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Cat TalesSeptember 1998 |
Wayne Savage, Commodore
I can't believe it. It's almost October
and the 1998 sailing season is nearing its end. I guess all the warm weather
and no rain fooled me into thinking summer would last forever. Not so, and with
the end of summer its time to start thinking about our non-sailing activities
and yes, thinking about club leadership, elections, and on-going
operations.
I know Bill Weeks is already thinking about our fall
meetings, determining topics and lining up speakers. Also club elections are in
November, and as chairman of the nominating committee I have begun talking with
folks who might be interested. If you are interested please let me know and we
can talk about the duties of the various positions.
Also when checking
with our Treasurer about the club's financial status, we noted that the club's
reserves continue to decline. With membership remaining constant and prices of
operating expenses such as postage, printing, meeting room rental, and awards
continuing to increase, the club's operations are being squeezed. To change
this trend I am proposing two actions:
- Creation of a membership committee
to focus on adding to our numbers, and
- Increasing club dues by $5 a year
to $35.
Over the years there have been efforts to bring new members into
the club, some more successful than others. However, just by the nature of our
club, membership turnover averages about 10-15% a year, so we must continue to
attract 5 new members each year just to keep our membership total stable. Not
only do we need new members to help pay for the club's continuing operations,
we need new people to come to our rafts and other events, bringing new ideas
and perspectives.
When the Treasurer and I discussed the club's finances
we noted that the last increase in club dues occurred before anyone in this
household was a club member. That means that it has been at least 8 years since
the last increase. Sadly postage, printing and other costs have not been so
constant. I believe a small increase to enhance the club's ability to support
events and cover future increases such as postage rate changes is well
justified.
Please think about these proposals and give me a call or send
an email with your ideas and comments.
Joan and Wayne Savage, Second Wind
It's September again; even AOL has a section on Oktoberfest. Boy, do I like
that multimedia presentation. It's been almost a year since I heard that
Um-Pa-Pa polka music. And because of my special interest in this, should I say
holiday, we continue to volunteer to be raft captains for this end-of-season
event. On October 3-4, the annual CCYC Oktoberfest raft will take place in Lake
Oglelton at the mouth of the Severn River. Joan and Wayne Savage, (Second Wind)
will once again be the raft captains for the festivities.
With the
Um-Pa-Pa music in the bier garten background, we will feast on bratwurst,
sauerkraut, and toast with specially brewed Oktoberfest bier. The club will
provide the above, while of course, everyone will bring German (or other) hors
d'oeuvres and cuisine to taste and share.
Polka dancing on the fore deck
to end the evening is optional.
The entrance to Lake Ogleton is just
inside Tolly Point with 5 markers to the entrance. These markers trace the
dredged channel leading into the lake. You do want to honor the marks or you
might be waiting for high tide while dinner is served. Once inside the fifth
green flashing mark you are there. You will see Second Wind cranking up the
music and the grill. We will be monitoring Channel 72, so let us know when you
are coming so we can have a cold one ready.
To make sure we have the
right amount of wurst and beer, please call Joan or me at 301-762-6752 to let
us know you plan to come.
Ray and Carolyn Nieves, Classie
Chassie
This raft-up will prove to be unique as well as fun. We
will try a progressive dinner - one boat for appetizers, another for
entrée, another for dessert, etc. We would like to have at least 4
boats; of course more is better. In order for this to work, we must ask you to
commit to participate. Call us at 301-855-3398 to let us know you'll be there
and we'll coordinate the dinner so all will enjoy it.
Following dinner,
pull out the games. Bring you favorite multiple-person game and we'll divvy up
the fun.
To find the raft-up, head for the West River. At the entrance
to the river, turn to a heading of 2700 as you pass Red #2 until you come to
another Red #2. This marks the entrance to the Rhode River. Turn north and pass
a series of marks - Green #3, Red #4, Red #6 - until you get to Green #7. Turn
to a heading of 2500 and leave High Island and its shallows to starboard. Just
past the small island, you'll find Classie Chassie anchored by 3 PM, monitoring
VHF Ch. 72.
Now, the weather on the Bay has been known to turn sour. If
the forecast is for cold, rain or otherwise unfavorable conditions, the back-up
plan is to bring all that food and games to our house. Call us by 10 AM
Saturday morning if the weather looks questionable and we'll make a ruling. And
realizing some people might have a long distance drive to get home, it's also a
sleep-over.
This is the last sailing event of the season for the club.
Let's make an effort for a big turn-out!
Mike and Bev Davis, Chantilly Lass
It
looked to be a perfect sailing day as we left Herring Bay and headed for the
Eastern Bay. We had a brisk wind, a sunny sky and a great start to the Labor
Day weekend. Unfortunately, the wind slowly died as we crossed the Bay and we
had to fire up the iron genny.
We finally entered the Wye River and
headed for Lloyd Creek. As we entered the creek and headed upstream to where we
wanted to anchor, we found a 6-boat raft already in the prime spot. We circled
for a bit to consider alternatives, then decided to look for a spot past the
raft. As we neared the raft-up, we discovered in fact, it was the CCYC raft-up.
Allan & Hilda Gohrband had anchored Running Free and Walt and Sue Dennison
(Foxfire), Bill and Liz Westley (True Blew), Bill and Sharon Weeks (Fortnight
III), Ray Harris (Aurora) and Wayne and Joan Savage (Second Wind) were rafted
alongside. With Bill Weeks directing, we quickly joined the bunch. Just as we
settled in, Gerry and Jeanne Helldorfer arrived in Ragtime (nee Looking Glass).
This was great; an 8-boat raft-up. And the weather cooperated - we remained
rafted through the night.
On Sunday, some of the boats made for home
port for maintenance in preparation for their trip south this Fall and others
headed for Harris Creek. Chantilly Lass with Fortnight III and Second Wind
headed south, down the Miles River. As we passed St. Michaels, we pulled into
the harbor, anchored and went ashore for lunch, a little sightseeing and to
give Winston (Joan and Wayne's pet Shar Pei) a chance to stretch his
legs.
Following lunch, we continued down the river to Hunting Creek.
Fortnight III had arrived first and served as the anchor boat.
Monday
meant heading home but what a great sail. With winds gradually building to 25
knots, the closer we got to home, the faster we were going. With chances to be
on the Bay getting fewer and fewer, it was a shame to go in.
The International Catalina 30 Association held its annual National
Championship Regatta in Westbrook CT on Aug 14-16, 1998. CCYC sailor Max Munger
placed 2-1-1 to win the overall Standard Rig Non-spinnaker Racing Class. This
was the sixth attempt for Max, all sailed far away from home in different
loaned boats and with local crew. Max previously placed third in San Francisco
and fourth in Redondo Beach. Max relied upon his Chesapeake Bay racing
experience to win in the very light winds and adverse currents of the Duck
Island Roads in Long Island Sound.
The regatta was sponsored by the Long
Island Sound Catalina Association and IC30A Fleet #18, conducted by the Duck
Island Yacht Club and sailed from the Pilots Point Marina in Westbrook. Over
250 people attended the three days of festivities surrounding the regatta and
rendezvous, which was held jointly with the Catalina 36 National
Association.
With 1500 members, the IC30A is the largest one-design
keelboat racing and owners association in the world. Max is the current and
three-time IC30A Commodore. This year, thirty boats registered under one of the
four classes making this the largest regatta in over 10 years. The Standard Rig
Racing Class is one of six possible C30 classes specified in the IC30A national
bylaws. The Standard and Tall Rig one-design boat configurations are each
divided into Spinnaker, Racing and the Cruising divisions. No Spinnaker boats
were registered for Westbrook, so only four of the possible six classes were
sailed this year. Each National Champion took possession of a perpetual trophy
with a C30 half-hull mounted on a plaque bearing all the previous winners
names.
Max is also a member of the Southern Maryland Sailing Association
and represented Fleet #11 in the regatta. At home Max races his own C30 Tall
Rig in CBYRA and PHRF C events and the Wednesday night series out of Solomon's
Island in Region III.