Newsletter	November 2002

Commodore's Deck
By Dave Peoples, C42, Jammin'

Well my first month in office as Commodore has come and gone, and CRACA still exists. I guess that is a true testament to the strong leadership our association has enjoyed in the past. I too hope my leadership will continue this grand tradition. I would like to thank everyone who has helped me with suggestions and comments on the direction they feel CRACA should progress. Thank you for putting up with my first e-mail, sometimes going to the wrong people, but I think that is squared away now. I would also like to thank Bill (not wanting to become Commodore) Simon for stepping up to Vice Commodore. He has already helped me struggle through this beginning, and also Michael and Kathleen Lewis for making sure I am kept up to date and don't fall asleep.

Having our boat up on Bainbridge Island, WA has made it difficult to take part in a lot of the activities that make CRACA great. Monthly cruises gives us the opportunity to not only use our boats for one more time a month, but it also gives us a place to show off those projects that have taken so long to complete, and to gain insight in to those we are struggling with. It is a time when people who may not have anything in common during the rest of the month become friends because of the commonality of owning a great sailboat. It is also a time to do some serious eating and maybe a drink or two. Even though we get to use our boat 6 to 8 weeks a year, we very seldom get to share that time with other Catalina owners. We miss out on that. We did have a great cruise for six days with Michael and Kathleen Lewis. We need to try to plan another rendezvous in the San Juan's. Those of you who live in the Portland area need to take full advantage of what the association has to offer. Cruises, working the Portland boat show, going to the Seattle Boat Show as a group, attending our monthly meetings, these events give you opportunities to meet some "serious" Catalina boat owners. These people have a lot to offer and are willing to share a vast amount of knowledge with almost anyone who will listen. Just think of what you are missing out on, get involved!!!

I can't believe that summer is gone, but after last week's freeze and this week's rain it is a real no brainer. Now maybe I can get caught up on my boat projects. These are items I already own and have not taken the time to install: wash down pump, wind generator, voltage regulator, wheels for my dingy, Strong Track for the mast, galvanic isolator, fish finder, downrigger, rigging a third reef line, if it is nice I need to wash and wax the whole boat. I figure if I finish one project for each weekend that we go up to the boat that should take me through late spring, and the sun will be back out.

Again thanks for all your understanding and help, I am slowly getting the hang of being Commodore

Holiday Party Time!
By Michael Lewis, C42, Wind Raven

The Columbia River All Catalina Association will hold its annual Holiday Party with a White Elephant Gift Exchange on Saturday, December 7, 2002 starting at 5 PM at the Holiday Inn Express - Jantzen Beach.

For those of you that have not been there before, the address is 2300 N Hayden Island Drive (on the road that leads to Schooner Creek Boat Works) (503-283-8000).

As a part of our Holiday Party we are having an Oregon Food Bank Collection. At the door, as the price of admission, we are collecting non-perishable items for the Oregon Food Bank. As most of you know local charitable organizations are struggling for lack of donations. In this way we can help.

This is one opportunity for us to be of service to our community. Oregon Food Bank welcomes any non-perishable item. Since they most often serve the elderly and very young, these are items of particular need:

• Canned tuna
• Peanut butter (in plastic containers)
• Ensure/ Boost
• Baby formula
• Diapers
• Canned Fruit
• Etc

We are also going to have a White Elephant gift exchange.  Gifts should be in the range of $15 - $20.  The gift theme is Nautical/Sailing/Other. Bring a Nautical, Sailing or Other related item that you would like to have too. One per boat.  Click here to see rules.

CRACA will provide the main course, Pizza (Paper plates & utensils provided).

To complement the feast we need to you check the first letter of your last name and bring the following:

• A-G Appetizer
• H-S Salad
• T-Z Dessert
• Beverages - Bring your own Holiday Cheer

RSVP to Bill & Marla Simon 503-246-1877 or email:  wfsimon@earthlink.net

Be sure to vote for your favorite type of Pizza…… Veggie, Pepperoni, Chicken, Sausage, Hawaiian, etc etc etc……..

Notes from the Secretary/Treasurer
By Kathleen Lewis, C42, Wind Raven

It was good to see some of our newer members at the Coon Island cruise. The creative genius displayed as the boats and crew decorated in a Halloween theme was really great.

The November “Mainsheet” should be arriving soon. Burgees will be reordered soon. Please let me know if you want to get one. As holidays are fast approaching you might want to check out the “Store” on the website and contact Marlene Himes to order burgeewear.

A reminder that dues for people joining now are just $15 through April 30, 2003.

Hope all are enjoying the crisp weather and brisk breezes.

Kathleen Lewis email at kathleen.lewis@direcway.com

Past Commodore's Hammock
By Michael Lewis, C42, Wind Raven

We were there; weather was great, lots of sun on the West side in the afternoon! We were not considered social for being on the West side of the island but we had Sun until the end of the day. Thirteen sailboats and lots of great people. Nothing like the 16 degrees we have at home this morning. Campfires, appetizers, S’mores, costumes, decorations on people and boats. Best of all it was only a few minutes from our moorage.

If you missed it, all you can do is look forward to this cruise next year for now.

We even had a nautical discussion about moor, mooring and other nautical trivia. I looked up the meanings in The Oxford Companion To Ships and the Sea to be sure and so here goes:

Moor, to, in the strict meaning the condition of a ship when she lies in a harbour or anchorage with two anchors down and the ship middled between them. The word is also loosely used to describe other ways of anchoring a ship using two anchors, e.g., when a ship has a stern anchor laid out she is said to be moored head and stern and is today also widely used to describe a vessel which is secured head and stern to a quay or alongside another vessel, or which lies with the bow secured to a quay and an anchor laid out astern.

Mooring, a permanent position in harbours and estuaries to which ships can secure without their own anchors. For yachts, a very small buoy, light enough to be lifted on board with a boathook, is attached by a length of rope to a light chain, itself attached to a concrete block, and the mooring is hauled up until the chain reaches the surface and the yacht secured with it.

Trot, a multiple mooring for small boats or yachts. The base mooring is laid in a straight line and from it individual moorings rise at intervals spaced to allow the boats room to swing with the tide. Tot moorings save considerable space in harbours, marinas, and congested anchorages. Small vessels secured along side each other are also said to be moored in a trot.

Dock, the area of water in a port or harbour totally enclosed by piers or wharves. Some sailors refer to the wharves themselves as the dock, but in the strict meaning of the term it is the area water in between. In the U.S.A., however, the word is always used to mean the wharf or pier and does not refer to the enclosed water.

Clue to the success of the Halloween Cruise
By Michael Lewis, C42, Wind Raven

If any of you enjoyed the Hot Apple Pie that Karen Clouse (with Jerry Sampson assisting) so ably prepared on Coon Island in October here is a source at Camper’s World.

They offer Sandwich Irons in addition to the Pie Irons at www.campingworld.com

Catalina Newsletters of the Northwest
By Dale Mack, C30, Celtic Myst

If after reading CRACA's newsletter, you find yourself still thirsting for more, here are the pointers to the monthly online newsletters for:

Catalina Association of Tacoma and South Sound (CATSS)

http://home.earthlink.net/~jimhettinger/CATSS%20Newsletters/

Catalina Association of Puget Sound (CAPS)

http://www.capsfleet1.com/News%20Letters.htm

November General Membership Meeting

Watch your email for details.

Sherman from Celtic Myst Fin from Wind Raven

Halloween Cruise to Coon Island
By Dale Mack, C30, Celtic Myst

It start off as a casual email conversation with Ralph Ahseln (C27, Oblio) on Labor Day, where Ralph mentioned that no one had volunteered to lead the cruise to Coon Island.  Laura and I had led a number of cruises for Catalina 22 Fleet 4 back in Sacramento, so we figured, what the heck a Halloween themed cruise should be fun.

Between our newsletter and email announcements, we had RSVP's from nine boats.  Weather forecasting in the day's leading up to the cruise seem to be no more reliable than me walking out on my front porch and looking at the sky, so we decided to go rain or shine.

Celtic Myst departed Friday afternoon at 4:20 pm from Tomahawk Bay Moorage with plans to spend the night at Hadley Landing on Multnomah Channel.  We reached our destination around 6:30 pm only to find the dock full.  Instead of doing the wise thing and requesting that the outside boats move closer together to make room for us, we continued another hour onto McCuddy's Landing with Laura standing lookout on the bow.  We could see for the first thirty minutes, but the last thirty were completed in darkness with me following the channel's contours painted on the radar screen.   We reached McCuddy's at 7:30 pm, and decided to eat dinner at the new Mark's on the Channel restaurant located on the water at the marina.  We had a very nice dinner and a good night's sleep.

Nate & Margaret Hanson's C25, Leucothea, winner of the decorated boat tour. Terry & Kathie Annis', C25, Lematike Gary & Jeanine Jaeckel's C30, Mistress II Mistress II crew

I woke early on Saturday to sound of light rain on the deck.  By the time I got dressed, the rain had stopped and the word on radio was for sunny skies.  While walking the dog, I ran into Michael and Kathleen Lewis in the parking lot getting ready to head down to their boat Wind Raven.

Celtic Myst arrived at Coon Island to find the Lewis' tied up on the West docks so we joined them in order to walk about and decided whether we'd move to the East docks.  For the Fall season the West docks provide you more hours of sunshine, but the picnic structure and fire pit is located at the top of the East dock ramp.  Composting toilets are available at both docks, although construction on the West toilet was still in progress during our visit to the island.

After relocating Celtic Myst to the East docks, we enjoyed the emerging sun and waited for our fellow cruisers to arrive.  More dock space is available on the east side versus the west side of the island, but both sets of docks are nice.

We were eventually joined by the balance of the cruise's participates which brought the total to eleven CRACA boats and three Small Yacht Sailing Club of Oregon (SYSCO) boats.  Actually Terry Annis and myself are SYSCO members so SYSCO could claim five boats on their Fall Color Cruise.

As crews got settled in, out came the decorations.  Some boats decorated the outside and some boats decorated the inside.  Everyone had or was carving a pumpkin for that evening's jack-o-lantern lighting.

Prior to the consumption of the potluck appetizers, the crews toured the various boats and listed their top five choices for best decorated.  For those that bought them, we also changed into our costumes in preparation for appetizers.

The imagination shown in decorating the boats was great.  From bats and skeletons in the rigging to strings of jack-o-lantern lights, and garland strung along the lifelines, crews really got into the theme of the cruise.

Ah, the costumes.  We had pirates, wizards, cowboys and cowgirls, Frankenstein, and an East Indian just to name a few.  The award for staying in character has to go to Gail O'Neill who managed to eat appetizers while wearing long metal finger decorations.

Those on the cruise included:

1. Annis, C25, Lematike
2. Dishongh, Capri 25, River Bee
3. Elieff, C30, Fortune
4. Gales & O'Neill, C30, Imagine
5. Hanson, C25, Leucothea
6. Jaeckel, C30, Mistress II
7. Lewis, C42, Wind Raven
8. Mack, C30, Celtic Myst (cruise host)
9. McGee, C250, Savannah Jane
10. Sampson & Clouse, C27, Sydera
11. Thomas, C30, Sunchaser

We shared appetizers on the docks, and placed the food on two small tables provided by the Hanson's and the Annis'.  The potluck appetizers worked out well because it encouraged everyone to mingle.

After the appetizers, everyone retired to their boats to start on dinner.  By 7:10 pm, most crews had finished dinner, and were walking the docks admiring everyone's pumpkin carving handy work now shining in the darkness.

Crews started making their way to the campfire ashore in the picnic structure, as we prepared for our 7:30 pm awards presentation and Smores consumption climax for the evening.

While it was a close call as to who had the best decorated boat, the award went to Nate and Margaret Hanson's efforts on the C25 Leucothea.  First prize was a pair of nautical hot potholders, and packages of Famous Amos Cookies were awarded to the next four boats getting the most votes.

Materials for making Smores were in abundance as folks contributed marshmallows, graham crackers, and Heresy chocolate bars to the activity at the campfire.  An additional treat was the making of a form of apple pie desert that used two slices of bread and apple pie filling cooked in a sandwich iron over the open fire.  Karen Clouse and Jerry Sampson introduced us to the sandwich iron.  What a delicious idea.

Sunday morning had us waking to fog so thick you couldn't see the channel bank across from Coon Island.  As the morning progressed, the fog burned off and the crews  slowly emerged.  To help shake off the morning chill, we started up another campfire and enjoyed socializing with folks as they stretched their legs after breakfast, or as they enjoyed a cup of coffee before starting in on preparing breakfast.

Most boats started to make preparations to get underway around 11 am.  It took the crew of Celtic Myst just under four hours to motor back to our moorage following Sunchaser much of the way.  While the skies were overcast we didn't get rained until just before entering the marina, and then it was so light it wasn't worth changing into foul weather gear for.

I want to thank everyone who participated.  Laura, Sean, and I had a great time meeting everyone and touring all the boats.  I also want to thank the Dave & Julie Thomas for letting our thirteen year old son Sean test drive one of their kayaks.  It was a real hit and I suspect Laura and I will be seeing a kayak show up on Sean's wish list in the future.

Cruise Notes:

• Don't navigate Multnomah Channel at night, enough said;-))
• Always bring the shore power cord.  Since Hadley's Landing and the docks at Coon Island don't have power I figured I didn't need the cord.  Wrong!  Our detour to McCuddy's put us in a marina with power that would have been nice for the electric heater.
• Transit fee for McCuddy's was $12.
• The portable propane heater (1000 BTU) helped, but a 3000 BTU unit would be better on a C30.
• As a cruise host, the newsletter and email announcements helped encourage participation.
• The potluck appetizers were easier to coordinate than a potluck dinner.
• Inviting folks to bring firewood worked well.  We had a great Saturday evening and Sunday morning campfire.
• Plan more cruises to Coon Island.  Great docks, beautiful island, and lots of wildlife.
• Fold up chairs for use on the dock and at the campfire are handy.

Late Night Excitement at Evening Cove
By Gail O'Neill, C30, Imagine

It was one of the prettiest little coves of all those we had discovered in our seven years of sailing in the San Juan’s, Southern Gulf, and Inside Passage islands. Evening Cove is just southeast of Ladysmith Harbor, on the east side of Vancouver Island. The landscape is typical of the region with lush fir forests edging sandy beaches punctuated with smooth sandstone ridges of rock that slide from the shore into the shallows and beyond. The sandstone rock is ubiquitous to the islands and requires mariners to pay close attention to their charts when sailing these waters. Being close to the town of Ladysmith, Evening Cove is populated with homes along both sides of the cove, partially hidden among the trees.

We had been invited here by our sailing friends Terry & Kathie Annis who were making their annual visit to old friends Bill & Donna, residents of the cove. They have built a stunning nature-friendly home at the head of the cove and installed a mooring buoy (in fifteen feet of water at low tide). We had agreed to meet the Annis’ there, in the evening (what better time?) and share the buoy along with other sailing friends Mike and Debbie Hibbs on their chartered Catalina 28. We spent the beautiful, quite balmy day sailing north from Saltspring Island stopping at Wallace Island for lunch on the almost (believe it or not) empty Conover Cove dock. After gourmet grilled hot dogs prepared by the Hibbs and five year old daughter Rachel, we walked up to the picnic shelter on lovely Wallace Island to see if the sign we’d made two years earlier was still hanging on the wall. It’s become an apparent tradition for boats to make driftwood identity signs for the shelter. The walls and ceiling are covered with hundreds of them, including our Catalina 30 Imagine sign!

As the sun was falling lower behind Vancouver Island, we entered Evening Cove on the starboard side as recommended in the Waggoner’s cruising guide. Radio conversation ensued between the three boats and Bill on shore. We felt three boats might be more than the buoy could handle if wind came up and decided to anchor. The Annis’ tied up to the buoy on their Catalina 25 Lematike along with the Hibbs. Bill rowed out to assure us that the gravel bottom was good holding and graciously welcomed us to his home. After setting the anchor with three to one scope, we started the BarB to grill salmon steaks not realizing we’d been invited to dinner at Bill & Donna’s. We said we would dinghy in for dessert instead, and we proceeded to enjoy a quiet dinner surrounded by the beauty of the cove. After an hour or so we prepared to dinghy ashore. I recommended that we turn on our anchor light since we were not in a chart-designated anchorage. Bob hesitated but gave in to my insistence, and later he was very glad that he did.

To cut to the chase, we noticed a wind had come up and shifted while we were inside feasting on Donna’s homemade apple cobbler, though we didn’t worry. At about 10:30 we extended thanks and goodbyes to our hosts. As we were getting into the dinghy to motor back to Imagine, Bob noticed the anchor light looked far more distant than where we had left the boat. I said maybe he was exaggerating ….and let’s just get going since rain sprinkles were falling and it was very dark and I was cold!

We were giving Terry’s son Matt, a lift to Lematike and the closer we got the more Bob exclaimed that Imagine’s anchor light was much further out than where we had anchored her. At the same time, the three of us were awestruck by the beautiful phosphorescence that was illuminating the wake of the dinghy’s motor. As Bob again exclaimed that Imagine must have slipped her moorings, I said, “Let’s just drop Matt at Lematike and then chase down our boat”, which was obviously drifting. With the dinghy at top speed it still seemed like forever until we caught up with Imagine, but was, in fact, less than 5 minutes. All kinds of thoughts and possibilities raced through our minds but as we came alongside her, all was well. I had never anthropomorphized my boat before, but at that moment she seemed like a mischievous child gone astray!

We climbed aboard, I started the engine, and Bob hauled in the anchor, which had drifted along with the boat. With Bob at the helm we slowly made our way back to the other boats guided by their flashlights through the dark, but not stormy, night! We felt a little sheepish as we tied up to the Hibbs boat, knowing our anchoring faux pas could become the sailing blooper of the season. But our good friends said not to worry, they wouldn’t tell. It was only later that Mike Hibbs relentlessly pursued us to tell the story for the Catalina Newsletter!

Obvious conclusion: It may be a good idea to always turn the anchor light on, designated anchorage or not.

What, Me Worry?
Makes Land in Brookings!
By Michael Lewis, C42, Wind Raven

Intrepid Sailors, Eugene Wilkinson and crew, Gordon, have completed the first leg of Eugene’s cruise. The Catalina 36, What, Me Worry?, performed flawlessly. They arrived from Portland, Oregon via Astoria, Oregon into Brookings, Oregon at daylight on November 4, 2002 after 48 hours at sea. The trip was uneventful; with light winds most of the way.

Eugene will winter in Brookings and then head West towards Hawaii, and other South Sea Islands.

If any of are in Brookings this winter, look him up. Check your roster for his cell number. We wish him well.

Remember that

"The gods do not deduct from a man's allotted span,
those days spent sailing."
- Ancient proverb

Live your dreams, Eugene!

Rules of the Road,
Nautical Navigation that is!
By Michael Lewis, C42, Wind Raven

We all know that the final word on the subject is the United States Coast Guard, Navigation Rules, COMDINST M16672.2D. All boats over 12 meters are required to carry a copy on board but it is available free on-line at www.uscg.mil/vtm/pages/rules.htm.

It might not be exciting reading but exciting is not necessarily what you might want when you see a vessel approaching you head on. As soon as you start your auxiliary engine and put it into gear, you are a powerboat.

So first, Vessels in Sight of One Another:

Rule 12
Sailing Vessels

(a) When two sailing vessels are approaching one another, so as to involve risk of collision, one of them shall keep out of the way of the other as follows:

(i) when each has the wind on a different side, the vessel which has the wind on the port side shall keep out of the way of other;

(ii) when both have the wind on the same side, the vessel which is to windward shall keep out of the way of the vessel which is to leeward; and

(iii) if a vessel with wind on the port side sees a vessel to windward and cannot determine with certainty whether the other vessel has the wind on the port or on the starboard side, she keep out of the way of the other.

(b) For the purpose of this Rule the windward side shall be deemed to be the side opposite to that which the mainsail is carried or, in the case of square-rigged vessel, the side opposite to that on which the largest fore-and-aft sail is carried.

Sounds good, but let me cut to the short version:

Different tacks, port tack boat gives way to starboard tack boat

Same tacks, windward boat gives way to leeward boat

Not sure, keep out of the way!

Recall that…port/starboard tack…the side the wind is coming from.

Windward boat is the boat upwind from the leeward boat.

See you next month for Rule 13, Overtaking.

NOAA Charts-On-Demand
By Michael Lewis, C42, Wind Raven

NOAA, Coast Survey, in partnership with OceanGrafix, LLC, now offer mariners official nautical charts continually updated by NOAA cartographers to the latest Notice to Mariners and to all Critical Safety Information known to Coast Survey in advance of its publication in a Notice. From NOAA digital files OceanGrafix prints corrected charts, to order, for sale to mariners through the Oceangrafix retail network (see below for local chart agents.

New Editions are available 5-8 weeks before their release as a traditional NOAA chart. These new charts feature operational information for the commercial mariner, and educational and safety information for the recreational boater.

These new charts have brighter colors and higher contrast for better readability in various light conditions. Charts are available on either water-resistant paper or a laminated version that withstands wet, harsh conditions. Useful and navigational information, such as tide tables, bridge clearance, etc., has been added to the margins, specific to commercial or recreational mariner's needs. Laboratory tests proved the tough coating resists abrasions and makes the charts easy to write on.

The USCG says that the prudent mariner only has to maintain, not “catch up” the chart. It is especially useful when many changes or large-scale changes take place such as the implementation of security zones or the upcoming change to the TSS in the Strait of Juan De Fuca area.

OceanGrafix prints the charts only after they receive an order from a chart agent, ensuring the most up-to-date information is applied at the time of printing. Charts are then shipped by the following business day. Costs below. More expensive, more current, more readable and more durable.

Local Chart Agents of the Print On Demand (Oceangraphix) charts are:

Captain's Nautical Supply, Inc.

333 N.W. Broadway
Portland, OR 97209
503-227-1648
fax 503-227-0168
lance@captainsnauticalsupply.com

Price per chart is $25.00 in water-resistant heavy paper, or $28.00 laminated. Compare with $17.75 for standard, conventional, uncorrected NOAA printed paper charts. Shipping costs may apply.

Armchair Sailor

2110 Westlake Avenue North

Seattle, WA 98109
206-283-0858
fax 206-285-1935
armchair@wolfnet.com
www.armchairsailorseattle.com

Price per chart is $21.35 in water-resistant heavy paper, or $23.85 laminated. Compare with $17.75 for standard, conventional, uncorrected NOAA printed paper charts. Shipping costs $5.00 for 5 charts, for example.

Captain's Nautical Supplies, Inc.

2500 15th Avenue West
Seattle, WA 98119
800-448-2278, 206-283-7742
fax 206-281-4921
sales@captains.yachtoutfitters.com
www.captainsnautical.com

Price per chart is $21.35 in water-resistant heavy paper, or $23.85 laminated. Compare with $17.75 for standard, conventional, uncorrected NOAA printed paper charts. Shipping costs $5.00 for 5 charts, for example.

November

• 16, Annual Tropical Party @ PYC (open to all sailors)
• 20, Meeting (TBD)
• 23-24, Government Island Cruise

December (no meeting)

• 7, CRACA Holiday Party

January

• 4-12, Portland Boat Show
• 17-26, Seattle Boat Show
• 17-26, Lake Union Boats Afloat Show

See the calendar

The Columbia River All Catalina Association newsletter is published once a month online at ColumbiaRiverCatalina.org. Articles are the opinions of the authors and don't necessarily represent the consensus of the Association.