Wavelength June 2015 South Beach Yacht Club

CONVENIENTLY LOCATED AT: 37˚ 46’ 47.5” NORTH - 122˚ 23’ 16.2” WEST

WAV E L E N G T H OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER O F THE SO UTH B E AC H YAC H T C LU B

VO L X X I I SS U E 3 2 J U N E 201 5

vivete lente,

navigate celeriter

SOUT H BE AC H YAC H T C LUB

T O H AV E A N D H AV E N O T

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hen we had the Catalina 27 all I wanted was a Catalina 30. When our boat was docked deep down on the estuary in Alameda, all I wanted was to move to a harbor in San Francisco. When we first moved to South Beach Harbor, berth F-43, all I soon wanted was to move in closer to the parking lot (especially when I forgot something on the boat). When I was racing all I wanted was a fair advantage (never got it, by the way). When the GIANTS moved in next door, all I wanted was for them to have a winning season (my cup runneth over).

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not needy, I’m just want(y).

When we moved our boat over to South Beach Harbor in November of 1986, this harbor was literally packed to the gills with five boats and around 4,847 seagulls (I have fond memories of the white docks of South Beach Harbor) and becoming a member of a yacht club wasn’t high up on my list of things to do. That was a pleasant “why not” occasion thrust upon me

R AY

H AL L

by being in the right spot - at the right time - and by a genteel Harbor Master named Carter Straugh who called the first meeting to order. I went, I saw and I signed up, and that was that.

It was at one of SBYC’s first monthly membership meetings, when I was pontificating about something to fellow new member Arndt Berg, a large Nordic type, and he said “You know something, Roy, you should put that in our newsletter.” I quickly downed my glass of CWW (cheap white wine) and replied, “Whoa down, buckaroo. First off, my name’s not Roy, it’s Ray and I’ve never been able to string five words together that make sense. “Perfect”, he said! “That’s perfect. Newsletters all seem to be a repetition of mandatory gratitudes, platitudes and awkward requests to volunteers for upcoming events. You, my friend will be a refreshing relief; yes, you’re just perfect.”

Well, I submitted my first article and the rest is history. Alas, as Arndt and the rest of our club members

soon found out, perfection still eludes me.

I would like to end this article with another ‘want’, and that is that South Beach Yacht Club will always be organized, built and run by our members. That’s how we got to where we are today and why we have the best and brightest folks from other clubs applying for membership.

Ciao for now!

Ray Hall – Dancing Bear

Cover image by member Julie Fineman of the FNS Race committee members Catherine Orr & Terry Kenaston

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COMMODORE’S COMMENTS BARRIE WHEELER

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hat a busy, if gray, month May has been! We have had parties, Friday night races and our first tested Thursday night open hosted by Deb Phairis and a well attended great cruise out to Encinal Yacht Club hosted by Kathleen Dunn.

June is always a wonderful month at the Club. It is a time when many members step up to mentor other members in various club activities and for members to get to know prospective new members. The opportunities are there for those who want to get involved with the Club.

Our Junior summer sailing program is one of the most rewarding of those activities. Watching young people progress from novices on their first day to accomplished sailors participating in each Friday Regatta is a real thrill!

June is when the nominating committee begins their work of identifying individuals who may want to run for office. It’s a good time to think about serving as an officer.

Kathleen Dunn heads the 2016 Nominating Committee and would be glad to speak with you.

The Auction Committee is getting warmed up for the November 14 evening. Now is the time to think of what you can donate - an experience, a destination, a set of silver.

Brainstorm for what you can donate - especially think back to your best ever auction item won.

Duplicate that item or offer. The auction committee consists of Chairs Barrie & Karen Wheeler, Bill Adams, Lee Baldi, Darlene Cederbourg, Patti Mangan, Lynda Maybruck, Elissa Rogers, Cat Reining & Kathleen Dunn.

SBYC is your Club and it is members like you who make it an enjoyable and fun place to be all year round, but especially in the summer!

See you at the Club.

PHOTO ABOVE: Grand Lady hosts

another feast! The Encinal Cruise Out included this motley crew (from left to right) Alan Maybruck, Libbie & Tad Sheldon, Lynda Maybruck, Lee and Mark Baldi, Bonnie Sorenson, Katherine Dunn and hosts Barry & Karen Wheeler.

Image taken by Pete Sorenson.

SOUT H BE AC H YAC H T C LUB

VICE COMMODORE’S REPORT

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hy the fourth day of the week is important now at SBYC. Please bear with me and read this short piece about Thursday, right out of the encyclopedia.

The Romans called the fourth day of the week diēs Iovis‘Jupiter’s day’.

When the Germanic peoples took over their system of naming days after the gods, or the planets they represented, they replaced Jupiter, the Roman sky-god, with the Germanic god of thunder, Thor, whose name comes from the same source as English thunder.

Not a lot of pithy content if you are a SBYC member, but it does seem Thor’s Day should be a bit more exciting for us, so…here is something to pique your interest. Our recent survey of the membership indicated a strong wish to try being open on Thursday evenings. Our first attempt was May 14; OOD Deb Phairas opened the

M I LT

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something to BBQ, the friends are for socializing while you BBQ.) We are nearly halfway through the year; Hump-Day for 2015 is July 2nd, coincidentally a Thursday. I thought of doing a quick review of the year but I am pretty sure on Hump-Day we look ahead.

Club to all, and prepared a fantastic However, I would be remiss if I baked potato bar with all the fixin’s. did not thank Toni Heyneker, Deb The evening was a big success and a Phairas, Susie Fay and their minions stunning night on the harbor as large for Cinco de Mayo, Mother’s Day and rainbows appeared!

Motown Memories. If you missed any I am certain Thor would have enor all of these events you missed some joyed being there. great stuff!

During June and July the Club will For June, attend our Member be opened 6 to 10 pm on June 11, Meeting on the 12th, a Fire & Light 18 and 25 + July 9, 16 and 23. These event on June 21st, another Dance openings are entirely dependent on Party on the 27th, a Fourth of July getting OODs to volunteer so please Family BBQ/potluck, you guessed be grateful when you see them. As it, on July 4th, then the July Member you know, not much happens around Meeting on the 10th, and the Ticket the Club without our volunteer to Ride Beatles Party on the 25th.

OODs. Additionally, some of them I am looking for a few volunteers to may have a little something special help organize our various historical planned for their evening like live treasures, you know, photos, documusic. The member BBQ grill is avail- ments, Club fables, things like that. If able, so bring your favorite cut and you are interested please let me know. a few friends. (To be clear, the cut is Looking forward to a great summer!

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SPLICE THE MAINBRACE H U G H (Author’s note: This column ought to really please ‘She who must be obeyed’ – our wonderful Wavelength editor because most of it is not about all the cool things that have been happening at the bar recently which she finds very ho-hum stuff to read.)

This column is about classic cars – admittedly not very nautical!

For months, Alex Goldstein (SBYC’s secret agent inside AT&T) has been saying to anybody who will listen that we should organize a car show featuring old cars owned by the SBYC members. So that’s exactly what we’re planning to do!

CO PPEN

SBYC’s very own Classic Car Show will be on Sunday August 23 in the parking lot – and so far we have several cars entered… and some of these are true Classics!

Among them are Tom Rogers’ 1939 Ford, Roger Tennyson’s 1953 Lincoln Capri, Bill Davidson’s 1958 MGA and Alex Goldstein’s 1964 Corvette Stingray. I know that John Tennyson and Bob Lugliani will be bringing classic cars too, but they haven’t decided exactly which one of theirs. Our esteemed editor, Patti Mangan, will have her 1972 Mercedes 350 there and I’ll bring the youngest of the show, my 1974 Triumph TR6.

The whisper in the clubhouse is that Chris Puli bought two British sports cars last week because he couldn’t decide which he liked best, so hopefully he’ll bring one (or both) of them!

We just know there are more Classic Cars out there amongst our members! If you, or anybody you

know in the Club has a car at least 40 years old, we want you! Please let me know asap (hugh@winningleadership. com) – we’d like to have at least 15 cars in the first bi-annual show!

More details to follow – but let’s have some auto-nostalgic fun - and then head to the bar!

Speaking of which…have you tried our delicious new Zinfandel 7 Deadly Zins? How about our new “GOLD” Cabernet Chateau St Jean (it’s pronounced Jean, not like the French name for John – this column is just full of interesting snippets).

Our very latest additions are our “GOLD” white wine: La Crema Chardonnay, oaky, buttery and very yummy (I’m told that ‘yummy’ is a big word among wine aficionados).

And back once again for the summer, we welcome last year’s very popular Petroni Rose. Hope you enjoy all these excellent new wines – let any of us know what you think!

Splice the mainbrace, y’all!

SOUT H BE AC H YAC H T C LUB

REAR COMMODORE REPORT G E R A R D Some FNS racers have asked me why the windward mark offset is so long. Typically in windward-leeward course racing the offset mark is put in place to separate the boats approaching the windward mark from the boats who have already rounded the mark and are about to go downwind. We have that need and goal in mind also but it serves an additional and very important role on a race course with strong cross currents like we have. Basically, it helps the PRO square up the course in a strong cross current. For example, if you have a strong flood current on the SBYC windward mark, then we need a longer offset or reaching mark to help compensate for the current so we can have a good chance of a square downwind run to the leeward mark.

The stronger the cross current the longer the offset leg.

There are lots of articles online that explain this way better than I can in

S H E R I D A N

this limited space but I wanted to make the point as a number of people have asked about this issue.

X-Bay Regatta is upon us again on June 20th and we’re looking to bring back the trophy after losing it badly last year to CYC. We’re looking for our best and finest racers to help in this effort so we can bring back the trophy that Eugene Hu designed using a small section of the cables that are used in the construction of the new Bay Bridge. The scoring is based on the total place scores of each yacht club team and the team with the lowest score wins. So if you think you can contribute to a win, please signup now on our home page. Andrew Lorenzen is the Event Chair and the PRO is Eugene Hu. Junior Sailing Camp begins on June 22nd. The last I checked we had 6 places remaining so if your kids want in, call now.

We have extended the camp from five to seven weeks this year to meet the increased demand.

We have two cruise-outs on the calendar CYC on June 20th and BYC on July 3rd.

Sign-up is on the website under the On the Water menu.

PICYA LIPTON SERIES OF THE CENTURY SAUSALITO YACHT CLUB

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Hanrahan girls Finnagh and Enya in the Junior Sailing program

Dinghy Day with Andrew Lorenzen

June 20th - Come party!

Master Mariners - Kit Beck with the Bounty crew!

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THE UNEXPECTED BENEFITS H AY D E N S T A P L E T O N

As I sailed the waters outside the San Francisco Giants stadium, in place of the normal tiller used for steering a boat, I held a joystick.

While I usually sail with a teenage crew, on this day my crewmate was a middle-aged man. What made this man unique was that he was in a wheelchair, and what necessitated that joystick was the specialized boat for paraplegics in which we were sailing.

On many Saturdays throughout the last two years, I volunteered with the Bay Area Association for Disabled Sailors (BAADS), an organization that provides physically and mentally impaired individuals the opportunity to experience an activity they previously had thought impossible. My job was to rig the boats and then, using a specialized harness and crane, lift the disabled sailors off the dock and onto the water. From there, I would accompany them in their boat and, depending on their skill level, either teach them the basics of sailing or coach them in the more intricate aspects of sailboat racing. While I thought it would be cool to help these people learn to sail, I didn’t realize when I signed up for this was how much I, an experienced sailor, would learn from volunteering with this organization.

While I have taught kids to sail for many years, it is particularly gratifying to share my love of sailing with the participants at BAADS. For me, there is nothing that compares to the feeling of propelling myself across the water. I can only imagine how exciting and liberating that must feel to someone who cannot

walk. I came away from the experience with a whole new appreciation for the sport I am so passionate about.

Volunteering at BAADS has also taught me the importance of planning as well as the difference between good intentions and good execution. BAADS is a great organization with an honorable goal, however, the execution of that goal often lent itself to a bit of disarray.

Despite their best intentions, lack of preparation and organization limited time on the water for sailors.

My experience at BAADS not only allowed me to share my love of sailing but also taught me to be more compassionate and patient. I learned to not take my health, my natural abilities, and the opportunities I have been given, for granted.

Volunteering with BAADS also showed me that, while anyone can have a brilliant idea, it requires the ability to devise a workable plan and execute it to make that dream a reality. Community Service or Volunteer Work often takes a young person like me out of their comfort zone and it is outside of this comfort zone that the most growth and learning often occurs.

Neil “Haydon” Stapleton is a 20 year old college student who won the $2,500 PICYA Foundation Scholarship in 2014.

Ever since he was young he was drawn to the water, swimming and sailing.

Since age seven he committed every weekend and many weekdays to advancing sailing skills on the water, primarily at the Richmond Yacht Club.

“My real passion is racing. Outside of sailing I enjoy socializing with my group of exceptionally funny friends who force me to keep my wit sharp and my skin thick. In school I enjoy math and science but I also love writing, providing a satirical slant to my papers whenever possible, much to the frustration of my teachers. I currently study Mechanical Engineering at the University of California at Santa Barbara, and in my free time I am learning to surf.”

Annual PICYA Scholarships include the awarding of up to three $2500 scholarships to three deserving college students. One scholarship is sponsored by the Western Boaters Safety Group (WBSG); one by the PICYA Foundation, and one is donated yearly in memory of PICYA Delegate Andy Desin’s Memorial Scholarship Fund. To submit an essay/ application in 2015 please visit picya.org for details.

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BETWEEN THE SHEETS LY N D A M AY B R U C K

TIPS UP NEW MEMBER PAULA MURRAY

Paula just started sailing in 2013. She immediately fell in love with sailing and began to crew and sail to learn more.

She is now ASA certified in Basic Keelboat and has been sailing out of various ports around the Bay. She’s looking for more opportunities to crew and sail, and learn more about racing, and also to meet people who love to sail. She says a big plus for her is that SBYC is a working/volunteer club.

NEW MEMBERS TOM & LAURIE GIAMMONI

Laurie and Tom have more than 25 years of bay and open ocean sailing cruising around the world. They’ve just moved their Catalina 30 to SB Harbor and want to support and get involved at SBYC. They also own a Morgan 41 in Puerto Rico. They have two kids who love sailing and are looking forward to our Jr. sailing program. Tom and Laurie are experienced volunteers.

Tom is great on the BBQ and wants to get involved with Jr. Sailing.

KUDOS PATTI MANGAN

What do you have to do to be a repeat recipient of the coveted Outstanding Volunteer pin? You must be someone like Patti Mangan. Patti received the very first Outstanding Volunteer pin presented a few years ago, and has continued to excel at all she does for SBYC. Patti has designed a myriad of images for use on a multitude of SBYC communication vehicles, from Open House flyers to race posters to auction collateral, to say nothing about our fabulous Wavelength. Patti has truly changed the reputation and branding of SBYC. Thank you Patti for your creativity, talent, and continual dedication to SBYC and ALL you do to demonstrate the spirit of our volunteerism.

NEW MEMBER RISA CORWIN

Risa, and her husband, have just become boat owners.

They are now partners on a Catalina 30, “Outrageous” in SB Marina, that Risa’s husband, Steve, will be racing on Friday nights. Risa has more than 20 years sailing experience on both East and West coasts. Risa is a former RN who lives in the neighborhood. Although Risa is a sailor at heart, her primary objective for joining SBYC is to get involved with volunteering. She has a lot of time on her hands and wants to devote time to the sailing community, BAADS, and SBYC.

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TH E GREAT LO OP - I N STA LLME N T 1 MARK GIBSON

After cruising the Canadian Gulf Islands, the Desolation Sound and the San Juan Islands last summer, Pam & I shipped Sea Bear, our red Nordic Tug 32, from Anacortes, WA to Dog River Marina in Mobile Alabama for our next adventure, “America’s Great Loop”.

Each year dozens of boats, both power and sail, circumnavigate the eastern half of the United States, cruising up the east coast in the spring, crossing the Canadian canals and Great Lakes in the summer, floating down the Illinois, Tennessee and Tombigbee Rivers in the fall and jumping over to Florida for the winter. This year we joined them.

After polishing the hull and finishing off a half a page of other projects, my brother Keith and I moved the boat south and east 50 miles or so to Orange Beach Marina near Gulf Shores, AL. affectionately called the Redneck Riviera, where Pam & I were living onshore for a couple of months. After provisioning and one last load of laundry we shoved off on the first leg along the Florida panhandle, with the Blue Angels roaring overhead.

After a couple of days of condos and suburban sprawl, we entered into the old Florida of back bayous and shallow waters. This makes for very nervous navigation at times.

We spent a night in the marina in Apalachicola, where we were awakened at 0200 by the forward hatch screen falling on us and a furry feline face staring down at us. About half the boats we see are traveling with dogs and a few with ships cats.

The next morning we made our way through the fog to Dog Island,

our jumping off point to cross the Florida Gulf.

About 2230 on a cold first day of spring, we made our way out of East Pass only bumping the bottom twice and circling the sea buoy once. Things get strange in shallow, unfamiliar waters when you’re not really awake. At least it was finally clear until we were in deep (18’) water, when the fog came back in and stayed until the next morning. The seas in the Gulf were flat though, and the radar worked great; we only got two blips all night. Nineteen and a half hours later we set our anchor in the mouth of the Anclote River in Tarpon Springs.

The Florida West coast is mostly built up with condos on the waterway. Most anchorages were next to housing except for Cayo Costa State Park just south of Boca Grande.

Here we entered the scenic and rustic bay through a narrow pass, reading 2’ under the keel. Here we sat out a storm for couple of days then on to Ft. Myers and the Okeechobee waterway.

The Okeechobee Waterway cuts 154 statute miles across central Florida. The urban landscape of Fort Myers rapidly gave way to rural, agricultural vistas. Thirty three miles inland we encountered our first lock on the trip. After being raised up a few feet we proceeded on two more hours to our anchorage amongst the cows about a half mile off the waterway. The next day, after rising up in the Ortona Lock, we crossed Lake Okeechobee, the second largest lake in the US after Lake Michigan. After a night between two pilings and another night at a Corps of Engineers campground/marina, we emerged onto the Atlantic ICW in Stuart, Florida to begin our northward journey. During this leg we first met the couple on Diva D, tied to the dolphin ahead of us. We discovered it is common to meet the same boats along the way. Collecting boat cards is the best way to keep track of the boats and their people.

The weather remained cool, discouraging no-see-um’s, as we slowly cruised up the east coast of Florida through the numerous manatee zones. These large, ugly aquatic mammals, the official state mammal, are elusive, and it’s not until another couple of hundred miles up the coast that we finally saw a few in Haulover Canal north of Cape Canaveral.

North of Jacksonville the scenery becomes more scenic, with long segments of pine trees and marsh lining the waterway. Using advice from Skipper Bob (Anchorages along the ICW) and Active Captain, a web-based crowd-sourced database of anchorages, marinas and

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ALABAMA TO C H A R LE STON , S C problems, we carefully worked our way into remote anchorages such as the Wahoo River and Tom’s Point Creek. Fortunately one of the projects my brother and I worked on was screens for the cabin, because otherwise the No-see-um’s would have devoured us instead of indulging in heavy snacking. They are especially bad in Georgia and South Carolina.

We used marinas too. After all, one must provision and do laundry. After dining on our complementary Krispy Cream doughnuts at Thunderbolt we rode the bus into Savannah for a quick tour and lunch before cruising on to Beaufort, SC. After relearning the need to watch both wind and current while docking and doing more laundry we wandered the oak shaded streets, reminiscent of Pat Conroy novels.

A couple of days later, having made it through Dawhoo cut with a foot under keel, and a wild ride through Elliot cut with five knot current (with us thank goodness) and threading our way through the three venues of Charleston Race week we came to dock at the Charleston Maritime Center and the1/4 point of the trip, 1300 statute miles and 5 weeks on a 32 foot boat.

The next quarter of the trip will take us to the Chesapeake, New York and the Erie Canal, where we break for a quick trip home to Sonoma. Tips Up!

left page: Dawn at Palm Cove this page: Sea Bear, Bridge of Lions, sunset at Ft Myers, breaking thunderstorm

SOU T H BE AC H YAC H T C LUB

SOUTH BEACH YACHT CLUB EVENTS CALENDAR COMMODORE Barrie Wheeler 707-938-9442 VICE COMMODORE Milt Smith 925-285-2897 REAR COMMODORE Gerard Sheridan 415-810-2004 SECRETARY Kathleen Dunn TREASURER Roger Ladwig MEMBERSHIP CHAIR Lynda Maybruck 408-472-3667 PORT CAPTAINS Ken Ludlum & Cat Reining HOOD Hugh Coppen JUNIOR SAILING Kevin Wilkinson 650-333-7873 CRUISE OUT DIRECTOR Alan Maybruck 408.489.2477 CHAIRMAN of the BOARD Bruce MacDiarmid BAADS COMMODORE Cristina Rubke 415 533 0276 CLUB STEWARD Mr. D’Artagnan 415-495-2295 NEWSLETTER Patti Mangan 415-272-2053 SB HARBORMASTER 415-495-4911 Pier 40 on the Embarcadero San Francisco, CA 94107

Facebook

Monday June 1

6:00 – 9:00 pm PICYA Delegates Dinner @ HMBYC

Thursday, June 4

6:00 – 9:00 pm

SBYC Board Meeting

Friday, June 5

6:00 – 9:00 pm

FNS Race #7

Saturday, June 6

5:00 – 7:00 pm Auction Committee Meeting

Sunday, June 7

1:00 – 4:00 pm Free Adult Dinghy Sailing

Wednesday, June 10

6:30 – 8:30 pm

Thursday, June 11

6:00 – 10:00 pm Club Open

Friday, June 12

6:00 – 9:00 pm

Saturday, June 13

10:00 – 1:00 pm Shoreline Clean up -Warm Water Cove

Thursday, June 18

6:00 – 10:00 pm Club Open

Friday, June 19

Check website

Sausalito YC Cruise In

Friday, June 19

6:00 – 9:00 pm

FNS Race #8

Saturday, June 20

12:00 – 4:00 pm X-Bay Regatta

Saturday, June 20

3:00 – 5:00 pm Book Club Meeting

Sunday, June 21

1:00 – 8:00 pm

Sunday, June 21

1:00 – 4:00 pm Free Adult Dinghy Sailing

Tuesday, June 23

6:00 – 8:00 pm

Thursday, June 25

6:00 – 10:00 pm Club Open

Friday, June 26

6:00 – 9:00 pm

FNS Race #9

Friday, June 26

Check website

Petaluma YC Cruise In

Saturday, June 27

6:00 – 11:00 pm Life’s a Beach Dinner & Dance Party

Sunday, June 28

11:00 – 2:00 pm PICYA Lipton Series @ SYC

Sunday, June 28

10:00 – 4:00 pm Master Mariners Wooden Boat Show @ CYC

CYC Speaker Series - Mai Maheiga SBYC Members Dinner Meeting

Summer Sailstice @ EYC SBYC Membership Committee Meeting

For reference to all races held in Northern California visit the YRA master calendar

follow SBYC on twitter @SBYC_SF WaveLength is available for Android devices.

This issue relied heavily on Julie Fineman for beautiful photos! If you have photos to share of your adventures please do send them in with names of the folks pictured, where taken and any other interesting bits of detail.

visit www.southbeachyachtclub.org for details and reservations