Drifting through the Sail for the Cure
By Dale Mack, C30, Celtic Myst

With a crew of six consisting of my son Sean, and five others drawn for coworkers and their significant others, I participated in my second Sail for the Cure.  Unlike the rainy weather that descended on the Catalina Rendezvous the previous weekend, Saturday the 25th welcomed participants with warm sunny weather.  The only down side to the day was that no wind was predicted, and the prediction turned out to be correct.

My crew arrived at 10 am and our skipper, one of my female coworkers, walked up to the registration tent and picked up our souvenir t-shirts, gift bag, a banner, and event instructions.  As part of the on the water game for the day, we were one of only sixteen boats that would be displaying a banner on the boat.

After leaving the marina we found the committee boat anchored just south of buoy "14".  Sean maneuvered Celtic Myst to pass down the starboard side of the committee boat, while one of my crew stood at the port shrouds with their left arm outstretched and picked up the sailing packet protruding from a ten foot length of PVC pipe being held out from the committee boat.  Inside the packet were instructions about the course for the day's sail and how to play the game.  At 1 pm we were to set off to the channel marker (known locally as race mark #2) just upstream of the I-5.  From there we were to sail upriver to buoy "18" and then finish back at buoy "14".  If the wind was light, we were to skip "18" and return straight to "14".  The game rules permitted motoring at anytime to insure finishing by 3 pm.  The game consisted of trivia questions like naming all the restaurants that over look the river, how long is the Columbia River is the U.S., and matching all the banners with boat names.

With sails hoisted, we did like everyone else and commenced drifting downstream at 1 pm.  For the next ninety minutes we enjoyed a feast in the cockpit as the scenery drifted by.  At approximately 2:30 pm, our drifting brought us near mark #2, so we fired up the engine and started the motor back to "14"

Ashore at Tomahawk Bay Moorage

The shore side activities ran from 3 pm to 6 pm.  We setup our folding chairs and blankets on the grass at Tomahawk Bay Moorage, and enjoyed the event provided boxed dinners as we listened to live music.  We had a great time and plan to come back next year.

CRACA Participants

Plans for the October Meeting

On The Water
By Jim Elieff, C30, Fortune (Cruising Officer)

Columbia River Yachting Association (CRYA) News

The repair contracts for Gleason Marine Park went out to bid this week.  More improvements are scheduled at Rainier: a gravel parking lot, ramp improvements and a walkway to the park, which is being funded through the Parks Department.

The Sandy Beach project on Government Island (a $1.2 to $1.5 million project) is in the biological assessment stage now.  The permit process will take 2-3 years.  The plans are to make it bigger than Bartlett’s Landing (East Dock) and eventually phase out Commodore’s Cove.

The Marine Board funds construction and ongoing maintenance of pump out and dump stations.  If you find one that is not working, let them know, as the property owners are in violation of their grant agreements.  Currently known pump outs which are not working are Donaldson’s, Warrenton, St Helens and Rainier

There will be a noticeable decrease in shipping on the Columbia River.  Hyundai and K-Line container businesses have pulled out of the Port of Portland because of the failure to dredge the Columbia between Portland and the coast.  Other local businesses are affected also.  Columbia Sportswear moves 70 containers through the Port each week and they will have to find other means to move product. 

The Hunter Sailboat Association of Oregon  submitted an application to join CRYA.  A motion that the application be approved was made and it carried.

The Catalina Rendezvous

The rendezvous went well considering the weather we had. It was great seeing everybody together again. We have a great group of sailors who are a lot of fun, and have great stories to tell about what they are doing with their boats and were they have been with them. The Lifesling class was very informative as was the anchoring class. 

Gerry Douglas was a most interesting and gave us a lot of info about the Catalina Yachts that we didn't know about. He took time for a question and answer period and was there until we didn't have any more to ask. I thanked him personally for coming all that way in such bad weather.

We had sixteen boats and about ten couples that drove in. Great turn out. Thanks to everybody that showed up.

Catalina Rendezvous Reflections
By Dale Mack, C30, Celtic Myst

Reports of a miserable weekend with dropping temperatures, rain, and wind was enough to make anyone choose to stay at home.  Thirty crews had registered for the rendezvous, with about two-thirds of them planning to come by boat.  As the date drew near, changing work schedules and other obligations had reduced the number to twenty-seven, and the worsening weather further reduced it to twenty-six by the time Laura and I headed off to the boat on Friday.  We too had altered our plans as a result of the questionable weather.  Where we had originally planned to have friends from Redmond, WA aboard for the event, the four of us had agreed we'd save our first sail together for better weather.

Laura and I were underway from Tomahawk Bay Moorage by 1:45 pm, and we didn't encounter rain until we neared the Willamette River.  As we passed the Port of Vancouver, we could hear Sunchaser and Fortune contacting one another on the VHF so we switched and listened on channel 68 as Dave Thomas and Jim Elieff discussed docking plans.  Upon entering the Willamette River we received a hail on channel 16 from Bob Gales onboard Imagine who was about to enter Multnomah Channel.

The rain was very on and off, and never very heavy.  Although I was encased in my foul weather gear from head to toe, I never got hit by more than a few sprinkles, and when I needed to I just sat under the dodger and steered the boat with the autopilot's handheld remote (my best eBay purchase this year).

The trip through Multnomah Channel to McCuddy's Landing was relaxed and beautiful.  The wisps of clouds snaking through the canyons added to the sharp contrast of the earth bound scenery darken by rain and set against a sky of boiling clouds that ranged from stark white to charcoal grey.  While Celtic Myst plowed through the glassy waters of the channel, herons stared back at our intrusion as they hunted in the shallows.

Dave Thomas and Jim Elieff did a great job getting everyone into slips.  You hailed them on channel 16 and then switched to channel 68.  By 4:30 pm we were secure to the dock, and listening to stories of the squall that had just past by and dumped hail on the marina.  We fortunately hadn't seen that, and in fact hadn't been rained on for the last 30 minutes.

By 7:30 pm  Friday night, ten boats had arrived and many of the crews had chosen to dine at Mark's on the Channel.  Fabulous would be the word I'd use to describe both Laura and my dinners.  We started off with a bay shrimp cocktail served in a very generous portion atop a bed of fresh Spring greens.  Next came the salads.  Laura substituted romaine lettuce for the standard Spring greens, and we both had them with a very tasty house made blue cheese dressing.  Our main course was Vongolé for me and Coquille St. Jacques for Laura.  The Vongolé consisted of bay shrimp, prawns, scallops, and calamari served atop a bed of vermicelli noodles sitting in a garlic white cream sauce.  Laura's Coquille St. Jacques was perfectly cooked scallops nestled in a creamy sauce with leeks and mushrooms, finished with a gartniee of gruyere cheese served with garlic mashed potatoes.  Dessert was fresh apple pie warmed and topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

During dinner, Catherine, the Just's C50 arrived and backed into a slip just outside the restaurant.  The Justs treated the diners to an amazing piece of boat handling.  While several CRACA members stepped out to handle lines, the Justs pulled bow first into area between the restaurant and the slips.  With the boat's port quarter just pass the slip they were to occupy, the engine was put into reverse, and in what I assume was a masterful use of prop walk, Catherine gently spun clockwise on her keel while the Just's guided the boat stern first into the starboard tie slip.  It was textbook perfect, and the boat pivoted so well you were left wondering if a bow thruster was involved.

Friday turned out to be the "dry day" because Saturday met rendezvous participants with an endless series of showers from when you got up until after the the sun when down.  Despite the rain, another six boats (Lematike, Plan "B", Loki, Born Free, Camelot, and Down Wind Drifter) arrived on Saturday which was a pretty amazing feat considering each of these crews knew it was going to be a pretty wet trip.

The workshops got started at 1 pm and were held on the backside of the floating Harbor Master's Office, in a large area that kept you out of the wind and placed you under the protection of a metal roof.  That roof provided great cover, but at times the rain was coming down so hard you had to strain to hear the presenter's voice over the noise emanating from the roof.

Our first presenter was Gary Whitney (C28, KA-SL), who explained the purpose and use of a Lifesling Man Overboard recovery system.  Gary demonstrated how the sling is worn, and described the method of circling the boat around the victim once the Lifesling is deployed into the water and trailing behind the boat.  As Gary explained, the circling motion of the boat causes the Lifesling to be drawn into the center of the circle, thus reaching the victim.  Another important aspect of the system is how to get the victim out of the water.  An optional hoisting tackle system has been designed for attachment to your main halyard so the top block of the tackle can be hoisted ten feet above your deck.  The line exiting the top block is run down to your headsail sheet block and back to one of your primary winches.  The lower block of the tackle should be fitted with either a snap shackle or carabiner so the tackle can be attached to the metal rings of the Lifesling.  One last item pointed out was the optional water-activated personal marker light that provides the system with visible at night.

Anchoring and splicing was the topic of our second presentation by Captain Bob Baldwin from West Marine.  A thirty minute late arrival nixed the splicing portion of the presentation.  Bob brought some samples of popular anchor types and described the bottoms they were best suited to and how they dug in.  Bob, whose background includes lots of boating back East, admitting to favoring all chain anchor rodes.  Many of his past cruising grounds were noted for their rocky bottoms, were the abrasion resistance of chain was welcomed.  Also including in the presentation was a discussion of scope, or how much anchor rode to put out versus the depth of the water.  One of the points Bob made regarding scope and the use of chain, is that you are trying to create a situation where the pull on the anchor is parallel to the bottom, thus helping to dig the anchor in.

The final speaker of the day was Gerry Douglas, Vice President and Head Designer of Catalina Yachts.  Gerry gave an interesting look into design philosophy of Catalina Yachts.  For example, solid-wood surrounds, not veneer, are used for the door frames and furniture edges that take the most wear.  All surfaces are clear-coated, not stained, to simplify refinishing.  On models built in California, the hull and deck are mated together early in the manufacturing process.  The engine and interior components are then later passed below through one hatchway or another for installation.  Douglas said it’s a company goal to make a boat that is very repairable; all parts can be removed using hand tools and without disturbing other elements.  He also pointed out that the company makes an effort to sell replacement parts for all models, no matter how old, which makes Catalinas good as project boats for someone looking to rescue a fixer-upper.  When asked about the suitability of Catalinas for blue water sailing, Gerry stated that everything from the thirty footer and up is built strong enough, but because most buyers do mostly inland and coastal cruising, Catalina Yachts doesn't burden all owners with the additional cost to outfit the boat for blue water cruising.

Saturday dinner was a do your own thing affair, with about thirty folks opting to dine at Mark's on the Channel while the rest ate aboard their boats.  With the appearance of the evening sky, we began to get some relief from the rain, and by 7:30 pm, the scheduled start of the CRACA sponsored dessert and gift exchange, it had stopped raining.

The club provided a large selection of desserts and beverages, to tempt even the most carb conscious amongst us.  Towards the end, the gift exchange was conducted.  Everyone delighted in their newly acquired treasures, and some horse trading took place behind the scenes.  It was a nice climax to an enjoyable day, despite the weather.

Sunday Sunrise Sunday Breakfast Our cooks Dave & Helens Peoples (C42, Jammin)

Sunday morning treated early risers to clearing skies and a spectacular sunrise.  It was everything you wanted Saturday to have been.  The water was calm, the air smelled fresh and new, and there was the anticipation of a great day ahead.

Many of us took walks along the roads near the marina or up and down the docks admiring the boats as we enjoyed the morning and waited for the planned pancake breakfast at 9 am.

The club hosted breakfast was prepared by Dave and Helen Peoples (C42, Jammin).  They did a wonderful job feeding so many.  Several crews were observed coming back for seconds and thirds.

Laura and I had a nice time at the rendezvous, and we are glad we brought our boat.  We met and talked with several members we've only known by name, and I enjoyed the presentations by all three speakers.  McCuddy's Landing once again proved very functional even with the challenging weather.

Over sixty people attended the 2004 Catalina Rendezvous, and it won't have been possible without the volunteers who stepped forward to organize it.  I'd like to recognize the following folks for their contributions:

• Dave & Julie Thomas, Rendezvous Chair.  Dave was great about keeping everyone on task and seeking input from a variety of sources.  Dave also worked with Mark's on the Channel to keep them in the loop on how many were planning to stop by for dinner on Saturday.  Although Alder Creek Kayaks cancelled on us at the last minute, I want to thank Julie for efforts to secure them in the first place and work out the details of their presentation.
• Jim Elieff coordinated the arrangements at McCuddy's Landing and worked with Dave to get everyone into a slip.
• Olga Ginez & Michael Moen for the Costco runs and being the organizer of the wonderful Saturday evening dessert feast.
• Michael & Kathleen Lewis.  Kathleen managed the souvenir shirt orders and Michael arranged for the speaker from West Marine, invited and hosted Gerry Douglas from Catalina Yachts, and rented the propane heater tower.
• Dave & Helen Peoples, organizers and cooks of the Sunday Breakfast.

Attending by Boat

1. Terry & Kathie Annis, C25, Lematike
2. Stephen & Christine Eldred, C25, Plan "B" (plus two children)
3. David & Sylvia Keller, C27, River Rose
4. Jerry Sampson & Karen Clouse, C27, Sydera
5. Werner & Renate Bittner, C28, Loki
6. Jim & Rhonda Turner, C30, Fat Cat
7. Jim Elieff and Marilyn, C30, Fortune
8. Dale & Laura Mack, C30, Celtic Myst
9. Bob Gales & Gail O'Neill, C30, Imagine
10. Dave & Julie Thomas, C30, Sunchaser
11. Mike Moen & Olga Ginez, C30, Born Free
12. Stu & Lois McNaughton, C36, Tranquility
13. Eugene Wilkinson, C36, What Me Worry?
14. Bob & Rick Teeter, C42, Camelot
15. Larry Wintermeyer & Susan Stocker, C42, Down Wind Drifter
16. Joel & Ann Just, C50, Catherine (plus three children)

Attending by Car

1. Doug & Julie Dugan, C22, Harmony
2. Rick Fletcher & Christie Sleight, C22, Frick & Frack
3. Alice Patten and a guest, C25, Tybreaker
4. Gary Bruner (Catalina 25 Fleet 94 Fleet Captain), C25, Encore!
5. Bill & Marla Simon, C270, Windswept
6. Gary Whitney, C28, KA-SL (Lifesling Program Presenter)
7. Bennie & Debbie Harrison, C30, Spirit II
8. Eric Rouzee, C36, Legacy
9. Michael & Kathleen Lewis, C42, Wind Raven
10. Dave & Helen Peoples, C42, Jammin
11. Captain Bob Baldwin, West Marine (Anchoring Program Presenter)
12. Dave Dudek, Sailboat of Oregon
13. Gerry Douglas, Vice President and Head Designer, Catalina Yachts

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.