San Juan Sailing Club-
Event Update
August 1997
Sorry, folks, for
the abbreviated newsletters lately! The following note from Betty
helps explain what’s happening.
To the Board and Members
of the San Juan Sailing Club...Ahoy and greetings!
This note is to let you
know that I am going to be unable to continue as secretary for the San
Juan Sailing Club. As much as I enjoy the challenge of making stuff
up for the newsletter, not to mention the bribes I get for making up finish
times for the races, (er uh did I say that out
loud?) it is difficult reporting on on the water events when
we're not actually on
the water. As most of you know, MERRYEYE has gone sailing to the
San Juan Islands without us; reports are she is having a wonderful time
and enjoying her new crew. However, without a boat (sob,whimper,
heavy sigh) it is difficult keeping up with Club activities and David Dickinson
has done an exceptional job (as always). So, David, tag... you're
it. Betty Sampson--Merryeye
Thanks for the great
job, Betty. Betty will continue to mail our website postings at http://www.frontier.net/merryeye/sjsc.html.
(P.S.--Betty, when I tried to access this today, I got the “server is down”
message).
San Juan Cup Rescheduled!
Due to weather and conflicts,
it appeared that we were going to have a very low turnout for the San Juan
Cup, so it has been rescheduled for August 16. Skipper’s meeting
at 2:00 at the mooring cove. Hope to see you for the last scheduled
“round the buoys” race of the summer.
Upcoming events:.
August 23-24th Tres Equis
Race -- Bicycle-Swim-Sail Triathlon. Ride your bike to the shore, swim
to your anchored boat, & sail a race. Making rules up as we go...Contact:
Jerry Pope 247-7702
Aug. 30-Sept. 1 Labor
Day Jimmy Buffet BBQing, guitar playing, sail and play day. Impromptu
at this point. Beach party & potluck on Sat. p.m., maybe a little racing,
maybe a cruise to La Jara--who knows? Call Dan Wanstrath 259-1160 Watch
this space for updates.
Sept. 13, 14 Shhhh Don’t
tell the wind! He-Man--no matter when we have it no wind! Scheduled
for a full moon, hope to have better wind, better participation than
earlier in year. He-Man Brunch on Sun, race on Sat. Call Dan Wanstrath
259-1160.
Beer Can Series
Betty, I’m in no better
shape than you--I’ve had to miss the last two! If anyone knows
results, give me a call. Which reminds me--
If you want it in the
newsletter--please fax, e-mail, telephone, telegraph, carrier pigeon (on
second thought, maybe you’d better not send it UPS right now) or whatever
your news and notes to David Dickinson, (h) 247-5607 (w) 259-3002 (fax)
259-3003. email: dld_law@frontier.net.
La Jara Cruise--Great
turnout for the cruise --Kemo Sabe, Restless, Romance, Crazy Kid, Sabbatical,
Venturess, Lady Wayumi, Candle Dancer, Doubloon, Dementia (seems to me
I’m missing one). Some sailing both going & coming, water was
great (clear and 75o), lots of fun and relaxation. Heavy wind Saturday
evening made beach ties difficult, so most of us wound up swinging on a
hook. Maybe do one more before the end of the year?
Passage Notes--Just got
a nice postcard from the Mohrs, who were sailing to Catalina Island.
And have you paid your
dues yet? We’ve been sending out a number of courtesy copies
of the newsletter. Due to high cost of postage and (donated) photocopying,
we’re going to have to trim the mailing list back to members and subscribers.
Need a registration? Call 259-3002.
Happy sailing!
David Dickinson
Unassistant Secretary
====================================================
San Juan Sailing Club--Racing
News & Event
Update
July 1997
By
popular request, we have scheduled an unofficial (no prizes, no entry fees,
etc.) race weekend for July 19-20. Skipper’s Meeting at 2:00
p.m. in the mooring cove. Racing Sat. P.M. as soon as wind
permits. If we can inveigle enough people into crawling out of the
sack, we’ll try for an early bird race Sunday A.M. to catch that lovely
morning breeze.
Race
Results
Sandy
Stahlecker Memorial Race was a Huge success. We raised $420 for the
local chapter of the American Cancer Society. Eleven boats participated--overall
results:
Boat
1st Race 2nd Race Overall
Crazy
Kid 1 1 1
Yakaboo
4 2 2
Cats
Paw 2 5 3
Dementia
5 3 4
Assurance
3 7 5
Chiquita
6 6 6
flying
Dutchman (redick) 9 8 7th (tie)
Candle
Dancer 8 9 7th (Tie)
Kemo
Sabe 7 DNS DNQ
Doubloon
dns 4 DNQ
Laser
(Marona) 10 DNS DNQ
Great
Racing, lots of fun, and a super raftup in the back of the mooring cove
on Sat PM. Winds very light & Shifty, except for start of second
race, when they suddenly blew 20-25 knots (peak gust 37 knots). Kudos
to Jenny Wolff and Janet Dickinson, who were committee aboard Jerry’s pontoon
boat (thanks, Jerry). During the starting sequence, Amidst all the
confusion and howling winds, both the committee boat and the mark dragged
anchor. The gals maneuvered the boat, retrieved the anchor, established
a starting line, and got the race started all at the same time--and then
had a margarita to celebrate! Sorry, folks, winds quit completely
during 3rd race, with chiquita having outsailed the fleet up to that
point, and race was abandoned so we could go watch the fireworks (during
which, of course, the wind blew steadily).
Wind
Notes: Normal summer pattern, dominated by high pressure, has set in.
Steady winds in early AM from north, 12-15 knots, dying about 9:30 or 10:00;
calm in middle of day. In afternoon, winds may or may not come
up, usually sometime between 3 and 5, dying as sun sets. Only during
a frontal passage do we get winds in middle of day. And
watch out for those thunderstorms! Gusts of 60 knots have been
clocked. If you have been trying to sail in the middle of the
day, give early morning or evening a try.
And
don’t forget--
The
La Jara Cruise--JULY 26-27
.
Happy
sailing!
David Dickinson
Unassistant Secretary
San Juan Sailing Club--June
1997 Newsletter
This newsletter (well, it’s
really more of a flyer) is brought to you by the decidedly unofficial
and unelected (and Janet says inactive, too) sort of unassistant
secretary. (Translation: Betty couldn’t make it to the meeting.)
So, if you notice a marked decline in substance and literary quality, don’t
send the brickbats Betty’s way. (P.S.--Betty, I want you back!)--David
[It’s nice to be missed
- I wish I could say I was sailing! Anybody know a good - minimum
draft - boat for sale? MERRYEYE is asea in the Port Angeles and Townsend
area of Washington State. She went without us. B.]
Dues Reminder. . .
Ahem! It’s after May
30. Sailor, do you know where your dues are? As of this writing,
4, count ‘em, 4, members have paid their dues. No sailing in the
Sandy Stahlecker without dues! Our dues collectors, Luigi and Guido,
will be calling on you 4th of July weekend if you haven’t ponied up!
Another registration form enclosed for your convenience.
San
Juan Sailing Club Registration Form (Clickable link)
Race Results
First Annual Bass-Ackwards
Race
This was agreed by all to
be a really fun event, marred only by the lack of wind (why does this not
surprise us). As Bob Wolff observed, great He-Man practice!
A big thank you to our Racing Commodore, Dan Wanstrath, for figuring out
how this works. What you do is set a finish time, with a moving finish
line for the leading boat. Boats start with starting times adjusted
for corrected time based on the total time selected (in other words, Cat’s
Paw starts the night before, Crazy Kid starts 5 seconds before the finish).
The idea is to try to get all the boats to finish together. Everyone
voted to do it again. Boats did cluster at finish, although the light
airs and holes made it a drifting exercise.Results:
1st Yakaboo
2nd Assurance
3rd Chiquita
4th Dementia
5th Doubloon
6th Cat’s Paw
7th Kemo Sabe
Beer Can Series
First Wednesday Night Beer
Can was June 11--races will be every two weeks until August. Series
will be scored using Low Point Averaged System (i.e, you can miss up to
1/4 of the races and still win). Good wind let us sail a little
longer course this time, up to the Piedra buoy (though it did get light
by the end).Results: (Preliminary, based upon uncorrected time and a Kentucky
windage guess as to how they correct out.)
1st Kemo Sabe
2nd Trix
3rd Doubloon
4th Cat’s Paw
If you haven’t tried racing,
this is a great way to get started--come on out and try it, or crew aboard
someone’s boat (crew always welcome). Races start at 5:30 sharp at
mouth of mooring cove.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Fourth of July Weekend
Sandy Stahlecker Memorial
Race -Entry fee $10.oo minimum donation. Proceeds go to American
Cancer Society in memory of Club Member Sandy Stahlecker.
For info, call -Dan at 259-1160
or Jerry at 247-7702.
Friday, July 4, Skipper’s
meeting at 3:00 p.m. at dock in mooring Cove.
First race 4 p.m. Friday,
Two races on Saturday, July 5th, starting at 3 p.m. Best
two out of Three races determine the winner.
FIREWORKS, Saturday
Evening, July 5th, at Dusk courtesy San Juan Marina--Thanks frank &
Marilyn.
Awards on Sunday,
July 6th 12:00 Noon, at the mooring cove dock (bring your lunch).
Gathering place or anchorage
for group Friday & Saturday night??? nothing set, probably turtle
cove is the best bet. (Island cove is high & Dry & probably
will stay that way, unfortunately.)
For those of you who are
new members--Sandy Stahlecker was a charter member of SJSC who passed away
from cancer in 1989. The Club annually has a racing weekend
in her memory, with all entry fees and donations going to the local chapter
of the American Cancer Society. The perpetual trophy, crafted
and donated by Rob Puccio (another charter member) is a ship’s wheel with
plaques for each winner, currently held by Marci Ann. If you haven’t
raced before, this is a worthy cause and a great introduction to racing
(see invitation to new racers elsewhere in this letter).
The La Jara Cruise--JULY
26-27
OK, Folks, here it is, the
event you have all been waiting for! Even the racers love this one.
If you haven’t been, you owe it to yourself to try the clear water and
lovely cruising on the way to La Jara Canyon. Cliff jumping, snorkeling,
crawdad hunts for the kids, snagged anchors, guitar playing, lightning
fires, great family fun, beach party, etc., etc. (We hope we’re
kidding about the fires and anchors.) Leave at 10:00 or whenever
(this is not a race--if you hardcore racers want to race, you’re on your
own). We plan to anchor in cove on north side just before the horseshoe
bend past the “no ski” buoys. From past experience, island in the
middle of the bend is rock and roll city due to boat wakes and death on
anchors. Beach party Saturday evening. Return when you feel like
it on Sunday.
Been feeling a
little dinghy lately?
OK, OK, so it’s one of those
horrible puns no one can seem to resist. More than one husband has
gotten to sleep on the couch because, when asked if they have a dink, replied,
“We don’t need one-- my wife is a little dinghy.”
Bad humor out of the way,
the Dinghy Lady is in the water and available for community use.
Honor system, please--if you haven’t joined the dinghy club (a modest $15),
don’t use it!! Refresher on motor operation: To start
when cold (you’re the first one down that weekend)--pump fuel bulb, turn
throttle to “start,” in neutral (lever on starboard side--forward-neutral-reverse),
turn choke on (it’s the little knob on the front of the motor, clockwise
on, counterclockwise off), and start pulling. When motor sputters,
turn choke off and pull again. Reverse does not work--please don’t
try to put in reverse, as shift has jammed a couple of times. Or,
you can just row. Please be considerate of others and return to dock
as soon as you can (invariably, the second you get it out to your boat,
someone else will show up to use it). Check the gas occasionally.
If it needs service, call David Dickinson, the motor guru, at 247-5607.
Those of you who have your
own dinks may still want to think about joining the dinghy club--it’s a
great backup when the wind is howling and you aren’t all that excited about
rowing your cockleshell out to the boat.
C’mon Out and Race
The Sandy Stahlecker Memorial
and the Beer Can Series are a great way to get started in racing, and the
Race Committee wants to extend an invitation to new members and non-racers
to give it a try. Maybe you’ve tried it before and didn’t understand
what was going on or got walloped and said “Never again!” Before
you decide racing isn’t your cup of tea, though, note that even Curlew,
definitely a cruiser, goes racing on occasion. (And, hey, racers,
you’re missing out if you don’t cruise to La Jara!) To help you get
started, here are some FAQ’s (that’s computer geek talk for “Frequently
Asked Questions”):
1. I don’t know a darn thing
about it! Where do I start? Answer: JUST DO IT! Or, crew
on another boat. Most skippers are only too happy to have crew and
to explain what’s going on. Crewing in the Beer Can races is a great
way to start. Or, ask an experienced skipper to come aboard your
boat. You don’t need to know the rules by heart--basic right of way
rules cover most situations. Before each race, the committee explains
starting procedure and the course.
2.
How can I possibly race my “Sea Slug 25” against these hot shots?
It’s too slow. Answer: Handicaps. The club uses
a slightly modified Portsmouth handicapping system, in which the faster
the boat, the lower the handicap. (Hint: If you’re considering
buying a boat, its handicap, technically the “D-PN Number,” is a pretty
reliable gauge of a boat’s performance.) Even a slow old thing
like Cat’s Paw (about the highest handicap around) can correct out on the
candy boats. A slow boat is at a slight tactical disadvantage, for
reasons which go beyond the scope of this comment. On the other hand,
Portsmouth numbers are based on results. Since the better skippers
tend to sail hot boats, it may be difficult for a new skipper to sail a
“Screamer 25” to its handicap. And, we adjust handicaps based upon
our own results. It all works out in the end.
3. Isn’t racing too intense?
I don’t want to be featured on “Divorce Court.” Sorry, can’t help
you with the marital counseling. Having been politically incorrect
towards the female contingent with the dinghy jokes, now I’ll get the men
mad by observing that, due to excess testosterone or just plain cussedness,
it can bring out the worst Captain Bligh tendencies in most men,
but it’s all a matter of attitude. Old-timers can remember
when Blue Ribbon sailed up along Cat’s Paw during a starting sequence a
few years ago. Cap’n Arvold, who was busy shifting his crew to achieve
just the right angle of heel, shouted across to yours truly, “Where’s Janet?”
The reply: “Down below cooking breakfast.” Hey, the important thing
is to have fun.
4. Why do it?
Answer: Granted, fun is what you make it. As the saying goes,
“Whatever floats your boat.” Of course, there are people who
think that about sailboats in general. I’m reminded of the gal who
told her boyfriend she wasn’t going sailing with him anymore--she didn’t
mind being hungry, or soaked, or cold, or exhausted, or seasick, or scared
to death--she just didn’t like being all of them at the same time.
And yes, there is the old saw about how to find out what ocean racing is
all about--give yourself something to make you violently sick to your stomach,
stand under an ice-cold shower, and start tearing up $100 bills as fast
as you can.
We’ll assume, though,
that you already like sailing, or you wouldn’t be reading this. Maybe
you won’t compete in the next Olympics or crew for Big Bad Dennis in the
America’s Cup trials, but it will add a new dimension to a sport we all
love. You will learn a lot about how to sail your boat better.
And you can have fun racing your “Sea Slug 25”--Cat’s Paw being a
case in point.
And if, after all that,
you prefer to go anchor by yourself in a cove--that’s fine too! But
we hope to see you on the water for the Sandy Stahlecker Memorial.
Join us for the fellowship even if you don’t want to race.
Happy sailing!
David Dickinson
Unassistant Secretary