Making friends at a sailboat club is not very hard. Really despite some rough edges at times sailors are a friendly lot, just not always on the water. But there are a few things I find that jump one up to the top of the friend list at any club. My first discovery was that a bottle of Scotch or quality Rum often earns you more friends then you have liquor for. I mean who doesn’t have time to sample someone else’s drink…
The other a best way, I believe, is to show that you don’t mind work and are willing help out. At our club we have mandatory work hours that must be completed each year. They are designed to keep everyone involved in the maintenance of the club. We are not after all a marina, though at times people believe that it is. Its a social club with its emphasis on sailing and sailboat racing. There is often more work to be done then hours required of members; so what does one do?
Well we have work parties. Literally parties where work it done. Most recently a member organized a party to build picnic tables, as the older ones at the club had reached their reasonable life expectancy. So the club bought lumber, people brought tools, beer and food. In short order 8 people were constructing tables and smoking pork shoulders. After building the tables we drank and ate delicious glazed and smoked pork, among other foods.
I guess the point is that often you can get more out of people when they aren’t obligated. In a way play is the most efficient form of work…