We are officially into the 2024 sailing season with Chy and Justin Rennick being the first ones to launch. As of yesterday we had a total of 5 boats in the water. The club boats need to be rigged and that should be done this week so that they are available for use. Remember that the code has changed to access the MEMBERS ONLY side of the website. The password is the 4 digit gate code.
There are a few things that everyone needs to know. First, the picket boat leaks have beed repaired and it is available for use. The pickett boat also has a different motor thanks to the Kingston’s. The new motor is is more appropriate for the boat and runs well. There is a trick to raising the motor. With the motor off shift the engine into FORWARD and pull the motor up. Once the motor is up shift the engine back to NEUTRAL. The fuel tank is being kept in the dock house on the bottom shelf of the cabinet with the glass doors. The reason for this change is that many times the fuel tank and fuel line ends up sitting in water after a rain and this deteriorates the fuel line. After using the boat please return the tank to the cabinet.
The gin pole was used for the first time last Saturday. Art Gould agreed to be our guinea pig. We did encounter a couple of glitches that need to be corrected but the mast was raised without incident. We did encounter an issue with the cable twisting which caused a binding that would not allow the cable to drop. With the twisting resolved the cable should drop but we are adding a recovery line to allow us to pull the block down should it jam in the future. We are also changing the bridle system that will be more user friendly and allow for a much quicker and easier attachment of the bridle to the mast. We will be making our second mast raising on Thursday. All of the changes to the hardware are expected to be in place for Thursday’s mast raising.
The west side of launch ramp is now 40 feet long of 80 inch wide EZ Dock. There are 4 poly posts to grab and multiple cleats both high and low to tie off on. The dock should also help to break waves coming in from the west.
Thanks to Roger Domingo who has attached everyone’s name to their dock assignment. This is the third year Roger has taken on this task and it has help resolved confusion over dock assignments.
Thanks to James Hammock, Gary Divine, Keith Addison, Jessica Gestwicki, Erik Johnson and Beverly Baldwin for installing the stern poles on “C” dock. This team worked efficiently and quickly to complete the task hand and make “C” dock operational. Fortunately bMother Nature helped us with light winds and mild temperatures.
May is the beginning of our social calendar. Beginning with our traditional Memorial Day breakfast on May 27. The breakfast is always a great time to catch up with other members and meet new members. On June 8 we will have our second social event which is a sail parade and sailing in concert in support of a fund raiser conducted by the Delaware County Jeep Club for the Delaware County K9. We are looking for as many boats as possible on the reservoir for this event. See the website for more details on these two events.
See you on the water!