Monthly Reports

September weather was sort of hit or miss so it was an opportunity catch your breath and get ready for a rip-roaring October.  Those who attended the annual meeting and BBQ at the Swallings’ foothill home were treated to a fun and relaxing afternoon.  We made over $200 for the squadron’s kitty thanks to Neil’s masterful auctioneering.

You then had a several week gap to fit in your summer vacations. Hope you logged some nice trips either on the water or terra firma.

The weather gods finally smiled on our Thursday Evening Rally, September 27 delivering a mild 10-12 knot breeze and a gentle swell for our run for the oil platforms.  We were beginning to wonder if this idea was going to float (pun intended) but after the last scheduled one of the season, I know it’s worth repeating next year.  It’s a very nice way to get folks who don’t currently have a boat comfortable with the idea of obtaining one.  I’ve observed that the conversations during the event are often questions and answer sessions between our seasoned mariners and the novice guests.  Invariably the discussion involves our many boating courses and the interest shown by the novices is encouraging.

The current boating course, Engine Maintenance, being taught by Pete Seagoe (owner of M/V Seagoer) will have its fourth session on Tue Oct 2.  With a classroom nearly filled to capacity with students, it runs for 10 sessions into November, so you can imagine it is a comprehensive course.

October starts off with an Anchoring Seminar by Mike Pyzel.  His style of mixing instruction with amusing stories is a perfect blend which complements the culture of our squadron.  Don’t miss it Thursday, October 4 at 7:30pm in the Waterfront Classroom.

Patrick and Alyssa have been preparing S/V Althea for months and are ready to head out soon.  Please join them for a Ledbetter Beach BBQ Bon Voyage Party.  See flyer in this issue for details.  Their event happens 3pm to sunset, just prior to our Anchoring Seminar that evening, so come to their event then pop over to the seminar.

That Thursday evening seminar is quickly followed that Saturday, October 6 with a return of the tradition of a Saturday dockside brunch at slip Q4.  The location, while it’s a good stretch of the legs to get there, is perfect for a dockside party as the restroom is right at hand and the dock has considerable space for a crowd with very little pedestrian traffic to worry about.  Of course it’s another opportunity to tour the vessel that circled the globe from 2011 – 2017 if you haven’t had the chance.  Please RSVP to Virginia by Thursday, Oct 4.

Next is the Harbor & Seafood Festival on Saturday, October 13.  I still need some help to man the booth from 11am to 1pm.  That’s a perfect time to do the most people-watching and to sample the fresh seafood dishes that are being offered.  Avoid the parking problem by parking at the SBCC parking lot which will be open for the Wags & Whiskers Festival that is happening on the SBCC West Campus.  Put in a few hours at the harbor and then walk up to the West Campus lawn to enjoy the dogs, cats, bunnies, birds, and reptiles being showcased.  Please let me know soon if you can fill this shift.

Not currently on the calendar but certainly an option if weather permitted would be another Evening Rally at the end of October.  Perhaps we could hold it on the weekend for those who had conflicts during the week.  I will send out a notice later in the month to test if there is any interest.

As always, if anyone is headed to the islands and wants some company, let us know and we’ll put out the word for you.

I am not a person who loves meetings, but the Annual Meeting is an exception. It was held Saturday, September 9, on the Swallings’ spacious and comfortable patio high above Santa Barbara. Before the actual meeting, we had mimosas, Neil and Sue Ablitt’s special homemade beans and garlic bread, BBQ chicken and tri-tip, a variety of salads, dessert and coffee. Thank-you to everyone for bringing something to share, with special thanks to the Swallings for opening their home to us. Special thanks also to Ron and Vicki Slocum for the mimosas, Neil and Sue Ablitt for beans and bread, and Rich Ciolino for doing the BBQing — and who must have felt cooked himself after two hours before the flames in the warm, if not hot, sunshine. Our Commander, Dennis Johns, led the brief meeting, at which time Doris and Will Swalling were presented with the District 13 Duncan Gleason Award for their outstanding work on the Signal Hoist. The meeting was followed by the often suspenseful, but not-to-be-taken-seriously-at-all white elephant auction! Thank you Neil for being our very entertaining auctioneer. We had lots of laughs and fun that raised over $200 to assist in funding our yearly activities.

 

Our next get-together will be the Dockside Brunch. It will be Saturday, October 6, at 10:00AM, on the dock by the John’s boat, S/V Libertad, in Marina 1, Q4. I know that Virginia Johns, point person for this event, has emailed a flyer giving all the details. Hope to see you there!

      

 

Seven students took the take-home exam for the Piloting class and turned them in on the 21^st for grading by National.  They were graded with all students getting passing grades – congratulations to all.

The Engine Maintenance class is underway and we have 25 students enrolled including 12 new members.  Pete Seagoe is conducting the class.

The next ABC class is scheduled in the Marine Center Classroom on Wednesday nights beginning October 24.  Due to other scheduling conflicts and the Thanksgiving holiday we couldn’t get five consecutive nights so there will likely be a gap of three weeks from November 7 through 21.  That could change depending on the size of the class and the availability of the smaller classroom.  

All in all our education staff is keeping pretty busy – If you have any questions or suggestions feel free to contact me at rdciolino@cox.net or 805-682-4543.  Sail safely!   

Anchoring Techniques During an Emergency: What should you do if your engine stops while underway?  Your response depends upon basically how close you are to grounding or drifting into something, and your troubleshooting capability.  While at sea large waves could expose you to broaching, or at least make it difficult to troubleshoot your problem.  If necessary, deploying a sea anchor at sea would allow the boat to position itself in a stable position, that is, with the bow of the boat facing into the waves and/or wind.  If the possibility of grounding or striking an object exists you should deploy your anchor to put the boat in a stable position.  Once in a stable position you can look into the problem and make a decision about how to deal with it.  Options could be fixing it yourself, calling a Tow Service, calling the Local Harbor Patrol, or calling the Coast Guard, even if only to let them know that you are dead-in-the-water and are working on the problem.

If you have any questions or suggestions feel free to contact me at rdciolino@cox.net or 805-682-4543.  Sail safely!   

Hope you have RSVP’d for the September 8 Annual Meeting & BBQ.  Will and Doris have again offered up their beautiful home in the Santa Barbara foothills to host this event.  Their home has a wonderful view and patio to accommodate a large crowd.  The food and camaraderie is great and the afternoon highlight is the mystery gift auction MC’d by the very entertaining Past Commander Neil Ablitt.  (No meeting on Thursday September 6^th.)

As usual, August has been a great month for boating activities.  In this newsletter, you will find reports from members who cruised to Santa Catalina and San Miguel last month.  Also as usual, in these reports you can expect a little bit of adventure which may happen every time you toss off the docklines.

Political race predictions have come under careful scrutiny since the 2016 election and weather predictions have yet to gain the status that meteorologists would be eager to claim.  The initial reports for the August 30 Thursday Evening Rally were to expect mid-channel wind at 20+ knots out of the west and 4 ft swell.  Rich and I discussed what would be the best approach for this kind of weather forecast, especially as the event called for the inclusion of crew who may not have had much experience with those conditions.  We thought we could hug the coast and stay out of the worst of the blow.  When we gathered at the Marina 1 gate, it became clear that the predictions were significantly off as we looked at the breakwater flags barely floating to 5 knots or less from the southeast.  Another Thursday Evening Rally stymied by strange anomaly weather –well I guess it can’t be called an anomaly if it keeps happening.  Nevertheless, three boats left the harbor with 11 people aboard and spent the evening searching for wind that never materialized.  See further details by the participants in this newsletter.  Maybe September?

I now have 20 followers of my Meetup Group which is called “America’s Boating Club Presents Stories from Local Boaters.”  In addition to promoting our Fun & Entertainment meetings on Edhat and Noozhawk, I use Meetup to promote these evening presentations.  I encourage all our squadron members to join Meetup and select our group for getting updates on upcoming events.  In addition to the updates you’ll receive, you will be helping to promote the squadron by virtue of the number of followers.  As people are looking for fun activities to participate in Santa Barbara, they will be inclined to attend our Fun & Entertaining meetings when they see that we have 50 or more members following us.  There is no cost to joining Meetup and you only get updates for the group(s) you select and when a new group is created.  Please go here to join: https://www.meetup.com/cities/us/ca/santa_barbara/

Fun and Entertainment meetings return on October 4 when Mike Pyzel makes a return appearance with an Anchoring Seminar that not only will take the fear out of the activity for you but will also instill a sense that no one gets it right all the time and each time is just another learning experience.  Of course if you never give it a shot, you won’t ever learn much.  So mark your calendars now and show up early as his presentations are as knowledgeable as they are entertaining.