Konza Sailor, June 2004, page 6

I'm pleased to report that the new work barge has thus far performed beautifully, but we have been working several bugs out of it. To date four moorings have been pulled and serviced and each one gives us more knowledge on how to best tweak the barge in order to maximize productivity.

The board of directors authorized the purchase of a Warn 12 volt utility winch rated at 3700 lbs. The new winch has been mounted on the barge frame and Bob Mullen and I tried it out by servicing the Commodore's mooring. We figured that if our new system was going to fail we would at least be able to report that we sank the barge while checking the Commodore's tie up. Fortunately, the new winch worked very well and the barge is still afloat.

We should be able to service five to six moorings each morning when the weather cooperates. It is rather difficult to pull mooring weighs when the wind is only slightly less than gale force, which seems to be the case fairly often this year. Once the weight is lifted off the bottom the barge is "off and running", so to facilitate the job we are getting a 100 ft. ½ inch nylon rope to tie off to the nearest upwind mooring ball while lifting the weights. This is preferable to careening off multiple moored sailboats while frantically attempting to start the barge motor, and will assist in keeping the barge pointed into the wind, since like most canoe hulls it wants to turn broadside if cut loose.

The job of pulling moorings, although still a physically demanding task, has been made a much more efficient and safe operation with the addition of the electric winch. One can now service three times as many moorings prior to scheduling appointments with their chiropractor, massage therapist and yoga practitioner. Look for us on the barge Wednesday or Saturday mornings if the weather obliges.

The Memorial Day "campout", while on most counts a resounding success, yielded more comments about the need to tie and secure those clanging halyards. Several hours of sleep were lost to the raucous cacophony emanating from the dinghy park as well as to those boats on the water whose halyards were not properly secured. In the interest of consideration for your fellow sailors who enjoy an occasional night on the boat, please secure those

lines. Violators will be asked to help pull moorings.

A new solar-charging harbor light identical to the one mounted on the buoy at the harbor entrance has been purchased by the club. The Corps of Engineers purchased last year's marker light at the club's request, but this one is on us. The plan is to mount this new light on the club grounds at a suitable location so that the intrepid nighttime sailors can line up the lights and safely get into the dock. The theory is that these unobtrusive lights will be better than mounting a 3 million candlepower spotlight to the bow of one's sailboat and initiating numerous UFO reports by alarmed lake dwellers. It is recommended that nighttime sailors at least keep a small flashlight on board while maneuvering through the harbor in order to avoid a close encounter of the worst kind with a moored boat.

Finally, some of you may have noticed that our old work barge is greening up very nicely. There has been a suggestion made that we moor the platform close to the shore near the dinghy beach storage area for use by the surfboard sailors. This would afford the opportunity for those of us sailing larger boats to collide with another obstruction before docking. The suggestion will be taken up by the board. The only potential problems will be how to secure the platform and the fact that some of our members may not want such an eye-catching structure that close to the shelter, although the idea of a portable island may appeal to others. Perhaps the formation of an "Old Barge Beautification Committee" would serve to allay the concerns of the former group. Volunteers? With a moderate amount of effort and pruning there is the possibility that the old barge may become presentable, so we'll see what the board decides about this issue.

Please let me know if you have questions or concerns about anything harbor related.

Wishing you all fair skies and obedient winds.