Magazine article about Bill Szturma

Here is an email I received from Bill Szurtma and the article he refers to follows.

"Jim...just thought you might enjoy a copy of an article about me in the Nov issue of Windcheck magazine, a sailing magazine that covers the east coast sailing activities. I was interviewed by the senior editor about my boating career.

Kinda nice to have a moment of fame to brag about.
Regards,
Bill Szturma
USS Hazelwood 61-63"

Congratulations Bill, it is a great article.

As a Safe Boating Instructor, Captain Bill Szturma is enthusiastic about sharing his extensive knowledge of his favorite pastime with others.

"I've always had water in my blood," says Bill, who lives in Stratford, CT. "When I was a kid, my father had small boats. The first was a 12-foot rowboat with an outboard motor, and then he graduated to larger boats and joined Fayer-weather Yacht Club. I loved boating when I was a kid. I joined the Navy right out of high school in 1960. After half a year of sonar school in Key West, I was assigned to the destroyer USS Hazelwood as a sonarman. We were on station off Newport for the America's Cup in '62, but we were also in the middle of the Cold War and we used to chase Russian subs off the East Coast. The Hazelwood was involved in the Cuban Missile Crisis and we stood down the Russians, but I don't know if the country realized how close we came to a possible nuclear war. It was quite a time." "I bought my first boat, a 19-foot Grady-White Sportsman, in 1975," Bill recalls. "I'm on my third boat since then. My most recent boat was a retirement present to myself. It's a 22 Vi-foot Grady, and we go out on the Sound and on the lakes. My wife Sharon and I do mostly cruising and a little bit of fishing. We enjoy Cockenoe Island and Port Jefferson, NY, and we go to Greenport, NY with the Southern New England Grady-White club."
Bill is a certified Connecticut DEEP (Department of Energy & Environmental Protection) Safe Boating Instructor. "Connecticut was the first state to mandate requirements for a Safe Boating certificate," he explains. "The DEEP created a division for training and asked for volunteers from the boating community to do the teaching, and they partnered with the Connecticut Community Technical Colleges, who provided venues. I was working at Gateway Community College in New Haven, and the Dean asked me to help set up the classes. I've taught those classes since 2001. It's been a successful program, and a lot of states have copied Connecticut."
"People think they can just turn the key and go, but there are many things to be aware of to be safe. I've been on the water for many years and I've seen everything people could do - good, bad and otherwise. Some of it's downright dangerous, like sitting on the bow of a moving boat — most drownings are the result of people falling off a boat. That's probably the most often violated Rule, and the other is not keeping your speed down where you should."
"My friend Bob Scinto, the Bridgeport Harbormaster, and I teach a course each year at our yacht club, East End Yacht Club, and we've had over 100 people attending. It's good to have people go through a boating class to learn safety, navigation and the Rules of the Road, and DEEP is also preparing to offer classes online. We have a chart that tracks the accidents and fatalities from the start of our program, and the graph is going in a downward direction. Training is not only a good thing — it's a necessity."
Bill is also an instructor with Professional Marine Education & Connecticut Marine Services in Goshen, CT, which provides boating and personal watercraft education. "Henry Moore took over the company around 2005, and I've been teaching with him ever since," he says. "I emphasize safety, common sense, and preparedness in my classes. I bring some of my personal experience to a class, and I will often tell a story as it relates. For example, we talk about man overboard rescue. There's a very specific procedure for getting that person back on board quickly and safely, and it's something you should practice so you can do it in an emergency. Sharon and I once came across two young people swimming in the Housatonic River and realized they were in trouble. Their boat was anchored, but the river is very swift and there was no way they could fight that current. I had a line attached to our throwable cushion, so when I threw the cushion to them I was able to pull them back in. After seeing how Kate Winslet's character in the movie Titanic was saved because she found a whistle and had just enough energy to blow it, Sharon said, 'We're putting whistles on our life jackets!'"

After serving as a volunteer Boat Captain for St. Vincent's Medical Center's SWIM Across the Sound Marathon, a 17.5-mile open water swim that starts at Danford's Marina in Port Jefferson, NY and crosses Long Island Sound to finish at Captains Cove Seaport in Bridgeport, CT, BiD is now a member of the event's Boat Committee.

"Six years ago, SWIM Across the Sound asked Bob Scinto for help with forming a committee to organize boat captains," he explains. "Bob came to me and other members of East End Yacht Club and we formed the committee. In subsequent years, we've recruited volunteers from other clubs. Last year we had nearly 400 swimmers and over 100 boats including U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and police boats from several towns. It's one of the biggest swims on the East Coast, and it's an amazing event."

Bill still has his first boating logbook, with entries from 1975. "I've logged every time I've been out on the water," he says. "If you want to get your Captains license, it's important to be able to prove that you have the hours on the water. My greatest pleasure is getting friends and family out on the boat and letting them enjoy the water. The water is kind of a last frontier and it's a great place to be. You can leave the everyday world behind, and there's a lot of freedom to relax and enjoy yourself. People need that — now more than ever."

And here is the article as it actually apeared in the Magazine.