The Old Man The Monthly Newsletter of the Magothy River Sailing Association May 2014 Calendar of Upcoming Events - May 10, Saturday Annapolis Cruise, dinner at Mangia Pizza - May 17, Saturday GIYS/SCC Spring Race - May 18, Sunday MRSA Spring Classic Race - May 20, Tuesday Blue Angels Cruise - May 24-26, Sat, Sun, Mon Memorial Day Cruise to Granary Creek on the Wye River - June 7-8, Sat, Sun June Picnic Cruise to Black Hole Creek - June 7, Saturday PSA Moonlight Race - June 11, Wednesday Wednesday Night Racing Raft-Up Social - June 21-22, Sat, Sun Summer Solstice Cruise to Galesville, West River - June 28, Saturday Dog Day Afternoon in Eagle Cove Please send Old Man articles to newsletter@magothysailing.com by the 25 th day of the month prior to publication. Commodore s Comments Fish Story By Mike Bonham, Commodore [The one on the right. Ed] The boat yards have been a bustle with everyone trying to get launched after a long hard winter. I have been working nonstop on my armada to get the bottoms wet soon. I have noticed that boats are much bigger when you are sanding and waxing them than when you put them in the water and they shrink. April 19th was the first day of rockfish season on the Chesapeake Bay. It is not on our MRSA calendar of events but can be a great day on the water with dinner included if you are lucky. You can fish by chunking, casting or trolling. Chunking is simply putting a chunk of bait on a hook, adding water and waiting. You can increase your odds by using chum to attract the fish to your chunk of bait. Casting is great fun if you come across a school of breaking fish. They can be located by finding birds that are feeding on the bait fish being pushed to the surface by bigger fish. Use a buck tail or some plug to cast into the breaking fish. At this time of the year, trolling for Rock Fish (Striped Bass) is a very popular way to go. Trolling is all about your presentation, and trolling from a sail boat under sail with no motor sounds, your bright blue bottom and your fin keel with two outlines to the back trolling umbrella rigs gives the prefect presentation of a whale being chased by a school of anchovies, and what Rock Fish in the Bay could resist that? [LOTS resist that. Ed.] Fish usually hit at the most inopportune time like when you go below for a adult beverage or when you are below getting rid of a adult beverage IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN. You can spend hours watching the rod for a tip drop, but start to eat a sandwich, and you're sure to have a fish on your hands, literary, before your lunch is done. I don't 1
know how they know you are busy. I think they are taught that when they are in school; get it? Though I have trolled by myself, it is good to have two people onboard when trolling, so if the fish get off, you have someone to blame and yell at. The nice thing about trolling is you can do it on the way to your destination, and if you get lucky, you can grill it for dinner when you get there. So, for $50, you can get a fishing license for your boat, and anyone onboard can fish off the boat, and you get a license to fish the tidal waters of Maryland. So, for the cost of a dinner out, you can have fresh fish all season long, but you may want to keep a jar of peanut butter on board just in case the bite is slow. A wise man once said, "You can give a hungry man a fish, and he will eat for a day, or you can teach him to fish, and he can eat for life, or you can just give him food stamps." Well, I have to get back to scrubbing, sanding, painting and waxing. See you on the water. Upcoming Cruises & Events MRSA Blue Angels Cruise, Tuesday, May 20 If you haven t been in the middle of the Bay on a beautiful sunny afternoon with the Blue Angels soaring overhead, then you are in for a treat. This year, after a three-year absence, the powerful acrobatic team of F/A-18 Hornets representing the U.S. Navy is back in the air and flying here for the Naval Academy graduation. They are not just here for MRSA enjoyment, but we can enjoy them! A mid-week cruise is planned for Tuesday, May 20 th. Look at your calendars and consider taking the day off from work and from your busy volunteer activities. Pack your cameras and a sandwich and climb aboard Ravenous, joining Captain Ed Poe for a day on the water to thrill at the aerobatics of these beautiful flyers. Let Ed Poe know that you would like to see the Blue Angels on Ravenous by E-mailing him at mpoe1@comcast.net or calling 410-296-6428. He will leave the dock at about 10:00 and probably return by about 4:00 p.m. Ed will provide water and other beverages. You should bring your own lunch. June Picnic and Cruise to Black Hole Creek Submitted by Peggy Poe It is not too early to think about JUNE. In fact, I ve been thinking about June all week. I ve been wishing for June weather as we have been suffering through this wild cold weather. I am waiting for lovely spring weather. Mark your calendars for the June Picnic. Early in June comes one of our most anticipated events the June picnic. Winter will be long gone. Racers will be well into the Wednesday night series. Socks will have been burned. Cruisers will have figured out how to get the anchors down AND back up. So June is a perfect time to celebrate the coming of summer with a picnic. Make a plan to welcome summer with MRSA. Mark Saturday, June 7 th with RED Stars, and come to the Poes on Black Hole Creek on the North side of the Magothy by land or by sea for a great MRSA picnic. Hope to see you there. Cruise Leaders Still Needed Date Cruise Leader July 3-6 Fourth of July Cruise VACANT?/Leeds Creek/? Aug 9-10 Lobster Fest VACANT Miles River Yacht Club Nov 1-2 Frostbite Cruise Rock Creek/ Mike s Crabhouse VACANT 2
Please send Old Man articles to newsletter@magothysailing.com by the 25 th day of the month prior to publication. If you are a sponsor or cruise leader for an event, please submit a timely after action report to the newsletter E-mail address. Inquiring minds want to know! Special Membership Notices and Announcements MRSA New Members are Springing Up! Daffodils are blooming. Our boats are being spruced up for those spring and summer races and cruises. And we have new members! Spring brings new members to MRSA. Finally we can think about a cruise on the bay and about exploring the beautiful creeks up and down the Chesapeake. Our new member families are looking forward to joining MRSA cruises. Meet Kelly and Ted Goodhue who live in Pasadena and have four sons in college. They are looking forward to cruising with us on their Pearson 365, Fantasia. Kelley and Chris Sieger are co-owners with Drew and Linda Dowling of a Hunter 36 named She s the One. They are also interested in cruising. Chris and Kelley, with daughter Christina, live in Arnold. We hope you will join the Goodhues and the Siegers at the Annapolis Cruise on May 10-11. MRSA Classifieds good deals from MRSA Members FOR SALE: ENCOUNTER: 1983 J-30 - Details on boat available on http://www.sailboatlistings.com/view/40776. Will offer a reduction in listed price to members of MRSA. Contact Drew Dowling at drewdowling@comcast.net or 410-647-6492. Racing Corner Overnight Race gets a new look Becomes the new Moonlight Race Submitted by Shep Drain, Rear Commodore Facing years of declining participation, it was time to take a serious look at PSA s Overnight Race. Recent interest in this race essentially has been reduced to two classes Multihulls and Albergs. Fortunately, there were enough Multihulls to have two individual starts. In 2013, PSA had no PHRF A boats, and we were forced to combine the B-C fleet to have one class just to award a trophy. There we just two Cruising class boats entered, bringing the total to a paltry 19 racers. When participation drops off this dramatically, the time comes to make serious changes or consider dropping the event altogether. In hopes of attracting more participants and reduce the stress on PSA s resources, we are implementing a few changes as follows: 1. The short course is now 25.08 nautical miles 1.9 miles longer than before. 2. The long course is now 35.6 nautical miles 2.4 miles shorter than before. 3. All fleets will sail the short course except the Multihull A class, sailing the long course. 4. Sandy Point Light is no longer a mark of the course, replaced by F Red Fl 4 sec, in between Baltimore Light and Sandy Point Light. 5. Mark D northwest of Love Point light has been added. 3
It is hoped that these changes will (a) increase Region II participation with bonus points awarded for long distance races and (b) deep draft boats will no longer have an issue rounding Sandy Point Light to port and (c) racers will finish by midnight to head into PSA s all-you-can-eat breakfast. Skippers and crew can come by land or sea, and are welcome to tie up at PSA s dock. Lastly, we have proposed giving this race a new name, (MOONLIGHT RACE) which often times is just enough to draw the additional interest and participation making these turnarounds possible. If the lunar calendar is correct, our revamped event will be blessed with clear skies and a bright half-moon. See you at the party! John Aellen Potapskut Sailing Association The season started for us on a windy note blowing in the low to mid twenty's. It is rare to sail in such high winds for a Wednesday night race and the fearless showed up and got around the course. A couple brave crews even had chutes up for the 10 minutes it took to get down the run. I want to encourage anyone who has not signed up for RC duty to do so. If you want help with the process please let the RC chair know and we will work to make someone available. Please check the racing web page as amendments to the sailing instructions will be posted. At this point we will run the same splits and sequence as last year. I noticed that many of the crew out sailing had on their PFD's and I was happy to see that with the water still so cold and the wind high. Sail safe and have FUN. Racers who have concerns, suggestions or a topic they would like to be covered in this column, please send a note to the race committee at race_committee@magothysailing.com. Please contact Shep Drain, Phil Heldrich (MRSA) or Jim Gary (PSA) at race_committee@magothysailing.com for more details on how to be a successful racer this spring. Junior Sailing Program Ages 9-16 Junior Training Summer Sailing for your kids. Registrations began in March By Zoe Forsyth, Fleet Captain Junior Training The Junior Training Sailing Program, for children ages 9-16, will be held at the Grachur Club on weekdays from July 7th through 18th, starting at 8:30 am and ending at 4:00 pm. BEGINNING through ADVANCED sailors are welcome. Many of last year's Instructors will be returning, and planning is underway to once again provide a fun and educational experience for young sailors. Returning sailors will see many friends from last year, and we shall also welcome a number of new children to the program. If you have not yet registered your child, submit your application ASAP since at press time, only a few vacancies remain. Information for those who have signed up will be available shortly and posted on MRSA s web site (www.magothysailing.com in the Juniors bin) Boat Preparation will be held on Saturday/Sunday June 28/29, and Boat Move to Grachur will take place on Sunday July 6. Help with either or both of these important tasks to ready the fleet will be greatly appreciated and all are welcome, whether or not you have a student in the Sailing program. 4
Please contact Ben Reed at fleetmaster@magothysailing.com for more information on these important boat preparations. With this support we will once again be able to provide an outstanding educational and fun program for our young sailors. Again, if you are interested in having your kids attend the sailing course, be sure to go to the website NOW and send your applications in as soon as possible. Once the program is filled, additional applications will be placed on a waiting list, and notified if space becomes available. The course will follow the US Sailing text "Start Sailing Right." Again this year, parents will be expected to help one day for each camper from their family. For More Information, call Zoe Forsyth (410-315-9548) or Joe Tierney (410-544-1723) or E-mail junior_training@magothysailing.com Oh, By the Way OLD Man NEW Format Submitted by Ed By now you should have noted the new Old Man format no blue bar on the left. Hopefully the listing of MRSA Officers and others is complete in this newsletter, and you will do a clip-and-save from this issue no fooling. This will be the last clip-and save opportunity direct from the newsletter. Info on MRSA Officers is always up to date and available on the MRSA web site and Red Book any time. Suggestions on tweaking are always welcome (as are good articles and photos!). 2014 OFFICERS* Of The Magothy River Sailing Association Commodore: Mike Bonham commodore@magothysailing.com 410-439-0507 Vice Commodore: Dave Pirone vice_commodore@magothysailing.com 410-255-4953 Rear Commodore: Shep Drain rear_commodore@magothysailing.com 410-255-4953 Fleet Captain Cruising: Susan Sharkey cruising@magothysailing.com 410-518-6022 Fleet Captain Junior Training: Zoe Forsyth junior_training@magothysailing.com 410-315-9548 Treasurer: Homer Sandridge treasurer@magothysailing.com 410-384-9101 Secretary: Sue Kirkendall secretary@magothysailing.com 410-437-3630 Race Comm Cr: Phil Heldrich & Jim Gary race_committee@magothysailing.com 410-935-2712 Protest Chairman: Drew Dowling protsts@magothysailing.com 410-647-6492 Race Gear Chairman: Mark Walker race_gear@magothysailing.com 410-647-2468 Race Marks Chairman: Tom Price race_marks@magothysailing.com Scorer: Mike Mullarky scorer@magothysailing.com 410-439-1556 Junior Racing: Dan Prucnal junior_racing@magothysailing.com 410-255-3015 Membership Chair: Peggy & Ed Poe membership@magothysailing.com 410-296-6428 Fleetmaster: Ben Reed fleetmaster@magothysailing.com 410-975-0836 Immediate Past Commodore: Dick Paden past_commodore@magothysailing.com 410-997-4005 Ship's Store: Loura Bonham ship_store@magothysailing.com 410-439-0507 Red Book Editor: Gabriella Belli redbook@magothysailing.com Old Man Editor: Bert Polk newsletter@magothysailing.com 410-757-0989 Web Master: Mike Mullarky webmaster@magothysailing.com 410-439-1556 CBYRA Representative: cbyca@magothysailing.com CBYCA Representative: cbyca@magothysailing.com Website: www.magothysailing.com MRSA is a member of CBYRA, CBYCA, and Boat US. (Member #GA 80366 S) * Non-Officers holding popular positions are also listed. 5
If you are listed with incorrect phone number, please advise the editor. PLEASE CLIP AND SAVE UPDATED LIST ABOVE FOR EASY REFERENCE. The Old Man Magothy River Sailing Association P.O. Box 1135 Pasadena, MD 21122 Treasure the Chesapeake! htttp://www.magothysailing.com Photo by Bill Paul Please do your part to restore the Bay and actively make it cleaner. 6