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Cat TalesOctober 2000 |
Pete Denholm, Commodore
Oh no, the fall season is coming to a
close and most of you are beginning to think about winterizing. You know -
changing the filters and putting that pink stuff in your fresh water lines.
Before you write the year off, do not forget CCYC has one more on the water
experience and it is called "Halloween". By now you should have received Mike's
little reminder card about the raft-up. Karen and I are looking forward to
seeing you all there to help close out the 2000 cruising season.
During
Columbus weekend Karen and I volunteered at the Catalina Owners' Association
booth at the Annapolis Boat Show. It allowed us to get into the show for free
(thanks Max). We had a great time talking to many current Catalina owners, to
some new prospects, and listening to Max Munger talk, talk and talk. During the
five day long boat show, the volunteers at the booth signed up a dozen new
members to the various Catalina owner's associations. Unfortunately, CCYC was
not one of the associations. Working at the owners' booth is great fun. If you
are interested in volunteering for the Atlantic City Sail Expo in January (I
think the weekend of the 18th), please contact Bill McClees at
WMCLEES@aol.com.
Also, during the boat show there was a wonderful pig
roast party on Saturday night outside near Sail Annapolis for Catalina dealers
and owners. We saw Mike and Bev Davis of Ayewash
(thanks for the lift to our car), Ray and Carolyn Nieves of Classie
Chassie II (Next time you see Ray ask him about the golf
tournament he put together), Max Munger of Shermax
(thanks to Max for organizing everything having to do with the owners booth),
and last year's commodore, Bill Weeks of Fortnight III
(who is enjoying life on the Northern Neck).
Yep, winter is around the
corner. It was even more a reality during the boat show as the temperature
dropped into the forties. It may have been chilly, but we still managed to
spend about 20 boat units at the show. Karen and I picked up our offshore gear
in preparation for our yearlong sabbatical crewing around the world (or as far
as twelve months will get us). That Saturday night we left the pig roast early
due to the rapidly dropping temperature. I spent the night on
Scimitar in Herrington Harbor North and it must have
been in the thirties in the cabin. I wonder if Maraj
gets that cold too.
Most of you know Mark and AJ Eller of
Maraj (Tayana 42). They are long time CCYC members and
Mark is a past commodore, who lived on his C30 in Solomons Island. The Ellers,
along with Mark's niece, Danielle, are preparing for a long circumnavigation.
They will be completing their preparations over the next year. When I first met
them the plan was for five years. That sounded great to me. I thought: WOW!
Five years should be enough time to see EVERYTHING. Apparently I was wrong.
Mark and AJ now believe it will take anywhere from seven to TEN years to do it
right. Good for you guys; we are all jealous.
See you on the water - in
Shaw Bay.
Mike and Bev Davis, Ayewash
The CCYC
Halloween cruise will be to Shaw Bay in the Wye River on Saturday, October 28.
Price of entry to the cruise is one pumpkin and one candle as you will be asked
to carve the pumpkin with an appropriate nautical motif. There will be a bottle
of champagne for the crew voted the most original carvers. Note: Please do not
carve the pumpkin in advance - it's post-Happy-Hour originality we are looking
for!
Shaw Bay is a great anchorage and it should be delightfully empty
this late in the year. To get there, head for the Eastern Bay, then the Miles
River and then the Wye River. Take the first turn to starboard (Wye East River)
and continue around Bruffs Island. Shaw Bay will be on your starboard side. If
the wind is from the North and makes Shaw Bay uncomfortable,
Ayewash will anchor in Dividing Creek, which is further
up the river on the port side. According to CCYC policy,
Ayewash will be there about 3:00 PM, monitoring VHF
Channel 72. The Ayewash boat phone number is
703-298-4720.
If you have any questions, call us at 703-802-0355 or send
us an email (medavis49@aol.com). Weather should be pleasantly cool and worthy
of our last raft-up for the year. Let's make it the best!
Ray Nieves, Vice Commodore
The Member Meeting on the 19th of
November will be at 5:30 pm at Mama Lucia's Restaurant in the Dunkirk Shopping
Center. To get there: Take Rt 4 South from I-495 beltway. After approximately
22 miles you will see the Dunkirk Fire Station just past the traffic light.
Take the next driveway entrance on the right into the shopping center. There's
lots of parking and it is free!
Plan on joining us for dinner (purchase
from the menu) and staying for the meeting. The guest speaker is Pete De Silva
of Viking Boat Supplies. He will be talking on Troubleshooting Outboards (Small
engines for dinks). We will also have the election of officers.
Pete Denholm, Commodore
As I mentioned last month we are nearing
officer election time. At the November 19th business meeting we will hold the
elections. Sorry, there will not be any debates. Vice-Commodore debates just
are not as entertaining as Presidential debates. And even less people would
watch, if you can believe that. We are still looking for a solid candidate (or
even a soft one) for the Vice-Commodore position. Let me or any of the other
officers know if you are interested. Here is how the officer positions are
looking for 2001:
As part of the Holiday Party in December, Sue Dennison traditionally presents awards to and tells tales on club members for their exploits during the past year. Please give her a call (301-262-4985) or send an email (dennwasu@erols.com) if you have any recommendations and information concerning CCYC members in the following areas:
As we come to the end of this sailing season, we can start looking
forward to the start of the next season. That includes electing officers for
the Club, planning new cruises and going to parties. That also includes
renewing your membership and alas, paying dues. CCYC dues are $35 for each
calendar year (January to December). The money is used to cover rental of the
meeting places, speakers, the cost of publishing the newsletter, some of the
expenses of CCYC parties and other business of running the club.
I have
included a Membership Renewal Form in this newsletter that includes all the
information I have on file about you and your boat. I would appreciate it if
you would take the time to check over the information and correct anything that
is wrong or missing.
Additionally, Joan Savage has ordered a supply of
CCYC burgees and they're available to members who do not already have one. The
cost is $25 per burgee and you can include it with your dues.
Wayne and Joan Savage, Jubilee
A
wunderbar zeit was had by all, and I mean all nine boats, meeting near Big
Island on the Rhode River. Though everyone had to motor (or be towed - later in
the story) most of the way, it was a wonderful clear, crisp fall day on the
Chesapeake. We left about noon and tried to sail, but just got out to the Bay
and the wind went home, taking his ball. Sooo, we cranked up the engine and
motor-sailed past Thomas Point Lighthouse and headed for Red 2 on the West
River. We turned north up the Rhode and arrived at the anchorage.
It was
about 2:30 so we only looked around for early Catalina arrivers a little and
began searching for a good raft anchor spot. We found a good one, not the best
as there were already quite a few boats anchored in the area. As we were
letting the rode out on our anchor, we heard a horn and looked around. There
were Jerry and Jeanie Helldorfer on Ragtime in the
"best" anchor location. Well, before the rode was fully played out, I started
bringing it back in. We lifted the hook, put out our fenders and rafted off
their port side.
Shortly after we were tied up, we got a call on the radio
from Diane Benyus and Richard Schatz aboard Aire-Borne.
They were being towed to the raft by a friendly power boater who rescued them
when they ran out of gas as they turned up the Rhode River. You remember the
story. "Should we get gas now?" "No, we'll fill up on the way back." And you
remember the ending. "What are you going to do now?" Well to make the story
short, Richard and I got in our dinghy - with Jerry's motor (another story to
be told later) and headed for one of the marinas. Lucky enough there was a gas
dock where we filled their outboard tank and returned to the raft.
By
the time we got back, 3 more boats had rafted on, and two were circling. To
balance the raft-up, it had been decided Aire-Borne
should move to the outside and that Ray Harris in
Reverie would raft off our port and then everyone would
tie on again. Quite a maneuver. Winston and I watched from the dinghy as we
headed for Flat Island for his afternoon break. As we came back two more boats
had joined the raft. Besides us in Jubilee, the raft-up
now included Jerry and Jeanie Helldorfer (Ragtime),
Diane Benyus and Richard Schatz (Aire-Borne), Ray
Harris (Reverie), Don and Mary Ann McBride
(Coelumar), Rod and Pat Waite (Wye Waite
II), Pete and Karen Denholm (Scimitar), Ed
and Connie Dooley (Surprise) and Kenneth and Joyce
Stoppelbein (Wind Tyme). Nine boats!
When we
returned it was um pa music, Beck's Oktoberfest bier, wine and hors devours
time on Jubilee and Ragtime.
Just before dark, we decided that we needed to crank up the grills and get the
wurst cooked so that we could lay out the buffet on the front of
Ragtime. Everyone filled their plates with wurst,
sauerkraut, baked beans, salad and found a seat to continue the earnest
discussions begun over cocktails.
As everyone finished dinner and we
neared the end of the bier and wine, most partiers headed for the rack.. Ray
hosted the late-nighters with an additional "tasting" on
Reverie.
In the morning we awoke to a fairly
heavy fog. Pretty unusual given the low humidity of the night before. In any
case, Winston was having nothing of "let's wait till it clears" so we got into
the dinghy and motored out into the mist, with just the outline of Flat Island,
our destination. The fog held on 'til well past 9:00 am before the sun burned
it away.