On the Water Training

The Official Newsletter of The Sailing Club, Inc. http://www.thesailingclub.org Volume 15 Number 2 Spring 2006 On the Water Training Practice makes perfect for docking, anchoring, and rafting. See how twenty Club sailors were put through their paces during our annual training weekend. Page 1 Annual Meeting New and familiar faces gathered on March 30 for The Sailing Club s Annual Meeting and dinner. Read about the trip presentation s and Board of Trustees election results. Page 5 Navigating The Sailing Club The Sailing Club s web site is your first waypoint! Page 3 On the Water Training No matter what turns up, he is always ready to alter his plans and make fresh ones, and in the meantime laughs, jokes, and enjoys a joke with anyone, and in this way keeps everyone s spirits up. Frank Worsley, captain, Endurance, on Sir Ernest Shackleton Dave Steward de-brief s the crews after a successful rafting exercise. The prediction was for chilly showers, but the weekend of May 6 and 7 commenced with blue skies and moderate spring temperatures. For the twenty sailors who participated in this year s On the Water Training in Havre de Grace, Maryland the fine weather was just one of many great aspects of the event. In addition to organizing the trip, training Coordinator Dave Steward, working with several other club skippers, revamped the training program for this year s annual season starter. Textbooks on docking and rafting were distributed in advance, and every participant received a copy of Margot Morrell and Stephanie Capparell s Shackleton s Way, Leadership Lessons from the Great Antarctic Explorer, an analysis of how Sir Ernest Shackleton s positive management style lead to the survival and rescue of his entire crew from the loss of their ship, the Endurance, in Antarctica. Along with these texts came reading assignments, of course. Although it was a training weekend, Friday evening s arrival at Baysail in Havre de Grace became the typical Sailing Club party. After getting to know the four boats, everyone went to dinner at a local restaurant specializing in seafood. After dinner many of the crew found their way into a local pool hall where the continued on page 3 1

Commodore s Corner There has been lots of news recently regarding the influence of special interests on our elected officials. Much of the press has focused on those lobbyists who represent major industries and trade groups. But there are other organizations that exist on behalf of the private citizen. I'm sure you are familiar with some of them, such as AARP and AAA. One you may not be as familiar with, but is of value to you as a mariner and Club member, is the Boat Owners Association of the United States - or BoatUS as it is familiarly known. I mention this because BoatUS just celebrated its 40th anniversary this past March. Among the causes they have fought are unfair and misapplied marine-based taxes and registration fees that single out boat owners. On a more positive note, they continue to work with government agencies to promote boating laws that make sense, which sometimes puts them at odds with another special interest group, the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), especially when it comes to product safety matters. While initially founded as a boat owner advocacy organization, BoatUS has become much more, thanks to a membership of over 650,000. This large group buying power provides for such things as marina discounts, including overnight slip rentals and fuel (the Frostbite trip is saving over a $1/ft at one marina). Popular with some Club members is the on-water towing, very useful if you sail in shallow water areas. In addition, there is the BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water. The foundation helps boaters be safer and better stewards of the environment, often through their grant program for specific projects by local non-profit organizations. Of course, all this comes at a price, though not a large one. Dues in BoatUS are normally $19 a year. However, since The Sailing Club is a Cooperating Group, you can save half. When joining or renewing, indicate our cooperating Group No. GA82513S on the form, and pay $9.50 instead. And you thought Club membership was just for the newsletter! Happy Anniversary BoatUS, and many, many, more. Steve Krakauer Commodore Mid-July Chesapeake Cruise Havre de Grace, Bodkin, Main, and Back Creeks, Georgetown on the Sassafras JULY 22-24, 2006 $350 Jeff Hamer, 609-890-1104 jhamer@njn.org, jfprodir@aol.com The Official Newsletter of The Sailing Club, Inc. 19 Manor House Drive, Dobbs Ferry, New York 10522 Mia McCroskey, Editor The Sailing Club Board Officers Commodore Steve Krakauer Vice-Commodore Larry Sherwood Membership Secretary Mary Ann Gordon Treasurer Cecilia Sweeney Charter Liaison Jon Stufflebeem Past Commodore Dave Steward Members at Large Kathy Gilchrist, Bruce Gollob, Jeff Hamer, Barbara Humphries, Joel Mack, Clara Matejka, Mia McCroskey, Doal Sanderson Please send all newsletter submissions to: Mia McCroskey 19 Manor House Drive K12, Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522 news@thesailingclub.org 2

continued from page 1 On the Water Training tables were free for the night. Some played well, others badly, and a few got hustled by sly locals. But it was all in fun. Saturday morning dawned bright and crisp. Dave s request to gather at 8:00 was mostly honored. He kicked off the session with a brief introduction and then introduced Rob Chichester to discuss the finer points of docking. And that was the assignment for the day: practicing getting in and out of a slip and docking along a bulkhead. Emphasis was to be placed on teamwork, preparation, and communication. In past years the boats have been assigned so that skippers sail together, first mates sail together, and crew sail together with the intention of focusing on skills related to these roles. This year s boat assignments mirrored reality each boat had a trainer/skipper, at least one other club skipper, at least one first mate, and crew. The four crews adjourned to their boats, where were surprisingly The crews discuss their rafting efforts. Julio discusses the finer points of anchors and anchoring. uncluttered since many sailors chose to leave most of their gear in their cars. Procedures were reviewed and lines were cast off. Two boats spent the morning going in and out of their slips, giving each sailor a chance at the helm, approaching head in and backing in. The other two boats practiced docking along side a bulkhead, doing touch and goes, as some A comfortable cockpit always attracts a party. called it, or crash and goes, as others were heard to say. The local fuel dock proved a handy exercise spot as it was a tight fit with some serious boat handling necessary to get in and out. After a lunch break the roles were reversed, and after a few more hours of practice some crews mutinied (with full participation of their skipper/trainers) and raised the sails. The breeze was in the mid-teens from the northwest, and the sailing area just outside of Baysail was just big enough for some practice of tacking, gibing, and general boat handling. On their own for dinner, the various crews tried other local restaurants with satisfactory results. The post-prandial gathering on the largest boat was jovial, but not too raucous as many of the crew realized that all that docking is tir- Rob reviews docking in the open-air classroom. continued on page 4 3

Navigating the Sailing Club On the Web Whether you are new to the Sailing Club or an old-timer, you should bookmark the club website http://www.thesailingclub.org/ as a favorite and browse it often for information. You will find it Use the calendar to keep up with all Sailing Club events. contains everything you need to be knowledgeable about both the Club and sailing in general. The 2006 Membership Package is on the site (scroll down and look to the left under the sailboat). Browse it for trip info or print it out for friends interested in sailing. In addition, all trip descriptions, with links to their sign-up forms, can be found by clicking the Current Trips link on the home page. Click on Calendar to see the current month and all scheduled activities, including the monthly board meeting. By clicking on the meeting you will learn the location, contact information and meeting time. General members are welcome to attend Board Meetings. You can change the month at the bottom of the calendar and click on the details of listed events. Use the calendar as a resource to stay current on activities. Now, built into many of the pages, is a convenient link that allows you to email any page to a friend by clicking on Tell a Friend. Lastly, if you need a membership form, the menu planner, and the crew briefing checklist or want a refresher on how to calculate latitude and longitude and distance and bearing, all of these items and more are available under Download Central. Mary Ann Gordon continued from page 3 Training ing! Dave took pity and called things to order at 9 a.m. on Sunday. Julio Menendez offered advice on anchoring and then Don Gilmore provided a discussion of rafting. So instructed, the boats set out to suit action to words. After an hour or so of individual anchoring practice, the four boats gathered for the first raft. As raft coordinator Don Gilmore directed the two larger boats to anchor side by side, and the two smaller boats to come in on either side. Through clear communication, and because of the morning review, the raft was made in short order and lunch was served. After the meal and a review, the raft broke up to re-form down stream in a different configuration. This time the first boat anchored normally, and the second boat set her anchor down-wind, backing into place next to the first. Boat number three anchored normally on their port side, and 4 boat four anchored upwind on the port side of boat number one. The result was a very solid raft with four anchors, two upwind and two downwind. The crews gathered amid-raft for a lively debriefing and analysis of the process before breaking up the raft and heading in. Thanks to Dave, Don, Julio, and Rob for creating a fun, challenging learning experience. The structured program, team building focus, and opportunities to repeat tasks that we ordinarily only do once or twice a trip all made this a very rewarding event. Dave practices calculating angles as preparation for docking exercises.

More than eighty people attended The Sailing Club s 2006 Annual Meeting. The fun, informative evening was once again held at the Somerset Hills Hotel in Warren, New Jersey. It was a well-planned event, courtesy of our Social Committee Clara Matejka (Chair), Carolyn Farnsworth, Dee Garrett, Mary Ann Gordon, Barbara Humphries, and Doal Sanderson. Quite a few of new faces as well as many familiar ones were all anxious to hear about this year's trips and for a chance at the door prizes. Commodore Steve Krakauer opened the meeting by recognizing the various volunteers who have served the Club over the past year. In addition to the Social Committee mentioned above, Steve highlighted the efforts of newsletter editor Mia McCroskey, last year's trip leaders, skippers, first mates, and of course, the Board of Trustees. Prior to announcing the election results, Steve introduced the outgoing board, in particular thanking the two that will not be continuing to serve Vic Oburg and John Sefcik. In addition, Steve acknowledged the efforts of Cliff Rimpo and Laura Laughlin, who were not able to complete their terms due to health reasons. The election results were then announced, as follows Jon Stufflebeem, Charter Liaison; Cecilia Sweeney, Treasurer; Members-at-large: Kathy Gilchrist, Bruce Gollob, Jeff Hamer, Barbara Humphries, Joel Mack, Clara Matejka, Mia Annual Meeting a Festive Evening LAKE HURON THE NORTH CHANNEL GEORGIAN BAY. McCroskey, and Doal Sanderson. Continuing to serve in their present capacity for another year are: Steve Krakauer, Commodore; Larry Sherwood, Vice Commodore; and Dave Steward, Past Commodore. On behalf of the Treasurer Cecilia Sweeney, Steve also presented the Treasurer's Report. The Club continues to be fiscally sound. It strives to price trips at an affordable level, sometimes through large discounts negotiated with charter firms,thanks to our excellent reputation and ability to make early deposits. Steve concluded his remarks with an entertaining multimedia presentation of the 2005 trips, featuring the photos provided by several members, set to various tunes. After dessert and coffee, the trip leaders made their presentations. One of the most talked about was the Memorial Day Trip act by Larry Sherwood and Barbara Humphries. Larry obtained some authentic WWII Navy uniforms that he and Barbara wore, to set the theme for this year's trip The Greatest Generation. Included in their plans is to have a Spam 'bake-off' at the raft-up, with a prize for the best recipe. All the trip presentations were well received, and attendees had a chance to talk with trip leaders after the meeting, as well as catching up with who's been doing what and generally having a great time. The Sailing Club s Annual Shoreside Spring Gathering at the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra s 2006 Giralda Farms Concert Sunday, June 25, 2006 Giralda Farms Route 124, Madison, New Jersey Gates open at 4:00 Advance tickets $8, $10 at the gate Call 973-285-5115 ext 18 for ticket info AUGUST 13 19 Jon Stufflebeem, (908) 822-8701, jonsailor@earthlink.net $1200 Look for us under The Sailing Club burgee Chapeaux Off to NJSO! Bring your best hat for the theme contest and an appetizer to share with fellow club members. Contact: Doal (doal5391@verizon.net, 908-221-0221) or Clara (clvmatejka@aol.com, 908-766-2939) 5

c/o Mia McCroskey 19 Manor House Drive, K12 Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522 2 0 0 6 S A I L I N G E V E N T S Date January 13 21, 2006 April 23 29, 2006 May 6 7 May 27 29 June 3 4 July 22 24 August 13 19 September 8 11 October 6 9 October 27 29 Event British Virgin Islands St. Martin Windjammer Cruise On the Water Training Memorial Day Intro Trip ASA Basic Keelboat Certification Havre de Grace Lake Huron Annapolis Solomons Island Frostbite Sail