Newsletter

November 2003
 

From the Afterguard
By Dale Mack

What an interesting month November is.  Squeezed between Halloween and Christmas, Thanksgiving has somehow escaped the commercialization some of our other annual traditions have succumb to, and yet I have to admit that strolling the Christmas aisles of my local Fred Meyer store and breathing in the spiced scents of the season does have a way of marking the end of the sailing year for me.  Come this Thanksgiving, among the many things I will be giving thanks for, will be the wonderful 2003 sailing season, and the privilege to have shared it with so many sailing friends.

November sometimes feels like the lull before the next big push.  For example, while the boating season may have ended for all but the hardiest amongst us, behind the scenes much is going on.  For example, Fleet 20's new officers will be voted in at the Holiday Party in December, so finding volunteers to step forward is something that happens in November.  Other activities include the current Fleet Captain rounding up the perpetual plaques for Fleet Champion and Most Improved Sailor and getting them engraved with the names of this year's recipients.  Fleet 20 will also once again be represented at the Portland Boat Show in January as part of the Columbia River All Catalina Association's booth, so planning and working on the booth's display occurs in November and December.

Coming Home

Crocus, #4248, falls into that group of boats in the club that spends its winter on a trailer under a trap. Don Bateson and I pulled the boat on November 2 at the M. James Gleason boat ramp in Portland on the Columbia River.  The ramp has a shallow angle so I've always had to use the trailer's tongue extension when retrieving even if I got away with launching without it.  Another couple of ramp features to take note of is that when facing the water the docks to your left don't parallel the concrete ramp, so don't back your trailer off the ramp by following the docks once you get to the water.  The ramp does parallel the docks on the right side, which is where I like to launch and recover from.  The day Don and I retrieved the boat, the water level was pretty low and there was eight inches of sand (the remnants of a sandbar) on top of the concrete ramp near the right side docks, so we switched to a dockless retrieval method where Don drove the boat onto the trailer.  It took a little more time and effort to retrieve the boat this way (my numb bare feet can attest to it taking more time), but we finally got the boat winched snugly against the trailer.

The boat is now sitting under a tarp I tossed over it.  Rain water tends to pool between the mast and the lifelines in the cockpit, so I still need to take the bundle of 1/2" PVC pipe I purchased and create some more support for the tarp by running the pipe from lifeline to lifeline over the mast at regular intervals.  To keep the stanchions from wearing holes in the trap, I've capped each stanchion with a tennis ball I partially slit open.  The mast is supported in three places.  At the bow, the mast is supported by a rubber v-block mounted to a 2x6 that is secured to the bow pulpit.  At the mast step, a padded wooden block sits between the mast step and the mast.  At the stern a pair of 2x4's have been bolted together to form a scissors with the bottom of the legs sitting on blocks to distribute the load over the cockpit floor.  The top of the scissors has been padded to protect the mast.  I'll snap some pictures of the arrangement after I finish installing the PVC pipe.

Portland Boat Show

I'm looking for volunteers to help staff the booth at the Portland Boat Show in January.  The show runs from January 3-11, and we will be sharing the booth with the Columbia River All Catalina Association.  Those who sign-up to staff the booth during the show will receive free admission (most time slots for booth duty are 2-3 hours).  Laura and I can highly recommend this activity.  We put in a three hour duty together last year and had a great time talking to fellow Catalina owners from across the northwest.  We also had the opportunity to talk to potential new owners that Sailboats of Oregon sent our way to hear about some of the benefits of owning a boat from Catalina Yachts.  The actual sign-up sheet for the show will be coming out soon.

C22PDX.ORG Goes Live

This is the 47th issue of Fleet 20's online newsletter.   I can't believe the next issue will mark four years of dreaming up things to talk about.

When I become Fleet Captain for the 2000 season, I inherited a binder from US Sailing with hints about running a fleet.  One element the literature pointed to as being key to keeping a fleet together was a newsletter.  Since I'd already been managing the website for www.Catalina22.org since 1996, an online version of a newsletter seemed like a natural, and it had the advantage of being very low cost when compared to a traditionally printed and mailed newsletter.

The website that hosts our newsletter has been a key element in creating a virtual home for Fleet 20.  Today I'm happy to announce that Catalina 22 Fleet 20 now owns it's own domain name on the Internet, www.c22pdx.org.

 

Fleet 20 Holiday Party
By Dale Mack

December 7.  Please join Don and Carolyn Bateson as they host the Fleet 20 Holiday Party at their home on December 7th.  This popular event will start off with a potluck dinner, followed by a presentation of the fleet's awards for Fleet Champion and Most Improved Sailor, election of new officers, and will finish with a White Elephant Gift Exchange (click here for instructions on how the exchange works).  White Elephant Gifts are typically things people don't want to get stuck with, so have some fun with it.

The Itinerary for the Evening:

  4 - 5:30 pm, Socialize and Potluck
  5:30 pm, Fleet awards and election of new officers
  Dessert Potluck
  White Elephant Gift Exchange

Whose Invited: Fleet 20 members, Crew, Friends of the Fleet, and prospective members.
What: Potluck dinner and “White Elephant” Gift Exchange
Where: Don and Carolyn Bateson

2843 NE 9th Ave
Portland, OR  97212
503-460-3452
When: Sunday, December 7, 2003
4:00 - 7:00 pm
RSVP: Please respond by December 4th
  • Don or Carolyn will workout with you what to bring for the potluck.

 

2003 Christmas Ship Parade
By Dale Mack

December 7 - 20. This local tradition celebrates its 48th year in 2003.  The Christmas Ship Fleet is an all volunteer group of approximately sixty boaters from the Portland/Vancouver area.  Starting December 7th, the fleet will parade nightly for two weeks along the Columbia and Willamette Rivers. 

A schedule for the Columbia River and Willamette River fleets is available at the Christmas Ship Parade website at www.christmasships.org.

 

Newsletters of the Northwest
By Dale Mack

Checkout these links to Northwest Catalina newsletters and local racing:

 

Cruising

Announcing the 2004 Columbia River Cruise
By Dale Mack

July 31 - August 8.  Laura and I are offering to lead a Columbia River downriver cruise during the first week in August.  For those of us that race, the SYSCO One-Design Regatta is scheduled for August 14-15, so we'll be back a week before it starts.

For Laura and me, this will be our second time downriver, and unlike last year we aren't planning to go to Astoria, although it was a fabulous destination last year.  The 2004 itinerary encourages sailing between the destinations, and daysailing out of Cathlamet.  Also, Elochoman slough at Cathlamet is great for exploring in a kayak.  Here's our itinerary:

July 31 sa Sand Island – Upper Dock
August 1 su Rainier
2 – 4 mo – we Cathlamet
5 th Rainier
6 – 7 fr – sa St. Helens – City Docks
8 su Portland

 

Racing

Edgefield Plays Host to the
SYSCO Awards Banquet
By Dale Mack

On October 11th several Catalina 22 Skippers and their crews attended the Small Yacht Sailing Club of Oregon's annual awards banquet.  This year's banquet was held at the beautiful Edgefield McMenamins, in Troutdale, OR.  The dinner was nice and the company even better.

The twelve races that make up Fleet 20's official racing season are run for us by SYSCO.  Ten evening races come from the five race Spring Series and the five race Summer Series, with the balance coming from the two day One-Design Regatta in August.  The results of these races eventually determine our Fleet Champion and Most Improve Sailor. 

Fleet 20 does not provide awards for winning the two series or the regatta, but instead, the skippers are recognized by SYSCO, with the cost of the trophies being covered by the entry fee.  So who is Fleet Champion and Most Improved Sailor for 2003?  We'll announce it at the Fleet's Holiday Party and publish it in the December newsletter.  Stay Tuned.

L-R:  Dale Mack, Fleet Captain Blaine Dickason, Gary Bruner, Mike McGrath, and Terry Annis.

Just one of the tables occupied by members of Fleet 20.

 
Upcoming Events

November

  • 15, OCSA Tropical Party at PYC

December

  • 7, Fleet 20 Holiday Party and Annual Meeting

See the calendar

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The Fleet 20 newsletter is published online once a month.  Articles are the opinions of the authors and don't necessarily represent the consensus of Fleet 20.