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We received this letter from Randolph & Jeanne Harrison  who sailed with us in the Virgin Islands in January 2003 aboard Island Packet 45 HALIMEDA:

To:
The Maryland School of Sailing & Seamanship

We wanted to drop you a quick note while our recent sailing trip on Halimeda was still fresh in our minds. Put simply, our 8 days aboard were great and we really enjoyed the opportunity to see the Virgin Islands from such a choice spot. Talking with you and getting to crawl around on the Island Packets at the Annapolis Boat Show really sold us on going with the Maryland School. It was a great decision.

Denise was very helpful in getting us all the information we needed after we signed on. And the extra materials MSSS provided were extremely useful, especially the pamphlets on docking and weather.

But we want to pay particular thanks to our Captain, Jeff Troeltzsch, who was a terrific teacher, guide and sailing companion. He gave both of us just enough encouragement and guidance to help polish our sailing skills, while leaving enough room for us to safely learn by our mistakes. He walked and talked us through the complete operations of the boat and made sure two very non-mechanical people were well versed on everything as we learned by doing.

His intimate knowledge of reading weather and navigating, and his ability to communicate these skills to his crew, helped us get a lot out of the trip that I don't think we would have gotten with other sailing schools. And we particularly appreciate his willingness to work around Jeanne's shoulder problem while still ensuring that her educational experience wasn't compromised. Most importantly, Jeff showed us the value of working as a team and the importance of planning and communication beforehand to ensure the safety of crew and vessel.

We went down to St. Thomas to get the certifications and experience we need to rent our own boat. Thanks in no small part to Jeff, we got that and much more. He is a real credit to the Maryland School of Sailing and we would both highly recommend him as a great sailing instructor and traveling buddy.

Thanks again for everything.

Sincerely,
Randolph and Jeanne Harrison

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