ColumbiaRiverCatalina.org		August 2008

Commodore
By Alden Andre', C38, Fly Bye

Well, another month has come and gone. I have completed the SYSCO race series and am going to take the rest of the summer off to do some cruising. I will attend the cruise this weekend on the channel and will be getting ready for the CRACA Rendezvous, sounds like a great one this year!

Some exciting things have happened the last few weeks. A Cascade 36 named Rain drop with a crew of two left San Francisco on their way to Hawaii for the pacific cup against big contenders like RAGE and other expensive carbon fiber sleds. They were the first to finish and first over all corrected time. Two men from Portland and the Rose City Yacht club made us all proud. My hat is off to them and their supporters. Who says us ditch runners cant sail. Check out this Sailing Anarchy post for a little more info.

Boat Review: I got to go sailing on a few other Catalinas this month. One of which being RCS’ new 309. We went out in very high winds, 30+, and I was very impressed with the boat, especially since I used to own and love a Catalina 30. With the inboard shrouds it had much wider decks to walk on, it handled a lot better than my 30 ever did, and the amount of space downstairs is great. It also has more storage in the lazeretes than my 38 does! I didn’t think Catalina could improve on the 30, but wow have they ever! This is not your run of the mill 30. I thought this was RCS’ 1st 309, but it turns out that Roger has already sold 2, the first of which was to our friends Doug & JoNell, and this is actually the 3rd 309 in Portland.

The other boat I got to go out on was Justin’s new (1979) Catalina 22 “Velitas”, my first thought was that it was going to be a tipsy little dingy since I own a Coronado 15 and that boat certainty is. Well after I brought him some fuel (since he was almost out) we motored off and pulled up the sails. Wow was I wrong! That little boat sailed and handled like a big boat. We even were going 6-6.5 kts, holding pace with a Hunter 33. No wonder Dale Mack is always haulin’ with his little yellow submarine. I really enjoyed sailing the boat and driving with a tiller you can really feel the boat better. No, I am not thinking of putting a tiller on my 38 even though some people have. I would like to thank Justin for letting be the first crew on his boat. Its about time our communication officer owned a Catalina. I have to say that after sailing his boat I seriously thought about buying one and a trailer to do some mountain lake sailing.

Sorry for the short letter but I am leaving to prep my boat to go cruising. Hope to see you on the river, and I will definitely see everyone at the Rendezvous!

Alden Andre

Vice Commodore
By Jim Turner, C30, Fat Cat

<no Submission>

Secretary/Treasurer
By John Kerrigan, C30, Magewind

Anyone besides me see a recent article in Willamette Week, “High Seas, Low Wages” extolling the pleasures of sailing and how easy it was to find an inexpensive sailboat locally using Craig’s list? The author also mentioned how she and crewmate decided to test sail their new vessel in the Straits of Juan de Fuca. “We’d read quite a bit about sailing, picked up Sailing Fundamentals, the American Sailing Association’s kindergarten-level volume, and even watched a few instructional videos.” How hard could sailing be, right?

The sailing gods were merciful to them and they escaped with only a good scare. They also decided that sailing back to Portland might not be the best plan after all and instead paid to have their new toy shipped by truck. The rest of the article talks about how to find a cheap moorage, used equipment and how “… as a poor sailor, that you’re just gonna have to survive without some luxuries.”

I don’t consider common sense, skill, knowledge or experience a luxury and emailed the author,

“While I'm glad to hear of your newfound interest in sailing and  recent boat purchase, your WW article (incorrectly!) makes sailing  sound like something that can be mastered by reading a book and  watching videos. You seem not to recognize that you were lucky to  live through your Straits of Juan de Fuca experience.

You also neglected to mention that boat operators have to pass a test to get an Oregon or Washington boating card, required of anyone operating a boat. A general boating class is offered locally by the Coast Guard Auxiliary and Portland Sailing Center and Island Sailing teach sailing classes.

For the sake of all of us on the water, GET SOME LESSONS!  Either that or paint the words, "I'm a moron and have no clue what I'm doing, keep your distance!" on your sail so I can stay the hell out of your way.

OK, I admit my last paragraph was not the most tactful thing I’ve ever written but I meant every word.

The author’s predictable, if not very reassuring, reply was that I’d missed the article’s main premise: “The story is mostly about sailing on the cheap, also, not learning to sail.” I wonder how many WW readers are now in the market for a Craig’s list sailboat, ready to hit the water with no training or experience?

Hmmmm… I certainly feel better now, don’t you?

Be Careful Out There!

John

Communications Officer
By Justin Albano, C22, Velitas

Is everybody ready to party? We have a great weekend ahead of us and people have worked very hard to make all this happen, so lets all lend a hand and make this the best Rendezvous yet! Im really excited about the man overboard drills and the Marimba band.

RCS will have the New C387 available for your perusing pleasures. She has a huge aft cabin, 360 degree engine access and inboard shrouds for wide decks that are nice to work and walk on. Here is another picture of her below. Isn't she beautiful...

See you all at the Rendezvous!

Safety Focal
By Larry Brandt, C36, High Flight

<no Submission>

Historian
By Alex Andre', C38, Fly Bye

<No Submission>

Rear Commodore
By Eric Rouzee, C36, Legacy

<no Submission>

Well, Here we are again, looking forward to our yearly get-together. So far It's been a better couple of months for cruises than the spring was.

Our last cruise was up to East Dock on Government Island. Unfortunately, I can't seem to e-mail pictures, but I assure you that all who came had a great time. There was Jess & Mary Schefstrom, Jim & Rhonda Turner, Rick & Cheryl Ward, Doug & JoNell McLary, John & Anne Meyer, Gary & Jeanine Jaeckel, John & Emily Kerrigan, a power boat and another 36' Hunter that joined us. I apologize again for the lack of pictures and I will try to have my computer issues resolved by the next newsletter.

    Rhonda and Jim Turner have a fantastic weekend planned for August 8th, 9th & 10th.  Want to see all of you here. Sail in or drive in It is going to be a memorable weekend and I know you will be sorry if you don't come!!  Call me or Rhonda and let us know how many will be here so we can get the right amount of food, etc..

See you all there.  -James M. Elieff C.D.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONGRESS RESTORES 35-YEAR EXEMPTION FOR RECREATIONAL BOATS FROM PROPOSED EPA PERMITTING REQUIREMENTS

NO NEW PERMIT FOR BOATS REQUIRED

ALEXANDRIA, VA, July 22, 2008 - In a remarkable display of bipartisan support for recreational boating, both the House and Senate today passed S. 2766, "The Clean Boating Act of 2008" which will permanently restore a long-standing exemption for recreational boats from permitting requirements under the Clean Water Act. The legislation now goes to the White House for the President's signature.

Congressional action was spawned by a U.S. District Court decision in September 2006 under which an estimated 17 million recreational boats would have fallen under Clean Water Act permit requirements effective September 30, 2008. The permit would have dictated maintenance and operation procedures and potentially subjected boaters to citizen lawsuits as well as a penalty system designed for industrial polluters.

"This is a fabulous victory for common sense and it just goes to show what can be done when the boating public, the marine industry and its representatives in Congress row together in a bipartisan way," said BoatU.S. President Nancy Michelman.

BoatU.S. Government Affairs Director Margaret Podlich was quick to shower praise on a boatload of legislators who did much of the heavy lifting including Sens. Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Representatives Jim Oberstar (D-MN), Steve LaTourette (R-OH), Candice Miller (R-MI) and Gene Taylor (D-MS). A complete listing of all legislators involved will be available at http://www.BoatUS.com/gov soon.

BoatU.S. has worked for more than a year with the National Marine Manufacturers Association and a broad coalition of stakeholders to resolve the problem before the permitting deadline.

"One of the real keys to success here was our collective ability to activate the grassroots," said Podlich, noting that tens of thousands of letters and e-mails were generated by boaters and anglers over the course of the past 12 months.

Boat U.S. is the nation's leading advocate for recreational boat owners with over 650,000 members.
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It's not often that you get 2 "REALLY GOOD NEWS" events in just a few days but we HAVE!

A couple of days ago both houses of congress passed the Clean Boating Act of 2008 which exempts recreational boats (us) from the discharge permit requirements applied to large commercial vessels. President Bush signed the bill into law yesterday, July 30th. This exemption is a rare exhibition of good sense shown by our elected congressional reps who finally listened to the boating public, industry and inclusive organizations like BOAT/US. To confirm that this was the right move to make, we, as users of the waterways need to make every effort to employ clean boating practices every day and in every way. We all want clean water to boat in. And none of us want the hassle that invasive species will cause. So, be sure to boat clean. Be sure we are part of the solution. Not part of the problem.

The second piece of good news is more local in nature. Also on July 30th the Corps of Engineers and the port authorities involved with the Columbia River Deepening Project have announced that they are no longer pursuing Martin Island as a site for disposal or for mitigation purposes. They will instead be using Cottonwood Island and other Woodland Bottoms property for these purposes. So, Martin Slough should remain 'status quo' for the foreseeable future. This, of course, assumes that the Colf family continues to allow us access as they have in the past. I have no indication that they won't. So, another victory for common sense.

Although these are 2 very important issues that have turned out in our favor we must not let down our guard. We will continue to watch for developments that may affect recreational boating and get involved when necessary. Apathy is NOT ALLOWED.

Thank you to all who wrote, emailed or called on these issues. Our voices were heard, again.

Have a safe summer,

Doug Walker
CRYA Exec VP

Catalina Newsletters of the Northwest

Checkout these links to Northwest Catalina newsletters and local racing:

Catalina 22 Fleet 20 of Portland www.c22pdx.org Sail Portland www.sailpdx.com Oregon Women's Sailing Assoc. www.owsa.net

Catalina Assoc.  of Tacoma and South Sound home.earthlink.net/~catss/CATSS Web Page.htm Catalina Association of Puget Sound capsfleet1.com/News Letters.htm Small Yacht Sailing club of Oregon (SYSCO) www.sailpdx.com/sysco.htm

July

• No Meeting
• 12th - 13th, Cruise: Government Island - East Dock

August

• 2nd - 3rd, Cruise to McCuddy's Landing
• 9th - 10th, Rendezvous at Salpare Bay Marina
• 22nd - 25th, Cruise to Beacon Rock

September

See the calendar