Sailing Science Center News
October 2021
Vol. 5, No. 2
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Welcome to the October issue of the Sailing Science Center News! When I reached out to our volunteers to ask what theme they thought would be fitting for this month's newsletter, I got the answers of Energy, Compounding, Action, and Change. Their answers say a lot about how SSC volunteers are viewing the organization's recent activity. They are all excellent suggestions, but to narrow it down to one word, I think Energy is a good choice, as you will see in the sections below. To be part of that energy, be sure you get your Tickets to the SSC Castaway Gala!
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Energy is the key to creativity. Energy is the key to life.
— William Shatner
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October Spotlight - Dan Pruzan |
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Dan Pruzan has merged what he loves doing for pay with what he loves doing for play, something we consider a healthy way to live. Born in Westchester County, New York, Dan’s first sailing exposure came at age six when his parents bought a 22-foot Pearson Ensign and began taking Dan and his sister out for day sails and weekend overnights on Long Island Sound. By age eight Dan was single-handing Sunfish at summer camp, with a learn-as-you-go approach, noting important lessons, like not getting pinned on a lee shore. He comments that good lessons come from bad experiences. |
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Good lessons come from bad experiences! |
Dan describes his dad’s approach to parenting as skillful neglect, giving his kids enough rope to swing from the trees, but not enough to hang themselves. Today, Dan says he is a calculated risk-taker. This connects well with his upbringing, and rings with gratitude for his dad’s approach. |
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Dan & Anne in Dubrovnik, Croatia 2010. |
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Dan studied Mechanical Engineering and Business at Rutgers University. He didn’t do a lot of sailing there—instead opting for water skiing. As a graduate student at Cornell, he rented a house on Cayuga Lake and was able to ski in the mornings and sail in the afternoons on his 12-foot aluminum sloop. After getting his PhD in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Dan continued at Cornell, taking the position of Adjunct Assistant Professor in the M&AE department. It was at this time that he and his wife Anne bought a Ranger 29 and started racing it on the lake. |
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Dan driving the Schumacher 39, Recidivist, in the 2007 Transpac
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My dad’s approach to parenting could be described as skillful neglect.
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He and Anne moved to California in 1996, looking for warmer weather, bringing the Ranger with them and continuing to race it on the Bay until 1999, when they decided to buy a higher performance, one-design boat. This got them the Schumacher-designed Express 27, Wile E. Coyote, that they still have today. Dan says his wife is more into the cruising side of sailing, which has led them to vacation charters in locations like the British Virgin Islands, Belize, Hawaii, and Croatia. It was on their trip to Hawaii that Dan proposed to Anne, producing a gag diamond ring from the sand while they were snorkeling. |
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Today, Dan works for Arrow Tech Associates, a small Vermont-based aerospace consulting company. He has been involved in as many as 75 different wind tunnel testing programs, at sites ranging from Mountain View to Moscow. He has worked with NASA, DoD, SpaceX, and Boeing, and has done flight testing on everything from a single-engine Piper Malibu, to an F-16, to a 747.
Dan gained interest in the SSC after reading about us in Latitude 38 two years ago. He has been a steady contributor on the SSC Exhibits Team, taking ownership of the Land Yacht Experiment Table to create a soft-sail version of one of the cars, adding a photoelectric timing gate, and testing computer fans as an alternate wind source. Dan is a huge asset to the SSC, distinguishing himself with his knowledge, professionalism, and generosity. We're glad to have you aboard Dan!
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The SSC's Land Yacht Experiment Table, with Dan's photoelectric timing gate and bank of computer fans. The latter produce more uniform airflow across the width of the table. |
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There's something about taking a plow and breaking new ground.
It gives you energy.
— Ken Kesey
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The SSC 2021 Castaway Gala! |
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Tickets are on sale now for the SSC 2021 Castaway Gala. Talk about energy— you don't want to miss this. Here are some highlights of your three-hour tour:
- Tropical Drinks & Hosted Bar
- Sit Down Dinner
- Silent & Live Auctions
- Games & Prizes
- Music
- The SSC's New Trailer!
- Mary Ann's Coconut Cream Pie!
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September Volunteer Activities |
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Latitude 38 Crew Party, September 9 |
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On September 9th the SSC set up at the Bay Model to support Latitude 38 at their first Crew Party since the pandemic shut things down in 2020. There were roughly 200 people in attendance, with tons of energy and lots of new volunteer signups. |
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California Coastal Cleanup Day, September 18 |
On September 18 th the SSC participated in California Coastal Cleanup Day, joining forces with One Treasure Island, the Treasure Island Sailing Center, Alameda's Island Yacht Club, the Cal Sailing Team, and the Stanford Sailing Team. Thirty energetic volunteers came out, collecting an estimated 500 pound of trash and recyclables from Clipper Cove. The big find of the day was the twenty bucks one of the Cal sailors found in the rocks. Rheanna Binkley, Alex Francois, and Sheree Hartington, from One Treasure Island, deserve special mention, with Alex providing his time and truck to haul the trash to proper disposal facilities. |
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E = mc2.
— Albert Einstein
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Did you know that Albert Einstein was a sailor? Yes, the famous scientist who showed us that energy equals mass times the speed of light squared (E = mc 2) loved to relax on his boat. It was one of his great joys in life. We don't usually think of relativity as a branch of physics that matters to sailors, but Einstein's theory of general relativity is crucial to sailors through its application in the clocks of the GPS satellites we rely on. Check out this article by John Vigor for more on Einstein and his sailing activities. |
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This Month's Newsletter Banner |
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Waves roll in on San Francisco's Ocean Beach. When it comes to energy in the ocean, there are few things more exemplary than wave energy. Ocean waves will travel for thousands of miles in an undulating exchange of kinetic and potential energy, with almost no dissipation, until they finally break upon the shore, converting all of their energy to heat. |
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Wanted for the Sailing Science Center |
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Photos
Do you have photos to share? The SSC is looking for great shots to use on our newsletter banner and elsewhere. Photographer attribution will be given.
Volunteers
The SSC needs all manner of volunteers, but especially volunteers who can staff one-day, pop-up exhibitions as docents. Training, lunch, and SSC logo polo shirts are provided. We are holding events at the rate of one per month, but this is planned to increase as we assemble multiple exhibition teams.
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Here is the schedule for the next few months. We hope to see you at some of these events.
Oct 17th - Call of the Sea Celebration
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These are things YOU can do to make a difference and Move the Needle
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Leadership Corner - Energy
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In her latest book, Dare to Lead, Brené Brown recounts a story from Air Force Colonel, DeDe Halfhill, in which Colonel Halfhill's airmen reported feeling exhausted. The cause of the exhaustion was something unexpected, and could teach us a lot in how we navigate the current pandemic. Read more...
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We want to give a big shout out to the people who raised their hands to volunteer in September: Tim Child, Steve Ross, Steve Denison, Tony Gilbert, Atom Farrell, Carliane Johnson, Mathias Schmidt, Dan Jones, Ron Huber, Meiko Ann, and Jun Abbot. We are excited and grateful for the help everyone has offered! Click here to volunteer! |
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That's all for this month.
Cheers!
Jim Hancock
President and Founder
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The San Francisco Sailing Science Center is a Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation recognized under IRS Section 501(c)(3), Tax ID 82-3631165. Your donation to the Sailing Science Center is tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law. |
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AN INTERACTIVE HANDS-ON LEARNING CENTER:
DELIGHTING “KIDS” FROM 5 TO 95
PROVIDING STEAM* LEARNING EXPERIENCES
FOCUSING ON THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND MATH
AND KEEPING IT FUN!!!
*STEAM – Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Math
VOLUNTEER EVENT COORDINATOR
Victoria Marcus
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The Sailing Science Center News is published on the first business day of each month. It is sent to team members, partners, volunteers, sponsors and supporters of the San Francisco Sailing Science Center. You are receiving this because you are considered to be in one of these groups. If you wish to be removed from the mailing list, please click the Unsubscribe link below. We do not sell, share or otherwise give out our mailing list beyond our organization. |
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San Francisco Sailing Science Center
One Avenue of the Palms, Suite 16A
San Francisco, CA 94130
510.390.5727
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