The Chowder Chatter. Newsletter of the Caloosahatchee Marching & Chowder Society A Premiere Sailing Club of Southwest Florida

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Hilary Gilmore
5 years ago
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And so it was that Gigi and I embarked on our Mediterranean cruise, planned precise in every detail for many months.

1 The Chowder Chatter Newsletter of the Caloosahatchee Marching & Chowder Society A Premiere Sailing Club of Southwest Florida Next Full Moon: November 13 November 2008 COMMODORE Al Eastman commodore@cmcs-sail.org SNAPSHOTS Moments in time, captured in a manner so that our memories can recall the joy and pleasure of the event. And so it was that Gigi and I embarked on our Mediterranean cruise, planned precise in every detail for many months. We thought that vicariously, you may enjoy our visit to many of the highlights of that voyage. We departed Miami on the Spanish National Airline, Iberia, and the food, comfort level at least for a trip of 8 hours, and service were extraordinary. Seat comfort was the most important issue for me, but the wine selection helped me to focus on arriving in Rome. We were only in Rome briefly, as we transferred from a busy, dirty airport to our Celebrity Cruise line in a conga line of busses with 900 other weary travelers (you know the drill; who sleeps soundly on an overnight flight?) and mercifully, were processed to our cabin where we would be required to be polite to one another, when a closet or the door to the head was opened and we had to squeeze by one another. But we did have a balcony and to hear the sea at night, is comforting. Here follows some brief comments on places we visited on the 12 days, many of which I had traveled to previously, so recollections in these snapshots are crisp. Messina, Italy is the 3d largest city in Sicily. I went looking for remnants of Godfather relics and fine wine and found neither. The city was severely damaged in WW II. It was picturesque and looked like bottles of Chianti were indeed made there( and then disposed willy-nilly as trash). Loved the Greek Islands and Athens. Climbed the Acropolis once again, having previously vowed never to do it again because of crowds and slippery rock. Ached for days!! But the view is indescribable! The movie Mama Mia was responsible for creating the good feelings of Greece. Mykonos and Santorini are stunning: fresh painted walls, neat and clean in spite of thousands of visitors. Hills and cobblestones were going to be the death of me, and of course a mid day break for a cool drink under an olive tree was out of the question, because it could affect my walking. My favorite stop was Rhodes, 240 miles from Athens and SW of Turkey, featuring a medieval castle built next to the harbour in the 16 th century to protect crusading knights. Naples is a dirty town where we were warned even on a Sunday while in port, not to leave the waterfront area because crime abounds. But it served as a gateway for a tour of Pompeii, always an amazing adventure. Then back to Rome, the Eternal City, for a few days of gastronomical excess, miles of walking, tours of the Vatican and St Paul s, and my favorite, visits to The Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, and the Panthenon at night. We departed Rome at 530 AM. Don t bother to ask if we slept on the plane on the return leg! So why, you think, did I write this travelogue, when as sailors we are already blessed with wanderlust? Only to stimulate another reason to strike out and see the world, to visit people of other nations who have their own concerns, most of which I find are no different that ours, except politically, when we discuss good wines, their children, why we have to have wars, and the best one: what is America really like? Pack up your bags and bring back your own snapshots. Incidentally, Gigi took over 450 of them if you would like to view them. Be safe out there. Al PS. Congratulations to the many individuals who managed and partook in the successful SUMMERSET Regatta. VC Banks and RC Naumann are to be loudly praised for their leadership.

Bill Misenheimer kalaha42@embarqmail.com CMCS Watchdog Committee We cover the waterfront!

out of business by huge increases in real estate taxes, leaving you and your fellow boaters with fewer and fewer places to keep your boats and higher slip fees and storage costs.

2 Bill Misenheimer CMCS Watchdog Committee We cover the waterfront! Help Preserve Florida's Working Waterfronts Dear BoatUS Member, In recent years dozens of Florida wet-slip marinas, waterfront dry stack storage facilities and boat service yards have been squeezed out of business by huge increases in real estate taxes, leaving you and your fellow boaters with fewer and fewer places to keep your boats and higher slip fees and storage costs. Why is this happening? Because the current property appraisal system in Florida forces counties to apply "highest and best use" value to waterfront business property, not current use value. That means the businesses we boaters rely on are taxed as if they were high-end condominiums or waterfront resorts. You can help change that at the polls on November 4th: A "Yes" vote on Amendment 6 will bring down the property taxes on the following marine working waterfronts to reflect the property's current use: Marinas and docks open to the public for water access and recreational uses; Public vessel launches into navigable inland and coastal waterways; Commercial fishing facilities; Water-dependent marine manufacturing facilities; Marine vessel construction and repair facilities. BoatUS supports Amendment 6 and we hope you will too on Nov 4. We need your help to get the 60% voter approval required to pass this very important amendment. For more information: Please feel free to share this with your boating and fishing friends. Margaret Podlich Vice President of Government Affairs GovtAffairs@BoatUS.com The Summerset Committee would like to thank our general membership for your support in what began as a very challenging event. When all was said and done, we had happy racers, happy sponsors, and terrific racing weather. We will be able to make donations of $4000 to Youth Sailing, $3100 of that to Edison Sailing Center based on location of participants. With support of the Board and the General Membership, next year The Tradition will be sailed on Columbus Day weekend in order to minimize hurricane issues. VICE COMMODORE Forrest Banks mrider@comcast.net 2

FESTIVAL OF THE ISLANDS REGATTA The wind was light to none and the current strong. Not the best conditions for a sailboat race, but thanks to everyone s patience, we were able to get two races off.

There was some good, close action on the starting line and one rather large black-hulled boat must have thought he was in the cruising class as he decided to tow the committee boat around the course!

REAR COMMODORE RACING David Naumann racing@cmcs-sail.

It s always nice to have the sailors gather after the race to share their stories, and Bonita Bills did it up right. Awards were presented at that time. Results can be found on the website.

3 FESTIVAL OF THE ISLANDS REGATTA The wind was light to none and the current strong. Not the best conditions for a sailboat race, but thanks to everyone s patience, we were able to get two races off. Once what little wind did fill in, we were able to get the day started. There was some good, close action on the starting line and one rather large black-hulled boat must have thought he was in the cruising class as he decided to tow the committee boat around the course! He may have been entitled to extra points on his rating for that. Past members Roger and Peggy Stafford did a great job with the committee boat work. We re hoping to see more of them in the future. REAR COMMODORE RACING David Naumann racing@cmcs-sail.org UPCOMING RACES: Turkey Race November 8 Commodores Cup Regatta Caloosahatchee Boat of the Year Race December 6 Thanks to Steve Romaine for the scheduling of the post race party at Bonita Bills. It s always nice to have the sailors gather after the race to share their stories, and Bonita Bills did it up right. Awards were presented at that time. Results can be found on the website. Finally, thanks to Carol Robinson for scheduling Rob Overton from the US Sailing Rules Committee to attend our skippers meeting and discuss the changes to the 2009 rule book as well as lead discussion on other current rules. Rob is on the US Sailing Rules Committee and held a very interesting discussion. See you at the Turkey Race, Dave TURKEYS ON THE WATER The next race on the calendar is the Turkey Race on November 8th, and David gave me ownership of this one! This is not a Boat of the Year race so allows us some freedom to be a little unconventional. We hope to use this race to get some prospective new racers, so cruisers, please join us, racers, invite someone you know to get their boat out and active. There is not going to be a charge for this race (maybe we ll pass the hat at the social) Walk-in s are welcome but will start in a different fleet than those who have registered with a phrf rating. Awards will also be somewhat unconventional. Besides the expected 1st, 2nd, 3rd places, we will also have awards for the boat doing the most squawking (well, it is a turkey race ), best start, most turkeys on board, best dressed crew, etc. Everyone who preregisters will be scored toward the end of year award. Starts will be something like this 1st Multihulls and spinnaker, 2nd phrf non-spinnaker & phrf true cruising, - 3rd walk-ins, cruisers, newbees & anyone left on the starting side of the line. A BYO post race awards raft-up will follow. Watch for more info by . COME OUT, HAVE FUN, MAKE YOUR BOAT GO FAST! THAT S WHAT SAILING S ALL ABOUT, ISN T IT? Cindy

November is upon us and we have all commented on the change in weather. This time of year makes sleeping out on your boat really nice! We have put together the club s cruises for 2009.

4 November is upon us and we have all commented on the change in weather. This time of year makes sleeping out on your boat really nice! We have put together the club s cruises for Didn t hear from anyone on what they wanted for 2009, so we re assuming that whatever was successful last year is a go in Please check out the list of 09 cruises elsewhere in this newsletter. We still need several cruise leaders so give us a call and sign up! Upcoming Cruises. REAR COMMODORES CRUISING Tim & Deedee Cheek cruising@cmcs-sail.org November 14, 15 & 16 th - Sanibel Bight This was the Sanibel Bight Cruise, and usually Bob Macomber had a book signing in St. James City. No book signing this year on this date. Friday, weather permitting; we will anchor southeast of Chino Island in Pine Island Sound. Chino Island is to the northeast immediately past the power lines, or turn to starboard at marker 24. The alternative anchorage Friday night will be the bight of Sanibel. Saturday morning we will explore (circumnavigate) Chino Island. Afterward we will leisurely(?) up anchor and move to the Bight of Sanibel. We plan a dinghy trip to Tarpon Bay and visit the store/kayak rental business. Sunday, those who wish may go ashore in St. James City for breakfast\brunch\lunch. We will have our radio on channel 72, and our cell phone will be on Sanibel Bight Cruise Leaders, Jerry and Carol Pim Gopher Baroque Nov. 27 & 28 "Thanksgiving a la CMCS Cruise This year we re going back to an old CMCS Thanksgiving tradition and we hope you ll join us for this special cruise. We ll be rafting up at Hurricane Hole on Thursday, Nov. 27 th. (Some boats will arrive on Wednesday to secure the location.) Around 2:00 PM the Turkey Boat will deliver a Publix Turkey dinner to the rafters (who are next to each other) which may include 3 or 4 boats depending on the number of people on board. The dinners serve 7-10 people and we are planning on 8 people per dinner. The group will be given their dinners to heat up and share and you ll have all the traditional Thanksgiving delights plus a pumpkin pie. Cost will be $8 per person. The next day we ll dingy to a location (TBD) and have a lunch with the leftovers. From there, you can stay at Hurricane Hole, or move on. We need to give Publix a weeks lead time to supply the dinners so we ll need your completed coupon and check no later than Tuesday, Nov. 18 th. Sorry, but there will be no refunds after we order the dinners on Wed. morning, Nov. 19 th. If you need instructions to get to Hurricane Hole, please check the box in the coupon and we ll get some information to you. Thanksgiving Cruise Leaders Bill & Mary Misenheimer Kalaha December 26 th through Jan 1 st CMCS Christmas Cruise Mark your calendar for our annual Christmas Cruise. We meet at Hurricane Hole the first few days, then sail on over to Burnt Store Marina for a day or two where we celebrate New Years Eve. Gordon Coffman has reserved the party room and slips for those coming by boat or you can drive on up and join up with the crowd. More detailed information will be in our December Chowder Chatter. Reporting on our Mantanzas Pass/Summerset Cruise. We had five members join in on the combined cruise; IX, Island Time, Kalaha, Miller Time, and Rum Daze. While the crew of Kalaha was grinding away on Chase the Clouds, the others enjoyed an extended cocktail hour on Island Time. Curtis and Rebecca were terrific hosts and treated us all to a Mantanzas Pass Cruise music CD and the contest was on. We had to list the song and/or artist and the winner received a bottle of Champaign. Sandy Canning got on her new phone toy that connects to the internet and needless to say, she scored a perfect 28. Saturday night we joined up with the Summerset Racers and the sailing camaraderie continued. Sunday morning (minus Kalaha) we all took the dinks to The Channel Mark Restaurant for a great breakfast. It was short but a great place to kick back and enjoy one of our local cruising areas. Many thanks go to Curtis & Rebecca Tarvin for leading the cruise.

2009 CMCS Cruises Here they are. As always with the cruises, they are tentative pending cruise leaders and weather. If there s no name, we need a Cruise Leader.

January Relax February EPOL Feb 20 & 21 - Jim & Dee Vaigl March March 1 st, Landlubbers March 7 th Pelican Bay - March 27 & 28 th Sanible Bight/Macomber - Ben & Carolyn Preston April April 3-6 th,

5 2009 CMCS Cruises Here they are. As always with the cruises, they are tentative pending cruise leaders and weather. If there s no name, we need a Cruise Leader. So please, pick one and give us a call Tim & Deedee Cheek January Relax February EPOL Feb 20 & 21 - Jim & Dee Vaigl March March 1 st, Landlubbers March 7 th Pelican Bay - March 27 & 28 th Sanible Bight/Macomber - Ben & Carolyn Preston April April 3-6 th, Cape Haze Bob & Linda Easterly April 18 th, San Tweenie May May 2-10, Heading North Cruise May th, Danger Island Russell & Kathleen Vance May 30 th Keys Cruise (see June) June May 30 th June 7 th, Keys Cruise June 17 th 21 st, Fisherman Village, Bob & Bev Duff July July 3-5, Franklin Locks, Ron & Shirley Maddix August August 7 & 8, Tween Waters September Sept. 5-7, Labor Day Cruise to Nowhere Sept. 19, Kayusa Cruise October - October 10 & 11 Summerset October 30 & 31, Halloween Danger Island, Charles & Judy Tomlins November - Nov. 7, Mantanzas Pass Cruise Nov 26-28, Thanksgiving December Dec. 26-Jan 1, Holiday Cruise, Gordon Coffman Thanksgiving A La CMCS --Thursday, November Hurricane Hole (Reservation & check must be received by Tuesday, November 18 th ) Boat Name Number of dinners X $8.00 = Please make Check payable to: Deedee Cheek (not CMCS) Yes I need instructions on how to get to Hurricane Hole Mail Check & Coupon to: Deedee Cheek 1517 SW 52 nd Terr. CC, FL

6 ANNUAL CHANGE OF WATCH DINNER DANCE 2009 Mark your calendar for Saturday, January 10, 2009, at the Royal Palm Yacht Club. The Yacht Club is located at 2360 West First Street in downtown Fort Myers. It is just past the Edison-Ford Estates on West First Street. Festivities and Cocktail Hour begins at 6:00 p.m. with Buffet Dinner at 7:00 p.m. Awards and The Change will take place during dessert. Music will be provided by FAZZ live, with Frank & Linda Fazzioli, throughout the evening for your dancing and listening pleasure. The price is $32.00 per person with a cash bar. CMCS Annual Change of Watch Dinner Dance Saturday, January 10, 2009 Royal Palm Yacht Club 2360 West First Street Fort Myers, FL 239/ ` Names of persons attending Total amount enclosed ($32.00 per person) $ Make checks payable to CMCS and mail to: Elise Missall Tall Pine Circle Fort Myers, FL The deadline for reservations is Tuesday, January 6, 2009 with NO exceptions. 8 CANNED GOODS the NEW tradition. In a club that thrives on tradition, how fitting it was of Board member Fran Chapman to initiate a new tradition of bringing canned goods to each Membership Meeting to help those in our community who need a helping hand. THIS JUST IN POUNDS of canned goods were just delivered to the Cape Coral Caring Center on behalf of CMCS and they were delighted to receive the donation. Keep the cans rolling in!

FLEET RECRUITER Joan Perkett membership@cmcs-sail.org (239) 542-5918 Hello All: It s time to renew your membership for the 2009 calendar year.

7 FLEET RECRUITER Joan Perkett (239) Hello All: It s time to renew your membership for the 2009 calendar year. In order to be included in the CMCS Calendar Member and Yacht Roster, I need to receive your renewal form no later than November 30, If you are not inclined to pay any bills early but do intend to renew on time, just let me know so we won t have volunteers contact you unnecessarily. The form was included in October s Chowder Chatter and is posted on our website. If you need one mailed or faxed to you, I ll be glad to oblige. We have LOTS of new members who would love the opportunity to crew in day sails, cruises and races. Their contact information is updated in the members-only section of our website. If any members do not have access to the Internet, feel free to call me at the above number for their phone numbers. Please extend a friendly CMCS welcome to Lynn Carrington. Originally from Greenville, DE, she now lives on Sanibel with her dog Coby and cat Tad. Lynn learned about CMCS through the Offshore Sailing School. She has sailed the waters of southwest Florida and the Chesapeake Bay for years. She has a passion for sailing and would love to crew on someone s boat to get back on the water again. Welcome to new member Jim Baxter also of Sanibel. Jim is looking for boats on which to crew as he is a certified sailor, but has not sailed much in the last 10 years. Jim and his wife Suzanne are retired and settled in Sanibel after enjoying vacations there from their home in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area. He is interested in both racing and cruising. In addition to enjoying sailing, Jim spends time canoe-fishing, hiking the Appalachian trail, playing tennis, cycling and motor homing. New member Josephine Greco of Cape Coral was introduced to CMCS by her friend Dee Vaigl. She has lived in the area since 1980, having moved from Milwaukee, WI. She and her husband used to do a lot of boating together before he passed away two years ago. They belonged to the Power Squadron and to the Frisky Floaters Boating club. She has missed being on the water and is up for crewing on both cruiser and race boats. Maybe she can gain enough confidence to take the helm of her own boat some day! Eugene and Valentina (Tina) Kalsow of Cape Coral are new members who were referred to CMCS by Roger Horton. Their boat is Wiley Coyote, as many of you remember used to belong to Roger. They have lived in the area for 9 years, and have just begun sailing this year. Eugene has his own dental practice in Ft. Myers so they are very busy during the week, but look forward to getting out on the water in their spare time. Andy Gillis and Judy Bavely of Fort Myers are new members who have already enjoyed crewing on Midnight Rider during the Summerset Regatta. Andy is originally from Yorktown, VA and Judy is from Plymouth, NH; they have lived in the area for 5 years now. They have lots of experience racing and cruising from Long Island Sound to the Keys. They both have their 100 ton master licenses and have operated water taxis, whale watching and charter fishing tours and other ventures. Andy is a yacht broker and Judy is a real estate broker. When not working, they also enjoy bicycling, swimming and sailing. They are looking for opportunities to crew as their current vessel is a 144 inch port a boat. The Yacht Roster on our website has been updated to show Donald and Edna Prohaska are now the proud owners of Sand Dollar, which previously belonged to Dave and Cindy Naumann. Russell and Kathleen Vance are now proud owners of a Beneteau Oceanis 321, also named Shadowfax. Again, the Yacht Roster has been updated so don t forget to print it out and put a copy on the boat so you can recognize club members on the water. Drop me a line if you have any address or boat changes and I ll be sure to update our rosters so you don t miss out on all our happenings.

Edison Sailing Center benefit The Edison Sailing Center is proud to present the Roy Disney movie, morning light, to benefit our Summer Sailing Camp Scholarship Fund.

Disney Studios has granted ESC the honor to show this film as a benefit fund raiser before it is due to release in SW Florida.

8 Edison Sailing Center benefit The Edison Sailing Center is proud to present the Roy Disney movie, morning light, to benefit our Summer Sailing Camp Scholarship Fund. All proceeds will go toward providing basic sailing lessons to those kids that can not afford it. Disney Studios has granted ESC the honor to show this film as a benefit fund raiser before it is due to release in SW Florida. This private showing will be at the Coralwood 10 Theatre located in Cape Coral. The date, Nov.6th., the time, 7:00pm, the cost $20.00 per seat. All seats must be purchased by Nov. 5th through PayPal. There will be NO walk-in sales. You will be able to pick up your tickets at the theatre before the show. There will be limited seating in this one time showing, so be sure to buy your tickets now.

Editor at chowderchatter@cmcs-sail.org or use your roster for telephone information.

Non-members are welcome to advertise their items at a price of $30.00 for 3 months.

00 Send a check made out to and digital information to : Chowder Chatter Editor, 5605 De Soto Ct.

00 15 hp Mercury 2-stroke $950 obo Will deliver Bud Fox 239-560-5465 Oldglory76@comcast.net EXTRA EXTRA EXTRA WE ARE ONE OF THE TEN FINALISTS!

9 C.M.C.S. CHANDLERY Buy, sell, trade Members, to advertise your boating-related items free in the CMCS Chandlery, Cindy Naumann, Chowder Chatter Editor at or use your roster for telephone information. Your ad will be listed for 3 months unless you notify me to take your listing out sooner. Non-members are welcome to advertise their items at a price of $30.00 for 3 months. Business cards or business related listings camera ready only : Members: 3 months, $25.00 Non-members: 3 months, $50.00 Send a check made out to C.M.C.S. and digital information to : Chowder Chatter Editor, 5605 De Soto Ct., Cape Coral, Fl FOR SALE: Sumner Sailing Dink with oars... $ hp Mercury 2-stroke $950 obo Will deliver Bud Fox Oldglory76@comcast.net EXTRA EXTRA EXTRA WE ARE ONE OF THE TEN FINALISTS! Yes, our cookbook, By Land or By Sea is one of the ten finalists with the 9th Annual (2008) Morris Community Cookbook Awards Contest. We sent them four of our books (we held back) that will be sent to four judges around the country. The winner will be announced after the first of the year! Congratulations to the cookbook team, recipe contributors, and of course, those of you who bought a book! Check out the Morris Press website - BOB S HANDYMAN SERVICES Robert Bob Duff 35 years experience Licensed and Insured What do YOU need done? 9

Caloosahatchee Marching & Chowder Society NOVEMBER AT A GLANCE October 31-Nov 2 November 4 November 6 November 8 November 11 1900 hours November 14 November 18 1830 hours November 18 1930 hours

Board Meeting Sanibel Bight Cruise begins Cake Decorating Social General Membership Meeting Chowder Chatter Deadline Ladies Bridge Club Thanksgiving Cruise Power Squadron Power Squadron Power

10 Caloosahatchee Marching & Chowder Society NOVEMBER AT A GLANCE October 31-Nov 2 November 4 November 6 November 8 November hours November 14 November hours November hours November hours November 25 November 26- Dec 1 November 5 November 18 November 30 January 6 Halloween Cruise to Danger Island ELECTION DAY Disney s Morning Light Movie fundraiser Turkey Race Board Meeting Sanibel Bight Cruise begins Cake Decorating Social General Membership Meeting Chowder Chatter Deadline Ladies Bridge Club Thanksgiving Cruise Power Squadron Power Squadron Power Squadron DEADLINE FOR TICKETS FOR MORNING LIGHT (pg 8) DEADLINE FOR TURKEY DINNER / THANKSGIVING CRUISE DEADLINE FOR MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL DEADLINE FOR ANNUAL DINNER EDITOR WANTED CHOWDER CHATTER UP FOR GRABS! The CMCS position of Chowder Chatter Editor is going to be available next year, so let your Commodore know ASAP if you might be interested. All it takes is someone who wants to take a role in our club, is slightly creative, and has some basic experience in Publisher or is willing to learn. It s a pretty easy program to learn & the club has the software. With most of the club on , it s far less time consuming than it was in years past with sorting, folding & mailing. If you inform your Commodore soon of your interest, you re welcome to sit in on the creation of the December issue. The editor

CALOOSAHATCHEE MARCHING & CHOWDER SOCIETY APRIL 2010 BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING MINUTES -- Revised

CALOOSAHATCHEE MARCHING & CHOWDER SOCIETY APRIL 2010 BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING MINUTES -- Revised The regular April meeting of the Board of Directors of the Caloosahatchee Marching & Chowder Society,