This year certainly is flying past quicker than I would like. From a personal and business perspective there is a LOT happening. Some of which has been very exhausting and some extremely rewarding. I guess you could go with the cliche of Highs and Lows.
With DeckHardware continuing to grow and change shape we are looking at reinvesting some more of our funds into the company. This includes the purchase of a RIB that we will then use for Marketing activities to provide amazing content moving forward. Of course, being a boat owner again will be a fantastic change.
Although admittedly if I was buying a boat for myself the RIB would not be the first choice. I do miss owning Animus, not just the racing side but also the maintenance and social things we used to do. Whilst I have had to step away from being an Umpire and Judge due to work commitments, I am looking forward to this change in direction for me personally and DeckHardware.
It is a big few months ahead with a visit to METSTRADE in just 26 days. A long way to fly for three days of meetings and catchups. It will be well worth it after the big METS I had last year.
Once I get back to Australia it will be full-on with the leadup to the big regatta season coming up and the events and sailors we will be supporting.
A quick update on the Hypermobility side, lifting weights has increased and now to do the same for Cardio. I seriously love being back in the gym lifting weights and not breaking myself! What a mission it has been to find the balance.
We are proud to be sponsoring the upcoming Flying 11 Nationals!
I didn’t do a single blog post! Well, that is not like me at all…
So what has been happening, Boxing Day was once again spent on the second line start boat with a great group of people who knew when to have fun and when to switch to work mode. It was pretty funny in the 10 minutes to go when I filmed us on Instagram in silence.
Up next was the 16 and 13 ft Skiff Nationals which we were supporting as DeckHardware. I spent each day at MH16’s with the van setup. On one of the days our DeckHardware Ambassadors, Harry and Nathan went above and beyond assisting Dante with his boat setup.
Almost 5 hours later and we were hearing that Nathan wasn’t done yet! It was great to see that the knowledge and experience they have from sailing in a larger fleet at MH was being shared with the Guys from Illawarra.
Next up was the Flying 11 Nationals at Manly where we setup up on a few of the days and were there if needed on others.
As always I tend to spend a bit of my time at the Lake and this year was no different with a visit with the 18′ Skiffs and not long after the 16’s had their sprint series up there.
I caught up with my old boat when it visited MHYC for the Adams 10m Nationals!
Then once again was out of the office for the JJ Giltinan Championships for the 18′ Skiffs. Supporting our Ambassadors and those who use our products. What an incredible event from big breeze to the Kiwi’s coming 1st and 2nd. It is worth checking out all their social media to watch some of the racing and check out the great action photos.
What is next? Who knows! There is plenty on and lots to do in the office.
I might leave it up to our DeckHardware Ambassadors to decide where I go next hahaha.
I honestly can not believe it is almost Summer! How did that happen?
The last month has been HECTIC! It is our busiest time of year at work plus my car decided it was time to go and had to be replaced. Already my new car has visited sailors at Wangi and Lake Illawarra and clocked up over 1200km which is crazy. Naturally the day after picking it up I had to take it to Wangi, it’ll get to know that journey well.
We also had the Australian Sailing Awards which was a fun night. We decided to give Nathan Edwards access to DeckHardware’s social media in conjunction with coming to the Awards. So all of a sudden even more posts about 16’s and 18’s appeared plus some time studying at Uni hahaha.
Our cover image during the takeover.
Handing over the social media was an interesting exercise. Not only was it worthwhile from a business perspective but it was also a lot of fun. It was an idea we got from following other sports on Social Media and sailing two different types of boats we knew Nath would have some fun with it. Having been a DeckHardware Ambassador for a number of years and someone we have been aware of a lot longer we had an idea of what he may do. Even then we were surprised and grateful for the thought and effort behind the posts.
So big thanks to Nath for taking it on and having some fun with it. The trust involved and letting go was interesting, especially when he was sending hints of what he was thinking of doing next!
It was fantastic to see the Hall of Fame Inductees take place for the first time at the Awards including an old Animus crew member Dick Sargeant. Dick was a part of the very first crew to win Sailing Gold for Australia. When I first bought Animus he joined us for my first Nationals as skipper.
There were so many familiar faces that night from Australia II who were also inducted and our Sailing community.
We often say the DeckHardware Ambassadors are more like a DeckHardware Family. I think these photos from the end of the night with Clare and Finn Alexander, as well as Nathan and myself, say it all.
On the weekend I headed to the 18’s again, this time to support and thank Nina Curtis who filled in for Nath onboard the 18 whilst he was out racing on the 16. It was fantastic to see Nina not only jump at the chance but love it. It was also wonderful to continue our support of her after so many years supporting her Olympic Campaigns. A solid noreaster on Sydney Harbour, what more could you ask for!
With the season well underway it is fantastic to see what our DeckHardware Ambassadors are up to this year! Aimee has stepped up to drive a Nacra 15 which is fantastic and her updates are certainly keeping us entertained. Jody is sailing my old boat! Will is sailing a 13′ skiff, Brad is back sailing 12’s and so much more happening. As well as welcoming some new faces.
As far as the Hypermobility goes this month has proven frustrating. I managed to almost dislocate a kneecap which set me back a bit but also showed me in some ways how far I have come. I started the month walking most mornings at Dawn and spending time at the gym, fingers crossed it won’t take much to get that back this time around. Overall I seem to cope better when I do push the muscles too far as I am stronger than I was a year ago. Still finding my limits and learning how to tell when my muscles are pulling the joints out of place is tricky.
Let’s face it, I love this time of year. Does it get any better than walking along the beachfront in Manly early in the morning in short sleeves! I am not the only one with this idea as it is busy and I managed to see three people I knew just in a short time this morning.
It is heating up and the Jazz festival is being set up for the long weekend. How did we get to this time of year already? It is nice to see my old High School’s band involved this weekend. I was lucky enough to be a part of the Big Band and Stage Band during my High School years.
Just before the season started I managed a short break with two friends to the Hunter Valley. So dangerous hahaha. But worth it. There was some backburning happening in the area which made for an incredible sunset although hard to capture on the phone.
I attended the recent NSW Sailing Awards where it was great to catch up with a number of our DeckHardware Ambassadors and friends. It is always so nice to catch up with so much to say!
I have also put together something for the METS Online Community. You can read it here.
So is anyone else confused with this crazy weather? Yesterday was AMAZING here in Sydney. Today sitting here at my desk it is bucketing rain and cool again… Any thoughts on what I should plant in the garden? Winter or Summer produce haha.
On Saturday I escaped for a few hours heading out on the MHYC Start boat to watch the Sydney Gold Coast race start. So much sunshine and a light breeze that filled in just after the start. What a magic way to spend a few hours, and wave Hi to plenty of people I have not seen in a while.
It has been a busy few weeks with lots of time spent at the Physio playing with orthotics and doing some Pilates rehab work. Which can be interesting as my muscles are so bad at releasing themselves. Winter is all about finding time to get things done before the summer season hits. It almost has felt like I have been busier with extra gym visits, Dentists, Doctors etc. But it is not long now till the sun will be out for longer each day and the warehouse will be boiling instead of freezing 🙂
It is the end of the year and we have certainly had an interesting one to say the least as it started great but that only lasted a short time. It won’t be hard for 2013 to be better than 2012, bring on 2013!
Boxing Day once again I was on the Southern Line with my father. I also had the Sailing Chix doing our live coverage. We had a great day on the start boat and our next door neighbour joined us who is a non sailor and had a ball! Lots of photos and video from the day are on the DeckHardware Facebook page. Dad is now down in Tassie taking my place as I had planned to go spread the DeckHardware word and catch up with my Tassie based friends. He is having fun getting friends to call me from his phone to guess who they are. Liesl you sound NOTHING like Dad hahahaha.
With all the troubles of this year I have also been very lucky to have some amazing friends support me. I am especially grateful to Nix, Nic and Lindsay who I started an amazing adventure with this year that has kept me going. Our radio show. It has been so much fun to get out there and promote our amazing sport with friends who love it as much as I do. It certainly has taken up a fair amount of our time but the rewards have been well worth it. Sailing Chix Rock!!! I can not wait to see what adventures 2013 take us on. Nix is already down at Dee Why now setting up for an outside broadcast to bring in the New Year!
The second highlight of the year was definitely all those late nights during London 2012 cheering on the Aussie Sailors! You are all awesome and I am so glad I get to call so many of you friends and support your journey. Bring on Rio!!!
Thanks so much to those who have stood by me the last two years. It has been a rollercoaster and I have learnt a lot about me and others. Bring on 2013, as I have had more than my share of bad luck and I am ready for the good!
Happy New Year everyone! 2013 has so many big plans already! Lots of Sailing Chix with Nix, A trip to METS in Amsterdam for DeckHardware, More Umpiring and so much more.
Melissa Yeomans 