Officer of the Deck

The Summer is starting to heat up with a flurry of activity on the water. Some of us thought summer would never get here with the temperatures only reaching 69-degrees during the last days of May. On the water we have had cruising, big boat racing, small boat racing, and the Junior camps are almost full.

Last month I handled duties as the PRO with a crack crew for the Marcy Series.  Mark Brownhill learned what goes on during race committee, while his wife Carrie took another opportunity to check out racing, this time aboard Lickety Split. Other boats participating included American Flyer, Spinnster and Splash.  I hope everyone had a good time. 

We had a great one-week cruise in late May, which finished over Memorial weekend.  We enjoyed amazing late Spring weather and overall good sailing conditions.  In July we have a Crisfield Cruise on the schedule and St Mary’s College has begun their Friday Night Concert Series, so many in the club are cruising down for an overnight stay on the St. Mary’s River to enjoy the entertainment. Screwpile is coming up this month (July 22-24) and if you are not racing and want to lend a hand with shore support or any other regatta activity, get in touch with LG Raley and I’m sure he can find a job for you.

I have noticed many new faces in the club recently and want to extend a warm welcome to all of you, and I hope to have the chance to meet each of you soon. We have had a great deal of interest from folks new to the area.  Foxtrot Corpen has taken out some new folks to race on Wednesdays and I know that Rhumb Punch had a guest on board during a recent race. I would like to thank those boats and others, for bringing new people into sailing and showing them a good time.  After all, that’s what SMSA is all about. So, should you see someone looking for a ride or hear someone talking about wanting to sail, I encourage you to invite them out for a leisurely day on the water or sign them up for a race and show them some action. If you don’t have room, there may be other boats in the club that do, so try to point them in the right direction or give me a call.

Robert “Smitty” Smith, Vice Commodore

Membership

With all of our programs in full swing, interest in our club is growing.  I’ve had a chance to meet several new and prospective members at recent events, thanks in part to many who have been actively recruiting their friends and neighbors.  Your assistance in growing our club is both appreciated and vital! 

Please help me welcome our newest members to the club. 

Greg and Debby Shields have been approved for a Family Membership. Greg and Debby have a Tartan 35 named Teela, which is kept at their residence on Mill Cove in California. They have two adult children, Kelly and Doug, and they are interested in our racing, cruising, social and women's programs.

William and Angela Horn have been approved for a Family Membership.  William and Angela live in Lusby and have three teenage children, Jacquelin, Kristin and William Jr.  Jacquelin and Kristin are members of the Patuxent High School Sailing Team and all three are enrolled in our summer camps this season.  Stovy Brown, High School Sailing Program Coordinator, is their sponsor.  In addition to the junior program, the Horns are interested in our membership and women’s programs.

Peter and Kristen Quinn have been approved for a Family Membership and are sponsored by John Herbig.  Peter and Kristen live in Lusby and have a young child, Warner (16 months) and another one on the way this summer. Peter is an experienced sailor and both he and Kristen are interested in our racing, social, women’s, facilities and membership programs.

Lastly, rejoining the club are Bruce and Mary Shaver, who were members back in 2004.  They were originally sponsored by Rod Schroeder, but listed Herb Reese as their current sponsor.  Bruce and Mary live in Leesburg, Virginia and have a Hunter 30 named Liberation, which is kept at Zahniser's.  They are interested in our cruising, social and women's programs. Welcome back to SMSA!

Laura Comeau-Stanley, Membership Chair

Luau

This year's Luau was a fun SMSA social event with great music, great food and a cross-section of members. Racers and cruisers were in attendance, as well several contestants from the Women's Marcy Series. Most of the members were wearing their Hawaiian shirts or other tropical clothing, enhanced by the hats, flowers, leis and shell necklaces provided by the SMSA. Tropical drinks were also available. Thank you to Carol Smith and all the volunteers that help cook and serve the food and drinks, and to Zahniser's for hosting the event.

Mark Brownhill, Wavedancer

Facilities

Things are officially in full summer swing at SMSA! 

The liquor license has been approved and our first official night under the newly stocked SMSA Bar will be this Friday, June 29th.  Come see the changes and enjoy the company!

Come join us at SMSA for a Fourth of July Celebration!!  Bring a chair and a dish to share!  The Club will have hamburgers and hot dogs plus all of the fixings!  The SMSA Bar will be open for beverages.  Doors will open at three and the grills will fire up around 5:30pm.  Come and enjoy the show from our great vantage point!

Cindi Eaton, Facilities Chair

Race

July…  Screwpile month.  And, the anticipation is building in direct proportional to the number of days-hours-seconds of the countdown clock on the Screwpile web site.  In mid-June, 55 boats had already registered.  With all of the buzz on various racer web sites, there is a good chance that we will have a record number of boats racing this year.  I even overheard several people talking about Screwpile as early as April, while I was waiting in line at AYC to check in for the NOOD regatta.  New sponsors are coming onboard at an increasing pace.  Needless to say, LG and his team are doing another fantastic job of planning and organizing this wonderful event.  My hat’s off to the many SMSA members who give their time and energy to making Screwpile happen.  Screwpile is nationally recognized as the summer’s premiere regatta on the East Coast, and we can all be proud that it is a part of SMSA.  Thank you LG and the Screwpile crew!

In what has become almost a routine occurrence (if there is any such thing in sailboat racing), Rhumb Punch has won yet another major regatta.  John and Linda Edwards packed up the SUV and trailer and headed west to Detroit a couple weeks ago for the Detroit NOOD Regatta.  With a 2-2-1 in the storm-shortened regatta, the Rhumb Punch J/29 crew once again proved they can go on the road and win consistently.  Well done!

Congratulations are also in order for Norm and Rosemary Dawley and their Pursuit crew for their great showing in the recently completed Annapolis to Newport Race. In very challenging conditions in which 21 of 56 starters withdrew, Pursuit earned a 3rd place finish in the 13 boat PHRF Division I, and a 5th overall in the 36 boat PHRF fleet. Very well done Norm, Rosemary and crew!

Terry Reese has volunteered to be our new CBYRA representative.  Thank you Terry!

With Badger signing up to do Race Committee for the 3 July edition of the Wednesday Night Series (actually Tuesday, due to 4th of July congestion on the river), we now have ALL 2007 race committee slots filled (thank you Carl).  Thanks to all of our fellow racers who have stepped up and have or will perform as RC this year.  Remember that it is volunteerism that makes our racing program possible and successful.

On Sunday morning, 22 July, as we are part of a 150+ boat Solomons' harbor start, going out for the first day of Screwpile, the adrenalin and excitement will be huge.  There is nothing quite like it.  I can’t wait!

Jim Keen, Race Chair

Junior

The summer camps have started, but we still have a few slots left. Please check the Junior web page for details. Our returning instructor, Devon, promises a safe and fun-filled learning experience. With the continued improvements to our new facilities, we now have an excellent venue to deliver a very professional sailing camp.

We would also like to begin Sunday afternoon sailing in support of the juniors, but we need a few volunteers to make sure each event runs smoothly. The suggested times are from 3PM until 6PM. We need members familiar with basic boat safety and the layout and rules of the clubhouse.

Tom Moulds, Junior Chair

Cruise

We’re now finally feeling like it’s summer!  The cruising so far this season has been great. Thanks to everyone for participating.  Now that many of our members are back from points south, I look forward to seeing some new faces at our events (until it turns cold, of course).  July is a busy time for all of us: Fireworks, the Crisfield Cruise, Screwpile, and the eternal hunt for a little wisp of breeze on the Bay in July.

Anyone who wants to put a last minute cruise together and post it on the Member Forum at www.SMSA.com is more than welcome!  I’ll see you on the water!

Chris Miller, Cruise Chair

Northern Bay Cruise Report - May 20-27

Four days before the planned departure on our Spring cruise north, Chris Miller sent an email to cruise leaders, Robert “Smitty” Smith and Shawn Stanley, with a link for the extended weather forecast, along with a comment that we’d be beating upwind the whole week. I don’t usually trust weather forecasts that far in advance, but Chris and his weather buddies were right. We had the spinnaker up one day for about 2 hours when we were coming out of the Miles River…that was it. The rest of the time, the genoa was trimmed inside the lifelines…all week! Despite the extended upwind sailing (we only had to motor one day, and it was our shortest run) the weeklong cruise was a fantastic success.

Day 1 - destination Harness Creek - some clouds, 72° F, wind NNW 10-20 knots, gusts to 25

We had a nice reach to Little Cove Point, then a beat up the Bay. With Synergy being the only boat on the cruise without roller furling, we carry four headsails on board, a 150%, a 100%, a storm jib and spinnaker. Laura just loves foredeck work and boy would she get to do some on this cruise. We changed down to the 100% jib around Cove Point since we had 15 true and a long upwind slog ahead. Noon Somewhere (Smitty and Carol Smith) and Motu Iti (Rick & Cindy Pretsch) were a few hours ahead of us providing weather updates via cell phone. The wind was up and down, but by the time we got past Sharp’s Island it was up enough that the mainsail went from reefed to all the way down, with apparent winds of 27 and 28 knots. We thought it was going to be a long week if we had to beat into 20-knot winds every day. Finally, it eased off enough we could put the mainsail back up and enjoy the upwind sail. Arriving in Harness Creek, we were greeted by Auspicious (Dave Skolnick, a crew member on Krugerrand and Sarah Southworth) delivering rum punches before we even rafted! In Harness Creek we found Reflections (Patty Kimmel and Rich Freeman), Noon Somewhere, Motu Iti, and Auspicious, and were later joined by Sequoia (Kate & Chris Miller), who’d gotten a later start.

Thinking we’d have another breezy day, I rigged the 100% jib as we left the raft, only to get to Thomas Point Light and find chop, slop and only 8 or so knots of breeze. With not quite enough horsepower hanging on the rig, Laura took the tiller while I rigged the 150%. Trying to make sure we didn’t lose our lead to any other boats in the vicinity (it’s still a race, right?), I un-hanked and hanked as fast as I could. With the larger genoa up, we then had a beautiful sail up along the Eastern Shore (staying out of the turbulent waters of the Severn River/Annapolis area) and under the Bay Bridge to Sandy Point.

Day 2 - destination Sillery Bay, Magothy River - sunny, 70° F, wind N 10 knots

Skirting the southern (lee) shore approach to the Magothy close-hauled and with cross current dragging us south was a little bit of a chore, but having a laptop with chart plotting software allows for less worry and more accurate positioning. The depth sounder stayed above 7.5 feet and we sailed all the way to Sillery Bay #1 (a key navigational aid one of the trailing boats would later forget to honor as they hurried to the raft for happy hour..hi there, Rick!!) Today, Auspicious chose to be the anchor boat, and was soon joined by Noon Somewhere, Sequoia, Synergy, Motu Iti, later Reflections via kayaks , and even later still Moore Fun (Jeff & Donna Moore), having come up from Solomons with co-captain Hobie on. We enjoyed happy hour aboard Auspicious and feasted on cheese, crackers, fancy deli meats and Patty’s zesty salsa.

Although there are some pilings now along the shore of Dobbins Island, it is still accessible, giving a great little hike for those interested. The island is becoming overgrown by vines and poison ivy, but otherwise is pretty much as I remember it from it being a popular SMSA destination 25 years ago. Beautiful weather, nice sail, great company and a little time for deck scrubbing to clean off the winter mildew, what more could you ask for?

Day 3 - destination Rock Hall - sunny 77°, wind NE, 6 knots

Except for the light wind in our face again, it was another beautiful day. We managed to sail just about to the shipping channel on our trip across the Bay towards Rock Hall. This was one of only two days we really had to motor, and fortunately it was our shortest run. Rock Hall entrance is a little tricky, with a little bit of a narrow channel with a few low spots, and they have a few floating markers replacing outdated pile driven marking the shoals at the jetties (think Point Patience). Once you are inside the well-protected harbor, you notice random pilings right in the middle, and our marina on the other side of them! The easiest way is to go around following the red day marks (there is a channel thru the middle of the flats, but not recommended for out-of-towners.) Once you realize this, navigation is easy and well marked with 8.5 feet.

We were all grouped together nicely on the same pier at Rock Hall Landing. This marina is a little closer to town than the Sailing Emporium, and allows for a walk into town in about 15 minutes. Most of the girls took off into town to visit some shops while the boys had beers, scrub brushes and buckets in hand to scrub 3 days worth of salt off of the boats. Some crazy people were even polishing stainless handrails and pulpits! After many enjoyed a refreshing shower, we enjoyed Cajun crab dip and crackers along with some veggies and dip aboard Sequoia for happy hour.

The town is quaint, the marina staff is helpful, the terrain is flat, the traffic is light and the homes are well kept with blooming flowers everywhere. Two recommendations for anyone traveling to Rock Hall: First, the Waterman’s Wharf, directly adjacent to the marina, is not only a great place to eat dinner, but a perfect spot for a great view of the sunset over your yacht and it’s an easy stumble to your bunk. Second, for breakfast, Joe’s Oar House on Main Street (before 9:00AM) offers a “222 special”; two pancakes, two eggs, & two pieces of bacon for $2.22!

The next morning, Chris had to head into town and take some rigging packages to the Post Office for delivery to his customers. Laura managed to snap a shot of his delivery vehicle!

Day 4 - destination St. Michael’s - sunny 80°, wind SSE, 10 knots

After clearing the bumps at the edge of the Rock Hall channel (both Synergy and Sequoia slid a little too far north in the cross current coming out and bumped a shallow spot), the sails went up on Synergy and we were off again, on a beat towards the northern entrance to Kent Narrows. We said goodbye to Sarah and Dave, as Dave had to return to work and return Auspicious to her home port of Annapolis.

Some boats also motored down with or without sails up, and Reflections chose to sail around Kent Island to Eastern Bay after hearing of the ongoing dredging project in the channel. A slow train for the remaining four boats (to later be joined by Moore Fun) began into the channel. The dredge operator was monitoring channel 13 and was helpful with instructions to traverse around the active dredge right in the middle of the narrow channel. We lined up in order of draft, (Noon Somewhere at 4’9”, up to Sequoia at 5’ 6”) and managed to get by without incident, seeing 6.3 feet on Synergy as we passed the dredge. Incidentally, the channel is not in the same place as the 2005 NOAA charts report. A scan of the convoy’s track in SeaClear later revealed we were in pretty shallow water and east of some of the channel markers!

In Kent Narrows, the fixed bridge carrying Route 50 traffic is plenty tall for most sailboats (65 feet), but the local Route 18 drawbridge is still operational and requires opening. Entering Kent Narrows at 1:35 PM, we just missed the half hour opening, and tooled around in the harbor waiting for the 2:00 PM opening, usually standing still against the 2 knot current running hard, north to south through the narrows. We didn’t quite have enough time to stop at Red Eye’s Dock Bar for a beer, but we thought about it! The trip out the south side of Kent Narrows was uneventful, with almost 8 feet of water the entire way.

After exiting the channel, everyone put their sails up and the race (er…I mean leisurely sail) to St. Michael’s was on! Of course, it was upwind again, and after tacking around the east side flats in the middle of the Miles River, we continued with a beautiful sail all the way to the St. Michael’s entrance with a puffy breeze and flat water.

Moore Fun had scooted ahead of us after leaving Kent Narrows and had secured a nice anchorage just inside of Marker #3. Once Noon Somewhere arrived in the harbor, they picked up Smitty’s nephew Christopher at the gas dock. Christopher joined us for this portion of the trip to help facilitate a vehicle for Smitty to get to Prince Frederick for his required attendance at SMSA’s Liquor License Public Hearing. So, we all made sure to make Christopher feel welcome and appreciated. Reflections was already anchored, and dinghied over for happy hour aboard Motu Iti, where the ladies were greeted with Hawaiian leis from Cindy. After dinner and an evening of enjoying the view of St. Michael’s Harbor and a star filled sky (with an occasional shooting star) we all turned in for the evening.

Day 5 – Layday in St. Michael’s! - sunny 84°, wind SSE, about 5 knots

Many awoke early to make the most of our beautiful day in St. Michael’s. Rick enlisted the help of Shawn, Smitty and Chris to do a bit of rig tuning and off they went to sail aboard Motu Iti…each providing Rick with some advice on main trim and genoa sheet car placement for optimal sail shape and wind speed. Meanwhile, Carol, Christopher, Cindy and Laura dinghied into town to shop and sightsee, and later Jeff, Donna & Hobie went for a run.

Kate took advantage of the peace & quiet and caught up on her reading. We all returned back to enjoy lunch and then headed back into town to visit the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum and more shops … and to find a local pub for a frosty beverage (well, maybe just some of us).

After a great day in town, we all returned and enjoyed happy hour aboard Sequoia. Dinner at the “Crab Claw” was filling, as were the multiple pitchers of beer floating around the table. Many of the ladies turned in shortly after returning to the boats, while most of the men stayed up and told more “sea stories”. Christopher dinghied into town at midnight to retrieve Smitty, who had finally returned from the hearing.

Day 6 - destination Tilghman Island - sunny 85°, wind SW, 5-10 knots

Leaving St. Michael's, we had a nice mid-morning breeze helping us out towards the Bay. Laura and I were able to carry the spinnaker all the way to the mouth of the Miles River, but then had to douse it as the wind was now right on our nose heading down the Eastern Bay. We had pleasant sailing conditions and as we approached the Poplar Island Narrows, Moore Fun, Noon Somewhere and Synergy all managed with the help of charts, navigational aides and depth finders, to get through relatively easily. In the meantime, Sequoia fired up the engine and hurried around Poplar Island instead of traversing the not so well marked narrows.

Entering the western channel into Knapps Narrows, on Synergy we had a little trouble at Red #4 with the dredging in progress, which allowed Sequoia to sneak between us and the channel mark (with only about 4 feet of clearance on either side!), but we finally made it off of the sandy bottom to proceed into the harbor, where we found Reflections already tied up to the dock and Wavedancer, (Mark and Carrie Brownhill) joining us for the last part of the cruise.

The temperatures were much warmer by this leg of the cruise and feeling much more like early Summer on the Chesapeake. Shortly after securing the boats, along with one unsuccessful attempt by Synergy to reach the Knapps Narrows Marina fuel dock for a pump out (due to the low tide), Jeff and Donna were quick to make up a batch of “Bridge Tender Benders” in honor of our arrival and of course, our friendly Bridge Tender(s) nearby. The cold pink lemonade/rum concoction was a great way to cool off that afternoon.

We enjoyed happy hour aboard Reflections with an assortment of food delights, then we enjoyed a fabulous dinner at Bay Hundred.

The cruisers enjoy a nice sunset at Tilghman Island. Red #4, in the background over the bluff, was the favorite place for many boats to stop and have a picnic on the beach on the way in! No wonder TowBoat U.S. has a base right in the Narrows! However, no SMSA boats required their services.

Day 7 - destination Hudson Creek - sunny 87°, wind SW, 0-3 knots

Given the great weather we’d had all week, it was only fair to have a day or two of motoring. As earlier in the week, this was a pretty short run. We hear that the plan is to dredge the entire channel and harbor at Knapps Narrows, which is probably a good thing because at 11:00AM, 30 minutes from high tide, Synergy was able to get just close enough to reach the pump out equipment, although still sitting on the bottom about 6 feet away from the fuel dock. We left Knapps Narrows at high tide (11:30 AM), and did not have any difficulties getting out the south side. Reflections needed to get home, and headed for Solomons. Some folks opted to sail for a while, while Synergy and Noon Somewhere pressed on with the iron genny to get to our next Happy Hour.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by about 12 boats already anchored; Swan (Ken and Ellie Mowbray) among them. After anchoring and waiting for the others still heading in, Carol and Laura rowed to the beach (sort of, that was pretty comical to watch), while Shawn and Smitty went swimming. Jeff, Carol & Laura then decided to test the water, which was cool and refreshing on this hot afternoon. We were joined later in the afternoon by Moonlight Serenade (Bill Bacon, Sonny, the Beagle, and Sarah Southworth) Sarah rejoining the cruise on one of her own boats. Moonlight Serenade had managed to make it up from Solomons without their usual plethora of electronics, as Bill and Sarah continue with repairs and refit of their beautiful Beneteau 50.

Happy hour was a joint effort between Sequoia and Noon Somewhere with plenty of food, conversation and drink to go around for this, our last night of rafting as one. By the end of the evening, we counted 27 boats in the creek…almost time to have to make a reservation to secure a spot.

Day 8 - destination Solomons - sunny 83°, wind SSW, 10-12 knots

Noon Somewhere and Synergy opted to leave a little earlier than others, and headed out of Harness Creek around 8:45. Once past James Island, sails up, motor off, we had one more day of sailing against the wind and current to bring our great week of cruising to a close. We arrived in Solomons about 2:00PM, giving us plenty of time to recover. This day was relatively uneventful, except for the continual reminders on the VHF as we approached the Patuxent River from Cove Point security for all vessels to stay well clear of the LNG pier.

Wow, what a fantastic week!

Shawn Stanley, Synergy

Classified

2000 WALKER BAY 8FT - Sail kit included, very little use and in great condition. Call (410) 394-6972 or email sykoel@verizon.net, $500 or best offer.

1986 CATALINA 34 - Two owners, 30’ LWL, fin keel, 5’ 6” draft and 14,000 lbs displacement. The cabin has two state rooms and a main salon capable of sleeping 6 adults. A great looking, well equipped coastal cruiser in excellent running condition. Brigadoon has good sails that have been lightly used and she comes with a bimini and dodger, pressure hot and cold water system, Adler Barbour refrigerator, Heart inverter/charger, high capacity house battery banks, wind generator and a battery monitor system. The dependable Universal diesel engine that has been recently overhauled with a rebuilt fuel injectors and main fuel pump. Many extras are included to complete a sail away package. Asking $43,900. Call Walt Rupp, 301-863-0175.

1988 CATALINA 34 - Wing keel, one owner since new, well maintained, 500 hours on 3-cylinder diesel and well equipped. Located at Flag Harbor in St. Leonard, MD. Slip available for 2007. $54,000. 301-373-8509.

SMSA LOGO SPORTSWEAR - Shirts and Baseball Hats are available with the SMSA logo. Proceeds to support the SMSA Junior Program, so help the team and look sharp too! Polo Shirts (S/M/L/XL) are $45 and are only Hats $25. Available at SMSA Club House or via email tmoulds@dtiweb.net.

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