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Cat TalesJuly 2001 |
Ray Nieves, Commodore
Memorial Day Weekend Raft-up H2O Weekend
Report
Yes, Carolyn and I were the raft captains for the weekend of
rain, storms, wind, lightning and a little sun. The 2000 Memorial Day Weekend
report was exceeded only in 2001 by more rain and more severe
storms.
Only the hearty souls of Ayewash departed home port on Saturday.
Capt Mike, 1st mate and fleet physician Bev, crew Diana, Copper and guests Bill
and Connie Clark braved the weather. The afternoon, evening and morning storms
preceding the Ayewash crew's sail did not deter their enthusiasm. Off to
St Michaels. Ayewash arrived and established a host boat position just
off Perry's Landing.
The crew and guests aboard Ayewash spent Saturday
evening on board, watching and listening to the effects of the weekend storm.
Meanwhile, Classie Chassie 2 remained at Parrish Creek with Ray and
Carolyn and Mugwamp 2 remained in Annapolis - Philip, Elizabeth,
Charlene and Charles opted to depart Sunday morning.
Saturday evening,
the Nieves crew took the "iron living room on wheels", aka car, and had a
wonderful potluck dinner with the Padgets onboard Mugwamp 2 (still at the
dock).
Sunday morning brought some sun, with suspect weather subject to
change. But at last, Classie Chassie 2 and crew departed for a noon
arrival at St Michaels. Thanks to Ayewash's crew, we were greeted with a
wonderful BBQ lunch. Later in the day, Mugwamp 2 hailed the raft and
joined the festivities.
Daunted by weather and changes, all in all the
weekend went well. The stories are not as good as last year but we had fun. We
even had fun when the marine police chased us out of our first spot and we had
to set up as individually anchored vessels.
Mike, Bev, Carolyn, Bill and
Connie decide to go ashore and share the experience of getting caught on land
having to wait for an afternoon storm to pass. I guess we all have had those
experiences by now. Later that afternoon, Joe and Camille Collins anchored next
to us in Windswept (nee Padgetts' C36 Elizabeth IV)
After
settling into a good night of uneventful sleep, Monday morning departures began
about 0830. Classie Chassie lead the way, followed by Mugwamp 2
and Windswept, and eventually Ayewash. Maybe next year we can
have a different raft captain and thus different weather.
On a serious
note, I want to bring up two events:
First, I hope some of you had the
occasion to hear the call on Ch 16 Sunday, June 9th, when a 29' sailboat was
hit and sunk by a 35' powerboat. Carolyn and I heard the whole thing as we were
crossing the Bay about 8 miles south of the accident. Having been in emergency
rescue for 30+ years, the incident still gave me a new outlook on safe
sailing.
The person reporting the crash and sinking did a good job - his
description and updates gave me goose bumps and nearly had Carolyn in
tears.
During the emergency incident, people stopped all chatter on Ch
16 (thank goodness). And the events unfolded to a safe conclusion for the
survivors. Unfortunately, the 29' sailboat sank in less than 5 minutes. The
woman onboard was caught in the sail rigging and nearly drowned. There were 7
persons on the powerboat, reported to be at full speed at impact with the
sailboat.
The lesson I learned from this tragic event is that I'm not as
safe as I thought. I always made non-swimmers aboard our boat wear life
preservers or PPPs when leaving the cockpit. Now, after witnessing the speed of
this event and the circumstances as reported - I will always require PPPs on
all non-swimmers when away from the dock!
Second, my new feeling about
PPPs was later more than reinforced. While at BoatUS, I heard the story of a
sailor drowning after he was knocked overboard after his boat was rocked by a
large wake.
The Bay is safe. Your boat is safe. We all have the required
safety equipment, right?
I bring up these accidents because during my
years of emergency services, I have seen hundreds of deaths and severe injuries
caused by unexpected, unpredictable incidents. My hope is by sharing the
information, all of us will review our safe boating practices. None of us can
predict an accident; we can only be prepared to handle what gets thrown our
way. Think safe, prepare well, and watch out for the other person or
conditions. The Bay is not always a safe place to be
Safe sailing!
Mike and Bev Davis, Ayewash
The annual CCYC Crab Feast
will be at Harris Crab House this year. We plan to meet there at 1:00 PM on
Saturday, August 4th. As usual, you can come by boat or car.
By boat:
Ayewash will serve as the anchor boat and will be anchored by 12:00 in Kirwan
Creek. To get to Kirwan Creek, head for the green 1K mark on the south side of
the narrows. From the mark, head NW and around Hog Island. Ayewash will be
anchored at the mouth of the creek. We plan to dinghy to the crab house no
later than 12:45.
If you don't plan to spend the night, Harris has 5
slips available while you eat, but you need to call ahead
(410-827-9500).
By car: Take Route 50 East from Annapolis and cross the
Bay Bridge. Take exit 42 at Kent Narrows East and follow the signs to Harris
Crab House.
We will order from a menu, so if you don't care to crack
crab, there will be plenty of alternatives. I need to have a head count, so if
you plan to come, call me by July 30th. I am going to be out of town July
21-29, but please call and leave a message at 703-802-0355 or email me at
SailCCYC@aol.com. If you have any questions, you can send me an email as I will
be checking my email while I'm gone and I can get back to you.
Richard Schatz and Diane Benyus, Aire Borne
The Icebreaker
was set this year at Truxton State Park in Annapolis, which is a nicely
protected area beyond the Annapolis Bridge on Spa Creek. Diane and I got there
around noon to try to get a pavilion but it was already too late. So, we
grabbed a location with a table under a flowering tree, set our chairs and
enjoyed the view while waiting for the first boat to arrive.
The weather
was nice but a little unsettled. It didn't know whether to rain or not. The
rain was our main concern at not having shelter, but, as luck would have it,
one of the groups that had staked out a pavilion left and we immediately took
it over.
We were resting comfortably when Classie Chassie
arrived. They pulled up to Paula's landing and were promptly greeted by a very
animated Paula. Paula, who surprised us with her presence, was even more
surprised by ours. Apparently through some lapse in communication, Paula wasn't
expecting the Club to join her that day. But, after getting over the initial
surprise, she told Ray and Carolyn that it would be fine to tie up
there.
Ayewash was the next to arrive with Mike Davis
singlehanding her, bringing his precious cargo of homemade chili. We're really
glad he came! Bev and Diana arrived by land later.
Joan Savage came by
land also, to deliver drinks and snacks and was joined later by Wayne. We had
to talk Wayne in by cell phone, but he made it, after flying in just for the
get together. What dedication!
A number of us gathered under the
flowering tree, talking, and enjoying the sights and sounds of Spa Creek and a
distant view of the State Capitol. We were joined by Bill Wesley who was on
"Grandpa Duty" and managed to escape for a while, and, Jim and Wanda Sawyer.
Suddenly, the weather made up its mind and started to rain and get windy. We
all scrambled to grab food, chairs, plates or whatever, and headed uphill to
the pavilion, which turned out to be quite cozy.
We set out the food,
decidedly ahead of the scheduled time and chowed down on roasted chicken,
Buffalo wings, and Mike's fabulous chili. Max Munger and Sherma stopped by for
dinner and added to the lively conversation. Bev and Diana brought Copper who
together with Winston had their own "icebreaker"
The latecomers arrived
and were greeted and fed well. We stayed until dark, chatting, munching and
drinking. All in all, it was a fine gathering of friends.
Mike and Bev Davis, Ayewash
With the 4th of July on a
Wednesday this year, there were no fireworks displays on the weekend in cities
near the Bay. So we held our 4th of July raft-up on the 1st of July in La
Trappe Creek.
The weather finally cooperated and Ayewash had a
very nice sail from Herrington Harbour to La Trappe Creek. A pleasant surprise
after we decided to try going through Knapps Narrows; we had at least 8' of
water on both sides of the bridge. The landfill operations for Poplar Island
had started to fill the approaches last year but they must have dredged and
it's no problem now.
Ayewash set the hook in La Trappe Creek and
was soon joined by Classie Chassie 2 with Commodore Ray Nieves and
Carolyn, and special crew Vice Commodore Richard Schatz and Diane Benyus. After
we secured Classie Chassie 2 alongside, Ray Harris and guest crew
Catherine arrived aboard Reverie and then new members Ray and Lynne
VanHorn aboard Scimitar joined us. You might recognize the boat's name
as Ray and Lynne bought Scimitar from Pete and Karen Denholm. So we got to see
an old friend again in Scimitar and meet some new friends in Ray and
Lynne. (If you've been counting, you noticed we had 3 Rays.)
After Happy
Hour aboard Ayewash, everyone returned to their boats for dinner and
were treated to a spectacular sunset. We haven't seen too many sunsets at CCYC
raft-ups this year, so it was a nice finish to the evening. Let's hope this is
the start of a trend.