the headway Our Sailing Adventures in Europe By Charles and Sue Springett Rappahannock RiveR Yacht club irvington, va January 2017

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1 Rappahannock RiveR Yacht club irvington, va January 2017 the headway Our Sailing Adventures in Europe By Charles and Sue Springett Ariel on a Mooring at the Lagavulin Distillery (not an easy entrance) Sue and I spent an interesting summer sailing in Europe, our second interesting summer in a row. I have been asked to give our membership a flavor of what we saw and the challenges we faced. It was also a long summer and it is hard to fit everything into the limited space of a Headway article nobody is looking for a full length novel. It is also a challenge to avoid falling into the look at all the great things we did aren t we special trap. I will try hard not to and please forgive me if I fail. If there is one overall conclusion we came to it is that cruising Europe in your own boat is a really rewarding experience and one that is within the reach of a lot of sailors who have probably concluded that it isn t. If Sue and I could do it so could most of our membership if blessed with a well found boat and the time and inclination to undertake the preparatory work. (continued on page 3)

2 Page 2 January 2017 Rappahannock River Yacht Club Comments from the Commodore By Tom Decker, Commodore FLAG OFFICERS Commodore Tom Decker Home: Cell: decker@kaballero.com Vice Commodore Tom Chapman (C) tdchapman@verizon.net Rear Commodore Ed Peake (C) peakehaus@hotmail.com Treasurer Jack McKim (C) jckmck@gmail.com Secretary Cheryl Wicks (C) cawicks@aol.com DIRECTORS Past Commodore Pete Clay (H) pvclay@aol.com Director - Dave Bronson (C) dgbronson@verizon.net Director - Mike Kennedy (H) (C) mikeylikesit@verizon.net Director - Sue Kirkbride (C) Director - Danielle Kuper (C) sistikuper@comcast.net Director - Ted Kvell Home: Cell: (804) tkvell@aol.com Director - Tom Richardson (C) trichardson@gmail.com It s a new year, and I hope all had a wonderful holiday season, shared with family and friends. We re looking forward to another good year for RRYC. I know some of you, like me, are using these winter days to do repairs to our boats and looking forward to the spring launch. The club motto for 2017 is GET OUT ON THE WATER. When weather warms and boating season begins, I hope to see everyone taking advantage of the waterways, which we call home. December saw RRYC take possession of the Rappahannock Cup, which we won back from Yankee Point Yacht Club. Yankee Point s Racing and Cruising fleet captain Anker Madsen and Commodore Win Schwab returned the cup to us at the monthly First Friday. I hope you saw the article and picture of the short presentation in the December 15 Rappahannock Record. We can thank Tom Chapman, who is also our new Vice Commodore, for developing and implementing a strategy, which resulted in our triumph over Yankee Point. The new Board met for the first time in December. Dave Bronson and Danielle Kuper joined the Board. We must thank all Board members new and returning- for all the volunteer work they do. The event committee, chaired by Jerry Wachter, is planning several events for the coming year. We are going to take our first ever asphalt cruise, joining other yacht clubs in the area, who have been doing this for years. Glenda and I have volunteered to host this event, starting small and close to home. If there is enough interest, we will travel to New Bern, N. C., for a weekend in late March. We will visit Tryon Palace, the restored home of North Carolina s first colonial governor, along with several historic homes and the adjacent Tryon Palace History Museum. Dozens of small boutiques, antique stores, and restaurants dot the main street and are within walking distance of hotels. We will spend a day in the Morehead and Beaufort area, visit the North Carolina Aquarium, historic Fort Macon, and Maritime Museum. We are planning group dinners, happy hours, and breakfasts. Hotel accommodations will be arranged. Anyone interested should call Glenda or me at or send an to decker@kaballero.com. The asphalt cruise will be welcome break from the winter blues. Cost and schedule will be published in future s and the Headway. Details to follow. Club Manager - Kent White

3 January 2017 Sailing Expeditions (continued from page 1) Page 3 The map on the right shows our actual satellite track for the year. Our ultimate destination was the Costa Blanca on the Spanish Mediterranean coast. We elected to cross the North Sea from the west coast of Norway to Inverness (three days), transit the Caledonian Canal (a fascinating trip in its own right), explore some of the western isles of Scotland (and their single malt distilleries) visit Belfast, the west coast of England, North Wales, Dublin and the south and west coasts of Ireland. From Kinsale we crossed the Bay of Biscay to Spain. Almost without exception we received a wonderful welcome from the people we met and we visited places steeped in maritime history. We could have spent a whole summer in any one of the regions. Sailing in the northern latitudes in the spring is challenging, it is much colder than we are used to and also wet. We were glad of the cockpit enclosure and the cabin heater. Both Scotland and the Irish Sea are subject to tides (more so in the Irish Sea where the range is about 15 feet). There are significant currents Ariel s Satellite Track and many of the harbors are accessible for only part of the tidal range. Passage planning is important and it may be necessary to depart or arrive in the middle of the night. As an example we left Whitehaven on the Cumbrian coast (the birthplace of John Paul Jones and George Washington s grandmother) at one o clock in the morning to arrive at the River Ribble entrance buoy at two o clock the same afternoon. Preston, at the head of the River Ribble, is home to my younger sister. We had to leave Preston at one o clock in the morning to catch the ebb and arrive in Beaumaris at the Eastern end of the Menai Straits anchoring under the guns of Beaumaris castle the same afternoon. The Irish Sea is shallow and subject to unpredictable and rapidly changing weather that can kick up a nasty sea in short order. There are vast arrays of windmills in the water to be avoided; not necessarily shown on the chart. Passages can be uncomfortable. From North Wales we crossed to Dublin and then cruised down the east coast of Ireland to Kinsale (and had tea with Arabella s Mum). From there we crossed the Bay of Biscay to A Coruna in Galicia (North West Spain). Rounding one of the Atlantic Capes (continued on page 4)

4 Page 4 January 2017 Sailing Expeditions (continued from page 3) Galicia is a different world; it is a tourist destination but mostly for Spaniards. They are of course friendly and welcoming but they do not really cater to American tourists with American eating habits. You learn to eat lunch at two in the afternoon and dinner at ten at night. But the food is fabulous; we arrived in the middle of a fiesta that featured food stalls throughout the squares and cobbled streets of the old town. It lasted a week and we went every night to eat somewhere different. Someone has defined long distance cruising as working on your boat in exotic locations while you wait for parts to clear customs. Very accurate and we spent two weeks in Lisbon as a result. On the plus side Lisbon is a great place to spend two weeks. We rented a car and drove all over the place. From Lisbon we continued South and then East towards Gibraltar. To get there you round some impressive capes, the most famous I suppose is Cape Trafalgar which is not in fact impressive at all, low lying and hard to make out. Cape St Vincent is awesome and in bad weather is probably terrifying. Gibraltar is fascinating and very English. They celebrated national Day while we were there lots of red and white everywhere and the beer flowed. From Gibraltar we headed up the Costa del Sol and the Costa Blanca and our final destination the Real Club Nautico Calpe in the Phoenician harbor at the foot Kite Surfers at the Entrance to Viana de Castelo, Portugal of the impressive Penon d Ifach, a 1000 foot high volcanic rock. This coast and the Spanish and Portuguese Atlantic coasts have maritime history going back to prehistoric times. For instance Cartagena has remnants of the old Phoenician city wall as well as the Roman forum, amphitheater and villas that are all in various stages of excavation. It is a challenge because Cartagena is bustling city home to a large part of the Spanish navy. We chose Calpe as our final destination because my older sister lives there and has for 55 years. Ariel is in good hands and safely in her slip awaiting our return next April. Our current plan is to spend some more time in the Mediterranean in the spring and then return to the US next winter by way of the Canary Islands, the Cape Verde Islands and Barbados. The Caledonian Canal

5 January 2017 From the Vice Commodore By Tom Chapman From the Rear Commodore By Ed Peake, Rear Commodore Page 5 I would like to thank the membership and nominating committee for granting me the honor to become Vice Commodore of RRYC. My commitment is to be worthy of your trust. Commodore Tom Decker has said that an RRYC goal for 2017 should be to get more members and friends on the water. Our outstanding Fleet Commanders will take up this challenge with Gary Hooper as Typhoon Commander, Ed Johnson as PHRF Commander, Coleman Brydon as Cruising Commander, Louise Branflick as Junior Sailing Commander, TBD as Kayak Commander and Debbie Cycotte as Flying Scott Commander. A couple of racing related seminars coming up soon is, first, US Sailing s One Day Race Management at FBYC clubhouse, on Saturday January 21. This is open to everyone in area yacht clubs that wants to be a certified race officer or just to learn more about race management. Please contact FBYC Event Chair - Jim Raper or jlraperjr@gmail.com if you have any questions. Second is the Murphy s Rules seminar March 4, 9am-12 at RRYC. This is the year of a new edition of the Racing Rules of Sailing and John McCarthy will be here to review the changes and rules in general in his easygoing and entertaining style. OPEN TO ALL. For info and to pre-register, please contact Tom Chapman at fleetcaptain@rryc.org or (804) All our commanders and myself look forward to a great year on the water and please contact any of us with ideas or questions. I look forward to working with everyone again this year and hope that you will feel free to contact me with any concerns that you might have. The December dinner at the Club was outstanding and enjoyed by all that attended. A big thank you to the social committee led by Craig and Jan Akers. The Social Committee has met and begun planning menus for the New Year. We are thankful to this group of dedicated cooks and kitchen helpers. The Events Committee has also met and has a list of events schedule for this year, they are also looking for volunteers to help with the events so please consider helping out. A Happy & Healthy New Year. May you have fair winds and following seas. US Sailing - One Day Race Committee Seminar Fishing Bay Yacht Club in Deltaville, VA -- Saturday, January 21st, 8am 5pm John McCartney, National Race Officer and Regional Judge, will conduct US Sailing s One Day Race Management seminar upstairs in the FBYC clubhouse, on Saturday January 21st with a continental breakfast beginning at 8am and catered lunch provided. The cost is $60 (requires a US Sailing membership). Registration will be available on the US Sailing website beginning on November 1st and concluding on January 16th. Registration link. This course is an opportunity to begin the race officer certification process or to become re-certified. This is open to everyone in area yacht clubs that wants to be a certified RC officer or just to learn more about race management. We hosted it in 2012 at RRYC and the certification is good for four years. If you don t want to be certified, you are not required to take the test at the end of the day. Please contact FBYC Event Chair - Jim Raper or jlraperjr@gmail.com if you have any questions.

6 Page 6 January RRYC Race Committee Report 2016 was a great year for racing at RRYC and we want to take the opportunity to recognize everyone for their tremendous 2016 Race Committee support. Without Race Committee there would be no racing! Fifty-two members and RRYC friends participated on Race Committee for Typhoon Races, PHRF Races, Typhoon Nationals, the Hospice Turkey Shoot Regatta and our Junior Sailing Regatta. Special thanks to George Kuper for training new Wildfire and Doug Power operators so we can get the RC out to the race course. For 2017 we are looking to build on our ongoing success and get even more members involved. Serving on RC is a great way to spend time on the water with friends while supporting the RRYC s racing activities. If there is enough demand, by either current RC or new RC members, we will hold an RC 101 Training Session in the Spring. In addition, we are looking for additional people willing to serve as PRO, the leader of an RC team (training available.) Please contact Tom Linville or Tom Chapman if you are interested in race committee training, being a PRO or just want to be added to our RC service list. Our Thanks to all 2016 Race Committee Participants: Tom Armstrong Tommy Asch Tom Blencowe Mitch Bober Randy Bozarth Melissa Bozarth Leah Bradford Ray Britt Coleman Brydon Sarah Carneal Tom Chapman Pete Clay Ann Marie Coe Ned Crockett Sissy Crowther Debbie Cycotte Eileen Edmonds Lance Franke Roger Gaby Bob German Eve German Gary Hooper Ed Johnson Bruce Julian Pat Julian Mike Kennedy Greg Kirkbride Sue Kirkbride Pete Knight Danielle Kuper George Kuper Ana Cristina Lapera Jesus Lapera Jerry Latell Tom Linville Doug Lyle Gordon Nelson Shelia Nelson Marshall Orr Stu Polhamus Lloyd Redlin Mike Romey Steve Savin Hal Starke Kimberly Vail Margo Van Kaenel Jerry Wachter Tom Watkins Lisa Watlington Mosby West Bob Westbrook Bill Young 2017 RRYC Race Committee Leadership Team Tom Chapman Tom Linville Gary Hooper Ahoy all sailors, this is a reminder that Sue and Charles Springett are home for the winter and will be recounting their recent sail into the Med after dinner at the January Social on the 21st. They will talk about the challenges of sailing in northern Europe, around the British Isles, down the coasts of France, Portugal and into the Med. They ll reveal their plans for the coming summer in the Med and their return via the southern route. Look for the Social announcement and be sure to reserve your dinner in time.

7 January 2017 Murphy Rules Seminar March 4 09:00-12:00 at RRYC Page 7 John McCarthy will be presenting his lively seminar on the new Racing Rules of Sailing. This is a seminar for skippers and crew. The presentation is designed to maximize understanding the rules by removing needless complexity, using real life scenarios from the racecourse and is presented in John s entertaining and humorous style. John will tackle rules changes topics such as: Tacking in the Zone; New Code U Starting Flag; Definition of Support Person (including parents); Hailing at an Obstruction; Room to Pass at an Obstruction; and, more. Cost ($20 per person) includes refreshments and materials. OPEN TO ALL. For info and to pre-register, please contact Tom Chapman at fleetcaptain@rryc. org or (804) Check out some of the RRYC Special Events Planned for 2017 from the RRYC Events Committee By Jerry Wachter RRYC is looking forward to bringing several special events in Along with other club activities, including: First Fridays, Second Saturdays, Dinner Socials, Cruising, Sailing Regattas, and Kayaking, the club is planning an active new year to appeal to all ages & members. Here is a preliminary listing of the events scheduled for If you are interested in helping with any of these events, please let us know. January Friday 13th is Movie Night showing America s Cup classic Wind (details in soon) February Sunday 5 (Super Bowl night) February Saturday 25th (Mardi Gras) March Asphalt cruise April Spring Boat Maintenance May Memorial Day Picnic June Motor, Sail, Kayak, Ride to Meroir for lunch June Community Outreach sailing, boating community invited July 4th Parade July Cocktail Races at the club August Dance night - Motown September Club reciprocity meet up at RRYC October Halloween party November Winterizing your boat November Oyster Roast December Holiday Party As soon as dates are coordinated with all other club activities they will be listed on the official RRYC website calendar.

8 Page 8 January 2017 From the Galley By Craig Akers Happy New Year! The December holiday celebration was seasonally chilly without being terribly cold. The clubhouse was very festively decorated with lots of red and greenery spread around. The cool weather made the hearty pork loin with spiced apples and Craisins with wild rice and salad appetizing. Plus the brandy Alexander desserts were extremely popular. Thanks to Harriet & Clark Meader for providing the appetizers and a big thanks to Jan Akers, Carl Isbrandtsen, Harriet & Clark Meader, Jim Schmidt, and Pam & Jim Ward for coming out on Saturday morn(continued on page 9) Set table December Social Submitting Items to The Headway th All items for publication thshould be submitted via to headway@rryc.org no later than the 20 of the prior month (i.e. by January 20 for February publication). For consistency s sake, whenever boat names are included, please italicize them only (not in all caps, not in quotation marks). Please provide photographer name with any photos submitted. For quality, photos should be jpeg files not inserted in a word file. Spell out numbers under 100 or that begin sentences. Use a twenty-four hour clock for all times (i.e. 16:00, not 4:00 P.M.)

9 January 2017 Page 9 From the Galley (continued from page 8) ing to prepare dinner. Thanks also to Sue & Charles Springett, Ann & Peter Vaden, and Pam & Jim Ward for helping serve dinner and desserts. Come out and join us in January for Italian night where the fare will be a fresh salad, a variety of pastas and sauces (red meat sauce, white seafood sauce, and pesto sauce), Italian bread, and tiramisu for dessert. We did this about three years ago and it was very popular, so make your reservations early by sending an to dinner@rryc.org. Deadline for reservations and cancellations is 06:00 on Monday morning, January 16, January Menu Fresh Salad A Variety of Pastas and Sauces (Red Meat Sauce, White Seafood Sauce, and Pesto Sauce) Italian Bread Tiramisu Christmas Crowd

10 Page 10 January 2017 Club Calendar January - February January February 6 th First Friday 13 th Movie Night 21 st Board of Directors Club Dinner 28 th Private Party 3 rd First Friday 5 th Super Bowl Party 18 th Board of Directors Club Dinner 25 th Mardi-Gras Party The Headway is the official publication of the Rappahannock River Yacht Club P.O. Box 55, Irvington, VA Web site: Tom Decker, Commodore Brad and Joan Perry, Editors Submit articles by the 20 th of the month to headway@rryc.org Rappahannock RiveR Yacht club p.o. box 55 irvington, virginia PRESORTED STANDARD PERMIT NO. 2 U.S. POSTAGE PAID LOTTSBURG, VA the headway Date-Sensitive Material