The Monthly Newsletter of the Magothy River Sailing Association March MRSA Happy Cruising Cake

Transcription

1 The Old Man The Monthly Newsletter of the Magothy River Sailing Association March 2007 Cruise P lanning Pa rty B u rry Vanderveer MRSA Happy Cruising Cake What did you do for Valentine s Day? Well about 40 very smart cruisers went to the cruise planning party the Sunday before and celebrated early with good wine, great food and prizes. The real smart ones even bought their favorite valentines something from the Ships Store! To cap off the evening the Commodore sliced into the traditional cake, with a nontraditional boat on it, and desert was served. In retrospect, it was good thing we had it on Sunday, considering many of us were without power on Wed night. Could be romantic with candle light, but curled up in a parka and knit cap is not my idea of a romantic dinner at home. Was a fun gathering and we got work done as well! This year s schedule was presented and an auspicious gang of cruise leaders once again have stepped up to the plate to provide the MRSA sailor with a great list of cruises for the season. Check out the old man for details. Great party and thanks to all who helped out, with a special thank you going out to the Wilson s and the Belvedere Yacht Club for the use of their great building. Page: 1

2 2007 Officers of the M R S A Commodore: Annette Mullarky, , commodore@magothysailing.com Vice Commodore: Ed Poe, (410) vice_commodore@magothysailing.com Rear Commodore: Ed Tracey (410) , rear_commodore@magothysailing.com Fleet Captain Cruising: Burry Vanderveer, (410) cruising@magothysailing.com Fleet Captain Junior Training: Rich Hughes, , and Donna Prucnal, , junior_training@magothysailing.com Treasurer: Jim McCutchan (410) , treasurer@magothysailing.com Secretary: Loura Bonham, , secretary@magothysailing.com Race Committee: Angelo Guarino race_committee@magothysailing.com Protest Chairman: Drew Dowling, , protests@magothysailing.com Race Gear Chairman: Mark Walker, , race_gear@magothysailing.com Race Marks Chairman: Roger Bartholomee, , race marks@magothysailing.com Scorer: Mike Mullarky , scorer@magothysailing.com Junior Racing: John Taylor (410) Membership Chair: Ed and Peggy Poe, , membership@magothysailing.com Immediate Past Commodore: Diane Jackins (410) , past_commodore@magothysailing.com Ship's Store: Toni Hughes (410) , ship_store@magothysailing.com Red Book Editor: Kathy Dougan (410) , & John Hubbs (410) redbook@magothysailing.com Old Man Editor: Tony Torres, (C): (newsletter@magothysailing.com Web Master: Mike Mullarky , webmaster@magothysailing.com Fleetmaster: John Taylor, , fleetmaster@magothysailing.com CBYRA CBYCA Representative:, cbyca@magothysailing.com Website: MRSA is a member of CBYRA, CBYCA, and Boat US. (Member #GA S) Commodore s Comments Annette M ullarky Well! Since attending the Race and Cruise Planning Meetings in February, my calendar has become very full! If you were not able to attend the meetings, you missed some fun gettogethers and discussions (and may want to check with our Racing & Cruising officers to find out if you were volunteered!). But don t despair you can find all the pertinent dates on the website. Just look under the Racing & Cruising pages for the appropriate schedules. If you were at the Cruise Planning meeting, you were also able to reminisce while looking through the MRSA scrapbook. It was interesting as a newer (11 year) member to listen in to some of the more senior members - Remember this, OK, look, there s, and a couple Can I take that one out?! Unfortunately, the book has not been updated in several years. I am looking for a volunteer to take on the position of Club Historian/Curator (You take the job, you can pick a title). The Webmaster has offered assistance, and assured me there s plenty of web space, to put the archives online as well. While the planning meetings got me eager to start getting the boat ready, it s been tough to imagine getting back on the water with the cold and ice we ve had of late. I must say even with a tropical, boat filled scene on my pocket calendar, desk calendar, computer desktop and screen saver, I don t think I m quite ready to burn my socks let s see what April brings. I m sure by then I ll be ready to roast marshmallows, and then surrender my footwear. In the meantime, we can all enjoy a nice warm gettogether at the March Brunch. Ed Poe has lined up a great speaker and a great meal as well. Look for Ed s article in this issue and mark your calendars for March 18 th at Windows on the Bay. Ed has also arranged for children s pricing, so please bring the whole family. The Brunch will also be your first chance to see and receive the 2007 Red Book. Kathy Dougan, with Continued on Page: 3 Page: 2

3 YOU D O N T W A N N A B E E XCLU D E D F R O M T H E R E D B OO K, D O YOU? Loura B onham Remember to fill out your membership renewal form, write your check for $75 active members, $25 inactive members and mail it today to: Magothy River Sailing Association P.O. Box 1135 Pasadena, MD The Redbook publishing deadline is close. In order have your name and boat information included in the Redbook; you need to renew your membership ASAP. Commodore s Comments (Continued) Annette M ullarky Continued from Page: 2 guidance and support from John Hubbs, has put a great deal of work into putting together this year s publication. I hope your renewal made it in early enough to be listed in the roster if it s still hanging on the fridge, please get it to us ASAP. Finally, a question for us about enhancing our membership? How can we make MRSA events more family-friendly? Many of our members have children, but we see them infrequently at most of our events. We d like our meetings, picnics, etc. to be welcoming to all our members what changes would you make to increase participation? I ve started a new thread on the MRSA Forum (go to sign in, and look for the Forum link on the left side of the page), or you can call or me with ideas. Stay warm spring is just around the corner! The Armchair Sailor B u rry Vanderveer A Book Review The Greatest Sailing Stories Ever Told Christopher Caswell This is a different book, a compilation really of short stories and passage from some classic mariner novels. Christopher Caswell has put together a selection of his favorite seafaring segments from various authors in the book, The Greatest Sailing Stories Ever Told. The Greatest Sailing Stories Ever Told does not restrict itself to short stories, but also includes articles from dated newspapers and periodicals as well as excerpts from some of the classics like Moby Dick and Joshua Slocum s Sailing Alone Around the World. Christopher Caswell does a short one page introduction to each piece, giving a synopsis of where it came from and also why it struck a cord in him to be included in this gathering. All the pieces obviously involve nautical tales, but he also strives to have segments which could be deemed as literature; quite well written pieces which are a joy to read. The selection is really quite extensive and ranges from Slocum and Shackleton to great writers like Rawlings and Melville. I have mixed feelings about this book. While I loved the articles and short stories the segments taken from novels left me feeling wrong. Page: 3

4 Fleet Captain Cruising R eport B u rry Vanderveer Dee Torres sporting the latest Fashion available at the MRSAs Ships Store WOW! The 2007 sailing season is now open with the planning parties done and both the race and cruise schedules set. We had a great cruise planning party and the schedule is now up on the web and will also appear in the Red Book. Please bring it up, print it off and start marking your calendars with the cruises. This year we are adopting a theme to the cruising season, History on the Bay. This was chosen to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, Virginia, so each cruise will have some tie to the history on the bay, whether it be a tour/visit of an historical site, or a quiz during the cruise or any other tie the cruise leader can create. This year we built a blend of the traditional cruises and have also added a couple of locations we haven t been to in a while; Rhode River, Church Creek and Havre de Grace to name a few. Of course the traditional sock burning, blessing of fleet with pig roast and the Wye Island Memorial Day bash are among the traditional cruises retained this year. As you go through the schedule you will see two Maybe cruises listed. This is not because we ran out of ideas or locations, but more to build in some flexibility into the schedule to allow anyone with a great idea, or to leverage a nearby event of interest, for someone to latch onto this cruise and tailor it to his or her wishes. So, if anyone has a great idea for a cruise, or for that matter if a group of boats just want to raft up somewhere for the weekend, then send me an with the idea and I will assign you the cruise. First come first served so don t dally too long! New to this year we are formalizing the top cruise leader award with a scoring system. As well, Wendy and I are working to come up with an appropriate award to present at the next commodores ball. One of the ways to earn points is to ensure a great article is posted in The Oldman after each cruise so cruise leaders take note. Not to hard a task as we are looking for an article which is short on words, long on pictures. So enough of me rambling, stay warm and keep working on your boat list so that with an early launch we can see a record number of boats out for the sock burner in end April. Any questions or queries feel free to me anytime at cruising@magothysailing.com. Page: 4

5 Come to B runch on M a rch 18th Peggy and Ed Poe Have you ever been on the Bay, and the helmsman is trying to judge whether to tack or continue across the channel in front of the car carrier coming south from Baltimore? What goes through your mind? Can we make it? What if we don t? Have you ever wondered what is happening on the bridge of the car carrier? The speaker at the March Brunch will tell us what the Bay Pilot is doing and thinking (*!*@*!) as the helmsman is making the decision to tack or not to tack. Captain Bill Band, a Chesapeake Bay Pilot for many years, will tell us about the View from the Bridge. Bring prospective members and friends for brunch and an interesting speaker with great photos to Windows on the Bay on Sunday, March 18th at 10:30 am. The cost is less than last year a real bargain! Adults: $20.00 Kids: (12 and under): $10.00 For reservations call Peggy and Ed Poe at or peggypoe@aol.com by March 14th. Page: 5

6 2007 Cruising Schedule Sock Burning Cruise Broad Creek on the Magothy April Sheryl & Wes McNair Blessing of the Fleet Old Man Creek May 5-6 Tony Torres/Chuck Beck Ferris Buller s Day Off Blue Angels Show May 22 Ed Poe Memorial Day Cruise Wye River May Toni & Rich Hughes Rhode River June 9-10 Gabriella Belli & Bob Krapfel St Michaels June Debbie & John Lund Block Island Cruise Newport/Block Island June 23-July 8 Sheryl & Wes McNair Fourth of July Choptank River TBA TBA Maybe Cruise TBA July Diane & Joe Jackins Corsica River Race/Cruise July Marianne & Dick Kammann August Picnic Cornfield Creek on the Magothy August Sigrid & Myron Dorf Moonlight Cruise Eagle Cove August Annette Mullarky Labor Day Cruise Havre de Grace September 1-3 TBA Southern Bay Cruise September TBA Debbie & John Lund Dessert Cruise Baltimore September Wendy & Burry Vanderveer House Warming Church Creek September Toni & Rich Hughes Goose Cruise Corsica River October Dee & Tony Torres Schooner Race Start October 18 Ed Poe Maybe Cruise TBA October TBA Frostbite Cruise Cheshire Crab on the Bodkin November 3-4 Lewis Neisner The Armchair Sailor (Continued) B u rry Vanderveer Continued from Page: 3 The segments were wonderful and their selection was very apropos, but I found akin to going to an exquisite restaurant and eating solely from the desert menu, a great rush of wonderful sweet, but not very nutritious and leaving you feeling slightly queasy and that you really did miss an idea evening out. After reading some of the segments I wish I would have read the whole novel instead. I think, text books aside, that compilations should stick to short stories and articles and not extract bits of anatomy from a wonderful novel. The real nice aspect to this book is the ability to read it in bite sized chunks. Great for travel or even out cruising where you read a bit and then trim the sails some, check the horizon and read some more. Definitely some great authors contained within and would recommend this for any sailor s library. Page: 6

7 B rought to our attention by Jeff Fones and M i ke M ullarky DN R and Queen Anne s County to Fund Dredging of Kent Narrows Channel ANNAPOLIS -The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Queen Anne s County have joined forces and assets to ensure that the Kent Narrows Channel will be dredged and boater-ready this summer, thanks to the State s Waterway Improvement Fund. The Kent Narrows Channel is one of the most heavily-traveled channels in the Chesapeake Bay connecting the Chester River to Eastern Bay. Thousands of recreational boaters use the channel annually; the area is home port for more than 100 commercial watermen and a host of marinas and other marinerelated businesses. Without the channel, boaters would need to circumvent Kent Island, a 27-mile journey. Dangerous shoals clog portions of the Chester River side of the Kent Narrows Channel, causing numerous boaters to run aground. When requests for a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers maintenance dredge were denied for lack of federal funding, the county commissioners and Robert Gaudette, Director of DNR s Waterway Improvement Program, called an emergency working session to brainstorm ways to get the job done-and done quickly. It is essential for boater safety and our local economy that the Kent Narrows Channel dredging move forward, said County Commission President Dr. Eric Wargotz. The Department of Natural Resources really stepped up to the plate to make this happen. In a project estimated to cost about $1.5 million, DNR anteed up a $900,000 Waterway Improvement Fund Grant. Additionally the Queen Anne s County Commissioners voted unanimously to provide the remaining $600,000, with the expectation that DNR will include this additional funding in their proposed FY 2008 budget request. The Waterway Improvement Program is primarily funded through the 5 percent excise tax paid when boats are purchased and titled in Maryland. The program also receives 0.3 percent of the state s motor fuel tax as a result of purchases made to fuel boats. Recognizing the urgent need to correct this navigational hazard, DNR placed the project high on its list of priorities, said DNR Secretary John R. Griffin. I d like to commend DNR s Waterway Improvement staff and the commissioners for their great work in ensuring this vital passageway remains open to recreational and commercial boaters. While boater safety is of paramount importance, the Queen Anne s County Commissioners also recognize that the Kent Narrows business district is a major economic engine for the county, generating revenues from marinas, hotels, restaurants, boat sales and vessel repairs, and other tourism dollars associated with the area. Based on the current rate of shoaling, it was predicted that the channel would not be navigable for much of the boating public this boating season, said Commissioner Gene Ransom. It was essential that we get this done quickly and efficiently. Queen Anne s County has entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with the U.S. Corps of Engineers to perform the maintenance dredging on a 5,600-foot long portion of the channel to ensure that it is at least 7 feet deep and 75 feet wide. According to the Corps, about 28,000 cubic yards of dredged material will be removed using a hydraulic dredge. The material will be pumped in a continuous sealed pipeline and placed behind existing offshore segmented breakwaters located adjacent to the Eastern Neck Wildlife Refuge. The end result will be the creation of a wetland using native grasses. Page: 7

8 Classifieds For Sale: 45' Morgan Nelson Marek C/B For Free: Twenty years of "Practical Sailor" magazine, 1985 through Call or Fred Betz, , or For Free: Free to a good home Gently (OK, not so gently) used fire hose. No longer serviceable for its intended use, it works well for padding dock edges and pilings. We've also had success using it as chafe protection, and I imagine it would work well on trailers or racks. Mostly 50' lengths of 3" dia. hose (approx " flat width). A few sections of 1 3/4" dia. (approx. 2" flat width) available. Mike & Annette Mullarky at boreasmd@verizon.net to arrange pickup or possible delivery to an upcoming MRSA function. Owned by a professional boat builder, "Niche" has many custom features and upgrades not found in the older Nelson Marek Morgan 45. This is a refreshed design by Catalina and is very cruiser friendly with a bright interior, swim platform, and improved mechanical and electrical systems. Year: 1985 Located in Annapolis, MD Hull Material: Fiberglass Engine/Fuel Type: Single Diesel YW# For additional information on this listing, please contact AI Picardi at I had a Shock the Other Day I was asked how I went preparing for a cruise. I looked at the guy a moment. I don t know just what he expected but whatever it was I didn t give it to him. Prepare? I said, all I do is buy a few cans of stuff, a couple of loaves of bread, fill the water jug, throw in some cooking pots, a few extra clothes and go. _ Charles M. Blackford Page: 8

9 Pictures of the Race Planning Meeting The Commodore (and Past Commodore) Mullarky Sailors with Beer and Pizza, Don Rockwood and Charlie Hutchinson facing the Camera Pictures form the Cruise Planning Meeting He s not here, so we will put him in charge of. Discussions on the Finer Points of Cruising Page: 9

10 B ad-luck Colors to Paint a B oat Blue and Green, as those are the colors of the sea, and to use them would be an affront to it. Favorite Colors to Paint a B oat, Climatologically Speaking Cold, northern climates darker colors (black, brown, red) to absorb the warmth of the sun Warm, southern climates lighter colors (white, yellow, pink), to reflect the heat of the sun. There are only two colors to paint a boat, black or white, and only a fool would paint a boat black. - Attributed to Nathanael Herreshoff The Old Man Magothy Sailing Association P.O. Box 1135 Pasadena, MD Picture by Bill Paul Page: 10