Glen
Cove Yacht Club
NEWSLETTER
|
|
April 2003
Volume 2, Issue 1
Glen Cove Yacht Club Home Page
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 2003 |
Volume 2, Issue 1 |
|
2003
|
When I look up into the evening sky and begin to see the constellation Orion disappear over the horizon, I know a new boating season has arrived. This is a year in which my express wishes are for all our members and their guests is to have an enjoyable, full, active and safe season at our Clubs anchorage and out on the water. This has been a very active winter and I would like to thank all those who have been involved in the meetings, committees and planning for the up coming season and the future of the Club in general. We have blocked out a week on the calendar for a Club Cruise. The reason for setting aside a week each year is that it enables members to make their plans and schedule their "time off" well in advance. Even though we have blocked out a week I think it might be nice if we could put together a 4 day/3 night trip this year. The more intrepid sailors might join us and then use it as a jumping off place to continue on longer trips of their own. The basic idea is to help expand our sailing horizons a little more. Interested parties should contact Chris Brown to begin formulating plans. This years "Commissioning Day" will be held on Sunday May 18th at 3:00 PM. Members should come down and join the festivities as we officially open the Club for the 2003 season. Following the formal ceremonies a "Covered Dish Party" can be enjoyed by all. As with previous covered dish parties a delicious array of food can be expected. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Page 2 |
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Work Day three we will also have a table set up for a "Nautical Flea Market". If you have any items worthy of selling, or if your want to see if there's anything for purchase, this is the time for it. Tag your items with a price and remember the Yacht Club gets a 50% share. The truth is that it's a good way to clear out inventory you don't use, It's a good way to possibly pick up something you could use and the Yacht Club gets a donation. It's a win-win situation for all. In recognizing the need to increase services we have included longer hours of operation in this years launch schedule. It is my hope that this would only be the beginning! As membership increases so must the services if we are to retain new and old members alike. Please Call Larry, Dave and Herv'e depending on which activity you prefer to take part in. Assignments may be required to make sure all the work gets accomplished. Work Day 1, Sat. 19 April @ 9:00 am |
Work Day 2, Sat. 26 April @ 9:00 am Work Day 3, Sat. 3 May @ 9:00 am We have dramatically changed the Racing scene. We've kept one race, the "Pina Colada Regatta" at the end of august. Two Rally's have been added to the schedule to combine the "Best of Both Worlds", Cruising and Racing. Each Rally will be an informal race to a given location and an informal race back. Awards will be issued for the race there and back and also for "Best Over All". The first Rally will be to a location where we can enjoy a lunch break or picnic. The second Rally will be an overnight trip and raft up with the same principles in mind. Hopefully the limited schedule will allow members to focus on joining these activities. All are welcome, Motor Boats as well as Sailing vessels. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Page 3 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
With our own limited racing schedule, I would like to encourage our members to make use of the Wednesday Night races held in the harbor throughout the summer. It's informal and fairly well attended at times and in general it would be nice to be active in conjunction with our neighboring Yacht Clubs. We will be finding out more about the race schedule and information will be available at the Clubhouse. As in past years the "Fourth of July" promises to be an active day at the Club. With the 4th falling on a Friday it's sure to start the weekend with a bang. The grill and charcoal will stand at the ready for anyone who wishes to bring their own party to our shores. In the hopes of good Fireworks the launch will be running extended hours. Come on down and join the activities. Club membership is more than having your boat in a great anchorage; it's even about more than putting in a few hours work. Membership in any organization is about adding your persona, energies and skills for the greater good of all. All that join the Club carry this responsibility. Lend us your hands, participate in Club activities and support the Club with your ideas. Please do not be surprised when I come around knocking on doors seeking participation in one form or another. Even better yet, step forward before anyone does come asking. A membership drive can no longer be a loose thought, but must be acted upon. It must be a continuous and sustained effort. To this end the Board has voted on a small advertising budget. So far we are taking out an ad in Newsday's "Nautical Insert" and have plans for a similar ad in a popular local sail magazine. Pamphlets and flyers have been posted in many supermarkets (And so far I have already had one response from these flyers). This is an area that all members can help. If you are willing to post flyers or have suggestions for places you think advertising or posting information would be useful, please join us and give us your ideas and your participation. The Club will have the grill out and the charcoal ready on Sunday afternoons beginning at 4:00 PM. between Memorial Day and Labor Day. A great way to wind down the weekend, relax and socialize. Also a great chance to use up the food stock that always seems to remain in the icebox after sailing for a couple of days. Bring your food ashore or import it fresh, either way come and join the fun. ~Chris Brown, Commodore |
My dear friends, I sincerely thank you for your confidence in selecting me as Vice Commodore of our Club. I will do my very best to help our Club to develop and prosper. In order to pursue this goal, our Commodore, Chris Brown, as well as all of the members of the board, request the active participation of all Club members. It was with great sadness this winter that we saw the destroyed docks, floats, and pilings of our neighboring boat club. I can’t help thinking that maybe someday our Club will have the same kind of mischance. As the poet said, it is not difficult to die, but it is difficult to grow older. Think about this:
There are two reasons for these low fees: first, the reasonable rent offered by the City of Glen Cove for our location, and second, all of the necessary Club maintenance work is done by Club members. Many of you would like to see more Club services. We can achieve this goal only if we attract more members - and we need every Club member’s help to get to this goal. And so I ask for your active participation in our Club. Come to meetings and make your opinions heard. Participate in the numerous planned activities, and if you would like to do something different, take the initiative to propose a new event or project. Above all, we need the help of everyone who can come on work days -- It’s fun, the food is great, and the camaraderie is wonderful. I count on all of you to make sure that our Club does not grow creaky and old, and above all, never goes away. The City of Glen Cove would lose an important part of its social life. And so in closing I encourage all Club members to:
Voice your opinions, and make suggestions to improve our
Club. I promise that that you will be heard. Join or lead
one of our many committees. With your help, our Club can
only become better and stronger. ~Hervé Riou, Vice Commodore |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Page 4 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
In the event you have not gotten the word over this long and dismal winter, the Glen Cove Yacht Club is now online with its own Web Site Domain: On this site, you’ll find more information than you could possibly ever want to know about the Yacht Club, from who the Officers and Trustees are (and how to contact them – see the "Members Only Area"), to the Rules and Regulations, Club By-laws, recent and upcoming events, the launch schedule for the season, historical photos of the Club and its predecessor, the NY Yacht Club, and much more. There is a page where you can view articles of clothing and burgees sporting the Glen Cove Yacht Club logo, as well as advertise nautical items and boating equipment for sale or trade with other members. A schedule of events for the current month and for the year will be kept up-to-date on the Web Site. No longer will we hear those terrible words, "Oh, I wish I’d known about that – I would have come." The Launch Operations Schedule changes several times during the season as daylight lengthens into evening. You can check the schedule for the entire season online. You can even fill out a membership application online and print it (in case you’ve misplaced yours). |
During this season we hope to add a Members Forum where you can discuss boating, offer suggestions for the Club’s operation, or discuss other issues of interest to Long Island mariners. The Newsletter may also appear online in the near future, perhaps even this edition. If you have a question you’d like to ask about the Club, or have a problem with some aspect of the Web Site, e-mail us at: Use this address to e-mail me for the User ID and Password that is required to enter the "Members Only Area". You must be a member in good standing for this season to obtain access to this area. If you have photos of Club events that you’d like to share, or historical photos of the Club or NY Yacht Club Yacht Station No. 10, please contact me. You can also e-mail articles or other items of interest to be published in the Club Newsletter to: Have a great Season! ~Dave Nieri, Webmaster |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Page 5 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
We've made some minor changes to improve the launch schedule this year. Most of the changes occur between Memorial Day and Labor day "In the height of the summer". On Friday and Saturday evenings the launch hours will run to 10:45 PM and for those who would like to get an early start to the weekend, service will begin at 3 PM on Friday's during the same time period. On Wednesday's and Sundays the launch will run to 10 PM. Please note that the starting times are when the operators are to arrive at work and the launch will operate up until the "Last call time" posted. So get out there and spend even more time on the water!
Joining us again this year to operate the launch will be Jack Worth, Pascual Figueroa and Jesse Gill. These guys did a great job last season and we’re glad to have them with us for another season.
The GCYC Ships Store is stocked with good stuff this year. Club burgees, heavily sewn, are in stock. Collared shirts in both white and grey. T-shirts (Hanes Beefy-Ts), Baseball caps in navy blue and also in beige with a blue brim. All have the Club emblem embroidered on them. These are all high quality items.To view photos of all available items, visit the Club website at www.glencoveyachtclub.org. To purchase any item contact Jim Dahl at 516-676-6097, or at JJDPHD@aol.com. Jim will have Ships Store items available at all Club events. The price list is as follows:
The small profit realized from the sale of Club items is added to the Club treasury to defray costs. |
Hello fellow members! Please don’t forget to take advantage of an agreement that we have on behalf of our members with BoatUS! All members of the Glen Cove Yacht Club can join or renew their membership on BoatUS for only $9.50 (half the regular rate). All you need to do is to mention our Group Member Number (GA83113Y) when you join or renew… If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at
516-796-4202. ~Paulo Cisotto There is an ongoing discussion as to the costs involved in printing and mailing this Newsletter. Some feel that in our electronic age we can save money by posting via E-mail. Others seem to think that a proper Newsletter should be a hard copy that a member can peruse at his or her leisure. To put this issue to each member, there are a few questions you may feel inclined to respond to:
Each issue of the Newsletter will also be posted on the new Glen Cove Yacht Club web site at www.glencoveyachtclub.org. If you will contact me, Jim Cleary with an answer to one of the three questions we will structure the mailing list accordingly. If a response is not received it will be assumed that you wish to continue to have the newsletter delivered by mail. Thank you for your help. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Page 6 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
As you may recall from the October issue, my boat "Amethyst" had a fairly successful 2002-racing season through June. A well-prepared bottom, that’s perfectly clean, is one of the initial ingredients to a successful racing program. Usually, it would only need to be cleaned every two or three weeks but last July was different. I hadn’t put any new bottom paint on last spring for several reasons. I started racing at the end of April and didn’t have enough time with the cool and rainy weather to redo the bottom. One of my competitors from Rye, who uses the same bottom paint as I, had skipped the entire previous season without applying any new bottom paint. He just had a diver clean the bottom every couple of weeks. Also, it was in really good shape after we (some of my crew and I) had just prepared it by primarily polishing it for racing in Key West in January 2002. Besides, I was planning to go to the J/27 North American Championship in Buffalo in early August. I decided that I’d redo the bottom in August after returning from Buffalo since the boat would be out of the water anyway. I have to admit that I was also reluctant to redo it last spring, as it’s a very time consuming, thankless and arduous task. In order to successfully prepare a racing bottom one must sand the existing paint to insure good adhesion of the new paint. Clean off any sanding residue. Apply one or two thin coats of paint and then start sanding again by hand to eliminate any imperfections in the paint’s surface. Then I buff until the paint (I use VC Offshore) starts to take on a mirror like finish. The only regatta of any real importance on LI Sound during the summer months is the Larchmont YC race week in mid July. In spite of its name, it’s actually held over two weekends. I hadn’t raced for a couple weeks and knew that the boat’s bottom was dirty. I was trying to keep it clean with weekly cleanings but I missed one cleaning. Perhaps some of you have witnessed the system that I use. When I have help I use a 15’ long by 10" wide piece of carpet to rub the slime off. One person pulls up one end of the carpet on one side of the boat while the other person eases off the other end of the carpet on the other side of the boat. Then the process gets reversed as the carpet is gradually moved back and forth across the bottom. I designed and constructed a special device to clean the keel and rudder. |
I make use of this to clean the whole bottom when I’m alone. The bottom looked great when the boat was launched in April but the paint apparently had weak or no anti fouling properties. That wasn’t a big problem until the water got warmer in July. I had tried to hire a diver (for the first time ever) to insure that the bottom would be really clean for the first race of the Larchmont YC series. Unfortunately, he never showed up. I then planned to clean it myself the night before the first race but a thunderstorm kept me from doing so. When we attempted to clean it the next morning my worst fears were realized. For the first time ever my boat had hundreds of small barnacles growing on the bottom. My normal bottom cleaning methods didn’t work to remove them. Because of a lack of wind, the start of the race was delayed. I got in the water and started scraping them off. I had to abandon my efforts when I was only perhaps half way finished, as the race was about to begin. Not surprisingly, we were relatively slow and finished 8th out of 10 boats. After the race we hauled the boat out on the lift at the Larchmont YC and the whole crew spent several hours scraping off the barnacles and the remnants that they leave. The next day we were definitely faster. I didn’t have much luck the following Saturday either. While approaching the windward mark on a port tack I tried to sail past a starboard tack (privileged) 34’ competitor. I didn’t make it and they didn’t seem to yield. They hit me broadside about 1½ feet from the stern. We spun around and then bounced along each other’s topsides until we past one another. Luckily no one was hurt. We both went on to finish the race but neither of us did too well. My stern rail was damaged beyond repair as was one lifeline and one lifeline stanchion. Amazingly, there was hardly even a scratch to my hull. I was very lucky as I was leaving for the J/27 North Americans in Buffalo, NY in 4 days. ~Doug Davies |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Page 7 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
On Sunday 22 June 2003, beginning at 9:00 am, at our docks, members of the Coast Guard Auxiliary will be conducting Vessel Safety Checks. These are a free checkout of the equipment on your boat that is required, by law, to be on board when you operate the vessel. If your boat has all the proper equipment you will be issued a decal good for the season. There is no consequence if your boat does not pass. The inpections will be conducted by Vice Commodore, Hervé Riou and Manny Giudice for the GCYC. What is a Vessel Safety Check? A Vessel Safety Check is an inspection of your boat performed with you and a volunteer member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary. The primary goal of a safety inspection is to discuss with you required safety equipment and safety features specific to your boat. Results of the Safety Check are not reported to anyone. A boat either passes or fails. If your boat passes the Safety Check, a Decal is affixed, indicating all required equipment is aboard and functioning properly. This decal is also known as "The Seal of Safety" and your boat is recognized by law enforcement agencies as being equipped with the required safety items. |
If your boat fails, a decal is not given and you will receive a list of the missing or damaged items that need to be attended to for your boat to meet Federal and State requirements. Upon acquiring or repairing these items you may contact the Auxiliarist who will re-inspect your boat. If everything is in order, a "Seal of Safety" decal will then be issued. What Do I need to Pass a Safety Inspection? The requirements are different based on the size of you boat. The following is a list of some of the items we check: - Registration # on boat with proper spacing |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Page 8 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
If you have a guest visiting the Club, especially if they are going to leave a car in the paking lot overnight, you should put a temporary parking sticker displayed in the vehicle window. The launch operators will have the stickers available, just ask. But please remember to return the sticker when finished with it so it will be available for someone else to use.
1 cup mayonnaise Mix ingredients in a small oven-proof dish. Bake at 350 for short time, till melted thoroughly, and lightly browned. This Newsletter is looking for simple recipes that can be made on a boat or brought out to a boat for cruise fare. If you have a favorite dish or desert that fits the bill, send it in. |
This summer’s editions of the Glen Cove Yacht Club Newsletter will appear on a new schedule. Publication will be on April 1st, May 15th, July 1st and September 1st. The reason for the change is to allow Club information to be brought forth in a more timely manner. The deadlines for submissions will be as follows: 21 March, 9 May, 20 June and 22 August. Please send in any and all articles. Personal news, things for sale, cruise stories, race stories and results, letters to the editor, etc., etc. Submit to: Jim Cleary Submissions can also be entered on the Club Web Site, at Heard About! Make something idiot proof and someone will come up with a better idiot. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||