Glen
Cove Yacht Club
NEWSLETTER
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September 2003
Volume 2, Issue 4
P.O. Box 211, Glen Cove, NY 11542
www.GlenCoveYachtClub.org
Glen Cove Yacht Club Home Page
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September 2003 |
Volume 2, Issue 4 |
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P.O. Box 211, Glen Cove, NY 11542 |
www.GlenCoveYachtClub.org |
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Members are advised that if they are on their boat during a thunderstorm, and the storm is passing through Hempstead Harbor such that lightning is in the area, the Launch Service will be suspended until the danger of lightning has passed. The Launch Operator is not permitted to operate the Club launch when lightning strikes are occurring in the vicinity. Thunderstorms pass through quickly and lightning that appears to be across the Sound or over the Port Washington peninsula is deceiving. The chances of getting caught in the anchorage during a lightning strike are great with a fast moving front. If you choose to go out to your boat when a thunderstorm in the Harbor is imminent, you will have to remain on board once the storm enters the Hempstead Harbor vicinity. You are safer under cover in your vessel than traveling in an open launch. You should attempt to establish communications via radio - VHF channel 69 - or as an alternative call the Clubhouse on your cell phone (676-9450) and let the operator know that you are still on board your boat and wish to be picked up as soon as the storm passes. ~Dave Nieri, Fleet Captain
September may be close to the end of the summer but it's not the end of the activities at the Glen Cove Yacht Club. As the wind picks up in the fall, the sailing gets better, the evenings get cooler and there's still fun to be had at the Club. Check off the following events on your calendar and plan to join in. Overnight Gumbo Rally, The weekend of Sat. & Sun. the 13th & 14th of September is a combination race and cruise. A chance to sharpen your skills on the race course and to enjoy a raft-up at the end of the day. Contact Chris Brown for details. |
Work Days A & B, Sat. Oct. 28th is work day "A" and Sat. Nov. 8th is work day "B". The docks come out of the water for the winter. High tide is just after 11 am on each of the days. The work parties begin at 9 am on both days. Annual Membership Meeting, Wednesday, Nov. 19th at 8 PM is the Glen Cove Yacht Club's yearly membership meeting. This is your chance to have your say and see changes being made. Make it a point be there and do your part. Coffee and deserts usually follow the meeting. Holiday Party, The evening of Sat. 6 Dec. will be the Club's Holiday Party. These have always been a lot of fun to get together with fellow members to celebrate the season. Details will be posted as the event draws near. Photographs of Old Clubhouse I'm in the process of collecting information on the history of the GCYC, from 1960 to the present. The last time I was in GC I spent several hours going through the Club files for information, and was able to compile a fairly complete list of Past Commodores, back to about 1973. Prior to that I have almost no information. In addition, I'm looking for photos of the "old" clubhouse - the gray, former Station Master's residence from the NYYC days. Possibly some of the older members may have some photos. So, could you post the following? Rich Reynolds, our Club Historian, is seeking photographs of our original Clubhouse, the gray, former Station Master's residence from NYYC Station 10. He is looking for both exterior and interior photos to update his history of Station 10 and the GCYC. If any member has photos that Rich can borrow for copying, please call Rich at (518) 372-2043 (eves.) or (518) 285-5677 (days), or e-mail him at rjreynol@usgs.gov. In addition, he is looking for the names of Past GCYC Commodores from the 1960's. If you have any information on the name and year in which someone served as Commodore, please contact Rich. Thank you for helping with this research. ~Rich Reynolds, Club Historian |
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Here is the bottom line on this year's Lobsterfest for your information and use!
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There's a new Sailboat Show in town this year and it's close to our neighborhood. On the weekend of September 25 - 28 The Liberty Landing Marina in Jersey City will be hosting the New York/New Jersey Sail Expo. The marina is directly across New York Harbor from lower Manhattan and right behind Ellis Island. This is an early season all sailboat show and is not being held on a three day holiday weekend. There should be plenty of parking available. The website for the Sail Expo show is www.nysailexpo.com and the phone number to get directions is 800-817-7245. There will also be a NY/NJ Power Expo on the weekend of October 9 - 13. Plan your calendar to be at the show of your choice.
While out sailing this past weekend I came across a weather buoy in the middle of western LI Sound. I never knew that it was there before. It's approximately in the middle of the Sound between Greenwich and Bayville. I just found the URL to get the data from this buoy among others on the Sound. It's both in real time and historical. In addition, there's a weather site in southern Hempstead Harbor. You can access them at: Be sure to explore the site thoroughly as there's an unbelievable amount of data available. Regards, ~Doug Davies |
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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 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.
Computer
Assisted Navigation Aids, Like most casual boaters, I have spent some time trying to find ways to make my time on the water easier and safer by using electronic navigation aids wherever I can find them. While I am pretty handy with a computer, I don't bring a PC computer on to the water with me (yet). What I do is find ways to download and get electronic assistance that I can incorporate into my planning and navigating before I get on the water. This is the first in a series of short articles in which I want to share some of these too and some helpful websites, with fellow sailors, and I hope some of you will reciprocate by sharing your tips for these same types of shortcuts, automated tables, and other helpful hints. |
TIDE is a primary item to
consider when planning a cruise, or just setting out for a
short sail. Level of water at the dock, and the direction of
the tidal flow when you go out into LI Sound can have an
impact on your voyaging. In the past, we have gotten a tidal
table free at the hardware store, or bought the "yellow
book" (Eldridge's Tide and Pilot Book). Now we can have all
of this information at our fingertips through several
websites available on the Internet. Try [
http://tbone.biol.sc.edu/tide/tideshow.cgi
] or For those of us with PDA's (Palm,
Visor, others), those little scheduling and notes devices we
carry around with our appointments in them, there is another
solution for up-to-date tidal information. Tide Tool 2.1c at
[ http://www.toolworks
.com/biofsky/ [ http://www.members.aol.com/khancock/pilot/tides/tides12.zip
] is another downloadable
program which just gives you a table or tables for dates you
specify. It requires less memory and fuss to download and
may suit your needs better. If you want to know more about
tides and tidal flows (10 pages), try |
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You will still need to look at standard marine charts for depth and obstacles, and at tidal charts such as Eldridge (the yellow book) to plan a longer voyage on the Sound. Any old version of Eldridge will do since these patterns change little from year to year, but they determine maximum tidal flow points and direction in the middle and along the shore. If you are returning to Hempstead Harbor against the tide, it generally is advisable, for instance to stay closer to the shore, and out of the middle, to avoid the stronger tidal currents. Eldridge's guide illustrates this well. Some other websites I find useful - Sails.com (multi-links to hardware, used sails, racing info, weather, etc.; Sailnet.com - a discount warehouse for equipment which features some great articles online, and no tax, free shipping for their discounted merchandise. Got some websites and tips of your own? - e-mail to me at , and we can share them in a future newsletter. Next article: Celestial Navigation Tools for Handhelds.  |
Providing a name for the transom of your newly purchased nautical vessel can be an easy task or a most soul wrenching experience. If the selection is not just right then the decision will eat at your heart strings each time you look at the back of the boat as you approach it in the launch or at the dock. Once you have found the perfect name your appreciation and love of the boat is increased multifold. If in choosing the perfect name you have a story to go along with it, the selection becomes all the more better. The following is the story that goes along with the name of the 27' Bristol sailboat that we owned for many years. Years ago my older sister Jeani and her soon to be husband Frank were on a date in a rowboat in Central Park in Manhattan. Jeani, living up to the family trait of being gullible, asked Frank "Who invented the boat?". Frank, an engineering student at the time, matter-of-factly answered. "J.W. Boat". She believed him. That night at a party at Frank's fraternity house, he prepped his frat brothers to back up the history of J.W. Boat. Thus was created the legend of Mr. J.W. Boat who was responsible for every vessel afloat from the Eskimo canoe to giant aircraft carriers. |
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Now it took months for Jeani to catch on to the fact that her leg was being pulled. About the time she caught on, and just before their wedding, she and Frank brought a small puppy. So in honor of J.W. Boat, the dog was named J.W. Dog. They asked my Father if he would watch J.W. Dog while they were away on their two week honeymoon. He refused flat out. Seems that when my Father was young he was hurt badly by the loss of a favorite dog and didn't want to go through it again. It took quite some time to convince him that it would only be for two weeks and that as soon as the plane landed they would come directly to pick up the dog. He gave in. When the honeymoon was over and they came for the dog my Father again refused. He had grown so attached to J.W. Dog in those two weeks that he told Jeani " This dog is not leaving this house". J.W. dog became his and they were inseparatable for the next 15 years or so. My Father passed on before the dog and the next year J.W. Dog followed. Now just about the time of J.W. Dog's passing was also the same time that my wife Bonnie and I purchased our very used Bristol 27. So in honor of both J.W. Dog and the inventor of the boat we renamed the Bristol "J.W. Boat". We sailed her for 10 years and always enjoyed sitting around with a beer or a rum drink and telling the story of just how the name came to be. Our current boat, Dana, has a much shorter story relating to the selection of her name. We have two sons, Peter and Eric, who, had either one of them been a girl, would have been named Dana. So when we purchased the Morgan 38 we finally had our Dana. What's in your Name? If the naming of your boat has an interesting story attached, don't wait for a rum drink to tell the tale. Write up the tale and I'll print it in the Club Newsletter. ~Jim Cleary 437-6107 - Saildana@aol.com |
Except for perhaps noticing my vacant mooring you may not have known that I took "Amethyst" back to do Block Island Race Week again this past June. Of course I felt like it was a required regatta, as I wanted to defend our title (having won my 9-boat division there in 2002). Once again we faced a northeast wind the whole way which necessitated motoring most of the way. I half expected this (with the weather pattern of weekend northeasters that we had been having) and had purchased an extra 5-gallon gas can for the trip. We left with nearly 21 gallons of fuel in 5 containers to feed my 8-hp outboard. Last year we had to duck into Mattituck Inlet to refuel which was time consuming as none of the gas docks on the water were open when we arrived. After motoring for nearly 17 hours I realized that we probably wouldn't make it with what appeared to be about 1.5 gallons of fuel remaining. As it turned out we could have motored the whole way by combining what was left at the bottom of several tanks. However the 2-4' short choppy seas in Block Island Sound made transferring gas impossible and motoring with an outboard difficult. So we hoisted the sails and started beating towards the island. Before too long one of my crew, who normally doesn't get seasick, did so that day. It was lousy and unexpected for him but it made me feel pretty good, as I didn't get seasick. I've been there and done that before so when traveling in the ocean I normally carry a roll of chewable Dramamine in my pocket. This usually works out well, for me, as I will take it at the first thought that I may need its help. I can stay on the helm and thereby keep my mind busy. And best of all I don't have to go below to start searching for a pill. By the time I find it below, it's probably going to be too late (depending on the conditions of course). |
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I was also pleased that day, and again after the return trip to Glen Cove, that my engine had held up and pushed us along at just over 6 knots (not taking into account the current). I don't usually use my 8-hp engine anymore except for long trips. Of course my 5-hp (which I normally use) was onboard to use while racing (it's about 20 pounds lighter) and just in case the 8-hp had a problem. You see an outboard mechanic told me, back in 2001, that my 1991 8-hp outboard was "junk and not repairable". On the way to Manhasset Bay for a race one weekend in July the engine started running rough and it didn't have much power. When I took out the 2 spark plugs, one had a lot of white gel on it (which was salt). The mechanic told me that the head had a bad spot on the surface (apparently from corrosion) which was allowing water into the cylinder. He couldn't guarantee his repair so he wouldn't attempt it. At his suggestion I attempted to fix it with epoxy. First I cleaned the low spot with acetone on a Q-tip. Then using a toothpick I carefully applied just enough epoxy to fill the void (while the engine was upright). I waited a little while for the epoxy to start to harden. Then I put on a new gasket and torqued down the head. Of course that was at 11 PM on a Friday night as I had a race to get to the following day. I expected to receive the repaired engine from the mechanic that afternoon until I was informed of the bad news. The engine worked great that next day, the rest of the season in 2001, and for two trips out to Block Island and back since then. I decided early in 2002 to buy the 5-hp as my primary engine. After the relatively long stretch of good weather that we've recently been having you may have almost forgotten about the awful spring weather that we endured earlier this year. I wasn't looking forward to spending several days racing in the rain. As it turned out we had a little rain on the way out Friday night. |
Saturday was a relatively nice day with no rain until late that afternoon. We had arrived by 2 PM so the trip took us 19 hours. It rained a little Sunday afternoon while we were out practicing and again that night. Then we got lucky. It finally stopped raining and we had great weather for the next 6 days until a half an hour after we arrived back at Glen Cove (the following Sunday morning at about 7 AM). Unfortunately our luck on the racecourse wasn't as good. We were in a 10 boat division with quite a few boats that were much larger (by up to 11') then us. One boat in our division, an Abbott 33 had won this regatta in 2000, 2001 and just missed winning by one point in 1999. We knew before we arrived that they were the boat to beat. Having an Olympic sailing coach onboard, once again, did help them win our division one more time. A well sailed J/30 "Chinook" out of City Island finished second for the week. We were tied for third place going into the last day. Unfortunately, I had a bad start and we never did quite recover. There were 4 boats that we needed to beat on Friday to secure a third place finish for the week. We only managed to beat one of them and as a result we slipped to 5th place for the week. The wind was perfect, it was early in the day and I was eager to start another race to try to move back into third (or at least 4th place). I guess the race committee was in a hurry to get back home unfortunately as that turned out to be the one and only race of the day. A fun, sunny, but disappointing week pretty much sums it up. ~Doug Davies |
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For those of you who witnessed my leaving or returning from a race, you must have noticed one of my steady crew, who was heavy set and had a beard. His name was Jon Baker. Perhaps you even had a chance to meet him. I just wanted to let you know that he has: sailed his last race, trimmed his last chute, called his last tactic, and made his last delivery. In addition to all the effort he gave while onboard "Amethyst" he was also always there to help me deliver the boat by sea or by land, prepare her in the spring and put her away in the fall, and wet sand the bottom when necessary. Doesn't everyone wish for just one crew member like Jon? He raced with me one Sunday in late July and ended up in the hospital that evening. He spent the next week in the intensive care unit of the hospital where he lost his fight to live. Jon had been sick for at least the last 2 years and was in need of a liver transplant. Everyone is still in disbelief as nobody expected him to leave us so quickly at the age of 45. Jon leaves behind a wife and a son Jason (who has raced with us a few times). He is going into his second year at the NY Maritime College where he's on the sailing team. They are not well off financially. In lieu of flowers the family requested that contributions be made to Jon's son: Jason Andrew Baker I know that you probably never had the chance to meet Jon. Nonetheless if you'd like to help assist a young man whose future is at stake, your donation would be appreciated. Live life to the fullest as one never knows. ~Doug Davies |
One of the basic rules of good photography is to use a tripod whenever possible to assure a razor-sharp image. But according to Chuck DeLaney, Dean of the world's largest photography school, New York Institute of Photography (NYI), "There's one situation where using a tripod is NOT advisable. It's when you're shooting from the deck of a boat. A tripod on a boat can do more harm than good," he warns. Here's why. On board a sailboat or motor yacht, you experience a passing parade of images that you would love to capture with your camera. Sunsets. Shorelines. Beach scenes. Other boats. Hardly a moment passes without a new beckoning scene. But boats roll. And tripods on their decks roll with them. So if you mounted your camera on a tripod, you would end up with blurred images at best. What to do? According to DeLaney, on a boat a tripod will do a worse job of stabilizing the image than simple handholding. Here's what NYI advises its students: Stand with your legs comfortably apart, and your knees slightly bent. In this position, your knees can act as shock absorbers, and your handheld picture will be fairly steady. To cut movement to a minimum, use fast film - ISO 400 or faster - and shoot with the fastest shutter speed you can. For further tips about how to take great pictures from boats, of boats, and on them, see the complete article on the Web site from the New York Institute of Photography at http://www.nyip.com.
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Using the fresh water hose at the dock has been a rather exciting event in the past. For some reason the pressure is so great at the dock that it would blow out any and all garden hoses we chose to install. You could be washing down or filling a tank and the hose that was perfectly fine a minute ago is now squirting all over the place. The age of the hoses was measured by the number of tape repairs that weren't holding. Well, those days should be behind us now. The Club has installed a PRV (Pressure Reducing Valve) in the line that will keep the dock water pressure at a constant 30 psi. This improvement in Club services is one that should be enjoyed by all at the dock. On the subject of water use at the dock, if you use the hose please return it to the holder when your finished. Keeping a nozzle in place on the hose at the dock is difficult. They disappear faster than Herve's good cooking. Please keep a nozzle of your own handy for when you use the hose, then take it with you when your done. If you have any not needed but still useable garden hoses at home, the Club can still put them to good use.
Bonnie and I recently returned from our annual summer cruise aboard Dana, our 1978 Morgan 382. In the past we would strive to traverse the Sound as quick as possible to get as much time as we could at places like Cuttyhunk, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. This year we opted to slow down and revisit the places we love on or near Long Island Sound. Instead of relating a travelogue of our three week journey, I'll simply highlight some of the things we found that would be of interest to our fellow cruisers. Port Jefferson: On the Oldfield Beach side of the harbor they removed the illegal private moorings from the beach side of the channel. This leaves some of the nicest spots open for anchoring only. |
Hamburg Cove, CT: Still the
best swimming. Fresh water and warm. It's all moorings.
Pickup any one and stay for free. If the owner comes, drop
off and pick another. There are 5 or so that a marina tries
to charge for but they are almost always empty. |
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Lloyd's Point Sand Pit: Close to home. Very empty during the week. Safe and easy anchorage. The beginning of our journey saw some foul weather. It seemed to rain mostly at night. We never let it spoil our enjoyment of the places we stayed. Bonnie and I have been cruising now for 28 years. Every time we return to these or other anchorages we find them new and exciting. That's the beauty of cruising on a sailboat. We hope these insights wet some appetites to get you out there. ~Bonnie & Jim Cleary
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