Running Lights Page 1 July 2015 SKOKIE VALLEY SAIL AND POWER SQUADRON Membership Newsletter - Volume 15 Issue 7 SM Come for the Boating Education…Stay for the Friends Running Lights Page 2 July 2015 A MESSAGE FROM OUR COMMANDER First, the Serious Stuff: New boating laws in effect. Boaters must now display an orange flag when towing skiers or tubers. Police may now confiscate boats of F people caught driving drunk. Read the Lake County Sheriff Media Release on page 3. The Chain O’ Lakes is one of the busiest inland water- ways in the country with 23,000 registered boats in the area, and a “Key West party” atmosphere. Be aware! Be smart! Be safe! Need a reminder? ”BASS” — BeAwareSmartSafe Now, the Fun Stuff: The D/20 Cruise and Rendezvous is coming up on July 17th-19th. Hosted by Kankakee Valley Sail & Power Squadron, it will be held at the Kankakee Valley Boat Club. If you need hotel or dock reservations, please do Skokie Valley Sail & so as soon as possible. The “uniform of the day” is cas- Power Squadron ual. Or, if you insist, something with a USPS, Skokie Valley, or Evanston Squadron logo is also welcome. 2015-2016 Bridge Better yet, bring a boat, and join-in the fun!! On Sunday at 0900, a “Review of the Fleet” cruise-by will be held. COMMANDER If you received a billing for your annual membership Cdr Don Sidman, JN 847-726-7309 dues recently, but have not yet sent them in, please do so immediately, if you can. We compile the Squadron EXECUTIVE OFFICER Roster Booklet from the dues and member status infor- I/P/C Ron Zingler, AP 847-634-3806 mation we get from National, along with other input from our members . and we don’t want to omit anybody ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER who still wants to be a member of our extended family. Lt/C Kim Ambrose, AP 847 917-2258 Our thanks to Jim Walkowiak, John Lenhard, and Al An- SECRETARY toni for the Chicago River Boat Trip. Jim organized this Lt/C Gail Sidman, S 847 726-7309 event, and John and Al were our two boat Captains. Nineteen SVPS members were on board the 2 boats we TREASURER used: a pontoon boat, and an electric boat built by Island Lt/C Sue Anthony, P 224-402-3107 Packet Yachts. Powered by batteries, it has an all- magnetic motor augmented by solar panels on the hard- CO-EDUCATIONAL OFFICERS shell canopy. The vessel runs with essentially no sound Lt/C James E. Soyka, SN 847-635-6239 at roughly the speed of a sailboat. The batteries, P/C Bud Lemke, JN 847-577-9522 plugged into a standard 110-volt outlet, recharge over- night at a cost of about $1.50. John told us that charge ASST. EDUCATIONAL OFFICER lasts about 10 hours. Read more about the trip and see Lt/C Richard Davidson, SN 847-295-8845 photos on page 10. IMMEDIATE PAST COMMANDER Thank you, Paul and Lisa Sparkes for hosting the I/P/C Ron Zingler, AP 847-634-3806 Racine Sundowner at Reefpoint. The food was great. Another nice day! And Brinkley thanks you too! We have pictures from the Sundowner on page 5. ELECTED MEMBERS AT LARGE Lt Skip Ambrose, AP 847 767-4123 Next month, we’ll be reporting on our Red Cross CPR Lt Dave Anthony, P 224-402-3107 Certification Course, and the Escanaba / Door County / Lt Paul Sparkes, SN 847-202-4342 Sheboygan cruise. The summer is just flying by . if only we could find a way to slow time down! United States Power Squadrons® —Cdr. Don Sidman, JN Running Lights Page 3 July 2015 Mark Your Calendar July 2015 1 Wed Executive Board/Bridge meeting 1900 Alcott Center, Buffalo Grove 10-20 Fri-Mon Escanaba Door County Fish Creek Cruise Palazzo, see page 14 8 Wed Skokie Valley Breakfast Club 0830-1000 Market Square, Wheeling 15 Wed Publication Deadline—Running Lights Karen D’Amico (630-483-9741) 17-18 Sat-Sun D/20 Cruise & Rendezvous Kankakee Squadron, see page 9 22 Wed Skokie Valley Breakfast Club 0830-1000 Market Square, Wheeling August 2015 5 Wed Executive Board/Bridge meeting 1900 Alcott Center, Buffalo Grove 5 Wed Skokie Valley Breakfast Club 0830-1000 Market Square, Wheeling 15 Wed Publication Deadline—Running Lights Karen D’Amico (630-483-9741) 19 Wed Skokie Valley Breakfast Club 0830-1000 Market Square, Wheeling 22-30 Sat-Sun Southern Lake Michigan Cruise Zingler, see page 4 25-30 Tue-Sun USPS Governing Board, San Diego, CA See page 11 Media Release Lake County Sheriff’s Office Alerts Boaters to New Laws May 19, 2015, Waukegan, IL - Lake County Sheriff Mark C. Curran, Jr. is again reminding boaters of the new watercraft laws taking effect in 2015: Watercraft Towing: Senate Bill 1479 requires any watercraft towing a person to display a bright orange flag at the highest point of the boat’s helm. The flag must be visible from all directions and continuously displayed. Watercraft Seizure: Senate Bill 3434 allows for the seizure and forfeiture of watercraft used in the commission of repeated specified offenses including operating under the influence of alcohol, drugs, intoxicating compounds or combination thereof. Mandatory Boater’s Education: (Effective Jan 1, 2016) Senate Bill 3433 requires all persons born after Jan 1, 1998 to take and pass a boating safety course validated July Anniversaries by the Illinois Dept. of Natural Resources and hold a valid boating safety certificate before they can operate Jennifer Fergus 2014 2 yrs a motorboat with an engine over 10 horsepower. Michael Palazzo 2008 7 yrs Stephanie Palazzo 2008 7 yrs “Know the laws and obey the laws – they’ll keep you, Jim Geske 2007 8 yrs your family and friends safer on the waterways,” stated Dorothy Hughes 2005 10 yrs Sheriff Mark C. Curran, Jr. Clark Sanford 1994 22 yrs Bud Lemke 1984 33 yrs In addition, Sheriff Curran reminded mariners, “Boaters love the adventure and fun of a day spent on the water. However, accidents can happen quickly – so Congratulations to all on reaching don’t just carry a life jacket – “Wear It!” another milestone with the squadron. We appreciate your support. —Submitted by Lt./C Kim Ambrose Cdr Don Sidman Running Lights Page 4 July 2015 This Southern Lake Michigan cruise will take us to Saugatuck, South Haven and Chicago. The nine day cruise will be relaxed and informal. Come join us on any leg of the cruise or the whole cruise. If you prefer to drive, please let me know as our dates may adjust due to weather. The following is a cruise date and plan: Date Day From To Miles Activities August Saturday Home Port Saugatuck 85 Dinner at Chequers & 22nd Coral Gables II Forno Marina Shops at Saugatuck August Tuesday Saugatuck South Haven 25 Beach Time 25th Municipal Marina Shops at South Haven August Friday South Haven Burnham Harbor 50 Millennium and 28th Chicago Maggie Daley Park Navy Pier August Sunday Burnham Home Port 85 End of Cruise 30th Harbor 245 Miles Please respond with inquiries and attendance to: Ron Zingler 847-946-2516 cell [email protected] saugatuck.com Running Lights Page 5 July 2015 Racine Sundowner June 5-7 Original member Don Dorsch, Sr Tony Mass (Walkowiak’s son-in-law) with member Don Dorsch and Pam Dent Don Joanne Sidman & Zingler Paul & Lisa Sparkes with good friend from Racine Brinkley Thanks to Paul and Lisa Sparkes for hosting the Racine Sundowner at Reefpoint Marina. They provided the barbeque, potato salad, and free beer!! Others brought a dish to share. Everything was delicious! Photos were taken by P/C Ron Zingler Chip & Kim Ambrose Larry March & Tony Palazzo Jim Geske Dave & Sue Anthony Jim Walkowiak & daughter Linda Gloria with Linda & grand- daughter Sarah. How did Paul get in the family picture? Running Lights Page 6 July 2015 U.S. Coast Guard Releases 2014 Boating Statistics Report On 13 May 2015, the U.S. Coast Guard released its 2014 Recreational Boating Statistics. Highlights of the report: The Coast Guard counted 4,064 accidents that involved 610 deaths, 2,678 injuries and approximately $39 million dollars of damage to property as a result of recreational boating accidents. Compared to 2013, the number of accidents increased 0.05%, the number of deaths increased 8.9%, and the number of injuries increased 2.2%. Where cause of death was known, 78% of fatal boating accident victims drowned. Of those drowning victims with reported life jacket usage, 84% were not wearing a life jacket. And 77% of deaths occurred on boats where the operator had not received any boating safety instruction. Only 12% percent of deaths occurred on vessels where the operator had received a nationally-approved boating safety education certificate. Eight out of every ten boaters who drowned were using vessels less than 21 feet in length. Alcohol use is the leading known contributing factor in fatal boating accidents; where the prima- ry cause was known, it was listed as the leading factor in 21% of deaths. The most common types of vessels involved in reported accidents were open motorboats (47%), personal watercraft (17%), and cabin motorboats (15%). The vessel types with the highest percentage of deaths were open motorboats (47%), canoes (13%), and kayaks (10%). The 11,804,002 recreational vessels registered by the states in 2014 represent a 1.7% de- crease from last year when 12,013,496 recreational vessels were registered. Visit the link below for the complete report. www.uscgboating.org/library/accident-statistics/Recreational-Boating-Statistics-2014.pdf The USCG released its first Boating Safety Mobile App Features of the mobile app include: state boating information; a safety equipment checklist; free boating safety check requests; navigation rules; float plans; and calling features to report pollution or suspicious activity.