many ways – through leadership or even just  participating - to making The North American Station a fun, vibrant and sustainable  organization! 

And remember:  

“The Gods do not deduct from man’s allotted span those hours spent in sailing.” Sincerely, 

Ernie Godshalk, Post Captain 

PS – A few reminders: 

1. Junior Programs: Please let Susan Gardner, Angelica Barrows or me know of candidates for  2021 Junior Exchange age 15-17, or Host Families, and contact Angelica Barrows regarding  candidates to represent The NAS at 2021 Five Club Regatta – wonderful opportunities,  assuming that the pandemic has receded by then. Please consider assisting in leading Junior  Exchange and placing an article in the newsletter of your local yacht club. 

2. The Atlantic Round: Contact Palmer Sparkman regarding joining The NAS 2021 TAR team. 3. Last Voyages – please be sure that Secretary Richard West and I are aware of the passing of  any members. 

4. The NAS store – Great news thanks to the hard work of Dave Brown: We now have a new  source of very high-quality burgees (from the Sailbaglady in Madison CT, the same vendor  the CCA uses). See the sizes and prices and procedures for ordering on the NAS Gear tab of  our web site: northamericanstation.com 

5. New member candidates – Please contact Membership Committee chair Nick  Orem [email protected] to discuss candidates. Nick requests that all proposals  to be acted on at the Annual Meeting be submitted by 14 October 2020.