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October 2008
 

From the Captain
By Dale Mack, Catalina 22 Fleet 20 Captain
Crocus, #8244, celtic-myst@comcast.net

Many of us will be pulling out boats this month as we prepare for the winter.  While October means the end of the season for some, others keep their boats in the water year round.

September turned out to be a wonderful month for sailing.  Between the SYSCO/Fleet 20 Cruise to St. Helens and the abundance of beautiful days for sailing, I found myself down at the boat a lot.  I wasn't the only one down at their boat frequently during the month of September.  Whether in the marina or out on river, I ran into several Fleet 20 members last month.

Awards Banquet

The SYSCO Awards Banquet is this month.  Since we race the SYSCO Spring Series, Summer Series, and the August One-Design, Fleet 20 members are typically collecting awards at the banquet.  The event is a nice excuse for a date with your significant other while you mix with the other sailors and tell stories from the past season.  This is also a nice event to invite your crew to.

2009 Catalina 22 National Regatta

The Berkeley Yacht Club will play host to the 2009 Catalina 22 National Regatta on San Francisco Bay, May 30 through June 4.  I've sailed the bay a lot.  In fact Laura and I spent the days after Thanksgivings cruising the bay one year, and spent New Years Eve and Day another year cruising.  The bay is an awesome venue for the regatta.  Even if you aren't a racer, you should consider attending because the sailing is that good.

 

OCSA Awards Party!!
 

 

Saturday, November 8, 2008
Portland Yacht Club
1241 NE Marine Dr

6pm Cocktails ● 7pm Dinner
$25.00 Per Person ● $35.00 at the door

Dress Casual
Trophy Presentations
 Live Music
 Door Prizes ● Great Food

ALL SAILORS INVITED
(not restricted to OCSA members only)

 

 

 

SYSCO Awards Banquet,  October 18
By Dale Mack

The Small Yacht Sailing Club of Oregon (SYSCO) will be holding their annual awards banquet on Saturday, October 8th.  Traditionally a combination of dinner, door prizes, sailing awards for SYSCO sponsored events, and an evening of dance, the banquet is open to skippers, crews, and guests.

Where: Portland Yacht Club

Date & Time: Saturday, October 18th, 6’ish

Cost: $25 per person ($35 at the door) includes dinner, fun and live

Music: provided by the Miller Brothers Blues Band

Awards: If you earned one

Door Prizes: If you’re lucky

 

Racing

Looking Back on the Results
By Dale Mack

I want to thank all the skippers and crew that came out to make Catalina 22 racing in 2008 an enjoyable experience.   It was great to watch everyone's skill improve over the course of the season.

SYSCO Spring Series

    4-17 4-24 5-1 5-15 5-22 Total
Skipper  Boat 1 2 3* 4 5  
Dale Mack Crocus 1 1 - 1 2 5
Don Woodhouse Togarty 2 2 - 4 1 9
Scott Ferre Promiseland 3 3 - 3 4 13
Weston Becker Celeste 5 DNC 4 - 2 3 14

*Note:  The 5/1 race was abandoned by the race committee due to a lack of wind.

SYSCO Summer Series

    6-5 6-12 6-19 6-26 7-10 Total
Skipper  Boat 1 2 3* 4 5  
Don Woodhouse Togarty 2 1 - 6 DNC 1 10
Weston Becker Celeste 4 4 - 1 2 11
Dan Dugan Harmony 6 DNC 2 - 2 3 13
Scott Ferre Promiseland 3 3 - 6 DNC 5 17
Dale Mack Crocus 1 6 DNC - 6 DNC 4 17

* Note:  The 6/19 race was abandoned by the race committee due to a lack of wind.

CYC Summer Series

    7-24 7-31 8-7 8-14 8-21 8-28 Total
Skipper  Boat 1 2 3 4 5 6  
Don Woodhouse Togarty 1 1 1 1 2 2 8
Dale Mack Crocus 4 5-DNC 2 2 3 1 17
Dan Dugan Harmony 2 2 5-DNF 5-DNF 1 4 19
Weston Becker Celeste 3 3 3 5-DNC 5-DNF 3 22

 
Cruising

St. Helens Cruise Report
By Dale Mack

On September 6th Fleet 20 rendezvoused just downstream of the mouth of the Willamette River at daymark "39" and got underway for St. Helens by 11:15 am.  With a well earned reputation for some of the best winds on the Columbia River, the journey from the Portland to St. Helens was once again a fabulous sail.  The Fleet 20 cruise to St. Helens coincided with the SYSCO cruise to the same destination so we were sailing in the company of lots of other boats.  The Catalina 22's on the cruise included:

  • Celeste, Weston Becker and Family
  • Togarty, Don Woodhouse
  • Crocus, Dale Mack & Don Bateson
  • Beginner's Luck,

Concerns about the light winds at the start of the sail slowly gave way to excitement about the improving conditions.  Aboard Crocus, Don Bateson and myself were having a great time.  Don was at the helm and I adjusted the sails.  As is typically when heading downriver to St. Helens, the wind really picks up in the afternoon.  About two miles from St. Helens we decided to reef the mainsail.  We'd been sailing long legs upwind which commonly took us near the banks of the river.  Normally this isn't a problem, but when Don accidently tacked the boat near the lee shore without enough forward speed, Crocus stalled and we were blown aground.  Making matters worse, the wind blown swells were bouncing us on the keel.  As Don started the motor I dropped the sails.  Each swell would lift the boat and drive us a little further aground.  I asked Don to man the keel winch as I took the motor.  Knowing that if we raised the keel the boat would end up in shallower water, I decided to time our departure with the incoming swells.  As the next swell lifted the boat I went full throttle on the outboard as Don winched up the keel.  We were free!  Once back in deeper water we remounted the rudder that had popped out of the gudgeons during the grounding, hoisted the sails, and we were off again.

Our final destination was the city docks just below the old courthouse in St. Helens.  As folks arrived, out came the chairs, tables, and appetizers.  The high winds at the end (blowing in the mid-twenties) was the talk of the afternoon.    At least one other boat had also run aground (a Newport 28) and many had stories of gear failures or exciting tacking maneuvers.

Sunday morning greeted us with a beautiful day.  I walked around St. Helens taking pictures of the town and then met back at the boat with Don to prepare for the trip home.

If you haven't been to St. Helens in a while, consider giving it a try.  The old town area is always changing, and the number of eateries is expanding.  Everyone I spoke with had a great time.


The Westons aboard Celeste
 		  
Fleet 20 at the city docks
 

Sunday morning.
 		  
Homes overlooked the river
 

Shops		  
Courthouse

 

Sailing Home from St. Helens
By Weston Becker, Celeste #6550

I made it home safely after my leisurely sail got very interesting about 3:30 p.m. as I neared the railroad bridge.  After sailing wing-on-wing for the first mile or so, I got up the nerve to raise the spinnaker. I sailed dead-downwind (to avoid the hassle of gibing - although I did have to do about four gibes, each one involving about three trips to the foredeck...) all the way up to the railroad bridge.

The last stretch got dicey with the fishing boats, barges, swells, and other traffic.  But I managed to get through the gauntlet.  Then in about the space of a quarter mile the wind shifted from WNW to almost DUE EAST! I held on with the spinnaker as long as I could (practically flying it close-hauled, wow!) thinking it was just turbulent, fluky air coming around the grain elevators and the bridges... But NO. It kept on coming. The wind had shifted 180 degrees! So as I was bearing off as much as possible (and the lee shore was coming up fast) I rushed up and doused the spinnaker (its a lot easier to HOIST the spinnaker solo, then douse it, ouch).  The boat spun a couple 360s in the process. Then I sailed close hauled through the bridges and hit a wall of east wind after the I-5 bridge. Wow. Gusty, strong, weird wind. Needless to say, it was a workout.

I was thoroughly wasted when I pulled into the marina at 4:30 p.m. I hadn't had a bite to eat since 8:30 a.m.  I was sunburned, dehydrated, hungry, exhausted, but totally thrilled to have completed my longest non-stop solo sail.  I don't think I would have had the confidence to do that had I not raced this year.

I hope everyone else's sail home went well.  See you on the water.

 

Technical Tips

Synthetic Chamois
By Dale Mack, Crocus, #8244

The synthetic chamois called "The Absorber"  holds more water and absorbs faster than towels or real a chamois.  The Absorber when moderately wet leaves your surfaces wonderfully dry.  I've used the product for several years and I just love it.

After you're done using it, just fold it in half, roll it up wet and tuck it in its plastic storage tube.  I've always put it away clean and have never had a problem with mildew or odors.

The manufacture claims:

  • Absorbs three times faster than chamois

  • Unharmed by grease, oil, and solvents

  • Machine washable

  • Resistant to most chemicals, detergents, ammonia, etc

  • Resists tearing and shredding

I can attest to the product's durability because I'm still using the same cloth I received as a gift from my sister more than eighteen years ago.  The Absorber is sold in many automotive stores, as well as places like Walmart, Kmart and Target for around $15.

 

Catalina Newsletters of the Northwest

 

Checkout these links to Northwest Catalina newsletters and local racing:

 

Upcoming Events

 

October

  • Banquet:  18, SYSCO Awards Banquet

November

  • Party:  8, OCSA Awards Party at Portland Yacht Club, open to all sailors

See the calendar

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The Fleet 20 newsletter is published online once a month.  Articles are the opinions of the
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