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Page 4 Konza Sailor January 2006 |
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It is a bit warm for January. BVYC meetings have begun for new board members and preparations are being made for the coming sailing season. As rear commodore, I am charged with overseeing the harbor. I am not new to this area of club administration, having worked on the club’s makeshift work barge in 1986, my first full year in BVYC. Back then I was amazed at how a handful of workers could make such an impact on the operations and safety of the harbor. Regretfully, Ken Conrow and I are the only remaining members of the 1980’s harbor team.
On this years’ BVYC application, members will once again be asked to check an area where they can help the club; keeping in mind that maintenance of the club depends on the volunteer support of its members. The membership fee alone is insufficient to permit the club to contract for maintenance services; so, members take on an obligation to help when their application is submitted.
Harbor operations do not require a big team; in fact more than 3 on the barge is overkill. In the past two seasons, twelve members worked when called upon as a member of a 2-3 person team to inspect and repair moorings. Those members also adjusted the docks as the Tuttle tides required. It is worthy to note that all twelve of the involved persons indicated that harbor maintenance was interesting, rewarding and even provided a certain amount of fun. The club does not really want a dozen members to check the “harbor” block on the application. In fact, Ron Frey, the vice commodore in charge of BVYC grounds, previously worked on the harbor crew, but will now need a few able bodies to help with mowing, trimming etc. Accordingly, I’m hoping for about six to eight members to join the fun on the harbor team. It goes without saying that members who own keelboats have a vested interest in the maintenance of moorings.
While the rear commodore assumes responsibility for the moorings, keelboat owners are responsible for the mooring-to-boat pendant. Club regulations require that each boat be secured with one primary and two safety lines at least 3/8 inch diameters. (Boats over 22 feet in length should have ½ inch lines) Three strand lines are recommended because of better stretching characteristics. Chain pendants are not recommended because there is no stretch and could cause damage to boat hardware. Pendants should not be excessively long as to allow the boat to swing into another boat during wind change of |
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direction. A pendant 2 to 2 ½ times the distance from bow to waterline is a good rule of thumb. According to mooring manufacturers, the pendants should be fastened to the underside of the ball; however most members prefer to fasten to the top of the ball in order to avoid twisted pendants underneath. The club has installed safety chains on all balls in order to connect the mooring top ring to the chain rode underneath. This ensures that the boat will remain connected to the chain rode if there is a fracture of the rod or nut on the mooring ball.
Even though most of the membership knows my wife Jane and me through our years at the club and our having held every office in it, maybe I can fill in a few blanks. I have been a water rat since 1952, although the true sailors in the club might think I wasted my time on the water with motor and human powered boats until 1985 when we bought our first large sailboat and joined the BVYC. I say our first large sailboat because I had purchased a Snark for Jane in 1975 about the time we moved to the Manhattan area. Currently we sail an O’Day 222 and an O’Day 272. We have trailered these boats or chartered all over the United States and Caribbean. Our favorite place to cruise is the North Channel of Lake Huron where we intend to go for several weeks this summer.
Our daughter, Jennifer Martin, being married to Wayne Martin, is currently the First Lady of the Yacht Club. We have two other children, a son Jeff who is a pretty fair catamaran sailor and Terri who prefers to keep her feet on solid ground. |
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Rear Commodore’s Report |
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Ned Gatewood Receives Third place, |