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Year 2008 Overview
Kendall M. Cranston was elected as the thirty-seventh Squadron Commander. Our Squadron conducted public boating classes in both the spring and fall. Members of our Bridge attended the District Change of Watch in Greensboro and the Fall Conference in Atlantic Beach. It was an active year for the Bridge with twelve executive meetings and twelve family night activities all carefully planned by Lt/C Lorraine Ryan. Our October family night was again the Past Commanders Pig Picking. Under the direction of P/C Phillip A. Benson, the Squadron made the Co-operative Charting Honor Roll for 2007 with Phil Benson and Clay Helm receiving individual awards. Boating activities included two cruises, one on Memorial Day weekend to Columbia and Elizabeth City and another on Labor Day weekend to Holden Beach. We also participated in a joint rendezvous with the Tar River and Pamlico squadrons. Our six Vessel Safety Examiners completed forty inspections. Eighteen members received Merit Marks and “The Coastal Plains Signal” received the “Distinction in Journalism” award. We celebrated the Holiday season and elected the incoming bridge at our Christmas Party held at Rib Hut in Wilson. The incoming bridge subsequently attended the Winter Council meeting in Durham for training in their new positions.
MONTHLY COMMANDER'S MESSAGES
February 2009
I am here to tell you that the best way to get a boating education is through the United States Power Squadron. Part of that education comes through District Meetings. Six members of our Squadron attended the Winter Council at the Hilton Hotel in Raleigh Durham on Saturday 17 January. Along with general USPS information passed on from District Officers, we learned something about weather forecasting web sites from a NOAA official, about incoming and outgoing Commanders duties, about new Educational Programs including Boat Operator Certifications, and we learned about the D5/D27 Cape Charles VA Rendezvous. I received some extra education by meeting incoming DEO George Malindzak who completed the Great Loop a few years ago and incoming Shallotte Commander Lorenzo Johnson who is currently on the Great Loop. They gave me several worthwhile tips that made the trip to Raleigh worthwhile. It was interesting to hear George Malindzak, SN say that his trip on the Great Loop used every skill he had learned from every USPS course.
SEO Clay Helm has ordered the brand new Americas Boating Course materials for our public boating course starting on 24 February. This book has a new format that will allow us to conduct a basic course and then continue with interested students by teaching a more detailed look at navigation skills including plotting a course using digital charts. We will need instructors to become familiar with the new presentation before the course starts.
This will be my last message as Commander. The year has moved quickly. It has been amazing to see all the effort put in by Bridge Officers and squadron members. Their work on hundreds of little tasks makes the commander’s job easy. Actually, many squadrons have begun two-year terms for commanders and I think this is a good idea for future commanders. I thank all the Bridge for their help this year. In spite of being a small squadron, we were able to do most of the activities of the largest squadrons and with Phil Benson’s leadership are among the nation’s leaders on Cooperative Charting. If we keep working, maybe we can attract some new members this year and get more people involved. I will be around for a while before Kaye and I leave on our Great Loop trip mid April. We are planning to come back for the Past Commanders Pig Pickin so we will not be gone all year. In addition, we plan to keep a blog up to date with pictures and reports about the Great Loop trip.
I hope you will come to the Change of Watch. We have dedicated members of the squadron who will be assuming the responsibilities of the bridge after 14 February and I am confident that 2009 will be a great year for the Rocky Mount Power Squadron.
January 2009
In the last couple of months, the boating magazines have been filled with tips on winterizing your boat. Certainly, in North Carolina a boat left out of the water over the winter needs to be winterized. Water systems, holding tanks, and all the various seawater plumbing and drains need to be emptied and then preferably flushed out with an anti-freeze solution. Boats left in the water have an advantage since the mass of the surrounding water does not freeze and keeps the boat slightly warmer than freezing. Since my boat is still in the water down at Beaufort, I find that simply leaving a little heater on-board set at a low temperature is sufficient to protect the pipes. Bowie Gray always recommended using a 60-watt light bulb controlled by a temperature switch and set to come on at 40 degrees. On his boat, this would supply enough heat in an enclosed space to keep systems from freezing. Heaters or light bulbs all work as long as the power stays on. Therefore, no ice storms this year please!
Since the calendar year is ending, we should remember the members that have passed away during the year. This year we had some long- time members leave us. These include P/C David Abel, AP; P/D/C Joe Hardee, SN; P/C Robert Sheridan, AP; and we also lost Debbie Kornegay, wife of member Robert Kornegay. They will be missed but not forgotten.
In the events for January, you should note the District Winter Council meeting in Raleigh Durham, 16-17 January. If you have not been to a district meeting this is a convenient one to attend since you can drive over that Saturday morning. Be sure you register for the members’ lunch before you go and join us there. Also in January is our family night. I have agreed to present a picture show of the Chesapeake Bay. Kaye and I have enjoyed two trips to the Chesapeake Bay on our boat HIGHER GROUND. Each lasted about 6 weeks and we explored many of the towns, rivers, museums, and interesting sites to see along the eastern and western shores of the bay. Many of these places we had seen by land but they take on a different look when you see them by water. Come learn about things to see in the Chesapeake Bay on 5 January.
Nelson and Ondra Gainey have a blog telling the story of their trip to Florida that includes pictures also, {http://thelastboat.blogspot.com}. This nudged me to look at the pictures we took on our trip from Tampa to Tarboro that I reported on in the August 2007 Coastal Plains Signal. I thought I had taken many pictures but upon review, I realized that we had only a few and not enough to do a presentation. I now recall that the trip from Ft. Lauderdale was without a hired captain and our new big boat seemed huge and just driving the boat took all my attention. In my mind, there was not much time for pictures. It was kind of like white-knuckle tunnel vision. That reminds me of the first time I raced at Road Atlanta in a car capable of 170MPH. That first session I did not even have time to look at the gauges. It was tunnel vision all the way around. However, after training and experience I gradually was able to slow down what was going on around me. Boating is now more like that. I have gained confidence in handling the boat and have more time to enjoy the ride and take pictures. Which reminds me I, I miss being on the boat. Let us go take a boat ride! Boating is fun I’ll show you how.
December 2008
Thanks to the Past Commanders for hosting the squadron at the Exchange Club in Sharpsburg. The barbecue and food was great and the desserts brought by members were delicious. All had a great time. I still have some barbecue in my freezer from the several bags I bought at the auction. It should be a good winter meal with a little Texas Pete. Thanks to P/C Steve Boshart for organizing this event and thanks to all who contributed.
There is great worth to meeting with other squadrons. A great opportunity to do this within District 27 is the District Meetings as the one held 31 October - 01 November at Atlantic Beach. Meetings with District and Squadron Commanders allow an interchange of ideas, activities and concerns. A general topic session brought us up to date on issues under consideration at the national level. From National (represented by P/C/C Ernie Mashburn) we learned that while there has been discussion about an organization name change, as you would expect if you answered the e-mail survey that many members received, there is no plan to make a change or even a consensus on what name would be better. Obviously, the USPS name emphasizes only power while many boaters are sail, kayak or canoe boaters. Many squadrons have partially taken care of this by including Sail in their name. One debate is whether national marketing of the organization is significantly hindered by the limitations of the name. Anyway, there are strong opinions both for and against a national name change but I would not expect a change any time soon.
The Boat Operator Certification was another topic at the District meeting. The main limitation to certifications here in NC is that the nearest boating skills certifier (the hands on proof of your seamanship) lives in western South Carolina. Until we get a certifier in NC, we probably will not be able to get the complete certification. In addition, the hands-on demonstration for the Inshore Operator, which is the first level, requires that the test be conducted on a 26’ or less boat. Therefore, if you own a boat larger than this you will have to beg, borrow or steal a smaller boat to do the demonstration. Two members of the Cape Lookout squadron are actively working to complete all their requirements so they are the guinea pigs for the District right now.
The Boating Class finished in October and all five people that attended the course passed the test. Thanks to SEO, Clay Helm for organizing the class and thanks to all the instructors.
I look forward to the Christmas party on 13 December at the Rib Hut in Wilson. This is a different location for us and with a less formal dinner, we should be able to talk and enjoy the evening. I hope I will see you there.
November 2008
It is late October and Kaye and I are just about to complete our Fall Chesapeake Bay cruise on HIGHER GROUND. The cold weather and the thought of Past Commanders barbecue will bring us home. We had a great trip bouncing between the Eastern and Western shores of the bay. We visited three Maritime Museums, so we now have a good idea how you catch crabs and oysters and some of the African–American contributions to the Chesapeake Bay communities. The Trawler Fest Show in Solomons, MD was interesting, partly because I met some District 5 USPS members. They had a booth and a trailer at the show. Both were well presented and had a fantastic promotional and educational tool. The VHF radio panel in their booth could be used to explain DSC calling. The trailer sported numerous safety devices for boaters. I will give Phil some pictures for a later article on these D5 resources.
I also learned about the activity the Northern Virginia Sail and Power Squadron were conducting. Since they are close to Walter Reed Hospital, the squadron has been offering boat rides to Wounded Warriors (Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans). The boat rides lasted most of a day and went from their homeports to various locations in the northern areas of the Chesapeake. With a complete dinner party following the day on the water, the veterans were treated like royalty. The average stay at Walter Reed for returning warriors is 18 months. This activity has become one of the favorite recreational activities for our soldiers...another community service from a USPS squadron!
It is always surprising to run into someone you know out on the water. While bouncing along down the Neuse River heading back to our homeport in Beaufort I got a call from P/C Nelson Gainey. He an Ondra was right on my starboard beam and called to see if that was really me on HIGHER GROUND. Nelson and Ondra are heading for Florida on their sailboat. They had just left Jordan Creek that morning about 30 minutes before Kaye and I left Pungo Creek just north of the Jordan Creek. They plan to spend the winter on the east and west coasts of Florida and will come back in the spring. They send greetings to all the squadron members.
Thanks to XO, Dave Bock for conducting the October Bridge Meeting while I was cruising. The date and location for the Christmas Party are set. Yes, Christmas is coming rapidly. It should be fun, so I encourage all to come out and join us on 13 December at the Rib Hut in Wilson.
October 2008
Isn’t it nice to have friends! Our squadron has great friends in Bobby and Lynda Brown. They did a wonderful job of hosting our squadron at our third annual Holden Beach Labor day weekend. Two days of boating and three nights of great eating made for a wonderful weekend. There were a couple of boats that took an opportunity to get some night time navigation aid practice. Attending from our squadron were Chris and Cathy Payne, Robert and Barbara Bruner, Clay and Wilma Helm, Steve and Bonnie Boshart, and Kaye and me. Many thanks to the Browns, for planning and hosting our group.
World voyages have always held a fascination for me. While I will never do a single- handed around the world trip like Joshua Slocum did in 1895-1898, I still enjoy hearing from those who have done off-shore sailing. Lt/C Lorraine Ryan and I attended the September Tar River Squadron Family Night meeting. John Doar presented a wonderful story of his circumnavigation of the southern hemisphere on his 39’ steel sailboat with his wife, Normandie. John Doar presented a pictorial tour of the most interesting places he visited. Since John was my JN instructor the first time I took JN, I expected him to use very detailed charts to plan each leg of his voyage. It was a shock to see pictures of him pulling island destination, lat and lon’s, from a tee shirt and a plastic blow up globe. Apparently, while voyaging, it is easy to get charts of where you are but hard to get charts for where you are going to the west. John found that the tee shirt and plastic globe had surprisingly accurately plotted islands. I guess it worked because they made it back to Washington, NC in 2005.
Our squadron public boating course started 09 September. We had four students on the first night and will have one more for the rest of the course. This year our curriculum is Boat Smart which will cover the basics of boat operation and safe practices.
Sign up for the 31 Oct - 1 Nov D27 Fall Conference by 15 October. The meetings will be held at Atlantic Beach and are hosted by the Fort Macon Squadron. The RMPS Past Commanders Pig Pickin is scheduled for Sunday 26 October at Sharpesburg. Please come enjoy good barbecue and fellowship. We have invited other squadrons so we hope for a big crowd of hungry boaters. Kaye and I are coming back early from our Chesapeake Bay cruise to eat barbecue.
September 2008
After listening to Chris Payne list all the work he completed on his Tarboro house I feel that the projects I have completed on my boat, HIGHER GROUND, would be just a few hours work for Chris. Nevertheless, for several months I have been busy changing and upgrading systems on our American Tug to get it ready first for our fall cruise to the Chesapeake Bay and later our Great Loop Adventure which we plan to start next April. I have been buying spare parts, improving the charging system, adding lines and anchors, and most important to Kaye improving the Satellite TV reception. Between West Marine, Boater’s World and Hamilton Marine I have kept my credit card fully charged. It does seem like a never ending to-do list but I am now about 80% complete. I wonder if a boater ever gets 100% complete with his/her boat to-do list?
We’re still in the midst of the heat of summer but several members had a “cool” time at the joint rendezvous at Pamlico Plantation with the Tar River and Pamlico Squadrons along with several District Officers in attendance. Rocky Mount attendance included the Paynes, Paetzels, Cranstons, Helms and Lt/C Ryan. The Pamlico Squadron was a great host and all had fun and ate too much. Your Commander even got to warm up his old trombone lips on a couple conch shells.
Our next squadron outing will be at Bobby and Lynda Browns’ at Holden Beach over Labor Day weekend. This event comes early in September (actually starting in August) since Labor Day is on Monday, September 1. The event, which may have occurred by the time you read this, has been a great success in past years and there are three days of socializing and traveling planned.
For those that missed the August Family night you missed a funny and interesting presentation from Luke, a North Carolina Wildlife Officer. He related experiences with boaters and hunters that had us all laughing at the brazenness or maybe stupidity of some of our citizens. Thanks to Lt/C Lorraine Ryan for an engaging program.
A special thanks to Lt/C Kelly and Lt/C David Bock for hosting seven boating course instructors at their house and providing a great summer meal of hot dogs and hamburgers before Dave conducted the Instructor Recertification Course. We now have all of our Boat Smart Course instructors certified so we are almost ready to start. SEO Clay Helm reports that the Boat Smart Course will begin 9 September at ECC Rocky Mount. This course is shorter than our normal Squadron Boating Course so the whole curriculum will be completed in four weeks including the test. We then should have some follow up seminars in the fall to offer members and Boat Smart graduates. The year is flying by!
August 2008
For many years, I participated in motorsports that carried a degree of danger. These have included motocross racing in the 70’s, car racing in the 80’s and 90’s and again last summer a dirt bike ride through the 14,000 ft. mountain trails of Colorado. Through all this Kaye never worried too much about my safety because she knew I used and wore the best safety equipment. Safety equipment is important on boats, too. As our members perform Vessel Safety Checks, they look for the normal required gear. I have found that electronic gear like chart plotters and radar can also be important safety equipment. I affirmed this during our June cruise to the Alligator River Bridge to conduct Cooperative Charting. On Friday night, our boat was anchored 9 miles south of the Alligator River Bridge. As the winds died down to switch directions about 0600, we were enveloped in smoke from the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge Park fire. The smoke was so thick that visibility was reduced to 100-200 yards. As we left the anchorage and headed for the bridge, I could use my chart plotter to guide our way back into the channel and with the radar was able to pick out some small fishing boats to warn with our horn. We were quite secure in knowing where we were, where we were going, and where other boats were.
Then on Sunday while returning to Beaufort, dark clouds alerted me to check the weather radio which reported a storm around Bogue Sound and heading northeast with heavy rain and small craft warnings. It sounded like we were headed right into a severe storm and I started to consider alternate courses to avoid the storm. Then I remembered that the radar will show rain. With the range cranked up to 24 NM I could watch the rain radar return superimposed on the chart plotter and tell that at our current speed we would arrive in Beaufort after the storm had passed and that we would then pass east of a second storm headed Northeast. Therefore, we continued our voyage as planned with the knowledge of where the severe weather was and where it was going. Our electronic safety equipment added to our comfort in voyaging.
If I had completed the Marine Radar seminar, I might have been quicker to use radar to monitor storm paths. USPS has this one and another ten seminars that can be presented to members and the public. We are tentatively planning at least two seminars to follow the Fall Boat Smart Course. We could present seminars on Knots and Lines and Charting with GPS. We would want to present some education to Boat Smart graduates that would keep them involved with us and add to their education. Our Boat Smart course will start September 9 with four weeks of classes with the last week also covering a review and test. We have a few instructors that will need recertification and Lt/C Dave Bock will conduct that training. Clay Helm, JN has agreed to take over the SEO position. I am excited to have Clay’s experience in this position and he is actively working with an education committee to plan our courses.
Upcoming events include a joint rendezvous at Pamlico Plantation with the Pamlico and Tar River Squadrons on 16 August. We believe there will be at least 3-4 couples there including HIGHER GROUND. Planning for our Labor Day weekend outing at Bobby and Lynda Brown’s place at Holden Beach is well underway. Start making your motel reservations now. We always have a great time down there. Come out with us.
Lt/C Lorraine Ryan has planned an interesting Family Night with a Wildlife Officer on 4 August. Y’all come.
July 2008
If Oriental is the Sailing Capital of North Carolina, Seattle and NW Washington must be the boat manufacturing capital of the US. Numerous boats and boat hardware are manufactured within about a 60 mile radius of Bellingham, Washington. While on a trip to Seattle to visit our daughter in May we took some extra time to go up into Northwestern Washington and into British Columbia. The highlight of that trip was a visit for the first time to Tomco, the company that built our American Tug “Higher Ground”. Being an old manufacturing guy I had to have a tour, so I enjoyed the full factory tour of the plant and even got a handful of replacement drawer parts for two that had broken on my boat. They showed me how they did the hulls, cabinetry, and wiring. I also got a tour of the brand new unfinished hull of a 49 ft American Tug. Outside of the plant we ran into a fellow American Tug owner from Chocowinity that we met at a rendezvous last fall. They had purchased a new 41 ft from the factory to replace their old 34 ft. and were finishing outfitting it before heading to Alaska where they plan to spend two summers on the boat before shipping it back to North Carolina. What a great trip the voyage to Alaska will be!
After Tomco we spent four days at Trawler Fest for education on topics such as, boating in the North West, use of radar and NEMA 2000. The next five days took us on ferry rides. All together Kaye and I rode five Washington State and British Columbia ferries including one from Anacortes to Sidney, BC (through the San Juan Islands), and back to the Canadian mainland and hopping down the west coast of the mainland of British Columbia. For more factory tours I visited Diamond/Sea Glaze (the manufacturer of our boat’s doors and window) and the factory for marine alternator manufacturer, Balmar. Factories nearby that I did not visit included Magnum & Xantrex (Charger/inverters) , Blue Sea (electrical switches and parts), Comano & Nordic Tug (trawlers), and many more famous names. Truly a manufacturing hotbed.
Back in North Carolina we have the D27 Rendezvous at Lake Wylie on 21-22 June and a joint rendezvous with Pamlico and Tar River Squadrons at Pamlico Plantation, Washington on 16 August. Put those on your Calendar. By the time you read this the squadron will have done a Coop Charting weekend at the Alligator River. And soon it will be time to think about fall education courses. The public boating course is set to start Tuesday 09 September. We think we will teach Boat Smart this time rather than the whole Squadron Boating Course. We hope to follow up Boat Smart with a public Seminar on GPS and Charting. If you have an opinion on using Boat Smart let us know. I don’t think we have taught just Boat Smart since about 1999 but since we can follow it with one of the excellent new seminars we should be able to provide a complete education to new boaters.
Summertime is here and temperatures have climbed to 100 degrees. It is still a great time to be out on the water showing our burgee. Remember - Boating is Fun I’ll Show you how!.
June 2008
If you missed the May Family night you missed a fascinating presentation by Bob and Mary Sitton about their charter boating vacation in the Abacos in Bahamas. We enjoyed the picture presentation of the island paradise. What a relaxing lifestyle!
My current trip has taken Kaye and I to Seattle, Washington where I am writing this report. Our daughter’s apartment overlooks Lake Union which is just north of downtown Seattle. For one of our activities we took a driving tour of the city followed by a “boat ride” on Lake Union - all on the same vehicle. It was a wheeled vehicle with amphibious capability - a World War II Duck. It was strange to just drive right down the boat ramp into the water and keep going. The lake was calm so the freeboard of about 3 feet was adequate. I can’t imagine moving through heavy surf like the WWII GI’s did on some beach landings.
Phil Benson and I attended a Cooperative Charting Training at Norfolk the first weekend in May. Although sponsored by the Virginia District, there were many people there from North Carolina and New Jersey. Although there wasn’t much new for Phil, It was good for me to catch up on the latest methods of recording and reporting chart data back to USPS and ultimately NOAA. We have progressed quite a bit from when I first participated in Co-op charting using just a depth finder, a chart, and a pad of paper to record readings. Also of interest was the public education that several squadrons were doing through short seminars. The seminars have been an important outreach and member growth success story. Our squadron will be trying to advertise and present some this year.
The Squadron has some great events coming. Co-Op charting weekend has been rescheduled to June 14th at the Alligator River. We should have a big complement of boats showing up but can use more help. There is always room for more. By the time you read this the Memorial Day rendezvous may have already occurred. Cathy Payne and Lorraine Ryan have planned some interesting activities for this Albermarle Sound weekend.
Enjoy the summer weather and remember “Boating is Fun … We’ll Show You How!”
May 2008
I took my own advice and did some boating at the end of March. I took my 24’ Bayliner down to the Pamlico River for a checkout of all the systems while I get it ready to sell. With Al Paetzel and another friend we put in at the State Wildlife Ramp west of Washington. The channel out to the Tar/Pamlico River is not well marked until you reach the main channel of the river so we used the “brail” method going out and returning. That means we motored until the depth gauge yelled stop and then tried another path as we searched for deep water. Not quite what I had in mind for the checkout but we had great weather and a nice cruise out to McCotter’s Marina and back. I just wish I did not have to take my prop to Ray Brown (Just Blades) after every time I go out!
Speaking of shallow water, there is some hope for increased funding for dredging the intercoastal waterway in North Carolina. In our state the waterway generates a $500 million impact on the economy. The State of North Carolina has allocated $4.0 million in 2008 for dredging. Based on funding approved by Congress and signed by the President there is $5.49 million designated federally for NC. Specifically, the Army Corp of Engineers is slated to use $4.5 million on the Intercoastal in NC, not counting other dredging funds for Wilmington Harbor and ocean inlets. Georgia and South Carolina have depth problems probably worse than North Carolina but those states are also realizing the economic impact of the Intercoastal and starting to address the need for dredging.
One way that we as a Squadron can address the ICW depth problems is through Cooperative Charting. The main way we contribute is via depth readings that we determine while on the water and then document. These are used to update charts and to determine where more detailed depth surveys need to be done by NOAA. There is a D27/D5 information and training meeting at the NOAA facility in Norfolk on 3 May. Everyone is invited although the deadline for registering is supposed to be 25 April. RMPS has a Cooperative Charting day planned for 07 June. We need members and members with boats to come help. Our Cooperative Charting Chairman, P/C Phil Benson, JN has proposed doing an upper section of the Alligator River, so we may get to see some new areas.
USPS has introduced some exciting new Education Programs that are mentioned in the Education Report. The Educational Committee has had an initial meeting to begin our planning and we will communicate these plans with the Squadron in the next few months.
April 2008
The weather is warming and it is beginning to be excellent boating weather. The planned 08 March Co-Op charting outing was cancelled due to bad weather which brought high winds with rain, although the rain was welcomed by our part of North Carolina. We are starting to see more warm days and nights. As I write this I’m preparing to head down to my boat in Beaufort to finish some engine maintenance work, re-hook up the water pump and get the system re-filled. We should be ready to start some trips in April and I am making a list of possible trips for friends to whom I have promised a cruise. Spring boating is almost here, so get your Vessel Safety Check before venturing out. The bridge is starting to make plans for cruises and parties. We also have invitations from the Pamlico Squadron for a joint rendezvous so we should have plenty of activities for 2008.
All the Squadrons in D27 have installed their new Commanders in a Change of Watch ceremony. On 14-15 March several members of our Squadron attended the District 27 Change of Watch at Greensboro. Chris and Cathy Payne, Clay and Wilma Helm, Glen and Patricia Daughtridge, L.M. and Margaret Barnes and Kaye and I attended and had a great time at the Friday night Pirate Party. The Helms and Paynes helped with food and decorations for our joint hospitality room which represented the life and voyages of pirate Henry (John) Avery. Chris Payne played the role of pirate so well that he even grew a full beard to complete the realism of his costume for the party. Apparently, the pirate role was a one time engagement because the beard was completely gone by Saturday morning. Saturday breakout sessions included a session discussing some exciting new plans for Educational Department Boat Operator Certifications that we will talk about in the months ahead. These District meetings are a chance to find out what is happening in USPS and I encourage members to attend one District Meeting each year. At Greensboro we were fortunate to have new Chief Commander Creighton Maynard, SN who presented in his Texas twang information from the National Bridge. He is excited about what we have to offer but wants to make sure that all squadrons emphasize the “fun” part of boating.
The Boating Course, which has nine students enrolled, will wrap up in April with the final test. Instructors, bridge officers and others have presented the advantages of Squadron Membership so we are working hard to encourage these students to join our fun group. Remember our national slogan – Boating is Fun … We’ll show you how!
March 2008
Twelve years have past quickly. That is how long I have been a Squadron member. I am amazed at what I have learned over that time and how I have progressed from inexperienced and “boatless” to being able to travel all over the East Coast in our own boat. As I start this year as your Commander I think back to some of the people that influenced me to be a part of this Squadron. I listed three in my comments at the Change of Watch. My first influence was Captain Ron. No, he’s not a real person. Captain Ron was the title of a movie that came out in 1992 while we were still living in Ohio. This story of a family that inherited an old sailboat, restored it, and sailed around the Caribbean all with the help of Captain Ron (Kurt Russell) was like a new world to someone like me. I had lived in landlocked windy Oklahoma or cold Northern Ohio for most of my life. The movie planted a seed of the possible and a bigger warmer world to explore. If you haven’t seen “Captain Ron” rent it and enjoy their adventure and mishaps. However, I think our Squadron’s social and boating activities can be as much fun as “Captain Ron”, so if you haven’t participated lately come out with us and see for yourself.
The squadron has started the Spring Boat course with 9 students. Lt. Cdr. Mary Vann Sitton, P has done a great job of publicizing the course and is giving them a good “sell” to explain why they should join the Squadron. But whether they join or not, they will be safer boaters when they finish.
Thanks to Steven Boshart for a great year. I look forward to another fun year in 2008.
Details of all these activities are presented in articles throughout this website and in our monthly newsletter, The Coastal Plains Signal.
Please send comments to P/C Phillip A. Benson, JN, Webmaster, at: philbenson.phil@gmail.com
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Page updated 15 March 2009