Dear Firstname_Placeholder,

Sometimes crack is good.

Okay, this only works if you don't currently have images of someone hunched over a plumbing repair job. That's not where we're going here. We're a bit more focused on the "what first looked bad was actually a blessing in disguise" type situation. And yes, it involves crack...several in fact.

Last month, we made the decision to tear apart the mast. That's not something we normally do for the races we usually enter, but preparing to sail across 2,100 miles of open ocean tends to make you somewhat of a detail freak. Of course, upon tearing the mast down we discovered crack - two of them to be precise and they were located right in the headbox. That's the technical name for the thing at the top of the mast that holds it and the sails up. What we saw in that headbox is also known as bad crack.

The cracks forced us to quickly alter our schedule, which entailed missing the 30th anniversary Oregon Offshore race. We were really looking forward to using the race as a good prep for the Pacific Cup - a chance to work out the final kinks, as it were. After feeling down about missing Oregon Offshore, we realized it was really a fortuitous thing that we had to miss the race. We much prefer the extra time and effort it has taken to repair the headbox to hearing a loud "crack" as the mast snapped in the middle of the Pacific. It seems pretty obvious, there is good crack and there is bad crack.

It's the same way with every kid - you get both good and bad. Jennifer and Mitch Frieda had more than their share of bad with their son when Garrett came seven weeks early, flat-lined shortly after birth, and had two holes in his heart. But ultimately, there has been plenty of good to go around the Frieda household for the past seven years thanks to the great work of the March of Dimes.

New this month

• Family-of-the-month: First he was fine, then he flat lined, then they discovered he had two holes in his heart...yet Garrett Frieda, with the help of the March of Dimes, fought his way back to be a happy, healthy seven-year-old.
• Events: The upcoming Columbia Crossings Aloha Luau promises to be a lively party. Get your tickets today!
• Fundraising:
• This is your last chance to enter to win a trip for two to Mazatlan, Mexico and/or Breckenridge, Colorado. Only 500 tickets for each trip will be sold. Don't get shut out - buy your raffle tickets today.
• So much great support continues to help raise funds for and awareness about the March of Dimes thanks to Channel's Edge and a private dinner party.
• Don't have your own Project LifeSail shirt and hat yet? Why not? Don't miss the chance to proudly wear your support of PLS.
• Multi-media: From this year's Walk America to hosted events at Channel's Edge and a private dinner party, see and hear the latest from Peter, Jeff and PLS supporters.
• Blogs: Read about what drove Jeff and Peter through last month's mast setback.
• Getting Ready: The mast gets rebuilt and the boat is splashed after too long out of the water.

How Can You Help
Communicate. Donate. Sponsor.