High Tidings June 2023
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the commodores and board of governors celebrate the 54th commissioning of the north cove yacht club
Upcoming Activities
Thursday June 1, 5:00 PM and on-going Thursdays –Thursday Night Racing
Friday June 2, 6:00 PM – Fajita Night at NCYC (RSVP by 5/30)
Tuesday June 6, 6:00 PM – Activities meeting at NCYC
Wednesdays ongoing – Grill Night. Join for a drink or dinner
Saturday June 17, 3:00 PM – Commodore’s Cookout and Silent Auction
June 19-23 –Jr. Sailing Prep Week and Race Clinic
Saturday June 24 – Full time launch service begins. Check NCYC Calendar for hours
Friday June 30, 6:00 – Friday Night Social
Commodore Remarks
“I declare North Cove Yacht Club open for our 54th Season!”
For those of you who weren’t able to attend the Commissioning event, the above is one of the lines from the script that’s passed down from Commodore to Commodore. The Commissioning was well attended, and we had a beautiful day to celebrate the opening of our Yacht Club.
By now, no one should be surprised at the tasty and beautiful appetizers our club members contribute, and that, along with the usual beverages, made for a fun celebration after the ceremony.
We were thrilled to have Ryan Lombardi, Maxwell Schaum, and Daniel Steindl of the Old Saybrook High School Band, play the National Anthem as the American flag and North Cove Yacht Club flag were hoisted on our new flag pole. At the conclusion of the anthem, Rich Peters fired off the 10-gauge cannon.
If you missed it this year, be sure to mark your calendar to attend next year. It’s a great party!
We also celebrated completion of our new Ipe and cable rail deck, our new flagpole, and the beautiful launch restoration thanks to Launch Chair Elio Betty and his hard working crew. The grounds and flower beds are in top shape thanks to our Grounds Committee Chairs Bob and Cathy Murphy and the many volunteers who support them.
Efforts are underway by our house operations chair Rich Peters to cool down the clubhouse on the hot summer days. So far, thanks to Dan Ferrier, we have a new attic exhaust fan set with an automatic thermostat to improve ventilation in the attic and lessen the heat radiating from the ceiling. Rich is also looking at options for window coverings for the windows along the south side of the clubhouse. Shading those windows on a hot summer day should be a major improvement to counteract the greenhouse effect we have now.
We are also working to improve internet service in the clubhouse and-hopefully-the moorings field. We’ve upgraded service in the Club to Frontier fiber and have installed a directional antenna to direct and amplify the signal toward the harbor. That’s Dan on the ladder again installing the antenna and thanks to Rob Hathaway for providing the antenna and our EE Chris Bazinet who understands how this stuff all works.
Other news to report, a sub-committee of our Board of Governors has selected and ordered new teak tables and benches for the deck to match the Ipe and replace the old painted grey ones.
The bar area just keeps looking better thanks to the skilled efforts of Karl Frost and others supporting him. A big thank you to Eddie Addeo for refinishing the front deck and steps.
With all these improvements by our Club volunteers, North Cove Yacht Club looks shipshape and Bristol fashion for the new season!
The next waypoint for ship NCYC is Fajita Night Friday, June 2nd.
Hope everyone had a nice Memorial Day weekend in honor of our military members who died in service defending this great nation of ours.
Lou Vinciguerra, Commodore
Vice Commodore Remarks
Board member, Elio Betty, proposed that we look into the purchase of an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) for the club. An AED is a medical device that is used to help someone experiencing cardiac arrest. The easy-to-use device analyzes the heart’s rhythm and delivers an electric shock, if necessary. The device has saved lives in an emergency, as it restores an effective rhythm to the heart. We applied for a grant to the organization, ‘In a Heartbeat,’ on the club’s behalf. The grant has been accepted and an AED is on order and will be donated to the club. The Board will find a suitable and accessible place within the club for the apparatus. The AED is in a portable case and can be used inside, taken outside, or brought to a boat.
The club is looking to update the books on the bookcase in the corner. Donations of nautical books, newer novels, and non-fiction books will be greatly appreciated.
Linda Tuzzio, Vice Commodore
Membership
As always at this time of year, the Membership Committee is very busy. We will be hosting two events on June 10th. At 9:30 will be an event for Prospective Members At 10:30 will be the New Member Orientation Anyone who wants a reminder of what the Club has to offer to the membership is welcome to attend.
This month NCYC welcomes to membership Tim and Debbie Matson. Please be sure to reach out and say hello to the Matsons.
Junior Sailing
The Junior Sailing team is so excited for the season to begin. Prep week starts soon (June 19) and Session 1 begins June 26th. Thank you in advance to everyone as we have 27 young sailors and 5 instructors around the club each week. A few reminders:
· Duty Officers: Sign-up for this fun volunteer activity is now open. Feel free to sign up for one or more sessions throughout the summer.
· Slow speed: Please drive slowly especially if you are pulling around to the waterfront! This is for the safety of our sailors and instructors.
· Ed Godfrey Monday Night Junior Racing series: Begins June 26 and runs each Monday evening through July 31st. All returning 420 sailors and Junior Instructors are eligible. If any club Opti sailors are interested, please let Amy Vinciguerra or I know.
Thanks to everyone in our club community for your support. If you want to join our team, please reach out!
Happy sailing, Melissa Mason
Junior Sailing Chair
Thursday Night Racing
Sailors love the wilderness of the open ocean. A huge empty space where we can disappear, only to return later; wiser, relaxed, and rich with experiences. The everlasting terra incognita of the sea. Even today, after almost every terrestrial inch of the planet has been surveyed and mapped, only a small portion of the sea’s total volume has been explored by man. My former dojo Professor, Fen-Dow Chu often stated that “Columbus sailed over numberless unknown worlds to discover this one superficial western one.” Like Columbus, we NCYC sailors continue to explore the sea in our little vessels in hopes of finding nirvana via new experiences and discovery of new worlds.
Today, virtually all of the United States is a place of cities, suburbs, ghost towns, and national parks. We citizens consider ourselves to be “civilized”. Not so the sea. Ishmael, the common seaman and narrator in the movie “Moby Dick” (“call me Ishmael”) ominously intoned “however baby man may brag of his science and skill, and however much in a flattering future that science and skill may augment; yet forever and forever, to the crack of doom, the sea will insult and murder him, and pulverize the stateliest, stiffest boat he can make; never-the-less, by the continual repetition of these very impressions, man has lost that sense of the full awfulness of the sea which aboriginally belongs to it”.
The dangers of the ocean can be correlated to the 21st century United States which feels more and more like an era in which a cataclysm, whether financial, environmental, or terrorist devised, is just around the corner. Therefore, the wisest thing for a man or woman to do is to steer their boat to ports like Block Island, Newport, Long Island, Nantucket, or other nearby ports that are full of peace and joy. It is recommended that you read the weather report ahead of time because in the end, we are still at the mercy of the sea.
I hope that all of you are busy getting your boats ready for the summer, and/or planning weekend or summer vacation trips on your vessel. My boat, Madaket, is in the water, and will be arriving in North Cove-probably this weekend if the rattling loose-bolt & nut noises coming from the engine isn’t a broken piston. Maybe I’m hearing things. After a winter’s rest, the engine started right up after one crank and isn’t spewing oil out of the exhaust pipe or overheating. So, maybe I’m just hearing things.
Remember, the first Thursday Night Race will be on June 1st. Be on the race course off of Katharine Hepburn’s former home at 6:00pm. It is recommended that you are at the yacht club by 5pm (or earlier) to meet up with the race committee and the competitors.
See you on the water,
Joe Carroll
Activities
Club events are only as good as the people who attend, and once again, what a great turnout on May 6th for the Kentucky Derby Party!! The club was set up beautifully by Lucy Armstrong with stadium style seating on all of our very comfy furniture! The hats were amusing, creative (the lampshade hat won the Most Creative) and beautiful! The Mint Juleps were flowing, and the food was really good “southern cookin’” (although there was a mention of the glaring omission of grits!) There were a few technical difficulties with the TV, but Greg Clark got it all straightened out by “Riders Up” call so it was all good. The race was fast and fantastic! Mage was a fast little horse! There were some friendly wagers and Lucy won the pool (She chose her horse because she liked the color marker used for the betting board. Lol) Hey, whatever works, it’s all chance! A huge thank you to all who helped set up and clean up.
Looking forward to our next big events:
June 2 – Join us Friday June 2 @ 6 pm for Fajita Night. [Ed. note, this event is full, so everyone who signed up, enjoy!]
June 17 – Saturday, June 17th, @ 3pm Commodore’s Cookout
This year, our signature event will be a chicken BBQ prepared by Pig Roastin
• $25.00 adults
• $12 kids
• (vegetarian option available).
BYOB. Plates and Setups will be provided.
This event fills up so sign up early! Guests are welcome.
We are excited to present a new addition to the Commodore’s Cookout this year!
A silent auction will be held for some fantastic gift baskets, a BoatUS membership, and a stay at Waters Edge Resort. All proceeds are to help the Outer Light Race committee, so be prepared to make some bids!
Hope to see you all there!!
Funtastically submitted,
Melissa and Lucy, Activities Co-Chairs
NCYC Grounds News
Summer Weed Whacking
The club needs a little weed whacking every couple of weeks. Come anytime during the two-weeks following the date you have chosen. Use the Club's weed whacker.
Check the sign up below and take a week or two!
If you have any questions, contact Outdoor Chairs - Bob and Cathy Murphy
Outer Light Classic Regatta
On Sunday July 23rd North Cove will be hosting our Outer Light Classic Regatta for all local and visiting sailors and racers. We already have boats registered from Essex, Guilford, and New London who will be racing and celebrating with us at the club.
Ways to get involved:
1. Register to race or help crew- The Outer Light is our premier race for the Eastern Connecticut Sailing Association circuit. Any Captains who wish to register to race should register their boat at LINK. If your boat is not ready to race, but you want to get in on the racing action, there is usually room to crew! Email Amy Vinciguerra at amyvinci94@gmail.com and she will help find a spot for you.
2. New this year! Board the spectator boat to watch the races- Karl Frost is in the process of finding a host captain to bring spectators to the course to view the races. Contact him if you would like to volunteer. More info coming soon.
3. Volunteer for food or set up- look for sign up lists coming later this summer to volunteer for the after race party. There is an ECSA trophy for the club who hosts the best party! Help us bring home that trophy by volunteering for the party.
4. Mark your calendars for July 23rd to help us welcome these visitors and show some North Cove hospitality by attending the party. Party tickets are $20 per person. The party includes catering from Walt’s and other Old Saybrook restaurants, libations, and the awards ceremony. PLUS the raffle drawing for a Dyer Dhow!
This year there has been a huge support from the Outer Light Planning Committee to make this year’s race the best yet! Hope to see you all there.
Amy Vinciguerra
Cruising News
It is nice to see the NCYC Fleet building up in North Cove. The weather has been accommodating and that is our hope for the rest of the sailing & boating season. Many thanks to Scott Mitchell, Saybrook Harbormaster for the mooring placements. Our next cruise is the July 4th Cruise to Hamburg Cove. This will be a free & easy cruise without a port captain. Our next cruise meeting to firm up our annual cruise plans is Wednesday, July 12th at our clubhouse.
· Hamburg Cove is the port-of-call for our July 4th Cruise
· Our Annual cruise is firming up with a fleet of more than a dozen boats
The next cruise meeting is – Wednesday July 12th at our clubhouse
Happy times,
David Chan
North Cove Launch Maintenance News
Greetings from the North Cove Yacht Club Launch Maintenance Committee (NCYCLMC – T-shirts available. Not really.)
If you haven’t noticed, check out the launch; it got shiny. Much of the boat has been painted and varnished, in many cases with several coats. It could not have happened without a large group of dedicated volunteers working tirelessly throughout the spring. Thank you to all who made this project a success!
Deb Paulson is largely responsible for the launch getting done. Not only was she there for hours and hours sanding and varnishing, but she insisted that we start early, which proved to be prescient. It was Deb’s idea to get a work party together in FEBRUARY! We had great turnout and made a ton of progress until it started to snow. Yes, really. Spring weather is fickle, as you know, and even with the early start, it was a sprint to get it all done by the Coast Guard inspection deadline.
That initial work party included Tom Tydeman, who took the unenviable job of scraping and painting the bottom; new member RJ Lavalee, Chris Griffin, Bob Murphy, Dick Lacey, Skip Haskins, and of course, Deb. Please forgive me if I am forgetting anyone. It was a great turnout!
We made steady progress throughout March. Notably, Web Moore replaced the chunk of rub rail that was torn up last year with a new piece of teak. This was an involved process, requiring the excavation of the old rail and the fashioning of a new piece to fit precisely; no small feat considering the curvature of the hull. We would be stuck without Web’s considerable skills. Just a lovely job.
Another work party was held in April to get the boat ready for launch. This included Dan O’Malley, our intrepid commodore Lou Vinciguerra, Tanya Anderson, who was a great help with the life jackets and Coast Guard regulations; Fred Williams, who did a beautiful job varnishing the steps; and Len van Vliet, who prepped and coated the running gear with antifouling.
Len then led the Coast Guard inspection in early May, which we passed without demerits (phew!). Bob Murphy was there to help and be our drug testing czar as well as Stefan Golicz to run the boat back down to the club.
So as you can see, it was a team effort to say the least! Thank you all so much for your hard work and great attitude. There is nothing quite as fun as working on boats with your friends.
Cheers,
Elio Betty, Launch Maintenance Chair
Yoga!
Yoga is Back!
Cheryl Miller is teaching an all-level slow flow yoga class at NCYC . Participants should bring a yoga mat and a beach towel or blanket. Yoga blocks are helpful if you have them.
The class will run in June on Tuesday mornings at the clubhouse from 7:30 to 8:30 AM, June 6, 13, 20 and 27th.
Because Cheryl loves us, the class is FREE!
Reciprocity
NCYC belongs to the Yachting Club of America. This provides our members reciprocity to hundreds of yacht clubs across the country. The information can be found in the member’s section of the Club website. There is a copy of the book in the Steward’s office. erence.
Congratulations!
Club Member Jon Mason (and recipient along with his wife, Melissa, of the Commodore’s Cup) coaches high school lacrosse here in Old Saybrook. After a 12-4 season in his 3rd year as head coach (other seasons: 1-14, 6-10) the team qualified as the #2 seed in the Shoreline Conference and qualified for the State tournament. In recognition, Jon was recently honored as conference coach of the year!
Jon played lacrosse in high school at Daniel Hand high school in Madison and went on to row in college at Florida Tech, where he met Melissa. When their children, Reagan and Ian, were barely old enough, he introduced them to lacrosse and coached them “well past the time when any sane person would have stopped.”
“I love the game and the lessons it taught me,” Jon said. “My aim is to build these young people into leaders and arm them with the same things my coaches armed me with. It's an honor to be recognized and getting to give back to this great game (known by the Native Americans as the "Medicine Game" often played between nations to solve disputes or just to show gratitude to the Creator.) Helping to build a strong program in Old Saybrook has been a blast but does take away from Spring boat work…”
Thank you Jon, for giving back–both to your town, and to your Club!
A big thank you to everyone who contributed to this issue. Please email me if you have anything you want put into the next issue. Photos were contributed by: Melissa Clark, Al Ebstein, Jim Lawless, Jon Mason, Caroline Miller, Deb Paulson, Richard Sachs, Linda Tuzzio and Lou Vinciguerra.