February 98 - Volume 28 Number 2
Last updated: February 21, 1998 @ 12:05 CST
Details in Cruising Report
Membership Meeting
February 17, 1998 - 7:30 p.m.
First Christian Church - 1835 Walnut - Carrollton, TX
See Programs
COMMODORE'S REPORT - Ray Pryor
VICE COMMODORE'S REPORT - Ed Kremer
TWENTY-FIVE JIVE - Brad Chilcote
RACING - Steve Hanes
17/21/22/23/24 FLEET REPORT - Larry Featherston
26 FLEET NEWS - Lee Howard
PROGRAMS - Dennis Starkey
ASSOCIATE FLEET & SOCIAL CHAIRMAN - Debbie Miller
CONGRATULATIONS
CRUISING REPORT - Mike and Shirley Kmita
1998 OFFICERS and BOARD OF DIRECTORS
1998 CALENDAR OF EVENTS
DOOR PRIZE!
THE SALE MAKER (Classified Ads)
COMMODORE'S REPORT
The Boat Show is going full tilt; the Sailing Class is filling up; the Membership Drive is on; the Luau's shaping up; the December Banquet plans are firming up; the Lavon Challenge is in Al's capable hands; the upcoming programs are coming together. The Club is humming, and I want to give big THANKS the Board Members that are right in the middle of all the action.
NOTE:
THE BACHELORS’ CRUISE HAS BEEN CHANGED FROM MARCH 15 TO MARCH 21.Sixteen yacht clubs will compete in the challenge for the America's Cup in Auckland, New Zealand. The Challenger Series Selection starts in Auckland in October, 1999. The winner will meet Team New Zealand, the defending champion, for the America's Cup beginning Feb. 26, 2000. The America's Cup Challenge Association president Dyers Jones said, ``We always knew we could count on nine to twelve challengers to post the bond, but this is amazing.''
"This will be the most boats competing since 1870, when 17 yachts entered the race." spokeswoman Heather Miles said. Competing teams will be from the United States (6 teams including one from St. Thomas, VI), France (2), Australia (1), China (1), England (1), Italy (1), Japan (1), Russia (1), Spain (1), and Switzerland (1).
Excerpts from America On Line on "Rules About Buying a Boat" - Captain Joe:
#1 Let your heart lead you; you will know the one that moves you.
#2 ALWAYS get a marine survey. Teresa Kasner:
#1 There are never REALLY good deals; just lower prices and much higher repair costs.
Next Month: Why a yacht club’s chief officer is called a "Commodore." Has it always been thus?
VICE COMMODORE'S REPORT
Strange things happen in your mind when you see the bow of your new boat crash through the rear window of your van. My first adventure with my new MacGregor 26 happened before I even took the boat home.
When I bought "On Call," the M26 was a brand new model. Les Liggett of The Rigg Shop had never sailed one and he wanted to race it. Wilma had already told me of options I would need on the boat, as it came from the factory with only the barest essentials. She knew that as a novice sailor, I would not be happy with the purchase unless some convenience and safety features were added, such as halyards run to the cockpit, reefing lines, and loading side boards on the trailer. I suspected at first that she was simply trying to increase the sale price of the boat, but I never regretted any of the options and, in fact, purchased quite a few more over the years. After waiting for what seemed an eternity for the boat to arrive from the factory, I still had to wait for it to be fitted out, bottom painted, etc.
When I finally thought it was ready, Les made me an offer I couldn't refuse. He wanted to race an M26 in the Nationals in New Orleans. He informed me that in order to be competitive, my boat needed certain "go fast" gear that I had not already ordered. He offered to install the equipment needed if I would pay for the hardware on the condition he could race the boat. He and Marshall then spent the next few weeks ordering more equipment and installing it on the boat. It was finally completed with additional winches, a Genoa sail, traveler, and various control lines. We hitched to his truck and took off for New Orleans.
Lake Pontchartrain is a shallow and brackish body of water with rather fluky winds, as I recall. I was looking forward to a swim but was advised to stay out of the water as I would be more likely to dissolve than to drown. At any rate, I sailed with Les, who skippered the boat very well, but alas, ended up in second place. The hometown dealer with "local knowledge" took first.
We arrived safely back at The Rigg Shop, tired but excited that I would finally be driving my new boat home. As I pulled the boat off the lot, there was a shallow ditch to cross. As the van started up the other side, the trailer was going down into the ditch, forming a "vee", and it brought the tow vehicle into contact with the bow of the boat, which inexorably pushed through the rear window (custom tinted glass, of course.) I discovered the one option I hadn't bought was the most important: a trailer tongue extension.
Over the years, I've had many other adventures in trailering. They have included 1) rear ending a brand new car which the teenage driver had stopped on LBJ, 2) scraping the mast light off when the carrier bumped into a low-clearance covered motel driveway, 3) leaving pieces of my boat and trailer, such as turnbuckles and license plates, along a bumpy stretch of highway, 4) driving a thousand miles on trailer tires over-inflated to 100 lb. because of a defective tire gauge, and probably most memorably, 5) overheating the van at the top of a Rocky Mountain pass with a broken heater hose. On that occasion, a tow truck took my van, still hitched to the boat and packed with wife, children, 2 dogs and all our worldly possessions down the remainder of the pass, while I communicated with the tow truck over CB to coordinate efforts at braking. There was also 6) last Memorial Day which Kathy already recounted in the June, '97 Venturing. I think you get the idea. The fun never stops.
Thanks to all who volunteered to staff the booth at the Boat Show and to those who helped to arrange for the volunteers. You are all making this job of Vice Commodore so simple that I have nothing to keep me from going sailing on those occasional balmy winter days. Please remember to send your club membership renewals in time for the directory. The deadline is still March 15. There are 19 renewals so far.
TWENTY-FIVE JIVE
February is here, and the Dallas Winter Boat Show has passed, which can only mean one thing - we'll be back on the water soon! In fact, if this mild winter continues - by the time you read this article I'll bet more than a few of you will have already been sailing in '98. For the rest of us, it’s time to be thinking about finishing up our list of to-do's from last year and preparing our boats for another great season of sailing. Speaking of things to do on your boat, here are a few tips from my recent Sailing Course taken from the Dallas Power Squadron. By the way, if you are interested, I'd be happy to share my experiences with this group - I can't recommend a better membership for preparing the skipper through its educational programs!
Maintenance of Standing Rigging:
Balancing Your Boat:
Tuning the Rig:
I'll still be away from our meetings for a couple of months - hopefully I'll soon be a "pilot" on my boat, then I intend to continue with advanced piloting, learning how to factor in currents and tides to my dead reckoning. Hope to see many of you on our upcoming Bachelor's Cruise!
Those who are interested may join me on a sail during the cruise, weather willing, to figure just how deviated our boats are!
RACING
Let’s go racing! Activity is beginning to heat up as preparations are underway for this year's racing season. Several members plan to get a jump start by entering the Houston Midwinter's on February 28-29 (note the date change). Those that I'm aware of that are racing include Larry Featherston, Mike Jones, and George Gabert so far. Also J. B. Jordan has reservations but lost his crew. If you're interested, give J.B. a call.
Sorry about providing the wrong date in the last Venturing. Other dates that have changed include the Bachelor Cruise that is now scheduled for March 21-22, and a tentative date of May 30 has been set for the V/M Regionals. Speaking of the Bachelor Cruise, begin making plans now to attend this annual shakedown event to get away for the weekend at Lake Texoma and have the chance to tune-up your racing skills in Saturday's race.
Regarding the Regionals, I am tentatively making arrangements for this event to be held in conjunction with the Cancer Regatta on May 30th at Lake Ray Hubbard. I say tentative because the response has not been very positive the last couple of years. The consensus at our Race Committee meeting on February 10 was that this event would only be successful if we can get racers from around the region to participate that are not current club members. The feeling is that our members are not as likely to spend another weekend racing against our same competition as our regular racing series. So... I intend to use the Internet and the e-mail listserv to test the waters to see if outside competition would be interested in joining us for this weekend. Marshall McKenzie suggested that we consider having it with one of our holiday cruises to further entice outside interest of those that would be traveling long distances to participate. I'll let you know what interest I find.
In addition to that topic, the Race Committee finalized this year's club racing rules with a few revisions. The changes primarily were made to clear up confusion with a few instructions and handicaps, and to be consistent with the new ISAF rules. Hopefully you all will appreciate the improved entry form that should greatly reduce some of the handicap confusion. We also discussed suggestions that I will implement in an attempt to keep the races starting on schedule and reduce delays between races. Thank you Lee Howard, Bobbie Allen, Ray Pryor, Cathy Young, Dave Taylor, Debbie Miller, Larry Featherston and J. B. Jordan for all you assistance with our committee meeting. I want to also thank J. B. for agreeing to be Associate Race Chairman this year to help me with the racing activities, especially the races that I will be unable to attend in the Fall. Members, it should be a great year to come out and give racing a try if you haven't been participating!
To help the new racers get underway, we are again offering a class and practice sessions for new skippers, or those who would just like to "tune" their racing knowledge a bit. Marshall McKenzie will be conducting the classes scheduled for March 27-28 and will be providing additional details in the March Venturing. Thank you Marshall for volunteering to organize and teach this year's class. With the help of several experienced skippers, this class should be a great opportunity to learn enough about racing to make your first experience a more enjoyable one.
I also want to thank Al Barboza for volunteering to organize the Lavon Challenge that our club is responsible for hosting this year. Details of this October 10th event will be provided later in the season.
On a final note, for those who do not have Internet access, I have as promised reproduced the following ISAF rule changes that are now in effect.
CHANGES TO THE RACING RULES OF SAILING FOR 1997-2000
The following change to the racing rules was approved by the Council at the 1997 Mid-year ISAF meetings to take immediate effect:
Rule B4.2
The following changes to the racing rules were approved by the Council at the 1997 November ISAF meetings to take effect on 1 January 1998 or such earlier date as promulgated by a Member National Authority:
Rule 14(b)
Rule 17.1
Rule 49.1
Keep Clear
Obstruction
17/21/22/23/24 FLEET REPORT
Fleets Are Us
Yeah we are fleets of many and we hope to steadily grow in size some day, if only by becoming legends in our minds. At least it’s still growth of some kind, and some kind is better than none at all. If you add us all up, we become a Ven/Mac-126 and that’s bigger than any we got. Think about it, but not too long. Judy will put her boat in the water this year, one way or the other.
You’ve heard the old song, "It’s raining, it’s pouring, the old man is snoring, hit his head and couldn’t get out of bed in the morning." Well, I have felt like that lately. It’s been raining so darn much that there just ain’t no reason to get out of bed in the morning. The lakes are so full right now it’s hard to get there. So I just wander aimlessly back and forth from the den to the fridge (that’s where I hit my head) and watch it rain some more. It just ain’t worth getting up if you can’t go sailing, but there’s not a whole heck of a lot that you can do about it anyway, so go and stare at last week’s leftovers during that next set of commercials. It gives you something to do on Saturdays. Gosh, I’m tired of the rain. Can you tell, or does the moss on the north side of my hair keep you away?.
At the last meeting, I took about 10 lbs. of old magazines to the meeting (book swap) and they all disappeared. That’s great, you think. Well, it was cause I got rid of a lot of old stuff that I was tired of looking at. The only bad thing was, since I was the last to leave, I picked up about 15 lbs. of old magazine’s that were left behind. But not to worry, this is old stuff that I don’t remember reading and can probably leave them behind at the next doctor’s or dentist’s office that I have to visit . Have you ever looked at the dates on those magazines? Thomas Edison is a current affair subject in some places. But I also understand that Jim Wallace remembers when Mr. Edison was born.
Parrot Heads unite, I want to go someplace where it’s warm and it ain’t raining all the time. Stand up and flap your wings or something, cause it’s time to party. I saw the sun the other day, or was I just staring in the fridge again? One lump or two?
Sending Our Continued Get Well Wishes to JIM WALLACE!!
26 FLEET NEWS
Well, our booth at the Boat Show had plenty of activity, and it looks like we should not have any problem filling our classes. The 26 Fleet was well represented, and I really appreciate the willingness of several who filled in when needed. The Boat Show and sailing lessons are probably the most important things we can do for our club. The results directly affect everything else we do. The lesson fees provide the income we need to fund most of our activities, and the students are our best membership candidates, which we need to replace members who drop out for various reasons. Most of the new boat owners will have purchased the 26X, since it is the only one being built now. It is up to the 26 Fleet to provide the support and advice to these new owners and make them feel welcome to our club. That will be the number one priority for our fleet this year.
A number of members of our fleet have been able to take advantage of the warm, sunny days that we have had recently. Among those were Chuck and Sandra Beesley, Bill and Gaye Benson, Ron and Jeanne Briggs, Al and Gina Grikis, Lee and Ruth White and Lee and Dale Howard. Chuck Beesley would like to get out more if there is anyone to accompany him at Joe Pool Lake during the week. Give him a call.
As I mentioned before, most of the new members will be a part of the 26 Fleet. I urge all of them to not hesitate to call me or anyone else in the fleet to get advice, go sailing with them, or anything else we can do to help get them started on sailing. The primary purpose of our club is to provide a means of learning from each other, and I guarantee that the more experienced members get just as much out of helping as those receiving the support. Give us a call.
One of the things that I hope everyone is taking advantage of is the club homepage on the internet. Steve Hanes has done a great job in designing the site and keeping it updated with useful and interesting information.
The biggest event this past month for Dale and I was the arrival of our fourth grandchild but first granddaughter, Megan Leean, born February 2 to our son and wife Paul and Kim, who live in Ft. Myers, Florida. We plan to visit them in a couple of weeks during spring break to meet the newest addition to our family.
PROGRAMS
February - Chartering
Club members discuss experiences from their own charters,
what to expect, what to bring, etc.
Don't miss this meeting if you ever plan to charter.
ASSOCIATE FLEET & SOCIAL CHAIRMAN
Just a short note:
In March we will be having a Pot Luck Dinner. The theme is St. Patrick’s Day. I'll have a sign-up list at the February meeting.
I've interviewed a live band for the Christmas Banquet. At the recent board meeting, a demo tape was played. Also in planning is a Luau in May.
HEY ladies, if you would like to help in the planning, let me know!!!!!
Sign Off Little Deb
Congratulations to
CRUISING REPORT
Well, it’s the Bachelors’ Cruise that's coming up, so that means that it must be my turn to write this article. FIRST item to report is the CHANGE OF DATE for the cruise. The Board voted (I had nothing to do with it, honest) to move the Cruise back one week. The Bachelors’ Cruise will be held on the weekend of March 21st. Follow-up item, I'm working on the Board to change Memorial Day.
Now about the Cruise. We'll be following the standard agenda this year. For those of you who have not been on a cruise, this is what to look forward to. Saturday morning we will be meeting for breakfast at the Denny's Restaurant in Plano. It’s located on the North access road of Central (US75). Going north exit Park Boulevard, go past Denny's and park in the Steak and Ale parking lot across the street. We plan on leaving Denny's by 8:30 am, so be there in time to eat, say around 7:30 to give yourself an hour to eat as the service can be slow. I'll try to get some tables together for us. We should get to Grandpappy’s, launch and be settled in well before noon. Those who want to meet us at the lake can plan on being there around 10:30 or 11 am. Pack a lunch so you can eat before the afternoon race, or you can grab something at the Point restaurant located within walking distance of the courtesy slips, where we will be staying. Steve Hanes will be starting the race around 1:00 p.m. Upon returning to the slips, we will have time to relax and decide who will be going to dinner where. Sorry, but I haven't been on a cruise for a couple of years and all the good old places and about most of the town of Cartwright have been incinerated. Sunday will begin with breakfast AND COFFEE at the Point Restaurant, followed by a sail to Soldiers Creek Marina for lunch, a fast sail back, and depart for home mid-afternoon or so. If anyone has any questions, give me a call at 972-422-1105. I hope to see ya’ll there as you never know what you may be missing. P.S. - Almanac predicts 3 feet of snow! Somewhere, anyway.
DOOR PRIZE!!!
$20.00
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 and Christine Sherry
were the lucky (?) winners at the January meeting
but were not present to collect their $10.00 prize.
Classified Ads are FREE to members. To place an ad, call the Venturing Editors. (972) 271-5073
FOR SALE: 1996 MacGregor 26X with Trailer
FOR SALE: 1992 MacGregor 26
with Swing KeelFOR SALE: 1985 MacGregor 25
FOR SALE: 1976 Venture 222
ADS 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 1998 Steven J. Hanes, All Rights Reserved