Published: Friday, January 16, 2004 at:8:54 PM




Views From the Helm
Serious Fun Is Good For You



Gordo Overing, Bitter End Yacht Club’s Activities Director for 17 years (and former Olympian, so he knows serious fun!), has always found the Bitter End experience unique. To help describe it to others, he coined the term Serious Fun.

“It is important to your well being to take care of your “Fun Side” and Bitter End is simply the best place in the world to do exactly that. I am serious about you (our guest) having fun (I even have a BA in Recreation and Leisure Management), so at Bitter End, Fun is serious business! My team is responsible for making sure you have a good time in, on or around the water. Now, let’s get back to the work at hand soldiers!”

John Glynn has been Bitter End’s Director of Special Events and PR for 16 years, but he knew about the serious fun the resort offered before that. “My first visit to Bitter End was as an editor with a sailing magazine. I knew I was in for my type of fun when I found out the resort’s fleet had both Laser and J-24 sailboats, free for guests to use. I could sail all I wanted on vacation, while my non-sailing spouse could relax on the beach, read a book, and soak up the sun—for her, that was fun. I could even indulge my desire to do three or four days of BVI cruising (in those days aboard Cal 27s, today aboard Freedom 30s)—now that was even more fun.”

“Over the years, I have expanded my definition of (serious) fun. I took up windsurfing, learned to skull an Alden shell, paddle a sea kayak, and snorkel some tremendous reefs. Along the way, I had my share of rum-punch-fueled spills attempting to get under the limbo stick, and even stayed up to watch meteor showers on a crystal clear Caribbean night. My wife continued to enjoy being lulled to sleep by chirping tree frogs and the gentle waves of Statia Sound.

“Now we bring our 4-year-old daughter for some serious fun, and seeing it through her eyes gives me a whole new perspective on fun. Chasing lizards, building sand castles, naming fish, and taking her first sail are serious fun for her.”

Mary Jo Ryan, Bitter End’s Resort Manager who has been greeting guests as they arrive and depart for 22 years, is more likely than Gordo to see guests “when they have something other than their bathing suits on.”

"Having fun can be a very personal thing, and there are no rules per se about how you should spend your vacation time. Some may enjoy just lounging by the pool reading the latest best seller, and some may enjoy hikes through the trails. A typical Type-A personality might come to Bitter End thinking they are just going to decompress on the beach. But they’ve had enough of that by day two, and have at all our great activities. Having fun is as individual as our guests are. But all in all, we make it easy to have fun at Bitter End—you don’t have to go looking for it. It’s all about having the choices—do as much as you want, or as little as you want.”

“For many guests, I am the first and last impression they have of Bitter End. I prepare them for the fun they are about to have, and console them as they tearfully depart, with fun memories to last a lifetime—or at least until the next visit! I know the impact a fun vacation can have—for most it’s a once a year experience at best. It has to be good. And in my 22 years here, I don’t think I have ever heard the sarcastic words ‘are we having fun yet?’ I know people really are!”