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April 2013
Mainsheet
— C o m m o d o r e ’ s
m e s s a g e –
So is winter finally over? A cold March allowed a number of us snow lovers to get out on
snow shoes, cross country skis and partake of some of the best alpine skiing in several years.
And, I do hope to get out for one more day of spring skiing before its all over!
Certainly, the last few days of warm weather and longer days are quickly turning our attention
to thinking about taking covers off boats and making check lists of things to be done before
going in the water. Marilyn Drew will once again keep a list of those willing to help skippers
get their boats ready for the water this spring. Hull waxing and bottom painting has a way of
transforming from fun work parties to impromptu cocktail parties celebrating a job well done.
Email or see Marilyn at a meeting if you would like to help. By the way, a Saturday at a boat
yard is not only a great way to make new friends, it also has a way of being remembered when
skippers are looking for crew this summer!
April 4 19:30 regular meeting
April 7 15:00 Seal watch
April 13 Regular meeting
April 18 5 PM Dinner at Josie
Our next big event will be something new and different. The Commodore’s Gala dinner-dance
will be held on May 11th aboard the Mystique, the Lady Katharine Cruise Line’s luxurious
cruise boat, on the Connecticut River. We will be dancing the night away to the tunes of
Wango Tango, a great dance band, so wear that fancy dance dress and bring your dance shoes!
Cathy Flannagan is chairing the event and she can always use a few extra volunteers to help
make it a smashing event.
Our open house will be held at our first meeting in May. Josie Malangone will be coordinating
this event. We will have tables set up showcasing our activities, from kayaking to sailing and
knot tying to docksides. It is a great introduction for new members and prospective new members.
Other big events coming around the corner include the New Member Sail/ Dockside at Rod
Hartung’s on June 15th and the Small Boat Sail at Pettipaug Yacht Club on June 22 nd. We need
volunteers and coordinators for these events so if you can help out, please see me.
See you all soon!
There’re no barnacles on our bottoms!
Norb
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Greetings from the Spanish Virgin Islands….
In Esperanza, Vieques we spent two nights and spent one
day touring by car stopping at the fashionable W Hotel on
the way back from geocaching in an area abandoned with
old bunkers…very cool place. Esperanza is a quaint little town
with great restaurants and shopping. The crew was spoiled
with Ted’s cookie baking and Randy’s cookies from home. By
the end of the trip we were dipping the cookies and everything else in the boat supply of Amaretto…(including the pancakes)…yummm. Bill Pinkney, the former Captain of the Amistad came by to say hi before we left on our charter. We invited him for dinner and had a wonderful night hearing
about his sailing adventures including his solo sail around the
world. The consensus is we would travel to the Spanish VI’s
again. There are many spots still left to see.
A beautiful isolated paradise. They really are like the BVI’s
were 30 years ago. If you want gorgeous anchorages with
no one around except giant sea turtles, dolphin and birds
this is your place. One of our stops was Ensenada Honda
on Vieques accessible only by boat. We had the anchorage to ourselves along with giant jellyfish and our own
bioluminescent show. This really could be the next location of Survivor. Culebra has many nice anchorages and a
small town. We hiked high up a mountain to a lighthouse
built in the 1800’s only to leave without finding the geocache we were searching for…but what gorgeous views.
Landscape sometimes equal to Ireland, small red cliffs and
green vegetation. We saw sea turtles, sharks and dolphin Crew of Hunter 45 - Great White: Captain Joy Sherman and
on a regular basis. Leaving Culebra and sailing along the mates- Ruth Garvey, Ted Geiger, Charlie Amman and Randy
Graff (dinghy captain).
north coast of Vieques and the restricted zone, we happened to be in the area when they detonated a bomb
(which is only done on Fridays)…lucky us. Navigating was
interesting. There are quite a lot of reefs, some not
marked. In fact we saw a catamaran go aground in a 1 ft
spot that was not physically marked (but referenced on
the chart
Saint Patrick Dockside
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By Jeff
Bander
Question: What do you do if the Captain needs
your help on the radio to make an emergency
call?
Answer: Hopefully, this will never happen but in an emergency
the Captain could have her hands full and may need your assistance with the radio.
There are two types of emergency calls: MAYDAY and PAN-PAN
(pronounced Pahn-Pahn). A MAYDAY call is made when grave
and imminent danger threatens life or property and immediate
help is needed. PAN-PAN indicates an urgent message regarding
the safety of your vessel or of a person. Tune your VHF radio to
channel 16, the emergency hailing frequency, make either of the
two calls above. Assuming a dire emergency, hold down the
transmit button on the radio mic and say:
1. “MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY
2. THIS IS: (say the name of you vessel three times)
3. MAYDAY, (boat name) position is: (give your location, either in
lat/long, or in relation to a navigational landmark)
4. WE (give nature of emergency)
5. WE REQUIRE (give type of assistance required)
6. ON BOARD ARE (number of adults and children onboard plus
any injuries)
7. (Boat Name) IS A (give boat type and color and size)
8. THIS IS (boat name). OVER”
You should get a rapid response from either the Coast Guard or a
nearby vessel able to give assistance, or both. If not, after two minutes, repeat. If the unthinkable happens and you have to abandon
ship, tape down the transmit button on your mic which allows the
Coast Guard to get a continuous fix on your position from your
ongoing radio signal.
The above assumes you have a standard VHF radio onboard.
Newer VHFs, called Digital Selective Calling (DSC) radios (shown
above) automate the process. See the little red button on the
lower right. Just lift up the plastic cover and press; a digital emergency message is automatically broadcast giving the boat’s GPS
location and description.
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Several members on a number of chartered boats sailed around
Antigua this past winter. (Photos above).
Others sailed leisurely on a cruise ship from Los-Angeles, CA,
through the Panama Canal to Fort Lauderdale, FL, visiting on
the way Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa-Rica, Columbia and Aruba.
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EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE OCEAN.
Children Writing About the Ocean. The next time you take an oceanography course, you will be totally prepared.
1) - This is a picture of an octopus. It has eight testicles.(Kelly, age 6 )
2) Oysters' balls are called pearls. (Jerry, age 6)
3) - If you are surrounded by ocean, you are an island. If you don't have ocean all round you, you are incontinent. (Mike,
age 7)
4) - Sharks are ugly and mean, and have big teeth, just like Emily Richardson . She's not my friend any more.
5) - A dolphin breaths through an asshole on the top of its head. (Billy, age 8)
6) - My uncle goes out in his boat with 2 other men and a woman and pots and comes back with crabs. (Millie, age 6)
7) - When ships had sails, they used to use the trade winds to cross the ocean. Sometimes when the wind didn't blow
the sailors would whistle to make the wind come. My brother said they would have been better off eating beans. (William,
age 7)
8) - Mermaids live in the ocean. I like mermaids. They are beautiful and I like their shiny tails, but how on earth do mermaids get pregnant? Like, really? (Helen, age 6)
9) - I'm not going to write about the ocean. My baby brother is always crying, my Dad keeps yelling at my Mom, and my
big sister has just got pregnant, so I can't think what to write. (Amy, age 6)
10) - Some fish are dangerous. Jellyfish can sting. Electric eels can give you a shock. They have to live in caves under
the sea where I think they have to plug themselves in to chargers. (Christopher, age 7)
11) - When you go swimming in the ocean, it is very cold, and it makes my willy small. (Kevin, age 6)
12) - Divers have to be safe when they go under the water. Divers can't go down alone, so they have to go down on
each other. (Becky, age 8)
13) - On vacation my Mom went water skiing. She fell off when she was going very fast. She says she won't do it again
because water fired right up her big fat ass. (Julie, age 7)
14) - The ocean is made up of water and fish. Why the fish don't drown I don't know.. (Bobby, age 6)
15) - My dad was a sailor on the ocean. He knows all about the ocean. What he doesn't know is why he quit being a
sailor and married my mom. (James, age 7)
Trends and Tidbits
Raising teenagers is like nailing jelly to a tree
Wrinkles don’t hurt
Old age is when you choose your cereal for the fiber not the taste
Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the snake and the snake didn’t have
A leg to stand on
To write with a broken pencil is pointless
A professor discovered that his theory on earth quakes was on
shaky ground
When the smog lifts in Los Angeles U.C.L.A.
A will is a dead giveaway
The dentist and manicurist fought tooth and nail
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SSC Officers: *
*Commodore:
*Vice Commodore:
*Secretary:
*Treasurer:
* Norbert Church
* George MacLauchlan
* Helene Shafman
* Elaine Reitman
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
SSC Board of Directors:* The Board of Directors consists of the Officers, the most recent past
Commodore and additional Committee Coordinators as appointed by the Officers.
Ann Bednarek
Westbrook
Karolyn Dunn
Guilford
Nancy Faria
Mystic
Thomas Malley Jr
Waterford
Hal Vertresm
East Haddam
Joe Porcaro
Chester
Immediate Past Commodore:
Dockside Co-Coordinator:
Fleet Captain:
Assist. Fleet Captain
Website Coordinator:
Membership Coordinator:
Social and Special Socials:
At Large
* Lois Glazer
[email protected]
* Sheila Peckingham
[email protected]
* Betty Molle
[email protected]
Pat Holinka
* Cherie Calabrese, Dick Siedzik
* Betty Langley
[email protected]
* Rosemary Kaufman
[email protected]
John Koval
[email protected]
Other Committee Coordinators:
Membership Book Coordinator:
Publicity Coordinator:
New Member and Guest Coordinator:
Sunshine:
Newsletter Coordinator:
Sail Crew Co-Coordinators:
Volunteer coordinator :
Laura Borg
[email protected]
Janina Cummings
JO-Ann Salvestrini
Alannah Dutchess
Harry Mark
Gail Rich, Sue Curley, Barbara Cane
Leslie Richo