Frostbite Regatta 2009
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The official electonic newsletter of the Sebago Canoe Club in Brooklyn, NY kayaking, canoeing, sailing, racing, rowing December 2008 Vol 75, Issue 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS: Commodore’s Report - page 2 Membership Report Frostbite Regatta 2009 My Sebago Experience - pages 3/11 (and General Meeting) 75th Anniversary Splash - pages 4-6 New Years Day 10am-4pm Catering the 75th Splash - page 7 Kayaking Committee Report Pool Sessions - pages 8-9 Join your friends and meet new members at our Sailing Committee Report - page 10 traditional New Year’s Day get-together. Bring Rowing Committee Report - page 11 food and drink to share. We’ll munch all day, from News and Notices - page 26 10 am to 4 pm, in the warm clubhouse. Some Club Contact Information - page 26 hardy folks will spend some time on the water. Articles: Around Long Island Paddle: We’ll have a general meeting at 2 pm to hear club Year Two, Leg Two by Bonnie Aldinger - pages 12-14 news and vote on senior members. Mayor’s Cup Race, 2008 by Joe Glickman - pages 15-17 Bring your cold water gear to join in on New Boatbuilding Project! by Jim Luton - pages 18-20 on-the-water activities. Check with activity chairs Sebago Trash Bash II – A Great Success! for scheduled events. by Mary Eyster - pages 21-22 New Physical Activity Guidelines from HHS by Louis Demarco - page 23 Recipe by Gary Gorman - page 24 Destination Photos by Steve Keller - page 25 EBLADE December 2008 page 1 Commodore’s Report – December ‘08 by John Wright ail, Sebago members and friends in the water sports community at thisH holiday season and the beginning of our 2009 program year. I began a draft of this message with a recount and reflection on our club activity in 2008, but soon found it overwhelming to list and recognize the many who made a very busy season possible. We need to congratu- late ourselves on completing such a suc- cessful schedule, beginning with the packed Open House in May and rounded out during a joyful 75th Anniversary in November. Open Paddles and community outreach have brought us new and active members; the Youth Paddle program led to significant part- nership with our neighboring high school, the Academy for Conservation and the Environment; and training programs on the Bay and at Lake Sebago saw an increase in the cadre of safety certified assistant trip leaders. Sebago’s recognition in the community is built on the dedication of our activity committee leaders to develop member skills in boat handling, safety and rescue technique, and group leadership for trips and sail races. We are sustained by their enthusiasm and commitment, and the shared responsibility all members take on through their work commitments to keep the organization moving forward. 2009 will see the replacement of the Sebago dock and ramp, a multiyear campaign of permit approval, grant writing, planning and fund raising led by Phil Giller. We will begin negotiations to review our relationship with the NYC Parks Department as our current ten-year license comes up for renewal. Work has begun behind the scenes to update our financial and bookkeeping opera- tions to ensure compliance with tax and charities reporting as a 501c3 charitable organization. Our risk management committee is updating our operating and safety manual, and evaluating our insurance coverage, to ensure that our organization successfully and responsibly continues to provide safe and enjoyable paddling and sailing recreation in the waterways of the New York area. Thanks to all for your ongoing contributions to this collective effort, whether by the financial support of your dues and fees, by intellectual and professional investment in management and planning, by sweat equity to maintain the grounds and facilities, and by your shared joy and enthusiasm in the experiences of being out on the water or engaged in a group project. You are the reason we continue beyond that 75th year celebration. EBLADE December 2008 page 2 Membership Report – December ‘08 by Shari Berkowitz reetings to all, and hope you are keeping warm and planning your paddling adventures for spring. I usually try to give you a pep talk in this space about how to recruit members, including brazenly giving out brochures and accost- ingG subway riders who look nautically inclined. For today’s column, I have asked some of our newer members to share how they ended up joining Sebago, with the hope that we will all take a lesson in how to build up the club’s ranks. I got responses from three members (see Vivian’s story bottom this page) and I invite all the rest of the conditional members to send me their stories for future columns. Amy Leland Hemphill writes that she had gone to some free Hudson River paddles with Blake Strasser (another relatively new member), and that these twenty-minute trips only whetted their appetite. When Blake found Sebago, they came and tried out some Open Paddles. Amy says, “Everyone was so nice, the club boats were really good ones, and we got to go paddling for three hours the first time we went out. I heard about some of the things the club does, like full moon paddles, paddles to pick up trash in the bay, and nature paddles. So I decided I better join Sebago before I’d done too many Open Paddles to be allowed to come back. My friend has already bought her own kayak and become an assistant trip leader. I’m hoping to use the pool sessions this winter to get my skills more up to snuff so that by next season I can head out on some of the more advanced paddles myself.” (article continues on page11) My Sebago Experience by Vivian Rattay Carter I moved to New York City about thirty years ago. I became fascinated with the waterways surrounding the city about a year or two after arriving, when I was invited on a rather memorable date - a trip around Manhattan in a two-person inflatable boat powered by a small outboard motor. The name of the man who invited me on that excursion is lost to my memory, but the sights, sounds, smell and feel of experiencing Manhattan at sea level was unforgettable. In the past several years, I became interested in human-powered boating as an activity to strengthen my arms and core muscles. When I began teaching in a waterfront middle school in 2004, I was hoping we’d be able to start a rowing team, but that didn’t happen. Instead, I had my first paddling excursion in 2005, when my son and daughter and I were escorted by the Gateway Park Rangers on a canoe trip out of Barren Island Marina. I learned about Sebago from another participant at that paddle. After a few years of anticipation, we actually joined Sebago at the Open House in Spring, 2008. My personal goal is to become proficient enough to be able to paddle in the early spring and late fall, not just in the summer. I’m also working to help get some kayak/canoe/sailboat launch sites set up on the Rockaway Peninsula, where I live and work. The photo accompanying this article shows me kayaking out of Bayswater Park in Far Rockaway. I love going out into Jamaica Bay to see the birds and horseshoe crabs. An added plus to the club is the cool online communications network. I have gotten so many great tips about fun activities through the Sebago website. The only thing that would make the club better is plumbing! Keep up the great work, Sebagoans! EBLADE December 2008 page 3 Sebago’s 75th Anniversary Splash by Phil Giller f you missed the 75th Anniversary Splash, you missed a great party. We arrived at the Tennis House at 3 pm to begin to set up the tables and chairs and continue with the food prep which had startedI at Tom Anderson’s house early Thursday morning. The Gary Gorman express van arrived loaded with cooked food, sterno trays and everything else that a great kitchen staff would need. Chef Steve Heinzerling, along with his trusty assistants Tom Anderson and George Sullivan, were right behind Gary. Tom Potter arrived with the most important items, a truck full of beer and enough five-gallon buckets filled with ice to chill the beer and wine. Where he had room for the bread I do not know. Of course, our great Commodore John Wright was the first one at the doors waiting for us with his car stacked with tables on the roof, ice chests and supplies inside. There was no room for his wife; I’m glad he picked her up later. Laurie Prendergast arrived with DVD player in hand and began to set up the wonderful slideshow that she had created. Danielle Peterson and her boyfriend Joe McCauley ( I think I smell new member!) arrived with the tablecloths, paper goods, sterno, and a proclamation from the Borough President’s office and began to help Phil Giller and Mary Eyster begin the layout of the tables and chairs and to make the place look great! Our great African-Cuban-Funk Jazz Band, Metrotang, led by Chacho Ramirez, arrived next and began to set up on the stage. The kicking music they played was worth the price of admission. Just ask all the people who during dessert pushed some tables and chairs away and started to dance on the newly created dance floor. Fran Pignatello, Mary Eyster, Tom and Elaine Potter, Shari Berkowitz, Elizabeth Green, Tracy Komrich, and many others that I can’t remember tore up the dance floor.