SailTime Channel Islands Sailing Newsletter - March 2008
Ahoy!
The 1421 Christening and Open House, held over Presidents Weekend, was a tremendous success. Over 50 members, their friends and prospective members were in attendance. Everyone got a nice sail and then we had a BBQ on the dock with Red Hots and Full Sail beers all around. It was a perfect day and we all hope you can join when we have our next party.
The month offered a well balanced mix of extremely quiet weather and exceptionally violent. But like I said last month, we are going to see green and wildflowers as a result. The green part is already here ! Don't get caught hibernating. This "intolerable" weather could change at any moment and provide the great flat water sailing this time of year is known for. So stay plugged in!
UPCOMING EVENTS
3/16 Heavy Weather/Spinnaker Clinic - Varekai - Whatever the weather throws at us we will be ready. If its a light day you can learn how to handle a spinnaker. If its "normal" Captain Dan will teach the finer art of handling a boat in heavy weather conditions. $50 p/p
3/21 Full Moon Friday Frolic - Sancerre - Yep - the only one this year. So we decided to host it on the Big French Girl. If the weather permits, we will go out of the harbor promptly at 6pm, enjoy the last of the light and come back in the harbor in the dark. Participants are asked to bring some food to share. Contact Chris for a spot.
4/6 - Ventura Lunch Run - Rainbow - Learn the ins and outs of coming and going to Ventura and enjoy lunch at our neighboring harbor. This clinic is required before you go to Ventura on your own and its always fun even if you have gone before. $50 per person. Meet at 10:30 am. Contact Chris for a spot.
Flip Flop Because we rescheduled the Anacapa Clinic from Feb to March 1 - the April clinic will be a Ventura Lunch Run and the May clinic will be another Anacapa Clinic. Repeat participants from years past are welcome!
August Reminder - We are planning a flotilla to Santa Cruz August 9 & 10. If you would like to participate, now is the time to reserve the dates. Team up with another member to share the weekend time. Offer crewing spots to other members. We'd like to see all boats participate with as many members aboard as possible!
NOTICES
New SailTime Video Selection
Bahram Captains 47ft Beneteau with SailTime in the BVI
Recently, a long time racing member of the Anacapa Yacht Club ran aground in a 35ft sailboat coming in the North/West entrance. His crew and he worked very quickly and the Harbor Patrol was on the spot to pull him off before any damage occurred. But he sent out the following warning and reminder to all mariners willing to listen:
On the way back from Ventura, shortly after we passed behind the detached breakwater the beach reached out and caught us. There was no warning. But there we were - beached. We thought we had been traveling safe, out farther from shore. We were not. The first lesson here is to always stay in the main channel near the breakwater when using this for entrance or exit.
There is a second lesson here though. What is the first thing you should do in such a situation? What is the second thing ? And so on...We had full sails up... the boat tipped and windmilled shoreward. The first task (which we did) was drop the jib while the skipper started the engine (Chris Note - It is always recommended that you have the engine already running when returning to the harbor). This combination of motor and no jib allowed us to get the bow pointing away from shore. Next the skipper had someone call the harbor patrol. We also started getting the anchor out. But the response form the harbor patrol and coast guard was so fast we didn't have time to deploy the anchor. We were very fortunate that one of the patrol boats was able to pull us right off.
This could have happened to anyone at any time. Moments count - a couple more swells probably would have put us beyond easy recovery. The wind and wave action was pushing us ashore in spite of everything we could do and we were only moments away from being hung up beyond the ability of the available equipment to pull us off.
Does your crew know what the right responses in such a situation are ? Has everyone on board actually used the radio at least once? Don't forget to train for emergencies!
Maintenance Notes
Well the weather didn't help us get the sails cleaned so its on tap again for March. But we were able to get some wax on. Bodacious and Rainbow had an oil change. We are keeping our fingers crossed that March will allow us to complete our winter list.
Current Membership Space Availability - Tell your Friends!
Imagine - 2 spaces
Rainbow - 1 space
Varekai - 1 space
Bodacious 1 space
1421 - FULL
CAPTAIN DAN'S CORNER
Avast Ye Matey's!
Start making plans for some island sailing. The next two months should be a wonderful time for a days sail to Anacapa or an overnight to Santa Cruz. The wildflowers are going to be spectacular and the chances of seeing migrating whales, prime. If you have a 104 in your future, lets set a date before my Spring dance card is completely full.
As I write this, the 105 class of winter 2008 is about to test out and graduate. It has been a good class this season and I think these students are benefitting greatly from the accumulated experience I am garnering from doing this previously the past few years. I am tentatively planning a mini 105 school around May because there are still more of you who do not want to wait till next January.
My favorite event of the season is coming up this month when we head out on the one and only Friday Full Moon Frolic, Friday March 21 at 6pm. We are taking the Big French girl along with us and it looks like Chris is calling for a pot luck - so I will bring the wine :-)
Avast Ye Matey's!