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

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1 The Chowder Chatter Newsletter of the Caloosahatchee Marching & Chowder Society A Premiere Sailing Club of Southwest Florida Next Full Moon June 15 June 2011 Membership Report Summertime, and the living is easy a familiar lyric and so meteoric to the hot days in Florida. Not that many years back... many businesses closed during the summer months and the residents took off to their homes in the mountains. Looking at the summer months on our calendar we are easing on activities. This is really a great time for membership to grow as there are many land activities to enjoy and meet members. It is the time when we are preparing our boats for the storm season and to help one another in our efforts to keep our boats safe. CMCS goes on sale during the summer months ~ Beginning July 1 st and our new membership rate is half (1/2) price until October. Great buy for anyone who just wants to give us a try! A full membership is $90. that includes calendar, club burgee, WEB access and right to participate in all functions of CMCS. If crewing is your choice ~ $40.00 for that same bargain. FLEET RECRUITER Bev Duff Still looking for Sail Mates to mentor new members ~ helping them get to know the Club and our activities. It is just being a friend to a fellow sailor and sharing our Club activities. If this sounds like something you would like to do ~ don t be shy about stepping up. In June we have a number of boats cruising to the Keys and 10,000 Islands, Bob and I are hosting the Fisherman s Village Cruise mid June and then the finality of the 4 th of July cruise up river. There is the fun Ladies Day Race where a gal must be helming the boat. It is our laid back and relax time ~ those lazy, hazy days of summer. If anyone else has changes or updates, please send me an and I ll make sure to get it taken care of as quickly as possible. In my world, no news is good news SO if I don t get a phone call or an advising of a change I can t help you with your question. I try to get the updated roster to the WEB site ea. month. See you all out on the water ways of SW Florida! Danger Island Chowder Contest Winners <- Left Best Taste Winners were Joan Perkett, 2nd; Judy Tomlins, 3rd, and Cindy Nauman, 1st. Best Presentation Right-> Steve and Cindy Romaine, Cathy Mullins, DeeDee Cheek and Jimmi Chew. and Russel Vance Governer for Life of Danger Island.

2 SUMMERSET 2011 STEVE ROMAINE CHAIRMAN Less than 135 days left til Summerset! STEVE ROMAINE Many of our major sponsors West Marine, Offshore Sailing School, Lexus of Fort Myers, Morgan Stanley, Olsen Marine have committed to the 46 th Summerset Regatta, October 7 th, 8 th, and 9 th. Have You??? I hope so. As Billy Fucillo says at Kia motors, It s going to be HUGE!! Lots of boats, racing and cruising, great parties, fabulous hatch prizes, the best trophies, give-aways and sea-tales galore. Make your commitment now, then send your entry form in early, go to each and every event, and participate in support of youth sailing by putting your boat name on the regatta t-shirt for only $100. VICE COMMODORE, SUMMERSET The latest news: Matanzas Inn has offered us a limited number of rooms at $75. The pink shell resort also has special room and dockage rates for our Regatta. Salty Sam s Marina has matched Moss Marine s price per foot at $1.25 for dockage. Tell your out-of-town friends bringing boats, or sign up yourselves, early please, as last year we filled Moss Marine s docks. Take a chance on the raffle. The 2011 Summerset Raffle has a new twist three wonderful prizes: the Colgate Sailing School 3-day course; a hand painted framed chart donated by Cape Coral s Gallery and Gift, and a 2- night/3-day stay at the fabulous Diamond Head Resort at Fort Myers Beach. See Suzanne Aguilera for raffle chances. Sailing Grants issued to children attending the Edison Sailing Center Summer Programs total eleven. We need more kids as we have $$$ allocated for them. ESC has three summer sessions so if you know of children that would enjoy the experience of learning to sail, contact Chuck Milbrandt, Administrator, CMCS Grant Fund. Congratulations to each of you who supported the CMCS-Sponsored West Marine Community Day, April 20 th. As a result or our support, community support, and the great West Marine McGregor store sales staff, they had a record sales day. That means West Marine will present a check to Edison at our September general meeting for almost $1,100 WOW!! Stay tuned many more surprises to come. Circle the dates on your calendar: October 7 th, 8 th and 9 th, Summerset Happy Sailing! Steve 2

3 RACING NEWS Rear Commodore of Racing May was a slow month for CMCS racing. On Saturday, May 14, we attempted the Estebel Night Race. The race was to begin at 6:00 PM, but the weather gods conspired against the fleet! Approximately half of the boats entered actually came out (or attempted to come out). The weather forecast was for southwest winds and light showers and the radar showed some light showers west of Sanibel. By 5:45 PM the winds were and the waves were building. The Committee Boat struggled to set the starting mark (Marker 2 was missing) and I was not doing well being tossed around in that little powerboat. I decided to abandon the race and we all headed for shore. Winds were recorded at 32 mph gusting to 45 mph at Cape Harbor during the rain squall that followed and the sky turned black to the north with lots of lightning. It turns out that abandonment was probably the wise choice-i didn t get any opposition from anyone on the race course! Thanks to Jolly Mon for picking up the mark and to everyone who called me later to ask how I was feeling! (I was fine). Steve Roake There seems to be an interest in re-scheduling the Estebel Night Race so we will attempt to start the race again on Saturday, June 4 - same time, place and course. Those that have already entered are automatically entered again. If you choose not to race, the entry fee will be rolled over to the next race you wish to participate in. The Ladies Race is coming up on Saturday, June 11. Please let the Race Chairman know as soon as possible if you intend to participate. Remember that this race requires a female at the helm during the race! This year, we will have a summer break. After the Ladies Race, there will be no more racing until the Kayusa Cup on September 17. Mike Kayusa has again graciously agreed to be the RC for this race. More to follow on this as the race date draws closer. In other news This summer Edison Sailing Center will be having Adult Sailing on the first and third Wednesday of each month, beginning after Memorial Day, and running up to Labor Day. Small dinghies will be available for informal racing. This will be an opportunity for all those "Big Boat" sailors to race around the buoys in some real boats! All newcomers and guests are welcome, but this will technically not be a learn-to-sail program. Hope to see you out on the water starting WEDNESDAY JUNE 1 from 6-8PM weather permitting. Sailing will be at the NORTH SHORE LOCATION. The cost will be $20.00/person donation to benefit the ESC youth sailing program. Youth sailors are welcome to participate as helpers and racers. (Guidelines will follow from Mike.) Enterprising youth sailors are often willing to rig and de-rig for a nominal fee. Just a friendly reminder, the North Shore Location is on Lee County Parks property, and is an alcohol free facility. Any questions feel free to call or Damien Lin at (239) or esteroali@comcast.net. The Fort Myers Sailing Club sponsored their fourth annual River District Regatta on Saturday, May 14 raising almost $300 to benefit the Edison Sailing Center. They had 15 boats participating, including four CMCS boats and three ESC boats. Steve and Theresa Roake s Meritorious was first overall and David and Cindy Naumann s Jolly Mon was third overall. Also participating was John Finnegan s Miss Cathleen and Mark Beauvois and Bobby Lee s Dan-Ifr-Ann. The three Sonar s from the Edison Sailing Center, sailed by ESC students, proved to be formidable competition! CMCS was well represented in the Bone Island Regatta held from May 19 to 23. In the race from Naples to Key West, Ned Christensen s Passion III was first in the multi-hull division; Forrest Bank s Midnite Rider was first in the spinnaker division; and Steve Romaine s Air Supply was second in the non-spinnaker division. CMCS was represented in the true-cruising division by John Finnegan s Miss Cathleen. Jerry Watkins did a great job organizing the race as well as the parties in Key West. Participation was up about 50 percent from last year! Everyone reported having a good time! In the race back to Naples, Steve Romaine s Air Supply was first in the non-spinnaker division; Ned Christensen s Passion III was first in the multi-hull division; Forrest Banks Midnite Rider was second in the spinnaker division and John Finnegan s Miss Cathleen was second in the truecruising division. Congratulations to all! 3

4 Cruising News I hope that everyone has taken advantage of the excellent cruising weather that the month of May provided. I have managed to get out a couple of times for a cruise, besides participating in a couple of races. Our weather has been absolutely beautiful! Just one more reason to live in Florida. June is also a pretty good month for cruising. We will be using the time period scheduled for the Keys Cruise to instead go to the Ten Thousand Islands. By now you will have received at least one detailing the changes for this cruise. Fisherman s Village is scheduled for June th. Reservations are required in advance, so contact Beverly or Bob Duff with your intentions to go on the cruise. They will make the necessary arrangements for you. This is always a fun time, so plan on coming along. Rear Commodore of Cruising Ned Christensen I ll look forward to seeing all of you on the upcoming cruises. So get out on the water and enjoy your boat. AHOY MATES Plotting our course for June 2011 Cruise Fishermen s Village in Punta Gorda on beautiful Charlotte Harbor Is our destination. Slips a plenty awaiting us ~ so don t hesitation! A rate not to be beat at $2.00 ft + discount. Electric 30 amp $2.50 per day & 50 amp $ 5. Daily. The more Participants ~ the better the discount! We have the use Of the Yacht Room f/ our activities during our stay. Very nice, clean Facilities including showers and laundry. Lots to do with amenties a plenty. Close to the Historic town Of Punta Gorda. Pool, grills, tennis and bikes. Day of beauty at Spa or just lounge around. Eat out or eat In, shop til you drop! If Group would like to do Harbor cruise that can be arranged at group pricing. Planned departure Wed. June 15 th with night at anchor then onto Fisherman s Village for 2-3 nights with return to Ft. Myers on Sunday the 19 th. Those who wish to linger are welcome. Please contact Bev & Bob Duff via ArgusGdn@comcast.net OR via phone The more boats the better the discount Please leave skippers name, Boat name, length, beam, draft and contact phone. Invite you to look at their WEB site Change in Plans This is to notify everyone that because of minor scheduling problems, the Keys Cruise will now be going to the Ten Thousand Islands for a week. Also, the departure date has been changed to June 7-12, Janette has an appointment in Gainsville for a post surgery checkup on June 6th, (that I forgot about) and I will drive up there and back on the 6th. I will then depart on the 7th to either catch up to, or join the cruise. If anyone wishes/wants to leave early, please do so, and I/we will catch up along the way on the afternoon of the 7th. Plan on sailing down to Chutney Bay, then on to Panther Key. Those inquisitive enough can also follow me over to Whitehorse Key for a night. (also a change of location and information to those who come.) We'll get up to Everglades City to have lunch at the Rod and Gun Club. Remember that the Rod and Gun Club does not take charge cards. Bring lots of cash. (maybe a local check??) After leaving Indian Key, or there abouts, we will sail (really, put up those white things and use the wind) slowly around the Romano Shoals and anchor at the mouth of Capri Pass. (depending on the weather and wind). On the final day, we'll sail back to marker 101 and home. Sailorned@embarqmail.com or call me at to let me know if you intend to come along. If needed, we'll have a get together at my house to "plan the trip", or maybe just have a cold beer and chat. Ned Christensen 4

5 Going North Cruise 2011 The first day of the North cruise was as exciting as opening day at Yankee Stadium. Your new cruise leaders were Russell & Kathleen Vance. The winds were a clean Easterly, thus everyone had a great three or four hour sail, depending on their starting time. Entering Pelican Bay were: Shadowfax, Blank Check, Gopher Baroque, Free Style, Lazy Susan. The 5:31 cocktail hour started on time, after the 20-minute tie-up at Shadowfax. Groceries were passed around for an hour, when the great white squall appeared out of the East. The 20-minute tie-up turned into a 2-minute take-off as the members fled to their open hatches. 40-knot winds accompanied the two fronts that entered the Bay, as everyone extended their anchor scopes. The rest of the night was fair to middling. Sunday morning we faced 20-knot winds and 3-foot plus seas, forcing us to the inside, rather attempting Boca Grand Pass and the shallow Swash Channel. Needless to say, two hours into the trip everything was beautiful. Five bridges later we slid into the Crows Nest Marina in Venice, with Free Style opting to anchor off Higel Park. Ron and Shirley ( Ix-less ) Maddix, and Steve Romaine and Cindy Carlino joined us for cocktails and dinner at the Crows Nest Restaurant. Monday we cast off and set out through the Venice Inlet, heading north for Longboat Pass. The wind was out of the East, making sailing a beauty. Similar to the seven plagues of biblical times, we were attacked by our local locusts the love bugs. Relief appeared as we entered the pass and the anchorage at Moores. That night we all had dinner, where the stone crabs were all-you-can-eat for a fixed price. Tuesday we dinghied to the town of Bradenton Beach for shopping and lunch. Later we went to the inlet beach to enjoy the challenge of swimming in a five-knot current. That evening we had cocktails aboard Freestyle. Wednesday, we picked up anchors and headed back through the intracoastal and Sarasota Bay to Venice. We enjoyed cocktails in air-conditioned comfort aboard Gopher Baroque, and dinner together at the Crows Nest Pub. Thursday the fleet separated, with some heading to Palm Island, Pelican Bay, home, and hanging out another day at the Crows Nest. Friday, NOAA, at 7:30 AM predicted South winds at 10-knots with an afternoon shower, going to Southwest with 1-2 foot swells. After eyeballing the sky conditions, we sent up our own weather balloon, which had different readings than NOAA. We took the intracoastal waterway to Pelican Bay, vs. the outside Gulf route. The winds were south all the way, ranging from 18 to 22 knots. Those who traveled in the Gulf may still be there. Saturday and Sunday provided perfect days at the beach, for exercising, swimming and relaxation. Then we were greeted by the arrival of High Heels with ( wrong-way ) Roger and Kathy Horton. We had spoken to Roger earlier about going on the North cruise, however, he must have confused it was the Going South cruise. When they arrived in the Keys they realized their error, and turned around, heading for Pelican Bay. Needless to say, cocktails were on High Heels. 5

6 At the marina Going North Cruise 2011 Franklin Locks Cruise July 1 July 4 th or 5 th Most cruisers will arrive by land or by sea/river on Friday, July 1 st. We will stake out the covered pavilion and picnic tables as our social hub. Happy Hour will be at 5:00 PM under cover. Dinner will be catch as catch can. Saturday, July 2 nd will feature our traditional Trivial Pursuit tournament. The crappie toss will return by popular demand. We will have a planking contest. It involves lying face down in funny positions, so we should have lots of expertise. Happy Hour will be at 5:00. Plan to grill at the pavilion and bring a dish to share at 6:30. Sunday, July 3 rd will feature our famous dinghy ride up Hickey Creek, time determined by a break in the sultry weather most likely in the morning. We are not sure if there is a camel to be spotted there anymore, but a prize will be awarded to the first person to spot an unusual animal. Happy Hour and open grill at the usual times. There may also be a fishing tournament, an opportunity to watch drag boats, Pin the Tail on the Alligator or Cracker Girl in a Bikini Contest as well as Hairy Boca Ball and exciting ham radio demonstrations. Many boats and land cruisers will depart on Monday. We are staying behind in hopes that the local fireworks display will be as good as last year s. At time of publishing, there was only one campsite left and none of the reserved slips were available. There are also 4 slips available on a first-come, first-served basis. Some of our members choose this option. Many members drive up to join in our fun and games. Driving directions are from I-75, take Exit 143, following Bayshore Boulevard E to SR 31. Turn on SR 31 N and travel 1.5 mi to SR 78. Turn E on SR 78 for 3 mi to North Franklin Lock Rd. Follow signs into campground. 6

7 Memo May 10, 2011 TO: FROM: RE: CMCS Board of Directors and General Membership Stephanie Webb, Director Reciprocity Survey Results A survey to determine interest within the General Membership of CMCS regarding club reciprocity was distributed through the electronic newsletter, Chowder Chatter, during the month of April. The response to the survey was minimal: roughly 12% of the membership responded. To those who did take the time to complete the survey or seek additional information, the Board expresses its appreciation! Of those responding, all but one indicated interest in further discussion and/or full support for seeking membership to the YCA (Yacht Clubs of America). Of these, most agreed that they would be willing to do a pro rata share of the cost, if the budget would not include such membership as a whole. My recommendation, based on the limited response, would be for individuals who are interested in reciprocity outside the usual regatta settings might inquire with their desired yacht clubs for temporary and/or overnight status. Based on the minimal response, it would appear at least on the first blush that few people are interested in pursuing this option. LBC Summer Hiatus Like the song says, "See you in September". Sue Stier and Rose Ann Hoffman your Snowbird leaders will be going up North for the summer, Sue to Missouri and Rose Ann to CT. No LBC June-September. October 16 - Day Sail, November 10-Yoga on board the Judy-Judy and December 14 - Christmas Party & Pirate Swap. Have a Great Summer RoseAnn 7

8 8 Danger Island Memorial Day Cruise

9 C.M.C.S. CHANDLERY Buy, sell, trade Members, to advertise your boating-related items free in the CMCS Chandlery, Don Lawson, 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 sent in digital format only : Members: 3 months, $25.00 Non-members: 3 months, $50.00 DOCK SPACE FOR RENT Sail boat accessible. Easy access to gulf, south of Cape Coral Parkway/off Skyline SW 8th Place. $200 per month. Additional information contact Dina May or dina.dinamay@gmail.com 6/11 Boat Slip Available Deep water, Fort Myers Beach, Siesta Isles. Same canal as Bob Duff. Water and electric included. Up to 45 feet. Call /11 Marine Equipment Needed CMCS Photos Please Contribute Bring your camera and remember to use it! 50 Amp to 30 Amp shore power adapter Aluminum dock ladder (for permanent mounting to dock) If you would like to sell, please contact Russell Vance, or vances105@comcast.net. Don t forget to visit the club photo share site 5/1 This space available for rent Inquire Within 6/11 9

10 CMCS Chowder Chatter c/o Don Lawson, Editor 1411 SW 53rd. Ln. Cape Coral, FL CMCS SCHEDULE OF EVENTS JUNE 2011 June 4 Estebel Night Race June ,000 Island Cruise June 11 Ladies Day Race June Fisherman s Village Cruise June hours Social Hour 1930 hours General Meeting July 1-4 Franklin Locks Cruise and RV Campout 10