…A Little Dinghy

…a little dinghy March 2014 Gold Country Yacht Club monthly Newsletter Call for more info: 916-774-6610 Volume 36, Issue 3 From the Commodore Hello to One and All, Regular Columns: Here we are in March and the weather has been great. There seems to be endless pro- jects popping up everywhere. Our opening work party for the club is just a couple • From the weeks away. Be sure and check your calendar and come out and help clean up our Commodore 1 club house and get ready for another season on the lake. • Meeting The Camellia Cup on Folsom Highlights 2 Lake is up on the charts. Steve Galleria has sent notice • Club Notices 3 that online registration is available now. I would sug- • Membership 3 gest that you should make plans to sail Folsom early in • Classifieds 6 the season. Why not attend the Camellia Cup this year? Scotts Flat Lake is filling up but, we may have a shortened season also. NID has announced the early opening of the mooring balls for those who have signed up. I look forward to seeing everyone at the lake this year. I Individual can hardly wait for the sailing Highlights: season to begin. • Offshore Workout 4 Casting off, that's all for now, Don Hare Commodore, GCYC & Catalina 22 Fleet 54 s/v: NoCatHare, Catalina 22 March 2013 General Club Page 2 of 6 …a little dinghy At Our Helm March General Meeting Highlights Commodore Officer’s Reports March 12th, 2014 Don Hare 916-774-6610 Meeting started: 7:05 PM [email protected] Membership/Publicity Chairperson Teresa Gama welcomed everyone to the meet- Vice Commodore ing at Alta Sierra Pizza & Grill, as the commodore and vice-commodore were not pre- Howard Hendrich sent. The lake level has been rising with recent rains; you can check the level on 530-272-6969 GCYC’s website. Regatta plans are in the works; signups for various duties will be [email protected] coming out soon. Secretary Membership has been going well; Teresa has this year’s membership cards available Wendy Rybicki for renewed members and forms for those who need to sign up/renew. 530-798-1635 [email protected] Teresa introduced guest Charlie Hunergardt. Charlie moved here from the Bay last July with his wife and children. He started sailing when he was 5 years old and cur- Treasurer rently has Cal20 on the Bay. Stephanie Perry 530-887-9522 [email protected] Secretary (Wendy Rybicki): Wendy was not present. Cruise Chairman Cruise: (Seth Schmerzler) He is looking forward to a fun cruising season on Scotts Seth Schmerzler Flat Lake which will be starting soon. Raft-ups will take place the afternoon of club 530-292-3274 races, which will hopefully encourage more participants. [email protected] Treasurer (Stephanie Perry): Stephanie gave the treasurer’s report and mentioned Publicity/Membership that the club insurance premium and other bills have been paid. She brought a sym- Teresa Gaman pathy card for everyone to sign that will be sent to Wendy Rybicki (whose father just 530-272-8042 passed away). [email protected] Port Captain Port Captain (Bryant Cockcroft): The 2014 calendar has been finalized with NID. Due Bryant Cockcroft to the drought, NID may require boaters to pull off their mooring balls early this year. 530-265-5196 Even though the lake level has been rising the dock is barely floating and numerous [email protected] islands have just recently been submerged and are currently navigational hazards. He was informed about a broken water line in the club’s planter, so will be working on get- Race Chairman ting that repaired. The club will need to rework the swale behind the clubhouse to Jerry Lewis keep it from flooding the shed during heavy rains/run-off. 530-272-9380 [email protected] Newsletter Editor (Rick Paulson): Rick thanked Dudley Gaman for a great article in last month’s newsletter and welcomed any other submissions for the upcoming edi- Newsletter Editor tion. Rick Paulson 530-274-2549 [email protected] Education (Ransom Burford): Ransom announced that he and his family are moving to Seattle soon, so he will be stepping down as Education Director. He will be putting his Santana 20 up for sale. Sailing Education Ransom Burford 530-277-6632 Race Director: (Jerry Lewis) This year’s first race is on April 19 (after the spring work [email protected] party). The Camellia Cup at Folsom Lake (4/26-27) will probably happen despite the drought, but the earlier scheduled Trans-Folsom race is still up in the air. Page 3 of 6 …a little dinghy New Business/Announcements Dave Cowell recently raced in the Delta in 15-30kt winds, and broke a traveler. He wants to do Andreas Cove YC’s Drake’s Bay Cruise on 3/28-29 if anyone wants to Club Notices join him. Free Sailing Magazines Ransom recently raced with Scott Mack in the Big Daddy Race hosted by Richmond Latitude 38 and 48 North YC. magazines can be picked up anytime at 148 Richardson Street in Grass Valley. They are Jeremy Gicker may be getting a Capri 16. in the driveway in the BLUE MAILBOX. Usually we get them No raffle was held, as last month’s winner was not present with this month’s prize. between the 2nd and 4th of the month. They are also available The meeting was adjourned at 19.30. at the general meeting. Janis Johnson Club Meetings Past Secretary (filling in for Wendy Rybicki) The March meeting was held s/v Kuani, Cascade 42 Wednesday the 12th. The next General meeting will be held THANKS FOR TAKING NOTES, JANIS!!! Wednesday, April 9th at Alta Sierra Pizza & Grill, dine from 6pm, Commodore’s bell at 7pm to start the meeting. Teresa's Membership Log (The club meets the 2nd Wednesday of every month but December, and two Wednes- Ahoy! days before the Gold Country Regatta.) Well, how exciting, we get to launch our boats on March 29th! You can check Scotts Flat Lake's water level by logging onto the website, or, better yet, you can visit the lake ! Please join me in welcoming visitor Charlie Hunergardt, whose wife suggested he attend the meeting, or bathe the kids! He was delightful, and we hope he decides to join our fun group because it would be nice to meet his family. He has substantial sailing experience. Please also welcome visitors Denis, Nancy, and Colin Peirce, from Penn Valley. They have a Capri 16. We hope they decide to join our Club as well. GCYC used to offer sailing and racing instructional pamphlets to member’s information on the membership form. As the printed materials are no longer produced, Dudley has added the US Sailing on-line training materials to the GCYC web page. You may now take courses from basic to advanced in cruising and racing, pass the tests, and get certificates suitable for framing without leaving the GCYC web page. Click on the "Training Courses" button at http://www.gcyc.net for more information. If you haven't renewed your membership, the time is now. After March 31st, your payment will increase to $75. Thank you. 2014 GFTG Regatta Logo I'm looking forward to seeing you at the next general meeting on April 9th. Let's hope for more rain! Teresa Gaman Membership/Publicity s/v Kia Orana, Catalina 36 s/v Blown Away, Capri 18 Page 4 of 6 …a little dinghy Offshore Workout by Dudley Gaman I can still remember his reaction to my question. The CyberCruisers had entered La Adriana in the Pacific Cup and although most of us had done the Coastal Cup together, none had ever spent more than a couple of days at sea on a sailboat. Being an avid exercise walker, I couldn't imagine what I'd do sitting on my butt, not being able to move more than 47 feet for two weeks. I felt a gentle rocking as someone hopped aboard from the boat rafted next to us in Clipper Cove, followed by the appearance of Fishmeal's face at the companionway hatch. He's a recognized authority on most things nautical and would be crewing on another Pacific Cup entry, so I asked, “What do you do for exercise while offshore for two weeks?” “Exercise has never been an issue for me,” he answered in a matter-of-fact fashion. “It definitely isn't on my list of priorities at sea.” Although it seemed a strange response, he had sailed to Hawaii five times, so he should know. I decided to leave the hand weights and jump rope at home. The first five days were brutal. We beat into a heavy swell with 25 knot winds, day-and-night, day-after-day. Moving about the boat was difficult. It seemed as if we were using every muscle in our bodies to perform routine tasks as the boat heaved about on the ocean. Even doing nothing required strength. Take, for example, pouring a cup of coffee...an easy task at home made difficult and hazardous at sea. The first thing you have to think about is falling over, that's why you'll see U-shaped galleys with lee straps on offshore cruisers. I'd prop my knees against one bulkhead and my butt against the other to make a tripod that swiveled at the hips to dampen the motion. Without one of those fat-bottom coffee cups with a non-skid base you are Page 5 of 6 …a little dinghy almost guaranteed to spill, and even with one, accuracy is compromised unless the cup is placed on the gimbaled stove.

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