Oakland Yacht Club Seascape January 2009

OYC Crooze Nooze

The OYC February cruise opportunity is a short hop to Ballena Bay Yacht Club. This venue, with spectacular views of San Francisco, is always a lot of fun with good meals by the all volunteer staff of BBYC. Fuel prices at Ballena’s dock are generally among the more reasonable in the Bay Area. Pier 29, in the Marina, is also an excellent and reasonable restaurant for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The USS Hornet is near and tours are available. The dates are February 20 – 22.

For the sailors, February generally has good afternoon winds but all captains should watch the tides because Ballena Bay is shallow in spots. Come by water or asphalt for a great time.

Any volunteers for Cruise Captain? I’ll handle all the slip and meal arrangements but would like a volunteer to manage the moorings.

For those with the time, there is a great (non OYC) cruise opportunity on the Sacramento River over the Memorial Day weekend. (May 21 – 25). Sacramento Yacht Club is a gracious host and, in past years, this event has been a very well attended. There will be more than 100 jazz bands from 10 different countries. SYC serves breakfast, lunch and dinner at reasonable prices and offers shuttle rides to the Jazz Jubilee in Old Town.

SYC does not accept reservations for single boats. Since this is not an OYC event, we won’t be making reservations. If you are interested, you can call SYC at 916-371-5058 to see if there is a yacht club that will let you “buddy boat”.

Help Wanted – Cruise Captains

We will soon kick off the 2009 Oakland Yacht Club cruise program and the cruise chair needs volunteers to make sure everyone has a safe and happy time on the cruises. Skippering a cruise does not take much work and is quite rewarding in making new friends and renewing friendships.

The responsibilities of the Cruise Captains include:

Making arrangements for entertainment and events that promote camaraderie among attendees during the cruise out. This is particularly important for newer members who have not yet had a chance to meet other members

Introductions of newer members to veterans
Evening cocktails, pot lucks and other social activities
Restaurant reservations if not at a reciprocal yacht club

Arriving early at the destination to manage and help with mooring
Ensuring that all on the cruise participants have a good time

In keeping with the Membership Committee’s Mentoring Program, the cruise chair would like to pair an experienced Cruise Captain with a newer members. This is a great way for new members to meet veteran members.

Here’s a list of planned cruises for the first several months of 2009:

Pt. San Pablo YC Crab Feed – January 9-10
Ballena Bay YC – February 20-22
San Francisco YC – March 27 – 29
Aeolian YC – April 24 – 26
South Beach YC (Giants Game) – May 15 – May 17
Sausalito – June 19 – 21
Delta Anchor Out (Second, third of fourth week of August)
Delta Yacht Club -- (Second, third of fourth week of August)
Benicia Labor Day 9/4 - 9/7

The cruise chair will make all yacht club and mooring arrangements and, for reciprocal yacht club dinners, will make the reservations there also. Please contact Doug Switzer at daswitzer25@msn.com or 925-939-0236.

Social Report January 2009 ,

Happy New Year from the Social CO Chairs

We want to take this moment and extend our warmest wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. For all of us who were affected by the financial turmoil in our nation in 2008 we can only hope and pray that 2009 will be better.

The lighted boat parade and holiday buffet party was a fun evening. The children enjoyed Santa and his gifts. Elaine and Toni did an awesome job in gift selections and I enjoyed helping wrapping them the day before the event. Chef Kris, as usual, provided us with all of the yummy comfort foods in the Holiday tradition. The decorated boats were beautiful, a lot of work goes into creating these floating scenes, and we wish to thank everyone who participates in this decorating feat. With drinks in hand and a few shivers we all enjoy watching this parade of boats going back and forth.

“Laissez le bon temps rouler”!

Let the good times roll and that of course means Mardi gras. There will be a prize for the most authentic costume. Look through your closets and find anything purple, gold and green to wear, along with masks, boas, beads, and parasols. January 24^th, this soirée starts at 6:00 pm with the bar opening, New Orleans authentic foods buffet at 7:00 pm and live jazz to strut and dance to at 8:00 pm. The cost is $40.00 per adult and $20.00 for children. The last day to sign up is January 17^th, and the last day to cancel without penalty is also January 17^th. Chef Kris is going to startle us with a crawfish and shrimp boil which includes mussels, clams and andouille sausage. Add red beans and rice and the traditional King Cake to that and you will believe you are in the Deep South. It will be fun and we hope to see you all there.

Through the year of 2009 we will have many events to look forward to. A crab feed, a luau, Cinco de Maya, dock parties, wine dinners, and blues and b-bar-que. We plan on publishing the 2009 social calendar in our February Seascape, so you will be able to schedule the entire year’s social events and not miss anything.

Inez, Pattie and Toni your awesome threesome social Co-chairs

Events in Red below require reservations.

Social Events at the OYC	Web Page For This Event	Date/Time
New Year’s Eve	click here	December 31
Mardi Gras Party	click here	January 24th

see the entire social calendar

PUT IT ON YOUR CALENDAR!
2009 Ladies Luncheon

SATURDAY March 7th

11:00 – 3:00 PM

Help us usher in Spring!

Share a special afternoon with a new friend, best friend, mentor, your mother, grandmother, or any other special women in your life.

Guest speaker!

MORE DETAILS TO COME.

Editor's Column

Contact your webmaster at webmaster@oaklandyachtclub.com, or your Seascape Editor at SeaScapeEditor@oaklandyachtclub.com. Please report errors and suggestions.

Recreational Boaters of California (RBOC)

See RBOC KEY ISSUES OVERVIEW

Doug Hipsley

Recreational Boaters of California

Past Commodore OYC

click above for racing pages on our website

From the Race Deck:

January 2009

Our 2009 Series starts Sunday January 4th, with the biweekly Sunday Brunch Series.

First gun will be at 1255 so there is plenty of time to have a great brunch at the club and still have a good afternoon racing. Expect similar fleets and courses as preceding years, though final fleets will be formed based on entries as of Saturday January 3rd, and posted on Sunday January 4th prior to the race. Our first topical speaker will be Kame Richards of Pineapple Sails, who will be speaking at around 1030 about "how to build a race crew". Following topics will be Short handed racing, sail trim, and rigging. Racing documents are available on the racing web pages (linked from the Oakland YC website), or at the OYC office. This year we will be awarding OYC Racing ball caps as prizes.

A special bonus, the race committee will be hosting a pre-season free practice day Saturday January 3rd, and we need lots of boats out there for the committee to get used to working with. If you are unsure about racing, or just want to get out and practice, come on down! We will be running starting sequences from 1255 on channel 69, with a short windward course. While no "official" times will be taken, there is a bottle of wine as an award for the boat with the best starts and a bottle of wine for the best starting novice racer. Come out and start the new year off with a bang or two, its a perfect way to find out if you would like to race in a low stress, supportive environment.

Following the Sunday Brunch Series, we will be hosting the Annual Rites of Spring race for short handers, and then following with the Interclub, Sweet Sixteen series and the Schrieber and Wallace cups. If you would like to race, bring your boat out and play. If you don't have a boat you want to race, then contact the committee to indicate your interest in crewing, there are often boats that need crew. Its a great way to learn to handle your boat precisely, sail better and will make you a better cruiser as a side benefit.

Lastly, if your spouse or partner is a racer, and you don't want to race yourself, or you just want a good reason to come to the club, consider helping out the race committee. We always can use help with recording boats, handling flags and audible signals. Where else can you tell a bunch of racers where to go while shooting guns at them ?

Sheldon Haynie

Race Committee

Need Boats Will Train PLRANC

Ran Wyder, OYC Member and Commodore, Predicted Log Racing Association of Northern California, is looking for 2 more Power Boats to complete the 2009 racing schedule.OYC once had 5 boats regularly participating in PLRA and at one point over 25 boats were involved in the San Francisco Bay. Ran say’s we need 2 more boats and we will train.

Ed Jepsen along with wife Karen, long time OYC members are also enthusiastic PLRA members. Two beautiful PLRA trophies are on view at the “Club Trophy Cabinet”; please take a look to see what you can win. Apart from many fun filled weekends the opportunity to meet new friends and enjoy different clubs around the Bay makes for a happy and fulfilling year. You will be glad you did sign up.

What fosters friendships and camaraderie? What builds confidence in every boater? What sharpens navigation skills? What is on-the-water competition?

“A Predicted Log Contest”

It’s a sport where virtually every boat owner can compete and have a great time while learning more about boating and navigation!

What is a Predicted Log Contest?

It’s a sure way to practice navigation and satisfy your competitive nature in a friendly environment. This is not a test of speed-it’s a test of accuracy. It doesn’t take a special boat or high priced electronics. All it takes is:

A Boat. A Compass. A Tachometer. A Chart.

You should have an operating VHF radio, and your boat should meet Coast Guard safety requirements.

Predicted Log Contests are similar to road rallies on the water. You don’t remember road rallies? You don’t have to! All you have to do is predict the time your boat will take to get from point to point on a designated course. Race length in the Bay will be 12 to 15 miles and we study the currents. You do the predictions in advance and then run the course in your boat on the day of the contest, without clock or speedometer.

The Result:

A better understanding of your boat’s performance.
Increased confidence in your own boating skills.
Expanded knowledge of the local cruising waters.
Lots of new friends.
A trophy or two to remind you what a great sport this is. (See OYC trophy cabinet)

All too often we hear:

It sounds too complicated.
I don’t know how it works.
|I don’t want to embarrass myself with all those experts.
My boat is too small, too big, too fast, too slow, too old etc.etc.
What if the weather is bad?

We are here to help.

For more information contact ranwyder@attglobal.net or call 510-913-0053.

North American Cruiser Association (NACA) www.predictedlog.org

HUNGRY??

Taking the boat out for the day?

Taking guests?

Need some great food?

Call OYC and order box lunches.

Fixed fresh to your order.

Sandwich – salad – cookie - & a drink!

$ - - - - - $ Priced right $ - - - - - $

See the Box Lunch Program

IMPROVE YOUR SAILS’ PERFORMANCE & SHARPEN YOUR boat handling SKILLS

The fastest, and the most fun, way to fine tune your sail trim & boat handling skills is to join an OYC informal race series. Keep your eyes open for the advance notice about this winter’s Sunday Brunch Race series. Even the best among us can always get a little better.

If you’d like to volunteer to help the Race Committee, please contact Craig Wong.

Racing is a “hoot”, give it a try!

Stuck In a rut ?

Try something a little different and volunteer to help your Club.

We belong to a Club that is completely dependent upon each of us volunteering to help with a variety of Club projects. Please make a little of your time available and become involved with our Club's governance, boating, & social functions; our Club's future always looks much brighter when we have a wealth of new ideas.

Host Your Next Event at Oakland Yacht Club

I wanted to make sure that all members know that the Clubhouse is here for each member to use. If you are getting ready to celebrate a special occasion (Wedding, Anniversary, Retirement Party, Baby Shower, Holiday Party, etc.) the club is here for you. Members get a $200 discount off the Room Rental rate. We want you to feel welcome in planning any special occasion at you Yacht Club.

For more information please contact Elaine Mendes at (510) 522-6868 or via e-mail at emendes@oaklandyachtclub.com

Why do all the work, when we can do it for you