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Cat TalesJune 2003 |
Rich and Claire Miller, Exploring the Blue
We saluted a
soggy welcome to the 2003 boating season in Baltimore's historic Fells Point
neighborhood for this year's Flag Raising Brunch. A lively crowd of 24 packed
into the upstairs room at Kooper's Tavern on an overcast and damp Saturday
morning to say hello to friends and fellow Catalina boaters and to share a
Bloody Mary and a warm breakfast.
As members new and not-so-new arrived,
our ever-prepared CCYC Secretary and hard-working "Cat Tales" Editor, Mike
Davis, passed out name tags, and Commodore Ray Van Horn and Vice Commodore Rich
Miller made everyone welcome. The first hour passed with everyone settling in
with their favorite drinks and exchanging stories of the work they were doing
on their boats and the places they hoped to visit during the coming sailing
season.
The friendly staff of Kooper's then served a pleasant breakfast
of scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage, toast and jams, OJ and coffee. Following
breakfast, Ray called the group to order and presided over some brief club
business. He introduced and welcomed each of the new members that had joined us
for the event, and he requested that everyone take an active part in making the
season a successful one for our club. The call went out for willing captains to
host some of the club's summer events.
Rich then took the floor to
introduce the day's speaker, Captain Tom Tursi of the Maryland School of
Sailing and Seamanship in Rock Hall, MD. Captain Tursi entertained the group
with a very interesting talk on preparing for a first offshore passage. After
explaining that an offshore passage means leaving the bay and turning
perpendicular to the shore, Captain Tursi described the proper boat and trip
preparations, as well as the safety equipment needed to make a successful
passage to Bermuda. He wrapped up his discussion by sharing some of his
personal experiences in making many of his teaching trips back and forth to the
islands.
While the weather forced the cancellation of many of the
planned Baltimore Harbor activities scheduled for the day, everyone enjoyed the
company and the atmosphere of Fells Point, and it left us longing for the fair
breezes sure to blow our way in the summer of 2003.