CALL TO ORDER:
The meeting was called to order by Queen Mary Murphy at 8:16 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time (12:16 Pacific Standard Time).
 
INVOCATION:
Marianne Kristofferson, CPA led a quaint little local ritual of pledging allegiance to the flag of the Colonies. Apparently, the ritual has something to do with a small squabble about taxes that occurred in the Eighteenth Century. Those accountants are so zany!
 
In honor of the Chinese New Year, Alex recited the following Chinese Proverb:
If you want happiness for an hour then take a nap.
If you want happiness for a day then go fishing.
If you want happiness for a month then get married.
If you want happiness for a year then inherit a fortune.
If you want happiness for a lifetime then help others.
 
VISITING ROTARIANS:
Visiting Rotarians were John Manning from San Francisco II and Eric Sevin from Peninsula Sunrise in Redwood City. This was John’s second recent visit and he was sporting a bandage on his chin. Apparently, Pierre is trying to "convince" him to join our club. If anyone knows of any other Rotarians who might want to transfer to our club, have them bring their insurance card and sit at Pierre’s table next week.
 
GUESTS OF THE CLUB:
A guest of the club was also present. The guest of the club had a name. This reporter just doesn’t know what that name was. It sounded like "Fabio" so we will go with that. However, if you come looking for Fabio next week and it turns out Fabio is not at our meeting, don’t be disappointed. You will have learned a valuable lesson about not believing everything you read.
 
GUESTS:
Victoria from State Farm was a guest as well. Does State Farm sell insurance for defamation?
Chuck Voltz and his "life partner" Mary attended with Chuck’s son Thomas. It was also Thomas’ birthday. Just what he wanted—a Rotary meeting. Thanks Dad!
 
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
February Birthdays were announced. Dave’s birthday is on the 10th, Jay’s birthday is on the 17th, and Chuck’s birthday is on the 24th. If you need last names, you have been away from the club to long and should drop by to get to know your fellow Rotarians.
Jim delivered the sunshine report and I am happy to report we are all fine.
 
Sean and Joy reminded us that our Kentucky Derby fundraising event will be held May 2 between 1pm and 4pm in Woodside. Dress Code: Hat. Is that all? Ask Sean and Joy, sounds like they could use some help pulling this one off (so to speak).
Rotary Club of San Mateo is having a community yard sale on March 14. Call Mike Wong at (408) 245-4239 and he will schedule a time to stop by your home and pick up your junk—ur, I mean in-kind contributions. As a famous tax lawyer once said, Rotary contributions are tax deductible to the full extent of the law as long as you are not audited.
 
Peter is doing a great job as Interact Coordinator. Peter is moderator of the Serra club. Barry is moderator of the Burlingame club. And Peter is looking for someone to help out to launch a new club at Mercy High in Burlingame. Volunteers call Peter Commaroto at 650-787-6767 or speak to him at the next meeting.
 
Kelvin visited a club in Japan during a recent business trip and brought us back a flag to prove it. Visiting a foreign club is always an interesting experience and great way to meet other Rotarians. If you are planning an out-of-town visit, get a Burlingame flag before you go from Queen Mary and download the Rotary App to find the meeting time and place at your destination. For those of you who do not know what an "App" is, please sign-up for the Burlingame Rotary Technology Committee. Next week’s lecture: Guest Speaker Mike Harvey will speak to the topic, "Is the Horseless Carriage Just a Fad?"
 
Queen Mary announced Pakistan is now requiring polio vaccinations for all people in the country. Yea! Unfortunately, it is due to a recent outbreak of polio. Boo! Anyone who refuses to vaccinate will apparently be subject to arrest. Yikes! That’s worse than what happens if you don’t read the rest of this High Gear.
 
Mark Johnson announced he is charge of our annual March Madness College Basketball pool. Trademark lawyer Barry, is that a fair use? Anyway, Mark reassured us that it does NOT constitute gambling to buy a square for $20, and that six squares can be purchased for $100. Our Banker Marilyn who coincidently is used to handling all cash transactions in that approximate amount quickly realized that means you get six squares for the price of five and bought six squares. Everyone bring your Benjamin’s next week!
 
THE SPEAKER:
Mentioning something about a rebellious plot to improve introductions during the next regime, Charles Voltz introduced the day’s speaker: Ralph Neilsen.
Many of us know Ralph as the owner of the Copenhagen bakery and café on Burlingame Avenue. However, on this day Ralph recounted his personal story of racing around the world in a sail boat.
Rather than giving a speech, Ralph was question by Bob Doerr doing his best imitation of Charlie Rose/Larry King.
Upon turning 70, Ralph decided he wanted to have a little adventure and "get in touch with nature." In a self-described "moment of insanity" Ralph paid about $70 to $80 to sign up with a Clipper firm in England that provides a few weeks of training and then takes amateur sailors on trips around the world. The firm was founded by the man who made the first solo non-stop sail around the world in 1968.
The fleet consists of 12, 70-foot sail boats. The crew had a professional sailor captain with 15 to 20 amateur sailors. 10 of the sailors were "around the worlders" and the others came and went on different parts of the eight-leg journey. He was typically required to man to watches, including a 6 hour watch during day time and a 4 hour watch at night.
The voyage started in London and progressed to France, across the Atlantic to Rio, including weeks stuck in the doldrums where they had to ration food and water. (Although many Rotarians associate the world doldrums with the hour and a half period on Mondays between noon and 1:30, apparently there is an alternate definition that includes the equatorial region of the Atlantic Ocean affected by the Intertropical Convergence Zone which is a low-pressure area with calms, sudden storms, and light unpredictable winds".) Ralph went from 170 pounds to 145 pounds during that period.
From South America the crew sailed back across the Atlantic to the Cape Town, South Africa and then on to Australia where Ralph and his crew took first place in one leg of the race. From Down Under, Ralph sailed to Asia, making stops in Singapore and China.
Then it was across the Pacific (where waves can reach 25 to 30 feet high, and the trough below can be equally deep). Ralph piloted the ship much of the way, where he was reminded of the old sailing adage that "helm-men breath—they don’t talk." The winds were very challenging. After making the long journey across the Pacific, Ralph came to port in San Francisco. Ralph denies that he was tempted to abandon the journey in San Francisco.
 
From San Francisco, Ralph sailed through the Panama Canal, up to Jamaica ("no problem"), and then to Ireland, Scotland, and Holland before finally returning to London.
During the trip, one person on another boat fell overboard, but was rescued. If it had been night, the person would have gone the way of ex-Rotary presidents and never have been seen again. Ralph hurt his back when he fell below deck. Others suffered a broken leg and broken ribs. Having survived the ordeal, R
alph said the trip "made him feel alive." However, he indicated that he doubts he would do the whole trip around the world again no matter how much encouragement to do so he gets from his wife.