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In this issue:
- CSC Events & Info
- Beneath a Gypsey Moon - poem by Gene B. Herman
- Being Indulged by the Ocean - by Asma
- Clubhouse News - by Peter Kuhn
- Nothing According to Plan - by Bill Prinzmetal
- CSC Discounts - by Jane Morson
- Ashby Shoal Breakfast
- Crime Report by Peter Kuhn
- Crusty's Corner
- Contacting the Editor
Upcoming Events at Cal Sailing Club
- June 5 Laser and Byte Clinic 12:30pm - 3:30pm by Malu Contact Sheldon Coad
- June 6 Windsurfing Trip to Shermann Island 9:00 am til ?
- June 12 Windsurfing Safety Seminar 10am by Sofien Sehiri
- June 18+19 OPEN HOUSE, 2 - 5 pm.
- July 2 Cruise to Angel Island 9am-6:30pm with Michael Arntz
- July 10 Laser and Byte Clinic 12:30pm - 3:30pm by Malu Contact Sheldon Coad
- Sunday Mornings Dinghy Racing 10am-1pm Contact Gary Farber
- Tuesday Evening JY Races. Skippers' meeting at 5:30pm. Open to club and non-club JY15's. Contact Michael Scalet
- Tues/Thur Evening Spinnaker Runs 6pm-10pm (check cscspinnakers Yahoo Group )
-
Sat Jun 11 12:30pm - 3:30pm
Mon Jun 13 1:30pm - 4:30pm
Sat Jun 25 12:30pm - 3:30pm
Mon Jun 27 1:30pm - 4:30pm
Sat Jul 9 11:00am - 3:00pm
Sat Jun 23 11:00am - 3:00pm
Fundraising - Enroll in eScrip! Support CSC!
Do you shop using credit cards, ATM or merchant cards?
CSC will get a percentage of your purchase at most grocery stores and many other stores
if you enroll and register your cards at www.escrip.com (specify organization name to be
"Cal Sailing Club" - without the quotes). SO, please enroll TODAY!!
BENEATH A GYPSEY MOON by Gene B. Herman
Mast bends slightly a'baft the wind
jib and main are full
bow slices crisply through the swells
we heel lightly to port
next to me
her silky black hair
glimmering in moonlight
sits my love
as we speed to sea
in a gallant wooden ship
beneath us the surging ocean
a light breeze fills the sails
propels our little boat
and lifts us up
toward a twinkling indigo sky
beneath a gypsey moon.
Being Indulged by the Ocean by Asma
Windsurfers have no limits. Once they are wiped one day, their adrenaline addiction make them ask for more.
They like to be punished by nature. That is why they seek the most dangerous and adventurous experiences.
One of those experiences is windsurfing the open water, at Waddell Creek (on the pacific ocean, a little north of Santa Cruz). This is a gorgeous place that is a refuge not only to windsurfers and kitesurfers, but also to the great white sharks. Windsurfing there is a survival issue. If they are to come back in one piece, they must survive the gusts of 43 MPH, the huge waves crashing down on their bodies and their rigs, and to survive the bite of a hungry shark? Not to mention other risks.
I have not sailed the ocean yet, but it has been an obsession of mine lately. This obsession started when I went with my friends (Sofy, Damis, and Chris) to check it out. From Berkeley, the drive took about one and a half hour. The drive started with lots of views of human civilization and slowly, we started dissolving into nature. It was a breathless view of an infinite body of water, with gigantic breaks on shore. It is like entering the twilight zone. A very attractive place the ocean is. Once we stopped at the beach, where the windsurfing launch site was, I could tell that an energetic shock passed through our bodies, and a boost of this darn addictive adrenaline was injected into our blood stream. This was our drug. This was our addiction. The guys quickly got into their wetsuits, rigged their smallest equipment, and rushed to shore. I stayed and watched, but let me tell you, watching was enough to give me an adrenaline high for days. It was a great experience. Now, I feel that I am ready to face this ocean. Soon enough, I will be sailing there, and I will tell you all about it.
Clubhouse News by Peter Kuhn
We’ve received the last of the City approvals and permits needed to repair all the rot damage to the existing clubhouse, so look forward to a rat- and rot-free clubhouse by the end of summer.
We had hoped to construct a new, larger clubhouse, but that seems beyond our budget for the foreseeable future. Chief problem is the lack of a water main on our side of the marina, which City code mandates for any new structure in the Marina, even a prefabricated and/or fireproof building. Installing a water main large enough to supply fire sprinklers and a fire hydrant would run at least $150,000. The State Department of Boating and Waterways used to have mega-funding for aquatic centers, but they don’t expect to fund grants over $100,000 for a while.
So the current plan is to replace the rotted portions of the clubhouse and rebuild the deck with an ADA compliant wheelchair ramp. A contractor and club employees will do most of the work, but volunteers will be needed for pre-work cleanup, moving the clubhouse contents to storage and back, and painting.
The clubhouse will be shored up and all the rotten siding and studs will be replaced, along with the dilapidated windows and worn flooring. During construction, we’ll operate from a small shed in front of the clubhouse, which will be taped off to keep passersby out of the falling debris zone.
The budget for the rebuild is $15,000, including approximately $5,500 raised so far from donations to the clubhouse fund. Thanks to all the generous donors!
Nothing According to Plan - A Good Time Was Had By All by Bill Prinzmetal
On Sunday, June 13, 2004, we had the fifth dinghy cruise on the Modern Era. I say of the Modern Era, because I have learned from old benchwarmers that in far, far, distant past, when Arthur was King, boats were blue, men were men, and boys were boys (you get the idea) there were the Mighty Cruises. For example, the single handed Lido race to Hawaii, with dismastings in the Molokai Channel. But, I digress.
I have gone on 4 of the 5 "modern" dinghy cruises. On this cruise, nothing went according to The Plan, yet the serendipity of the event made it one of the most fun cruises. The cruise was organized by Allan Champion (hence forth, Admiral Champion). The Admiral had an ambitious sailing plan: Sail round the eastern side of Brooks Island, and picnic on the beach on the west side of the Island. Then tack up the Richmond Channel, past Brick Yard Cove, and return the long way around. (Henceforth, The Plan).
Unfortunately, The Plan didn't get approved until a week before the event, which had two consequences. Not many people knew about the trip, so we only had 2 JY 15's and one P15 (8 sailors, total). The second consequence was scant time to prepare the boats, which definitely made the trip interesting.
I arrived at the club about 30 minutes before the skippers meeting. I wanted to set the Precision up for spinnaker, only to find the spinnaker missing. Found the spinnaker, but no sheets. I made sheets, and was about to launch the boat, when someone pointed out that there was no spinnaker halyard. Got the Precision in the water, with a new halyard. It seemed as if the JY's, were almost all most ready to go. I asked the Admiral if we could take the Precision up to the gap in the pier and wait for the JY's there. About the last thing I did was to ask the dayleader to monitor Channel 16.
Dan Pang, Gabriele Simi, Gerome (who though he had signed up for a keelboat cruise) and I sailed to the gap, and waited. And waited. And waited. No JY's. I radioed the clubhouse, but no one answered.
What we didn't know was that the JY's were being rebuilt. One had a broken rudder. After the rudder was replaced, they discovered that the rudder head was cracked. A shroud was about to fall off, due to a mangled pin. The hiking straps had to be re-rigged. And, after they got a boat in the water, they discovered a rip in the main, which had to be fixed.
Meanwhile, after waiting 40 minutes, with no contact, we in the Precision decided to proceed by ourselves. About B buoy, we decided instead of going to Brooks Island and Marina Bay, we would practice spinnaker. Dan had been practicing on Tuesday nights, and he wanted to solidify his knowledge. We tacked upwind, and then set the chute. We were flying along with a flat sea. Dan and the crew were doing all the work. My eyes were riveted on the GPS were gave consistent readings between 7 and 8.5 kts! (These readings must have been caused by Iraqi insurgents, who were undoubtedly messing with the satellites.) To our delight, we discovered that we could fly the chute all the way behind Brooks Island.
After dousing the chute, I tried to raise the clubhouse on the radio, but got Admiral Champion and Simon Lee on one of the JYs instead! The newly rebuilt JYs were at B buoy. We decided to depart from The Plan, and go to Plan B (meet at Marina Bay).
The JYs got to Marina Bay about 20 minutes behind us. We had a nice lunch at the deli. The Admiral wanted to continue with The Plan. I was all for The Plan, but when we got just outside of Marina Bay, I looked up the channel and the Bay was just glass. In the Precision, we decided to head back the short route (the way we came). Last winter I had a lot of practice sailing the Precision with no wind. (See March Floating Bottle), and I didn't want to drift in after dark, again!
The Admiral decided to continue The Plan. Now The Admiral is a handsome guy, but when he saw his reflection in the still water, I think it frightened him into abandoning The Plan, and following us on the short way home.
Meanwhile, the JY's had started dualing when leaving the marina (see picture). Dr. Rachel Fogel and Dave Reichmuth led out of the marina. However, The Admiral and Gabriele past them near the southeast corner of Brooks Island. The Doctor and Dave retook a small lead before both boats tacked into a dead zone near shore. The Doctor and Dave had the good sense to tack out to the middle of the bay where there was wind, while The Admiral and Gabriele were stuck looking at their reflections in the glassy water on the inside. We took the Precision on the rhumb line in the middle. A gentle westerly finally filled in and we had a delightful sail back with one more spinnaker run.
All and all it was a great trip. When you leave the South Sailing Basin, the world looks so much larger from the deck of a 15' boat. May be next year, The Plan. And the future, the Molokai Channel is awaits us.
CSC Discounts by Jane Morson
CSC Members receive in-store discounts from Berkeley Boardsports, Copeland Sports, and Svendsen's Chandlery.
Ashby Shoal Breakfast - May 28, 2005
Paul Kamen posted this photo of our May 28, 2005 Ashby Shoal Breakfast
Matt Jones reports these GPS coordinates:
"My GPS and map say sail 188 degrees True from the end of the dock and you'll get to the spot where we had breakfast Saturday. 191-186 true to hit any part of the shoal, the closest part is less than a mile, farthest 1.19 miles from the end of the dock".
Crime Report by Peter Kuhn
Two people came to the club today [Feb 23, 2005] offering to sell some windsurfing gear,
including two sails (Loft 6.7 and 5.5) in excellent condition, a
nice board, etc., all real cheap because the lady was mad at her worthless skunk windsurfing boyfriend who'd cleared out and left the stuff behind.
Dolmen said the stuff looked like Bill P's. Bill P arrived. Sure enough it turned out to be almost the entire intact contents of his van that had been stolen in Richmond early December.
The cops took the vendors off for a vacation.
Downwind Docking, or Crusty Takes the Helm by Crusty
Like fireworks exploding in fog, the last of Crusty's severance pay, health benefits, and paid vacation from his stint on QC at the (sadly now enronned) marina drug lab thuds inconsequentially in his clappedout cranial cavity.
Time for a change, and therefore time for the annual bath.
Crusty emerges pounds lighter from the Doubletroublefree's pool, and, disoriented in the 3 am glow of the rotunda, fails to locate his old rags, but lucks upon an admiral's outfit replete with sporty epaulets and jaunty cap.
"Jeezus, cap, I hope the swim has sobered you some"--Crusty nods sadly--"we better get the boat turned around before someone notices." An idiot in a silly sailor suit frogmarches Crusty across a gangplank and up some stairs to a dimly lit fishbowl high above the water. Inside, Crusty falls forward, clutching at two gleaming knobs to break his fall.
With a roar and two pops, the fishbowl lurches forward, bringing Crusty's feet back underneath him. "You coulda let me cast the dock lines away" yells a voice from the corner.
Through the window, Crusty sees a streetlight approaching. He turns, still clutching the knobs, and the fishbowl turns with him. Somewhere behind and below, faint crashes.
Then the roar ceases. "Omigod" says the voice "I think you fouled the prop on the three sailboats and dock you just crushed. We're dead, in the water"
Clearly this is not a good career choice, Crusty thinks. He gazes out of the fishbowl. Water is all around, no easy exit in sight. But wait--a breeze is blowing; the friendly glow of the Doubletrouble's rotunda approaches slowly, but surely.
From the Editor - Mike Hummell
I really enjoyed publishing Gene Herman's three poems that he gave me at a CSC General Meeting last year, the last of which is in this issue. Now it's YOUR turn -- if you have any poems or adventures or inciteful observations or if you enjoyed a cruise or a class, write up a paragraph or more (with or without photos) and email it to the Bottle at floatingbottle@cal-sailing.org for publication. Thanks!
Meanwhile, check out Paul Kamen's great Waterfront Photo Of The Week
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Copyright 2005, Cal Sailing Club. All Rights Reserved.
