Inside This Issue. At the Helm

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1 Vol. 38 No. 2 Berkshire Sail and Power Squadron October 2011 Inside This Issue BSPS & USPS Calendars Holiday Party SAVE the DATE! Quarter Century Milestone Software Available Moby Dick Speaks Education News First Sail September 11 Remembered Ask Mr. Melville Education in Action At the Helm What a fantastic time to get out and enjoy this fall weather. Mornings start with a crisp fresh sunrise that is softened by your cup of coffee. We are then presented with Fall's earliest colors and Mother Nature beckons us to come out and play. Behind us are the hazy, hot and humid days of August. In front of us will be the magnificent reflections of foliage while on the water. Be a kid again and get out of the house, breath in the fresh sights and smells of fall in the Berkshires. This is why we live here. Looking back I have to say "Holy Cow" what a wonderful summer put together by the Squadron. It all started with the June Rendezvous, followed by a great time at Live On the Lake, and I sure hope you didn't miss the Summer Picnic at the Controy Pavilion. August, of course, ended with Irene blowing thru the northeast with destruction and massive flooding! Irene forced cancellation of our Otis Rendezvous followed immediately by the postponement of the Fall rendezvous that has now been rescheduled for Newport the first weekend in October. Carl Filios is hard at work with a full schedule of educational courses. The Squadron is up and running with the Fall Safe Boating Class, JN is underway, and Piloting has started. If you think you could give a hand, just for an evening, please let us know as a fresh perspective is always welcome. I cannot write this article without a special "Thank You" to the Administration Team of Tena DeBaggis, Paula Dailey, Darla Tinney, and Donna Rochelo. This crew only knows one way to put together an event and that is to knock it right out of the park! At this time we have completed First Aid and CPR class. It was the first time offered by Squadron and was well attended; we certainly will be offering it again in the future. Please let us know if there are other interests we can put together for you. Well, I did not realize what a busy summer it has been. I hope to see you at some of our upcoming events. Cdr Kevin J. Dinan, AP

2 October 2011 Page 2 BERKSHIRE SAIL and POWER SQUADRON 172 Mountain Drive PITTSFIELD, MA Website: - OFFICERS: Commander Kevin J. Dinan, AP Housatonic Street Lenox, MA, kjdinan@aol.com Aide to Commander Cynthia F. Dinan, AP Executive Officer Robert D. Bardwell III Educational Officer Carl E. Filios, AP Administrative Officer Tena DeBaggis, AP Ass t Admin Officers Paula Dailey Darla Tinney Donna Rochelo, S Secretary G. Bruce Rumph, AP Ass t Secretary Theresa Rumph Treasurer Frederick A. Mason, SN EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE: Ass't Educational Officer Paul L. Brouchard, S Linda D. Caesar, P Michael S. Steele David L. Trudeau, AP GENERAL COMMITTEES: Auditing Rules John C. Holden, AP Janet C. Bryan, S Beverly Gilbert, S Edward A. Tinney Richard E. Gore, Jr., AP Thomas A. Dailey, AP (Chair) Peter J. Charpentier, S (2 yr) Thomas A. Gilbert (3 yr) Jack W. Clayton, SN (Chair) Leo O. Robillard, SN (2 yr) Frank J. DeBaggis, AP (3 yr) Nominating Committee for 2012: Susan L. Darcy, JN (Chair) Frank J. DeBaggis, AP (2 yr) Richard E. Gore, Jr., AP(3 yr) Berkshire Log Editor P/C G. Richard Stidger, SN Mountain Drive, Pittsfield, MA rich.stidger@verizon.net BSPS & USPS CALENDARS Nov - Mondays, ABC Course, Conte Community School, Pittsfield, 7:00pm Nov - Thursdays, Piloting Course, First United Methodist Church, Pittsfield, 6:45pm Nov - Thursdays starting after Piloting is finished, Marine Navigation Systems Course, First United Methodist Church, Pittsfield, 6:45pm December 4 - Holiday Christmas Party, Greenoch Country Club, Lee, 2:00pm December 7 - Bridge & Executive Board Meeting, Jimmy s Restaurant, 7:00pm January 25 - Bridge & Executive Board Meeting, Jimmy s Restaurant, 7:00pm January USPS Annual Meeting, Jacksonville, FL February 29 - Bridge & Executive Board Meeting, Jimmy s Restaurant, 7:00pm March 3 - D2 Winter Council Meeting, Location TBD The opinions expressed in "The Log" by the Editorial Staff or Contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Berkshire Sail and Power Squadron or those of the United States Power Squadron. BSPS Info Line Do you know that we have an informational telephone line? Call to learn details of upcoming events. Refer your boating buddies for information on upcoming on Public Boating classes and VSC inspections. View, Download, and Print this issue and all back issues of the Berkshire Log In at: Please Remember... All members are requested to notify our commander or editor of the death of any other member or a member s family as soon as possible. We want to express our condolences in a timely manner and we need the help of all our members to this end.

3 October 2011 Page 3 Holiday Christmas Party SAVE THE DATE Sunday December 4th 2pm Greenoch Country Club 220 West Park Street Lee, Massachusetts Watch for Details in November Quarter Century Milestone Congratulations to Ron Alderman, AP, Robert Schuler, JN, and P/C Richard Stidger, SN for passing this membership milestone. 25-year pins for Ron and Rich were awarded at the Change of Watch this past April 30th. Bob s 25 year anniversary occurred later this past summer and his pin is on it s way to him at his home in Virginia. Microsoft & Adobe Software is Available We have been notified that our squadron is now eligible to order any Microsoft or Adobe software title that is available to us. We are at the beginning of a new twoyear cycle for donations, which means that we can order new titles that we have not previously ordered as well as any of our old favorites. So if you need any software, contact our coordinator Richard Stidger at or him at rich.stidger@verizon.net. We are only eligible to order once per year, so if you don t order now, you will not be able to order again until a year from now.

4 August October Page 4 From the mouth of Moby Dick: (The Squadron's Mascot) Miscellaneous Snips - Quotes overheard at the September Newport Rendezvous! Where is everybody? You mean we ve got the whole pier? Nice of Rick and Sue to host us. Where is our Commander? We re going for dinner over there? sure looks Newporty! Did you see the size of the floating apartment building? Wow two cruise ships or is that three? Let s see now with Sybaris at anchor and the Daileys boat Wayfinder there will be four boats, one dinghy and two cars. But for the people attending, there are four past commanders, one past district commander, one staff commander, one commander, one aide, four instructors, at least four students and a partridge in a pear tree for a total of twelve attending plus two dogs! Look at all the appetizers how did that happen since there was no plan! Is that Tom and Paula? Wow great seamanship docking absolutely beautiful boat what stands out about the boat? Well the electronics and of course the engine room access but probably the dog ramp to the pier! If you didn t make our Newport Rendezvous, you missed a great time an impromptu hors d oeuvre party, two great restaurants, and entertainment! Plus the tour of the Dailey s new (to them) yacht. Don t have a boat? Come by car like three of the members did AND they got motel rooms in Newport without breaking their budget. So put any rendezvous on your calendar when they re planned -- Great food Great friends Great place Great time! See you at the next one? Education News We ve started another year, with an outstanding lineup of course offerings, in line with the 3 year plan published in the previous Berkshire Log. Fall courses are underway. ABC 3 (Basic Boating) has met once. Piloting will have started by the time you read this, and Junior Navigation has resumed from where it left off in June. I ve recently returned from the USPS Governing Board Meeting in Greensboro, NC. I sat in on two seminars (Radar and Tides and Currents). I don t know much about radar (it s not usually necessary on Onota Lake). Although there aren t tides on Onota Lake, and not much in the way of currents, I found the material interesting. One thing that s apparent from looking at the manuals available at the Ship s Store is that the USPS Ed. Dept. has been hard at work upgrading the seminar material. It s much better than their initial offerings a few years ago. Hopefully, we can pick one or two and offer them. The bad news is that they re still having trouble figuring out how to write the Navigation Systems course, which is comparable to one part of the old Marine Electronics series. The technology is changing so fast that it s hard to write something that isn t obsolete before it s published. Since we have a stock of ME103 books remaining, we ll probably offer that instead. It s the previous version of the course, and although not all of the material is current, it still has some value. We ll offer a discounted price for the course, in order to get rid of the books we have. If there s something you want to take, and it s not listed in the three year plan, let me know, and we ll see if it fits in somewhere. Lt/C Carl Filios, AP Educational Officer Berkshire Sail & Power Squadron Thirty Seven Years of Service to Boaters

5 October 2011 Page 5 First Sail I think I was maybe seven or eight at the time. I was at my grandfather s house in New Jersey with my parents for a few weeks during the summer. His house was in a town called Bay Shore and it was just a couple of blocks from Barnegat Bay. My grandfather, I called him Pop-Pop, told us on Thursday that he was going to go sailing with one of his friends, John, on Sunday afternoon. I asked. Can I come? If your parents say yes you can. But you will have to wear a life jacket and listen and mind our instructions. I was delighted. I had never been on a sailboat, and I m not sure if I had been in a rowboat more than once or twice. Barnegat Bay seemed very large and the prospect of being in a boat without a motor and just having a sail, was, well, exciting! Pop-Pop s friend, John, kept his small sailboat in a slip on a nearby lagoon. A lagoon is a bulk-headed inlet from the bay that has slips and small docks for boat owners to rent. We arrived at the appointed time and I was given a life jacket. My grandfather adjusted it to fit and they told me to sit on one side of the mast and not to move quickly. I obeyed. It was a small sloop-rigged wooden sailboat with a board that dropped down through the bottom. When I asked what it was for, they told me that it kept the boat going straight and helped to keep it from tipping over. WHAT?, I said. We can tip over?!! No, we don t plan on doing that, but if we do you have your life jacket to keep you afloat. Don t worry we will take care of you. I wondered what my mother would think of this plan? My grandfather put a bag with some sandwiches and some bottles of Coke in the bottom of the boat and said These are for later if we get hungry or thirsty. Oh, boy, I thought FOOD! We made our way out of the lagoon in a very curious way back and forth, many, many times. John explained that the boat could not travel into the wind so we had to Pop-Pop, what is this buoy for? weave around. He called that tacking and we got closer to the entrance of the lagoon each time. Finally, we were in the bay. Now the bay really looked big in this small open sailboat. The waves that looked small from the shore now were causing the boat to rock and jump around. I held on tight. Pretty soon, they adjusted the sails and we were sailing along actually moving! Can we have our sandwiches now?, I asked. No, not yet, we are just getting going. Do you like sailing? was the anticipated elder reply. I nodded and kept holding on. John and Pop-Pop sat in the back of the boat and John was steering the boat with a stick that he called a tiller. Pop-Pop held a line that was attached to the boom and the sail. They seemed to know what they were doing as John steered and my grandfather alternately pulled in and let out on the line. It looked pretty easy. Pop-Pop and John were talking about stuff that old people talked about as we sailed. Finally, I courageously asked, Can I steer? I held my breath for the answer. They looked at each other. John said, Sure. Come back here and I ll show you how. Be careful moving in the boat. WOW, I had expected a different answer. I moved to my designated spot and gripped the tiller like I was told. Now, Rich, here is how the boat steers. If you want to go to the right (we call that starboard ), then you push this tiller to the left. And if you want to go to the left, that s port, and you pull the tiller toward you to the right. My first counter-intuitive steering lesson was over. Really?, I asked. Yes, just try it, you ll see., said John. And don t hit anything. So I was steering. A big shot, that s me. Wait until I tell my mom and dad what I did. So we are just sailing along, nice and easy. Pop-Pop still had control of the boom and he and John were back to talking and it seemed like they really weren t paying attention to me. It s OK, I m steering. I am the master of this great ship. (Continued on page 7)

6 October 2011 Page 6 September 11, Remembered Vineyard Haven, Martha s Vineyard, MA - Our last cruise of the summer found us at Martha s Vineyard over the weekend of the 10th anniversary of the attack on our country. The local newspaper advised everyone to assemble at the post office between 8:00 and 8:30am. There were about 300 people in attendance including the local police and fire departments, the Boy Scouts, American Legion Veterans, and citizens. Also present were some relatives of victims lost that day. At each of the times of the four airplane impacts, a blast of the horn from the fire engine sounded. The first was for Flight 11 at 8:46am when it impacted the North tower. Again at 9:03am for Flight 175 at the South tower, 9:37am for Flight 77 at the Pentagon, and 10:03am for the crash of Flight 93 over Pennsylvania. Between the sounding of the horn were minutes of silence and then readings from the Vineyard Haven Fire Department, the American Legion, and the Boy Scouts. Trumpet and bagpipe tributes were performed. A relative of a World Trade Center victim spoke and showed a picture of his lost family member. At the conclusion of the ceremonies, the Fire Department thanked everyone for attending and announced that church services would be held later that morning in Edgartown. Carol and I attended those services. P/C Richard Stidger, SN Never Forget

7 October 2011 Page 7 Ask Mr. Melville Got a question about BSPS or USPS? Not certain what to do? Send a note to Mr. Melville in care of the Berkshire Log editor (P/C Richard Stidger at rich.stidger@verizon.net. Dear Mr. Melville: I m new to the Squadron, and am not certain what courses I should take. Signed: Going the Course Dear Going : That s an easy one -- you can take Piloting or Seamanship in any order we have Piloting just started. And sign up for an elective like Cruise Planning, Sail, Marine Electronics or any of the others including the seminars that are offered. Mr. M. Dear Mr. Melville: I d love to attend an event but I don t know anyone very well, have dietary restrictions and am not always certain whether newcomers are welcome. Signed: Insecure & Shy Dear I.S. : I know I can tell you not to feel that way -- newcomers are always welcome. Everyone feels that way to begin with but try to attend something and see how welcome you are made to feel. Dietary restrictions are usually covered at our pot-lucks, because someone always brings a low carb dish, or veggie plate or diabetic items. For a restaurant event, we always can order special meals. See you at the next EVENT? Find Mr. M. and introduce yourself! Dear Mr. Melville, I ve just joined the Squadron and have heard that I m expected to volunteer to help either teaching or with some event. I m in the midst of starting a business and this is my busy season and I just can t. Should I resign? Signed: Busy Bee (Continued from page 5) After a long while (it was probably just a short while, but I was little after all), I saw this buoy in front of us. It was red and pointy on top. I didn t know what it was for, but I knew that the bay had lots of them. It was a little bit on our left, and as we got closer, I waited for a chance to ask a question. I knew better than to interrupt grown-ups. Pop-Pop, what is this buoy for? They stopped talking. Their heads turned toward me, and then toward the intruding buoy. They looked around quickly and then back at the buoy. I felt a hand on the tiller, pulling it to the right. The sailboat lunged to the left, my grandfather pulled the line we ducked. The boom shot across overhead and the boat gave a big lurch. We gotta go on the other side of this buoy!, yelled John. There s no water over there. I let go of the tiller and looked wide-eyed at the buoy and the water. It sure looked like there was water I saw it and there were waves! After we passed the red buoy on the left, John explained that the buoy marked deep water from shallow water and that we needed deep water because of the board that stuck down under the boat. If we had gone where I was steering, we could have hit the bottom. The disaster at sea was avoided in the nick of time. Maybe I shouldn t tell my parents about this part of the sail? They laughed and told me it was OK. But my steering command was over. Soon we had snacks and headed back to the dock. It was really fun. I thanked John for the ride and Pop-Pop and I rode home in his car. So now I am a sailor. P/C Richard Stidger, SN Dear Bee : Should you resign? Absolutely, definitely NOT! We obviously would love to get everyone involved taking classes, going to events or rendezvous. Why? Because we want YOU and other new members to feel a part of the organization. How do you we do that? By inviting you to take a class being offered or go to a rendezvous or an event. See if you make friends within the Squadron, you ll want to stay a member besides we re really FUN people and have great times together so come see what you think when you can. Mr. M.

8 October 2011 Page 8 Education in Action Bristol Harbor, Bristol, RI - It is an early morning in late June, 2011 and the morning fog starts to lift. The Dinans along with Team Rumph prepared Shenanigans for a trip to Three Mile Harbor in Long Island, New York. We were initially unsure that this trip would actually take place since Shenanigans had only been in the water a couple days. Nearby, the competition appeared to be moving slowly - or was that just a tactic? Clever move on the Stidger boat crewed by the Clayton s. Their vessel, Sybaris, would be hard to beat to Block Island which was the first night s stop. The trip started off with smiles and a wave, but I knew that jolly guy wanted to be the first to Block. It was early and the first few hours were quiet with no wind. We had no choice but to do the Gore Thing - you know, I mean we had to power down to Newport. Then in a flash, Sybaris turned into the wind and Jack had the sails up in a less than a heartbeat. With a rush of adrenalin, Captain Dinan started shouting orders and, yes, I would mean Cindy! As Shenanigans sails went up we knew the race to Block was underway until a strange noise was heard from below. I flew down the cabin stairs and discovered about 50 feet of wire from the blower hose had wrapped around the transmission shaft. Bad news, the race was over before it hardly began. Now the USPS part kicked in and it was time to assess our plight. Cindy used her knowledge from Sail to keep us off the rocks and Theresa expertly assisted with the sheets and lines. The girls had total control of the helm and fortunately the wind was picking up. Although neither Bruce nor I had taken Engine Maintenance (yet) we knew that all of the metal needed to be cut out. Off to work we went with limited tools for about an hour or so. As we approached the end of our task we realized something else was definitely wrong as there was a lot of blood in our workspace. Bruce had punctured an artery in his hand! Thank goodness we had the necessary First Aide equipment on board. Cdr Dinan I hate it when this happens. Just about this time, Sybaris was on the radio wondering what was going on. I referred to my Marine Communication course and avoided using four letter words to describe the situation on board. With just a bit more time we were following our original rhumb line for Block. Once in the harbor we chose a location, anchored and backed down for a good catch. This worked well until a cold front blew in, spun us and, yes, the anchor dragged. Of course, not just a Oh gee, I think we re dragging a little bit but a full blown going backwards through a field of Rolex race boats at what seemed at the time to me mock speed. Let me tell you it wasn t pretty! With horizontal rain, lightning, and fierce winds we took refuge at a private mooring. We considered it a safety at sea issue and did not think twice about it. Except maybe to pray that its owner didn t show up in the middle of the storm. The next morning, with our tail between our legs we followed Sybaris to Long Island. The Stidger and Clayton crew were just impossible to beat. However, upon arrival at the harbor entrance they graciously circled allowing Shenanigans to be the first of the Berkshire Sail and Power Squadron to enter Three Mile Harbor! ** On our way home things were almost uneventful with the exception of a couple hours of thick fog. No problem, Cindy is getting pretty good with radar and Rich made sure we kept track of targets as necessary. This worked well until a target passing us port to port and moving fast made a sudden 90 0 turn almost clipping us. At was a very large commercial fishing boat. Had the birds been in the water he would have had us! Much, much, too close. The great part is we had a wonderful time and things never were really out of control. With that said - how many USPS courses did we access information from during this trip? me and we ll post your answers. Cdr Kevin J. Dinan, AP ** (Ed note Cdr Dinan had ed the rendezvous fleet three days before the event and announced that Sybaris would arrive just behind Shenanigans. It would have been poor form to make a liar out of him)

9 August October Page 9 LATE SUMMER & EARLY FALL FUN (Brought to you by the Admin Team) All the beauty and joys of Berkshire living were celebrated yet again at this year s Summer Picnic. 40 of our fun-loving members brought their good cheer (and appetites!) to the shores of Onota Lake on Tuesday, August 23 rd. We filled Controy Pavilion with a plethora of tasty appetizers, then settled down to feast upon lobsters and chicken galore, complete with all the fixings. Never daunted or easily dissuaded from seeking out good times, though, Plan B was born. Thanks to our fast-thinking, creative Bridge, we decided to convene at the Newport Harbor Hotel & Marina (by land or sea) Friday, September 30 th through the following Sunday. Three boats made the voyage on Friday: Sybaris arrived with Rich Stidger and Kevin & Cindy Dinan aboard, Happy Daze carried Rick & Sue Gore, and LaFortuna navigated the rough seas with John & Janet Bryan. Sue Darcy travelled by land with Leo & Maria Robillard to add their spirit to the weekend party. The Friday Happy Hour started early (hosted aboard Happy Daze) and ended late, in true BSPS style! Wayfinder joined the group on Saturday, piloted by its new owners (on their first solo trip), Tom & Paula Dailey. Once docked (and with endless thanks to the loyal members who were ALL there to help!), we toured each others boats and in general hung out and/or wandered the town until the magic hour of Seemingly within minutes (as magic is apt to happen), the salon of Wayfinder was brimming with a huge variety of munchies and liquid refreshments. We ate, we drank, we talked everything delighted mariners do. D/Lt/C Susan Ryan, JN and Carol Stidger select their lobsters We learned (albeit a bit belatedly) that steaming such a vast quantity of lobsters takes longer than having just a few in each pot. Fortunately, our members are calm, patient, and forgiving. They were perfectly happy to return the errant, undercooked crustaceans to the pots, and found other nibbles (and dribbles) to occupy their bellies until the little beasties were deemed edible. As usual, no one went home hungry, and we re sure more than one New England lobster roll appeared the following day! Thanks to all who attended for making this event one of the highlights of our year. And to those who couldn t make it, clear your calendar now for next year s party you won t want to miss it again! Hurricane Irene blasted up the coast the weekend just before our picnic, but other than some soggy lawns she didn t spoil it. Unfortunately, two other events got the kibosh: our August Rendezvous on Otis Reservoir was cancelled while numerous, nervous boat owners scrambled to secure their babies in advance of Irene s arrival. Then the Fall Rendezvous scheduled for Bristol Harbor September 9 th -11 th was called off because too many of us had (quite wisely) had our boats pulled. Wayfinder (far left), LaFortuna (mid-left), and Happy Daze (far right) on the dock Dusk fell, but we were still standing, so we moseyed over to the harbor-side bar/restaurant right off our dock and continued on, enjoying more lively conversation and some really good music. As energy levels were a bit lower than the previous night, we wound it up at a decent (enough) hour for some shut eye. Sunday dawned on the cool and cloudy side, but pleasant nonetheless as we lounged around till early afternoon. Everyone got home safe and sound, with some stormy, wet weather, but more forgiving seas than on the journey in. All in all, a FANTASTIC weekend that left us happy, relaxed, and dreaming of the next boating season. If you ve never attended a Rendezvous, this is another MUST DO to add to your to do list for next year!! 1st Lt Paula Dailey