March 1997 - Volume 27 Number 3
Last updated: March 23, 1997 @ 11:11 CST
Details in Racing Report
March 18, 1997 - 7:30 p.m.
COMMODORE'S REPORT - Dave Taylor
VICE COMMODORE'S REPORT - Ray Pryor
SOCIAL NEWS - Lora Featherston
CRUISING REPORT - Don and Martha O'Grady
TWENTY-FIVE JIVE - Wilma Liggett
26 FLEET NEWS - Steve Hanes
RACING - Al Barboza
17/21/22/23/24 FLEET REPORT
1997 OFFICERS and BOARD OF DIRECTORS
1997 CALENDAR OF EVENTS
DOOR PRIZE!
THE SALE MAKER (Classified Ads)
COMMODORE'S LOG
Sailing is ‘in’ this time of year. Several members competed in the Mid-Winters in Houston at the end of February and, as usual, made a good showing with a first and a second place in their divisions. Read Racing and Fleet News for more details.
How is the Bachelor Cruise at Lake Texoma like a Clint Eastwood movie? This insidious end-of-February tradition usually has a little of the good, the bad and the ugly, and this year’s event lived up to its reputation. The good: racing on Saturday, Jeff’s "homemade stuff," food at The Point, sailing stories, racing and equipment advice, potential new club member, Don O’Grady finding Sam on the side of the road. The bad: Sam’s transmission, wind and waves rocking the boats Saturday night. The ugly: Sailing on Sunday. Overall, the good usually outweighs the others, but I still concede that women are smarter because they decided to go shopping.
As I look at all the events we have coming up on our calendar, it’s mind boggling. There is so much that people can get involved in....racing, cruising, sailing lessons and racing instructions, travel to other lakes, and monthly programs. We are lucky to have members whose hard work make these events a success for us. It has been inspiring to watch the board put together the calendar and budget, and the volunteers to step up to help with the boat show, sailing lessons and the other events. People in this club really work for success. Take the opportunity to thank those who make it possible. Members who volunteered early in the year to chair the committees and fleets are listed in the Venturing. But also recognize those who work on these committees. We know that behind every board member, committee chairman and fleet captain is a spouse running the show.
Dick Hardin
says we have eager students this year, so let’s support the cause by making our boats and ourselves available to help with sailing lessons in April.VICE COMMODORE'S REPORT
1997 Boat Show
The Sailing Class has 22 of 24 students slots filled as I write this. This is without a phone canvas! As usual, we still need boats for the class. I would like to thank all the people who helped at the Boat Show:
Bobby Allen; Al Barboza; Sam Blake; Brad Chilcote; Doug and Sandi Cook; George, Judy, and Tracy Gabert; Gus Gusler; Steve and Lisa Hanes; Dick and Beth Hardin; Lee and Dale Howard; Jim and Margie Hutchison; Arnold Jansen; Mike Jones; J.B. Jordan; Mike and Shirley Kmita; Marshall McKenzie; Don and Martha O'Grady; Kathy Peele; Ray and Charlotte Pryor;Todd and Christie Sherry; Jennie, David, and Bryan Taylor; Ken Upton; Jim Wallace.
1997 Membership
If everyone who was a member last year renews this year, we will have 81 members. Currently we have 3 new memberships and 48 renewals.
I would like to welcome the 2 newest memberships to our club: David and Cindy Grote of Dallas (M25) and Gordon and Cindy Morrel of Bowie (also M25).
My Take on the '97 Bachelors' Cruise
Percentage-wise, the 24 Fleet was well represented at the Bachelors Cruise. "Cruise" turned out to be a good name for the relaxing light air race from Grandpappy’s to the dam and back on Saturday. Sunday was a bit wet and cold for the race to Soldier’s Creek, but a few hearty souls went and survived.
Since when do 26’s have bow sprits? Ask Steve Hanes about his temporary modifications for a spinnaker. It seemed very effective. I think the spinnaker racers have hit upon a good way to make converts; they loan their spare spinnakers out and voila! Some new skipper is hooked.
The 24 Fleet also provided the Brewmeister, Jeff Tucker. I really liked his Scottish Wheat Heavy Ale. It was a big draw! Jeff brought 5 gallons each of two homemade brews. Thanks, Jeff! Jeff has a lot of hobbies: diving, sailing, flying, and now brewing. What’s next, Jeff? I hope it is NOT emergency induced parachuting! Bailing out should only be done on your boat.
Bobby Allen
and I had a good time crewing for Dick Hardin on the Bachelors’ Cruise. I suspect we also slept a little better at Dick’s lake house than we would have at the boat with the high winds and waves. The cruise was a real blast; wind, brew, and steak-wise.Bobby Allen and I
also crewed this month on a C&C30 on Lake Grapevine. We got a big surprise when the huge spinnaker ripped in half and only left the edge seams to pull the remnants into the boat. Even with this set-back; we went on to win first place (unofficial results)!SOCIAL NEWS
Thanks to Janelle Schmidt & Jennie Taylor for furnishing the refreshments for the February meeting.
CRUISING REPORT
At the January Board Meeting, Dave Taylor handed me a four-page job description for Cruise Director. But, after careful review, I still can't find where it says that the Cruise Director is supposed to follow the caravan to Lake Texoma and search the roadside for disabled tow vehicles. Yet there it was, a familiar looking black Chevy pickup with its hood up and a Mac 26 behind. Fortunately, since I had left the Irish Rose at home, I was able to take Yosemite Sam Too on to the cruise while another tow vehicle headed south with the black Chevy pickup behind.
As for the Cruise, it started with a race; and true to his word, Al started us off with a surprise. We had five minutes to get into the boats, away from the docks, and across the starting line. In this race the best start went to the fastest starting outboard! Then, after a two hour run to Eisenhower and back the first boat to cross the line was none other than Yosemite Sam Too. Second place went to Steve Hanes' Miss Kitty and the 'genaker' that he borrowed from Marshall. (Thanks to Steve for inviting me aboard. It was nice to be looking back at the pack for a change; plus we got to play with his new GPS receiver. I gotta have one!) About thirty minutes later the next three finishers crossed the line -- with their sails down. Now how did they do that?
The weather was something of a mixed bag. Saturday's temperatures were pleasant with light to fair winds. Sunday... well Sunday was another story. But the white caps and cold rain just added to the fun. I even came back with what looks like it just might become a suntan. Of course, you couldn't ask for better weather than what we had the Monday after the cruise.
As for fleet captain bragging rights -- there were four 26's, three 25's (including one visitor), one 24, one Catalina and one camper with a total of 24 'bachelors.'
So what's next? Well Steve Hanes is putting together a mini cruise to Lake Waco on the weekend of April 26-7. The local club may even be able to host a race for us if there's enough interest.
As for our summer kick-off over Memorial Day weekend -- Relaxing on the beach and in the water, sailing to Soldier Creek for lunch, pot luck dinner, sand castles, campfires, story telling, s'mores and more... It's getting closer!
TWENTY-FIVE JIVE
We have kicked off another season of fun, fellowship and racing with our V/MYC. I drove my husband Les Liggett (captain of Willy Deally) to meet Marshall McKenzie, Steve Hanes, and our Commodore Dave Taylor for breakfast at the Diner’s Restaurant truck stop north of McKinney on Hwy. 75 in route to Texoma for the Bachelors’ Cruise. I guess I can say I tried to crash the Bachelors’ Cruise, but they sent me on my way to meet Carol McKenzie and Juanelle Barboza in Gainesville for the Ladies’ Cruise through the Outlet Mall. You’ve heard SHOP TILL YOU DROP!!! That’s what we did. We met at 10:30 and only stopped for a bite of lunch and an afternoon rest break. We gybed, tacked and rounded so many stores you would not believe that we made every store in Gainesville except for the throw-outs. We found some great bargains, Carol wrote checks till her fingers got tired and red and she kept saying, "Let’s go! I still have checks, so I still have money." We were having so much fun that without even having a protest meeting, we decided to alter course and go to another mall in Denton. Thank goodness we could drive for a little while, on a downwind run to Denton. We are hard core sailors and shoppers in our club, so we shopped till 8:30 and then went to dinner. As we sat down to eat, we wondered if our husbands were already in bed. Sorry more of the wives couldn’t make the shopping trip, but our 25-Fleet was well represented with three first mates participating.
Hope to see you all on the water.
Report on Lake Lavon: It’s either Feast or Famine. The lake was great till the last rains, and now the ramps are covered with water. Marshall and Les looked at Ticky Creek ramp and reported that it was just too high to launch, so hopefully the lake will go down by our New Skippers’ Class on March 15th.
26 FLEET NEWS
The excitement is beginning to build in the 26 Fleet for the 1997 sailing season, and for some the season is well underway. Six fleet members participated in the Bachelors’ Cruise at Lake Texoma on March 1 & 2, namely Bobby Allen, Sam Blake, Lee Howard, Dave Taylor, Lee White, and yours truly. Everyone had a great time, thanks to Don O'Grady and Al Barboza for organizing the annual cruise and race. Once the fog lifted on Saturday afternoon, we were able to get one long-distance race in. Sam Blake and crew on his M26 finished first with a 6 1/2 minute lead. My crew, Dave Taylor and Don O'Grady, and I thank Marshall McKenzie for the loan of his asymmetrical spinnaker and pole which we rigged as a bowsprit. It was an excellent learning experience for us, and the first time any of us got to see the bow rather than the stern of Marshall's boat during a race! Thanks, Marshall!
Actually this was Sam's second race of the season. He had one of the four boats from the 26 Fleet that participated in the Houston Mid-Winters. While Sam didn't fare as well in that event, Mike Jones with Wings ran away with first place in the spinnaker fleet. Congratulations Mike on your sweep! J. B. Jordan and George Gabert where the other fleet members who enjoyed racing their boats in this windy event on Saturday. Mike was the only one of our hardy fleet to start Sunday's race in what I understand started in winds of 25 knots and building with 6' seas.
Plans are being firmed up for a sailing weekend at Lake Waco. The 26 Fleet is hosting this event that will be held on April 26-27 for all members of our club. We look forward to meeting our Waco-area members, Lee and Pam Crawford and Doug and Linda Totten, for our first ever Lake Waco event. Arrangements are being made with Jerry Van Meter, Race Director of the Lake Waco Sailing Club, to host a combined race that weekend with their club. This should be a good opportunity for all our members to explore a new lake for us, whether interested in racing or cruising. We will most likely be launching at SpegoVille Harbor and will be attempting to obtain temporary slips for those interested. I understand there are numerous good anchorages regardless of wind direction. Add this event to your calendar now and plan to enjoy this "Local Lake Adventure." Come to the next meeting or watch the newsletter for additional details.
I would like to plead with the members of the 26 fleet and challenge members of the other fleets to bring your boats out and participate in at least one of the two days for the club's annual Spring Sailing Class on April 6th and 12th. This is our largest fund-raiser of the year, and I understand we already have 22 paid students although the event committee has not even begun calling the list of interested students that signed up at the boat show! We need more boats to make this our best class ever! If you haven't already signed up to participate, please call Dick Hardin at (214) 368-7022.
And last, but not least, for some additional news-worthy updates from the fleet, J. B. Jordan is recovering nicely from his heart surgery in February, even after catching the flu while in Houston where he was racing only two weeks after his ordeal. J. B. tells me he feels better than he has in years! He's looking forward to using his new bimini that he didn't get to try out in Houston due to the high winds. We'll soon know from him how well a bimini for a 26X works on a 26 Classic. The only additional news I have to add is that yours truly enjoyed my new toy on the Bachelors’ Cruise. My new Garmin 45XL hand-held GPS was used throughout the weekend to drive my crew crazy with my constant reports of speed, location, direction, distance to the finish, and even altitude! While it didn't help us win, I enjoyed playing with it. Who knows? Maybe some day it will keep me from getting lost on Lake Lavon!
Until next month...
Smooth Sailing!
RACING
The Bachelors’ Cruise was a trying time for most skippers on Saturday. The sun was shining, but there was very little wind. During Saturday night, the wind came up and very little sleep was had by anybody who had their boats tied sideways to the wind. On Sunday the weather turned cold and rainy. It was not the ideal cruise, but the skippers would not be put off by the weather.
The New Skippers’ Training Class will be held at my home on Friday night, March 14, at 7:30 p.m. On-the-water sailing is on March 15th at Lake Lavon. Any new skippers who would like to know more about their boats should attend. There is lots to learn! Please contact me at (972) 270-1048 after 6:00 p.m.
The board members and I have decided that, due to the lack of out-of-town participation, the Club Nationals will be cancelled this year. The Texoma Lakefest Regatta and the Captain’s Cove Cancer Regatta are good choices for alternatives.
The Spring Series Races start March 22, with the Skippers’ Meeting at 9:30 a.m. at East Fork Park Marina (I hope). The water level is high, but the gates are open. Remember, Committee Boat assignments will be decided after the Skippers’ Meeting, so bring your crews. Committee boats will be for one race only. The new rules will not be used for the Spring Series.
Congratulations to Mike Jones and Larry Featherston for their wins at the Houston Mid-Winters. Mike received a First Place in the Spinnaker Fleet, and Larry won a Second Place in the Main and Jib Fleet. Very good, guys!
On April 25 - 27, the May Day Regatta will take place at Lynn Creek Yacht Club on Joe Poole Lake. Contact Matt Mayo at (214) 319-7535 or myself for more information.
Sea ya on the water!
17/21/22/23/24 FLEET REPORT
A very Happy Birthday to a number of fleet members: Beth Hardin 3/22, Rae Upton 3/18, Larry Featherston 2/22, Ron Robertson 2/16, Judy Dawson 2/19. Beth Hardin told me that this was The Big One, but not about to tell you what big one it is. You will need to ask her yourself! Happy Birthday to All!
During the February 18th meeting, our friends Dale and Gina Sturgeon were guests. They are currently boatless, but would love to crew for someone. Should anyone require crew, please contact either Ray or I and we will gladly put you in touch with the Sturgeons. Gina and I are "Womanship" alumni. A few years ago I did a 5-day live-aboard on the Florida Gulf Coast, about 2 years ago Gina and I did a 3-day in Biscayne Bay out of Miami, and most recently Gina did a 7-day on the Florida Gulf Coast. We both quickly decided we are "wheel" people and really liked those large Hunter sailboats! Both Dale and Gina have also taken the V/MYC sailing class a number of years ago.
I can’t say enough about the various classes that are available today for women only. Whether it is Womanship, Women for Sail, or Offshore Sailing School, these are a great way for women to learn with other women who are there for the same reason. You don’t need to worry about asking the same questions over and over again and be made to feel stupid for doing so. The women instructors understand what you are going through and are there to help. It’s unbelieveable the experience they have! While these courses do not come cheap, in my opinion, the price is worth it. In Womanship’s case, the price range from $400 for a 3-day to $1,000 plus for the 7-day, plus they always offer some special classes each year in Greece, New Zealand, and Ireland, just to name a few. Their usual classes are available in Florida, Annapolis, San Diego, Maine, Connecticut, Great Lakes, Vancouver, and the B.V.I. You can also think of it as a vacation away from your daily life! Kathy Peele is familiar with Women for Sail and can probably give you information on them.
It was mentioned during the last meeting that Marshall is taking a class that the Power Squadron offers. These people do a very good job with the classes they offer. Ray and I have taken their Boating Skills and Seamanship class and also the 10-week Coastal Navigation class. I swear that navigation class was one of the hardest things I have ever done! What got me was the geometry that was involved in it. This was a bit difficult for someone that never had a geometry class before! But I managed! I did the homework on the dining room table with Jimmy Buffett playing in the background! One other thing that you might check out sometime is the Safety At Sea Seminars that are sponsored by West Marine each year. We did the one offered in League City and thoroughly enjoyed it. The price also included lunch. These seminars are always advertised in Sail and Cruising World magazines.
It sounds like this is turning into a women’s column! That’s alright because I think we need one! I would love to hear from all members in the 17/21/22/23/24 Fleet about what you are doing (or not doing!), what you would like to talk about, what you would like to do, what’s going on in your life that you would like to share with the rest of us, etc. It would also be great to hear from any of the women in the club for the same reasons. Please feel free to call, write or e-mail me. My e-mail address is: cdpryor@aol.com. I just looove e-mail! It’s great turning on the Mac and hearing "You have mail." Yes, it does talk to me. Ray’s nasty PC doesn’t do that! While talking to Margie Hutchison and Jennie Taylor, I learned that they attended the Houston Boat Show and Strictly Sail respectively. While listening to them, an idea came to me that maybe each month we could list a cruising recipe — something that is quick, simple and easy and involves minimal utensils and pans. These are my kind of recipes and what I use at home all the time. Let’s give it a try and see what happens. I will start off with one that I recently found:
Spicy Shrimp Pasta:
l lb. cooked shrimp without tails
1 tsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced
2 tsp. bottled minced garlic
2 15-oz. cans Hunt’s Ready Tomato Sauces Chunky Italian
1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper
1/2 pound packaged dried or fresh spaghetti or fettuccine, cooked and drained.
Heat oil in large skillet. Cook and stir onion and garlic in hot oil until tender. Add shrimp, tomato sauces, crushed red pepper; heat thoroughly. Serve over hot, cooked pasta.
If anyone has a recipe that they would like to share, please send it on to me (Margie, Jennie?). The men are also invited to share any of their recipes (Larry?).
There are still a number of you that have not mailed in your membership. Please do so ASAP. If you don’t, who am I supposed to call and harass each month?
DOOR PRIZE!!!
$30.00
How would you like to have an extra
$10.00 or MORE???!!!
At each membership meeting,
all members' names will be placed in a hat,
and one will be selected to win the prize.
But, You must be present to win!!!
If the member drawn is not present, $10.00 will be added to
the pot and left to accumulate meeting after meeting
until we have a winner!!!
Todd & Christine Sherry
were the Lucky (?) Couple drawn at the February meeting
and WERE NOT present to collect their $20.00 prize!
Classified Ads are FREE to members. To place an ad, call the Venturing Editors. (972) 271-5073
FOR SALE:
1976 Venture 222FOR SALE:
1972 Venture 222ADS WANTED:
Do you have sailing related products for sale or trade? Do you have a sail to sell? Do you need crew? Do you want to crew? Are you a member? If so, you can advertise right here for free!
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© Copyright 1997 Steven J. Hanes, All Rights Reserved