Cat Tales February 1996

CCYC PLANS FOR 1996

Paul Payne, Commodore

On January 6, we held a meeting at Paul & Sharon Payne's home to discuss the activities for 1996. We enjoyed talking with all the folks; Max & Sherma Munger, Ken and Diane Lang, Wayne & Joan Savage and Mark & A.J. Eller. J.P & Donna Marzulla joined us to made sure we kept the northern bay in mind as we charted the summer cruises. After much discussion on our "cruising" objectives for the year, we finally drafted a schedule we hope everyone can enjoy sometime throughout the year. Please note some of the "open" Hosts and Raft Captains. Anyone wishing to be a Host or Raft Captain, please contact Paul Payne or Mark Eller.

Mark Eller offered to kick-off the first meeting of the year with a discussion on various projects for upgrading your boat during the long winter months. In February, Bill Shellenberger will talk to us about "Cruising the Chesapeake" (See the February meeting announcement). This should set the scene for Max Munger to speak to us about "cruising techniques and protocol". Since there has been a lot of interest shown by others who want to cruise the Chesapeake, we are inviting members from the other Catalina fleets to join us for these great events.

After the winter meetings, flag raising brunch and first raftup, we'll start the busy cruising season with a Memorial Day cruise to the Chester River. On June 8 and 9, a special Catalina rendezvous is being planned for the South River. All Catalina skippers on the Chesapeake and beyond should plan to attend this major event. The Wye River will be our next destination to celebrate Father's Day along its peaceful banks. The Fourth of July will be celebrated on and around Solomons Island hosted by our National Commodore Max Munger and CCYC Vice Commodore Mark Eller. In July/August, we look forward once again to the now-famous Gandy Crab Feast on Whitehall Creek.

The fall will be very active with cruises planned for the Choptank River, Bodkin Creek, Magothy River and Severn River. The complete 1996 CCYC schedule is included in this newsletter.

After enjoying good food, happy talk and the warmth of a cracklin' fireplace, everyone bundled up and scampered home in time to miss the now infamous "Blizzard of '96". Thanks for all of your ideas!

Cruising the Chesapeake
with Bill Shellenberger

Paul Payne, SUN DANCER

Bill Shellenberger, author of "Cruising the Chesapeake," will speak to us of the many interesting places to cruise around and about the Chesapeake. Bill will touch on many cruising aspects of the local area as well as the entire bay.

Chesapeake Bay is one of the world's most exciting cruising areas. Ever since friends first introduced us to his book in 1991, Sharon and I look forward each year to visiting many of the gunkholes he describes so well.

Please join us to learn more of the cruising joys of the Chesapeake. Friday, February 16, 1996 8:00 PM, Fleet Reserve Club. If you would like to make 6:00 PM dinner reservations, please call (410) 263-4614. See you all there.

FROM THE WAITEs

Rod and Pat Waite ON THE ROAD AGAIN, HEAVY WAITE

Hi, Chesapeake Bay Catalina Yacht Club!

This letter is not from WYE WAITE II, but from the HEAVY WAITE, which is, at the moment, anchored in Pat s brother s driveway in Tacoma, WA. For those of you who are not familiar with our HEAVY WAITE, it is a 31 foot Southwind RV. We are cruising the U.S. in it. We left Serverna Park the second week in July 1995. That is why you haven't seen us at any raft ups this last summer. The HEAVY WAITE doesn t float very well.

Pat and I are enjoying this different experience in land cruising. There is so much to see and do that we can t possibly see it in a year's time, but we are, hitting the high lights and enjoying them very much.

We headed west as the Dennison's had told us that Yellowstone National Park could get snow in mid September. They were right, but we did get there before it happened. We went through the South Dakota Bad Lands and Mount Rushmore. It is great to be an American when one sees this beautiful sculpture of our founding fathers.

We then went on to the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, and Glacier National Park. Then into Canadian Rockies to see Banff, Lake Louise, Jasper and Yoho Provincial Park, all spectacular scenery. Next, west to Vancouver, BC, Victoria BC, Seattle, Cascade Mountains, and the Olympia Loop. We have been very lucky to have found and stayed in perfect camp sites which are public and have very reasonable fees. The National Forest, Provincial Parks, State, and County sites are usually nicely spread apart with lots of privacy and shade. Many are on Lakes, Rivers and streams.

We have taken a lot of color pictures and 8 mm videos, so we can share some of our experiences with the Fleet when we get home, assuming you have a 120 hours or so. We will miss your Christmas party, but we will be there in spirit. We will probably fly to our oldest son s home in Bronxville, NY, for Christmas where the twins will also join us. Pat is anxious to be with the grandchildren.

Merry Christmas to all and fair winds. By the way, when land cruising, we do not wish for fair winds as it blows us all over the road.

BOAT IMPROVEMENTS

Mark & A.J. Eller, Miss Tress

I didn't want the January meeting to become what has Mark done to his boat, and I think we were moderately successful, based on the participation of those present. I know that there are many folks out there with ideas on how to customize your yacht, making it just a little more user friendly. As a matter of fact, most of the ideas and projects that I have accomplished and we discussed at the meeting, were ideas that I had got from other sailors and power boaters. If you take the time to observe those little fancy and clever innovations aboard other boats (yes, even the new ones), most them can be modified to go aboard your boat in some fashion or another. If the job were custom crafted by the owner, he (or she) would probably be glad to share the techniques that were used to complete the task (here's where pride of accomplishment comes into play) or what considerations were made prior to undertaking the project.

Thanks to all who attended and participated in the discussion, if there are any questions over items or issues I mentioned, please feel free to give me a call. Best-O-Luck with any winter projects you might be undertaking.

LAST CALL FOR RENEWAL!

It's that time again. Time to renew your CCYC Membership for 1996. If you haven t already submitted your 1996 dues, please do so NOW in order to remain on our roster and newsletter mailing list.

The current CCYC Membership list is included in this newsletter to refresh your memory about renewal, and for you to make appropriate updates. Please complete the form on the back of the list and send it with your check of $30 to Diane Lang as soon as possible. If you have updates for the list please send that information to Wayne Savage at the newsletter return address.

MEETING EXPENSES
Cash Bar!

For the last few years the Fleet Reserve Club has provided wine carafes for our meetings. They have charged us for the full carafes, whether we drank them or not. The club covered the cost of wine not drunk and the difference between the $1.00 charge and the cost of the wine and beer.

To minimize the impact of club finances, we have asked the FRC to provide us with wine splits to allow us to charge for individual wine and beer orders. To cover these costs we are increasing the cost of wine and beer prices at the meetings to $2.00 each.

CCYC SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

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