I was going to write a piece about my life in the landfill at Seaside Park last week, but when the Boston Marathon Bombings took place, I did not feel it right to bring up such a divisive issue during such a moment when we were so in need of national unity. A few days have passed and time heals all wounds, but I still am not ready to go into that story. Maybe soon, maybe later, but the Story of My Life in the Landfill is an epic tale better served for long snowy days dreaming of wind dancing on the waves. Its spring right now and we have to get ready to put to sea ASAP, so lets leave that story alone for now and talk about the week that was.
On Monday, I learned that The Day of New London published a story about the Mystic. Media coverage always makes for a busy week. Similar to whacking a bee hive, media attention wakes people up and gets things buzzing again. For a few weeks now, the Mystic project was fading from existence, but boom- a well placed news story always brings things back to life and boy did this one ever.
That afternoon I got a call from Bud Mcallister of New London who saw the story. He asked me to meet him to discuss how the Mystic might fit in to the overall vision for New London's downtown development. Always grateful to tell the story of the Mystic, I accepted and we agreed to meet at Fiddleheads Cooperative in downtown New London the next day. A positive meeting, and we shall see what happens.
Riding high on the reawakening of the story, I decided to press my luck and go to the DMV. You have to hand it to Connecticut. Only here can you be forced to wait in line for 3 hours, only to find your missing a critical piece of paperwork and have to do it all again the next day when the line is equally long. If any other business sported 2-hour-waits on a daily basis, they would go out of business in a hurry, but the DMV belies all laws of business, ethics or fairness.
I say ethics and fairness, because I learned this week, that CCB has been systematically OVER-charged to the tune of almost $1000 by the DMV for the last five years. John Madden pointed out to me late last week a little blip on the DMV website that said Non-profits are only charged $7.50 to register a boat. The DMV has charged us over $100 per vessel for the last five years. What bothers me is not that mistakes were made. What bothers me is there was no system in place to ensure accuracy and fairness on behalf of the citizen at the DMV. Their answer to me was IF we agree with you that we over charged you, then you will be given only 1 years worth of reimbursement.
When Stop and Shop scanners over charge for a can of peas on a systematic basis, weights and measures issues fines and people go to jail. But when the DMV does it, they have the right to say we will admit guilt only if we feel like it and you have no claim to reimbursement even if we do agree that we are guilty. On top of it, they can put you in jail if you decide you don't want to pay to register a car in this State, so accordingly hundreds of thousands of people get charged every month by the DMV and there is nothing in the law that says they have to be accurate in what they are charging people.
Long story short, I have a call in to the State, and IF they decide to call me back, we MIGHT get back a fraction of the $900+ that they over charged us since 2010. BUT the good news is, our entire fleet is now registered for $60 which used cost us $600.
That includes the Floating Boathouse. On Wednesday morning, in an act of civil disobedience combined with good sleuthing and environmental awareness, we discovered a mechanism in the law that allows us to build our own boats, issue our own hull ID numbers and register any vessel we build as manufacturers of the CCB Power and Sailing Craft Brand. I give you a 40' concrete pontoon vessel complete with bio-diesel motors, tide-generated electrical power system and a sustainable water treatment systems that will demonstrate the viability of off-grid living in Long Island Sound while having Zero impact on the ecology and a minimal carbon footprint. This is the future of boating in Connecticut and we are on the cutting edge by reaching back to the lessons of our past- More on this later.
But so that was the first half of the week-Not bad huh? The second half got even better.
While driving home from the DMV I got a call from CCB East Chair Jody Jordan. He was on his way to New Jersey to eye a 35' Viking. For those of you who do not know what the Viking is, it is the Cadillac of the Seas. Built in 1975, this vessel was built to be the common mans yacht with twin Chrysler inboards, an outrigger festooned fly bridge and all the comforts of home packed into a 35-foot hull. It was designed to bring luxury cruising to the family man and it has all the hallmarks of the 1970s and 80's. Opulence, extravagance and consumption all rolled into one. But where it lacks in environmental responsibility it makes up for in comfort and the ability to head out on a rolling sea to catch tuna, blues, stripers, swordfish and makos.
And it will also serve wonders to bring donors out for a tour of the Mystic while she is heading out past Block Island, or making way past Middleground. The Viking will be our Motor fleet Flagship in answer to the SV Mystic as our Sailing Fleet Flagship. In its off time, we will use the Viking to take kids out fishing, lobstering and learning. In its on time, we will use the viking to entice donors to support our cause. If you've gotta burn gas, you might as well do it in style for a good cause. (BTW we are looking for a naming sponsor for this vessel if you know anyone?)
And now that brings me to the Mystic. Did you hear? CCB set a record this week for the largest pledge in our history. Out of the blue late Wednesday my phone rang with the news that a generous donor has pledged $50,000 to support the purchasing of the Mystic. That is if the State writes the loan and the sale of the Mystic closes in CCB's favor. But with that pledge, we are now at $453,790 on our way to $500K. And once we reach the $500 K mark, we will close on the vessel and can begin booking passage on the Mystic.
It would be nice if we could start right now, but if we are so much as a $1 short of the $500K, its game over and the Mystic sails off to some far away land without ever serving a single child or family. But chin up, we're not going to think that way- the power of positive thinking.
So maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon, soon the phone will ring and on the other end will be one, two or maybe five different donors pledging their support for $10, $20 or $50,000. And when that does happen, a series of events will kick in action and a School Ship for Long Island Sound will be born.
And when it is brought to life, CCB will return to the seas opening the hearts and minds of kids everywhere regardless of income, residency or social standing. So while you're warm and fuzzy about the week that was and the potential this could mean for our State, have a look at where we came from in 2010 when we taught thousands of kids about our greatest natural resource. Cheers.
On Monday, I learned that The Day of New London published a story about the Mystic. Media coverage always makes for a busy week. Similar to whacking a bee hive, media attention wakes people up and gets things buzzing again. For a few weeks now, the Mystic project was fading from existence, but boom- a well placed news story always brings things back to life and boy did this one ever.
That afternoon I got a call from Bud Mcallister of New London who saw the story. He asked me to meet him to discuss how the Mystic might fit in to the overall vision for New London's downtown development. Always grateful to tell the story of the Mystic, I accepted and we agreed to meet at Fiddleheads Cooperative in downtown New London the next day. A positive meeting, and we shall see what happens.
Riding high on the reawakening of the story, I decided to press my luck and go to the DMV. You have to hand it to Connecticut. Only here can you be forced to wait in line for 3 hours, only to find your missing a critical piece of paperwork and have to do it all again the next day when the line is equally long. If any other business sported 2-hour-waits on a daily basis, they would go out of business in a hurry, but the DMV belies all laws of business, ethics or fairness.
I say ethics and fairness, because I learned this week, that CCB has been systematically OVER-charged to the tune of almost $1000 by the DMV for the last five years. John Madden pointed out to me late last week a little blip on the DMV website that said Non-profits are only charged $7.50 to register a boat. The DMV has charged us over $100 per vessel for the last five years. What bothers me is not that mistakes were made. What bothers me is there was no system in place to ensure accuracy and fairness on behalf of the citizen at the DMV. Their answer to me was IF we agree with you that we over charged you, then you will be given only 1 years worth of reimbursement.
When Stop and Shop scanners over charge for a can of peas on a systematic basis, weights and measures issues fines and people go to jail. But when the DMV does it, they have the right to say we will admit guilt only if we feel like it and you have no claim to reimbursement even if we do agree that we are guilty. On top of it, they can put you in jail if you decide you don't want to pay to register a car in this State, so accordingly hundreds of thousands of people get charged every month by the DMV and there is nothing in the law that says they have to be accurate in what they are charging people.
Long story short, I have a call in to the State, and IF they decide to call me back, we MIGHT get back a fraction of the $900+ that they over charged us since 2010. BUT the good news is, our entire fleet is now registered for $60 which used cost us $600.
That includes the Floating Boathouse. On Wednesday morning, in an act of civil disobedience combined with good sleuthing and environmental awareness, we discovered a mechanism in the law that allows us to build our own boats, issue our own hull ID numbers and register any vessel we build as manufacturers of the CCB Power and Sailing Craft Brand. I give you a 40' concrete pontoon vessel complete with bio-diesel motors, tide-generated electrical power system and a sustainable water treatment systems that will demonstrate the viability of off-grid living in Long Island Sound while having Zero impact on the ecology and a minimal carbon footprint. This is the future of boating in Connecticut and we are on the cutting edge by reaching back to the lessons of our past- More on this later.
But so that was the first half of the week-Not bad huh? The second half got even better.
While driving home from the DMV I got a call from CCB East Chair Jody Jordan. He was on his way to New Jersey to eye a 35' Viking. For those of you who do not know what the Viking is, it is the Cadillac of the Seas. Built in 1975, this vessel was built to be the common mans yacht with twin Chrysler inboards, an outrigger festooned fly bridge and all the comforts of home packed into a 35-foot hull. It was designed to bring luxury cruising to the family man and it has all the hallmarks of the 1970s and 80's. Opulence, extravagance and consumption all rolled into one. But where it lacks in environmental responsibility it makes up for in comfort and the ability to head out on a rolling sea to catch tuna, blues, stripers, swordfish and makos.
And it will also serve wonders to bring donors out for a tour of the Mystic while she is heading out past Block Island, or making way past Middleground. The Viking will be our Motor fleet Flagship in answer to the SV Mystic as our Sailing Fleet Flagship. In its off time, we will use the Viking to take kids out fishing, lobstering and learning. In its on time, we will use the viking to entice donors to support our cause. If you've gotta burn gas, you might as well do it in style for a good cause. (BTW we are looking for a naming sponsor for this vessel if you know anyone?)
And now that brings me to the Mystic. Did you hear? CCB set a record this week for the largest pledge in our history. Out of the blue late Wednesday my phone rang with the news that a generous donor has pledged $50,000 to support the purchasing of the Mystic. That is if the State writes the loan and the sale of the Mystic closes in CCB's favor. But with that pledge, we are now at $453,790 on our way to $500K. And once we reach the $500 K mark, we will close on the vessel and can begin booking passage on the Mystic.
It would be nice if we could start right now, but if we are so much as a $1 short of the $500K, its game over and the Mystic sails off to some far away land without ever serving a single child or family. But chin up, we're not going to think that way- the power of positive thinking.
So maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon, soon the phone will ring and on the other end will be one, two or maybe five different donors pledging their support for $10, $20 or $50,000. And when that does happen, a series of events will kick in action and a School Ship for Long Island Sound will be born.
And when it is brought to life, CCB will return to the seas opening the hearts and minds of kids everywhere regardless of income, residency or social standing. So while you're warm and fuzzy about the week that was and the potential this could mean for our State, have a look at where we came from in 2010 when we taught thousands of kids about our greatest natural resource. Cheers.
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