…a little dinghy
June 2017 Issue 39-5
Feature Columns: • Calendar 2
• From the Commodore • PICYA Info 3
• Errata 4
• Minutes 5
• Cruising 7
• Racing 9
• Classifieds 10
The Go for the Gold happens this weekend. Everyone is ready.
Are you?
March 2013 General Club
Page 2 of 12 …a little dinghy
At Our Helm
Commodore Stewart Perry 530-887-9522 [email protected]
Vice Commodore Dennis Barry 530-887-9522 Calendar [email protected]
June Secretary Melinda Solis-Day Raft Up’s Every other Wednesday (3PM – 530-265-2070 sundown) [email protected] June 14 & 28
Treasurer Stephanie Perry 3-4 GO FOR THE GOLD REGATTA 530-887-9522 17 GCYC Club Race #7 [email protected] 25 GCYC Club Race #8
19-23 Youth Sailing Class Level I Cruise Chair Joe Day 27 GCYC Board of Directors Meeting #7 530-365-2070 [email protected] July Publicity/Membership Raft Up’s Every other Wednesday (3PM – Hugh Talman sundown) 530-272-2344 [email protected] July 12 & 26 4 Decorated Boat Parade & Raft Up SFL Port Captain 8-9 *High Sierra Regatta (CB) Huntington Lake Bill Gully 12 General Meeting-SFL Clubhouse 530-263-5994 [email protected] 15-16 *High Sierra Regatta (Keel) Huntington Lake 16 GCYC Club Race #9 Race Chair 22-23 Youth Sailing Class Level I I Dave Cowell 23 GCYC Club Race #10 530-272-3209 [email protected] 29 GCYC Club Race #11 Informal BBQ to follow Sailing Education Don Hare August 916-774-6610 [email protected] Raft Up’s Every other Wednesday (3PM – sundown) Newsletter Editor August 23 Dave Cowell 9 General Meeting-SFL Clubhouse 530-272-3209 [email protected] 14-20 Tahoe Cruise 28 GCYC Board of Directors Meeting #8
Page 3 of 12 …a little dinghy
From the Commodore
Ahoy Mates!
As Summer keeps moving on, I hope everyone is enjoying themselves. Thanks to the crew that showed up for our work day last month. Everything looks great for an enjoyable season at Scotts Flat.
Congratulations to former Commodore Howard Hendrich in getting his new boat to its new home here in California. I hope to get together with him and Dave Cowell to hear the stories.
This month we’ll be meeting at the club at Scotts Flat. You may wish to bring bug repellant. I spent some time outdoors in the evening during this last month and thought I would be carried off by the bugs! We all look forward to sharing some side dishes with fellow members at the meeting.
Our continued priority at our meeting will be to help Vice Commodore Dennis Barry in planning for our 2017 Go For The Gold Regatta. Dennis has done a lot of work, but may have a few more details to bring together this important event. As I may have mentioned before, please try to make every effort to sup- port this great annual event by volunteering to help out in some way. Dennis will be reporting out the current status. This is our last meeting prior to the regatta, so please attend.
I hope to see you all at the lake!!
Smooth Sailing, Stew Perry Commodore
PICYA Information
PICYA Foundation The foundation gave out 12 scholarships of $2500 last year.
PICYA Events- June 5 – Delegates Meeting, Half Moon Bay Yacht Club
Tahoe YC – Trans-Tahoe Regatta – June 23-24
Page 4 of 12 …a little dinghy
Errata Club Notices
Mango Jalapeno Salad Suggestion Box
1 Ripe mango, peeled, pitted and diced You can anonymously make ½ Jalapeno chili, seeded and minced recommendations to our board of 3 tbsp diced red bell pepper directors with a mind to make 2 tbsp diced red onion this an even better yacht club!
2 tbsp chopped cilantro 3 tbsp lime juice It can be found at www.gcyc.net or with this link:
Mix all in a small bowl and chill. Serve for two.
June 24th – Summer Sailstice – Think of a suitable event, cruise or party! Free Sailing Magazines
Latitude 38 and 48 North July 4th – Plan to join up on Scotts Flat Lake for a boat parade! magazines can be picked up
anytime at 148 Richardson
Street in Grass Valley. They are
in the driveway in the BLUE
MAILBOX. Usually we get them
between the 2nd and 4th of the month. They are also available at the general meeting.
Club Meetings The next General meeting will be held Wednesday May 31st, at the Scotts Flat Lake club; dine from 6pm, Commodore’s bell at 7pm to start the meeting.
(The club meets the 2nd Wednesday of every month but December, and two Wednes- days before the Gold Country Regatta.)
Due s Club dues for current members should be paid before 1 April. Forms available at : http://gcyc.net/gcyc- membership.html
Page 5 of 12 …a little dinghy
General Meeting Minutes
Gold Country Yacht Club General Meeting 5/10/17
The meeting began with the Commodores Bell at 1900 First meeting of the season at the lake. Treasurer Stephanie Perry gives the report that all looks good. The regatta registrations are coming in. We have bought sails for the FJs and all bills are paid binging our account to a little over $5,000. Secretary Melinda Solis-Day reminds everyone about NO MOTOR DAY on May 21st. Melinda will not be attending but asked Marilyn Webb to host the club house and she will. Melinda will also check the mail regularly to stay on the GFTG registrations. Port Captain Bill Gulley is having another work party at the club house on May 20 at 10:00 a.m. Educational Instructor Don Hare says the Youth sailing class is full, dates are June 19-23. Bill Gulley and Hugh Talman will be helping with the classes. Bryant Cockcroft offers his boat to be used as a chase boat for the classes. He doesn't have any set dates for the Adult Classes but is trying to have those too. Membership/Publicity Chair Hugh Talman says currently we have 53 memberships. He attended a children's event about summer camp activities and had a lot of interest. Cruise Director Joe Day says "let's go cruising"! The Tahoe Mo Jo cruise is on the calendar for mid august, let him know if you are interested. There will be a full moon cruise on June 9 at the lake. Race Director Dave Cowell gives us post race updates. The first race was bad weather, the second race was a good day, the third race was rough and tough. It is suggested to start the races at 1:00 instead of noon as the wind is better later. Bill Gulley will monitor the race on May 13 as Dave will be out of town the next 2 races. Vice Commodore Dennis Barry reports the skipper gifts, coffee mugs, have arrived. All is clear with the ABC. He has 2 offers for chase boasts, Dave Cowell and Bryant Cockcroft. Jerry Lewis will need a car when he is here for the regatta, several members offer cars. The bar has been moved up to the top of the club. Music is being done by Dudley and his daughter. Raffle prizes are needed. Doug Epperson is good on the trophies. The next meeting is May 27th to make sure is all ready for the regatta. Bryant makes a motion to approve the minutes from last month's meeting, Frieda Epperson seconds it. Bryant makes a motion to adjourn the meeting and Melinda seconds it. Time 2000. .
Melinda Solis-Day, Secretary
General Meeting Agenda
Old Business: Bylaws Amendments - Proposed and tabled until September for voting. Updates? Certified Race Director needed for Catalina 22 and GFTG regattas. Updates? ECO Presentation by the State. (Waiting for state to honor request. Stew Perry) Raising Fees for Membership in 2018. Acquisition of a Racing Committee Barge? Board Ordered 3 copies Racing Rules of Sailing plus 1 Explaining the RRS
New Business
Page 6 of 12 …a little dinghy
. Cruising
Final Cruise of the Motor Vessel Plan B
It may not be her FINAL cruise as Plan B has showed she has plenty of cruising miles left in her but it was the final leg of her voyage from Jacksonville, Florida to the Sacramento Delta. A brief re-cap is that Howard and Donna bought a 43 foot Ocean Al- exander in Jacksonville, Fla. on the hard. For three weeks back in February we worked to get her sea-worthy and take her down the Intra-Coastal Waterway to Fort Lauderdale. Only we never got to make that trip. Parts and fuel issues left us flying home while a professional skipper took her down to Ft Lauderdale and put her on a transport ship for Ensenada, Mexico. This month our story starts up again as Plan B arrived in that port and had been given a bottom paint job and had her rudder and drive shaft packed. She was ready for the high seas. Howard, Donna, our friend John Morral, and I then drove to Ensenada to join up with Ralph Davidson for bringing Plan B north. Ralph is a profes- sional transport captain who just happens to live close to Howard and Do n- na's Ensenada home on the beach. They'd met him at a local social function and after hearing his resume talked him into joining the voyage north. He has done many deliveries all over the west coast and is a wealth of info r- mation. And so, after Ralph's guidance through the intricacies of Mexican marine bureaucracy and a provisioning trip to Costco and Wal-Mart, we set forth for San Diego. It was a sunny and warm day with blue ocean and a panoramic view of the coast. Ralph pointed out some of the land- marks such as the Fox Studio where they filmed a lot of the scenes for Pirates of the Carribean or Black Sails or some other pirate movie. It's an odd sight to see a full size square rigger sitting on the bluff OVER the ocean. It was about then that the swell and chop started having its effect on our crew. Some of us didn't fare so well and ended up feeding fish and taking some long naps. But we arrived at Point Loma in good time and proceeded to the Customs Dock to check in to the USA and spend the night.
Page 7 of 12 …a little dinghy
Only we were interrupted by a huge private yacht, the Big Eagle, which showed up just as we were tying up to the dock. This boat was over a hundred feet long and had a professional crew whose skipper thought we should give up our spot so they could tie up. We didn't agree. We moved forward as far as the Police Dock line and left them the last hundred feet of the dock to do their thing. After a lot of verbal exchanges between the skipper, us, the police, and the customs people, the Big Eagle managed to make use of the dock left-overs and was warped. She had a crew of a dozen or so and a special customs agent who tried to usurp our first in line privilege to meet with the US Customs people when they showed. To their credit and our delight the agents came over to us first and we pro- ceeded to enjoy checking in. Noblesse oblige - HAH! And so we spent our first night on the boat back in the USA. It was then that I grew suspicious of our provisions planning and if there even was a plan. We dined on potato salad and hard boiled eggs given us by Ralph's wife. Hmmmmm. It was excellent salad although the slightly green people didn't care. The next day we set off for San Pedro to avail the low fuel costs there. We'd been working to set the boat's fuel system right and get a feel for the burn rate, filter demands, fuel levels and even the tank operation. Plan B has two 250 gallon saddle tanks with two huge Racor fuel filters and a bunch of valves, pipes and other plumbing. Ralph was our lead engi- neer as he'd had a Grand Banks cruiser for many years and was the most fa- miliar with those boat systems. We planned on isolating one tank and bur n- ing it down, re-filling it with fresh fuel, then burning down the second tank. All the time we'd monitor the contamination (water mostly) in the filters. This worked pretty well until we switched to the second tank and the engine quit. Uhhhh,not good. And so we went into troubleshooting mode with testing valve operation and flows from the non-functional tank only to finally realize that some- one had missed a shutoff valve over behind the battery box down below the ... you know it wasn't easy to find. With that solved we motored on to the Channel Islands Marina up the coast. Oh, I missed the part where we had a rolly chop and pitched and rolled until getting behind the Long Beach breakwater and anchored out in San Pedro. It was the first night on the hook and we had a chance to test the anchor wind- lass. It'd seized up on us in Jacksonville and John had pulled it apart and lubed and cleaned it back in Ensenada. To his credit it worked flawlessly. Oh, yeah, that night we dined on fried chopped ham with onions and peppers and Bush's baked beans for a makeshift dinner which everyone raved about (Probably to avoid being thrown overboard by the cook.)
Page 8 of 12 …a little dinghy
That next leg started out with some porpoises and a flock of gulls com- ing over to send us off as we seemed to be running through a bait ball or some other food fish formation. It was sunny and warm and everyone was en- joying the ride until we got up to Point Dume and the seas began to rile. Point Dume is the site where they filmed Planet of the Apes. Those final scenes where the Statue of Liberty is sticking out of the sand were filmed there. I remember it fondly as a place I used to go to do some fishing off the rocks although I can't remember ever catching anything. As we proceed- ed north the wind waves picked up and we had more of a chop so that Plan B began pitching and rolling again. The unfortunates began to lose their joi-de-vivre and we all started looking forward to getting into the Chan- nel Islands Marina and out of that chop. Channel Islands Marina is a big place. It's all man-made by expanding an old creek and marsh area and is full of shopping centers, apartment build- ings, businesses and of course many many marinas and tons and tons of boats. I'd called ahead and made an arrange- ment to dock at the Pacific Corinthian Yacht Club which was pretty well at the far end of the marina. PCYC is a great club! They gave us the use of their dock and other club facilities and allowed us to dine at their restaurant even though we'd become quite scruffy. (We did avail the use of the showers.) They have a full time staff who showed genuine hospitality and eager assistance to our wayward bunch. Bully! It was also here where Howard and I trekked over to a market to get some real dinner pro- visions. It is four blocks over the bridge to a Ralph's market. Toting the bags of food and booze we were now prepared for the worst. And the worst was just around the corner. (Oddly enough we haven't eaten that food even now.) Leaving the PCYC in the wee small hours we steamed on up the Santa Barbara Channel pass- ing oil derricks and fishing boats. The shore
was just far enough off to be partially ob- scured by the haze but the wa- ter wasn't too rough and every- one was happy. Then came Con- ception. We'd moved the helm down from the flybridge and were in the main cabin using the
Page 9 of 12 …a little dinghy
chart plotter and compass for steering. Howard was at the helm when he started complaining about our route running over oil derricks and how could we plan that. I explained that I'd originally made the routes on my laptop but that the Garmin plotter wouldn't accept them and so I had to re-do them. What neither of us realized was that the chart plotter charts were over twenty years old and oh, yeah, they'd built some oil derricks out there since then. But it was just about noon and there weren't any visibility or sea state issues. That was about to change. Rounding Points Conception and Arguello is likened to rounding the Horn. It's a brutal change of weather and sea patterns. Those capes serve to shelter southern California from the North-West swells and wind chop that comes roaring down from Alaska. Old time sailing ships avoided the area by going hundreds of miles out to sea. Small cruising boats don't have that luxury but have to stick in closer and just bear up on what's known as “The Bash”. There's a lot of water with absolutely no shelter. There is only one port at San Luis Obispo with miles of cliffs and rocky shore north of there. The Big Sur. South of SLO is Pismo Beach and Vandenberg Air Force Base where you can still see the giant concrete structures built to launch Saturn V rockets but nothing else. It's a lot of empty shore but then who was looking to go there. By then we'd started the pitching, rolling, crashing and sliding that was to last the next twenty hours. Do you want the experience? Get in a barrel and kick it off the top of a steep hill or into a mountain river (that way you get water too). The boat would pitch and hit a wave and wa- ter would come crashing over the bow and onto the windscreen. Then we'd cross a swell and the boat would roll twenty degrees one way and then an- other twenty the other. It seemed like thirty! The pitching made standing and walking nearly impossible without the aid of the overhead hand grips or side cabinets and handles. I felt like an orangutan swinging from the trees. Our arms and shoulders ached and I wondered if we might suffer a dislocated shoulder at some time. Defying gravity was an onerous task and most often everyone assumed the prone position if not actually on watch steering. Hand steering was necessary as we didn't have an operational auto-pilot. We set a route on the Garmin and then try to keep heading in the right di- rection. Generally we'd swing ten to twenty degrees off course so that our track looked like a snake was at the helm. The Garmin only had a GPS Course Over Ground which meant it lagged the boat by a few seconds and thus aggravated the snakiness. It was better to use the good old magnetic compass. At sun-down there seemed little interest in having the tacos or spaghet- ti I'd planned for the evening meal. It was just too violent a time. But then it got dark and the real trust in the boat was earned. The waves crashed and the boat shook and it was all too dark to see anything more than the spray coming over the bow. It was blind faith in a thirty year old boat made in Taiwan. (I wasn't the only one having thoughts about "What if she breaks up?") That next morning we passed the Point Sur light and were only a few miles off shore. Still, we couldn't see anything and even the boats that were around us were lost in the fog? We thought about putting into Monte- rey to rest and recuperate only it seemed prudent to take advantage of the "good" weather and press on. Monterey would have added a day to the trip and we were starting to have "get-home-itus". Press on regardless, damn
Page 10 of 12 …a little dinghy
the torpedoes, the delta or bust. And so another twelve hours under way got us to Half Moon Bay and our last stop before home. Half Moon Bay is one of Howard's favorite places. He loves Barbara's Fish Trap, a restaurant right next to the marina. And so after getting o n- to the guest dock and a shower to wash off the salt we trooped over to sample Barbara's famous fare. I won't bore you with our dining delicacies only it was great, the service excellent and in spite of it being Saturday with a hor- rendous crowd, promptly done. They've quite a team thing going at Barbara's. Afterwards I went over to visit the Half Moon Bay Yacht Club. It was surpris- ingly empty of members for a Saturday but then maybe eve- ryone was watching the War- riors or something. The club sits right on the beach and is just like your favorite uncle's beach house. Cozy and quaint, sand on the floor and weathered wood on the walls. Good vibes. The next day we set out on our final leg. It was quite foggy so I took the boat out of the harbor under chart plotter and radar. We then steamed up the coast to the Golden Gate. Only the fog was so thick you couldn't see it. John had never been through the Gate and so once again it was ra- dar and the chart plotter. Once under the gate though, the fog was gone and we were in bright sunlight with clear blue skies and sparkly water. Welcome back to the Bay! We promptly shifted the helm to the flybridge, unfurled the bimini and started enjoying the warmth and flat water. What a change. With every mile and familiar places our attitudes changed and we started breathing normal- ly again. We'd made it. We arrived around six in the evening to Owl Harbor. Everyone had gone home and it was a hot and almost windless afternoon as we docked the boat and set the lines. We made one last sortie into town for dinner and then retired for the night. I'm sure we all slept like dead. I'm also sure everyone has a special memory of this trip. Maybe it was the whale that came up alongside to look us over or the porpoises that played around the bow, the lady skipper on Big Eagle, or just the image of the Gate sticking up through the fog. I'll remember going topside to turn off the spotlight. That was a moment of feeling terribly mortal with the pitching boat, crashing waves, and all that empty ocean, alone in the dark. But those kinds of thoughts make the rest of the time a real joy, and so that's how we'll remember the last voyage of Plan B.
Page 11 of 12 …a little dinghy
Racing
5/13/17 Club Races and 5/21/17 Club Races Since the race committee was off cruising there are no notes for the two days of racing.
Whiskytown Regatta – Memorial Day Weekend The un-official word has it that Jerry Lewis drove up from San Diego to crew with Dennis Barry on his Catalina 22 in the Regatta. The Whiskytown bunch haven’t recovered enough to post the results but it’s been said the duo took honors in the B keel fleet. Apparently some of the competition was familiar in that Jeremy Gicker had taken his Capri 16 as well and had Jerry’s old crewmate, Rick Paulson in tow. You’ll have to ask them for the gory details.
Other Racing Finally! It's almost time. The event of the year is upon us. Go for the Gold! But there's another race about to happen as well. It's not so renowned but draws a pretty good crowd in its own right. That's the America's Cup. If you missed it they've started the elimination races for who gets to challenge Oracle for the Cup. The first day was blown out but the subsequent days were there for all true racing aficionados to soak in. I won't bore you with the details but if you missed it on NBCSN you will have another chance since I've recorded it and plan to have a Cup party. RSVP will be required and we will decide on a good date after the GFTG (so you don't lose your concentration). You will also have to sign a pledge to race sometime this season. Bring your Cup boat or is it Cup Cat?
Classifieds
Flying Junior Sailboat for Sale
Contact Bryant Cockroft for more information: . 530-265-5196 or email [email protected]
13.25’ molded fiberglass centerboard dinghy. Club youth and collegiate racer. Used but good condition with nearly new Pineapple sails. No trailer
Asking $600
19XX Cal 25 This boat has been recently donated to the club and will be available to see and bid on after the regatta.
1973 Catalina 22 extended-tongue trailer. Good condition.. Need to sell this restoration project. Includes 5hp Johnson outboard (probably needs servicing). New Tohatsu engine available. $2500. Gary Richard 432-4326. .