BLACKBEARD SAILING CLUB. Upper Broad Creek On The Neuse PO Box 1543, New Bern, NC 28563

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1 BLACKBEARD SAILING CLUB Upper Broad Creek On The Neuse PO Box 1543, New Bern, NC September 2008 Volume 36, Number8 News Deadline: 11 th Each Month Mailing: 21 st of Each Month Blackbeard s Epitaph COMMODORE Ken Gurganus VICE-COMMODORE Gary Helms SECRETARY Jan Green TREASURER Pete Koonce DOCKMASTER Pete Moore Dinghy & DRY STORAGE John Stokes DIRECTORS Arnold Giles Year Term Doug Longhini Year Term LuAnn Perryman Year Term Archer Watkins Year Term Dave Whitney Year Term Tom Wynn Year Term EDITORS George Myers Bill Green bscepitaph@yahoo.com From the Commodore Tropical Storm Hanna never did get to up to full hurricane status, but that doesn t mean we didn t get hit with high winds at our club. A couple of wind readings indicated winds of 50 mph with gusts a little higher. This was a good practice for anchoring out for future storms as a number of anchored boats moved considerably during the Saturday morning high winds as they tracked around to the South West. In my case, my 35 lb CQR never did set in the mud and just kept moving around. Talking to other members, the Fortress or Large Danforth anchors seemed to hold much better in the mud. The plows just seem to do just that in the mud, plow! They will really set if and when they get down to the hard sand under the mud, but it takes quite a while to get there. I plan to break out my Danforth 2000 for the next storm. We had a least one boat up on the North shore, and one 25 footer had its head sail come loose and the resulting pressure broke the mast above the spreaders. One boat at the docks lost a mast due to chain plate failure, and one boat had a rear cleat pull through the hull. Quick work by some brave members got another line on the rear winch to secure this stressed boat. Ed Doughty supplied one ferryboat and Scot Wade spent long hours with his powerboat assisting members. Thanks to all the volunteers that spent the time and effort to secure our club not only before the storm, but the ferrying and assisting afterwards. Surprisingly, with the weather just calming down, we had a good group for our September 6 th social and ALL THE NEWS THAT S IN THE WINDS (252) nomination meeting Saturday evening. Nominations are in and we have a great group of candidates running for offices this year. Check out the candidates in this issue and be sure to vote for your choice to lead us next year. We are still working on a number of vital projects within our club and for the future of our club. The contract for the C Dock wiring should be set soon, followed by the dry storage wiring. Next up will be the long term planning for the replacement of the 32 year old A Dock in the not too distance future of anywhere from 5 to 10 years. It ll come sooner than we want to think and we need to be properly prepared by then. We just concluded a great Blackbeard One Design Regatta on September 13, 14. With near perfect weather both days, we hosted 14 San Juan 21 s, 5 Flying Scot s, 5 Tanzer 16 s, and 8 Sunfish battling it out for their respective class honors. What a great sight with 32 One Design boats out on the river, just beyond marker # 2 sailing in 5 to 8 knots of wind with temperatures in the upper 80 s. It just doesn t get any better than this. Check the finish results in this issue. WORKDAY!! Coming up October 18 th. This is our fall cleanup time. Do your part to keep your club thriving. Bring your work clothes and gloves and pitch in for our Fall Workday. Coffee and donuts will be available at 8:00AM, with lunch at 1:00 PM. This is your club,ken Gurganus Blackbeard Sailing Clubs One Design Blackbeard Regatta What a Great weekend with temperatures in the upper 80 s and 5 to 8 knots of breeze out on the river both days. A total of 32 One Design Boats, (14 San Juan 21 s, 8 Sunfish, 5 Flying Scots and 5 Tanzer 16 s), hitting the water at noon on Saturday, the racing began in earnest. The racing was hotly contested both days and the final results weren t fully decided until the last race on Sunday. Trophy Scoring: 1 st Place 2 nd Place 3 rd Place 4 th Place San Juan 21 W/Sails: Hans Lassen Mike Bonner Doug Longhini Mike Chesser San Juan 21 Spinnaker: Mike Evans Tinka Talbert Jeff Thomas Flying Scot: Ray Merrill Joe Price Dick Schultz Tanzer 16: Eric Rasmussen Peter Thorn Fran Louis Sunfish: Rob Eberle Zappenfield Al Muenster

2 Blackbeard s Epitaph Sept 2008 BSC BOARD NOTES Important Issues & News from the Board of Directors Charting Our Course for the Future- Board Asks Membership for Dues Increase: After a thorough examination of the financial projections provided by the Club s Finance Committee, the Board voted to move forward with a proposal to increase slip fees 10% per year for 7 years. The slip fee increase goes hand in hand with a proposed dues increase of $75.00, which will be presented to the membership for their approval at the annual November meeting. The increases would be effective Jan.1, Electric Wiring for C Dock: The Board is receiving quotes for the rewiring of C Dock. The membership will continue to be updated as the Board continues to negotiate a fair and quality work product. Date for October Board Meeting: The date for the October Board meeting is Friday October 3. All Board meetings are held at the BSC Clubhouse and are scheduled for the 1 st Friday of the month (unless of a conflict) and start at 7:30 pm. Dock Policy Under Review: The Board appointed a study group to review the BSC Dock Policy. The group is charged with the following: the clarity, enforceability and improvement of the current rules. Their scope of work is to include recommendations for derelict boats, as well. During this review, boats with a manufacturers LOA of 46 or less are not in violation. Boats that were grandfathered prior to the length rule remain grandfathered. The group is to make recommendations to the BOD. The members are: Lou Beamon A Dock, Larry Foster B Dock, Les Pendleton C Dock, Ted Clark Member, Mike Flanagan Member. Board member Tom Wynn will moderate the group. Your Vote is Crucial! On the ballot this election is a proposal from the Board of Directors to raise the membership dues $ This increase is needed to catch up with inflation and help with improvements and maintenance of our club. The hard work of the finance committee has outlined the long range needs of the club (the Capital Improvement Plan) and the anticipated cost of each. These recommendations can be found on the 2009 Draft Budget and supporting documents on the members only pages of the BSC website (also posted on the Clubhouse bulletin board). Please take a moment to review this information. After much debate, facilities review and number crunching, the Board recognized that a dues increase is necessary. The 2009 Draft Budget includes the $75.00 dues increase and the slip fee increase and equalization plan adopted by the Board earlier this year and takes into account the planning needed to anticipate future expense increases. The BSC Board of Directors respectfully asks that you vote YES for the dues increase. Without your support it will be impossible Communications Director, Lu-Ann Perryman to maintain the quality of the facilities that we were provided by our past members. Here is a brief history of the dues structure at BSC. Before 1994, Club dues were only $75.00 per year. The club depended mainly on the slip fees to maintain finances. C Dock, being the newest and best, had higher rates than A or B Dock. After the surprise March Hurricane of 1993, boats left in their slips damaged our docks so severely that large sections of all three docks were un-usable, forcing a large number of surviving boats to move out. This, in turn, caused the club income to take a nosedive. At a February 1994 membership meeting, the club dues and fee structure was changed to a format that would allow the membership dues to maintain the club and grounds, while the slip fees would maintain the docks. Annual dues were adjusted from $75.00 per year ($15,000.00) to $ per year ($50,000.00). In 2002, to combat nine years of inflation and the major tax re-evaluation, the membership adjusted annual dues to $ per year ($65,000.00). Lu-Ann Perryman From the new Dockmaster Page 2 The new dockmaster, Pete Moore, requests that all members who already have a request in for a new wet slip or a request for a change of slip contact him by (peterolls@cconnect.net) with information of that request including name, date of request, overall length, make of boat, draft, beam, boat name, phone numbers, and address. This information is needed to cross reference to what I already have and to make sure you have not slipped through the crack! Thanks - Pete Moore What s happening to all the Sailing Clubs Your Commodore and I just returned from a five day trip to Lake Norman to sail the San Juan 21 Nationals. Lake Norman Yacht Club occupies a beautiful spot on a peninsula located about 15 minutes from Mooresville, NC. The first time I sailed there was about 20 years ago and was impressed with the quality of the facilities and operation of the club. This time was disappointing when it came to the facilities. The clubhouse has been closed because of unsafe conditions. The picnic shelter that was used for activities is large but in the same condition that our BSC shelter was before the new posts and electrical were installed. I asked the question Why did this happen? and the responses were: 1) Lack of a long term maintenance program. 2) Hamstringing the elected boards to a point that they could not take action to protect the club assets. 3) Falling membership numbers caused by the first two items leading to cash shortages. This is not the first Club to disappear or face major problems over the past few years in the Carolina s. Lake Murray Sailing Club had to demolish its old clubhouse and start from scratch because of lack of maintenance and the Lake Wateree Sailing Club no longer exists because of lack of long range planning. Now we at Blackbeard Sailing Club are smart enough to not let this happen to us. You can help insure that it won t by supporting your board and voting for the dues increase Doug Longhini

3 Sept 2008 Page 3 Oar Regatta Calm Before the Storm Fairfield Harbor Yacht Club s annual Oar Race Regatta usually runs a middle-distance race on Saturday of Labor Day Weekend. This year it was the shortest race of the regatta. After about an hour postponement (for swimming, lunch, waiting for wind), the RC got off a short race in terms of miles, but it took over an hour. Fifteen boats competed in three classes, and Paul Lockwood in EZ won the Oar Trophy for the second time. Boartaint sailed by Tom McKnight, also a two-time winner, was second. Sailing for Blackbeard were Eddy Parker in Brown Eyed Girl, Compass Rose, and Doug King in his new-looking Santana 23. Racing continued on Sunday with a trio of windward leeward races. EZ won two of the three Spin A races. In Spin B, Boartaint won all three Sunday races, while Doug King took three seconds. Teribithia, a big Nonsuch 40 took all three Non Spin races Sunday, outsailing both Compass Rose and Chuck Thompson s SJ 21 Packer Tacker. Sunday was a much more pleasant day for sailing, with wind going from light to breezey by the end. We just got into dock with sails folded when a big thundershower hit. Good timing. September, October, November Events September 27 will be the NYRA Women s Regatta in Oriental. This gets most of the top female racers in the area. Contact Tinka Talbert at or b.talbert@embarqmail.com. Blackbeard s Epitaph October 4 is the Neuse Solo Race in Oriental. Strictly single handing with no spinnaker type sails. One race about 10 to 11 miles with lots of reaching and running. Friendly pursuit starts and good party and dinner. It is one of the best attended regattas on the Neuse. Contact Simon Whitehead at or simon@whitehead.com. October 25 is the NYRA Halloween Race, which is also the start of the Winter Series. These are round the buoys races in the upper Neuse for spinnaker, non-spin and cruising boats on six Saturdays through January Other dates are November 8, December 6 & 20, and January 10 and 24. There is usually and elaborate social (especially Halloween) after the day s races. Contact Bill Jarvis at or bjarvis1@suddenlink.net. Mark Brennescholtz BSC hosted Flying Scot District Championship in August (Brennesholtz photo) The close start of the Spin A class at FHYC s Oar Regatta in the better Sunday wind. (Zahradka photo) Jody Fortuna and Karen Moorman enjoy the excellent fare at the Shrimparoo (Dave Pefferkorn photo) Shrimperoo Raft-Up is a big success (Dave Pefferkorn photo)

4 Blackbeard s Epitaph Sept Club Officer Elections The Epitaph has invited all candidates for club office to submit a campaign article. These are contained on the next three pages exactly as they were submitted Ed. Janet Harrison My name is Janet Harrison and I am running for a position on the BSC Board. It has been an honor and privilege for me to be an active member of the club for the past 4 years. During this time I have: participated on the race committee, participated in cleaning the club house on work days, created photo journals of our workdays, enjoyed the fun times and facilitated the annual meeting as well as informal discussion on how to make our club the best it can be. As a board member I would focus on: Consistent definition, implementation and administration of club policy & procedures Member involvement and input in the club Enhanced communication Financial sustainability of the club for future generations As an organization development coach and consultant I have experience working with many groups to develop vision, strategy, planning and results for a bright future. I have been involved with multiple boards over the years in capacities from chair to worker bee. I feel that my life/ work experience combined with my background in corporate and non-profit organizations gives me the wisdom and skills to serve you well on our BSC board. As an active BSC board member I will work to enhance our policies and operating procedures to empower us as members to be engaged in our club at a level that works for each of us. Your vote will give me the opportunity to serve you. Page 4 Lu-Ann Perryman I am running for Commodore of our Club. My husband Van and I have been members since Our Pearson Vanguard Legacy is on A dock. For the past year, I have served on the BSC Board of Directors where I have tried to improve the communications to our membership. Hopefully, you have found the information helpful. If elected Commodore, I will work towards: Continuing to improve communications through the Epitaph, BSC website and , Encouraging member participation and input in the committee system, building on the success and hard work of the Finance Committee, Encouraging attendance at the Board meetings (every 1 st Friday of the month, 7:30 pm 9:30 pm at the Clubhouse barring conflicts). Keeping an eye to the future viability of BSC utilizing the plan put forth by the Finance Committee, Promoting decisions and ideas that foster responsible use of the Club s finances. I hope that Blackbeard s Sailing Club is here long after we have gone and I will do everything possible to build a framework for it s future. I would appreciate your vote and support. Ken Laws I m Ken Laws and I m running for a seat on your Board of Directors. I ve been a BSC member for three years, during which I ve been a race committee volunteer for nearly all the BSC hosted regattas, and charter member of the Finance Committee where I was recognized, for my work in the development of long range forecasts of revenue and expenses, with the 2007 Director s Award. I successfully managed the Electrical Upgrades Projects on B Dock and the Picnic Shelter to completion. I m currently developing the contract documents for the Electrical Upgrades Projects for C Dock, for the Dry Storage area and for the Site. If elected, I will continue to work to restore and maintain your clubs facilities. John Stokes I am running for one of the open Board of Director s seats for BSC and would like to solicit your vote in the upcoming election. Of 52 weekends this past year I was there 49 of them and volunteered to assist the dock master with dinghy and dry storage facilities. As you can see I am very active and participate in most activities of the club, which puts me continuously in contact with other members often discussing the needs of our club. We have, in my opinion, the best facility and membership of sailing enthusiast anywhere. I love the grassroots philosophy and would strive to maintain that if elected to the Board. I also believe that we must look ahead at maintaining the facilities that we have and not assume that they will always be here. One only has to look at the condition of Dock A to see that there are some pilings that are literally hollow from interior rot. Just like the storm this past weekend, we must be prepared or our facilities will not survive. Part of that preparation also is reviewing our policies and procedures to reflect changes and to see that these p& p s are applied in an equitable manner and followed by all members. I will strive to represent all members and their interests as fairly and unbiased as possible. I will do what I believe to be the right thing for the general good of BSC.

5 Sept 2008 Page 5 Larry Foster Why I m running for BOD. Here is what I know, BSC is an $2million+ asset to its members and CANNOT be replaced as it exists now. BSC has experience/talent that has not been taped, I want to see fresh faces on committees! My feeling, we need YOU and the Commodore/ BOD needs to request in the Epitaph for input/volunteers. The Commodore needs to write what the BOD is doing for the membership and what is taking place to insure the facilities are maintained AND improved! BSC is a great value compared to public marinas in costs and what it offers to racers and cruisers. I believe any accepted member of BSC becomes family we will take care of each other, we may have our differences of opinion. BY-Laws need correction, term limits be established, and ALL By-Laws changes are voted on by THE membership. Quorum levels need to be realistic, if you don t want to attend a PUBLISHED/Epitaph meeting, let those who attend vote! The Dock Master needs to publish/post names and date of those requesting changes or slips. Dock Policy (wet slips) need to be changed and agree with the slip utilization program, along with boats on trailers and dinghies stored on land. There are boats wet/dry that have not been used in years or no longer registered or licensed. The reality is, Blackbeard Sailing Club is a business, it must be run like one to exist into the future! There are some members who don t attend meetings/work-days, BSC needs members who participate and volunteer. Under utilized wet/dry slips hurt every member from purchasing/selling a boat they want (either bigger or smaller)! I want BSC to grow into the future with financial/asset planning, not stagnate with inactive members and stored boats!! David Andrews Hello, I am David Andrews, and I am running for a seat on the Board of Directors. My wife and I joined the Club in the early 1990 s and have had a boat in slip C- 48 since C dock was built. We currently live in Cary and have two grown children. I recently retired and my wife continues to work as a consultant to the pharmaceutical industry. Over the years we have seen many changes in the Club. We have been proud to Blackbeard s Epitaph Doug Longhini I ve decided to seek election for another term as a member of your Board of Directors. During the past two years as a Board member I ve helped to make the following changes in your Clubs operation: a) Initiated a comprehensive insurance program for the Club including slips coverage. b) Formulated a Capital Improvements Plan that projects replacement, repairs and improvements on existing facilities. This included hard work by Club members to create a base map of our site (including topography, buildings, utilities, etc.) for use in future projects. c) Began an open budget process (posting numbers and soliciting input from members) using the Finance Committee structure. This has attempted to project the Clubs financial needs into the future. d) Began using financial management tools (loans, fee increases, future projections, cash flow, etc.) to more realistically manage the Club s capital improvements and operational budgets. During the next term I intend to push for: a) Making it clear that members have the responsibility of keeping themselves informed. Information is available at the clubhouse, in the Epitaph and online. The Officers, Directors and Committee Chairs can only make sure the information is available; the membership must read it and ask questions of the proper individuals. During the past two years I can count on one hand the number of contacts I ve had from members to help clarify issues. My and phone numbers are listed so all you have to do is take the time to press a button. b) Holding members accountable for working on club committees and projects. Should they not participate, considered financially assessing them to pay for the outside labor that is needed to accomplish these tasks. c) Formulating and funding a more complete Financial Plan for the Club that includes slip replacement and needed building/grounds renovations. d) Making sure that the actions of the Board are for the good of the membership as a whole and not the benefit of a few. e) Encouraging a youth sailing program that will act as a feeder to the clubs cruising and racing activities. If you agree with what I ve listed as accomplishments and feel the future push I ve outlined is consistent with your ideals then, I d appreciate your vote. be members and feel that the Club offers its members a unique opportunity to participate in all aspects of sailing. I would like to take this opportunity to list some issues that are important to me and my thoughts about them. If nothing else this list may give you some things to think about: 1. No changes to the Bylaws without the approval of the General Membership. Only the membership should have the authority to change this important document. 2. Significant issues must be brought to the attention of the membership. Decisions on significant issues must be made by the general membership. 3. All project expenditures exceeding $20,000 must be approved by the general membership. 4. The Annual meeting should be fixed in the Bylaws to be held at 2 PM on the third Saturday of each January. Members should have a clear understanding of when the annual meeting will be held so they can schedule their activities accordingly. 5. Members who have not attended three of the last five annual meetings should be considered not to be in good standing. Without a quorum at the annual meeting, no issues can be decided and the meeting becomes a report to the membership. 6. Term limits for Club officers and Board of Directors members. Two terms is long enough for anyone and if they want to run again they can sit out an election cycle. Continued on next page

6 Blackbeard Sailing Club P.O. Box 1543 New Bern, North Carolina Blackbeard s Epitaph Sept 2008 David Andrews Cont d 7. Efforts have been going on for some time to rewrite the Bylaws. It s time this issue is resolved. The existing Dock Policy is ambiguous and needs to be rewritten. 8. Erection of a directional Wi-fi antenna so that slip holders on all the docks can have internet connectivity. The equipment is readily available and relatively cheap. 9. That a PC with internet access be placed in the clubhouse and be readily available to all members. Why can t members of a 200 member club be able to check their or the weather during the weekend? We can walk into a library and use a computer but not the clubhouse. 10. Availability of satellite weather in the clubhouse. Many cruising and fishing boats now receive weather via XM Radio or Sirius. The equipment has been around for some time and is not that expensive. I know many people would like to check the weather in eastern North Carolina before hitting the river, especially on longer trips. 11. Installation of a DSC radio for the clubhouse. It s easy to obtain a MMSI number for the Club and would make it much easier to those wanting to contact the Club. If you decide to vote for me Thanks. If not, sit down with the candidate you are thinking about voting for and have a frank discussion about the issues that are important to you. It s your club and its success depends on you, the individual member. B.S.C. Schedule for 2008 October 3 October 4 October 18 November 7 November 8 December 5 December 6 December 31 January 1, 2009 Page 6 BSC Board Meeting - 7:30 PM* Covered Dish (Jon Peterson) Work Day - Fall Cleanup & New Member Orientation BSC Board Meeting - 7:30PM* 6:00 pm - Covered Dish 7:00 pm - Annual Meeting 7:30 pm - Election Results BSC Board Meeting - 7:30PM* Christmas Flotilla and Covered Dish New Years Eve Party Fred Latham Regatta - Fred s 37th New Years Day Sail January 17, 2009 Annual Dinner, Dance, Awards & New Officers Introduced * Board Meetings are normally held at the club the first Friday of the Month. They are rescheduled from time to time to avoid conflicts with events at the club. Check the Epitaph for the month prior to the meeting for date changes.