Glen
Cove Yacht Club
NEWSLETTER
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July 2003
Volume 2, Issue 3
P.O. Box 211, Glen Cove, NY 11542
www.GlenCoveYachtClub.org
Glen Cove Yacht Club Home Page
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July 2003 |
Volume 2, Issue 3 |
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P.O. Box 211, Glen Cove, NY 11542 |
www.GlenCoveYachtClub.org |
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I just heard today that we are about one half inch away from the 1903 record rainfall for the month of June. With rain expected over the next few days as we enter the summer, this means as you read this we probably have a new record. Aren't we the lucky ones. Just getting our boats in has been a chore of picking the few sunny days to work on them, or slogging through the wet days. Slowly but surely the boats have appeared at the Club and the season is beginning to see signs of activity. Let the sunny days and the fun commence! A reminder on hailing the Launch In addition to "three blasts from a horn" the Launch Operators are monitoring VHF Radio Channel 69. Calling the Launch on the radio is quick and easy. Beware that while the launch is in use the radio may not be heard and the boater should revert to sounding a horn. Fourth Of July "BYOB" A "Bring Your Own Barbecue" party beginning at 4 PM. Enjoy good food and good friends before heading out to our boats for viewing the Fireworks. Club Phone The pay phone has been removed. We have had a phone installed in the rear hallway across from the Ladies room. The phone is a safety feature as well as a courtesy to our members. The plan has unlimited 516 access with all other area codes being blocked. The phone number remains the same (516) 676-9450. |
Please feel free to use the phone when needed for (516) area code calls you wish to make. Since this phone is for the use of all members and is our primary business connection, we ask that you respect the Club and limit the duration of your calls. As in the past when the Club House is closed the answering machine is available for leaving messages. In the near future you will be able to hear a recording of the schedule of upcoming events in an additional voice mail box. ~Chris Brown, Commodore Upcoming Events July 4th On Friday, the 4th of July, the Club will be running the launch on a weekend schedule. The bar-b-que grills will be set up and ready to go for any members and their guests to use. So bring your picnic to the Club and spend a nice afternoon. Then stay for the fireworks either viewing from the Club or the boat. The week of July 26th through August 3rd has been designated as a time for a Club Cruise. Plans are in the works for Port Jefferson and Black Rock Harbor as destinations. Contact Commodore Chris Brown for details and the schedule. This years Lobster Fest will be held on Saturday, August 16th. This popular event is a chance to enjoy good food and good friends at the Club. Look for a flyer in the mail as the day draws near and keep the day open. |
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This years only scheduled sailing race will be held on Saturday August 30th. The Pina Colada Regatta is a race who's only requirement is to have fun and maybe a drink or two. Contact Past Commodore Larry Ward for details and starting times. The Club says 'Good Luck' to two of our launch operators, Pascual and Jesse, as they move on to other jobs for the summer. Pascual will be working full-time at his family's restaurant in Glen Cove (the American Cafe) and Jesse will be working detailing cars and boats (every kid's first love at this age). We also anticipate the arrival of two new apprentice operators, Mike Morrison and James Williams, who will begin training shortly. They will be under the guidance of our lead launch operator, Jack Worth. ~Dave Nieri, Fleet Captain
To the best of knowledge the Glen Cove Yacht Club's membership has been increased by three this year. New boat owners to the Club are: George Marks & Marjorie We welcome them to the Club. Please make every effort to make their first year a pleasant experience. |
Synchronized 21-Gun Salute Despite the torrential rain and gusting wind that forced the City of Glen Cove to cancel this years' Memorial Day parade, the Glen Cove Yacht Club, Hempstead Harbor Club, and Sea Cliff Yacht Club conducted a successful synchronized 21-gun salute on Memorial Day. This solemn salute, known as a "21 minute-gun salute", is a tradition that is performed annually on Memorial Day by the US Navy, and is fired from Navy bases and ships that are equipped with saluting cannons. This first-ever Memorial Day salute by the three yacht clubs was organized by Glen Cove Yacht Club historian Rich Reynolds as a tribute to military personnel who paid the ultimate price for freedom. The salutes were fired using black powder, cartridge loaded signal cannons, with the first shot being fired at 12 noon, and one round being fired every minute thereafter until 12:20 PM, when the last round was fired. After the salute, the US flag was raised to the full staff position at each of the yacht clubs. Accurate timing was accomplished through the use of hand-held GPS receivers, whose time display is provided by the atomic clock at the US Naval Observatory in Washington, DC. "Gun salutes are all about proper timing", says Reynolds, "and all three yacht clubs were right on the mark with their cannon shots. It sounded great." The officers and members of the Glen Cove Yacht Club would like to thank Commodores Dan Rapelje and Dan Grande from Hempstead Harbor Club and Sea Cliff Yacht Club, respectively, for their splendid participation in this salute, which may become an annual event. ~Rich Reynolds, Club Historian
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Last month we examined our Life Preservers, replaced our old ones and agreed to wear them. "RIGHT" Now I want to talk about Birthdays, Christmas, Anniversaries, and other days you might give a gift to yourself or hint to others what you want. A good gift would be a new VHF Radio. Not just a radio a new DSC (digital selective calling) VHF- FM radio. Why, because your life may depend on it. "RESCUE 21" is a new system designed by General Dynamics Decision Systems is being developed with cooperation with the US Coast Guard to "hear your distress call and send help". It's an advanced search and rescue (SAR) communications system that helps the USCG locate and assist boaters in distress. It improves the Coast Guard's response time and reliability by: Recording and correcting garbled communications. Providing better coverage (even a 1-watt radio call can be heard from 20 nautical miles off shore). Locating the distress call. Coordinate with other emergency services. The RESCUE 21 system can work with some current radios, but the newer "DSC" radios improves the response time and when interfaced with GPS, the DSC radio signal transmits; vital vessel information, position, and nature of distress at a push of a button. Also the USCG will soon be monitoring the new DSC emergency channel 70, phasing out channel 16 within 10 years. If you're looking at replacing your radio, you might want to consider a DSC replacement. It will cost more now but you'll be ready for the future. SAFE BOATING and WEAR THEM ~Manny Giudice, Flotilla CommanderUSCG Auxilliary |
The GCYC Ships Store is stocked with good stuff this year. Club burgees, heavily sewn, are in stock. Collared shirts in both white and gray. 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. If you've been inside the Clubhouse you've undoubtedly noticed the absence of the retread furniture that's been there for years. In it's place are beautiful directors chairs with the GCYC eagle on the back. Between the chairs are matching side tables that make this area of the Clubhouse a very comfortable place to sit, relax and enjoy the company of our fellow members. This change, which is much welcomed, is the first stage of a 3 stage rejuvenation designed to make the Club more user friendly. The second part will be a modernization of the galley area. Stage 3 will be an overhaul of the lockers, bar and bookshelves. Rob Dagna has been responsible for this great new look. He has been doing a wonderful job. If you have some ideas that would improve the look and usefulness of the Club, talk to Rob he would love to hear from any and all. |
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In the last issue of the Newsletter we printed an endorsement of a new bottom paint called "Dolphinite". The Club launch was painted with this paint before it left the yard. Just prior to going to press with this issue the launch was back in the yard having the bottom repainted. The new paint did not fare well. In fact the yard was very busy rehauling and repainting boat bottoms. So before thinking about using this new product, you might want to do some extensive research into it before putting down your money. Larry Ward is our contact with the yard and should have updated info available. Latest from Larry: More on the bottom paint caper. Having recommended "Dolphinite" as being ecologically correct, it now seems that some of the batches Joe Weiser obtained had been damaged and were not effective to say the least. He has been hauling some of his customer's boats and repainting as needed, including our launch. Most of us have to use our "Old" paint and are waiting for someone else to carry out the market evaluation this year. ~Larry Ward, Past Commodore  |
A Yacht is, indeed, a boat but a boat is not necessarily a yacht. I do not fully agree with the dictionary's definition: "a yacht is a boat used exclusively for pleasure." While this is true, it is much more than that: a boat is only a yacht when she has dignity, polish and class. Size and cost have little to do with achieving the stature of a yacht. I have known many yachts no larger than eighteen feet capable of far outshining boats of much greater sizes. I have been dazzled by examples set by yachts costing less than that of the sail covers on "gold platers" nearby. A yacht may be a racer or a cruiser, constructed of any material and built in any year. She needn't be profuse of brightwork nor fancy gear. In fact, she might not have any brightwork at all if it is the nature of her character. She doesn't have to belong to a yacht club - a club cannot create a yacht; nor can any builder, try as he may. It is the owner who makes a yacht from a boat or, conversely, who makes a boat out of a yacht. What a boat and yacht have in common, besides being able to float, is the unique ability to reflect their owner's attitudes and degrees of fortitude, patience, attention to detail and the desire for beauty and respect for things produced through human effort. A yacht is the mirror of the owner's self esteem. |
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A yacht announces to those who view her that her owner is proud of her, caters to her appearance and attends to her health. She is never neglected, abused or treated with disrespect. A yacht stands out among boats wherever she may be and sets an example for all those around her. But she does not stick up her nose nor is she ever pretentious in her ways. She is a lady. A yacht, however large or small... old or new, tells who and what we are: caring owners and loving friends. She is the profound expression and extension of ourselves. You'll know her when you see her. Reprinted (without permission) from the Sailors Sketchbook by Bruce Bingham, NA
Painting a name on the transom of a boat is now a thing of the past. Today's technology is vinyl graphics. A+ Graphics and Signs, of Glen Head, are on top of the new technologies. A local company with the right combination of excellent product, great customer relations and reasonable prices. You'll find examples of their work at the Club on the sterns of Dean & Willard Nason's "Wet Dream", Pete Cleary's "Pengwynn" and Bonnie & Jim Cleary's "Dana". If asked you'll also hear strong praise for Billy and his crew at A+. So if your in the market for new graphics for your boat, give Billy at A+ a call. You'll be pleasantly surprised. A+ Graphics & Signs
Putting together and printing this Newsletter takes quite a bit of time and effort. Thankfully my wife, Bonnie, in addition to being a good sailor and crew, is also very patient with the time spent at the computer. I enjoy the work and am proud of the finished product. What I am having a hard time with is getting members and Officers to contribute and to contribute on time. The deadlines prior to each issue are designed to make my workload easier and to ensure that the issue gets out on time. Please send me lots of stuff and send it before the deadline. Thank you very much. Jim Cleary, 516-437-6107 |
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An article in Saturdays Newday, 6/21, related the tragic story of a sailboat being run down in the fog by a large power vessel. Three sailors were transporting a 35' J-boat from Larchmont Yacht Club to Block Island to compete in the Block Island Race Week. They were in the middle of the sound, somewhere east of Middle Ground Light. Conditions were heavy fog and the sailboat was on autopilot. All of the details are not yet known but the final result is a sunk sailboat and a sailor is dead from a apparent heart attack after being overboard in 62 degree water. Many of us who race or cruise Long Island Sound tend to take for granted the relative safety of sailing on an enclosed body of water. We should always be aware that our knowledge and vigilance are our only means of ensuring that we arrive at our destinations safely. Accidents always happen, but if we maintain a high level of seamanship in our journeys then maybe they will happen to someone else. |
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