MARKS. Commodore s Corner OF THE COURSE. What s Inside: December 2016

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1 December 2016 MARKS OF THE COURSE Carlyle Sailing Association Philippi Harbor Carlyle Illinois CSA-Sailing.org Editor: Mike Niehoff Photo by Bill Kesler What s Inside: 2-Splinters from the Board 3, Fun at CSA 5-Flying Scottlebutt 6-News & Notes 7-CSA Calendar & Banquet 8-Do You Know Commodore s Corner The grounds at CSA are quiet with the exception of a few deer seeking refuge from hunters and the occasional siting of "Gordie" the groundhog. The boats are winterized and tied down in preparation for a long winter. New doors have been hung upstairs in the OB and the kitchen area has been gutted in preparation for new kitchen cabinets. Behind the scenes Scott Stevenson is busy preparing for his year as Commodore with Bronson Bowling serving as Vice Commodore. I am finishing up my year planning our Commodore's banquet and ordering trophies to be awarded that evening. Your invitation to the Commodore's Banquet will arrive close to New Year's Day so watch your mail so it does not get caught in the clutter and bills associated with the holidays. Arthur Merdinian has secured Saturday night January 28 at Schaflay's Brewery in St Louis for our festivities. Cost for the event will be $40.00 for adults attending and $15.00 for children. Arthur is closing in on the menu for the evening and I will post entree' selections on the invitation. working with a team of fun people we can grow together as a community and celebrate our passion for sailing at CSA. I'm looking for someone to help plan themed-base activities, design flyers, advertise on the website and Facebook, set up, find fun entertainment, decorate, etc. This team will work together so that no one person is overloaded with responsibility. We can use what has worked well in the past or try something new at least once a month or more. Contact me if you have an area of expertise or a good idea. As I close out my year I would like to thank all the members of CSA who contributed hours, days, and even vacation time to make our 2016 a great season of sailing. I couldn't have done anything without your support! See you January 28th! Patti Davis Commodore CSA I look forward to returning next season to CSA assisting Scott and Bronson by serving as Social Committee Chair. My goal is to pull several members together to help plan and implement little to no cost, family friendly activities to be held on Saturday evenings during the 2017 sailing season. By

2 October sailing by J. Beier Splinters from the Board Dear Members & Friends, I'm going to step away from the usual details of our November meeting (the club was put to bed for the Winter as usual and anything earth shattering you'll hear about in the coming months) in favor of announcing a heartfelt so long to the Board of Directors as their Chairman. I formally announced my resignation to the board in late November. As of this writing Ted Beier, as Vice Chairman, will take the gavel at the December meeting where they will nominate a new Chairman; positive thinking says it will be someone who will ignite CSA's new and more modern mission for many years to come. In 1995 I began my journey in management at CSA running the Whale of a Sail with a few of my Lightning friends. Over these past two decades since, that included 15 years on the board and 5 as its Chairman, the time has come for me to step aside for fresh blood, fresh thoughts, fresh management and fresh desire. I have new journeys I'm taking now and these will require my entire attention so it's time to step down. be. There's a great new interest in changing the old ways, adding to our culture to attract new members, bring back some old and give you current members a new look and feel of this product called Carlyle Sailing Association. Membership has declined almost every year at CSA over the past decade and I take some blame for this. Sticking to our old ways was not practical, logical or well planned and thought out. Change is needed and change my friends is a good thing, you'll see!!!! As a lifelong CSA member going back to when it was a pile of dirt and a vision by a bunch of rebel sailors from the river, that wonderful club has been my second home for almost 50 years. Time for me to be a CSA civilian for a while and go race my Lightning with my kids and friends again. Thank you to any and every one for anything and everything you have done to make CSA a great place and for making this a very enjoyable ride for me. I want to especially thank each and every board member; what a great group you all are. It's been a pleasure working with you through all the accomplishments over the years. Have a safe and meaningful holiday season and see you all at our annual winter banquet. Rick Bernstein Retelling of the wins by B. Winston One of my goals when I became chairman was to diversify the board and help move it towards a highly passionate group that was heavily invested in CSA, more at the club regularly for its mega number of activities. I believe the mix today is quite good and they're about to show you how good they're going to December 2016 Page 2 Photo by J. Beier

3 2016 Fun at CSA Photos by Bob Winston (), Jeanette Beier (), Bronson Bowling (BB), Pinar Coonan (PC) and Kay Ward (KW). PC KW KW December 2016 Page 3

4 More 2016 Fun at CSA BB December 2016 Page 4

5 By Bronson Bowling The flying scot fleet welcomed a new boat to the fleet this year. Andrew Resnick (FS 4118) has hit the ground running after completing the adult learn to sail program and sailing the rental scot a fair amount. He has graciously provided to us a bit of his perspective as a new sailor to the fleet and his aspirations for the coming season. Before this year, I had been exploring the idea of learning to sail but Photo by J. Beier had no idea of the best way to make the first step. In the last six months since I ve found CSA, I ve gone from knowing the bare basics to confidently helming my Flying Scot for day-sailing and weekly races. I found the Adult Sailing Seminar to be immensely helpful, but there s simply no substitute for all the help that I ve gotten from other members of the fleet. Learning how to take the mast down and what safety or rigging features would be helpful additions are simply things that you re not likely to learn in a class. As for the future of CSA, attending the annual membership meeting convinced me that the club has a good plan for increasing membership and addressing some of the difficulties that a new member might see when wanting to explore sailing. I agreed with the plan that reducing barriers to entry, streamlining the new member process, and providing easy opportunities to get one s feet wet with sailing will be very positive changes to the club, as well as the many other initiatives that were discussed at the meeting. Next year I hope to improve my sailing skills, and maybe even win a race here and there. The end of the year has arrived, bringing with it the lights, trees, and wrapping on packages. Please take time to appreciate your blessings while joining friends and family to celebrate the holiday season. Since our next sail is a long way off for most of us, the flying scot fleet has organized a way to chase the winter blues. A bus tour to Branson! The fleet organized a successful trip like this about 8 years ago with Mid American Coaches. They did an excellent job with experienced drivers and they handle all the details. The plan is to leave St. Louis on a Friday morning (they typically pick up at Lowe s in Kirkwood), get to Branson in time to check into our hotel December July 2016 Page 58 and have dinner and a show. We'll catch at least one more show Saturday, plus some other activity such as exploring Branson Landing, and one show early Sunday before heading back to St. Louis. If you are interested, here's a link to shows currently playing: We are considering either March or March 31-April 1 so of course Christmas shows will be past but something new is bound to be available. Can you think of someone in the CSA family or your extended circle of friends who would like to join us? The price will be in the range of $900-1,000 per couple. (We'll get a price for singles when we put the package together.) That includes transportation, two nights hotel stay with breakfast, two dinners and three or four shows. Please let Linda Vitt (raptur@charter.net) know if you are interested as soon as possible and no later than December 10. One last blurb about our fleet holiday party. While it is a fleet event, new members, friends of CSA, members of the board are invited to attend. Capacity is our only true limitation. It will be held at LuRousso s on the Hill at 5:30 on January 7 th. Please reserve your $20 plate by responding to Bronson Bowling (jaceboshwen@yahoo.com). Remit payment in advance to 2512 Tamm Ave, St. Louis, MO

6 News and Notes Photo: R. Bernstein If you didn t attend the CSA Annual Meeting on November 15, you missed a very informative evening. The 2017 race program was discussed including what changes to make to interest more sailors. Also discussed was the progress of proposed limited camping at CSA, and use of the Hazlet Park pool. There was much discussion concerning plans to make CSA a family destination for sailing families and non-sailors, alike. There will be lots of changes at CSA for the 2017 season, which will make your facilities more useful and enjoyable, including the addition of more familyfriendly social events. Oh, and by the way, we also elected your 2017 Commodore, Scott Stevenson, and Vice-Commodore, Bronson Bowling. Thank you, gentlemen, for stepping forward to lead our organization! Photo: M. Niehoff 2016 has been a great sailing season at Carlyle Sailing Association with lots of fun social events, exciting day sailing with sunshine and nice breezes and plenty of racing. I want to thank all who have submitted articles, announcements and photos to the Marks and the CSA web page. You make the content of these publications entertaining and informative, and help to put a exciting face on CSA. I wish you all a very enjoyable and blessed holiday season. Mr. Editor AKA Mike Niehoff December 2016 Page 6

7 CSA 2016 Calendar of Events Month Day Event Chairperson Note January 25 Marks deadline Mike Niehoff 28 Commodore's Banquet CSA Commodore s Banquet 2017 Start your 2017 CSA season right by attending the Commodore s Banquet! This year the banquet will be held in St. Louis at the Schlafly Tap Room on Locust Street. The date is Saturday January 28 with a cost of $40.00/adult and $15.00/child. Race and special awards will be presented, and your new Commodore will be installed. More details, including the menu, will be mailed in early January, so keep a watchful eye out for your invitation. Do You Know...from page 8. During WWII, Roosevelt decommissioned the boat, making it an in service ship. This was apparently so those on board could consume alcoholic beverages, which would normally be prohibited aboard a commissioned Navy ship. From 1936 to 1977 the Sequoia was transferred to the Secretary of the Navy and used by multiple presidents and other high ranking government officials. President Jimmy Carter had the ship sold May 18, 1977 as a symbolic show of government budget cut-back. The Sequoia had several owners in the most recent 25 years, however the high cost of maintaining a wooden-hulled ship made ownership expensive and eliminated any profit margins of a commercial venture. The Sequoia s future now looks much brighter and useful in the hands of FE Partners. We look forward to seeing a seaworthy Sequoia. Wooden Boats are Just Lovely, Mr. Editor Reference and photo to right: USS_Sequoia_(presidential_yacht). Sequoia in Washington Marina, 2008 December 2016 Page 7

8 Carlyle Sailing Association Hazlet Park Road Carlyle, IL December 2016 Page 8 Photo by C. Niehoff Do You Know that the once presidential yacht Sequoia was recently in the news? The Sequoia, designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987, was designed by John Trumpy, Sr. and is 104 feet long with a wooden hull. The Sequoia came into the possession of Gary Silversmith in 2000 following restoration and renovation. In 2012, an additional loan was received from FE Partners on the condition that the yacht be maintained in seaworthy condition. The Sequoia deteriorated beyond use. The loan agreement came into dispute and the parties became involved in a lawsuit in On November 14, 2016 ownership was awarded to the lender, FE Partners at no cost. FE Partners is committed to restoring and preserving the Sequoia in cooperation with the U.S. Coast Guard for future generations to enjoy. Photo: jimwegryn.com The Sequoia was built for Richard Cadwalader in 1925/26 at a cost of $200,000, who then sold the yacht to William Dunning, president of Sequoia Oil Co. in 1928.The yacht was then purchased in 1931 by the U.S. Department of Commerce to be used as a Prohibition patrol and decoy. Bootleggers would see the Sequoia thinking is was a rich man s yacht, and would approach the yacht to sell illegal liquor. Undercover police officers would then arrest the bootleggers. Ownership of the Sequoia was transferred to the U.S. Navy in 1933, commissioned as the USS Sequoia, and became the official presidential yacht for 3 years. Story continued on page 7.