[Bboa-members] Pegasus

[Paul Kamen]

Tom - I was in Hawaii on Sunday December 3, so clearly the person named
Paul who is referred to in the narrative from Peter Hayes is not me and is
unrelated to the Waterfront Commission. (And you know I would never
attempt the middle entrance in a big boat at low tide - see the BYC
website for the bearings to get in with 7.0 ft at zero tide, using the
south entrance.)

But even if I had been out on the Pegasus for that daysail, what's the big
deal? Occasional private use of equipment used mainly for youth access
programs is not taboo.

On the main issue: Does the Pegasus justify its berth space? I'm not ready
to say that 116 kid-days of sailing ($7,000/$60) on the Pegasus is a bad
deal for the City in return for a $7K subsidy-in-kind. Yes, the program
should be several times bigger, and you and I would both run it
differently if either of us were in charge. But I have no reason to
believe that Peter isn't acting in good faith in his efforts to grow the
program. We both know how hard the outreach part of youth sailing can be,
even after all the equipment and all the volunteers are in place and ready
to roll.

Also, I don't think it's fair to lump the money spent by the Pegasus on
upgrades and maintenance in with the value of the berthing subsidy. The
City did not pay for or subsidize the SSB or the varnish. Those
expenditures add to the value of what Pegasus can offer the participants,
and they do not belong in the "cost to the City" column as you imply.

It's too late for a new agenda item at the meeting this Wednesday, but
please bring it up in the public comment session at the beginning of the
meeting. I would like to discuss the issue with you and Peter and see if
there are new ways the the City and other groups might be able to help the
Pegasus scale up to a larger operation that reaches many more kids.

>
> Dear Pegasus crew and volunteers,
>
> Here is the report from last Sunday Dec 3 voyage with a couple of photos,
> from Tim McAnulty:
...