waterspout The official newsletter of the Grand Rapids Sail and Power Squadron A Unit of the United States PowerSquadron Sailing and Power Boating, District 9 1620 Olson NE, Grand Rapids, Mighigan 49503 april jan. sept 2011 2012 vol. vol. 57 58 59 no. 05 no. 81
U N I T E D S T A T E S S A I L AND P O W E R S Q U A D R O N S S A I L and P O W E R B O A T I N G G R A N D R A P I D S S A I L AND P O W E R S Q U A D R O N DISTRIC T 9 GRSPS 2010-2011 Bridge Commander Executive Officer Administrative Officer Squadron Education Officer Treasurer Secretary Cdr Curtis Campbell, AP Lt/C David Brinks, AP Lt/C James Kearns, AP Lt/C Daniel Rightmire, AP Lt/C Tim Proos, P Lt/C Michael Smith, AP Executive Committee Lt Dakota Hewlett, AP Lt Robert Hewlett, AP Lt Bernhard Kleinselbeck, JN P/C James Molenaar, AP P/Lt/C Michael Pokrywka, AP P/C Robert Rehkopf, AP P/C David Ristow, AP P/Lt/C Diane Stehouwer, P P/Lt/C John Strauss, P P/Lt/C Allan Veen, AP P/C Denny Webb, JN P/Lt/C Kim Wilson, AP Lt Greg Young, AP Acting Editor Birgit Molenaar 3274 Pinoak Ct. SE Grand Rapids, MI 49546 H: 616-942-7100 E-mail: jimbirg@iserv.net Designer Kristin Huyck C: 616-690-1665 E-mail: KrissyT267@yahoo.com Webmaster Deb Jones C: 616-309-4025 E-mail: webmaster@grsps.org General Membership Meetings are held on the second Thursday of the month at various locations in the Grand Rapids area and are announced monthly in the Waterspout Executive Committee Meetings are held on the fourth Thursday of the month at Squadron Headquarters at 1620 Olson St., NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49503 visit www.grsps.org The Waterspout is published ten (10) times a year, September through June, by Grand Rapids Sail and Power Squadron, 1620 Olson St, NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49503. The articles, advertisements and opinions expressed therein do not necessarily reflect USPS or GRSPS policy, unless so designated. Articles may be reprinted without permission, if credit is given to the author, GRSPS and the Waterspout.
what's inside View from the Helm 2 Greetings from the Executive Officer 3 Education Office 4 Safety Check 6 General Meeting BBQ 7 The Commander's Club 8 Birthdays 8 1
View from the Helm of Indecision on Lake Michigan Over Summer Commander Curt Campbell, AP September 2012 I gave up on the Mastercraft ski boat for this summer, but am looking forward to it being operational next year. Meanwhile, our cruiser (Indecision) hosted Patty & I for a couple of weekends along Lake Michigan and a weeklong trip to various ports on the Wisconsin side (it was a fuelish week, but we enjoyed great weather and a lot of FUN with friends and people we met ). Yes, I STILL love boating! The Keenan Marine ABC3 class completed on June 9 th. THANKS to Jim & Birgit Molenaar, Bob Rehkopf, Randy & Debbie Jones and Dan Rightmire for your continued dedication and commitment to making this class a success! I know several of you have been very active in performing Vessel Safety Checks over Spring and Summer. Thank You to all who have been involved, particularly to Diane Stehouwer, Dave Brinks and Terry Grotemat. This program not only ensures boats meet safety requirements, but results in valuable public interaction for our squadron and for USPS as a whole. As late Summer and Fall arrive, there are numerous activities and events on the horizon. By the time your read this, you should already have received a post card and email with details inviting you to our September General Meeting picnic, graciously being hosted by Dave and Sallie Brinks at their home. I hope to see you there! The National Governing Board meeting is in Detroit September 5-8, District 9 Fall Conference is in Sterling Heights October 26-28 and our Change of Watch and Commander s Ball will be on Saturday, November 3 rd. Please save these dates and join us for these events. Classes will also be starting soon stay tuned for details in the Waterspout and on our GRSPS web site. THANKS for your support! I hope we all can continue a great summer and get out on the water for a few more weeks!! Curt 2
From the desk of the Exec Wow, what a great summer this has been! And as any Michigan boater knows, it s far from over, with lots of great boating opportunities well into October. And while fuel prices have been high and water levels low, boating in Michigan has continued on and we have enjoyed it immensely. At the time of this writing, we have returned our travel trailer to Grand Haven State Park at a site along the channel where we can watch the passing boats and monitor marine radio activity. And as we always do at this time of the year, we can t help but wish we had taken more time to enjoy this awesome Michigan summer and vow to do better next year. In the absence of a Predicted Log event this year, many of us have filled our spare time with the Vessel Safety Check program. We are well on our way to another record-setting year and we haven t finished yet. We started out with scheduled events in June at a number of West Michigan marinas. Terry Grotemat again leads the way with examinations. You still have time to complete additional examinations, so don t hesitate to offer this service to as many fellow boaters as possible and if you still need a Vessel Safety Check, contact me. Water-related accidents continue to plague us. We just lost two more boaters off Ludington, one a Ludington local with plenty of Lake Michigan experience. Many accidents involve swimmers at our beaches. We continue to see kids (and not-so-kids) jumping from the piers into rough water. Some dive in and hit the bottom, medical personnel respond and another individual goes to the hospital in a neck brace with our prayers that they will not suffer permanent injury. After they are taken away, there is a lot of head shaking; a brief lull in activity, and then it starts all over again. Let s do all we can to keep boating and all water-related activities safe and enjoyable for everyone. Education remains the key and in particular, boating education. You can be a part of that effort. You are the Power Squadron. You make safe boating and water safety happen. By now, you are aware we will host the September Membership Meeting at our home. It will include a cookout and potluck. We hope for a very good turnout as we regale each other with our tales of summer experiences and gear up for another season of squadron activities. Look for announcements in this Waterspout, the mail and by email. Shifting gears, if your marina or boating supplies store would like to reach the members of Grand Rapids Sail and Power Squadron, we offer advertising opportunities in the Waterspout. How about your favorite waterside restaurant? Virtually any business can advertise. Contact me for more information on rates. We will work with advertisers. Rates are reasonable and squadron members patronize the advertisers. This is a great way to help support the squadron and now is a good time to reach advertisers when their cash registers are reasonably full. And now, how about those summer boating photos you were going to provide the squadron to update the CD we use at the Boat Show? Boating activities, events, safety issues and even mistakes are all worth a photo. Send them along to Denny Webb or me so we can accumulate them and use them to make our presentation more effective. I hope you will continue to enjoy your summer of boating and do it safely. Lt/C Dave Brinks XO@grsps.org 3
SQUADRON EDUCATION OFFICE Notes, September, 2012 If your summer has been like mine, it has gone very quickly. So now it is late August and I have heard the call to write for the September Waterspout. We look forward to the coming fall-winter-spring education season. I will start by summarizing last education season (2011-2012). Our advanced, elective courses: Elective Course Start Date ( # Sessions) # Graduated Administrators Instructor Piloting Oct 4, (10) 3 Bill Isenberg, Dan Rightmire Jim Kearns Advanced Piloting Jan 3, (11) 3 Dan Rightmire Scott Bloom Seamanship April 17, (7) 8 Dan Rightmire, Bob Rehkopf Jim Kearns Our introductory course, America s Boating Course- 3 rd Edition: Venue Start Date (8 Hours) # Graduated (Total 68) Administrator Instructors Dutton Christian Middle School Rockford Freshman High School Grand Rapids West Marine Hudsonville Action Water Sports Spring Lake Keenan Marina Jan 10 14 Dave Brinks Molenaar, Rightmire, Rehkopf, Evans March 12 8 Bob Rehkopf Molenaar, Rightmire, Greg Young, Evans April 18 15 Doug Evans Molenaar, Rightmire, Rehkopf April 23 24 Jim Molenaar Molenaar, Rightmire, Rehkopf June 2 7 Jim Molenaar Molenaar, Rightmire, Rehkopf Others who helped out included Curt Campbell, Patty and Gary Harkins, Jim Kearns, Vicki Rehkopf, and Al Veen. I sincerely extend my apologies to anyone whom I may have inadvertently omitted from the above lists. A hearty thank you, and well done to all who have assisted in this worthwhile, successful venture. 4
Notice that 8 persons carried the bulk of the work of administering and instructing for these courses, 82 students in 8 courses from October to June! As we look forward, we see the potential for extending our services. Sites we might add for this season s ABC-3 courses include Kentwood Valleywood Middle School, Kentwood Gander Mountain, Forest Hills Northern High School, and East Grand Rapids Reeds Lake. Calendar openings would appear to exist in the autumn months, and in Jan, Feb, Mar, and possibly June. Most of the ABC-3 courses run as one 2- hour session a week for 4 weeks, but occasionally are done as 2, 4-hour weekend sessions. This squadron has the ability to conduct the advanced, elective courses of Marine Electronics, Cruise Planning, Weather, Sail, Engine Maintenance, and (celestial) Navigation. The Instructor Development course is available for those who wish to develop or improve their presentation skills. These courses can be scheduled as the membership express their interest in taking the courses. A course might be offered as soon as this fall if enough candidates come forward. Tentatively planned are Marine Electronics and Piloting. Speak up! As you can see, this squadron has enormous potential for service, education, and social functions. We ask that members come forward to assist in the creative work of the squadron by volunteering to become course administrators and instructors. Much help is available to develop the latent or unexpressed talent within our membership. Participation heightens the value of your personal membership. Daniel A. Rightmire, SEO 5
Grand Rapids Vessel Safety Check has had a great Summer!! P/C David Brinks deserves most of the credit for keeping the enthusiasm up & the VSC forms turned in! He has been in charge of the Grand Haven area and getting the job done there took a lot of his time and he deserves a huge Thank You! He even managed to get some Vessel Safety checks done in Florida! So far Terry Grotemat is leading in the number of VSC completed! I think there are still some completed forms that need to be turned in!!! Our squadron is getting close to completing 200 Vessel Safety Checks! If you know anyone who wanted a Vessel Safety Check please let me know and we will find someone who can get the job done! We are so lucky to have VSC Examiners who are all willing to spread the word on boating safety while examining boats. We may even gain some members for Grand Rapids Sail and Power Squadron as a result! Look for a full report this Fall. P/Lt/C Diane Stehouwer P 6
U N I T E D S T A T E S P O W E R S Q U A D R O N S SAIL and POWER BOATING GRAND RAPIDS SAIL & POWER SQUADRON 1620 Olson St., N.E., Grand Rapids, MI 49503 Email: info@grsps.org Website: www.grsps.org General Meeting Invitation Cookout & Potluck Thursday, September 13, 2012 Social & Cocktails at 1800 (6:00 PM) - Dinner at 1900 Graciously hosted by Dave & Sallie Brinks at their home 2500 Buchanan Street, Marne, MI 49435-8799 Tel: (616) 677-5335 It s FREE! Hotdogs, Hamburgers, Brats, Condiments & basic soft drinks provided. Please bring a dish to pass and your own table service. Please feel free to BYOB. Driving directions from corner of Lake Michigan Drive & Wilson Ave NW in Walker: 1. Head west on M-45 W/Lake Michigan Drive for 3.5 miles. 2. Turn right (North) onto 24th Ave and go 1 mile. 3. Turn left onto Buchanan St and go 0.2 miles. 2500 will be on the left. Bring your whole family! There will be no speaker unless you choose to say a few words. We ll share stories of our summer outings and boating tales (including mishaps, of course) and learn about new places to consider exploring next summer or even this Fall! We hope you will join us! Please call Curt Campbell at 616-891-3500 or email Curt at: curtcampbell@chartermi.net to inform how many will be attending so that we will know how much meat to purchase. Include your name, number attending and phone number (if calling). Please respond by: Monday, September 10, 2012. 7
happy birthday to you! GRSPS Birthdays Sept Dennis Webb Sept 9 Cheyenne Hewlett Sept 11 Randall Jones Sept 13 Gayle Davis Sept 22 Robert Rehkopf Sept 27 Joseph Skinner Sept 27 The Commander's Club An honor Roll of Supporting Members Representing a minimum gift of $50.00 per year From Nov. COW to Nov. COW thank you! Daniel and Joan Rightmire David and Sallie Brinks Doug and Christine Evans Donald & Marsha Exelby Gary & Patricia Harkins Curt and Patty Campbell 8
DEADLINE for October Waterspout is: Saturday, Sept. 15, 2012 Submit photos from events, stories of travels, questions or anything you would like to see in the newsletter next time. Submit photo as.jpg files at highest resolution. If you have question, please contact Kristin. Burgees are for sale - $20 Contact Jim Molenaar for information either by e-mail jimbirg2@iserv.net or cell phone 616-813-4464. Send all information for the Waterspout to: Birgit Molenaar 3274 Pinoak Ct. SE Grand Rapids, MI 49546 H: 616-942-7100 E-mail is jimbirg@iserv.net Remember to Support Our Advertisers! Welcome Back! Kristin Huyck KrissyT267@yahoo.com Cell: 616.690.1665 Waterspout has earned the award! 9