Daria and Alex Blackwell of County Mayo have been a significant power couple in global voyaging for many years now, operating from their base at Port Aleria among the many islands of the inner reaches of Clew Bay, and voyaging forth on a variety of international sailing projects with their Bowman 57 ketch Aleria.
Daria has held numerous positions in the Ocean Cruising Club (founded 1954) since she joined in 2011, after three Atlantic Crossings including Halifax to Westport, followed by an Atlantic circuit cruise. However, her dream of a circumnavigation aboard Aleria, with Alex and her cat Onyx, was cut short by illness in the family.
Instead, in a typically positive reaction to this frustration, she re-directed her abundant and specialised energies to provide services for other ocean cruisers, being co-opted by John Frankin onto the OCC Strategy Team. She has been deeply involved in the club’s administrative and international activities ever since, having been elected to the General Committee (GC) shortly thereafter.
INPUT OF MARKETING COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Her background in marketing communications was helpful in filling gaps in the coverage of OCC needs. She took over the Public Relations function first, helping to elevate the image of the OCC among the cruising community. She then instituted a style guide for OCC communications and wrote a marketing plan for increasing awareness of the benefits of joining OCC among bluewater cruisers, then implemented it over several years. Support materials created included brochures, flyers, ads, PowerPoint presentations and boat show displays.
Daria next took on the co-Chairmanship of the Awards Committee helping to manage awards selection, global PR distribution, and organisation of the annual AGM and Awards dinner for several years.
Daria and Alex (who himself is active in both the OCC and the Irish Cruising Club, as well as local recreational and commercial maritime enterprises ) volunteered to serve as the Port Officers for the West of Ireland, specifically the Clew Bay region. They wrote a cruising guide, Cruising the Wild Atlantic Way, after thoroughly exploring the entire West Coast. They had previously co-written the popular anchoring book, Happy Hooking: The Art of Anchoring.
The handsome Bowman 57 Aleria has put many ocean miles under her keel in the ownership of Alex & Daria Blackwell
OCC WEB EDITOR
While continuing her other responsibilities, Daria also took on the role of OCC Web Editor. She collected articles and photos from members, edited and posted them in the CMS, wrote original articles on subjects of interest to members, reported on events, and intercepted items on social media channels to preserve on the website. To increase the visibility of the OCC and highlight members' adventures, Daria worked with global media outlets such as Noonsite and Sail-World to share OCC news. She also took on responsibility for proofreading and supervising the production of the eBulletin.
She joined the Board in 2018 as Rear Commodore during which she assumed responsibility for OCC's Social Media presence, overseeing Facebook and initiating presence on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, and ISSUU while continuing to fulfill the Marketing & PR, eBulletin, and Web Editor responsibilities.
When the Vice Commodore's position was vacated, she stood for and filled the position for a full three-year term plus one year. During her tenure, Daria led the OCC's pandemic response in the Atlantic, for which the OCC was awarded the Royal Cruising Club's Medal for Services to Cruising - 2020. And now, just three years later, it has been announced that she has been further recognized with the highly-regarded Ocean Cruising Club Member Award.
In the “Nerve Centre” on Aleria – even a hyper-skilled techie like Daria Blackwell occasionally resorts to good old-fashioned hand-writing.
