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August 2008
Home CONTENTS View From The Bridge: Commander's Report Exec's Desk Secretary's Report Plotting the Course From the Admin Desk The Skipper's Minute Well Done! Pipe Them Aboard! Birthdays Miscellaneous Patrons of OL Save The Dates Masthead |
View From The Bridge  Commander's Report
Cdr Robert L. Chase, AP Squadron Commander An Unsolicited Testimonial !
We are now entering the so-called dog days of summer. The good news is
that those of us with sea craft, maybe, get to spend a little time
on those vessels, now and then. I had the occasion just this last
weekend, and it was an opportunity to recollect and reflect on my
training with the Power Squadron. My wife and I motored (no wind) to
Essex and spent the night at Brewer’s Dauntless Shipyard. The
weather was overcast, with threats of showers and thunderstorms, as
was the forecast for the next few days. We awoke to rain, but it
stopped, and remained overcast. We shoved off for the return trip to
Westbrook at about 11:00 am. The visibility deteriorated as we
proceeded (motored-again, no wind) down the CT River. When we
arrived at Saybrook Point, the visibility was now at around 100
feet. With the help of GPS, radar, and chart plotter, as well as
skills learned at Power Squadron classes, and practiced occasionally
since, we managed to find our way to approximately 50 feet south of
the Cornfield Point Bell. Next stop, the red Nun buoy at Crane Reef.
Again with the help of our equipment and our skills, we again made
it just about 50 feet south of it. Then to Duck Island which we just
were able to make out through the fog at about .5 miles. Nice work
and we obviously made it to our slip.
Saybrook Squadron and Wal-Mart Team Up to Promote Boating Safety On 14 June, Wal-Mart provided space at the main entrance to their Old Saybrook store for squadron members to advise and demonstrate the importance of wearing flotation devices such as life jackets when boating. Squadron members Pat Fitzgerald, Barclay Thomas, Dick Baylis, Polly Woods, and Joan Jones assisted at the booth. The Harbor News ran a two-column picture of the members at work at the booth on Page 27 of their 3 July edition.
USPS Registering MMSI numbers Modern marine radios now feature Digital Selective Calling (DSC) for routine operations and for automated distress hailing. These features can only be used if your radio is programmed with a unique code called a Maritime Mobile Service Identity, or MMSI. The United States Power Squadrons is authorized by the Federal Communications Commission and the US Coast Guard to issue MMSIs to almost all recreational boats. The USPS web site www.usps.org/php/mmsi/home.php will be your portal to obtaining an MMSI for your vessel at no charge. You can also obtain details on the USPS Marine Electronics web page www.usps.org/national/eddept/me/main.htm .The issued MMSI will be unique to your boat and must be programmed into all equipment capable of transmitting and receiving digital signals.
New Navigation Toll-free Info Line A new Navigation Inquiry Line is now available at NOAA's Office of Coast Survey if you have questions about paper charts, downloading electronic charts, nautical chart discrepancies, etc. The number is 1-888-990-6622. It is answered by a real person weekdays from 0800 to 1600, ET. Check online at http://ocsdata.ncd.noaa.gov/dr/inquiry.asp for a similar service.
Change in Outer Light Mailing Process You may have noticed a change in the postal handling of this issue. For many years, we have mailed The Outer Light under a non-profit organization third-class mail permit that resulted in substantial savings in postage. We mailed last month’s issue at 16.2 cents per copy. A substantial reduction in the size of our mailing list due to non-renewal of members has resulted in our inability to use our third-class permit―our mailing is now less than 200 copies, the minimum required to use the permit. We must change to a first-class mailing at 42 cents per copy. To compensate for the large additional expense, the Executive Committee has ordered reduction of the mailing list to the lowest possible number by mailing to active members only, one copy per family. This change is not all negative in nature, however. We will save a large annual permit fee. In addition, members should receive their Outer Light newsletter within a one-or-two day period, which will be a huge improvement in some towns where postmasters thought they could deliver whenever they could fit it into their schedule.
USPS Courses Planned The Piloting Course is planned for the winter term with Paul Forrest as instructor. The Piloting Course is the first in the sequence of USPS courses on navigation, covering the basics of coastal and inland navigation. This all-new course focuses on navigation as it is done on recreational boats today and embraces GPS as a primary navigation tool while covering enough of traditional techniques so that the student will be able to find his/her way, even if their GPS fails. The course includes many in-class exercises, developing the student’s skills through hands-on practice and learning. Topics covered include: *Charts and their interpretation *Navigational aids and how they point to safe water *Plotting courses and determining direction and distance *The mariner’s compass, and converting between True and Magnetic *Use of GPS – typical GPS displays and information they provide; setting up waypoints and routes; staying on a GPS route. *Pre-planning safe courses and entering them into the GPS. *Monitoring progress and determining position by both GPS and traditional techniques, such as bearings and dead reckoning *The “Seaman’s Eye” – simple skills for checking if one is on course.
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Save Saturday, 13 Sept for D/1 Poker Run! This is a fun day at Hamburg Cove. It includes a raft-up in the Outer Cove, a 1100 Dinghy Poker Run in the cove, and a 1530 afternoon picnic at Hamburg Cove Yacht Club in the Inner Cove. Non-boaters will be ferried from their parked autos to the raft-up. [Ed. Note: At press time, this is the only information available for this event. More information may be available for our September Outer Light.] What is a Poker Run? Last year the event was described as an organized event where the objective was to obtain the best poker hand. It was not a race, but a game of chance. Time did not matter; the best poker hands did! Each participating skipper was instructed to navigate his boat to five checkpoints for which he was given clues. At each checkpoint, after correctly answering a boating question, he received a sealed envelope containing a playing card. The vessel could be a dinghy, Sunfish, kayak, or other tender. If you did not have a dinghy, other dinghy captains would dinghy you about! The raft-up remained intact during the event. The Grand Prize winner was the person with the best poker hand, with prizes for the second and third best hands. Winners were determined and prizes awarded at the cookout!
D/1 Sail Race Saturday 9 August The District Sail Race will be held on Saturday 9 August at Pilot's Point Marina. Contact Jack Kurrus at jackurrus@sbcglobal.net for details. There will be a social get-to-gether following the race to which all are welcome – contestants and non-contestants alike. Hot dogs, hamburgers, chili, coleslaw, and soft drinks will be provided. Donation is $5.00 per person.
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* "The Skipper's Minute" is the term used for a short period at the end of an activity when the Sea Scout Skipper reviews with the scouts a particular opportunity that offers a teachable moment. 27-29 June found Ship 48 at the Wooden Boat Show in Mystic CT building a boat. MAS Epoxies sponsored the event, offering boat kits at 1/3 their retail value to area Sea Scout Ships. Three boats were built that weekend; Ship 48 worked alongside ships from Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and New London. The boat, a 15 foot Challenger Wherry is much like a Dory and seats 3. At the end of 2 full days of construction the 3 boats were christened and splashed, with the scouts rowing around the busy Mystic Harbor. A great time was had by all. Builders were Benjamin Baylis, Kate Baylis, and Will O'Hearn. If you know of a young person, age 14-21, who may be interested Sea Scouts, please contact us at essexseascouts@gmail.com --- or --- call us at 860-767-1374
The Sea
Scout Promise Well Done!
Return to Top of Page Pipe Them Aboard!
P/D/Lt/C Polly Woods, AP Membership Chairman Saybrook Squadron welcomes Cheryl A. Guzy as a new squadron member. Cheryl is a resident of Essex, living at 28 Sunset Terrace. Cheryl took the boating course during this year's winter term, and has been a sailor since 2006. She is looking forward to being an active member of SPS and helping with our activities. She works at the Westbrook post office.
Return to Top of Page Birthdays
August Birthdays Happy
Birthday
Return to Top of Page Miscellaneous
How to Cancel a DSC Radio False Alert (Courtesy of Hartford PS Bilge Pump, Lt/C Ric Manner, Safety Officer) The official procedure according to the U.S. Coast Guard: *Switch off transmitter immediately. *Turn on Channel 16 *Make a broadcast to "All Stations" giving the ship's name, call sign, and DSC number, and cancel the false distress alert. Example: All Stations, All Stations, All Stations This is NAME, CALL SIGN, DSC NUMBER, POSITION. Cancel my distress alert of DATE, TIME, NAME CALL SIGN, DSC NUMBER
He Was Not Wearing a Life Jacket! Portsmouth, R.I. (WTNH) 9 July 2008 _ The U.S. Coast Guard has ended their search for a Clinton sailor that fell overboard in Rhode Island waters Monday afternoon. Bernard Mochan, 65, was with his wife Melinda near the Sakonnet River and Mount Hope Bay in Rhode Island when a wave knocked him out of his 32-foot sailboat. "Mayday! Mayday! Please, please," Melinda screamed in the distress call to the Coast Guard. Following an extensive search for over two days, the Coast Guard has decided to end the search for Mochan. He is presumed dead. "Ending a search is a very difficult decision, but we think it is highly unlikely that someone could survive more than 40 hours in the water without a lifejacket on," said Capt. Raymond Perry, commander of Sector Southeastern New England. "We express our deepest condolences to Mr. Mochan's family and friends He Was Not Wearing a Life-jacket ! (Courtesy of the U.S.Coast Guard e-newsletter) The Virginian-Pilot 17 June 2008 by Patrick Wilson and Stephanie Lee Authorities Tuesday found the body of a New Jersey man who fell from a small catamaran during a storm Monday night off the Eastern Shore. The boat capsized due to a heavy swell near Mattawoman Creek, he said. It was reported that thunderstorms had swelled the water. The body of Richard Best, 49, of Middlesex was located at 1044 near the mouth of Mattawoman Creek on the Chesapeake Bay side of the Eastern Shore, said Lt. Cmdr. Kelley Hall of the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard began searching for him shortly after 8:20 p.m. Monday. Best was sailing with a friend, Jeanie Franks, also of New Jersey, who made it to shore near Barlow Creek and received assistance from local residents. Best apparently told Franks he was too exhausted to get to the boat, and told her to take it to shore to get help.He Was Wearing a Life jacket! (Courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guar e-newsletter and the Morning Journal staff, Vermilion, OH 14 July 08) Officials from Coast Guard Station Lorain rescued a man who had been water skiing Saturday evening. The man got separated from the boat's towline, and the three people on the boat could not find him. He was located about one-half mile north and east of the mouth of Vermilion River. He was wearing a life jacket and was not injured in the incident, according to the Coast Guard. He was located by doing a sector search, which was used because of the small search area. "He looked a little tired; he said he'd been out there for about an hour," said Boatswain's Mate 3rd Class Marco Worsley in a press release. The Coast Guard boat was assisted by the boat the man had been on, the boat of a Good Samaritan, and the Lorain Police Department Marine Division.
D1 Limerick Cruise Guide By Don Wild, Hartford Squadron, in his book "The New England Sailors' Limerick Guide". Montauk At the end of the island that's long, Montauk's where sportfishermen throng. Deep sea big ones they stalk, Great whites don't make them balk; If you catch one, you'll really belong. Block Island There's a gem of an island called Block Located 'tween Pt Jude and Montauk. It has a harbor that's just great, Holding two thousand and eight; And launches to take you to the dock.
Directions to Hamburg Cove Yacht Club: Driving North on I-95: Bear left at the end of the Exit 70 ramp
onto Rte 156 North. Approximately 5 miles north, note Tiffany Farm on the
right, (with the big silos), and the Lyme Firehouse just a short distance
farther. Just after crossing the small
concrete bridge, turn left onto a short cross street. When you come to the stop
sign at the end, you will see the HCYC, a white building just to the right on
the west side of Cove Road. Parking lot is opposite the clubhouse on the east
side of the road. Driving South on I-95: At the end of the Exit 70 ramp, drive straight ahead
for the length of Halls Road, past the A&P on the left, to the traffic
light. Turn right on 156 North and
follow instructions above. Return to Top of Page Patrons of the Outer Light
"Patrons of the Outer Light" Subscription Time The
cost of printing and mailing the The Outer Light amounts to about $1500
per year, a large budget item for a small squadron, but a very necessary
program in keeping our members informed. About a year ago, the Executive
Committee invited the members to voluntarily contribute the modest sum of
$10.00 per subscription year, (1 July through 30 June), to this budget item.
Several members contributed, and their names appear on this page in each issue. In
addition, when members of other squadrons apply for "Associate
Member" status in Saybrook Power Squadron, they are accepted with the
understanding that they will make this annual contribution to the cost of the
newsletter and other squadron mailings. New
members, who make a contribution to the "Patrons" list as they join
the squadron, are not expected to renew their subscription until the first
annual "Patrons" drive that occurs at least twelve months after their
initial contribution. So,
following the example of other non-profit organizations such as public radio
and public TV, the time has come for our 2006 SPS "Patrons of the Outer
Light" annual appeal. If you feel that our monthly newsletter is a benefit
to you, please send your $10.00 tax-deductible contribution, for the period Please
make your check payable to Saybrook Power Squadron, and mail to our treasurer,
Lt/C Joan Jones Patrons of The Outer Light (1 July 2008—30 June 2009) Thank you for helping defray our costs of publication! Bob and Barbara Bair Connie Bevis Ralph and Joan Borriello Patrick Fitzgerald Paul and Adrienne Forrest Richard Fowler Herbert Greenbacker Christine and George Gwizd Joan Jones Jim and Jennifer Reilly Dolores Loprinze, Daneen Roth Hayden Loveland John Robinson Polly and Bob Woods
Please send your $10.00
tax-deductible donations to SPS c/o Lt/C Joan Jones, Treasurer, Return to Top of Page 
The Outer Light Published monthly (June and July combined). Copy deadline: Wednesday after the first Tuesday of every month. All members welcome to submit articles. Articles may be edited for clarity and space availability. Editor: P/R/C Hayden Loveland, SN
E-Mail
Articles and opinions are those expressed by the authors and do not imply agreement or endorsement by the Saybrook Power Squadron, District 1 or the United States Power Squadrons. Articles will be edited for clarity and as space allows. Material in this publication may be reprinted in whole or in part by any other Squadron of USPS, with proper credit to THE OUTER LIGHT and Saybrook Power Squadron. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
