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Cat TalesApril 2000 |
Pete Denholm, Commodore
This month, I will be talking about the
success of our winter meetings, the difficulties of this spring, and some
miscellaneous notes about this season.
The winter meetings this year
were a wonderful success. This winter we listened to some of our members share
their experiences of the ICW; enjoyed a fun Holiday party hosted by the
Davises; planned this year's cruises at the Savage's home; shared a meeting
with Fleet III of the Catalina 36 Association about Universal diesel engine
maintenance; learned about boating safety at Mama Lucia's restaurant; and
celebrated the 20th anniversary of the charter of our club at the Flag Raising
meeting with a delightful speaker who shared his knowledge of the lighthouses
on the bay. The club saved a lot of money this winter by holding a majority of
the meetings at facilities that were free. We should be able to reap the
benefits of bigger coffers later this year.
Today is April 9th and we
are over two weeks into spring. Ha, it's hard to claim it's spring when the
wind chill is below freezing and there is SNOW on the ground. In spite of the
foul weather most of us are still working hard on our boats - sanding,
painting, waxing, and de-winterizing the fresh water and engine systems. At
Harrington Harbor North Scimitar is undergoing similar care with Ayewash nearby
and not far away is Ragtime. We are all looking forward to putting our boats
back in the water where they belong and meeting up at Paula's Landing for the
Icebreaker raft-up later this month.
This year we have an exciting
lineup of eight cruises. I'd like to see the members this year help record the
events with pictures. After each event, please forward your pictures to Mike
Davis, who is the club's self-proclaimed picture collector. Mike will post a
few of the more "interesting" pictures to the club website, and also he will
add your pictures to the club CD of pictures. At the end of the season Mike
will make copies of the CD available to interested members. The pictures will
be forwarded to Sue Dennison, the Club Historian.
One of the club's
eight cruises this year includes a weeklong cruise during Labor Day to the
Baltimore and Chester River areas. The raft captain, Irv and Barbara Schaeffer,
Irwin's Ark III, are looking for cruisers that plan on participating or are
interested in the Labor Day cruise. They are considering spending the Labor Day
weekend portion of the cruise in the Baltimore Inner Harbor, but need to make
reservations ASAP. If you are planning on joining this event or would like some
additional information, please contact Irv and Barbara at
301-438-7316.
See you at the Icebreaker.
Joan and Wayne Savage,
Jubilee
The Annual CCYC By Land or Sea,
Icebreaker will be on Saturday April 29th at Paula's Landing on Spa Creek in
Annapolis. Paula Binder has graciously offered to co-host this event with Joan
and Wayne Savage at her home - which is also homeport for Jubilee. Paula's
Landing is approximately 2 miles above the Spa Creek bridge (opens of the half
hour) on the starboard side, directly across from Truxton Park.
Boats
coming to the event can raft off the end of Paula's dock. We have seen 6 boats
tied off the end for other events. For those of you coming by land, the address
is 105 Spa View Way, just off West Street. Take West Street to Amos Garrett
Blvd and turn south towards the water. Turn left at the end onto Spa View Ave.
Paula's is the second house on the right, with a chain link fence in the
back.
Festivities kick off at 4-4:30 PM with cocktails and munchies
around the pool, or on Jubilee or other boats attending the raft. A potluck
dinner is scheduled ashore for 7:00 PM. The Club will provide the drinks (wine
and soda). Those attending should bring a potluck dish that we can all
share.
To assure we have enough seating for everyone, it would be
helpful for those coming by car to bring folding chairs.
Come prepared
to catch up on everyone's winter adventures as well as sharing your boat
preparation experiences. Winter in Florida, house building, and just work
experiences are fair game. See you all there.
Ray Nieves, Vice Commodore
CCYC started off our 20th
anniversary with 20 people from 10 different boats represented, at our first
official club meeting of the year 2000. The meeting at a new location, Mama
Lucia's in Dunkirk, where we had a private room and great food at reasonable
prices (most of all included in the price is FREE PARKING!!!!!). Our guest
speaker was Capt William (Bill) Ray of the U.S. Naval Academy Fire
Department.
Capt Ray provided information, handouts and spoke on basic
boating safety, reminding most of us about things we should do and practice to
prevent accidents or how to act when an accident occurs.
Did you
know?
The major cause of loss of life on boats is from falling
overboard? Have you practiced your man overboard (or person overboard)
procedure? Captain Ray tells us that one of the things the Naval Academy Fire
Rescue Crew practices is actually pulling a person on board. He explained how
hard it is to bring a person back on a boat. Carolyn and I practice our
overboard procedure every year - but had not thought to use an actual victim. I
guess she will be first; after all, ladies first, ha ha!
Did you
know?
The Coast Guard requires annual certification of onboard fire
extinguishers. Although your extinguisher may have sufficient chemicals and may
have sufficient charge, you are required to have a current inspection sticker.
There are several fire extinguisher companies in the yellow pages of the phone
directory that will provide this service. Of course, it is probably as cheap to
buy new extinguishers, according to Capt Ray. And you can use your old
extinguisher for practice. See me if you want special training on fire
extinguisher use.
Do you know what Fire Extinguisher is required for
what type of fire?
Capt Ray explained the basic types of extinguisher to
use for different classes of fires:
- Type "A" for paper, wood and normal
combustibles
- Type "B" for flammable liquids, gasoline, etc.
- Type "C"
for electrical
- Type "D" for flammable metals
When purchasing a new
fire extinguisher, review the label to see that it meets your needs and make
sure it is approved by a nationally recognized testing agency, i.e., UL. Also,
you should make sure you are familiar with the basic operation of the
extinguisher you purchase.
Did you know?
The Coast Guard requires
that you report "any fuel spill that produces a sheen on the water". Capt Ray
informed us of the Coast Guard requirement and told us stories of people
getting fined for making the proper report. The moral of this story is be a
safe fueler and you won't have to report a spill.
Capt Ray gave us some
basic hints for fueling and reminded us to close down your boat before fueling
with gasoline (for those with gas engines). Bill also reminded us that while
fueling, our sense of smell becomes saturated with the fueling fumes, so clear
your nose with some fresh air after fueling then check below for fumes. Capt
Ray also reminds us that turning off the engine and electricity prior to
fueling eliminates possible sources of ignition. And keeping your engine and
engine compartment clean helps eliminate possible fuel sources to feed a
potential fire. In the event of fire, cut off the flow of fuel, stop the pump
and when everyone is safe, call the Coast Guard as soon as possible (you only
have to make one call for help - they will notify the fire department and
dispatch emergency equipment).
Did you know?
You are required to
file a report (DNR Form-149) with the Department of Natural Resources for any
of the following:
- All deaths aboard your vessel
- If a person falls off
your vessel and dies
- If a person loses consciousness, receives medical
treatment or is disabled more than 24 hours
- Incidents of CO poisoning
-
All accidents with damages over $500
We received a lot of new information
and some good tips from Capt Ray. Hopefully we will have a safer boating
season.
Attending the meeting were Pete and Karen Denhold (Scimitar),
Phil and Linda Ferrara (Wanderlust), Mike and Bev Davis (Ayewash), Mark and AJ
Eller (Maraj), Tim Feldmann and Connie Browning (Second Wind), Earl, Lola and
Sherry Holliman (Papillon), Max Munger (Shermax), Wayne and Joan Savage
(Jubilee), Chet and Peg Szymezak (Scimitar) and of course, Ray and Carolyn
Nieves (Classie Chassie).
Shirley and Al Willcox
CCYC hasn't seen or heard from
DUET in some time. Members haven't heard from Al and
Shirley in some time. If you remember us and our boat, now is the time for an
explanation.
The short explanation is that DUET no longer exists and
Shirley and Al have gone ashore.
The slightly longer explanation is that
after sailing the waters of the Chesapeake, the entire east coast of America,
and the Bahamas aboard SUNSHINE, DUET I, and DUET II, we have finally decided
to become landlubbers. With each of these passing years the rigors of living
aboard have become less fun and more work. This past summer we decided to quit
while we were still having fun. It was a difficult decision, but we are glad
that we made it.
We decided to sell DUET at a very good time, happy to
find that we are in a seller's market. Now we have put the proceeds into a fund
that will allow us to travel to places we haven't seen and to do things we
haven't done. For example, we are planning to spend two weeks in July cruising
through some of the beautiful canals of England and Wales. You might know that
we could not stand to do that in an armchair. We will be both crew and
passengers. It is something that we have always wanted to do and this is THE
TIME. We look forward to many years of travel and expect that much of it will
be on water.
DUET is now ABSOLUTELY. The new owners are a delightful
couple and live only a mile or so from our home. We hope that they may be a
part of CCYC soon.
One thing we have not been able to face is leaving
CCYC so suddenly. Resigning from an organization is one thing. Resigning from
friends is impossibility. We have paid our dues for this year and hope very
much to be able to attend some of the dry-land gatherings of the club. We'll be
seeing y'all in the coming months.