Win a boat - help a kid - is that a deal or what!

As you may have noticed from our posts through the TIBS in January, we held a little raffle in the booth with a first prize of your choice of a finished skiff or a finished sea flea. We showed a draw date of March 21 2014 - the first day of spring - believing we could probably sell all 300 tickets by then. To our amazement we were sold out by Friday evening of the TIBS! We had to have the next 300 tickets printed overnight and by Sunday eveining we had sold 100 of those!

So. Here we are coming up on the first day of spring and we still have unsold tickets although many are now in the hands of our volunteers to sell to their friends and family!

If you are reading this, you may think what we are doing is worthwhile - I hope that is the case. Like all .org's we need money to keep our programmes running and expanding.

Bored yet? Here's what we need to do that your help can make possible.

Boats 4 Folks Sailing programme. Remember the Lightning we have been working on for the last 3 or 4 years?

Well it will have to be in or next to the water fully rigged for our B4F Sailing idea to work. It is too big and complex a sailing rig to be towed and rigged when needed - it will have to be sailed from someplace handy that is safe for kids first experience sailing. This will cost us something beginning with a full cover and then a membership on Bellwood Lake or Lake Ontario.

Boats 4 Folks Sea Flea programme. We are having a great time in the shop reinventing the original Mini-Max sea flea to our own Min-Hopper sea flea and I am really keen to see the final boat - and to try it! Once this has been accomplised the scramble will be on to build the rest of the needed fleet and to acquire and repair the motors to go withthem. Lots of generosity has been displayed in halping us get htere - but again we will be needing your help to actually put the fleet in the water.

Which brings us back to you...How can you  help and what would you like to get out of your help? Here are some suggestions:

Raffle tickets, $10 each, (5) for $40 or (10) for $75 first prize your choice of a Mini-Hopper or a skiff.

A logo'd shirt or 5 way survival tool, $20 each

Toss'N Save Life Rings that really work - we have them in all our boats courtesy of the manufacturer, $25 each or (2) for $40.

Gatsby Membership, be invited to go boating whenever we go (most Sundays in summer), this really helps at $500 for 12 months. (you still have to share direct costs of the day)

Sponsor of Boats 4 Folks, includes Gatsby Membership but reflects real costs of running the programme, $1,200 per event.

If you would like to pledge one of these items - please let me know by phone at 905 873-0141 or email at blackbox@cogeco.ca

Here's the special on-line deal if you call in response to reading the blog - if you buy any of the non-raffle items, we will include raffle tickets to the matching amounts.