Gulf Coast Sailing Club 2017 Luff n Laff Regattas and Cruises for May THIS WEDNESDAY MAY 3 rd is our next day racing 420s on Marco Island 5/6/2017 Saturday SAMI s Ladies Regatta Contact Frank Brown to enter race or join crew - www.saildragonfly.com 5/7/2017 Sunday Day Sail and Raft Up in Champney Bay 5/11 14/2017 Thursday-Sunday Key West Cruise with the Bone Island Regatta 5/11 16/2017 Thursday-Sunday - CMCS Cruise South to Key Naples and the Everglades 5/27-29/2017 Sat-Monday Memorial Day Weekend Cruise to Panther Key Interclub Keelboat Race Challenge 5/21-22/2017 - to benefit youth sailing 5 Clubs are invited Skippers Meeting Saturday, - - Race on Sunday Poster on this race at the end of the newsletter 4 teams are being formed for GCSC MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL - Contact Terry Nauck at terrynauck@mindspring.com 4/3/2017 Wednesday May 3 rd - and May 17 th - 5:30 7:30 pmshow up at 5 pm- FREE Dinghy Racing at Marco Island Community Sailing Center. We ll be racing 6-420s for another great summer night. 4/10/2017 Wednesday at 6pm Starts SUMMERTIME General Membership Meetings at Harold s Place on Hwy 41. Enjoy conversation and food from the restaurant at 6 pm Guest speaker at 7pm, Rick Zyvoloski, with Collier Cty Emergency Mgmt will speak on hurricane preparedness Other meeting dates at Harolds: May 10, June 14, July 12, Aug 9, Sept 13, Oct 11 Fleet Captain s Cruising Comments (dates & details) Vice Commodore Captain Bess Seaby on Volunteering - GCSC and other important groups. 2017-2018 BOTY/REGATTA CALENDAR Dates are set Last party at Sugden this year Captain Betti on What it takes to get a Captain s License Job opportunities for captains with Cool Beans Cruises Members are cordially invited to the United States Air Force Auxillary s Civil Air Patrol s Annual Open House May 6 th from 11am to 3 pm
GCSC 2017 Cruising and Day Sailing Programs Fleet Captain Cruising Bob Diamond Lorelei and I will be heading north by mid-may, however thanks to Jonnie Westerop our GCSC Cruising, Inter-Club Cruising and Day Sailing Programs will continue throughout the summer months. Jonnie, a fellow Cruiser, our LuffNLAff editor and full time southwest Florida resident, will take over coordinating our summer Cruising activities. Look forward to Emails from Jonnie inviting you to this summer s fun. April Cruising Review. April Cruising started with the Rum and Reading Cruise to Pine Island. Lorelei and I extended this weekend Cruise into a two-week Cruise to most of the beautiful barrier islands on the chart shown to the left. All these islands have long beaches on their west coasts and harbors, resorts and marinas on their east coasts. Bob Macomber, a longtime CMCS member and world famous author, hosted the Book Bash Lunch at Woody s Waterside on a canal in St. James City Pine Island. The crowd of sailing Cruisers and drive to Cruisers was uncountable. The thatched Tiki Huts and laid back atmosphere made Lorelei and I feel that we were back cruising in the Caribbean. Return to Cayo Costa, our new favorite place, was our first anchorage after leaving Pine Island Sound. Cayo Costa is a wonderful Florida State Park where the beauty of nature is preserved for sailors to enjoy. There aren t any bridges or roads or airports on Cayo Costa Island. The island can only be reached by boat. See last month s Column for a more complete description of this special place.
Traveling by boat up the narrow intercostal to visit these barrier islands is fun, but it is not sailing. Heading east across Charlotte Harbor towards Burnt Store Marina gave us a chance to once again raise sail, heel the boat and feel the wind on our faces. Charlotte Harbor at about 15 miles long and 5 miles wide is a delightful place to day sail. We had about 20 knots on the beam for our sail to Burnt Store Marina and our sail to Boca Grande the next day. Boca Grande is the barrier island just north of Cayo Costa. While Cayo Costa is mostly undeveloped and natural, Boca Grande is up-market homes, nice shops, the Gasparilla Inn, the fine dining Pink Elephant Restaurant and the fun Loose Caboose Restaurant in the old train station. We stayed at the Boca Grande Marina (Excellent). It was fun renting a golf cart to explore the 5 ½ mile long island from bottom to top. However, as we discovered, most of the sights and the village are a brief walk from the Marina. The Gasparilla Inn is a1920s elegant perfectly maintained grand Florida resort hotel. When you walk through the front doors, you are immediately transported back almost 100 years to a world that most of our grandparents could only dream about. At the end of each day, Lorelei and I would go to the Gasparilla, sit in one of the many spacious museum quality restored public rooms and enjoy a sundowner. At 4:PM each day, the staff would serve free tea, coffee and cakes to whoever was enjoying the public rooms. Captiva Island is just north of Sanibel Island. A small bridge connects the two islands. We stayed at the Tween Waters Resort and Marina. With our tiny rented three wheel motorcycle, we explored both islands. A flag on a pole behind our seats helped other cars and trucks see our vehicle and not confuse it with a small brightly painted tortoise. Captiva is a pretty island with a small village, Seven Seas Resort, Tween Waters Resort and a long Gulf side beach. Our street legal toy motorcycle enabled us to drive south and explore Sanibel. The National Sea Shell Museum and the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge are both well worth visiting. Ding is the nick name of a Pulitzer Prize winning (Twice) political cartoonist and conservationist named Jay North Darling. Ding raised most of the money for this bird sanctuary. At the end of April, we returned to Sanibel with a group of about 20 GCSC and SAMI Cruisers for another tour of this beautiful island.
In between all this April Cruising, our area experienced some serious forest fires. This is a picture of Naples from the Gulf near the Naples Pier. To avoid the smell and the ash, we sailed south to Panther Key for a long smoke free weekend. When we heard that the smoke over Naples finally cleared, we sailed home. Southwest Florida Inter-Club Cruising 2017 Day Sail and Cruising Calendar Details on Posters in LuffNLaff and on our Web Site www.gulfcoastsailingclub.org After signing up for an event more detailed instructions for sailing, driving, times, etc., will be provided. Any questions or suggestions, please Contact Bob Diamond at rmdiamond@aol.com or Jonnie Westerop at jonniew@live.com May, Sunday the 7 th - Day Sail and Raft-Up in Champney Bay. May 11 th to the 15 th - Key West Cruise with the Bone Island Regatta May 11 th to 16 th - CMCS Cruise South to Naples and the Everglades May Memorial Day Weekend Sat, Sun, Mon 27 th 28 th 29 th to Panther Key July 4 th - SAMI Independence Day Parade and Cruise. Factory Bay, Marco I. September - Labor Day Weekend Rendezvous Regatta Sail to Marina at Tarpon Point for a weekend of scheduled fun events. September, Saturday 9 th Mon 11 th - SAMI Cruise to Fisherman s Village Marina, Punta Gorda October, 6 th to 8 th - CMCS Summerset Regatta including a Cruisers Race. October, Saturday 21 st to Wednesday 25 th - SAMI Cruise to Key West Additional Sailing Related Events. 1> GCSC participates with the other Southwest Florida Sailing and Yacht Clubs with cooperative sailing and boating related events including Seminars, Cruises, Day Sails and Racing Regattas. 2> GCSC has monthly Sailing Events November to April on Lake Avalon in Sugden Park. Included with the BBQ Lunch are Sailing Lessons and an opportunity to sail on the lake with or without an instructor. Sunday s at Noon on designated dates See Email blasts and Our Web site for dates. 3> GCSC runs educational Sailing Related Seminars 4> GCSC and affiliated Clubs run Ladies Day Races. These are race days when all of the boats must have a Woman Captain and Crew. A wonderful opportunity for more women to get out on the water sailing. 5> GCSC sponsors free Small Boat Racing and BBQ diner Wednesdays this spring at 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM at the Naples Community Sailing Center for event dates See Email blasts and Our Web Site. Please check our Club GCSC Web Site Calendar for event dates and details. www.gulfcoastsailingclub.org
GCSC Day Sail with Raft-Up Lunch Champney Bay, Naples - Sunday, May 7 th This is an Inter-Club Cruising Event - This is NOT a Drive to Event Sunday, May 7 th, 2017. Raft up in Champney Bay, Naples Harbor at 1:30 PM All Power Boats and Sail Boats Welcome. Sail in Morning then all boats meet at 1:30 for Lunch and socializing together. All boats will be tied together to a single large anchored boat to form an Island made of boats. Walk from boat to boat to socialize and share lunch and drinks. This is a Southwest Florida Inter-Club Cruising Event. All Members welcome as Crew or Guests as space allows Please note: Overnight Anchoring is ALLOWED in Champney Bay. Arrive a day earlier or stay a day later. Be a good citizen. No loud Music and use your holding tank. Please contact Bob Diamond for RSVP and information rmdiamond@aol.com Captain Bess Seaby, Vice Commodore Volunteering Being new to the board I have been enlightened as to how many people it takes to make GCSC the fun vibrant group it is. Just like raising children, it takes a village. If you have any interest in being part of this community please ask any of us on the board. It doesn t take a large commitment of time since with many hands the work is lighter. We presently are in need of someone to maintain our Member Directory. Microsoft Publisher would be needed on your computer to do so. Another position would be a Social Media Coordinator which would involve maintaining the GCSC facebook. Also there are other ways to volunteer to represent our club without an actual position. Freedom Waters is one of the charities we have sponsored and they regularly do Therapeutic on the water events for various groups in need of such. Examples would be Veteran, Bereavement Groups etc. Please check out their website for more information. https://www.freedomwatersfoundation.org/ To volunteer and assist with their endeavors you can provide your yacht to do so. Just click on the link below and register yourself, your craft and they will contact you. https://www.freedomwatersfoundation.org/vessel-owner-form/ If you have a special experience on the water or presentation you would like to make at one of our general meetings feel free to contact me directly. captseaby@at-your-command.com Thank you all for supporting GCSC by being members and keeping it fun
Many thanks go out to all those who volunteered to serve on the Board and those who volunteered to help out with committees for next year. Please think about how you can help as we need your help to be successful. We will be updating our volunteer list in the coming months and have committee sign up tables at our next Members Meeting. 2017 is shaping up to be an exciting and fun filled year and we need your input and help especially on the newsletter, PR efforts and web page administration. If meeting and greeting people and helping to bring new members into the club might be something you would like, we would love to have you join a Committee. Our current Committees and volunteers are: Membership Committee--- Terry Nauck & Joan Kachel Co Chairs 2017 Charity Regatta Committee --- Craig Spicer Fleet Captain Small Boats---Nick Amendola Fleet Captain Racing---Frank Brown Fleet Captain Cruising---Bob Diamond Race Committee---Susan Watkins, Chair Land Side Events--- Colleen & Fred Hall, Chairs Public Relations -----Vicki Livingston, Chair Webmaster----Aarron Szalacinski Membership Directory -- Sandy Dumas Volunteer Committee--- Gary Schwarting, Chair Communications Coordinator Jonnie Westerop As you know but might not appreciate fully, the Gulf Coast Sailing Club exists because of its wonderful volunteers. Each year we, the club members, select officers from the membership to guide our club forward but many more volunteers are needed for the club to survive and thrive. Our main source of income is from our dues so membership is very important to wellbeing of the club so if you have friends who might be interested in the club bring them to the next meeting to see what we are about. Volunteering for the Regatta Committee, our social committee for coordinating our land side events, our small boat sailing committee, our public relations committee or helping out with our monthly newsletter or web page are all important roles for club members. Please visit the Club s web page at www.gulfcoastsailingclub.org to check out events coming up
Gulf Coast Sailing Club - Weekly Small Boat Racing on Marco Island Free Dinghy Racing Wednesday Nights for Six Sessions at Marco Island Community Sailing Center Wednesday May 3 and May 17 - from 5:30-7:30 PM (May 10 th is general membership meeting at Harolds) Show up about 5 pm to set up the boats Community Sailing Center adjacent to the Marco Island Yacht Club. Should we have rainouts, we have the first two Wednesdays in May reserved for backup. We have a fleet of six 420 s set up for racing with a support team ready to set up and run short multiple races. Important Details: In order to complete your entry for the Gulf Coast race series, you will be required to sign Marco Parks and Rec registration form. This should be your first priority when you arrive on Wednesday, PFDs are also required and although we have life jackets to borrow, we cannot guarantee a proper size. Capsize recovery knowledge on small boats like the 420 is important, so I urge you to watch a video. Go to Club 420 Association web, click Resources, click Save It, and watch the capsize video. If you are interested please RSVP to: Terry Naylon at tnaysail@gmail.com; Rocky Cale at RockyCale@hotmail.com; or Chuck Downton at mdownton@aol.com Sailing gloves, closed toe boat shoes, and sometimes a spray top are recommended. Unless you request, we will assign the pairings to match experience levels for all. After completing the registration form on Wednesday, second priority is to look at how our 420s are positioned on the beach, and how the boats are left after sailing. There will be a team effort in boat launch and retrieval so this will help in speeding up the process. Marco Community Sailing Center is the first right turn as you come down the Jolly Bridge to Marco. Finally, look for weekly emails on Tuesdays to confirm racing or to announce cancellation due to weather or manpower issues.
Summertime General Membership meetings at Harolds on Hwy 41 Scheduled dates - May 10, June 14, July 12, August 9, September 13, October 11 2nd Wednesday of each month 7-9PM in the Parrot Room Gulf Coast Inn 2555 Tamiami Trail N. Naples, 34103 Membership Meeting Wednesday, May 10 th at 6 pm The event schedule at Harold's Place will be 6:00-7:00 networking and food in the restaurant. 7:00-8:00 announcements of upcoming events and speaker. Our Guest Speaker Rick Zyvoloski will do a short presentation on "Home preparation for Hurricanes and where to go if you can't evacuate." Bio below. RICK ZYVOLOSKI Rick is the Planning Coordinator for Collier County Emergency Management. His responsibilities include performing a variety of assessments to determine or recommend protective actions; coordinates the revisions of Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan. Analyzes weather data, advisories, and forecasts for distribution to the media and general public. Rick also chairs the Multi-jurisdictional Local Mitigation Strategy Working Group and is Past Chair, Local Emergency Communications Committee. Other duties include participating in Emergency Alert System Operational Area 9 meetings, Collier County Skywarn Coordinator, Community Emergency Response Team Disaster Preparedness Instructor, Webmaster for Emergency Management website, and Geospatial Information Systems analyst and mapper.
BOTY CALENDAR!! SOUTHWEST FLORIDA REGATTA EVENTS SCHEDULE 2017-2018 (2-3B = 2-3 buoy races; 1D = distance race, etc.) http://sailplay.com/ 2017 Sponsor Races Race Locale 10/06-08 CMCS 1D, 2-3B Summerset Ft. Myers Beach 10/28 NSYC 3-5B Commodore s Cup Naples 11/11 MIYC 3-5B Fall Regatta Marco Island 12/09 NYC 1D Naples Offshore Naples-Along the Shore-Naples NEW YEAR 2018 1/06 GCSC 2-3B New Year s Cup Naples 2/10 MIYC 3-5B Winter Cup Marco Island 3/10 GCSC 1-D Spring Regatta Naples-Towers Naples 3/24-25 GCSC 3-5B GCSC Charity Cup Naples 4/07-08 SAMI 3-5B Bud Light Regatta Marco Island 4/22 SAMI Ladies Day Event Naples - ADDED FUN EVENT #2 *** 4/28 NSYC 3-5B Messmer Cup Naples 5/10-12 NSYC 1D Bone Island Regatta Naples-Key West 5/13-14 NYC 1D Return to Reality Key West-Naples *** NOT BOTY nor www.sailplay.com SCORING To compete in BOTY a boat must participate in at least 15-17 Naples/Marco BOTY races. Only the best 15-17 will be scored for BOTY. Scoring will be per the Racing Rules of Sailing Appendix A Low Point System: First receives 1 point, Second 2 points, Third 3 points, Fourth and higher including DNF (Did Not Finish) 4 points, DNS (Did Not Start) 6 points. BOTY Trophies will be awarded to the top three finishers in each division. A race must have a minimum of three boats in a class to qualify as a BOTY race. http://sailplay.com/ SINGLE ENTRY for a discounted package of 2017-2018 BOTY EVENYS
It was another great year at Sugden. Until next year! Jerry Watkins gives us his take on our last day of fun at Sugden What a Final day they had! Fred's grille was knock out perfection, Betti played her accordion and we ALL had BAZOOKAS to sing along. Susan and Seaby planned a coordinated finale with this song, a Bowl of Butter Beans - https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-ts&p=just+a+bowl+of+butter+beans+song#id=1&vid=9024d89d09574ac9c33d2ceb12c7ae54&action=view.so Susan Baked a Bowl of BBQ Butter Beans & blew us away they were so - GOOD! It was a bit of a rainy day, but the boys knew how to handle that. Wish I had a waterproof camera to take on the boats! These kids had the absolute best time! JT and Christalina s son, Brandon, Jay Roth and his daughter Mermaid #1. They were 100% kids having a ball! What a great finale! Check out this cool drone footage - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wo VlEioX4&feature=youtu.be
What does it take to get a captain s license? By Captain Betti The first day I walked into the class room to get my captain s license; I was told to go home by some of the male students. As the only female student, I took it as a challenge to stay and complete the course. There were about 46 students in the class. 40 of them were there for a six pack license and 6 of them were there for a Masters License. I started with wanting a six pack. The first day the instructor weeded out 10 students by the end of the day, due to their grandiose attitudes. The instructor mentioned that attitude is everything and he will not grant Captains licenses to those with bad attitudes because it could kill you and everyone onboard. The following days, he continued to weed out students with know-it-all behaviors because it made it unfavorable in absorbing the large amounts of new material necessary to pass the test. At this point, it was not only a test of the materials but a test
of character and fortitude. By the middle of the week; there were 12 of us left and he continued to test our commitment of completing the course and becoming a Captain. I was the first one to cross over from getting a six pack to getting a masters license. The instructor took that as an incentive/dare for the rest of the students that were left yet to cross over. I figured since I already committed myself and knowing how tough it is; I might as well go all the way, no matter what the outcome. All the education I had (UIC Medical School, Rush University Surgical Nursing, Grad school for Biochemistry, etc ); getting the Masters Captain s License was a very difficult venture but it was well worth it! Steps to successfully getting your Captains License: Take the following courses either from USCG, Chicago Yacht Club, Navy Pier or more affordably by joining the WSPS (Waukegan Sail and Power Squadron). I did it thru the WSPS organization. They focus on the safety education for all boaters. Their classes go for 8 wks in the evening usually 7pm to 9pm, one day a week. Some of the classes are offered in the weekends. Courses that would help pass the Captains class are: Seamanship, Weather, Piloting, Advance Piloting, Sailing (basic & advance), Knots for boaters (power & sail). These are the minimum recommended. Sea time - you need at least 360 days documented at sea either as a helms person, deckhand, first mate, crew for 4 hours or more/day. There is a sea form that the owner of the boat, needs to sign off. The legal document would be a copy of the log book. If there was no log book then a letter attesting you did the amount of hours. Get a signed sea form for each boat you were aboard.
First Aid & CPR/AED Certification by the American Heart Association. Three letters of recommendation that attest your character and demeanor. DOT Drug Screening, Medical (hearing, vision, blood work). Make sure they also test your vision without your glasses. Get your TWIC Card after you passed the exam. Merchants Mariners Documentation is the actual license document you carry around with you at sea. Looks like a red passport. Remember you have to complete the courses and sea time before you go and take the Captains course, the rest can wait after you pass the Captain s test. - Job opportunity with Cool Beans Cruises - Last Name Sharon Callahan Phone 2397758169 Email captainkelly@coolbeanscruises.com How can we help you? My husband Captain Kelly and I operate a very successful sailing/catamaran sailing business in South Naples, Cool Beans Cruises. We are looking for both Full Time and Part Time Captain's with sailing experience.must have current TWIC Card, First Aid Certification, and must pass drug test. When replying, please attach a RESUME for consideration listing your sail experience. If you can pass this along to any of your members that might be interested would be great!
GCSC and SAMI Members are invited Saturday, May 6 th from 11 am to 3 pm
2017 GULF COAST SAILING CLUB MEMBERSHIP IT S STILL NOT TOO LATE TO JOIN OR RENEW! Now is the time to renew your membership for the 2017 sailing season. The annual dues are $75 and $20 for full time students. You can now register and pay on-line at www.gulfcoastsailingclub.org with your Pay Pal account. Otherwise, please send completed membership form and check payable to Gulf Coast Sailing Club to: Gulf Coast Sailing Club, Attn: Membership, PO Box 2121, Naples, FL 34106-2121. Those interested in Day Sails and Cruising should complete the Day Sail and Cruising Questionnaire, and those interested in participating as racing crew members in the upcoming regattas should complete the Crew List Application. Please contact Terry Nauck, Membership Co-chair, at terrynauck@mindspring.com if you have any questions.