The board has been trying to navigate the waters of COVID this season and we believe we are finally getting the ducks to corporate and get in rows. . . . (damn ducks)

June 2 will be our start to our official season!   

We will ski Tuesday/Thursdays from 6pm->dusk and Sundays from 7am-10am.      We may also bring on Saturday morning skiing as well, but we need to iron out some more details.    The Webster Board of Health has been notified of our plan and has signed off on it.     We are also notifying the Webster PD to give them a heads up as well that we are doing things ‘by the book’.

Now here is where it gets a bit tricky –  to meet state/town mandates, we can only have 10 people on site at a time.     To fix this, we will do “Split squad” skiing when we have over 10 people – splitting between Point Breeze Marina and Linda’s house on Union Point.     We will have drivers and safety officers at both places.  If we get above 20 skiers a night, we will figure that out as we go. . .  (Thank you Linda!)

To manage this – we are adding an RSVP system for signups on the website.     Dates will be posted on a “calendar” system here:

http://ryand14.sg-host.com/ski-events/category/ski-night-signups/   – just click on June to see them. . . (nothing in May)

The first week of signups are here:

Tuesday –  http://ryand14.sg-host.com/ski-event/june-2-ski-night-point-breeze-and-lindas-house/

Thursday – http://ryand14.sg-host.com/ski-event/thursday-june-4th-general-skiing/

Sunday – http://ryand14.sg-host.com/ski-event/sunday-june-7th-morning-skiing/

I’ll be adding the rest of the dates soon.   We do hope this 10 person per site rule gets lifted once Mass enters Phase 2 of reopening.    We ask that people do plan ahead and RSVP and not just “show up”.      If you do “show up” you might have to wait in your car or drive to the alternate location if one spot is filled.   

To keep everyone safe and to meet state/local restrictions – our COVID plan is the following:

1) Prior to the start of any activity, participants (athletes, judges, officials, boat drivers) will be asked if anyone is feeling sick or has been around anyone who has been sick within the last 14 days. If anyone answers “YES” to these questions they should not attend the event. If someone at an event starts to show signs or symptoms, they should notify the event organizer and/or event safety official and immediately leave the premises. 

All skiers will be required to sign a waver before skiing    http://www.usawaterski.org/pages/USAWSWSReturnToPlayGuidelines.pdfIf someone tests positive for COVID-19, We will  require a doctors note before they can come back to ski with us again. 

2) Keep “groups” of skiers to 10 or less.  

3). Everyone wears a mask when not skiing,  including driver and spotter.4).  Driver and Spotter should not change.   The spotter/driver pair will be consistent for the night to prevent unnecessary movement of people in and out of the boats.   (some exceptions may be necessary).

5) All Club equipment wiped down after use (skis/etc).   

6) Only the skier going out should be on the starting dock.    Skiers coming in should be dropped away from the starting points.    BE READY TO SKI, have your jacket and ski ready to go when its your turn to keep things moving!

7) No “doubles” or “show” skiing –  we will have only one skier behind the boat at a time. 

Ski gloves might be a good investment, as we will probably be sharing the same rope.    I think the rope is “low risk” due to it being in the water and all the other precautions we are taking.  If you have your own rope, we can use that too (have it ready to go, let the spotter know).   
We know this is a bit of a pain, but we need to be responsible citizens and do this right for insurance purposes.    We do NOT want to get shut down for violating the state/town mandates so we ask for everyone cooperation, even though I know people might not like wearing masks, etc.   The hope that these rules will relax as we get into July.
 

DUES MUST BE PAID AND USA WATER SKI MEMBERSHIPS ACTIVE before you can ski.    We have been lax with getting dues in this season due to the uncertainty of COVID, but now we need to get people to pay dues so we have a headcount.      Beginning in June we will start to market the club more online to fill any additional “spots” we have open to the public.     If you want to ski and ‘hold your spot’ we need your dues paid.   We are capping memberships at 40, and I think especially this year its somewhat important we do so.  

Dues can be paid online via the website –  http://ryand14.sg-host.com/shop/  OR you can pay Linda via check made out to the Webster Water Ski Collective. 

We will do a zoom meeting in the next week or so . . . but for now, any questions can be emailed to me or if you want to hear my voice, I am happy to chat on a call – 508-944-9793. 
 

Thank you all,  we are looking forward to a GREAT season