Commodore
By Michael Lewis
We are doing great as the Columbia River All Catalina Association, pushing 40 plus members, exceeding even our expectations for the first year. I think that the events planned for this year will be great and I look forward to this exciting new year, the real next millennium. Each of us during the dreary winter can start to mark your calendars for the events planned and make a commitment to help out at the events. You are the ones to make it successful. Lead a short cruise, everyone will help you out, gain experience.
I am looking forward to leading a couple boats offshore up to Westport or even further to Barkley Sound for the bravehearts! Another fun event will be the Delta Cruise and the Upriver Cruise. Not to mention the Rendezvous in September.
For those that have not seen the Association's Album, you are missing out. La Donna Bubak and others did a magnificent job. I have made sure that everyone I talked to at the Boat Show looked at it. GREAT JOB, La Donna.
Nominating Committee for 2001/2002 Officers
The nominating committee consisting of Bill Simmons, Walt Whitke and Julie Beck met on December 28. Some recommendations will be brought to the next board meeting but in the meantime if anyone is interested in having a lot of fun by serving on the board, please contact one of the committee members.
January Meeting
By Michael Lewis
- Take NW 185th Street Exit.
- Drive approximately two miles to Springville Rd.
- Turn right onto Springville.
- Rock Creek Campus is 1/4 mile, on the left.
- Note: there's a charge for parking at PCC campuses.
The speaker is Hugh Brock, and the subject will be " Diesels, their and care and feeding." For those purists that would not speak the word if their mouths were full of it, IRON GENOAS.
There will be a short business meeting, followed by the presentation, adjourning to the Cornelius Pass Roadhouse since the journey is so far.
All are welcome to come.
Check the map out at www.pcc.edu/pcc/dma/rockcreekmap.htm
February Meeting
By Michael LewisFebruary 28. MAN OVERBOARD! Over FIVE HUNDRED BOATERS DIE every year from drowning, most don't have life jackets on. If that doesn't get you, hypothermia will. The 50-50 "rule" emphasizes the rapidity with which hypothermia can occur. You only have a 50-50 chance to swim 50 yards in water at 50 degrees F. Another "50" rule says a 50-year old person has only a 50-50 chance of surviving for 50 minutes in 50 degree F. water.
Serious Stuff! Pick me up soon or even better sooner!
Appropriate to do during the Valentine's Day season. You won't get your hugs and kisses if one of you are lost overboard and not retrieved. Stay tuned, for location and speaker at the next meeting on February 28th at 7PM.
Secretary/Treasurer
By Kathleen LewisJim and Marlene Himes, C28 R-Time3, manning the booth at the Portland Boat Show.
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| Jim and Marlene Himes, C28 R-Time3, manning the booth at the Portland Boat Show. |
We presently have 37 member boats with others joining or expressing interest in joining as they visit our booth at the boat show.
Please welcome these members who have joined since the last newsletter.
Bob and Darlene Brown
Portland
1996 - C38 - OCEAN PSALM - moored at Port Hadlock
Scott and Jane Brattebo from Vancouver
1977 - C27 - DIVERSION II, moored at Hayden Bay F10
Tom and Connie Betts from Portland
1974 -Morgan 41 - STAR GAZER, moored at Westport, OR
Michael McIntyre from PortlandBurgee
2000 - C380 - IO, moored at Tomahawk Bay - H row
Kathleen Lewis, Secretary/Treasurer
17535 Monnier Road, NE
Hubbard, OR 97032
(503) 981-7467
Safety Focal
By Michael LewisI know that many of you needed to find a place to spend more money and what better way than on SAFETY...
BoatU.S. To Provide Free DSC Radio Registration
Identification numbers for DSC, a new radio technology that makes it much easier to help boaters in distress, are available online at BoatUS.com, or by telephone, fax or mail. With 515,000 members, BoatU.S. is the largest organization of recreational boaters in the world.
DSC is part of the global transition in maritime distress communications from voice calls (on channel 16) to digital communication. For DSC radios to work properly, their owners need a valid FCC ID number (called a Maritime Mobile Service Identity or MMSI) which registers their boats' information in the Coast Guard's national distress database. As neither the FCC nor the Coast Guard had the budget or staff to begin registering DSC radios that in the future could number in the hundreds of thousands, BoatU.S. stepped in and offered to get the job done at no cost to the government.
"This new public-private partnership demonstrates what can be done when we work with the federal government to create programs that will benefit the entire boating community," said BoatU.S. President Bill Oakerson. "We took the lead on this and, although the government allows a fee to be charged, we decided that BoatU.S. should totally underwrite this service because DSC radios have the potential to save many lives within a few years. We also wanted to protect our members from what could have been a steep fee, had the government simply turned the function over to a commercial provider," he added.
DSC radios have been on the consumer market for several years and, in 1999, the FCC began requiring all new models of fixed-mount radios to be equipped with the DSC feature. DSC's major advantage lies in its ability to send an automatic mayday which not only identifies the vessel (by the MMSI) but also gives its location when the radio is connected to a Loran or GPS. Should the skipper become disabled, a DSC radio will continue sending a mayday. Commercial ships have been required to monitor the DSC-reserved distress channel 70 since 1999.
"It's important for boaters to understand that the Coast Guard is not yet monitoring Channel 70 for DSC maydays, and may not be until 2005-6," said Elaine Dickinson, BoatU.S. assistant vice president for government affairs, who spearheaded the work on the MMSI agreement with the FCC and Coast Guard. "However, there have already been instances where commercial ships required to monitor the DSC-reserved channel for distress calls have relayed DSC maydays to the Coast Guard," she said.
Recreational boaters on U.S. waters have not had to have an FCC ship station license since 1996, after BoatU.S. successfully lobbied for three years to reverse the tide of high government fees for minimal services for boaters. "The license fees became a deterrent to boaters putting two-way radios on their boats," said Dickinson. "We realized that forcing boaters back into licensing, at a cost of $120 simply to obtain an MMSI ID number, would undermine the life-saving purpose of the registration system."
DSC has another use available now to boaters as well as commercial vessels. With an MMSI number, one boater can make a "private" radio call to another DSC-equipped vessel. Only the radio number called will receive the transmission. This is especially useful for vessel operators who want to contact another vessel without their calls being broadcast.
To register, Dickinson said, boaters may go online to BoatUS.com and click on "MMSI." Once the registration form is accepted, their MMSI numbers will be issued electronically. Boaters may also e-mail BoatU.S. at MMSI@BoatUS.com. To ask questions or get a registration form by phone, call 800-563-1536; completed forms may be faxed to BoatU.S. at 703-461-2840 or mailed to the BoatU.S. MMSI Program at 880 S. Pickett St., Alexandria, VA 22304.
Cruising
Valentines Day Cruise - The Quay
By Michael Lewis
Hors d'oeuvre sharing on the Commodore's Wind Raven on Saturday afternoon. BYOB or drink what we have left. For those adventurous souls wander around downtown Vancouver holding your loved one's hand. As an added attraction, Sea Bear will have a coming-out reception. Sea Bear is the Commodore's latest addition to Wind Raven. Guess which one he is?
St. Patrick's Day Cruise - Canoe Bay (aka Grandma's Cove)
By Michael Lewis
More next month. We will have something Irish going but the Irish have not told us what that is yet. Any ideas, volunteers, corned beef and cabbage, green beer??? Short hike up to Damon's. Who wants to be the cruise host on this one?
Local Sailing Associations
- SailPDX (hosted by Oregon Corinthian Sailing Association, OCSA)
- Small Yacht Sailing Club of Oregon (SYSCO)
- Oregon Women’s Sailing Association (OWSA)
- Portland Yacht Club (PYC)
- Rose City Yacht Club (RCYC)
The Columbia River All Catalina Association newsletter is published online once a month. Articles are the opinions of the authors and don’t necessarily represent the consensus of the Association.
