The
Beacon 
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1 July 2004
Volume 3, Issue 3
P.O. Box 211, Glen Cove, NY 11542
www.GlenCoveYachtClub.org
Glen Cove Yacht Club Home Page
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The
Beacon
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1 July 2004 |
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Volume 3, Issue 3 |
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P.O. Box 211, Glen Cove, NY 11542 |
www.GlenCoveYachtClub.org |
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Summer is here at last. Commissioning Day and the Memorial Day twenty one gun salute were a success. Our first Race of the season had a surprise..... Wind! There are more events on the way, A BBQ on the Fourth of July with Fireworks in the evening, more races, a club cruise and more.... Wishing all a Fun Filled and Safe summer on the water. ~Chris Brown, Commodore
The boating season is really underway now. The clubhouse (house and grounds, floats, launch and dinghies) is in order, thanks to all the members who participated in the work days. As usual, the same familiar members showed up to contribute their energies and talents. As for all of you members who have not participated - there is still time to do your part. Just give our Commodore Chris Brown a call and he will have projects for you. Also many thanks to Tom Hempton, Dave Nieri and Stanley Midura for organizing and working to allow us to have a Club mooring in Oyster Bay. Safety matters! I will do Vessel Safety Checks all season long. Help me out by giving me just a few days' notice and I will probably be able to do the inspection when it is convenient for you. Remember that you need to KEEP YOUR BOAT REGISTRATION IN YOUR BOAT, not in your car. It is an obligation to have your registration on board when the vessel is in use. And here's an update for Personal Water Craft (PWC) operators: as of 2004 the State of New York State requires that all adult operators of PWCs have taken a boating safety education course prior to operating a PWC. |
The US Coast Guard national statistics show there are approximately 7,000 boating accidents reported each year, involving about 9,000 boats, and resulting in about 800 fatalities and about $25 million in property damage. Please be safe on the water and use common sense. Have a great season and see you all at our 4th of July party starting around 1200 hours. Bon vent, We'd like to introduce our launch operators for this season. They are Scott Nieri (Supervisor), Mike Morrison and John Anderson. To describe them is easy. They are all smart, good looking and helpful. These guys are here to make your summer season more enjoyable. Don't be embarrassed to reward them for their efforts.
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July 1st |
Thur. 7:30 PM |
Executive Board Meeting |
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July 4th |
Sun. 12:00 PM |
4th of July Unofficial Bar-B-Que, Photo Contest & Fireworks |
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July 10th |
Sat. 1:00 PM |
Pina Colada Regatta and Party |
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July 17th |
Sat. Var. |
CGAux Vessel Examinations |
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July 23rd - 26th |
Fri. Thru Mon. |
4 Day Cruise, Ziegler's, Black Rock, Port Jeff. & Back |
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Aug. 5th |
Thur. 7:30 PM |
Executive Board Meeting |
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Aug. 21st |
Sat. Time TBA |
LobsterFest |
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Aug. 28th & 29th |
Sat. & Sun. |
Oyster Bay Cruise |
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Member Nick Muzante saved the Club a lot of money this season that was going to be paid to an outside contractor for making structural repairs to the launch. He repaired cracks in the deck of the after hatch, braced the deck from beneath with a solid beam, renewed gelcoat and painted the area around the hatch. Nick also reconnected the deck and hull joint at the main portside cleat and glassed in brackets to hold the joint together, and put new backing plates on top and beneath the deck for the main cleat that is used to tie up to the dock. He also sanded all of the wood trim and the console in preparation for sealing. Kudos to Nick!
~Dave Nieri
Please come and join us for Our third annual "Bring your own BBQ" We have had a great turnout in the past and expect that will continue this year. With good friends, food and fun. The Club will provide tables and chairs (though were limited on chairs, so bring a chair if you can) We will have the grill standing ready. Ice and soda will be provided. Bring your food down and enjoy. Fireworks in the evening provided by the City of Glen Cove. Your boat is the best seat in the house to see them.
We have a basic plan for a four day three night Club cruise. From Friday July 23rd through Monday July 26th.
Friday
Sail to Zieglers Cove
Saturday
Sail to Black Rock Harbor Bridgeport
Hopefully we will have reservations at the Black Rock Yacht Club (Showers and Dinner ashore) but be prepared for a change to this part.
Sunday
Sail to Port Jefferson and anchor off the beach
Monday
Sail for Home
Extended cruiser's may add Monday night at Oyster Bay. All plans will be dependent on the weather. I welcome input from anybody intending to sail with us. Call Chris Brown (516) 358-3616 or Day (516) 561-8610
Our Traditional LOBSTER FEST will be held at August 21st 2004, at 4:00 PM. As always, you can have your choice of a whole Lobster or 1/2 chicken and include Salad, Soda and Coffee (Bring your own alcoholic beverages and dessert...). The cost is $25.00 per Lobster dinner and $20.00 per chicken dinner, and you may order more than one dinner per person. Reservations and payment must be received by Sunday, August 15th in order for the committee to know how many chickens and lobsters to order. Please use the reservation form printed at the back of the Newsletter, bring some friends and let's have a lot of fun!!!
Please bring a gift wrapped item for our Lobster Fest Raffle. It is a great way to raise funds for the club, and you never know what you may get... We will also have our traditional 50/50 raffle( 1/2 the proceeds goes to the club, and 1/2 for the winner). I won't tell the IRS if you don't. Ha Ha Ha!
So, mark the date, it will be a day full of activities, good food and good friends! If you have questions or want to help with the preparations, contact Jim Dahl at 516-676-6097.
The Club has procured and set a mooring in Oyster Bay Harbor for use by GCYC members. The mooring is a 250 LB mushroom anchor, with properly sized pennants, and is marked "CB-22" on the buoy. It is located east of the fairway to the Commander Oil docks, in the easternmost mooring field, in the middle of the second row of moorings when viewed from the East. It is close the Oyster Bay Cove. Raft-ups on this mooring are permitted, and in fact encouraged, since it is for the use of all GCYC members. At first chance the position will be updated with a GPS latitude and longitude reading and posted. Use of the mooring is on a first come, first served basis. Of course if two boats show up it looks like a raft-up. If three boats show up it's a party. If more than three boats are there it's categorized as a Club Cruise. Please make good use of this Club benefit and Enjoy.
Note that the use of this mooring does NOT entitle the boat owner to the launch service provided by Oyster Bay Marine. Therefore, if you are planning an overnight stay on the mooring, you should bring along your dinghy. However, if you are overnighting in Oyster Bay Harbor and require a launch, you can rent a guest mooring from Oyster Bay Marine for about $40/night, which includes launch service.
~Tom Hempton, Treasurer
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In conjunction with this years 4th of July celebration The Glen Cove Yacht Club will be hosting a Photo Contest. At the 3rd annual impromptu, unofficial, bring your own Bar-b-que at the Club on the 4th, all submitted entries will be displayed and be voted on by all those present to determine a winner. The winning photo will be prominently displayed in the Clubhouse along with appropriate notation until the following 4th of July. The guidelines for the contest are as follows:
WHO: Any member of the Glen Cove Yacht Club or their relative or friend. The photo entered must have been taken by the person entering it.SUBJECT: Any subject, but a nautical theme would be preferred.
SIZE & MOUNTING: Any size and type of mounting. In light of the fact that the winning photo will be displayed prominently in the Club, each entry should be sized and mounted in a suitable fashion.
WHEN: All entries to be submitted by 2:00 PM on the 4th of July 2004. Prior to that day, entries can be sent or given to Jim Cleary.
JUDGING: Later on the afternoon of the 4th of July all persons present, and willing to do so, will cast a ballot indicating their choices for 1st , 2nd and 3rd place. The ballots will be tallied and the winner announced.
For questions contact Jim Cleary at 516-437-6107.
This past Memorial Day, the Glen Cove Yacht Club, Hempstead Harbor Club, and Sea Cliff Yacht Club conducted a second annual 21-gun salute to honor our Nation's fallen military personnel. 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 annual 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. At the Glen Cove Yacht Club, Army Spec/5 Nick Mondello played "Taps" to end the ceremony. Accurate timing was accomplished through the use of handheld 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 a GPS receiver is necessary to accurately time the cannon shots."
The officers and members of the Glen Cove Yacht Club would like to thank Commodores Meridith Brosnan and Dan Grande from Hempstead Harbor Club and Sea Cliff Yacht Club, respectively, for their participation in this salute, and to Nick Mondello, whose musical talent was made available through the "Bugles Across America" website.
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Each year the Club extends the use of our facilities to the Flag Officers, Members and Guests of other Yacht Clubs located on the Long Island Sound. Listed below are the Clubs that we have reciprocity with for the 2004 Season:
City Island Yacht Club, City Island, NY
East End Yacht Club, Bridgeport, CT
Hamburg Cove Yacht Club, Old Lyme, CT
Knickerbocker Yacht Club, Port Washington, NY
Miamogue Yacht Club, Bridgeport, CT
Newport Yacht Club, Newport, RI
Northport Yacht Club, Northport, NY
North Shore Yacht Club, Port Washington, NY
Norwalk Yacht Club, Norwalk, CT
Old Greenwich Yacht Club, Old Greenwich, CT
Pequonneck Yacht Club, Bridgeport, CT
Sagamore Yacht Club, Oyster Bay, NY
Sea Cliff Yacht Club, Sea Cliff, NY
Setauket Yacht Club, Port Jefferson, NY
You can also, check the GCYC Reciprocity Book for any updates to the list.
Downloading GPS Waypoints
A recent letter to the editor of Practical Sailor indicated that there is a website offering a program that will upload, download, store and print your GPS waypoints. Entering info into most GPS units is an exercise in finger strengthening button pushing. If for some reason your unit loses its memory, and all the stored waypoints along with it, you're faced with a time consuming and finger aching process of reentering all those hundreds of waypoints. How nice would it be to enter the information onto your PC and with a push of one button have it transferred to your GPS.
The program is called "PerfectGPS" and it's available for free from perfectgps.com. The website directs you to download an installer and the program itself. Once you have it in your computer you can enter, edit, customize and print your waypoint list. You then need a GPS unit with a data cable which connects it to a serial port (com1) on your computer. Almost all recent units have this capability. The program will interface with a long list of units.
Using this program eliminates the fear of losing your electronic data. It also gives a convenient means to update your data. The best part of this is that it's for free.
~Jim Cleary
The docks at the Club are for the use of all the members and there isn't room for many boats at one time. If you need to use the dock, make it as short as possible. DO NOT dock sit and never leave your boat at the dock unattended. If you have a project that requires dock time, try to schedule it for time during the week when the demand for dock space is low.
Most of the time the sound of halyards tinkling on a mast is a peaceful sound. The rest of the time it's most unpleasant to people on other boats who are trying to enjoy their boats in the anchorage. When you leave your boat, make it quiet. Tie off the lines and halyards that will make noise when the wind kicks up. Besides, a loose halyard can do a lot of damage to a mast in a short time. Be courteous, think of your fellow boaters and sailors.
FLAG ETIQUETTE
From time to time most of us have occasion to fly the flag of our country, the GCYC burgee, and other flags from our boats. Presumably, we do this to honor the entities they represent. We do not, however, honor our country, association, or any other entity by flying its flag incorrectly. This is provided to help GCYC members fly their flags properly in order to convey the intended compliment and avoid the appearance of ignorance, and even insult, that an incorrect flag display can present. If we are going to fly a flag or burgee, we should do so in a way that says we are proud of it. This is not the statement made by a dirty, faded, or tattered flag. Indeed, it is better not to fly a flag than to display a pathetic remnant of a once proud symbol. The condition of the flag or burgee that you fly will be seen as your statement of what you think of the entity that it represents.
The national flag is flown at the stern of the boat, either 2/3 of the way up the leech of the after most sail, or from a staff on the stern. It is flown from 0800 to sunset when at anchor, & day and night while underway. We also see it correctly flown in these waters from the starboard spreader of a foreign vessel which is displaying its own national colors on a sailboat. No other flag (other than, in US waters, the yacht ensign) should be flown in the place of the national flag. The yacht ensign, with an anchor surrounded by 13 stars in place of the 50-star field, can be used in place of the national flag in US waters. It should be accorded the same precedence as the national flag when displayed.
There is a proper size for the national flag, which depends on the size of the boat. The formula is one inch of flag length per foot of boat length, going to the next larger standard size when that can't be met exactly.
According to Chapman's, club burgees are ideally flown from a small staff above the masthead, but antennas, lights, and meteorological instruments up there often preclude this. Personal flags, such as officer or private signals, are flown from a halyard at the end of the starboard spreader. The starboard spreader is also the correct location for the GCYC burgee when the masthead location is impractical. Burgees and officer or private signals represent affiliations of persons on board. They should be flown day or night when the persons entitled to them are on board, but should not be left flying when these people are absent. In particular, they should not be left up while the boat lies unoccupied in its slip for extended periods.
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This hoist to the starboard spreader will often contain a number of flags. The order of the flags on the starboard spreader hoist shows the relative precedence you attach to them. (Thus, in foreign waters, you should never fly anything above or outboard of the flag of that country.) If you fly a state flag, it should be the top flag. Next should be the GCYC burgee, and those of any other yacht clubs to which persons on board belong. Below these are flag officer signals, then private signals.
Why should you race???
a. You are slightly nutsb. Its fun fun fun
c. It forces you to sail to windward (or leeward) but not reach ALL the time
d. The Club needs more of us out there for its image
And all of the excuses you can think of don"t hold water. Like crew. There are lots of people who would go, including me, former boat owners (Jim Park), golfing or tennis friends even wives under the right circumstances (eg give them the tiller sometimes, etc.).
Anyway the next race is on Saturday, 10 July at 1:00 PM. This is our annual Pina Colada Regatta. The skippers meeting will be in the Clubhouse at 12:00 PM.
And to further encourage you I promised at a weak moment to cover some related subjects here in the Beacon, and further promise to be there on race days at about noon to run some informal seminars covering things that need more pictures and hand-waving than I can produce on paper.
All of our boats are different. It is a fact of physics that longer boats can and should go faster. Basically that's because the wave we make and want to keep with the crest at our bow and another at our stern has a natural speed proportional to its length (actually to the square root of its length). Thus a 64 foot boat can go twice the speed of a 16 foot boat. Get it? Thus to be fair to the smaller boats we need to give them a break in terms of a handicap to be applied (subtracted) to their finish times to produce a corrected time to arrange them first, second, etc.
There is a long, confusing history to all this. Earlier yacht ratings were in terms of rated lengths (eg the 12 meters had a rated length of 12 meters) and the wave speed formulas were used to predict a boat speed on the course
More recently there has grown almost universal acceptance of what is called Performance Handicapping (PHRF) where the actual racing records of boat classes in particular sailing areas is analyzed and tabulated. All of these of course leave out A LOT of factors that lead to success or failure in the actual situation. Like the wind speed, your bottom condition (oops, that of your boat) your and your crew's skill in sailing and sail handling and many other things including the expertise of your boat's designer or builder. Some of these things should be in the "Rule", some we do not want to be. We want the winners to be those who sail their boats well and intelligently and have reasonable good luck, not those who buy their way in so to speak. But maybe some of the time we want to have a situation where some of us who did not "Grow up sailing" have the thrill of victory on the sea (or at least Hempstead Harbor) as well. Well what do we do at present at the Glen Cove Yacht Club in racing (other than not have more than a few boats racing)?
The "PHRF" handicap for your boat is looked up in a table produced by the U.S.Y.R.U. and depends on your boat and designer and the area sailed in. It is in seconds per mile length of the course. The higher the number the slower the boat. My Pearson Commander in the LIS area is 240. It is lower in the West Coast, higher in the Chesapeake. The Webb Soling is in the 100's . The handicap is adjusted to a 60 foot boat having a zero, thus it is a relative number and not an indication of my theoretical speed, only relative to a 60 foot boat. At The GCYC we multiply by a factor 1.3 to help compensate for our lower wind speeds in the summer etc. We call this the "1.3 PHRF". As said before, this is universally accepted (not the 1.3) and used by other clubs including the coming Wednesday Night series.
As alluded to previously it is also possible to include other factors in a performance based handicap, and sometimes we have. The other factors can be the condition of the boat and sails not being what it was new, and or the skill of the skipper and crew. Quite a lot like when we play golf; we may have the golf clubs that Tiger Woods uses (usually not!) but we don't drive like him nor do we expect to. The way to do this is really quite simple in theory. Base the handicap on our own performance, not those of fleets around the nation. For this we need to gather some experience with past racing, just as the golfer has to with his or her past rounds, and work backwards to a fair handicap. The goal then is, if you sail your boat better than you ever have and no one else in the race does, you should win!! You can call this the "Glen Cove Yacht Club" handicap or the "Golf" handicap. We did this for the last race of four races in 1995. About half the boats used the PHRF (their 1.3 PHRF was the same as their GCYC) and the other half their GCYC based on the previous 3 races. Results were in line with the expected outcome and moreover there were not many complaints on the part of the better racers.
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Lets consider a race on June 17,1995 in a nice SW breeze for which the Race Committee set the usual course of S C T , 6.0 NM. Weepecket (Ward) sailed on its PHRF of 240 with 6 other boats including Huntress (Dougherty) with 280, Invictus (Gleason) with 200 and Meermin (Noyen) also at 200 making both the "Scratch Boat" with no time allowance. Invictus and Meermin finish times were 16:28 (4:28 PM) making them 1 and 2, Weepecket's 16:33 with a .04 allowance therefor a close third, and Huntress' 17:48 placing a poor 7th. Now let's skip to the fourth race of the season on Sept. 16th. A lighter wind and a shorter course of 4.0 NM. There were now 9 boats, possibly because we had announced that the GCYC rule would be in force? Based on the previous races Huntress now had a handicap of 930. They finished next to last but not way last, 20 min behind the lead boat Fine Alee (Bond). When the time allowances were applied, Huntress took first place, and Fine Alee fourth with two other "GCYC" rated boats taking second and third. Moreover the total ("Corrected") times between first and last was very respectable. It was a nice occasion all around. Finis (For the time being).
I (we) hope this whets your appetite somewhat and that you will be on the starting line on Sat July 10th at 1300 (1:00 PM) . Then once bitten, you'll be back again ! And your sailing will improve, and your supply of sea stories will grow (There we were at Buoy A-3- - - - - ), and you'll have fun fun fun . And I won't have to write all this again !!!
~Larry Ward
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Blueberry Breakfast Cake 3/4 cup
sugar 1/4 cup
soft butter 1
egg 1/2
teaspoon baking powder 2 cups
flour 1/2
teaspoon salt 1/2 cup
milk 2 cups
fresh blueberries Top with mixture of: 1/2 cup
sugar 1/2
teaspoon cinnamon 1/3 cup
flour 1/4 cup
soft butter Grease a 9" baking pan and pour in batter. Add topping. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 - 45 min. Notes: Use skim milk. Use pam spray to grease pan, works fine and adds 0 calories. |
Joel B. Meirowitz (new House Member) is looking for being a crew . Please call at (516) 671 6557.
The GCYC has a number of boats that race in the various events that take place in Hempstead Harbor and on the Sound. If you need a crew or want to crew list your number here in the Beacon.
HFD is a 12 to 15 kt breeze from the north.HFD is under sail before 0900.
HFD is no phone on board.
HFD is close-hauled from the breakwater.
HFD is the rail inches from the water.
HFD is all sail controls perfect.
HFD is sailing past that French made 38 footer.
HFD is one tack out past Execution Light.
HFD is needing a woolie in the cool north breeze.
HFD is a long tack across towards Greenwich.
HFD is playing the gusts as the wind falters.
HFD is rolling in the jib and setting the spinnaker.
HFD is the wind going west northwest.
HFD is carrying the chute on a beam reach back.
HFD is screaming past the breakwater.
HFD is popping the chute and nothing tangles.
HFD is picking up the mooring on the first go.
HFD is heading home by early afternoon to spend Father's Day with my family.
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The Beacon is doing well. There's been a lot of input from many people in the Club and it is reflected in the quality of the newsletter. The new dates for publication fit the need for getting information out to the Members in a timely manner.
It certainly is fun for me putting it together and getting it in the mail on time.
Of course there is still a lot of room for improvement. Ideas are always welcome. Recipes, items for sale, letters, sea stories, safety items and even a joke will be gladly accepted. Contact me at saildana@aol.com or 516-437-6107.
Special thanks go out to a new member of the Club for doing a fine job of printing up the Beacon at a special rate. Michael Goldberg, who owns Budget Printing Center at 93A North Park Ave. in Rockville Centre, did the printing at a savings to the Club in money and a savings to me in time. If you have the need of a printer for your business or personal work, you might give Mike a call at 516-764-4222.
A special thanks goes to my wife Bonnie. She proof reads this before it goes to the printer. She's probably the only one who reads every word.
~Jim Cleary
It's not that life is so
short, it's just that death is so long.
Yes, sign me up for the Lobster Fest!!
Member Name..............................................................................Number of people in the party...............................................................................
Number of dinners ordered: Lobster........................ Chicken............................
I am enclosing a check in the amount of $.................. ($25 X Lobster, $20.00 x Chicken Dinners)
Mail to:
Glen Cove Yacht Club
PO Box 211
Glen Cove, NY 11542