High Tidings March 2024
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Upcoming Events
Sunday March 3, 4:00 to 7:00 – NCYC Social at Highliner III, Westbrook
Wednesday March 6, 6:30 – Outer Light Planning Meeting, Myrcene Brewery, Old Saybrook
Saturday April 13, 9:00 AM – Spring Clean Up Day at the Club
Saturday April 20, 2:30 to 4:45 – Cruising Club Planning Meeting, Acton Library, Old Saybrook to be followed by get-together at Penny Lane Pub
Commodore Remarks
I hope many of you are enjoying this mild winter. So far this winter, we have only run the dock ice-away propellers for about 10 days. I, for one, am disappointed with the lack of fresh real snow for skiing in Vermont and New Hampshire. I’ve had had my fill of man-made machine groomed packed powder. Still holding out for some March surprise powder days.
We had some super high tide storms at the club these past months. One was high enough that our ice machine floated and experienced a knock down. I recruited some help at our very fun, well attended gathering at Coastline Brewing in Westbrook. The box is back on its keel and up higher on an additional set of concrete blocks. We are hoping she still works.
Lots of brush and debris is spread around the club property to be cleared out at our spring all hands clean-up event Saturday, April 13th. One request for those that have a dinghy storage spot under the clubhouse and keep a sheet of plywood there to protect your boat’s bottom: Those sheets of plywood get underway during these extreme high tides events and are scattered around the parking lot. Please drill some holes on the corners of the plywood and use line to secure it to the foundation piles under the clubhouse so your plywood will remain in place for the next season and out of the parking lot.
Most of you know that we re-keyed the front door and have a combo lock on the side door at the kitchen set to the founding year of North Cove YC. We have passed out new front door key at our annual meeting and events. If you have not received a new key and need one, send me an email to louvinci@gmail.com and I’ll get you one.
Hope to see many of you at out next gathering at the Highliner III in Westbrook Sunday, March 3rd. Remember, the best place to find current information on upcoming NCYC events is the NorthCoveyc.com website calendar. See the link at the beginning of this issue of High Tidings.
The days are getting longer and soon we can strip the tarps off our boats and begin that labor of love, waxing hulls, painting bottoms, commissioning engines and onboard systems.
Best!
Lou Vinciguerra
Commodore, NCYC
Membership
Please join the Membership Committee in welcoming the following new members to the Club:
· Nicole and David Pilon
· Dave and Dolores Taricani
· Scott Richard and Maureen Auger
As always, if you have any friends that would like to join the Club, send Caroline Miller (c.d.miller@comcast.net) their email.
Jr. Sailing
The registration for the 2024 season is filling up! Registration is open to all, and some classes are already completely full!
Session 1: 83% full
Session 2: 83% full
Session 3: 80% full
We are already busy getting boats and supplies ready for the next generation of junior sailors. The program will run 6 weeks June 24th-August 2nd.
The Jr. Sailing committee is pleased to announce the instructors for this year:
Returning: Alex Beauchene- Head Instructor
Returning: Nadia Goodman- 420 Instructor
Returning: Scott Soukup- Intermediate Opti 2 Instructor
Welcoming: Lucy Soukup- Beginner Opti 1 Instructor
We are looking forward to a great season!
Amy Vinciguerra, Director of Sailing
Activities
February Meet Up at the Coastline Brewery.
Who knew this little hole in the wall was so popular?! This is a pretty small space for a brewery so when club members started to arrive I was surprised how full it already was. But I suppose after almost two weeks of gloomy weather, everyone was itching to get out on the first sunny day!
Coastline Brewery is a really cute spot! If you didn’t make it to the meet up I encourage you to check it out! Outdoor space in the summer too! We had a really good turnout, about 25 people! There were a few old members that haven’t been around much, but also a couple “newbies!” I didn’t get to sample any of the food but it looked really good and those that did seemed to be very happy with their selections!
As the sun was setting and shining brightly through the large glass door, it was warm and cheery as a guitarist started playing!
All in all a fun time.
Looking forward to our next meet up March 3rd at the Highliner III in Westbrook!
Melissa Clark, Activities Chair
Get ready for the next
March Meetup POT LUCK!
Sunday, March 3rd,1600-1900
we are meeting at the
Highliner III in Westbrook.
For the few that haven’t been there before, it’s another smallish pub but with a train theme. It’s super cozy and cute with a big, pot belly, black caste iron wood stove and KILLER drinks!! My favorite there is the rum punch! ( bar tenders know how to pour a good one.)
There is no kitchen, so will bring our own food!
Please bring a Heavy Appetizer to share!
Cruising News
From the desk of the Fleet Captain:
We shall meet again for the 2024 NCYC Cruise Planning/Working Meeting:
Saturday April 20 from 2:30pm to 4:45pm at the Acton Public Library in Old Saybrook.
Please bring your tide tables, favorite port-of-calls, thoughts and plans for the 2024 sailing season. As you well know, for the last two years the ports of call have been filling up pretty fast. We will have to make a few modifications and changes.
Look forward to our discussions and a get together at The Penny Lane Pub right after.
Best regards,
David Chan
Outer Light Classic
It's that time of year again!
We have our date set, July 21st, 2024 will be the Outer Light Classic! NCYC needs YOUR help to run this event successfully. We are looking for the following volunteers:
Race Committee Coordinator,
Fundraising Chair, and
Party Master!!
For all those interested in helping, we will be meeting at the Acton Library in Old Saybrook at 6:30 pm on Wednesday March 6th.
Action Items for this first meeting of the year:
Revise NOR
Hire new PROs
Schedule first fundraising events
Review the 2024 budget
I look forward to seeing everyone there!
Amy Vinciguerra,
Director of Sailing
From the Chaplain’s Quiet Corner of the Cove
I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it.
Alice Walker, The Color Purple
I hope you take time this coming season to notice the changing colors, particularly the purple found so often in spring.
Jean
Anybody feel like a Challenge?
For those not satisfied with just sailing in the summertime…
Target: The Everglades Challenge 2025
The “Everglades Challenge 300” (EC) is an expedition-style race that happens in Florida every March. Last fall, a few members in our club started to explore the idea of doing this event in March of 2025 and there has been enough interest to continue the effort.
This event includes six classes of vessel. The class we are interested in currently is Class 4, monohull sailboats. There is also a class for multi-hull boats. The other classes are for types of human-powered craft, such as canoes, rowboats, paddleboards, kayaks, and sailing kayaks. There is a size requirement and it is: You have to be able to launch your craft starting about the high-water mark on the beach when fully loaded.
The entry planned by this interested group is Chris Griffin’s new (1975) Mariner 19 monohull. Each participating boat can have from one to three crew on board. The course is a three-hundred mile run from Tampa to Key Largo with three intermediate check-in points along the way. To learn more details for this event, visit :
Some people have expressed interest in helping while stating in no uncertainterms that they are not racing. Others are taking more of a “wait and see” approach, and two (so far) people stated that they are definitely going.
If you are interested in learning more, keep an eye on our club Discord channel labeled “everglades-challenge”. Here, the discussion continues and the occasional video conference call is scheduled. You can also ask Chris Griffin about it and he’ll be happy to fill you in, the problem is getting him to stop.
Skiing to Help Others
by Rod Cross, NCYC Member
Wow! Hard to believe this journey sometimes.
Thirteen years ago an anonymous man gave me the gift of life. That’s why every day I stand on top of life’s podium feeling so grateful to him, my friends, and my wonderful family. So many of you have shown support in ways I never would have been able to imagine. I am fortunate to have you all in my life. Please be a donor and give blood. It really does make a difference. Going again to the World Transplant Winter Games and will be heading to Bormio, Italy for the competition. I’m ready to bring home some hardware to the USA. I will be skiing in four events.
Click this link to learn more about the Games: https://wtgf.org/wintergames/
Check out this GoFundMe to help raise money for Rod Cross’s trip and the World Transplant Winter Games.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/join-rod-for-the-2024-world-transplant-winter-game
Photo taken at World Transplant Winter Games receiving a silver medal for skiing.
From the Editor
Welcome back to High Tidings–I hope you all had a great winter! Please send me your ideas, articles and photos for future issues!
Photos thanks to: Chris Bazinet, Ann Chan, Rod Cross, Walt Gayeski, Jean Golicz, Deb Paulson, Amy Vinciguerra, Janet Vinciguerra.,
Oh, and this is Stevie. Our new rescue puppy. She will be at the club this summer (obeying all the rules of course) and hopefully will become a Boat Dog.