EPITAPH. From the Commodore. NEWS & FEATURES February From the Commodore 1-2

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1 BLACKBEARD S EPITAPH NEWS & FEATURES February 2014 PAGES From the Commodore 1-2 Important Announcements 2-7 Race News 8-11 Social Commi<ee Report 12 Valen>ne s Day Photo Essay From the Editor 19 Dog Commi<ee Report Marine Growth Report 21 On Deck and Taking the Helm: Commodore Bill Braun From the Commodore What! Snow on the docks, at Blackbeard s! Yes it does hap- pen and not just once this year. I don t know about you but I m ready for some warmer weather. Submission No>ce / Deadlines 22 Officers and Organiza>on 23 And speaking about warmer weather, Workday is right around the corner on March 15. I m sure Ed Doughty will have some projects for us, but if you have a project you would like to see done, send a note to Ed or me. Please come and help spruce up the club for the spring and sum- mer. Bring tools if you can; one of the items we will need is a power washer. We will need to clean the club and bath house in preparaqon for painqng. Also, don t forget clean- ing supplies to clean your dock boxes in the asernoon; they Blackbeard Sailing Club, New Bern, NC! con$nued next page 1

2 From the Commodore continued are looking prety green. If you cannot atend work- day, we always have some small projects that can be done before or aser workday. We would be happy if you took ownership of one, but you will miss out on some great fun and food. An item that needs to be addressed is the number of bikes under and around the club house. Please see Eddy Parker s arqcle in this issue on bikes. We had a great Qme at the ValenQnes social despite the rain. Thanks to every one who came out and braved the weather. The covered dish was great with plenty to go around. I look forward to seeing you all at Workday. Bill Braun ARRRGH!!!! YE BE WARNED: THE WORK DAY COMETH!!! MARCH 15 7:30 AM ON DECK FOLLOWED BY BREW AND A BELLY FULL OR HEADS WILL ROLL - THE BLACK Blackbeard Sailing Club, New Bern, NC! 2

3 2014 ETYSA Junior Sailing Program ASer coping with snow & ice, are we ready to think about sailing this spring? Yes I hope so! The Edward Teach Youth Sailing Assoc n is gearing up for the season, and we welcome you all to join in. The schedule is sqll tentaqve, but we would like to get the boats put together and checked out on BSC Work- day If weather permits, we might sail a bit, too. Saturday Apr 5th is the real kickoff date, and Coach/Volunteer Training will be held that day, so get your motorhead caps on. Saturday Sail Session April 19th, aser that the Cinco de Mayo RegaTa will be held May 3rd, and another Satur- day Sail on May 10th. We will have a coach/safety boat on the water, but ETYSA also has a Tanzer 16 for us big kids. There will be at least two summer camps in June & July, so vacaqon from school doesn t mean vacaqon from sailing! The Saturday Sails will be open for guests, but remember that ETYSA is a separate organizaqon from BSC and it is membership supported. SAVE THE DATE!!!! The Blackbeard Sailing Club and Fairfield Harbour Yacht Club joint event this year will be held on May 31 at BSC. In keeping with the excitement of Sochi, we're planning the first ever "Owimpics" - no talent, praclce or experi- ence is necessary to parlcipate! Suggested events in- clude horseshoes, corn hole toss and others, including a dinghy race with blindfolded oarsman. Food and spir- its will be shared aner the excitement with live music on the clubhouse deck. Mark your calendars and plan to join in the fun on May 31. Blackbeard Sailing Club, New Bern, NC! 3

4 Trevor showing his winning form. BIKES AT BLACKBEARDS : AN EXERCISE IN SHARING Recently the board of directors discussed the storage of bikes underneath the clubhouse at Blackbeards. While it is great to have your bike handy for running out to the boat, underneath the club has begun to look like the island of misfit toys with a lot of unused and unloved bicycles. There are bikes whose chains have rusted be- yond resuscitaqon, Qres which have roted to the point that they resemble a dry lake bed, and gears that will never turn again. Since this has become the dumping ground for unloved bikes, the board has decided there will no longer be personal bike storage under the clubhouse. If you have a working bike down there you would like to donate to the club to be a communal bike, it would be appreciated. If you have personal atachment to your bike and want to keep it for yourself, I ask that you remove the atachment of your bike to the club. On work day, I will be removing any bike that is not in funcqoning order and placing it next to the dumpster. If you have a bike locked up downstairs, please see that the lock is removed prior to work day and let me know that you are donaqng your bike to the club. If you do not want to share your bike, please remove it from the club grounds on work day. Thank you all for helping us clean up the clubhouse appearance. I will lead by example by donaqng my new bike TwoWanda to the cause. - Eddy Parker Blackbeard Sailing Club, New Bern, NC! 4

5 Proposed BOD meetings for 2014 REMINDER: MAJOR CHANGE IN REQUIREMENTS FOR HURRICANE EVACUATION! The BOD has approved a change in the re- quirements for boats vacaqng wet slips during a Hurricane. All boats, 27 or longer, are sqll required to leave the Harbor. Boats under 27 have the opqon of remaining. The raqonale is that the lighter boats do not have as much potenqal to do damage. This will relieve some of the congesqon in the Creek, and give more room for the big- ger boats to anchor. The exact wording fol- lows. January 18 9:30 Installation Dinner this evening February 8 9:30 Social tonight March 14 7:30 Workday March 15 April 12 9:30 Social tonight May 17 9:30 Social tonight June 7 9:30 July 5 9:30 August 9 9:30 Shrimperoo and Raft-up September 6 9:30 Social tonight October 17 7:30 Workday Oct 18 November 1 9:30 Social tonight December 6 9:30 Social tonight Rewrite of paragraph 15.2 and , BSC Dock Policy 15.2 Upon issuance of a Hurricane Warning for Craven County by the NaQonal Weather Service and before condi- Qons, in the opinion of the Commodore or his/her designee, become unsafe to do so, Members shall remove their boat, if the overall length (as listed on the Slip License Agreement) is 27 or longer, from the Club s Harbor. Boats under that length will be removed on a trailer, if one is available. The owners of remaining boats have the opqon of removing their boat, remaining in their slip, or moving to a slip that will provide greater security. All canvas will be stripped and each boat will be Qed securely. Owners of boats remaining are sqll responsible for any damage to club property Members who own boats that are required to vacate the harbor in advance of a storm, and who are unable or refuse to will be assessed a fee of $15.00 per foot of boat length. In addiqon, those members will be responsible for the cost to determine if damage has occurred to the Club s docks or faciliqes as a result of their boats remaining in the harbor and for the cost to repair all damage. Blackbeard Sailing Club, New Bern, NC! 5

6 BlackbeardSailingClub.com - A Call to Services For many members, BSC s website has become an indispensable tool for finding and managing all sorts of information related to the Club. Two questions I m always asking are, How do we add even more value for the members who use the website on a regular basis? and, How do we get those who aren t regular users, to find value there? One answer lies in improving the quality and accuracy of the information on the website. Every member should make a point of periodically updating his/her address, contact details and notification preferences under MEMBERS MY ACCOUNT. This data is increasingly used to provide timely announcements and other information to members and its accuracy depends entirely on the member s own input! Another answer lies in finding a few committed volunteers to proactively manage the features that easily and quickly become out-of-date, such as the various built-in calendars. With this note, we re reaching out in search of those volunteers. I would be remiss if I didn t take this opportunity to thank some of the member volunteers who already work diligently on the new website. First is our Webmaster, Nick Karasek, who is responsible for maintaining and enhancing the functionality of the website. For example, if you find a broken link or have an idea for a neat new feature let Nick know. In fact, Nick has a new feature in the works that will allow members to sign up online for events that require an RSVP. Nick can be reached at nick@tbkd.org. If you haven t done so lately, check out the more than 800 photos on the website. Member Jeff Tsai has uploaded many of these and organized them into meaningful galleries. Do you have BSC- or sailing-related pictures and can t figure out how to upload them to the website? I ll bet Jeff can help! Contact him at tsaiapex@hotmail.com. Thank-you Jeff! The website also has features that let members submit slip requests, new member nominations and merchandise orders. These are routed directly to the appropriate member volunteers for action. So a big thank-you goes to the Dockmasters, Dry Storage and Dinghy Captains and Ship s Store Manager. For those members who are a bit web-shy, we working on an updated version of the Managing Your Web Account document that will provide a primer on how to use it. In the meantime, Uncle Blackbeard needs your help! Please update your online information. If you re willing to be a volunteer who will help make our website even better, contact Bill Green at wgreen3@suddenlink.net or (919) Blackbeard Sailing Club, New Bern, NC! 6

7 Trevor showing his winning form. Every Blackbeard member knows that we are mostly a do- it- yourself bunch. And over the last few years, we have made a lot of improvements at the club. What fewer BSC members realize is that we have an ongoing plan for work, repairs, and upgrades, that can be very helpful in organizing and prioriqzing what we do on the property. This is in the form of a spreadsheet main- tained by Ken Laws and Qtled the Capital Improvement Project List. For example, here are a couple of items from the C.I.P.L. Furnishings Clubhouse: Recover, repair and replace furniture, banquet tables and chairs Interior Floor Covering Clubhouse: PROJECTS AHOY!!! New carpet and vinyl floor covering These two are already done. Anyone who s been there can tell you that the inside of the clubhouse looks GREAT now first, the Ladies Of The Club worked hard to clean everything, then refinished the walls, and only then did the commitment to re-cover the furniture & floors proceed. This was good prioritizing, in the opinion of this member, yes we spent money but we also kept a lid on expenses and the membership proved that it was an important priority by putting in a lot of sweat equity. This is the way it should work! Now, there are some projects that are more difficult, more expensive, and frankly beyond the ability of BSC members to do by ourselves. An example of this would be new sewage connection, much of which was mandated by state laws; it was very expensive but it is vital to continue even having a sailing club at Blackbeard. Below is the list of Capital Improvements. It is not a closed list, any member with a good idea is welcome to bring it forward. In fact that s how all these items got on the list. Remember that we can t do everything! It is important that we prioritize carefully, and we want to make Blackbeard a better club for all. So if some of these improvements sound like better ideas than others, make sure that you let the Board know, and also remember that the most important way to vote is by doing. Drainage for Infield Drainage inlets/ piping cost provided by Dave Israel Exterior Finish Clubhouse Replace siding/paint A Dock Outer Piling Replacement Replacement study identified pilings Launching Ramp Improvements* Dredge launching ramp and repair concrete Breakwater Engineering Study Evaluate condition of breakwater, long term maintenance Interior Replacements Bathhouse Replace all fixtures in both male and female areas Decking/stairs Clubhouse Replace/repair decking and stairs General Storage Improvements Better define storage for tools and club supplies Exterior Finish Bathhouse Replace siding/paint Junior Sailing Docks/floats Structures to conduct classes and secure boats Sail Storage Area Structure to store sails/rigging away from picnic shelter HVAC Bathhouse Replace heating system in bathhouse Plumbing Bathhouse Replace plumbing pipes and hot water heater Windows/doors clubhouse Replace all window/doors Windows/doors Bathhouse Replace clearstory windows Paving Road and Parking To keep down dust and prevent erosion Kitchen Expansion/remodel New cabinets, sink, counter and expansion of kitchen area Trailer Storage/camping Better define storage area and build tent /trailer pads Club multi-use powerboat Boat for club safety and race committee Security Cameras Camera at access gate, perimeter fence and clubhouse *A Dock Rebuild A Dock Rebuild *B Dock Outer Section Rebuild Replace outer dock not already replaced *C Dock Rebuild Total dock replacement Chairlift (Handicapped) Lift to main level of clubhouse Blackbeard Sailing Club, New Bern, NC! 7

8 RACE NEWS with Mark Brennesholtz A ghostly racer (Silent Pursuit?) heads out to the course before the January 11 contest. It was a day to remember (Zahradka photo) Final Winter Race: A Blast January 11 racing had just about everything except sleet, although it felt like sleet a few times. The trip to the racecourse was in fog, then it cleared up with a brisk breeze (reefed main and #2 on Compass Rose) and overcast. The Final leg was a whiteout in a heavy rain squall. The rain was so hard that it stung. While the RC recorded the wind as 11-25, Eddy Parker showed 42 at the Finish and most of us showed well over 30. The pictures show it best. The start was contested as always now in both the Spinnaker and Non- Spinnaker classes. The impor- tance of clear air and freedom to maneuver is now pretty well ingrained with most skippers. In the Non- spin class, the competition between Drew McCrocklin s Team Elite and Dave Whitney in Silent Pursuit continued. Drew beat Dave by 21 seconds and secured the Series win with seven Firsts, after throwouts! Blackbeard Sailing Club, New Bern, NC! 8

9 Viper Granny's Hoe passes to leeward of a competitor with a man up the mast before the January 11 race. Sarah Parker in the Viper won the Spin A series on a tiebreaker with her dad Eddy (Zahradka photo) Winter Blast (cont.) In Spin A, Granny s Hoe, cold and wet, won over Di- vine by less than a minute, with crew Sarah Parker and Dave Furna. Not a perfect day for a small sport boat but they prevailed. Eddy Parker in Brown Eyed Girl Finished third after blowing out two sails. The result left father and daughter tied for the Win- ter Series. Sarah wins on the tiebreaker, but told Eddy that she wanted to settle it on the water! Unfortunately the Final scheduled race date was cancelled due to below minimum Reelfeel. Simo Waananen was third for the series, only two points behind. The Spin B race was very tight with three boats correcting inside a minute. Compass Rose edged out Doug King s Blue Yonder and Tom McKnight s Boartaint. In CR, I offered a reward of the crew person who First spotted the Finish line through the downpour as we were sailing a compass course downwind at 8.5 knots. Compass Rose won the Se- ries with seven bullets after throwouts. Despite losing the last race date, the Winter Series still logged nine races and has to be considered one of the better series in a few years. Blackbeard Sailing Club, New Bern, NC! 9

10 George Story's Paramour II heels to the squall near the end of the Winter Series race on January 11. Note that the rain has nearly flattened the choppy water. Gusts were recorded to 42! (Zahradka photo) February, March & April Racing Events February 22 - NYRA Commodores Regatta: The NOR, registration and Sailing Instructions are avail- able on by going to the Calendar Button and scrolling down to February 22 and look for the NYRA events. Signup for the dinner that evening at FairField Food & Spirits in NW Creek Marina is also available there. Contact Doug Longhini at or ncsailor47@yahoo.com. March 22 & 23 - NYRA Invitational at Bridgeton Harbor: There are normally PHRF races downriver and one design races for SJs and Ensigns off Union Point in New Bern. Contact Doug Longhini. April 26 & 27 - ECB Cup: The First of the ICRC Team events for Blackbeard is host, of course, and this year will be defending our owner- ship of the Cup for the First time. We will be ac- tively recruiting participation in all classes very soon. See the ICRC article below. Contact Dave Whitney at or dawhitney@embarqmail.com. ICRC Developing New Team Scoring The Interclub Racing Committee has met again to create new rules for Team scoring at the two Team events (ECB Cup and Dragon s Breath) based on the US Sailing Associations high point average scoring system. It will permit greater Flexibility for PROs to Blackbeard Sailing Club, New Bern, NC! 10

11 February, March & April Racing Events (cont.) set up classes and divisions to Fit the registration, and courses to Fit the conditions. More later. Also near completion are guidelines for eligibility to enter the cruising class. A lot of work has been put into making these changes transparent and fairer as well as acceptable to all competitors. NC-PHRF Committee to Meet meeting at Blackbeard SC clubhouse March 2 at All are welcome to attend, and ask questions or make properly documented adjustment requests. Mark Brennesholtz ( or markbrenn@ec.rr.com) is BSC s representative on the committee. The remaining seven members rep- resent other clubs in the area. If you have a ques- tion or suggestion, contact Mark. The committee that does the yacht ratings for virtu- ally all of North Carolina will hold its quarterly Blackbeard Sailing Club, New Bern, NC! 11

12 BLACK- Social Committee February 2014 By Gay Whitney Oh, my, what a year! There were two events for the Epitaph again this month. First, there was a wonderful turnout for our Super Bowl Party and folks agree this might become a new tradition! The photos speak for themselves. Next was our Valentine-themed social February 8. Due to the crappy weather, we expected a small crowd but they kept on coming in and coming in. The LOTC Social Committee decorated to set the right mood! We feasted on fine food and ended the party with a raffle of donated items Next event is our Annual Workday followed by a White Elephant Sale after lunch is finished. Please bring any items you wish to donate for the sale. Plants and hand-crafted items would be great, too. The ladies are saving our pennies for some items on our wish list. Note that our Ship Store will be open all day, too! New items are coming in weekly thanks to Steff Davies expertise. Final comments are a profile of courage Carita Braun is our new First Lady! She rolls with whatever new challenge she faces, mostly side effects from diabetes. I admired her last weekend making jewelry. Bill built her an elevated platform on which to work. She can see okay up really close! Also, she wears jewelers loupes due to her near blindness. Last month, she was sitting at a sewing machine working on something for their boat. We are happy to reassure everyone that her new kidney is serving her well, and she faces each day with joy and appreciation of the good life she has. Three cheers for Carita!!! Blackbeard Sailing Club, New Bern, NC! 12

13 Valentine s Day: A Photo Essay Blackbeard Sailing Club, New Bern, NC! 13

14 Valentines for the Totally Fun Blackbeard Sailing Club, New Bern, NC! 14

15 Valentines: For the Totally Devoted! Blackbeard Sailing Club, New Bern, NC! 15

16 Valentines: For the Totally Engaged! Blackbeard Sailing Club, New Bern, NC! 16

17 Valentines: For the Totally Loveable! Blackbeard Sailing Club, New Bern, NC! 17

18 SHIP S STORE: COMING TO A WORKDAY NEAR YOU! Blackbeard Sailing Club, New Bern, NC! 18

19 From the Editor With great regret, I need to inform you that Peter Loppacher is taking leave from the editor s desk at the Epitaph. If this is disheartening to you, it is crushing to me. Coming into BSC last year, Dave Whitney had asked me to assist Peter. WIth con- siderable experience in wriqng and ediqng of journals and magazines, I was equipped to do so. Yet, I eagerly accepted the invitaqon because of Peter s skills as a professional photographer and the opportunity to work with another creaqve person in the art. My world has been words; his images- - our combinaqon was perfect! So I feel I am without my brother. Peter s vision was to make the publicaqon look more professional: sharper, engaging, entertaining, and visual. The Cruising secqon was added to Mark s Race News, and what we have now is something border- ing a magazine. Unfortunately, Peter must take a leave of absence, so when you write to bscepitaph@yahoo.com, you will be wriqng to me, Kirk Hathaway. SQll, I am not removing Peter from the role of editor on these pages in hope he will find a balance with his busy schedule and personal dealings and find Qme to contribute at least the eye of his skill, his photographs, as he resides and enriches his life in this reason. For the Epitaph, we will carry on with your hearqelt contribuqon. Photographs and wriqngs that have been submited are worthy not only of these pages but of others, and I would invite you to submit your best works here, as well as previous works of which you are proud to the regional online magazine that I am currently revision. My dive customers have seen it, yet Cape Carolina ( is cur- rently offline. It will be republished in March, and I would happily add many of your works to its pages. Please submit your previous best nauqcal know- how and cruising stories to editors@capecarolina.com. - Kirk Hathaway Blackbeard Sailing Club, New Bern, NC! 19

20 BSC Dog Commi<ee Report February 2014 PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR PETS! Socialize Your Dog Expose your dog to different people and sesngs regularly. Take him to the park, to the pet store, on a walk through town. Praise him for accepqng pesng from friendly strangers, and for behaving calmly around other dogs. The more your dog learns of the world, the more comfortable he will be in it. Vaccina>ons Dogs and cats should follow a strict schedule of vaccinaqons to prevent diseases. Keep your dog and cat current on their vaccinaqons, following the schedule recommended by your veterinarian. Keep a copy of your dog's and cat s vaccinaqon records handy. Keep your rabies shot record onboard your boat while cruising. Daily Rou>ne You should become familiar with your cat s and dog's paterns in terms of eaqng, drinking, sleeping, and relieving himself. Any major variaqons in these paterns could indicate illness. Oh how we are looking forward to the lazy day of summer again on- board Salty. Looks like Jim Floyd is a GOOD napping locaqon for Syd- ney. Sydney likes to hide down under things. Likes to hide down un- der, get it? I TOLD you I didn't want to be here, Captain! The 0200 starboard dog watch is NOT for me. Give it to a deserving dog. Sidney Blackbeard Sailing Club, New Bern, NC! 20

21 BSC members please send me pictures of your pet enjoying a sail boating experience. My is listed below. Be a responsible and considerate pet owner while you and your pet are at BSC. Larry Sorenson llsoren@earthlink.net Larry, and Tootie, a Bichon Frise, Underway onboard Funsize February Marine Growth Report Harsh and heavy snows brought water four feet below hulls in New Bern down to a balmy 34 degrees for a couple days, and melting snow kept waters too cold to do much more than quick dives and needed anode changes. Still, along B dock at Northwest Creek hairy algae has managed to grow a few feet along some hulls in one month, and of course boats are burning zinc much more quickly with all the heaters turned up and electrical systems running. Race dives were held off with the last race but coming up to the February race growth is not expected too be bad. However, with all the run-off, visibility has been about as bad as in warm waters of summer. - Kirk Hathaway Blackbeard Sailing Club, New Bern, NC! 21

22 Y ALL BE PREPARE TO SUBMIT TO BLACKBEARD!! A current calendar is unavailable upon the publication of this issue, but just to remind us all: Submission Deadlines For stories and cruising articles how-to s and news committee reports racing news and reports photos or photo stories event announcements and calendars updated officer and board listings BY the 11th of Each Month for that month s publication. Our plan is to have the publication out by the 15th of every month, so plan accordingly if your event or listing is to fall before our publication date. With your help, we can keep to a mid-month deadline for publications. Your writing and photography is welcomed. Send Materials to Kirk at bscepitaph@yahoo.com Blackbeard Sailing Club, New Bern, NC! 22

23 Blackbeard Sailing Club Location Upper Broad Creek on the Neuse River 2115 Barkentine Drive New Bern, NC N W Blackbeard Sailing Club Mailing Address: PO Box 24 Bridgeton, NC Blackbeard Sailing Club Web Site: Be sure to visit the BSC web site which is loaded with official information, current news, membership directory, slip information, and much more. Blackbeard s Epitaph Newsletter Editors Kirk Hathaway Peter Loppacher bscepitaph@yahoo.com Regular Columnists Mark Brennesholtz Joe Gormley Doug King Larry Sorenson David Whitney Gay Whitney Blackbeard Sailing Club Officers Commodore Bill Braun Vice-Commodore Ed Doughty Secretary Jan Green Treasurer Richard Schott Dock Master Drew McCrocklin Dinghies Dave Ritter Dry Storage Mike Foster Board of Directors Charley Bachelor, Director Dave Whitney Ed Doughty Joe Draper Bill Green Doug King Eddy Parker Blackbeard Sailing Club, New Bern, NC! 23