A post (not event) Looking Forward and Past (not an event!!!)

Happy Memorial Day Weekend - wishing you a safe and happy start to the 2025 Boating Season...with gratitude to all who served and sacrificed to preserve our ability to enjoy freedom, including our freedom to be on the water, enjoying nature, and sharing time with family and friends.

So far this year our Club has met several times - sharing time with our Music City Power Squadron members, family and friends. We swap boating stories (including misadventures and mistakes-to-learn-from) along with recent presentations and discussions about "Local Boating" here in Middle Tennessee. Last evening, we wrapped up our two-part presentation which highlighted all 652 navigable miles of the Tennessee River - starting in Knoxville (The Home of the Vol's Navy) and the Tennessee River's links to the Gulf via the Tenn-Tom Waterway, plus sharing its waters with the Cumberland River at Grand Rivers, before joining the Ohio River near Paducah.

We are blessed, living here in Middle Tennessee, to have access to some of the most beautiful lakes and rivers that welcome everything that floats including Paddleboards, Canoes, Kayaks, PWC's plus Sail and Power boats of all shapes, sizes, makes and models...(Including Tom Hudson's and Ray Alley's carboard dragon boats!)

Yes, all of us joined "America's Boating Club" (The United States Power Squadrons) to take advantage of (in Bruce's unhumble opinion) the best boating training. Yes, there are all kinds of boating programs available on the internet but none are as detailed and as practical as the training programs offered by our club. If you're serious about being safe while gaining the confidence to venture beyond your familiar waters, our training programs are the best!

That being said, we joined and continue to support our local boating club because of our combined boating knowledge. If you want to learn more about boating (and fishing) in Middle Tennessee, The British Virgin Islands, The Great Loop, Erie, Rideau canals and the Trent Severn Waterway, the Canals of England, etc., ask your Club members. Together, we have 100's of hours (if not years) of boating experience. I believe that we are the best trained and most experienced boaters who are willing to share our knowledge. Please encourage your family and friends to join us. We're a social club, with a passion for boating, who are keen to teach and encourage each other!

We want to acknowledge and thank Michael McAlevy and Ray Alley for leading the most recent "ABC" (The entry level Safe Boating Class...and the foundation for the more detailed Seamanship, Piloting and Navigation classes) with 12 successful/passing participants!

We have more Boating Presentations in the works. We'll share the details when we restart our regular meetings after the Summer break. We've always taken a Club hiatus during the Summer because all of us are busy boating (but we do try and squeeze in some raft ups and other boating meet-ups.)

Please be safe on the water this season and please wear your Life Jackets!