The Old Man. The Monthly Newsletter of the Magothy River Sailing Association. Calendar of Upcoming Events. - February 7 - Winter Planning Party

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1 The Old Man The Monthly Newsletter of the Magothy River Sailing Association Calendar of Upcoming Events - February 7 - Winter Planning Party - March 20 - First Day of Spring February March 29 - March Brunch at AYC Commodore s Comments As we look forward to the upcoming boating season, we imagine perfect winds, in the best direction possible, great sunsets, a great anchorage, an evening meal straight from bon appetite with a very complimentary glass of wine. It s the kind of experience that keeps us coming back. As I stated in the beginning, we imagine. Most of the time, the winds are in the opposite direction while the clouds cover the warmth of the sun. We arrived a little too late at the anchorage and settled for a quick meal from a box, but we still had our glass of wine. Even though things did not go as we imagined, we keep coming back for that perfect sailing experience. The most important factor to consider is that you arrived safely. Think of it, the shear thousands of calculations made to arrive safely, the many sail adjustments, the course adjustments (crab traps, boats, etc.), engine checks/maintenance, weather decisions, supplies. You arrived safely. If only one bad decision had been made, things may have turned out completely different. The page I have attached is from the United States Coast Guard website for the 2013 boating statistics. This is only an Executive Summary for the many occurrences of boating accidents but very eye opening. It looks as if sailboats are in the minority on many of the occurrences, but alcohol and operator inattention are major contributors. 1

2 2013 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. In 2013, the Coast Guard counted 4,062 accidents that involved 560 deaths, 2,620 injuries and approximately $39 million dollars of damage to property as a result of recreational boating accidents. The fatality rate was 4.7 deaths per 100,000 registered recreational vessels. This rate represents a 13% decrease from last year s fatality rate of 5.4 deaths per 100,000 registered recreational vessels. Compared to 2012, the number of accidents decreased 10%, the number of deaths decreased 14%, and the number of injuries decreased 12.7%. Where cause of death was known, seventy-seven (77) percent of fatal boating accident victims drowned. Of those drowning victims with reported life jacket usage, eighty-four (84) percent were not wearing a life jacket. Where instruction was known, twenty (20) percent of deaths occurred on boats where the operator had received boating safety instruction. Only thirteen (13) percent of deaths occurred on vessels where the operator had received boating safety instruction from a NASBLA-approved course provider. Eight out of every ten boaters who drowned were using vessels less than 21 feet in length. Operator inattention, improper lookout, operator inexperience, excessive speed and machinery failure rank as the top five primary contributing factors in accidents. Alcohol use is the leading known contributing factor in fatal boating accidents; where the primary cause was known, it was listed as the leading factor in 16% of deaths. Twenty-two children under age thirteen lost their lives while boating in Eight children or approximately thirty-six (36) percent of the children who died in 2013 died from drowning. Two children or twenty-five (25) percent of those who drowned were wearing a life jacket as required by state and federal law. Where data was known, the most common types of vessels involved in reported accidents were open motorboats (46%), personal watercraft (18%), and cabin motorboats (17%). The 12,013,496 recreational vessels registered by the states in 2013 represent a 0.7% decrease from last year when 12,101,936 recreational vessels were registered. I am not trying to be a Debby Downer with this information, but we would like everyone to keep that perfect boating experience. Keep making those safe boating decisions, and enjoy the all the river has to offer. Thanks, Dave Ask not what MRSA can do for you, ask what you can do for your MRSA MRSA Membership Renewal Submitted by Homer Sandridge Did you know that the MRSA membership dues are the same as they were 20 years ago? In fact, no one can remember when we had the last dues increase. MRSA membership is a great way to ensure that you take full advantage of all the enjoyment that the Magothy River can offer. Current members should have received the renewal notice several weeks ago. Please mail your dues check and Red Book information to MRSA, P.O. Box 1135, Pasadena, MD today. If you did not receive the dues notice or have any questions, please contact Homer Sandridge, treasurer@magothysailing.com; Blue Moon sails the 2014 Governor's Cup race Submitted by Norm Poulsen 2:55 PM. The warning gun goes off, 5 minutes now to the start of the Governor's Cup. The air is light out of the south (of course, since that is the direction we want to go), but there is an ebbing tide to help us get to the line. The committee boat (the Pride of Baltimore) reminds the starting boats again and again that the current may push them over early, good advice for our cruising division; not all are experienced racers. 2

3 Two boats get pushed down onto the Pride, tangling their rigging with her bowsprit. The start gun fires, and we cross the line, 3 rd out of 9 boats, not too bad. The air dies some more, now 2 3 knots, not good for Blue Moon, our 15 ton cruising boat. We watch in frustration as lighter boats, starting in divisions after us, slowly catch and leave us behind. But the forecast is for more wind (and rain), so, there is hope. At about 6:00 PM, we are less than 4 miles down the 70-mile course, but the breeze is starting to increase and go more easterly, so we can now fetch Point No Point light on one tack. I ask Wes to put in more genoa halyard tension. He asks how much? as he applies some muscle to the winch, and with a loud pop, the halyard breaks. I think that's enough." The genoa drops to the deck, the attached wire end of the halyard streaming alongside the boat. We have a spare jib halyard on the mast (that I had hoped to use for the cruising spinnaker we borrowed), so we raise the genoa back up on that, losing only about 5 minutes of time. As we start to draw even with Cove Point, night has fallen, and the rain has begun. No moon, no stars, just darkness. We note the lights of a vessel far behind us, and pull up the AIS app on our phone; it is the tug Falcon, pushing a large barge. We hear on channel 13 another racer ask him what direction he is heading his answer, look at my lights. The rain increases until there seems to be more water than air, and we are spitting it out with each breath. Several crew have neglected to bring their foul weather gear, and sit huddled in misery. The wind increases with the rain to knots over the deck, and Blue Moon is now screaming through the water at 8.5 knots into absolute blackness; visibility past the bow is zero. We are both terrified and exhilarated. Spray is flying on both sides and over the cockpit as we punch our bow into solid water again and again. I remember that the two anchors on the bow rollers are tied on with only 5/16 line, of indeterminate age and strength. One has two wraps of chain around the windlass, so I am not worried about that, but the other, a CQR, is only tied down. There is 20 feet of chain and 200 feet of rode attached to it, with the bitter end of the rode tied to a ring through-bolted to a bulkhead. We are in 45 feet of water; if the anchor comes off, the rode runs out, and the anchor bites into the bottom behind the boat, that would be a very bad thing. I tell the crew I am going forward to the bow to put more line on the anchor. They all yell in unison, No, you are not!!. Simultaneously, a problem arises that takes my attention away from the anchor. The Falcon, which had been slowly catching us over the past 4 hours, is now 300 yards away, running parallel to us off our starboard stern, and as we struggle to see it's lights, it begins turning to port on a direct collision course with Blue Moon. The lights on the barge and tug are now nearly lined up directly on us, and I don't know what the Falcon is doing. I don't want to cross it's bow, so I also turn more to port, but since we are on a port close reach, I can't go too far without tacking. I am not happy, since this course is putting the waves right on our bow, and taking us away from the Point Lookout light, the next mark on the course. After all, we are still racing. The tug appears to keep coming to port; I need to find out what is going on. I get the handheld VHF, and call the Falcon on 13, saying I am the sailboat off their port bow (wondering if they can see my lights or get an image of Blue Moon on radar with the heavy rain), that I had noted their turn, and what was his intention. He says something unintelligible about Hooper Island; I have no idea what he means, so say I can go a little more to port, did he want to pass me on my starboard side. He replies No, no, you go to starboard, and I will pass behind your stern." Just what I want to hear! We fall off onto a course directly towards Point Lookout light, the waves are at a better angle, and we are now on a beam reach. Falcon and barge pass 100 yards behind us, appearing mainly as an increase in the blackness. The wind keeps backing (contrary to the forecasts that said it would go more south), so when we round the light, we will need to jibe. As we approach the light, boats begin to converge out of the blackness, a strange feeling since we had seen no other sailboats for several hours. As we make the turn in close quarters with 4 other boats, the crew mistakenly grabs the genoa sheet ahead of the turning block, fouling up the jibe; paying attention to that rather than to our course, I nearly run head on into the light; it should be easy to miss since it is 39 feet tall. The wind lightens as we head up the Potomac towards the turning mark into the St. Mary's River, and continues to back, so, we now face what we had hoped to avoid, a beat up the river to the finish line. Blue Moon is meant to go 500 miles in one direction not short tack up a narrow channel. The breeze continues to drop now to about 5 6 knots, so we can still sail but have to watch a line of boats come from behind and pass us. The rain is a little lighter, but several soaked crew are still shivering in the cockpit. We are dead tired, cold and wet but struggle to make good tacks and sail our best course. We finally see the Dove anchored as the finish line boat, and at 4:54 AM cross the line, 4 th out of 9 boats, only 1 minute 2 seconds out of third place after 14 hours of racing. As we drop anchor in Horseshoe Bend off of St. Mary's College, the rain stops and the first light of dawn creeps over the horizon. Champagne corks pop, and strangely enough, we begin to think about next year. 3

4 Racing Corner Hello Racers, MRSA Race Planning Meeting The Race Planning Meeting will be held this year at Ledo's Pizza in Severna Park at 522 Ritchie Highway on Thursday February 26, 2015.The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m., but we have the room starting at 6:00 p.m. Pizza, beer and soft drinks will be provided for all attending and we would like to have a $5 contribution at the door. Skippers, crew and prospective racers along with anyone who may be interested in Wednesday night sailing on the Magothy, please attend. This year, we are considering having a Cruising Class Start for the third and fourth series during the summer if there is enough interest. This would be a non-scored event other that actual elapsed time on the course, and PHRF Ratings would not be required to participate. Sailors will receive an award if six out of the eight races are completed. More details to follow please contact the Race Committee if you are interested. race_committee@magothysailing.com Racers who have suggestions, concerns or a topic they would like to bring up at the meeting, please send a note to the Race Committee. This will also be a chance to select prime dates for RC Duty before they are assigned. The Cruising Class will not be required to serve RC Duty. We have some awards that were not picked up at the Fall Party. These will be available for pick up at the planning Party. The following have awards to pick up: BUMBLE BEE, NIGHTINGALE, JEZEBEL, LOLA THE WILD CHILD, HADLEY MOVIN, MULTIHULL (CHERIE MERRYMAN) CHESSS CHESSS is a new organization being formed to provide enjoyable racing for Shorthanded sailing (Singlehanded and Doublehanded). There is growing interest in this kind of racing on the bay, and an organizational meeting will be held at the Potapskut Sailing Association on Saturday, February 21 at hours. This will be a chance for those who would enjoy a different kind of challenge in bay racing where the "efficiency" aspects (fancy new sails, racing bottom and well honed crews) are minimized, and the tactical and helmsmanship (and yes, the "Macguyveristic" challenges of inherent inefficiencies found in Shorthanded sailing are what wins races. The schedule, safety aspects and Shorthanded sailing ethos (look after each other, winning matters less than the inherent challenge, sailing safely) will be discussed. It is hoped that CHESSS boats will be offered starts in numerous bay races. For more information, come to the meeting or contact Rich Acuti salvage210@gmail.com Thanks, Shep 4

5 Save the Date - March 29, 2015 Submitted by Joe Jackins The MRSA March Brunch will be held at the Annapolis Yacht Club on Sunday, March 29th at 11:00 a.m. Please mark your calendars and plan on attending. We will hold the traditional ceremony presenting flags to the new Flag Officers for 2015 followed by a good speaker. The 2014 photo contest winners will also be awarded. Look for more details in next month's Old Man. Mariner's Notice Mariners have you ever noticed that your boat is a lot bigger when you are sanding the bottom, and then when you put it back in the water, it shrinks. Bay Bites Bay bites is a new addition to the Old Man of tasty treats that can be made on a boat. I know we all love our boats and enjoy eating, so, dig up your favorite boat recipe from your galley to share with the MRSA members Please send your recipe to newsletter@magothysailing.com, and I will publish it in Bay Bites. MRSA Classified MRSA Classifieds good deals from MRSA members HELP WANTED: MRSA is looking to fill the position of Editor for the OLD MAN. If you have a computer, you qualify for the job. If you are willing to take on the job or would like to volunteer someone else, contact: Mike Bonham at mwbonham@aol.com or call at LOOKING TO CREW: I live in the mouth of Deep Creek on the Magothy and am interested in finding a boat to race on for next year. I am an experienced sailor (not a racer) and own a Cal 29 and 15' day sailor. Contact is wgoodhand@moog.com or Rick Goodhand SAIL FREE once a week... Willing to train but you must be dedicated to learning. We may be out in rough conditions, so, this is not for the faint of heart. We leave the dock at 4:30 PM sharp. All summer long, starting mid April. We can teach you if you are able to handle yourself on a "small boat" in heavy weather. Please respond with a contact number, SailingDr@aol.com. FOR SALE: 1999 West Marine/Zodiac 8.5 ft. inflatable dinghy with HP 4-stroke Yamaha with very low hours. Needs tune-up. Contact Bill Van Wambeke FOR SALE: Island Packet 370 "Ariake" for sale. Perfect for cruising the bay (draft only 4' 3" and a well-protected prop) or heading out to blue water (yes, she's equipped), Ariake had most of her electronics and all of her running 5

6 rigging replaced last year. Visit ariake.us to learn more about this wonderful comfortable vessel. Contact us before we contract with a broker - info@ariake.us. FOR SALE: ISLANDER Designer : Alan Gurney Builder: Islander Yachts LOA : LWL: BEAM: DRAFT: 6 0 Displacement: 13,450 lbs. Ballast: 5450 lbs. Sail Area: 576 sq ft. Fiberglass hull. Eggshell color. Equipment: Schaefer head furler. Raymarine instruments: Wind, speed, log, depth, Raymarine autopilot, Raymarine GPS. Radio: Standard. Sails: North Main, Genoa 150 percent, Genaker. Winches: 4 at cockpit, 4 on mast, 1 on deck. Spinnaker boom on deck. Dodger, bimini and extension, side panel. Engine: Pathfinder 50. Price: $19,000. PHILIPPE MASIEE PHONES: , FOR RENT: Now taking reservations for the 2015 season. Waterfront home on a bridged private island on Lake Winnipesaukee (New Hampshire). 3 bedroom, 2 bath vintage cottage sleeps 6-8, with 125 feet of shoreline, dock, 2 kayaks, 1 canoe. Located on a pretty cove protected from waves and wind for great swimming but with direct access to the open lake. Western exposure so you can soak up the warm late afternoon sunshine on the large deck. Flat screen TV, wireless internet, and a washer/dryer are included. Lake Winnipesaukee, located just south of the White Mountains, is the third largest natural lake in New England, 22 miles long and 8 miles wide with hundreds of coves and islands. You can see the bottom through 10 feet of crystal clear water at the end of the dock. Quaint towns, multiple outdoor activities for adults and kids, and many excellent restaurants are all nearby. Google "Black Cat Island" to see the location. Special rate for MRSA members - $1650/week Contact Norm and Chris Poulsen at cnpoulsen@gmail.com for more information and pictures. 6

7 Hey little girl, want some candy? Valentine King and Queen Rich Hughes & Kathy Polk Sorry, we missed the party. The Old Man Magothy River Sailing Association P.O. Box 1135 Pasadena, MD Treasure the Chesapeake! Please do your part to restore the Bay and actively make it cleaner. htttp:// 7