It's working! Used sails for Haiti are arriving

by Lynn Fitzpatrick on 4 Feb 2010 Used sails and telephone calls are pouring into Shake a Leg Miami. Keep them coming because the rainy season starts in Haiti in two weeks and the people who survived have been exposed to the elements day in and day out for three weeks now. Even structures that remained standing are susceptible to collapse. No one is sleeping indoors out of fear that buildings will collapse, even without another quake Cuts and scrapes have turned into sores and blisters, at a minimum, with the exposure.

The Sea Flower will depart Miami as soon as Thursday and no later than Saturday. The same group is arranging another cargo vessel and shipments will be leaving the Miami River with Haiti as a destination for far into the future. Honestly, whether you come to Miami tomorrow or three weeks from now, we will find a way to get your sails, lines and sheets to Haiti if you deliver them to Shake a Leg.

Individuals are arranging to hire trucks and make deliveries from near and far, even the Narragansett and Chesapeake Bay areas. That's terrific! It would be great if yacht clubs, sailing clubs and the marine industry organized and made convoys.

Here are some of the messages that have been received:

From a member of the Miami J24 fleet- 'Great cause, we have a ship doing it, departing from The Miami river terminal, it leaves every week to Cape Haitian, with donations from Food for The Poor foundation, Clinton Foundation, and many other contributors.

Thank you for thinking on me, it has been very gratifying situation to be able to help all the Haitians, I know the feeling, I have been in some earthquakes, 1985 and 1957 both in Mexico City.

It is one of the scariest feelings, compared to a hurricane, I decided to stay in Miami, also spend time in Acapulco, there the earthquakes, are scarier, because you can hear the earth making a humming noise, the rocks at the bottom of the ocean start to hit one another and the sound is ... horrific.' - Iker Belauste

From Annapolis – 'As a member of the Storm Trysail Club and Fishing Bay Yacht Club and former president of the Chesapeake Bay Yacht Racing Association, I have a lot of contacts in the sailing community. My thinking is to get a trucking company to donate a truck where I can swing by Annapolis, and other sailing ports to pick up sails before heading south to Miami.' - John D. Dodge II

From Rhode Island - 'I live in Barrington, RI, and have several old sails in my basement that I’ve never known what to do with . . . now, I suppose I do. I’m contemplating trying to find someone with a truck who might be willing to take a collection of sails down to Miami.' - Charles Chopin

If you don't send sails. Donate funds to help to pay the delivery costs.

The earthquake in Haiti may seem like old news, but it is only going to get worse there before it gets better, and your used sails and donations to legitimate relief organizations will make a difference

In addition to all of the people at Shake a Leg that are involved in the relief effort, thanks goes to Ken Batchelor, who is coordinating many relief and logistics efforts.

Thank you to Eivind Melleby and Petter Morland Pedersen (NOR), who donated two Star jibs that have been used to win many a race on Biscayne Bay this season. The pair have won three Star regattas in a row in Miami.

Augie Diaz (USA), stepped right up and delivered two Star mains to Shake a Leg. The entire Diaz family is very involved in delivering and servicing medical and diagnostic equipment for relief efforts in Haiti.

Rick Doerr (USA), Paralympic Sonar skipper who was working on his boat at Shake a Leg and immediately added unused line to the collection, which included sails and covers from Coconut Grove Sails and Canvas, and promised to return next week for his next practice session with used sails and a tarp.

The U-Haul truck full of sails from Fort Lauderdale's North Sails loft and SecondWindSails was loaded on the Sea Flower this afternoon.

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