Commodore
By Ralph Ahseln, C27, Oblio
I hope you all had as much fun as we did. For the 10th year Oblio and crew tied up at the City Docks at St Helens. A good place to be on Independence Day.
Watching the parade of characters makes the event all the more joyful. Locals and visitors, fishermen and just plain folks all are walking the docks. Some of them make you wonder how they have managed to stay alive.
Sorry to write a bit of negative here, but it is amazing that more children don’t fall in the water and drown. Setting on my boat for 3 days I watched well over 50 kids from toddler to pre-teen, running stumbling and just being kids on the docks. With the speed of the current well over 1 knot I’m sure none of the parents realized how quickly a little body could be swept away.
My friend of many years comes to the St Helens event with Kids life jackets he has picked up at yard sales and swap meets. He approaches any family and offers the life jackets to them. They may keep them or return them he doesn’t care. You would be amazed at how many Adults yelled at him, Threatened him and just generally gave him a bad time for interfering.. My gosh. Talk about “Road Rage”. There were some who borrowed, returned and thanked him. It made it all worthwhile to Mark, my friend.
It got me thinking ... Why not?
I propose that ALL we CRACA members pick one or two KIDS lifejackets and when we see a kid without one, GIVE it to them. So it cost a couple bucks, what’s that to a human life?
How about it?
OK End of Rant
Communications
Since there is no CRACA meeting this month the newsletter or email or landline phone is the only line of communications. Please contact me or any of the other officers if you have news, comments, gossip or anything you feel could be of interest to the membership.
Please keep in contact. We are interested.
Cruises and Gatherings
June 22-23. Thanks to Verner and Renate Bittner for what I understand was a very successful cruise to Ackerman Island.
June 29. Columbia Crossings (Hayden Bay, Tomahawk and Columbia Crossing Marinas) hosted an “ On the Dock” BBQ for all their members and although there was a mix-up in communications had invited CRACA to attend. I apologize for not sending out the info earlier. We did have eight CRACA members in attendance.
Put this one in your To Do list for next year. We have tentatively agreed to Co-Sponsor next year’s event. John the Dock Master is planning a bigger event. At this stage we are not committed. If we do Co-op it will likely be only to help cook and serve and probably help in getting the word out. No money involved. This sounds like a DEAL to me.
July 20-21. Sandy Island Cruise. This is a “ NO HOST “ cruise to a spot most of us have never been. So if you feel like joining us to explore and are a bit adventurous. Join us.
Sandy Island is a little upriver and across from the Kalama City Marina, and I understand it’s a favorite spot for the locals. It is supposed to be a good anchoring spot. Bring your best hook and a dinghy.
August 17-23. This will be the BIGGEST cruise of the season. Don’t miss this one! A Double Whammy. This is a cruise upriver into the Columbia River Gorge to Beacon Rock. Some of us may continue up river to lock through Bonneville Dam. So put this one on your short list. More information will follow.
Close
Have a safe summer and keep in contact.
UW Uniform Whiskey “Have a pleasant voyage” (International Code of Signals PUB 102)
Past Commodore
By Michael Lewis, C42, Wind Raven
The “Hakken-Kraks” howled again and there were many arms that got sore and sneakers that did leak (Courtesy of Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You’ll Go!). But with the few “weather” exceptions, it was a great class and a special thanks to the Oregon Women’s Sailing Association for teaching the class. But it did blow, rain, thunder, lightning and even sucked lines under boats.
The morning at North Sails was classroom lecture, video, slides and demonstration. After the great lunch on the boats, the hands-on sessions began. Each boat had an instructor and victim in immersion suit in addition to the students. All are given an opportunity on the dry dock to play victim and rescuer.
Here are few pictures from the dock practice. Some make-up sessions for those of us that got blown off the water are still scheduled to finish the on-the-water sessions.
The steps that were drilled into everyone, over and over and over is the Lifesling Overboard Rescue System Mantra!
- Man Overboard!
- Quick Stop
- Deploy Lifesling
- Circle Victim
- Quick Stop
- Drop Sails
- Pull Victim in/cleat off
- Rig block & tackle
- Hoist Victim Aboard
We have hopefully been in the Gulf and San Juan Islands for few weeks or so when you read this. Somebody has to do this, wish you could be with us. Several Catalina’s will meet us at Sucia Island including the Brown’s, Peoples’, and Freeman’s but you know how cruiser’s plans change.
Fair Winds and Favorable Currents
From the Commodore's Salt Shaker
By Ralph Ahseln, C27, OblioFrom time to time I will add to the newsletter Items, links and just general chat. I hope you enjoy them.Compare or be Square
If you have always wanted to compare your boat to another IE; Comfort, Displacement, Capsize etc., this page will let you compare several types and models with your boat or you can enter your own figures. Want to see the difference between a C30 and a Cape Dory 30 or your C27 against a C270 ?
Sail without Water
Here is a downloadable sailing simulator that is kind of fun. You can change boat types (even to a submarine) or conditions and scenery. A free download demo is available at:
International Code of Signals
Always wanted to know the meaning of the Red and White flag on the mast of those Big Ocean going vessels you see on the river? Or want to display some ... ahhhhh ... rather "interesting" flags on your own boat? This link is a copy of the International Code of Signals (Flags and Morse Code) US Printing office PUB 102. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader (free download) to read the files. It's easy to do. Check it out.
Anyone have some good sites they would share with us? Send them to me and I will make sure they are posted in the newsletter.
Membership Distribution
By Dale Mack, C30, Celtic MystCurious about how the different Catalina models are distributed across the membership? The following graph is a quick view of the data.
When Knowing How to Dive Counts
By Julie Higgins, C320, OdysseusI am amazed after 30 years of being Scuba dive certified it can still come in handy and count when accidents happen. On Memorial Weekend it was our first day at Martian Island, we were setting up our boat for a fun and relaxing weekend at anchor. As always we removed the wheel from the pedestal and tied the wheel to the lifelines on the foredeck. Attached to the wheel is our Autohelm 4000 drive unit, it has been with the boat for 3+ years. Well I guess the water gods were hungry this day, in a split second the drive unit was on the bottom of the Martin Island log pond. Of course a few choice words were said, and then what to do. We knew it was an important item and possibility an expensive one to replace. We had to go to the bottom and find it. We were lucky it was only 15 to 17 feet down, and we knew we had to dive for it.
On board we always have a mask, fins, snorkel and a wetsuit. We also had two cell phones with a good signal and the marine phone directory. One call was made to Rodgers Marine to find out the replacement cost and the possibly viability of the electric drive motor if it were found. After finding out the cost we decided it was worth it to find the unit. Since we were close to St. Helens we called A&D Yacht Service with two questions. Do you know anyone in St. Helens who rents air tanks? Answer No! Do you know anyone in the area who can help; we are dive certified and need a tank? Andy, I have a tank you can borrow." Borrow", I said, I can't rent the tank? No Liability.
So to make a long story short, we took our dingy to St. Helens and borrowed the tank. The drive unit was found on the last dive and two days later it was plugged in and operating just fine. Thanks to Andy at A&D Yacht Service in St. Helens for the loan of the tank, and the savings of $550.00.
Key elements of our success was having a Scuba Dive Certificate and still remembering how to dive, a Yachting Directory for local phone numbers, and a functioning cell phone.
26th Annual Northwest Catalina Regatta
By Walt & Marilyn Wittke, C27, Senior MomentsJune 29, Shilshole Bay, Seattle. The event was sponsored by the All Catalina Association of Puget Sound (CAPS). Steve Malan, Commodore of the Seattle’s CAPS fleet, and I have been communicating for some time as to a possible cruising exchange with our two clubs. Before a club exchange we decided to try it among ourselves first. Steve and I plus our wives have never met until the day before the event even though Steve and I have communicated by email and phone several times. Steve and Sue have a Catalina 27. Steve and Sue were the best hosts. We want to sincerely thank them for their hospitality and an excellent fun filled weekend. We are deeply indebted. They went all out.
I think all of us would agree that the benefit to belonging to a sailing club is first the friendship gained. Secondly, we had the opportunity to try some new waters and learn first hand from their experience. Thirdly, we picked up a lot of new seamen tricks from Steve plus other ways to rig our boat. Marilyn has already started using Sue’s suggestion to use the hatch covers between the cockpit seats for a small table for “happy hour.”
Skip Meisch, a C22 single handled sailor, (his wife doesn’t sail but was at the BBQ dinner) has the ultimate in single handed rigging- all controlled from his cockpit. You should have seen the series of jam cleats, 4 or 5 on each side of the hatch door. (Bill Simon- there are still ways you can modify your boat- don’t give up yet!). Skip modestly said he had gotten many of the ideas from C22 magazines and other sites on the web. I believe his creative mind of organizing them played a great part. Some of his specialized rigging included a line system that allows him to control the tiller from anywhere on the boat even when he is on the fore deck! He at times employs the use of his auto helm too! Another system he has on his boat is an endless halyard system that can either lift the hanked-on-jib sail or bring it down---all from the cockpit, thus eliminating the need of going on the fore deck- an idea that I definitely will try. Since he single-hands his boat in races, even in heavy Seattle winds, his reefing system consists of one line off the boom leading through the normal reefing points ending at jam cleats on either side of the boat. From the one side of the cockpit he can reef the main sail nearest to the mast, then on the other side of the boat he can reef the aft reefing point. Another feature was the port and starboard boom preventers that also can be adjusted from the cockpit. He had more…but I can not remember all of them. Skip, thanks for the very clever ideas.
The event was held at the impressive Corinthian Yacht Club. There are about 1500 boats (mostly sailboats) in this marina. It was quite impressive for this small town boy. Many sailors came from several locations around Seattle and beyond including members from their sister club the Catalina Association of Tacoma and South Sound (CATSS). Many drove to Shilshole Bay to crew for others or just to be part of the BBQ dinner. The committee boat was a new Catalina47 skippered by Carl, owner of Admiralty Yachts. Of course it was parked next to the clubhouse for all to drool over. You should see the size of the winches! They make my winches look like toys! Carl said he would make us a special deal! The sunset view from the clubhouse overlooking all the sailboats would surely impress you if nothing else does! It was worth the trip by itself.
Anyway, the plan was for us to meet at Shilshole Bay at 10:00 am Friday June 28. We had arranged for a nearby motel. Malans turned out to be a delightful couple with 3 children: Jessica, Michael, and Thomas. We left our car at Shilshole Bay and drove in their mini-van to their moorage at Port of Everett. The weather was iffy, cloudy but no rain when we started. The three-hour motor trip turned out to be wet and rainy. Just liquid sunshine but fortunately our wet gear made it bearable. But what a day can make in the Northwest! Saturday was sunny and windy (20+ knots). Wind waves 2-3 feet with small wind caps. Sue doesn’t like extreme heeling so she helped prepared the food for the group dinner and from time to time watched from shore. At some points all she could see was the mast of their C27 sailboat, “JOY RIDE”. There were three races. The committee boat was anchored just beyond a parked barge since they could not start races in the shipping channel. The fleet of 25 or so boats was divided into two groups: small boats C22-C30s - larger fleet above C30 - C42 had second start. The larger boats started just five minutes after ours so there were lots of boats at the start line. Can you imagine all the sailboats fighting for position - weaving between the anchored C47 committee boat and the barge in a small area next to the shore and sea wall- and all the boats going different directions? Strong winds –generous wave action---and the parked barge always kept coming up---IT WAS A “THRILL-A-MINUTE”! (Craig & Julie Beck-- you would have just loved it!) And to make it more interesting, the decision for the designated race-course was decided on the committee boat and posted on a small chalk board minutes before the race began. Marilyn had never raced before. In the first and second race, Marilyn held the “rail meat” position as well as Thomas. Jessie, on the fore deck was an excellent spotter-- gave excellent hand signals. Without her it could had been a real disaster. Thomas was also on the deck but at times he liked the cabin better so when he got bored he would go down below to take a nap! Great kids. Walt was jib crew but after two races got tired. On the third race Marilyn took over crew and I did very well in the weight department as “rail meat”! Steve was at the helm all three races, which lasted all day. If Steve had a better crew we would have done better- sorry Steve. Two other boats ran aground on the sand bar. One got off immediately. The other had to wait until the tide came up at about 6:00pm. Tide tables are very important – 12-15 feet daily!
The award dinner was fun. We all had great “war” stories to tell. Great hamburgers. Great raffle. I even won a 35mm camera. I usually never win anything at raffles.
Sunday Steve, Sue, Marilyn and Walt headed back to Everett with flat seas. Very light wind astern. 5 n. miles out (about ¼ the way to Everett) we encountered 3 English blokes fishing in their small runabout, their motor cover was off, and waving a red rag. Their motor wouldn’t start. No radio. No cell phone. No anchor and just a short 10-foot line for a painter. No life jackets seen. If they had them, I bet they would be hard to find and oily. They asked us to call the coast guard for them for a tow. The coast guard asked if they would accept a commercial tow but the victims wondered if it would be more than $100- the boat was definitely low budget. So looking at the situation Steve decided to tow them back to Shilshole for the karma. They were truly thankful but didn’t bring out the salmon they enticingly offered before the tow. However, Steve has unlimited beers at a pub one of them owns nearby! Aren’t sailors great people?
Next year (I assume our club is invited) I highly recommend that at least a few of our members attend their 27th annual, even if you just drive up for the day. The camaraderie, food and everything were superb---a great weekend.
Oregon Boater Education Card
By Ralph Ahseln, C27, OblioOregon state boaters will, starting in 2003, be required to pass a test to satisfy the requirements of the “ Mandatory Boating Education “ law of 1999.Try these sample questions :
The Oregon Boater Education Card exam is a short quiz touching on seamanship, navigation and operation of a vessel, with several questions concerning operating Personal Water Craft.
Each month, I'd like to provide samples of some questions that you might encounter on the exam.
1. You should use a _____ fire extinguisher on a gasoline fire.
a. Type A2. When two powerboats or PWC are approaching such that they will meet in a crossing situation, what best describes what should happen?
b. Type B
c. Type C
d. All of the above
a. Boat B is the give-way boat3. Oregon law requires that a PWC slow to _____ or slower when approaching within 100 feet of a powerboat or sailboat.
b. Boat A is the give-way boat
c. Boat A is the stand-on boat
d. Neither boat is the stand-on boat; both boats should keep to the left
a. 25 mphCheck your answers in the "Booklet" at:
b. 20 mph
c. 15 mph
d. 10 mph
Cruising
Cruising Chairman
By Jame M. Eleiff, C30, FortuneHello members of CRACA. There are several outings planned for this summer, and I'd like to encourage your participation. We typically plan these outings to avoid crowds, so we can enjoy being together, and sharing ideas about what we have done to our boats to make them more comfortable and fun for cruising.
I'm sure some of you have found some really neat places to go for a weekend or even a week. How about sharing some of your cruising experiences with us.
The Catalina is a great boat and I know we are all proud to have one. An important addition that we did to our boat was to put a three blade prop on it , sure works great under all conditions . Let's show up and share things together That's what being in a club is all about . See you soon. James M. Elieff, Cruise Officer, elieffmaan@yahoo.com, 503-626-6559.
Epilog to the Martin Slough Memorial Day Cruise
By Walt & Marilyn Wittke, C27, Senior MomentsMay 24-27. Many of you have told us that you enjoyed the Memorial Weekend Cruise. I want to especially thank Mark and Diane Ohlson (C30 D. L. Always) for their non-wavering support and enthusiasm. Without the Ohlsons, Marilyn and I could not have pulled it off.
To begin with, there were seven boats rafted together, a fun group:
- Simons, C270, Windswept
- Wittkes, C27, Senior Moments
- Ohlsons, C30, D. L. Always
- Thomas, C30, Sunchaser (with their teenage grandson, Brandon and friend Brian)
- Meyers, C34, Shekinah
- Teeters, C42, Camelot
- Wigens, C42, Ursa Minor
Two other boats anchored out, but motored over in their dinghy throughout the day.
- Tom Peterson & Julie Higgins, C320, Odysseus
- Lawrence, C320, Katrinka
The St. Helens contingent was also present:
- Knight, C320, Voyager
- Howell, C34, Romari
- Smith, C34, Hotspur
Non-members Benny and Debbie Harrison drove down in their car from Cathlamet. Bob Teeter picked them up in his dinghy. In the afternoon Sarah & Roger DeVal C30 came over in their dinghy to our raft from the Tomahawk Yacht Club. It was fun visiting with all of them. Like all cruising events the club provides, it doesn’t matter how many boats show up because the fun is joining the people present. Fun can be had by all no matter whether we have two boats or twenty. If you haven’t attended one, maybe next time.
Saturday evening a progressive picnic was provided on the boats with barbecued hot dogs, chile, side dishes, and layered white cake. John Meyer had laryngitis and couldn’t speak but his paper plate with string around his neck said it all: “Laryngitis - can not speak. Annie’s OK.” For the first part of the trip, Annie was also under the weather - they were real troupers to attend under their condition! They both recovered nicely. Mexican train and Rummy Q were played after dark for those who wanted.
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| Mark Ohlson (in dinghy) and Walt Wittke deliver breakfast and the ship's morning newspaper |
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| The log pond at Martin Island |
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| Cheering on the dinghy races |
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| Simon, C270, Windswept and | Ohlson, C30, D. L. Always |
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| Bill Simon, C270, Windswept |
Save Martin Slough
By Ralph Ahseln, C27, OblioAs many of you know the US Corps of Engineers are proposing to deepen the Columbia River Shipping channel. The plan is to dredge to a depth that will allow larger ocean going vessels access to the Portland Metro area.
Whether you agree with the plan or not there is an issue all of us should be aware. What is to be done with the dredged materials, sand and mud? This issue will affect us all in many ways and one in particular calls for immediate action on our parts. One of the dumping grounds being proposed is Martin Slough and the Martin Island Bay inside. The proposal is to fill the area with the dredging. It would be a shame to loose the use of this location. It has been so much a part of river sailing .
What can you do?
Write, Call, or email your congressperson and let them know your feeling on the proposed use of Martin Island for dumping the dredging.
As the commodore of CRACA and representing the membership from both states I will contact both Oregon and Washington federal and state representatives. As your representative I ask for YOUR feelings on this subject. I am personally opposed to the Corps thinking, but I will wait an appropriate time before sending our response pending an email or phone response from the membership. This is an important issue so please do respond.
Thanks,
Ralph E. Ahseln
Commodore 2002-2003
Pickup Cruises
By John Meyer, C34, ShekinahIn the last newsletter, Dale Mack provided the itinerary for his upcoming Delta Cruise and invited anyone interested, to join in. I think this is pretty cool. Not necessarily CRACA planned cruises but more simply, "hey, here's where I'm going - if you're interested in doing the same or part of, let's connect". A CRUISING CORNER for the newsletter. Sort of a clearing house for journeys. Yeh, you get the idea. Ok, whether you like the concept or not, here's one more invite. Annie and I are again heading down river and up the Washington Coast to Westport, the week of Aug 3 - 11. It's about the best this 'non-retired, gotta work' couple can do. If you might have any interest in part or all, get in touch. John Meyer, jsmeyer@comcast.net.
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.
