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Cat TalesSeptember 2001 |
Ray Nieves, Commodore
Labor Day Cruise, Sep 1-3
Good
morning! The Labor Day weekend cruise has arrived already. Do you believe
it?
On Saturday, at 0830, Vice Commodore Rich and Mate Dianne joined
Carolyn and me aboard Classie Chassie. The skies were a bit cloudy with
winds out of the north for day one. We were on our way by 0850 with good
sailing until we got far below Herrington. During the next few hours we
attempted to contact Ayewash. Unknown to us, Mike (solo) had started
earlier than expected and arrived in Solomons as the anchor boat.
During
the trip, we decided to take one-hour helm shifts. Everything went pretty well
until halfway thru. Dianne's 1st shift. We were sailing along at about 7 knots
on a starboard tack when a south-bound sailor kept a collision course. Although
we had the "right of way", Dianne made a quick and smart choice to take
immediate action and tacked away from the rude sailor. We immediately tacked
back to cross the stem of the offending boat to stay on course. Much to our
surprise, we saw the senior-looking crewmember of the offending boat jump up,
run to the stern, and start reeling in one of the many fishing lines they were
dragging. No wonder they would not yield the right of way. They were busy
fishing. On a sailboat? Oh well. Only a movie camera would do justice to the
look on the man's face as he tried to reel in all his fishing lines. You would
have thought we raised the "Jolly Roger" and exposed our cannons. (Maybe we
should have.)
Thanks to the crew from Mug Whump II, especially
Elizabeth who staked out tables and grills, we had a wonderful landside
location for a picnic gathering. The raft was Classie Chassie and
Ayewash, with Mug Whump at dock and Shermax by car. We
were joined by some nontraditional boat (power) friends of Rich and Dianne,
Tom, Linda, Jay and Judy.
Philip's brother, Charles Padgett, and Bev,
Jennifer and Diana Davis also arrived to the activities by iron living rooms on
wheels (oh well).
Now, what is this about police? Have you ever seen a
DNR rookie, still wet behind the ears, with a law enforcement job to do? Well,
Charlene Padget and I had to go back to the raft boats to turn on anchor lights
and take Bev and Jennifer's big, heavy, cumbersome, oversized, full (do you get
the idea?) bags to their boat. Now you must keep in mind, I have the young and
good-looking member of the Padgett crew onboard the dink. Would you think the
young DNR rookie would want to check me out for boat numbers? Ha Ha, what an
excuse. Stop one. Then he stops us to make sure we would have the anchor light
on. Stop two.
Now we prepare to board the raft-up and Charlene asks,
"What's coming out of your boat?" Did we find a problem? Oh, someone left the
water on, of course, to help keep the Bay full and all of our potable water
gets pumped into the Bay - while we picnic. Ha Ha, have a good laugh. Charlene
and I clean up the mess and head back to the party.
Ah, but who shall
lurk in the dark of night? Could it be? No! Yes! DNR rookie looking for yet
another criminal "Pull over", he shouts and flashes his powerful lights. "What,
no tail light?" says he with a tone of authority. "Yes," says me. "I do have a
360o, here behind the engine." "OK" says he, "I'll let you go this time."
Amazingly, while he spoke, he never looked at me. Wonder why? Thanks,
Charlene.
Sunday morning, up at the crack of dawn, off to fetch fresh
water. Rich, Dianne, Carolyn and I off to Zahnizers to fetch a refill. The sun
is waking with a beautiful clear sky and a north wind. Since we are up and
replenished, we decide we will head for Dun Cove.
As we approach Mug
Whump at Zahnizers, Philip is busy doing his morning exercise routine.
Tired and sweaty from the vigors of his morning routine, Philip still manages a
smile and a weak wave as he bids us farewell.
We spent most of the day
motoring against a head wind. We arrive "early" at the Chop Tank and figured we
left so early, there would be lots of time to sail the river. Dianne took a
death grip on the wheel and a smile to replace the brightest sunshine. Now we
were sailing.
Dianne relinquished the helm when the wind died down to
less than 2 knots. Then off to Dun Cove. Much to our surprise, Mug Whump
had beat us in and sat comfortably at anchor. Our friends on Pura Vida
(C320), Leroy and Peg Salazar (who came from our marina) had come to join us,
and they too were set. Surprise, with Ed and Connie Dooley, was just
pulling in and no sight of Ayewash.
Classie Chassie set
anchor and Pura Vida and Surprise joined to start the raft and
the happy night, I mean happy hour. Before the boat stopped moving, Ed, Connie,
Leroy and Peg came aboard and the festivities began. You know the routine -
food, drink, drink, food, and more, more. Soon we sighted a launch from Mug
Whump with more pirates. Again we were boarded, more food, more drink. What
could be next? Philip, Elizabeth, Charlene, and Philip's brother Charles not
only brought food and drink but watermelon, which was a hit. There certainly
could not be more food and drink; it was reaching 1900 and no sight of
Ayewash.
Around 1930, who should hail us? Of course,
Ayewash. In typical calm, cool fashion, Mike says, "Classie
Chassie, this is Ayewash. Where do you want us?" We slip them in between
Classie Chassie and Surprise. Now Mike, Bev, Jen, and Diana also
board Classie Chassie with more food, more wine. You might think the
food, drink, and stories went on forever - it did. I think we had enough food
and drink for a week.
The wind started picking up as night set in, so we
set out a second anchor off Ayewash. With too much food, drink and fun,
we all decided it was time to rest. With all said and done, the dink loaded
with trash, we went to bed.
I sit here Monday morning, after my shower,
watching a beautiful sunrise and trying to write my report for Mike. I hope he
can read it. This has been a good weekend so far - beautiful weather, with full
moons and wonderful sunrises. An osprey is flying over now, with his breakfast
tight in his claws. I think I will stop and cook breakfast.
Sorry you
missed this raft weekend; we all missed you. Please join the fun another time.
The next event is the Oktoberfest raft-up Sep 29-30 in the Rhode River with
raft captains Wayne and Joan Savage.
Wayne and Joan Savage, Jubilee
Can it be? Fall is here
again, the sailing season is coming to an end, and we haven't seen much of the
Bay this year! I am reminded of this as we prepare for the annual CCYC
Oktoberfest raft-up in the Rhode River (off the West River) set for September
29 - 30. This year we will once again be the raft captains for these
festivities.
We will bring the bier garten, Um-Pa-Pa music for
atmosphere while we dine on bratwurst and drink Oktoberfest bier, our other
favorite thirst quencher. The club will provide the Bratwurst and bier, while
the partygoers bring German hors d'oeuvres and cuisine to taste and
share.
To get to the raft site off Big Island, enter the West River,
keeping Red 2 to your starboard. The channel is narrow at that point with
shoals on both sides, but with plenty of water. Proceed up the West River about
a mile to where the Rhode River enters the West River on your starboard. Round
a second Red 2 and head directly up the Rhode (about 348o M) to where it opens
into a semicircular bay. Round Green 7 to port and proceed west to Big Island,
which will not be hard to identify. Jubilee will be there about 3:00 PM,
monitoring Channel 72 every half hour. We will be standing by to provide
rafting assistance.
Please give us a call (301-762-6752) or send an
email (wsavage@aol.com) if you plan to join us this year so that we can ensure
there is enough bier and wurst. It just won't do not to have enough for
everyone.
This event is always a great time. We're looking forward to
seeing everyone again. Come on by, have a good time!
Mike and Bev Davis, Ayewash
The Crab Feast this year was a
real test in flexibility. We planned to raft-up in Kirwan Creek and dinghy to
Harris Crab House located in adjacent Kent Narrows. Ayewash was to be
the anchor boat and we arrived early on to set the hook. Unfortunately, this
was also the weekend when hydroplanes were scheduled to have races at the
Narrows. The races are usually held on the other side from Kirwan Creek but not
this year. We found our course blocked by barges and spectators, so we had to
scramble. Luckily, a quick call to the restaurant confirmed they still had
temporary slips available for us and off we went.
After Ayewash
was tied up, we were joined by Vice Commodore Richard Schatz and Diane Benyus
(C25 Aire Borne), Bo and Joyce Chesney (C30 Cool Change), and new
members Joe and Camille Collins (C36 Windswept). Since the event is
come-by-sea-or-by-land, once inside we were joined by Wayne and Joan Savage
with daughter Cameron and her baby (C36 Jubilee), Don McBride (C30
Coelumar), and Ray VanHorn (C30 Scimitar). Everyone had a great
time and after the feast, Ayewash and Aire Borne took slips at a
nearby marina and Cool Change and Windswept sailed up the Chester
River for a raft-up in Queenstown for the night.
I received the following note from Bill Weeks (C36 Fortnight) for
CCYC:
I am planning to go south this year. The planned departure date is
the week of September 24th, about. I would like to hear from anyone planning to
go south. I plan to take my time with my days. I estimate 25 travel days to
Miami, and plan to take about 45 days to do it.
Contrary to popular
belief that I will never quit work, this is the year I try. Who knows, I may
not like this sailing stuff and go back to work. But right now, I will retire
in September and never go back.
We moved down here full time last year
and love it. The pace of life is much slower and it's nice. Sharon retired last
year and does not miss work a bit. I have been working about ½ time and
come to DC more than I would like. The only thing Sharon misses is Tysons
Corner Mall; as you remember it was about two blocks away. Now she has to drive
all the way to Fredricksburg. I guess that saves me money, but I must change
the oil in her car much more often.
We have a small marina (Coan River
Marina) down here that will sell me anything in the West Marine catelog and
will meet their price most of the time. They do good work and are very friendly
as is everyone on the "Neck". We love it. Say Hi to everyone and we will see
you on the water.