BLACKBEARD S EPITAPH

Transcription

1 BLACKBEARD S EPITAPH Blackbeard Sailing Club NEWS & FEATURES PAGES From the Commodore 1-2 Members Passing 2 Steak Roast 3 New Members 3 Something Lost, Something Gained 4 ETYSA Alumnus 5 Working Class Cruise 5 Saga of the Dinghy Dock 6-7 Race News and Info 8-11 YachPng Club of America 12 BSC Pet Report 12 Officers and OrganizaPon 13 Save These Dates June 6 Steak Roast June 6 & 7 Hope Cup benefit regatta at River Dunes June San Juan North Americans to be held at Blackbeard this year June 20 Indian Island to Ocracoke race Sponsored by Pamlico Sailing Club July 4 Hot Dog lunch at BSC July 11 & 12 Hancock Regatta at Cherry Point July 25 NYRA Parrothead race New Bern to Oriental From the Commodore Thanks for reading Blackbeard s Epitaph! Since 1972, Blackbeard Sailing Club s monthly newsletter has been one of the primary ways that Members have kept up-to-date with what s happening at their Club. To be sure, the format has evolved considerably over the years from traditional printed/mailed hardcopy to today s digital e-zine but the central purpose, providing interesting and timely information to BSC s members, has not. The Epitaph s editorial team works hard to achieve that goal and I want to thank Bruce Woods, Chris Davies, Phil Gibson, Stephanie Davies and Tom Bass for your efforts! If you re like me and enjoy reading the Epitaph, please take a moment to thank these folks by dropping them a note at bscepitaph@yahoo.com. Today I m letting you know about a minor evolution in the Epitaph a change to the monthly publishing schedule. This is how the new schedule will work. con$nued next page Blackbeard Sailing Club, New Bern, NC!1

2 From the Commodore (continued from page 1) We have set the first day of each months as the target date for the publication of the finished newsletter. This new schedule will be effective with the July 2015 issue, which should be published on or about July 1st. The issue you re reading is a transition" issue - a combined May/June newsletter. This is a change in mindset since we re used to getting this month s Epitaph toward the end of the month. Beginning in July however, we ll get this" month s newsletter on, or close to, the first of the month. Articles, stories and other contributions to the Epitaph will be due on the 23rd of each month for the following month s issue. This means that contributions for the July 1st issue are due on June 23rd. And they will be due on the 23rd of each month from then on. The Epitaph depends on a small number of regular contributors for the bulk of the content covering racing, social, marine growth, pets and ETYSA activities. And occasionally there are stories and photos from other Members documenting their sailing experiences. We ve had a number of great ones in recent months! The membership loves to read those contributions, so please keep them coming. There is no change to the process for submitting content: simply to bscepitaph@yahoo.com by the 23rd of the month. The coming weeks are busy ones at BSC. We have our joint event with Fairfield Harbour Yacht Club on May 30 (a/k/a the Owimpics), the Steak Roast on June 6, the San Juan 21 North American Championships from June 10 through 14 and ETYSA Summer Camp No. 1 from June 15 through 19. I urge you to come out and participate in, or help with, these events. Bill Green Passing of Peter Moore We are saddened to report that long-time Member, Peter Moore, passed away around 4:30 am on May 13th after suffering a severe stroke several weeks earlier. Pete was a good friend to many BSC Members and we will miss his ready smile and wave as we turn the corner into BSC. Passing of Nancy Burd We were saddened to learn a short time ago that Member Nancy Burd passed away May 19th after a brief battle with cancer. Please keep Mike and their family in your thoughts during this difficult time. Blackbeard Sailing Club, New Bern, NC!2

3 STOP! URGENT!! Steak Roast - June 6th $15.00/person - all inclusive ARE YOU COMING? SEATING IS LIMITED to 80 RESERVATIONS REQUIRED To Register Call: Bill Drechsler OR Sandy Drechsler New Members Inducted May 2nd Mike and Jenny McDiarmid. Bill and Ellen Beery Blackbeard Sailing Club, New Bern, NC!3

4 Something Lost, Something Gained by Doug King The last couple of weeks it has been common to see people looking at the infield of Blackbeard, where there have been visiting boats, snowmen, and a sea of mud. At least a half dozen of the usual suspects have been observed to walk across the infield and then say Well, it hasn t rained that much lately. Any way you want to explain it, the Sea of Mud is gone! With Hurricane Tropical Depression Ana having visited recently, nobody is saying Aw shucks, you can t tell if that new drain is working because it just hasn t rained enough to test it. Yes we have had heavier rains in the past, but we also had a thick sloppy layer of muddy soup you could even call it soupy mud and we seem to have lost it. Or at least gained a major improvement! Another round of applause for Doug Longhini and his ditch digging, gravel shoveling, mud eliminating crew of BSC workers. What else have we gained? A new dance floor! Not really, but the floating dock built by Alan Hills and Leif Ericson looks a lot like either a dance floor or perhaps a basketball court. It has been temporarily moored on the north side of A-dock, where hopefully it will be permanently installed with its own pilings. We hope the floating dock will be very handy for all who use smaller boats, dinghies, kayaks, or work skiffs, around the Blackbeard waterfront. Once again this work was done by volunteers, except for driving the pilings. Thanks are due to Alan and Leif of course, and the Edward Teach Youth Sailing Association for getting it done. Thank you! Doug King Tom and Sandy Bass met Blackbeard and his first mate at a restaurant during a camping trip to Manteo Blackbeard Sailing Club, New Bern, NC!4

5 ETYSA Alumnus Makes US Team Trevor Bornarth, son of former BSC members Dan and Holly Bornarth, was selected to be a member of the United States Opti Team. There were over 200 Opti sailors vying for spots on the team, so it is a testament to Trevor s skill and perseverance that he made the team. While not all of the participants at ETYSA have the desire to rise to that level, any of our young sailors would certainly benefit from going through the program. ETYSA is Blackbeard s junior sailing program, which in addition to their optimist prams have added a fleet of Topaz sloops to the program. In addition to the host of volunteers who help out with the program, there will be three coaches with significant experience in coaching youths in sailing for the 2015 season. If your child, grandchild, or family friend is interested in participating, you should sign up early to ensure your spot. Eddy Working Class Cruise by Eddy Parker by Jeff Tsai Thank you for contributing to my retirement, Tom Foster often says to me as I m leaving the club on Sunday evening for another work week. Many club members work full time and some have young children; we can only envy as Tom and others speak about their long distance cruise to faraway places. But that does not have to be the case; many of the best cruising adventures can be accomplished within the weekend. Working Class Cruise trips are structured so weekend warriors can sail to destinations that are achievable within the weekend time constraint. The plan is to depart BSC early Saturday morning, anchor/ raft up and socialize over dinner, and then return to BSC on Sunday. Potential destinations are Oriental, South River, Adams Creek, River Dunes, and Broad Creek, etc. These destinations are achievable even in smaller trailerable boats and spending one night at anchor eases the logistics of trip preparation. A buddy boat system can be arranged for new sailors; this will be an opportunity to learn navigation, anchoring, cooking and sleeping on boats. The first trip will be on the weekend of June 13th to Oriental. This is not an organized event, so no need to sign up, just be ready to go on Saturday morning, and we will figure out the rest. The goal is having one Working Class Cruise on a monthly basis, but we will see how the first one goes. Please Jeff Tsai at (tsaiapex25@gmail.com) if interested so we have a boat count for the inaugural trip. My Little Cruisers in Com-Pac 16 So let s untie the dock lines, leave boat projects behind, create some adventures, and return to work on Monday, tired but satisfied. Yes, Mr. Foster, you are welcome to participate too. Blackbeard Sailing Club, New Bern, NC!5

6 Saga of the Dinghy Dock 6 months in the making by Alan Hills If you have been to the club recently you may have noticed a large-ish floating dock tied off of A dock. I d like to share with you how it came to be there. At the November 2014 board meeting of the Edward Teach Youth Sailing Assn, (ETYSA), Doug King mentioned that an opportunity to partner with BSC on a floating dinghy dock had been proposed. He went on to enumerate the advantages to both BSC and ETYSA and it made terrific sense. It got me to thinking how this could be done on the modest budget Doug referenced. I (wrongly) figured that purchasing the floatation would be the our largest expense and called on my long time boat partner and BSC legacy member Leif Eriksson for some direction as he is retired from the dock building supply business. When I asked Leif if he knew where we could pick up some floatation on the cheap, he said he would call one of his old customers, Mr. Mark Johnson, of Bellingham Marine in Castle Hayne, to see if he had anything lying around that would float the 20 X 8 dock we wanted to build. Leif explained to Mark that ETYSA was behind the effort and told him of our mission to provide youths with the opportunity to learn how to sail. A few weeks later Mark called and said he had some older floats of a type he no longer uses and all we had to do was pick them up. Leif and I went down and picked up the floats (in late January) and Mark wanted to know what our plans were as far as the actual construction of the dock was concerned. After a short discussion, Mark realized that we needed much more than just floats and offered to build the perimeter of the dock for us in order to ensure that there would be sufficient strength and said he would let us pick through his boneyard of scrap wood to get the decking. All he needed from us was a drawing of our proposed dock. Mark also told us that we had enough floatation to build a substantially larger dock. I reported this information at the next ETYSA board meeting and we decided to go for a lager dock given that we had adequate flotation and settled on 24 X 8 and Leif drew the plan. With this process ongoing, I was starting to gain a lot more knowledge of dock construction from our trip to Mark s facility and from online research and realized that it might pay us to purchase the rest of the materials from Mark so we would have all the parts we needed to do the job. It dawned on me that there is a huge amount of hardware and really big pieces of timber that goes into the construction. We shared this thought with Mark and he readily agreed, but said he would have to get back with us. Given the growing scope of this project, I was beginning to have second thoughts about this whole thing as I realized what it would take to build a large dock. About a week later, Mark called Leif and asked if we might be interested in a larger dock, 32 X 10? It turns out that Bellingham builds what they call compressed docks that can fit in a shipping container for overseas delivery and there was one on hand that was part of a project in Panama that was not needed and had been sitting around for about 3 years. Mark said that he would donate it to ETYSA if we could figure out how to pick it up. To quickly explain what a compressed dock is, imagine a dock that is constructed with hinged cross members that allow it to fold up, similar to the parallel tools we use for chart work. In the folded state, the length of the structure was close to 40. I thought how in the H-E- double hockey sticks are we going to get it to BSC and how are we going to handle it? I shouldn t have worried.leif managed to borrow a trailer for a great big ol Cigarette type boat from one friend and a heavy duty pickup truck from Blackbeard Sailing Club, New Bern, NC!6

7 Saga of the New Dinghy Dock (continued from page 6) another. I went over to Bridgeton Boatworks and explained to general manager Mike Webber what we were up against and he agreed to unload the dock, let us assemble it there, flip it over and launch it for us so we could tow it down to BSC. So off we go for our second trip to Castle Hayne to pick up the dock. Aside from a heavy downpour on the way, things were going great until the check engine light comes on in the truck. Oh great, we borrow a guy s truck and now we have trouble. We were almost to our destination at this point so we just slowed down and kept on going. We finally got there (huge exhale!), unhooked the trailer, and proceeded to look for an auto store that could scan the truck s computer so we could find out why the light had come on. We finally found a place and it was determined that the problem would not force us to abandon our mission. Back at Bellingham Marine we loaded and strapped down all the parts we could carry. The weight of the load was very apparent when we got under way and we settled in for a long slow ride back home. Things were going quite well until we hit Pollocksville where a huge vibration started in. After pulling over to check, we found that one of the trailer tires had thrown half of its tread off. I m thinking this is the last time anybody is going to lend us anything! Well, we limped back home with no further trouble. We unloaded the materials at Bridgeton Boatworks. Leif and I subsequently made a second trip to Castle Hayne to get the decking. Then the fun of assembling the dock began. BSC and ETYSA members put their skills, their backs, their hands and their hearts into the job. The rest of the plan went without a hitch. Well almost We towed the dock down to BSC thinking that there would be no issues with CAMA but that wasn t the case. CAMA will have to sign off on it before we can drive the pilings. Hopefully, this will go quickly and the new dinghy dock will be available for use by our first ETYSA summer sailing session on June 15 th. BSC members are encouraged to use the dock when sailing camps are not in session but please do not store any dinghies or anything else on the dock. At the end of the day, BSC/ETYSA has a new asset that cost 3 trips to Castle Hayne, 4 dozen donuts, a used trailer tire and eight 3/8 flat washers. We plan to build a wooden gangway after the pilings are installed. (If anyone has a spare gangway, or knows of one, please let me know!) I would like to recognize the following people for helping make this all happen: Leif for his connections, knowledge and assembly help. Laird Stubbings for his truck; Josh Farnham for his trailer; Mike Webber and Charles Douthit of Bridgeton Boatworks for use of their equipment and facility; Construction helpers Doug Longhini, Doug King, Clare Brock, Joe Draper, Jim Abell and Leah Abell. Most importantly I d like to thank Mark Johnson and the crew at Bellingham Marine for the generous donation of time and materials so that our members and sailing camp attendees have use of this beautiful new dock. Blackbeard Sailing Club, New Bern, NC!7

8 Race News and Info Dauphin Island Race Tragedy Probably most sailors have heard about the disaster last month on Mobile Bay, Alabama. The annual Dauphin Island Race draws hundreds of entries for a run down Mobile Bay to a barrier island bordering on the Gulf of Mexico. I don t know details of how many boats or what sizes and classes compete. This year, a surprise storm ripped through the fleet apparently after most boats had finished and started back north. Whether it was really a surprise or whether the sailors simply dismissed the potential severity is moot. What is serious was that about 20 boats were sunk and six sailors died. One was the brother of our neighbor and friend in Emerald Isle. He was 71 and one of at least four aboard a 24 foot something. They had finished the race and were going back when the blast hit, estimated at hurricane strength briefly. They apparently had the sails down before it hit, but we re not sure. What was shocking to me was that nobody aboard the 24-footer had on PFDs. My friend s brother s 17 year old grandson was also aboard and after the initial knockdown, volunteered to dive into the cabin to retrieve the floating life jackets. J.C. forbid it, which may have saved his grandson s life when the boat turtled. Whether the storm was a regular squall on Mobile Bay or not is irrelevant. by Mark Brennsholtz We get regular thunder boomers around Cherry Point and Adams Creek, not to mention closer to home. When the sky gets dark, prepare for the worst and have the whole crew don the PFDs. Cinco de Nada Tropical Storm Ana trumped our hopes of a one-design regatta that promised to have a class of four Ensigns. Even non-spin, it would have been fun to face off against the San Juans. Forecast winds exceeding 22 all day prompted the wise decision. The catered Mexican buffet afterward went on as planned, and it was crowded and delicious. Soundbank ETYSA Regatta a BSC Victory Ultimately, the kids are the winners of this benefit regatta, and about $1000 was contributed to the Edward Teach Youth Sailing Association. ETYSA is a non-profit at Blackbeard that conducts sail training and camps for kids up to 13. The regatta began slowly with a delay Saturday while the wind filled in. And fill in it did. Despite the delay, three races were run Saturday and two on Sunday (in decidedly brisk wind). Twenty-three boats competed in five divisions, and ODC brought a strong team of seven to do combat with thirteen Team Blackbeard racers. The courses were short, which may have favored the smaller boats, but the wind certainly favored the bigger ones, so a wash on the conditions. Bob Stevens beautiful J105 Velocity at the Southbound ET- SYA regatta April 25. Once the wind filled in Saturday, we had plenty (J. Hills photo) Blackbeard Sailing Club, New Bern, NC!8

9 Race News and Info (continued from page 8) An amazing finish within ten seconds of each other, and five were within two seconds! Even for short courses, that is tight. However, the overall results in most classes were not tight. Henry Frazer in his Etchells had four firsts and a second in Spin A, with Sarah and Eddy Parker second in Granny s Hoe. Spin B was tied on Saturday, but Ensign Blue Note took two firsts on Sunday to win with a fourth and four straight firsts over Branin Thorn in his SJ 21. In Non-spin A, Arch Altman won all five races in Julie. In Non-spin B, Hans Lassen cleaned up with two seconds and three firsts in Roadrunner. Finally in Cruising, Doug Longhini had a second and four firsts in H2O. The ICRC team scoring was a little confused Sunday afternoon, but there was never any doubt that Team Blackbeard dominated ODC. The top five entries for Blackbeard were Arch Altman, Doug Longhini, Brennesholtz/Hittner, Hans Lassen, and Branin Thorn. BSC s team score was 4.6 (US Sailing s Hi- Point average) compared to ODC s 2.9. If we can make a respectable showing at the Dragon s Breath in Oriental in August, we will hang on to the river championship. Team Elite at the windward mark in the ETYSA in late April. Bet your foredeck guys would appreci- ate having the boat standing up while they are sexng the spinnaker, Drew (J. Hills photo) Ed Weber driving the big Hunter, Longview, in the ETYSA Regatta on Saturday (J. Hills photo) Arch Altman at the tiller with Mike Penney and Jane. Julie won all five races in Non-spin A (J. Hills photo) Blackbeard Sailing Club, New Bern, NC!9

10 Race News and Info (continued from page 9) Ensign Fleet 18 Spring Series Ends in a Tie Red Stripe and Blue Note both ended the 14-race series with 22 points, but Stripe took it on the tiebreaker. Paul Eckenroth s crew includes Mike Foster and Drew McCrocklin. Second was the Mark, Mark and Jerry (plus Steve or Jenny Dark). All seven boats raced in all 14 races! For the fall series beginning October 1, we expect to be joined by David Pfefferkorn and crew, bringing us up to eight highly competitive boats. June, July & August Racing Events June 6 & 7 is the Hope Cup benefit regatta (formerly Leukemia Cup) at River Dunes east of Oriental. Still have no details and as of this writing in mid-may, there is no NOR posted on the ODC website. Contact Bill Michne at or billmichne@embarqmail.com. June is the San Juan North Americans to be held at Blackbeard this year. With the potential of entries, this will be an exciting and interesting week. Actual races are the 12 th and 13 th. Contact Doug Longhini at or ncsailor47@yahoo.com. June 20 is the Indian Island to Ocracoke race organized by Pamlico Sailing Club. The start is early in the middle of the Pamlico River upstream from the ICW and the finish is off Ocracoke. There is a fun gathering in the park in Ocracoke afterward. Contact Elbert Kennard at or eekennard@gmail.com. July 11 & 12 is the Hancock Regatta at Cherry Point. The Marines are great hosts even if they don t put too many racers on the course. Contact Scott Shermeyer at or solosailor32@gmail.com. July 25 is the NYRA Parrothead race, a New Bern to Oriental fun race that usually ends with a raft up and lots of rum punch. Contact Doug Longhini. August 1 & 2 is the Dragon s Breath Regatta. This is an ICRC Team race. BSC has a strong lead after the ETYSA Cup at Blackbeard (see above), but we will need to field a good team to retain the trophy. Contact Bill Michne. August 22 & 23 is the Blackbeard One Design Regatta. Last year this drew over thirty boats in five or six classes for some exciting racing. There were SJs, Sunfish, Tanzer 16s, and this year maybe Ensigns or eddy52257@yahoo.com. Mark Contact Eddy Parker at The spinnaker fleet on a close reach to the gybe mark during Saturday s racing. Five races were completed in the ETYSA in cool cloudy conditions with good breeze (J. Hills photo) Blackbeard Sailing Club, New Bern, NC!10

11 Race Calendar Blackbeard Sailing Club, New Bern, NC!11

12 Yachting Club of America Did you know that BSC maintains a membership in Yachting Club of America? There are a number of benefits for BSC members that you will find detailed on the YCA website at ycaol.com. The primary benefit for BSC members is reciprocity at more than 700 yacht clubs across the country where BSC members have access to these clubs and their facilities. The privileges available at each club are listed in YCA s Reciprocity Guide. BSC members can log on to the YCA website with the username and password found on our website under Members / Club Documents / Yachting Club of America. When you take advantage of your Yachting Club of America privileges, be prepared to prove you are a member of BSC - your gate card should work. This is a great resource that s available to all members. Let s make good use of it! BSC Pet Committee Report by larry Sorenson Canine Influenza Precaution Canine Influenza and acute respiratory disease (kennel cough) have been showing up in the past two months. If you have a dog that develops signs of any respiratory disease you should isolate it, and any other dogs that have been exposed to it. Have your dog examined by your veterinarian. Maintain sanitary conditions at your yard and in your neighborhood. You should pick-up and dispose of dog feces in appropriate containers. Prime places your dog may come in contact with this flu are animal shelters, boarding kennels, dog parks and dog daycare centers. It is believed that the source of this H3N2 strain may have originated from rescue dogs imported from Korea, and the virus then circulated in the US shelters and among rescue dogs in transit. This is only precautionary. Do not panic over this, just be aware it is out there. Most of the cases have been reported in the upper Midwest and mainly around Chicago. BSC members please send me pictures of your pet enjoying a sail and/or a BSC experience. My is listed below. Be a responsible and considerate pet owner while you and your pets are at BSC. Larry Sorenson llsoren@earthlink.net Funsize Blackbeard Sailing Club, New Bern, NC!12

13 Blackbeard Sailing Club Club Location Upper Broad Creek on the Neuse River 2115 Barken$ne Drive New Bern, NC N W Mailing Address PO Box 24 Bridgeton, NC Website Be sure to visit the BSC website which is loaded with official informa$on, current news, member- ship directory, slip informa$on, and much more. to Epitaph Editors Epitaph Submission Guideline Submissions to the Epitaph are due by the 23rd of each month for that month s publica$on. We wel- come the Membership s input including, stories and cruising ar$cles how- to s and other news commiwee reports racing news and reports photos in jpeg format event announcements and calendars 2015 Officers & Directors Commodore Vice Commodore Secretary Treasurer Director Director Director Director Director Director Dockmaster Dry Storage Dinghies Bill Green Ed Doughty Jan Green Richard SchoW Charlie Batchelor Bill Braun Joe Draper Mark Brennesholtz Eddy Parker Gay Whitney Bill Drechsler Mike Foster Dave RiWer Please send all material to the Epitaph s editors at bscepitaph@yahoo.com. Blackbeard Sailing Club, New Bern, NC!13