Waterline. Commodore s Message

Transcription

1 Waterline LAFAYETTE SAILING CLUB VOLUME Commodore s Message It s been hot, hot, hot, I ve been busy, busy, busy, but sailing and the LSC are still on my mind. I d like to express some envy to the LSC sailors that are sailing as I prepare this message. Timing is everything and my time will come. I d like to thank Tony Lavish again for organizing such a wonderful LSC Call-Out. We met some new folks, rekindled acquaintances, and were entertained by Rusty, an adventurer to say the least. The LSC Sailing School is coming up soon. Dave Keller is organizing that. The lecture session will be at the Harbor this year on June 2 nd and 9 th, 10:00am to noon. Our hope is that LSC members will invite guest to sail after the lecture session is complete. Mark you calendar for the Sunday, June 10 th, 5:45pm, Past Commodore s Cocktail Party. All LSC members are invited, an rsvp isn t necessary, just bring your favorite cocktail dish to share. The LSC is still accepting an I ll do it for the LSC Grounds Committee Chairperson. Refer to the LSC Handbook for a complete description of the position. Non-BOG Committee Chairpersons will receive the minimum number of required credits for their services to the Club. The LSC as a Summer Solstice Mini-Cruise Lake Mississinewa, lake level permitting. We ll be watching the rain gauge, and talking about that more as June approaches. Has anybody checked the water level at Lake Freeman lately? Same as yesterday, same as last week, same as last month, same as last year. Nice! Once again the LSC Harbor will be the staging area for the annual Lake Freeman Fireworks show, Thunder over Lake Freeman, Tuesday, July 3 rd, the show will start at Dusk. And, as a reminder, LSC members are asked to take care of the lawn beneath their boat, keep scuppers cleared so water doesn t accumulate, and to remove old and damaged boat covers for the Summer. Remember to watch the LSC activity calendar for Moonlight Picnic and Sails. The next one is Friday, June 1 st. Happy Sailing, Lewie 1

2 Sailing School: June 2 & 9, 2012 by Dave Keller No library session this year. We will have class at the lake 10AM-Noon June 2 and 9. I will need help and will need instructors and boats. Smaller boats preferred so students will get a feel for small boat handling. I will encourage them to stay for the 1 PM race on these dates as well as Sunday race June 10 with picnic to follow. As you may have guessed, the idea is to show them how much fun we have and encourage them to join the club. I ask that you mark your calendars to race on those dates even if you are not a "racer" so that you can take students out to enjoy sailing & racing. 2

3 Winter Cruising: 2012 A number of LSC sailors dressed appropriately for some sailing this past Winter. We had Rex and Sandy sailing of the west coast of Florida, March 1-14, with James Miller, and Bill & Donna Muir as guest, we had Lewie Wallace sailing on Lake Carlyle, IL, March 17-20, and we had Glen and Patty Kats Sailing on Lake Freeman February 19 th. James Miller sent pictures and a short narrative of his adventure. I went sailing today with Rex Henthorn... on his Hunter 34 sailboat... out of Burnt Store Marina... which is not far from Punta Gorda, FL. It was a really nice day today... a great day to be on the water. Bill Muir went, too. In the photo: left to right, on the boat is Sandra Henthorn... then on the dock, Rex, Bill and Donna Muir. We saw manatees swimming in the water behind the boat! I had not seen wild manatees like that before. I tried to take pictures of the manatees... but I quickly learned that they aren't into posing." Lewie expressed that he wore a long sleeved shirt most of the time, on March 17-20, to keep from getting sun burned. Patty Kats wrote to say, Feb. 19th Glenn Kats had the bug to go sailing. With the nice winter we have been having he thought today would be a good day. He thought it would be warm enough. The day before he got the boat ready and today asked if I (patti) wanted to go with. I don't know who was crazier him for doing this now in 30 degree weather or me for going with while I have a cold. First he had to move the ice out of the way just to launch the boat. We got the boat launched and we sailed to the dam and back. We were out about 1 hour and we were heeling pretty good, almost to good. The wind was stronger than it looked from shore. With each of us wearing about 4 layers of clothes we decided we had enough. We parked the boat in the harbor and before we could take it out we needed to move more ice. We got the boat put away and we will wait for warmer weather (tomorrow). Still all in all we had a good (cold) day of sailing in Feb. in Indiana. 3

4 LSC June 8-10: Raft-Up, Sailing School, Regatta, Past Commodore s Cocktail Party Weekend BYOF & B to the secret cove Friday and/or Saturday for some conversation and relaxation. The second lecture session for the Sailing School will meet Saturday morning 10am - noon, at the Harbor. The LSC will have 2 Saturday Series Races, start time 1:00pm. The LSC will have 2 Long Distance races on Sunday, start time 1pm. Captains should meet at the picnic tables for the traditional captains meeting at 12 noon. The Cocktail Party is scheduled for 5:45pm, Sunday. The LSC will provide some cold beverages. Club members are asked to bring hot or cold cocktail dish to share, tableware, and lawn chairs. Past/Present Commodores are asked to bring their hat. 4

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6 LSC Spring Call-Out: In review The LSC was treated to a very nice Deli arrangement. Commodore Lewie Wallace welcomed guest, introduced the LSC BOG and fellow sailor/adventurer Rusty for the entertainment. Rusty, strummed his 6string and presented his slide show and stories from his sailing adventures. You can find his book at 6

7 Lafayette Sailing Club GA S 7

8 Summer Solstice Mini-Cruise: Mississinewa Lake June by Ray Justice Tony Lavish and I have reserved tent sites #452 & #454 for the weekend. Kirk Gilbert has reserved site #370 for his motor home and Dave Dugger has reserved site #368 for his camping trailer. Dave will be there for a week and has agreed to use his site as a welcome center. We will also provide the evening meals on Friday and Saturday at 6:00 PM at site #368. I will provide burgers & beans on Friday evening and yet to be determined meal on Saturday evening. (I am open for suggestions on the menu). You will need to provide your own sustenance for breakfast and lunch. If you plan to stay on your boat make arrangements with someone to use their campsite number if asked for one. We are allowed 6 people per campsite so we should have sufficient numbers to accommodate everyone. There is a sheltered mooring cove behind the campground that has three dredged channels with substantial tie off posts for securing our boats against the shore. There is a large parking lot and small boat ramp at the mooring area for setting up and launching your boat. Classifieds LSC SHIPS STORE: Gold LSC Pique Polo shirt - $30.00 Light Blue (2011) or Neon Green (new for 2012!) LSC Logo T-shirt - $12.00 Stone LSC Dry-Zone cap - $13.00 LSC Pennants: Small - $12.00 Large - $15.00 FOR SALE: 2004 Tohatsu long shaft, 4 horse, 4 stroke motor. These are designed for sailboats and are not suited for the river. This motor is in great shape. No scratches dings, damage, or wear of any kind. I used this for about 10 hours and then proceeded to buy a larger boat. At the time these went for about $1300 and I imagine they are a bit more expensive now. This model has a small internal tank which is perfect for several trips in and out of the harbor. You can also attach an external tank if you like. If you are not familiar with Tohatsu, they are the people that make Mercury motors. You will find this to be identical to the 2004 Mercury 4 horse, Mercury just wanted an extra $150 for the black paint job. This sale includes the motor, fuel line, tool kit and manual...no external tank. $ Cash only. Kevin Club Members may list items they want to sell, trade, or buy in this column without any charge. Send your listings to Randy Carie at randycariec22@yahoo.com 8

9 3 Ways To Figure Tongue Weight By BoatUS Trailering Editors Tongue weight is exactly what it says: the weight of the trailer tongue on the hitch of the tow vehicle. The rule of thumb is that you want a tongue weight equal to 7-12 percent of the total weight of the (fully loaded with fuel and gear) boat/ motor/trailer combo. Tandem- and tri-axle boat trailers usually require a percent or two less tongue weight than recommended for a single-axle boat trailer. If the tongue weight is too low, the boat trailer will sway from side to side when you reach speeds of around 30 mph. If it s too high, the trailer will push the tow vehicle, making it more difficult to control when braking because so much weight is on the tongue. It is important to have the trailer as By BoatU.S. Trailering Editors level as possible when attached to the tow vehicle. Too great an angle can affect the trailer s braking ability. Pull the truck onto the scale, leaving the trailer hooked up to it, but keeping the wheels of the trailer off the scale. Get the weight let s say it s 4,600 pounds. Then drive off the scale, disconnect the trailer, and drive the truck back on the scale again and weigh it alone let s say the truck weighs 4,200 pounds. The difference (4,600-4,200=400) is the tongue weight. Drive the truck onto the scale as in step 1, but instead, disconnect the trailer, leaving just the tongue jack on the scale, but the wheels of the trailer off the scale. Drive the truck off the scale. Get a 4x4 piece of lumber about 17 inches long, place it under the coupler where the ball would normally go, slowly crank the tongue jack until the tongue jack wheel is 1/4-inch off the ground, so the trailer is sitting only on the 4x4 (but don t remove or swing the tongue jack out of the way in case the trailer falls off the 4x4). Read the scale. That s your tongue weight weighed right at the coupler, where it should be measured. If you simply use the tongue jack as the weighing point, it skews the tongue weight to the heavy side. A quick way to check tongue weight is to use the Seasence 800 Tongue Weight Indicator Jack. It has a built-in scale and will provide a quick read of the tongue weight on the hitch. Note: The 800 designates the jack will measure up to 800 pounds of tongue weight. There s also a 1,500-pound version. 9