Gulf Coast Sailing Club

November 2016

Luff n Laff

Commodore’s Comments

November 16th is the Kick off Membership Meeting for the season and the meeting

where we vote on officers and directors so PLEASE, PLEASE ATTEND

Nov 16th Season Kickoff

Membership Meeting 6 pm at

River Park Community Center

Nov 12th MIYC Fall Regatta

Dec 10th NYC Distance Race

Dec 10th Christmas Lighted Boat

Parade

Dec 17th GCSC Holiday Party

Best Seller author Michael

Tougias, November 16th

Slate of Officers & Directors, 2017

2017 Membership Application

Articles by Jonnie Westerop and

Jerry Watkins

Membership meetings for 2017

SAILPLAY IS ACTIVE See www.sailplay.com Sign up

for the series and receive

effective discounts of 50% on

regatta entry. REST DEAL IN

SWFL SAILING

WFL PHRF ratings are

required for regatta participation

renew at http://wfphrf.org

Commodore’s Cup Resultss

included in this edition

Nov 12th MIYC Fall

Regatta

NOR and Entry Form for

MIYC Fall Regatta

included in this newsletter

Dec 10th NYC Distance

Race

The Board Nominating Committee has put together a recommended slate of Flag Officers and Directors based on interest expressed to date. Interest in the Board and Officer positions was solicited in the October Newsletter. A provision for a write in candidate is provided if there is any interest in a director or officer position please send information to GCSC Secretary before Nov 13th at no16mom@gmail.com This slate of Officers and Directors, is included in this newsletter and this slate will be voted on at the November 16th Membership meeting.

An absentee ballot will be mailed separately and is intended to allow any member not able to make the November 16th Membership Meeting the opportunity to vote

Many thanks go out to all those who volunteered to serve on the Board and those who

volunteered to help out with committees for next year. Please think about how you can help as

we need your help to be successful. We will be updating our volunteer list in the coming months

and have committee sign up tables at our next Members Meeting on November 16th. 2017 is

shaping up to be an exciting and fun filled year and we need your input and help especially on the

newsletter, PR efforts and web page administration. If meeting and greeting people and helping to

bring new members into the club might be something you would like, we would love to have you

join the Membership Committee. Our current Committees and volunteers are:

Membership Committee--- Terry Nauck, Chair; Joan Kachel

2017 Charity Regatta Committee --- Craig Spicer, Chair; Patrick Evans

Fleet Captain – Small Boats---Nick Amendola

Fleet Captain – Racing---Frank Brown

Fleet Captain—Cruising---Bob Diamond

Race Committee---Susan Watkins, Chair

Land Side Events--- Colleen & Fred Hall, Chairs

Public Relations -----Vicki Livingston, Chair

Webmaster----Kris Scheppe, Emily Sumpman

Membership Directory -- Sandy Dumas

Volunteer Committee--- Gary Schwarting, Chair

Newsletter Publisher—Jonnie Westerop

As you know but might not appreciate fully, the Gulf Coast Sailing Club exists because of its

wonderful volunteers. Each year we, the club members, select officers from the membership to

guide our club forward but many more volunteers are needed for the club to survive and thrive. Our

main source of income is from our dues so membership is very important to wellbeing of the club so

if you have friends who might be interested in the club bring them to the next meeting to see what

we are about. Volunteering for the Regatta Committee, our social committee for coordinating our

land side events, our small boat sailing committee, our public relations committee or helping out

with our monthly newsletter or web page are all important roles for club members. Please visit the

Club’s web page at www.gulfcoastsailingclub.org to check out events coming up

ITEMS OF NOTE

For our November 16th members meeting ( note the date change) we will be back at River

Park Community Center with a New Presentation from NY Times bestselling author

Michael Tougias

Included in this edition is the recommended slate of officers and directors for 2017

Included in this edition is the 2017 Membership Application Form

GCSC member Kris Scheppe won the Boston Open Blind Sailing Regatta held October

15-16 at Community Boating in Boston. The regatta was sailed in Sonars and conditions on

the Charles River were varied though out the regatta from real light to heavy. Kris' team had

7 bullets in the 12 races. Kris was the mainsheet trimmer with skipper Pauline Dowell, jib

trimmer, Grace Olsen, and tactician Kay VanValkenburgh.

Blind Sailing Unlimited is looking for a couple of dedicated people to join the board and help

grow and expand programs. If you're interested contact Kris

Scheppe kris@blindsailingunlimited.org

Article by Jerry Watkins on the Commodore Cup Regatta

Article by Jonnie Westerop on her first Regatta in Naples

SEE DETAILS AND ARTICLES BELOW

Our 1st Regatta - by Jonnie Westerop The CDYC (Crazy Dutchmen Yachting Club – which means Crazy Dutchperson + related individuals Yachting Club –) sailed again. Wes, Ma, Bas and myself waited out Hurricane Mathew, packed up our toothbrushes and headed to our first Regatta on Saturday - the Summerset Regatta in Fort Myers, FL. We attended the pizza party Friday night in Fort Myers - an hours drive away. There we drank beer, ate pizza, met our fellow sailing brethren and received our sailing instructions for the Regatta.

Early Saturday, we headed for our boat, Natamus, and then Fort Myers - 35 miles north. The seas had some good sized waves which we bounced through,

eventually calming down - we motor sailed at a close reach and arrived at the Pink Shell Marina 7 hours later. A drink and quick swim - we were off to the hosting club's cocktail party. More beer, great food and comradery - the 4 CDYC members headed for another watering hole where we made friends with the Chicago 4 - Jo Lynn, Sandy, Lisa and Cathy - who was celebrating her 60th birthday. Great fun and banter - our 4 invited their 4 to be part of the Regatta the next morning.

At 8 am we were just waking on the boat, and there the Chicago 4 were, arriving in their bathing suits, towels, suntan lotion, beer and sandwiches (good sandwiches). Handing our new crew their CDYC t-shirts - we prepped for our 1st Regatta. Although Wes read the instructions we really didn't know what we were supposed to do - so we followed some other sail boats out to the Gulf of Mexico - hoping to figure out what the course we were supposed to follow. Guessing who and where we supposed to be racing, our Chicago 4 crew members started questioning SIRI - where is the start of the Summerset Regatta? (SIRI didn't answer - next year she'll answer). We passed what we thought was the starter boat – with officials looking completing perplexed at the crew of 8 yelling and waving as we passed what we thought was the beginning.

Racing along a course we thought looked like a fine course - Wes kept us from heeling too far so as not to scare our crew - our first time sailing crowd laughed and held on for dear life as we passed a boat we thought might be in a race with us. The second facility boat started yelling for us to go to the starboard side of a marker we were headed to pass port side. YES!! We did it with quick maneuvering - and our crew cheered in appreciation. We passed a few more boats, and what we thought was the final committee boat and the finish line. Our very excited and happy crew applauded and celebrated our fun and our new friendship.

The original CDYC crew attended the awards banquet at the Diamond Head Resort later in the evening. At our table was the head of the race committee - after explaining who we were - he said they were trying to reach us all during the race on Channel 12 - they wondered who all the people on our boat were, why we took off 20 minutes before the start time and where were we going. We got 6th place that night, out of 6. Happily we decided to pay more attention to the race next time, but we will never forget our 1st Regatta or the great crew we barbequed with last week. Salut!

November 16th Membership Meeting Presentation

Michael Tougias to Present Dramatic Survival Stories

NY Times bestselling Author Michael Tougias will appear at Gulf Coast Sailing Club at 7

p.m. on Nov. 16 for a two-part multi-media presentation. The first part covers his new book So

Close To Home: A True Story of an American Family’s Fight for Survival During WWII. The

second part of the program features his bestseller The Finest Hours: The True Story of the U.S.

Coast Guard’s Most Daring Sea Rescue. The Disney Corporation has made a movie based on the

latter book, starring Chris Pine and Casey Affleck. The program is suitable for all ages.

For The Finest Hours, Tougias will use slides of the storm, the sinking oil tankers, the rescues,

the victims, the survivors and the heroes to tell the story of this historic event which took place in

February of 1952. He will describe the harrowing attempts to rescue the seamen, especially

focusing on four young Coast Guardsmen who must overcome insurmountable odds to save the

lives of 32 crewmen stranded aboard the stern of the Pendleton. Standing between the men and

their mission were towering waves that reached 70 feet, blinding snow, and one of the most

dangerous shoals in the world, the dreaded Chatham Bar. The waters along the outer arm of Cape

Cod are called “the graveyard of the Atlantic” for good reason, yet this rescue defies all odds.

Tougias says, “This event was--and still is-- the greatest and most daring sea rescue ever

performed by the Coast Guard, and it happened right here off the New England coast. I felt this

episode of heroism and tragedy needed to be told in its entirety because it’s an important piece of

overlooked history.

For So Close To Home, Tougias will also tell the story through a series of slides. This event

happened in the Gulf of Mexico in 1942 when a German U-boat sank a ship carrying the Downs

family. Tougias describes the family’s incredible fight for survival adrift at sea, but also includes

the story of the daring U-boat commander who patrolled the Gulf, even going into the mouth of the

Mississippi River. A book signing will follow the program.

“I enjoy doing these programs,” says Tougias, “because I like to transport the audience into

the heart of the storm so that they ask themselves ‘what would I have done.’ I don’t like to do

author readings because I think they are boring, but with a slide presentation, the viewer can

visually relive the adventure.”

Michael Tougias is the author and coauthor of 24 books including Fatal Forecast: An

Incredible True Tale of Disaster and Survival at Sea, which the Los Angeles Times called

“breathtaking…a marvelous and terrifying tale.” Tougias’ previous book Ten Hours Until Dawn:

The True Story of Heroism and Tragedy Aboard the Can Do During the Blizzard of ‘78 received an

Editor’s Choice Selection from the American Library Association which selected it as one of the

top books of the year. All of his books are also being adapted for middle readers (ages 9 to 15) with

A Storm Too Soon and The Finest Hours currently being used in schools. Visit

www.michaeltougias.com for more information