Officer of the Deck

Wow, where did the summer go?  It seemed to take forever to get here and now it’s gone! As was stated in the October edition of the Clew by the Officer of the Deck, we have made it a year in our club facility and what a great place it has been for us.  It’s proven to be a convenient place to gather and run many of our programs.  Now that we have extended our lease term on the property, we can move forward with some improvements and event planning, taking ideas generated by the membership and making it our home. 

We have a host of activities going on in the club in the coming months, beginning with Tucker Thompson’s presentation on America’s Cup racing, scheduled for Thursday, November 29th (look for more details contained elsewhere in this Clew). The holiday season is fast approaching and that is always a great time for SMSA.  In addition to the Friday Night Socials, we’ll again be involved in the Solomon’s Business Association Christmas Walk on December 7th and will host a children’s boat building event at the clubhouse that evening.  Our annual Christmas Gathering is scheduled for Saturday evening, December 8th.  This year the Calvert Marine Museum is hosting the Solomons Island Light Parade of Boats, also on December 8th.  We’d love to have some SMSA boats involved, so if you’re interested, please contact Melissa McCormick of CMM at 410-326-2042 x 41 or mccormmg@co.cal.md.us.  Noon Somewhere will be making its first appearance in the parade that night and I’d love to have company!

If you have an idea for an activity for the upcoming winter months, whatever it may be, please let the BOD or Program Chairs know and we will see if it could be a fun activity for all.

Also upcoming are annual elections for club Officers and Directors.  Additionally, we are looking for volunteers to fill some of the Program Chair positions.  Jim Keen, who has filled the Race Chair position for three years, will be stepping down.  Jim has done a great job as Race Chair and currently holds a position as a Director on the BOD.  Tom Moulds, who has served as the Junior Program chair for two years and done a great job, will also be moving on. Don’t be afraid to step up and jump into any position.  In addition to receiving assistance from the outgoing Chairperson during the transition, there are several currently serving as Chairs, Officers and Directors who will help guide you through your first year.  As a first year Vice Commodore (the first position I held in the club) I relied heavily on the help of others who served before me and found it to be a great and rewarding experience.  Please consider serving as a program chair for SMSA and lend your energy and ideas to our club, so that we can continue to offer the best quality programs for our members.

Robert "Smitty" Smith, Vice Commodore

Facilities

The All-Hands Club Clean-up on the 14th of October was a big success!  Lots of tasks got done and there are many people to thank… Joy Dorethy,  Keith Jacobs, Clark McKinney, Kate and Chris Miller, Max Munger, Merrie Ruth and L.G. Raley, Herb Reese, Smitty, Ronnie Spacuzza, Bob Stratton, and Shannon Walters.  It takes a lot of work to maintain our facility.  There were boards replaced on the dock and in the attic storage area, the trophy case and windows were cleaned, the front outside area was weeded and cleaned up, the rear outside area was trimmed and raked, the refrigerators were cleaned and power washed, bar cabinets were installed, gutters were cleaned, floors mopped and more. If you get a chance, please extend an extra thank you to those who worked so hard for SMSA. 

Tucker Thompson is coming to SMSA!

The doors will open at 5pm on December 6th; there will be lite fare and drinks from 5:30 to 7pm.  Tucker Thompson will speak about his experiences and the America’s Cup from 7pm to approximately 8:30 followed by additional social time with him to about 9pm.  Tickets are available for $35.00.

Cindi Eaton, Facilities Chair

Social

There are several important social events in the next several weeks.

November 3rd - Annual Membership Meeting and Brunch - After the annual membership meeting, a brunch social is the event of the day. Please bring your favorite brunch dish to share. Soft drinks and water will be provided and as always, the grill will be at your disposable to use.

December 8th - Christmas Gathering - Christmas is right around the corner and we will be gathering at the clubhouse for an evening of holiday cheer to kick off the season. The Solomon's Christmas Walk is also happening that weekend. I am looking for volunteers to help out with decorating, bartending and general assistance with setup and cleanup. Please contact me if you are interested in helping out.

January 5th - Annual Awards Banquet.  Looking for 3 volunteers to handle check in at the beginning of the evening, if you are interested --- you know the drill.

If you are interested in helping out for any of these events, please contact me at csmith@dtiweb.net or 301-863-8285 or 301-672-5874.

Carol Smith, Social Chair

Race

As Joy had noted in the SMSA on-line Forum when she posted the results from the Hooper/Point-No-Point Race, “High Point worksheet has been updated… It was very cool to see Splash, Pursuit, Little Latitudes, and Foxtrot Corpen all battling it out this year. There was only a 1.5% difference between the 1st and 4th. The Fall Invite will make or break it!  Very exciting! 

And the winners are... congratulations to Jeff and Donna Moore's and their Little Latitudes crew and Sarah Southworth and her Krugerrand crew for their hard-earned and well-deserved first place finishes in the SMSA High Point Scoring this season. Great job by the Little Lattitudes (spin) and Krugerrand (non-spin) crews during a very competitive season of racing!

Yes… that is very cool.  It has been great to see such close competition this year throughout the season.  Out of 37 active SMSA racing boats, 25 have come in first in one race or more.  And, many more have won “pickle dishes”.  But… in the end, of course it’s not really about winning silver.  It’s about having fun on the water, crew camaraderie, the joy of being out there on a beautiful Chesapeake day, the social aspect and friendly rivalry among and between fellow crews, and the desire to compete at our very best.  I think that’s what draws us out there on both sunny days and on cold rainy days… on the days with no wind as well as those that are blowing our socks off.  It’s a sport that you gotta love!  And, we live and race in one of the best sailing venues in the country.  We are truly blessed.

This will be my last Clew article.  After three years as Race Governor/Chairman, I will be stepping aside at the end of the month and turning the race program over to my relief, who is yet to be named.  I have had a great time serving in this capacity.  It has been a wonderful way to be in the middle of things. 

I want to thank all the great volunteers who have made our SMSA race program one of the premiere race programs on the Bay… LG Raley and all the many, many SMSA volunteers who have put us on the map with Screwpile; Stovy Brown and Dan Trammel for their Protest Committee work as well as the great racing rules seminars that they conduct; Protest Committee members John Weir, Pete LaRoche, Dan Shannon, Clarke McKinney, Shawn Stanley, and Barbara Herbig; Keith Jacobs for his yeoman job with the Small Boat Program during my first two years as Race Governor and for the RC duty seminars that he conducted; Joy Dorethy for her awesome work as our official SMSA Race Scorer (you rock Joy!); Bob Stratton as RC Boat Captain; Dan Schneider as PHRF rep; Sam Septembre and Terry Reese as CBYRA reps, David & Jacki Meiser and Shawn & Laura Stanley for serving as Small Boat Program Coordinators this past year; all the many volunteer crews who served as race committee for the big boat and small boat programs; all those who helped me with race mark retrieval and deployments… Pete LaRoche, Jeff Moore, John Dixon, Tom Vandenberg, Sam Septembre, Shawn Stanley, Larry Howard, Smitty Smith, and my son Matthew.  I hope I didn’t leave anyone out.  But, you can see that it takes a lot of people to operate a successful race program… a lot of dedicated club members who volunteer to make it work.  Thank you all for being an integral part of a great program!

Jim Keen, Race Chair

Cruise

Another year of cruising has almost passed us by!  It’s been a great season- I want to thank all the SMSA membership for their support as I got my feet wet with the cruising program.  It’s been a learning experience for me, one that I think we can grow on.  I have several things I want to get moving for the late winter and a couple of projects for spring! 

We have several volunteers that have stepped forward to offer their support to the program to help it improve and grow in the next year- the latest being Wayne Wilson, who has volunteered to be sure that the cruising web page is up to date and correct!  Thanks to Wayne and the other members who have offered their time and skills to help make our experiences at SMSA better. 

If you have any ideas for seminars/classes or other activities for the winter, or ideas to help make the clubhouse/dock a more user friendly place, or any other priorities that I may have overlooked this season--- please send me an email and let me know at cruise@smsa.com.
Things of interest for November: Sundays will have Frostbite Racing at 1pm.  Come watch from the clubhouse, since the course often involves legs to and from the bridge!  Then watch the Redskins and Ravens play football on the great TV at the club!

Chris Miller, Cruise Chair

Where the Wind Blows Cruise Report (Sep 16-23)

The Carthagena Cruise (Oct 19-21)

It appears that Crisfield is not a popular destination in October, especially since the date of the Waterman’s Festival conflicted with the SMSA’s Chili and Oyster Scald. Virginia Dare (Wayne and Sally Wilson) were gamers, but their deep draft would have been trouble at Deal Island, the intended stop on the way home.

So an alternative 3-day plan was suggested, visiting Smith and Carthagena Creeks off the Potomac River. This new itinerary attracted two more boats, Kalypso (Fred Siesseger) and Koel (Gresh and Rene Sackett). This would be the first sail for Koel since returning from the Islands in the spring, and it was subject to the completion of some engine maintenance.

All October cruises should probably be “Where the Wind Blows” itineraries, because you are never sure what to expect. Friday’s forecast had been for light winds from the south, so everyone expected a gentle motor sail down the bay. However, on the day, the forecast changed to BIG winds from the South. Wavedancer and Virginia Dare decided to poke their noses out into the bay to see if the latest forecast was just another hoax, but the waves and wind were too big for progress or comfort, so we decide to head up the Patuxant and see how far we could go.

With a strong wind on the quarter, Virginia Dare rocketed up the river with Wavedancer moving along at close to hull speed. Kalypso had decided that no one in their right minds would go down the bay in that weather and had started a maintenance project, and Koel was not yet ready to go anyway. Somewhere after passing St. Leonards Creek, Wavedancer had lost sight of Virginia Dare, so we were very surprised to see her heading towards us as we closed on Battle Creek. Like a youthful sheepdog, she dashed behind Wavedancer, clipping at our heels and then dashed forward at high speed to show us the way, all the time Sally was taking photographs.

The Wilsons were having a great time exercising the incredible sailing abilities of their thoroughbred boat, but reluctantly they decided it was time to anchor in Battle Creek and break out the martinis. The markers at the entrance to Battle Creek are nothing like on our charts, and we almost missed the last reds (actually white triangles with red borders and tiny writing). Virginia Dare contemplated passing through the two red markers, but binoculars revealed that one of them was a notice saying “if you can read this notice you have run aground!” Actually, it marked a shoal, but in very fine print.

The two boats had a great night rafted together, though in the middle of the night there were a few minutes of very strong winds and heavy rain. Since Wavedancer was securely tied to Virginia Dare, we decided we were in good shape. Virginia Dare had a couple of hundred feet of chain out and the noise woke the captain, but he decided all was well and went back to sleep.

The next day's forecast was for good winds from the west and Virginia Dare invited a prospective new club member to sail with us down to Carthagena Creek. Wrongly or rightly, it was decided that Carthagena was Spanish, and we all started  pronouncing it “Carta-hena”. We confirmed our destination with Kalypso and Koel and both intended to come along. With such a long distance to go (from Battle Creek) and little wind in the early morning, most of the boats were motoring at first check-in. As the boats approached Point-No-Point, the west wind built quickly and the Virginia Dare broke out her sails. A large boat chased Wavedancer from the rear, and turned out to be Starbust (Jo Barns and Matt McCann), a Hallberg-Rassey 43 that was Virginia Dare’s guests. Having caught up with the pack, Starbust raised their sails and whooshed by after Virginia Dare like a greyhound after a rabbit.

Rounding the corner into the Potomac, the wind was on the nose. Wavedancer motored to make headway, but the two HRs joined up in a dance of tacking up the river, a majestic sight in the strong winds. As we entered St. Mary’s River they were side by side, taking photographs of each other, and at some times the very capable boats appeared to be sailing directly into the wind.

This was the first time for any of us in Carthagena Creek, so Wavedancer scouted ahead to ascertain the actual depths and to determine the best anchorage. Carrie was dropped off at the marina to make dinner reservations for the group at the “Torpedo Bar” and figure out where visiting boats could tie up. The big boats followed and dropped anchor opposite the marina in 8-10 feet of water. There is also a nice indent around the corner from the marina, though only 7-8 feet of water was recorded there. As the HRs rafted, Kalypso arrived and anchored, followed a little while later by Koel. Wavedancer rafted with the HRs feeling like Cinderella going to the ball.

Kalypso and Koel rowed their dinghies to the raft for happy hour, and Wavedancer played water taxi to the marina for dinner, tying up at their floating dock. Koel joined by dinghy, apparently needing more rowing exercise. As Fred Siesseger entered the restaurant, he realized he had forget to wear shoes and his fellow cruisers had to screened him until he got seated. Dinner at the Torpedo Bar was okay, the menu was good, but our large group may have overwhelmed the kitchen and a few steaks were overcooked, but the conversations were enjoyable and everyone had a great time.

Sunday was powerful winds from the south again and the boats charged up the bay wing-and-wing. Soon Wavedancer was left in the dust again, so we were very surprised as we approached Solomons to see Virginia Dare doing laps in the Patuxant, enjoying the sunset.

Dave Arbuthnot had recommended Carthagena Creek, an unscheduled stop on his 2-Week Potomac Cruise. He suggested that it should be a regular destination on the SMSA cruising calendar, and we agree. The spectacular wind and a total of five boats on one cruise made this the highlight of the fall cruising season for Wavedancer, so thanks to everyone that came along!

Mark Brownhill, Wavedancer

Classified

1974 CAL 29 SAILBOAT - with a brand new diesel engine. Runaway is a well built boat with a 29' LOA, 4'9" Draft, 9"3' Beam. She has a forward V-berth, an aft port and starboard settee berth, and a fold out berth for a total ability of sleeping 6 people. In the galley, there is a folding table, gimbaled 2 burner propane stove, a microwave oven and an icebox. The head has a commode, sink and portable shower head. Electronics include a radio, wind speed indicator, fathometer, speed gauge, compass and auto steering. The boat is powered by a 14.5 hp Kubota Diesel engine installed in 2006 (65 hours on clock) with a three blade maxi prop. Boat comes with full compliment of sails that are always stored indoors during off-season. The boat is stored out of water during the winter. Boat is ready to race or cruise the Chesapeake. Runaway is currently tied up at the Solomon's Island Holiday Inn - slip D2 (in front of the Naughty Gull). Please contact: Jake Karaczynski at jtkaraczynski@smcm.edu or call (301) 863-2338

INFLATABLE DINGHY - model HSS-230D from newfoundmetals.com. Brand new in box never opened. Over all length, 7’6”, beam 4’4”, wt 68 pounds. 3 chambers, for 4 HP motor. 772 pounds max load. Includes Carrying bag, aluminum oars, plywood bench, oarlocks, lifeline, lifting handles, drain plug set, $899, call Walt Rupp 301.863.0175 or email brigadoon5@verizon.net.

1986 CATALINA 34 STD. RIG - $48K obo, Coastal cruiser, new bottom paint, fin keel., furling genoa, drifter with sally, lines to cockpit, sleeps six, AH wind & AP, depth & knot, dodger, bimini, 3 blade prop, refer, CNG stove/oven, inverter charger, wind gen, H&C pressure water, recently maintained Universal diesel, SSB radio, Solomons, MD area, Walt Rupp, 301.863.0175 or email brigadoon5@verizon.net.

VANGUARD 15 SAILBOAT - One of the boats from Kings Point Merchant Marine academy. (#19) Good condition. Includes new trailer and beach dolly. $3300. Marc DeLaVergne 410 586 8763 or vergne40@yahoo.com

LOWRANCE iFINDER EXPEDITION C - mapping GPS & MP3 player with black plastic mount, anodized aluminum bracket, and power cord - $200. Navionics Gold US Southeast - Bahamas SD906 Jun 2006 -- $100. Navionics Gold US Mid Atlantic & Canyons SD905G Jun 2006 -- $150. Both charts for $225, or $400 for the total package. Call (410) 394-6972 or email sykoel@verizon.net.

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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