THE FLOATING BOTTLE April (May?), 1966
A Quasi Permanent Seemingly Continuous Institution Published Every So Often by the University of California Yacht Club
Editors (momentarily) •.. Jeanette Aagaard, Margaret Paine
THE COMMODORE COMMENTS
Following the arrival of Secretary, Treasurer end Commodore——which awakened Vice and Rear Commodores—— Commodore declared a quorum present and functional. The meeting of the Executive Committee was called to order at 8:47 pm in the Fuzzy Peach Room of the Stud. Union. Commodore gave his fortnightly lecture on the "Virtues of Being On Time for the Fortnightly Executive Committee Meeting" there followed the usual three—minute debate on adopting a different meeting time than 7:30. Vice Commodore pointed out that the proper order of business required minutes before business and Commodore (caught with his Robert’s down) ordered the intoning of the minutes. First Vice Commodore pointed out all the punctuation and grammatical errors in the minutes, Treasurer all the decimal errors, and Commodore the misspelling of his name. The minutes were approved as re—hashed. Secretary submitted her fortnightly resignation. With unanimous affirmation of respect, confidence and optimism, Secretary withdrew resignation.
The Port Captain arrived, making a full complement of Ex. Comm. present for the first time this semester. Secretary introduced several of the officers who had not met. Meeting recessed to hear Port Captain (who moonlights as an M.D.) describe his latest operation, culminating with a vivid description of a do—it—yourself tracheoectomy. Secretary passed around her smelling salts and, upon sufficient revivification, the meeting resumed. Rear Commodore moved adjournment to Rathskeller; motion passed jawohl. Treasurer passed out treasury for fortnightly a-counting. Rear Commodore moved adjournment to Mexico City. Motion died for lack of quorum. Meeting resumed (somewhere, south of border).
REPORTS: Commodore reported that the plans for the club facility on the South Sailing Basin are rapidly becoming reality, having just received a $5,000 check from the Cal Alumni Association for architectural and engineering fees. The Chancellor’s office has indicated that an additional $10,000 will be available as of July 1 for the same purpose. The City will begin dredging the Basin and preparing the club’s building site as soon as possible after July 1. The Centennial Fund approved by the Regents includes $70,000 for the club’s marina facility. Commodore requested three hearty cheers for the work of Larry Vance, Dick Hasselman, Jim Chao and Tom Pigford (who are also to receive Commodore’s Kudos with Crenellated Border) in bringing this about. Secretary propoured tequila toast in honor of all in club, university end town who have contributed to this undertaking; segunded by all present in one gulp (hereafter known as the Gulp of Mexico).
Commodore proposed special vote of thanks and three minutes of abstinence in honor of the club’s hardworking Spring Semester committee chairmen. To quote Commodore’s livid peroration "Truly, in no prior generation can be found their equal; verily, they are the glue that makes this machine run. Glory shall we grave on their cenotaph." Vice Commodore accused Commodore of being on Lido Skipper’s Diet. Politely declined his share. Vice Commodore reported on imminent shortage of rubber stamps for General Membership Meetings. Secretary reported extreme shortage of warm bodies for high office. Ex. Comm. not worried, however, when word gets out about amenities of office.
First Vice Commodore Lewison received warm praise for his efforts in instituting advanced sailing classes as well as for a fine job done organizing the rest of the teaching program. Port Captain O’Neill, the fastest scalpel in the club, deserved accolades for the best—run day—leader program ever.
Rear Commodore reported return of reconditioned Lido. Ex. Comm. voted to send cut second Lido to Dickerman—Nirdlinger Lido Laundry, where they really get put through the wringer, intending that each Lido in turn shall receive rehabilitation. Ex. Comm voted purchase of eight suits of new sails for the Lidos, an extravagance justified only by the fact that the patches now exceed 50% of the sail area on the old suits, fleet Captain (and next Commodore) Rosenblum was awarded three "Ole’s!" end an outhaul for shepherding the sail purchase through an Ex. Comm Corrida.
Commodore reported the formation of an Afterguard Committee, an illustrious agglomeration of club alumni who, in their young and halcyon days, were once things like commodores, Lido cruising skippers end McKinley boosters. This group met at Vance’s playboy penthouse in SF on Easter Saturday end vowed to meet again on May 30 to discuss ways and means of lubricating the club’s entry into the Golden Years.
Commodore thanked the members of Ex. Coast. for a job exceedingly well done. Before the meeting adjourned, he proposed a toast to the new Ex. Comm. and with this last drink, passed the cup.
Phil Schambra, Commodore
New Ex.Comm Takes Office
Steve Rosenblum, graduate student in physics, was elected Yacht Club Commodore at a scantily attended (32 members present) meeting April 19.
Other Executive Committee members for the coming six month period also were elected. The new officers, all elected by acclamation for lack of. enthusiastic nominees, are Dave Bowlus, Vice Commodore, Wayne Vogen, 1st Vice Commodore, John Drosky, Rear Commodore, and Lee Roberts, Port Captain. Betty Heath remains in the office of treasurer. Candidates for the office of secretary could not be found; consequently this office was left open and the responsibility for filling it allotted to the new Ex.Comm.
Notes on the Future -
Plans are progressing for the new boating facility which will eventually enable UCYC to accommodate up to one thousand members. Included will be a clubhouse as well as wharves, floating dock, boat storage area, and sailing area. The facility will be part of an expansion of the Berkeley Yacht Harbor on the South Sailing Basin, an area which is being developed for boating purposes by the city of Berkeley, using state and federal funds. Work on the program is to begin early in July of this year, and UCYC hopes to start building early this fall.
A seven member committee of the Yacht Club, headed by Larry Vance, has been appointed to consider long—range plans for club utilization of the facility. Their primary concern will be to decide what types and numbers of boat should be purchased for the club’s expanded program and how their purchase can be financed.
Total cost of the facility is now estimated at $399,000. At least $10,000 is already available for architectural and engineering services, half of it from alumni donations and half from the Chancellor’s office. An additional $70,000 from the Centennial Fund has been approved by the Regents.
Exact location for the clubhouse has not yet been determined. Original plans called for the Yacht Club to be placed on land which now belongs to the Santa Fe Railroad, which would have to be purchased by the city for the purpose. It is planned, however, to relocate the facility on land which already belongs to the city.
El Torro Fleet, Anyone? -
Any El Torro sailor interested in getting together with other El Torro sailors in the club is asked to call Robert Beloof at LA6—9156.
RACING NEWS
Intercollegiate
The traditional UCYC enthusiasm for intercollegiate racing has finally culminated in the formal establishment of the Northern California Intercollegiate Yacht Racing Association.
In the past, Intercollegiate Racing has always meant long trips down to the Los Angeles area. As a result, UCYC participation has been limited to two or three such trips a year plus the annual UCYC Spring Regatta.
Recently, a number of sailing programs and clubs have been established in Bay Area schools. In an attempt to cultivate interest in intercollegiate racing at these schools, UCYC held two invitational regattas during the past year. Following the last regatta, a meeting was held to discuss and adopt a proposal by UCYC for an organization at Bay Area schools to encourage intercollegiate racing. Represented at this meeting were Laney College (Oakland), Stanford University, San Francisco state, U.C. Santa Cruz and U.C. Berkeley.
At this meeting, the NCIYRA was adopted by the schools represented. By—laws were drawn up and officers for the new organization elected. UCYC members elected to office were Jan Chance (secretary), Louie Nady (executive vice president), and Ken Wiley (treasurer).
With the formation of this organization and the establishment of sailing facilities at San Jose State and U.C. Davis, a full program of intercollegiate competition is planned for the coming year. To finish off this year, a championship regatta, to be sponsored by UCYC, is planned for May 7. Other remaining intercollegiate events of the semester are at San Francisco State, April 24 and at Stanford, April 30 — May 1 (national elimination).
Any undergraduate interested in intercollegiate racing is urged to contact Dave Bowlus (841-8456) or Jan Chance (549—0247). Scheduled practice sessions are held weekly on Wednesday afternoons.
Louie Nady
In news of our Finn fleet, John Myall and Danny Caulfield took part in races at the Alameda Yacht Club in Long Beach in mid-April. They didn’t bring us back any trophies, but we gather they had fun and picked up some experience.
UCYC is to be custodian of an "Olympic circle" of eight permanent buoys which is to be set between Berkeley Pier and Brooks Island by the local Olympic Association (NCOCSA). It is hoped that the location of this permanent race course will encourage racing in the area. The first major NCOCSA regatta to use the course, sponsored by the Richmond Yacht Club, will be held April 30—May 1.
Bigger Boat Division
UCYC representatives in this season’s midwinter racing had their best season ever, especially in the Metropolitan Yacht Club series, in which they took first place in every division and four second or third place trophies.
The club’s Ensigns, sailed twice by Ken Wiley and twice by Dick Hasselnan, took first place in Division A, while Charles Cress, sailing his Ariel, won in Division B. Hank Rhoades sailed his I.C. to a first place in Division C, and second places went to Jim Lindsey in the 5.5 meter class, Frank Lossy in the Tritons, and David Cutts in Division B.
In taking first place among the I.C.s in the Golden Gate Yacht Club series, Hank Rhoades scored the only double win of the season. Frank Lossy again took a second in the Triton fleet.
The 1966 summer racing season will open May 7 with the annual Vallejo race, followed the next weekend by the Hearst regatta. Colorful and crowded Opening Day occurs on May 1, with both UCYC Ensigns following the herd.
This year’s Mallory eliminations for the San Francisco Bay will be held between May 20 and May 30. UCYC representatives are yet to be chosen.
Membership Report
We have a total of 329 members, including 31 boat owners. Of the 298 regular members, 140 indicated that they had been members of the Yacht Club in the past. Members include
76 undergraduates
69 graduate students
17 faculty members
35 employees
17 U.C. alumna
4 UCYC alumna
80 status unknown
A little less than half of our membership has ratings. Of the 106 that do, there are 70 junior skippers, 18 senior skippers, and 18 cruising skippers.
Of vital statistics — there are 136 single males, 56 single females, 62 married couples and 14 people who did not fill out the forms completely,
Ruth Ganong
SAILING INSTRUCTION
Business has been very good this year, and at the time of writing 30 people have completed their Junior Skipper Rating. Some of the Saturday morning sessions were rather hectic, particularly at the start of the semester when even the full fleet of six Lido 14’s and two Ensigns was not enough to keep everybody happy. But our trusty Commodore helped, with lectures on those aspects of sailing most useful to the club -- keeping the sail locker tidy and preventing damage to capsized and stranded Lidos. (I had to arrange a lecture program to fulfil my election pledge.) The average attendance on Saturday mornings has been fifty six pupils and eleven instructors, and I should like to take this opportunity to thank all of the total of thirty five instructors for their kindness and generosity, and all of the one hundred and fifty three pupils for their patience and forbearance. For those who felt unduly frustrated, the Thursday afternoon lessons may be a pleasant alternative.
The evening lectures have generally been popular, too. Don Miliman drew a full house for each of his basic sailing talks, despite some appal1ing films which I had unbeknowingly inflicted upon him for the first one. Gordon Anderson addressed would-be Senior Skippers, Ken Wiley would-be racers, and Jimmy de Witt answered a long series of learned questions from would-be sailmakers. Coming attractions include lectures on fiberglas and its advantages, and the tying of knots, with string provided.
As I have to leave the area, and perforce, the club, later this month and may not have the opportunity to say goodbye to you all, I should like to say how much I have enjoyed my two years of sailing here, and the warm personal attachments that have resulted. I wish the club very well, especially with its plans for the new clubhouse. I hope to see it erected and in joyous use on my next visit to the San Francisco Bay.
Grant Lewison
First Vice Commodore
Rear Commodore’s Report
The Lido refurbishing project is well under way. One Lido has been completely rebuilt at Nirdlinger’s and Dickerson’s and with its whole foredeck and siderails braced is probably a lot stronger than before. The club hopes eventually to have all the Lidos redone in a similar manner. Nor will the fixed up boats go shabbily dressed. Eight new sets of Lido sails have been ordered and should arrive within the next ten weeks.
Ken Smith
Ocean Cruising News
SLOW BOAT TO JAMAICA
As most of you may know, I signed up as passenger—crew on the "Pilgrim" on its way to Jamaica via the Panama Canal. The boat is an 85-foot gaff-rigged schooner co-owned by Bruce "The Mad Navigator" Martins from Sausalito and Glen "Baby, the Rain Must Fall" Yarborough from Beverly Hills, and is intended to be used for the charter-trade in the Bahamas. The ship is better known as the "Tiki" in the television series "Adventures in Paradise."
It took us three weeks to reach Puerto Vallarta; so it will take us quite a while to reach Jamaica. At first we started out with seventeen of us all together, but we are losing a few as we go down the coast. Six people jumped ship after a rather exciting experience. What happened is that about twenty miles off the coast of Baja California, in a wind of 60 knots, we sprung a leak and one by one, the pumps (all five of them) went out of action. We then formed a bucket brigade to bail her by hand but the water was coming in faster than we could bail it out. We had four feet of water in the cabin with all the lower bunks flooded. In a desperate measure we transferred the ship’s motor cooling punt to the bilge but this clogged up the cooling system and threw the engine out of order. In addition, the radio was out. We headed for Cedrus Island to put her on the beach in a sheltered cove. It turned out that, luckily for us, in the cove there was a small Mexican freighter riding out the storm. She lent us a portable bilge pump and pumped us out. We then fixed the leak (a loose fitting in one of the heads!) and laid over for a week to clean up the boat and catch up on sleep. The six who jumped ship said they had had enough sailing for the rest of their lives.
Life aboard ship has now returned to normal somewhat. Everybody stands watches. It is a marvelous experience to be at the wheel during the midnight watch (0,00 to 0400) with everyone asleep below and nothing around you but the waves, the stars and the occasional freighter or fishing boat. Thanks to Harry Battin’s informative lecture, I am catching on quite fast to the black magic of celestial navigation.
Hope to keep you posted on further developments. Good luck with the new facilities.
Dick Hasselman
