BYC pictorial update; 5 January, 2014.

A bit of progress since my last post back at the end of October.  The front entrance and nostalgic port holes have been moved to the south end of the building compared to the old clubhouse as seen in the first pix of this post.

Roughly the same footprint as the old building but with a useful second story.

No doubt the upper level will provide wonderful views of the bay.

The club officers are confident of a Memorial Day opening.  They've got a ways to go.  At least the building is under roof.

  We've had some fairly strong gales with higher than average tides.  The marsh straw and driftwood on the pier suggests that the tide has recently been well over the boards.

It's been an unusually warm winter (until today as I type this).  There's no bay ice for the ducks to walk on.

Happy New Year.  I'm heartened to learn that our construction crew have refined tastes.

This last pix is for Kenn and Fred, two boyhood friends who grew up on the island and lived in this house at 1801 Bayshore Ave.  Looks almost like my house on 22nd Street.

Old Nr 2249

Last post for the year 2013 is this pix of your old diarist driving his George Szabo-built Cates Moth to weather at the 1963 summer invitation regatta at Sea Isle City.  I was 16 years old, and didn't have a care in the world or a head of white hair for that matter!  That Seidelmann sail looks well set in spite of having the primitive tied-off sail shape controls of the day for outhaul, downhaul, etc.  At a strapping 150 lbs. it looks like I had my hands full keeping her flat while driving to weather in maybe 12 knots of breeze.  Photo courtesy of Dave Schill.  I wonder where my old boat is tonight.  Perhaps enriching the earth?  I hope for a better outcome than that.  She was a sweet boat.  I hope she's still sailing and treasured by someone somewhere.  I had to let her go in the early 1970s when I entered the service with a draft number of 52.

Tillerman's Best/Worst Sailing movie challenge

Not many movies address sailing or even bother to include a sailboat.  With that in mind this is a hard challenge.  I rarely bother with moving picture shows these days (diaristwoman tells me they're not referred to as "talkies" any more) so I'll submit an old favorite of mine as a potential "best" and skate around the worse case scenario.

The movie in question is the 1979 British movie entitled "The Riddle of the Sands".  Based loosely on a novel, written in 1901 by Erskine Childers (who was later executed by the British during the Irish Revolt).  I read the novel years before the film and highly recommend that you do the same.  Like most cases, the original book beats the movie hands down for suspense.  After all for 1901 this must be if not the first spy thriller, among the first.  A gripping tale of sailing, espionage and flirtation.  But don't take my word for it.  Get your hands on a copy of the book or if you're a slow reader then view the film itself;  the movie features Michael York in the lead role:

Tillerman: you can wire me the huge prize.  I'm confident that this is the winning entry.

Trans-America Bike Ride

Former lab co-worker Johanna and her husband Ben crossed the country this past summer and made a brilliant collage of snap shots and video clips.  Their ride takes us from the initial wheel dip in the Atlantic (near Yorktown, Virginia) to the ultimate wheel dip in the Pacific Ocean, some 4000 miles later.  A great ride and no doubt a life time adventure.  Enjoy this when you have an uninterrupted half hour to spend.

CLC's Annual Open House--Always a good day well spent.

Open House Next Saturday!  Saturday, December 7th: 9 am to 5 pm   Don't miss our Open House in Annapolis on Saturday, December 7th, from 9am to 5pm. We're looking forward to hanging out with fellow boat nuts in our capacious shop and showroom.  We'll have coffee and donuts in the morning and light snacks in the afternoon. And door prizes at the top of every hour for those who have sent in an RSVP! We'll have one-day-only specials running with fat discounts on all the popular gear and supplies.  Kits, too. We're excited to welcome JB Currell, one of the epoxy wizards who helped put MAS Epoxies on the map. JB will be demonstrating professional epoxy techniques and fielding your epoxy questions.   Here's the lineup of Open House seminars:   10 a.m.: Making Your Own Kayak Seat:  Nothing can turn a day in a kayak into a grim forced march like a bad seat. Our own Joey Schott, who spends a lot of time sitting in kayaks, shows you how to build your own custom seat that fits YOU perfectly.   11 a.m.: Sharpening Tools: The only thing as bad as no tools are dull tools. A sharp edge on block planes and other woodworking essentials will transform your experience in the boatshop. David Fawley leads this demonstration.   12 noon: Fiberglassing Over Wood: Did you know that fiberglass is perfectly clear? That's how you get to have it both ways with CLC's wood-epoxy composite boats: the beauty of wood, but the durability of fiberglass. MAS Epoxies guru JB Currell demonstrates that fiberglassing is easy, but benefits from lots of little tips and tricks.   1 p.m.: Rigging Small Boats: Whether you're an old salt or whether you don't know a jib from a jibe, everyone will pick up some tips in this intensive one-hour small boat rigging seminar, led by John Harris.   2 p.m.: Wooden Boat Repair: Got a hole in your small wooden boat? Don't panic. JB Currell shows you how to make fast and neat repairs.   3 p.m.: Working With Stains: Okoume. Sapele. Western Red Cedar. These are all beautiful woods if finished naturally. But what if you want to take it a step further? You can change the color of wood in wild and wonderful ways, but you must do so with great caution in wood-epoxy composite boats. Joey Schott demonstrates how it's done.   4 p.m.: Varnishing: There's nothing like shiny wood. Varnishing is another one of those things that's easy to do but hard to do well. John Harris will show you how to do it well.

Hope to see your there!   John C. Harris Chesapeake Light Craft    Please don't click "reply" to this email, as your note may get lost in my inbox.  Compose a new email and send it to john@clcboats.com

BYC Rebuild--first pix

A year ago Hurricane Sandy devastated large parts of Brigantine.  This new bit of fence indicates the high water level at the VFW hall on 30th St. South (note arrow at the right hand side).  This address is towards the south end of the island and is a well known flood-prone area.  Many parts of the island experienced water this high or higher.

Meanwhile, down at 10th St. South & Bayshore Ave. (another flood-prone part of the island), the new BYC clubhouse is starting to take shape.  One can see a few photos of the former clubhouse here.

The basic footprint of the new building will largely be the same as the old structure.  Looking at the border of the tarmac, one can see where the wooden porch extended from the old building. 

I wonder why this bit of the old fireplace chimney was retained?  Slob sentimentality?  A reference point for the placement of a new chimney?  I just don't know.  No doubt all will be revealed in due time.  I'll post progress reports as construction moves along this winter.

Bottle of Red

Thanks to our Tea Cup Congress I have a bit of time on my hands and so I went down to Bay Ridge Wine and Spirits this wet, chilly afternoon and joined the throng of peeps waiting to gawk at the winning skipper of AC 34.  I arrived fifteen minutes earlier than the published start time for the event but like all rock stars, Jimmy kept us waiting (he was the main attraction at an event over at the annual sailboat show and no doubt road traffic between city dock and Bay Ridge was at its boat show week best-- for those not familiar, Thursday is VIP day which features higher priced tickets and predictably smaller crowds; I always go during the weekend when the tickets are cheaper.  Yes the place is heaving with people then but that's part of the charm).

I don't know what role Jimmy played at the boat show but at Bay Ridge he was flogging Penfold Wines.  The room full of people snaked around and although I've never been to a book signing I suspect that the vibe was about the same.  Instead of people telling an author how much they enjoy his writing and getting him to sign a copy of the book, people were telling Jimmy how much they enjoyed watching him beat the New Zealanders and asked him to pose with them for photos.  I overheard one couple saying that the photo of man, wife and Jimmy would be their Christmas card pix.

When it was my turn, we shook hands and I said "I scarcely recognized you without the helmet and body armor, but I'm guessing you're kinda counting on that."  He laughed as he autographed my bottle of $9 red and asked what kind of boat I sailed.  When I said Moths, he looked up and I quickly indicated that I sail Classic Moths not the sexy foiler variety.  He said that he still has his foiler and that they're really not that difficult to sail.  Easy for him to say!  Every time I've tried it, I've been nervous as a cat about smelling bottom at speed with somebody else's expensive T-foils.  But I digress.  Penfolds had a selection of reds, mostly Shiraz and Shiraz-Cab blends, all offered in boxes showing the winning Oracle cup boat with the Golden Gate bridge in the background.  A good start to boat show weekend! 

This nice box of red plonk should keep the wife and me busy for a few days.

The signed bottle.  I wonder how many of these will wind up on flea-bay in a couple days?