THE MAIN SHEET
MARCH 2006 - WHITE ROCK LAKE - DALLAS, TEXAS

 

A LETTER FROM OUR COMMODORE

Dear CSC Members,

As I write this I am listening to a sound I have not heard in some time: rain. In fact a lot of rain. While we certainly needed it I wish it could have come over a longer period of time than two days. I checked the Club today and the water level was at least three feet over the docks and will quite possibly crest over four feet by the time the run off from up North catches up with us. While all of the boats were riding normally when I looked I am sure that the docks and boats will need maintenance and cleaning as a result of the debris and water pressure. Please be sure to reserve April 1st on your calendar for CSC Spruce Up Day as it will be more important than ever to have your help in keeping the Club in good shape. You also will want to check on your boat to make sure it weathered the storm in good condition. When doing so, take a moment to look at your davit and those davits around you. Are they in good condition? This could be a great opportunity to get to know your davit "neighbors" and spruce up your own corner of the facilities.

The rain is also an indication that Spring is here, bringing regattas and out-of-town sailors to our Club. We were fortunate to host the White Rock Cup this past weekend for Victoria Class model boats. Brig North reported that we had participants from eight states and from as far away as Barbados! All had positive things to say about the Club as once again CSC has shown itself to be a first class host of regattas of all types and sizes. It is also worth noting that several of the members of this group have joined the Club this year and are taking an active role in our functions. If you run into Brig or one of the other new members please welcome them to our family.

Speaking of family, the Junior Sailing series is also kicking into gear this month. Sandy Denison, Steve Comen, and Jennifer Draheim have worked very hard to establish a new series of junior sailing events. The Metroplex Junior Sailing Series is open to junior sailors throughout the DFW area and is designed to help develop racing sailors from the various sailing programs in the metroplex. The series will consist of seminars, practices, races, and regattas. The series started at Rush Creek on March 4th and the first CSC stop will be held on April 22nd - 23rd. If you would like to pitch in and help, contact either Steve or Jennifer.

We also have our Leukemia Cup event coming up next month which will coincide with the Metroplex event described above. In my mind very few events can compare with this one. First and foremost this is an opportunity to make a difference in somebody's life. Our combined events raised $136,500 last year which significantly helped the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to work on cures for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma. Beyond this they continue to strive toward improving the quality of life of patients and their families. You have probably heard of Gary Jobson's involvement in this cause as national chairperson; his illness has made that involvement a very powerful message indeed. In our corner of the world we have several sailors who have had to deal with this terrible disease and I hope you will join me in making a difference in their lives. Take a few hours out of your schedule to raise some money for this worthy cause. Our website has a link with some great ideas on how to make this easy for you.

Well the rain continues to fall and I'm already late getting this written so it's time to bring this month's commentary to an end. I hope to see you down at the Lake often and if there is something we as a Board can do to enhance your enjoyment of the Club please feel free to drop me an email (commodore@cscsailing.org). Take care, sail often and see you soon.

Jeff Bodkin
Commodore
Corinthian Sailing Club

THE FLOOD

Between 12:30pm and 3pm on Sunday 19 March 5.8 inches of rainfall was recorded at Love Field, exceeding the amount that had fallen there in the previous five months.

The effect on White Rock Lake of this much water falling in less than three hours was dramatic. By mid-afternoon the water was at least three and a half feet over the docks and several boats were in the process of sinking in their slips. At its high point, the water covered the ropes that form the railings at the North entrance. Several sections of either davits, walkways or docks were seen floating away. The floating pier by the VIP was cocked up over one or more collars, and the refrigerators in the clubhouse apparently floated up and fell over. The SMU 420 and two Lasers were found on the East shore - one Laser was stuck in a tree while the other one was still on its dolly. A dozen davits suffered damage serious enough that their owners needed to be contacted by the davit registrar.

On Monday, thanks to a big investment of time and effort by many people, much of the damage was repaired. One of the three collars securing the floating dock by VIP was levered back into place. The other two collars will have to be removed and re-bolted to new timber. Three sections of foam flotation for the dock were recovered from the West shore and will have to be reinstalled at the March 25 work party. The smaller junior floating dock was also placed back in the water in its normal position. The lines tying it to the dock are temporary at this point and will need to be re-tied soon.

The clubhouse, heads, and tack room have been hosed out. Cathy Harrington has disinfected these areas - when next you see Cathy please thank her as she put in far too many hours cleaning things up.

The Club boats came through the storm pretty well. All will need cleaning over next two weekends. The committee boat managed to break through one roof joist as it floated up. Its brand new engine will be checked to ensure that no water got into its crankcase. To avoid engine damage due to water contamination, the gas in the rescue boat gas cans has been replaced.

(This article is based on emails by Jeff Bodkin, Sandy Denison and Bob Harrington. Photo by Jeff Bodkin)

SUMMER YOUTH SAILING CLASSES AT CSC

For this Summer's classes we have two great instructors returning, Katy Towles and Michael Gent. Katy is from Oklahoma City, actively races on the Laser Circuit and attends OU. Michael is a member of the University of Kansas Sailing team. Both are US Sailing certified instructors. Also returning to assist with the classes this Summer will be Paul Denison and Nichole Grant. Both Paul and Nichole completed the US Sailing Level I Instructor Course last Summer. It should be a great Summer of sailing.

Recommended ages for the classes are 8 to 18 - those younger than eight are often not ready. Average class age is 10 to 14 years. Check the session description on the registration form to ensure that you sign up for the session that is appropriate for your child's skill level.

The normal class session will run from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm each day, which is often the physical limit for younger students. For those students who have the stamina and are interested in racing, we offer an Extended Day option for an additional fee. Extended Day will run from 2-4 p.m. each day and will focus on competitive sailing, with an introduction to racing. They will be joined at 3:00 PM on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays by our Junior Race Team members, whose practice sessions with the coaches will be on those afternoons.

The Youth Class Registration form is at http://www.cscsailing.org/2006_CSCJUNIORSAILING_CLASS_REGISTRATION.pdf.

Here's a general description of?the summer class sessions:

Session I - General Beginner/Intermediate/Advanced Sailing Class - June 5 - June 16
Open both to beginners and to those who have already taken a sailing class or who have prior sailing or racing experience. The class will be divided based on skill level.

Session II - General Beginner/Intermediate/Advanced Sailing Class - June 26 - July 7
Open both to beginners and to those who have already taken a sailing class or who have prior sailing or racing experience. The class will be divided based on skill level.

Intermediate/Advanced Race Clinic - July 10 ? 13
Open only to our more advanced sailors, including members of the CSC Junior Race Team, to prepare for Texas Youth Race Week or to receive day long race training in a clinic, team practice format.

Texas Youth Race Week - Galveston Bay - July 15-21
CSC coaches will provide on-the-water coaching during Texas Youth Race Week for CSC juniors who meet the program participation requirements.

Session III - General Beginner/Intermediate Sailing Class - July 24 - August 4 (Tentative Based on Interest)
Open to beginners, to those who already have some sailing experience and to everyone else who just wants to get in some sailing before the end of summer.

To keep up-to-date on CSC junior sailing activities, have your name added to the CSC Youth Parent email list by sending an email to ed@cscsailing.org with the subject line reading "Add me to the CSC Youth Parent email list."

RACING
Greta Mittman, Vice Commodore - Race
Sunday Race Duty
March ERC: Steve Comen
March 26 - Corinthian Fleet
April ERC: Ken Brown
April 2 - Flying Scot
April 9 - Rebel
April 16 - Easter - No Races Scheduled
April 23 - Radio Control Boats
April 30 - C15

Wednesday Night Fun Races

Start your training regimen now because Wednesday Night Fun Races start May 10th. Top five training tactics:

5. Practice laughing at yourself.

4. Practice not laughing at your crew or other competitors.

3. Practice not yelling at crew or other competitors. (Take a deep breath and count to ten, then exhale.)

2. Practice relaxing and having a cold beverage.

1. Practice just having a good time.

LEUKEMIA CUP REGATTA

The Leukemia Cup Regatta series has raised close to $450,000 since its local inception in 2002. Last year, the North Texas Leukemia Cup Regatta event raised the second highest fundraising amount in all of Texas. Please join us in our fundraising efforts this year as we smash the half million dollar mark to find a cure for leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma and Hodgkin's disease and to improve the quality of life for patients and families. You need not be registered for the regatta to fundraise - you are still eligible to earn great prizes and help save lives.

The easiest way to fundraise is to set up a personal fundraising web page at http://www.active.com/donate/leukemiacupntx. Click on "Become a fundraiser" and follow the step-by-step instructions for setting up your site. Email your website address to your family and friends, and they can donate securely by credit card on your website. It only takes a few minutes and will make a lifetime of difference for many.

In addition to fundraising, you can make a real difference by donating an auction item for an auction at CSC that will be part of the Leukemia Cup fundraising event. Your auction items count toward your fundraising goal. Anyone raising $8,500 or more will win a trip to Rhode Island for a sail on an Americas Cup race along with many other goodies.

Please contact De or Steve McCombs by email at de.mccombs@sbcglobal.net or at 214-319-7036 to donate your items. Here are some suggestions:

Airline tickets
Balloon Rides, WWII airplane rides etc.
Lake or vacation house for week or weekend
Unique settings to visit for lunch?(Last year lunch at the historic Fire Station was one of our highest bid items!)
Tickets to Sports Events
Tickets to Cultural Events
Dinners at Great Restaurants or Catered
Spa Treatments
Sailing books, supplies and decorative items
Paintings and Art
Jewelry
Wine, 99 bottles of beer, other adult beverages, & more wine
Furniture, decorative items etc.
Electronics - flat screen TVs, computers, ipods
Kid Things
Services - landscape design, kitchen design, computer services
Thank you for joining us in this celebration of our 5th anniversary.

DO NOT DEAL WITH A WOMAN NAMED DORIS

A few weeks ago a couple of officers from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department paid CSC a visit during Sunday races. In summary their message was that, for the last few years, they have handed out warnings for unregistered boats at the Club, but this period has ended and they will now start ticketing those boat owners whose boats are not registered.

According to http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/faq/fishboat/boat/registration_and_titles, the following vessels (when on Texas public water) are required to have current registration, including when docked, moored, or stored:

All motorized boats, regardless of length;
All sailboats 14 feet in length or longer or any sailboat with an auxiliary engine.
According to the same source, sailboats 14 feet and over in length must be titled, as must all motorboats and all outboard motors. Vessels that are currently registered and not titled must be titled when transferred.?

Note that it is possible to register your boat by mail, which may save you a long trip: the local office that handles boat registrations and titles is just off I-30 in Garland near Rockwall.? The link above has most of the information you'll need, but here are some more links:

Registration & Titling Requirements: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_lf_a0900_1108.pdf

USCG Navigation Center: http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/mwv/navrules/inland.htm

The article title is the heartfelt advice of a CSC member, and refers to an employee at the Garland office.?

MARCH BOARD MEETING

The board voted without dissent to not allow kayaks to be stored on board boat pads. Club policy on kayaks stored inside boats in davits has not changed: such storage is permissible.

The board discussed Directors and Officers insurance to cover the eventuality of someone suing board officers or volunteers. D & O is a kind of liability insurance geared towards suits resulting from the decision-making of officers: it does not, for example, protect against someone falling off the dock into the water and suing us - we have a different insurance policy for this sort of occurrence. Annual cost of D & O insurance is about $700. The board voted without dissent to pursue this insurance.

There was a recent catastrophic failure in the davit of Rescue 2 - the windlass broke. It has been repaired but will probaby have to be rewired.

This year's Annual Banquet will again be at the Dallas World Aquarium, but this time in a different area of the aquarium.

A proposal was made to help build a new Laser fleet at the Club, by lessening the burden of the membership and initiation fees for people joining this prospective fleet. After some discussion, the board agreed without dissent on a plan to allow prospective Laser fleet members to pay initiation, membership and boat storage fees in three installments. The enrollment period for this offer ends when the first installment falls due on Mother's Day, with the final installment due on Labor Day. We expect that 5-8 people will take advantage of this offer, which is a one-time arrangement for this fleet only.?

We've already got other incentives in place at the club to grow fleets oriented towards younger sailors: the new board boat pads being planned, and our new board pad rental policy that gives priority to active board boat sailors.

HULL OF SHAME

The first few contenders for a leading role in the monthly Hull of Shame feature have gone and improved themselves out of contention in the last few weeks. So this month the Hull of Shame feature is on Spring Break at an undisclosed location, getting tanned and fit for its exertions over the coming months. Instead, here's what would surely have been a winner from last year.??

The photo is by Diane Van Buren.?The?plant?looks?like?it?might?need some water.?

DAVIT PROBLEMS

Robert Dorrell, Davit Registrar

Here are excerpts from the Club Bylaws that deal with boat and davit ownership and maintenance responsibilities:

SECTION 6. SUSPENSION

Any member may be suspended for sufficient cause by the majority vote of the Board of Directors. The term ?sufficient cause? shall include, but not be limited to, one or more of the following acts or omissions:

(b) Failure to maintain davit in good repair and a safe, usable condition.

(c) Allowing a davit or boat pad to remain empty, or using a boat davit or boat pad solely for the storage of a boat that is not sailed.

(d) Failure to maintain boat in clean, safe and seaworthy condition.

SECTION 9. SLIP AND DAVIT OWNERSHIP

(a) No slip or davit shall be owned outright by a person who is not a regular member of the club. A slip or davit owner shall not rent, loan, or otherwise make available the slip or davit to an individual who is not a regular member in good standing of the club, except on a singular occasion.

(b) A slip or davit owner shall not rent, loan, or otherwise make available the slip or davit for an extended period of time (no more than 60 days) without written notification to the Registrar of Slips and Davits.

(e) A single membership shall not own, rent, or otherwise have possession and use of more than two (2) slips or davits.

(3) Boats kept in davits shall be raised to a height of at least one foot above the nominal lake level as measured at the lowest part of the hull or appendages.?

(j) Privately owned equipment shall cause no damage to club, or other members, property.

SECTION 10. SALE OF SLIP AND DAVIT

If a member who owns a slip or davit ceases to be a member through resignation or expulsion, that person shall have the right to arrange for a sale of such property for a period of 90 days after that person ceases to be a member and for so long thereafter as such property is not sold under the following provisions of this Section 10. .... sale may be made only to a regular member in good .... Notice of such sale shall be posted at the club facilities for a period of at least 30 days prior to the sale. The proceeds of the sale shall be paid to such former member after deduction of all amounts due the club by such former member ....

My position as Davit Registrar binds me to uphold these club bylaws - rules chosen by the voting members of CSC. Based on these bylaws, 104 of 200 davits appeared to be in violation for one reason or another. This does not count those boats with expired or missing registration stickers.

Violations included: nail heads sticking up; dry-rotted lumber; three boats in one board boat spot; seven mummified boats in inactive davits - don?t get me started.

Please take a look at your davit: knock in those nail heads, and replace those parts in need of replacement! Consider using galvanized steel parts to get five times the life for twice the cost. Let's invest wisely together and create a good looking, low-maintainance club. Register your boat. Let me know how I can help you.

Here is updated contact information for some local davit rebuilders:

Ken Brown (972) 977-4750
Arlon Fowler 214 878 5096
Michael Mittman (214) 929-3511
Ben Larson (214) 926-1852
Joe Romanowski (214) 683-1128

MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL REMINDER

Dudley Bayne, Rear Commodore - Membership

Most members have responded with their 2006 membership renewals, but there are quite a few who have not.? If you haven't sent in your renewal already, please do so very soon, so you'll get your cards before the lock combinations change.

SOME UPCOMING LOCAL EVENTS

25 March, Saturday, 8:30am CSC Storm Cleanup - we need to finish cleaning up and repairing the docks, walkways, tack room, clubhouse, junior locker, and KMD floating dock. There are lots of walkway boards missing, and other dock issues that you would expect after a flood, but hopefully we can do it all Saturday and not have to carry anything over into the Spruce-Up Day chores.

1 April, Saturday, 9am-4pm CSC Spruce Up Day - Dress to get dirty and come on down to help us Spruce-Up the Club. There are many projects, big and small, everyone can help. Breakfast and lunch will be provided!

2 April, Sunday, after the races (5:00pm if it rains): Splash Day - Splash Day kicks off our Spring and Summer Sailing Season. We will have food and drinks after the Sunday races. Our C-15 Fleet is graciously hosting this event. Come and join us to celebrate the new sailing season!

8 April, 9am - Second Saturday Shoreline Clean-up.

8-9 April, Sat-Sun - CSC hosts the "Rock-The-Rock? Regatta: Texas Sailing Assoc. Youth Circuit Regatta. This regatta will be attended by junior sailors 19 years of age and under from throughout Texas. For less experienced sailors, the Optimist Green Fleet will sail separately from the more experienced sailors. If you have never sailed in a regatta you should give it a try. Everyone has fun and in the Green Fleet you sail with other sailors your age who are just starting out. Try it once and we guarantee, you will be hooked!

21-23 April, Fri-Sun - Leukemia Cup Centerboard Regatta at CSC. See article in this newsletter.

A complete list and more details are on our club calendar http://www.cscsailing.org/calendar_csc.php.

THE MAIN SHEET YOUR NEWSLETTER

The Main Sheet belongs to each member of the club. This is an invitation to all members to submit articles about the club, regattas, meetings, fleets, awards, members, family and community. The deadline for submission is the second Tuesday of the month. Please submit articles to secretary@cscsailing.org. If you prefer, call 214-369-9037 and simply leave your thoughts in a voice mail message. An article draft will shortly waft its way to you for proof-reading. Suggestions concerning improvements to the newsletter or formatting problems?are welcome.

CORINTHIAN SAILING CLUB

Membership in the Corinthian Sailing Club is open to anyone with an interest in sailing. Club facilities are located at 441 E. Lawther Drive on the East side of beautiful White Rock Lake. The clubhouse phone number is 214-320-0841. Our web address is http://www.cscsailing.org ; a general email address is info@cscsailing.org. Our mailing address is Corinthian Sailing Club, PO Box 180087, Dallas, TX 75218.