High Tidings October 2024
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thanks to cathy murphy and kathy reddington for our gorgeous gardens this year
Upcoming Events
Informal Grill Night, ongoing Wednesdays
Tuesdays until 10/8, 5:30-6:30 – Restorative Yoga at the Club
Friday 10/11, 6:00 – Pot Luck Movie Night at the Club
Friday 10/25, 6:00-9:00 – Friendsgiving
Saturday 11/2, 4:00 – Annual Meeting at the Club
Saturday 11/9 – Club Cleanup & Boat Storage
Commodore Remarks
past commodores at the past commodores dinner in september
Avast members … Our boating season is not at its Bitter End yet and if you haven’t been watching your email, the Town Harbor Management Commission has given an extension to the mooring haul date until November 17th. Woe betide any mariner who has their boat on a mooring after that date. NCYC will keep the whalers and skiff in the water until that date for member use along with the blue rowboat, “Sea Legs” to access their boats.
A few reminders. Members must tie an orange ribbon on their mooring ball when they vacate the mooring for the season to signal the contractor that hauls the moorings to store the mooring on the yacht club property. Otherwise it will end up at the town dock and need to be relocated. If you are a snowbird on you way South or forgot, just ask a friend or launch driver to tie one on for you. There is a basket of them by the steward’s office.
Next, it’s a good idea to remove your pick-up buoys prior to the moorings being pulled out. They tend to get tangled, damaged, or lost in the process of hauling moorings onto the barge then lifted again on land and relocated to the storage spot.
I have noted a significant desire for members to keep dinghies in the water and as you can see in the photo the dinghy dock is chock-a-block with boats. This is a topic your BOG will be looking at regarding ways to make this work better. One thing we ask now is that when you tie your dinghy up, please do not tie it tight to the dock. Leave a good 4 feet or so of slack in your dinghy painter so that other members can separate boats and get theirs up next to the dock to unload then they will put slack in theirs to allow others to squeeze in. Also, please keep the end of the ramp dock clear so members with dinghies on racks, under clubhouse, or on their cars can launch and retrieve them utilizing the ramp.
I’ll pipe down now on this topic.
[ed. note] oops, there's mine...
I’m sure you will hear details about this later in this issue, but I am so proud of our NCYC racers, Gumdrop and Madaket, who, during the rough conditions of the Cross Sound Challenge race responded to the Mayday call of a fellow racer.
There are few changes in the upcoming social calendar such as a “Friendsgiving” event and a pot luck movie night! Maintain a sharp lookout on the NCYC website calendar to stay abreast of happenings at the club.
This is one of my favorite times of year with the cooler temps, nice sailing breezes. Trips up river to see the beautiful turning of the leaves. Watching the Swallows murmurating at sunset to bed down for the night in the marsh at Goose Island on their southern migration.
Or just enjoying the view and great company on the back deck of the clubhouse!
Hope you all get out and enjoy!
Best!
Lou Vinciguerra, Commodore
Vice Commodore Remarks
Another summer has come and gone. Rob and I didn't make it on the club cruise but managed to join up with the club boats at Coecles Harbor. With our limited time boating this year, I would say we had the most fun at club events. It is such a great place to have a large gathering. The kitchen is well designed, the food is delicious, but it is the people that make the party!
As we wind down another season, I'd like to thank the informal 'beer club' that donated $125 to purchase special tourniquets for emergencies. One is kept in the first aid drawer in the steward's office and one is in the AED box on the wall. These tourniquets are instrumental in stopping bleeding from a limb.
As you go through your summer reading pile, consider dropping off a few novels for our bookcase. I picked up CUTTING FOR STONE but haven't read much yet. The beginning is heavy and I'm not sure where the story is going. Looks like it will be a cold weather book for me.
Shout out to the Thursday night racers! A fun bunch of people who love to sail. Thanks for a eegreat season!
[Ed. note: And thank you, Linda, for all dinners you provided!]
Belle 8 Race Results
the top three finishers in the belle 8. From left to right: Sharon Tracy on Madaket, 3rd place; Charlotte Freeland on Gumdrop, 1st place; Sarah Ferrier on Osprey, 2nd place. Congratulations!
Mayday!
Report of The Cross Sound Challenge Rescue, Saturday September 21, 2024
By Joe Carroll
Saturday September 21, 2024 Essex Corinthian Yacht Club held their Cross Sound Challenge. Two North Cove Yacht Club boats participated in the race: Madaket and Gumdrop.
Madaket’s crew consisted of tactician 90-year-old Jack Lombard-a world class Star champion sailor who is prone to “yelling” out “guidance,” Deb Paulson-a navigator with a dolphin-like sonar sense to get Madaket where it had to go, a guy named “Joe” on the wheel, and 24-year-old Tyler Clinton-a brawny eager/beaver lad who yearns to crank Madaket’s Lewmar #58 winch to bring in the mainsheet. Especially when it is tensioned by 32+ knot winds as it was during the Cross Sound Challenge. Each and every one of Madaket’s crew makes up a winning team.
Gumdrop Skipper Elio Betty had North Cove Yacht Club’s Riley Anderson and Charlotte Freeland on board, as well as boating industry work associates of Elio, Michael and Anastasia, who came from New York and Maine respectively for an exhilarating weekend of Fastnet style sailing.
While waiting for the Race Committee to set up the course and radio instructions, Madaket joined the other boats careening along the Fenwick and Knollwood Beach shoreline. The wind was accelerating and running through a nozzle of mansions, trees, and land masses. Madaket’s wind meter was flashing gusts up to 29 knots. Sometimes the wind would temporarily back off to 18 only to intensely blast and knock the boat over on its side with sudden gusts. The Race Committee had problems setting up the starting line. Their Mark boat accidentally ran over the pin, and got the rope wrapped around its prop. The Mark boat could not free themselves of the pin, and so the Race Committee boat had to set the pin and call Sea Tow to tow the Mark boat. After an hour delay, Race Committee announced the course. We were being sent over to Red Bell Buoy #2PG on the east side of the approach to Plum Gut after passing East of Bell 8. We’d have to round the buoy to port, and return to finish at our starting position via sailing east of Bell 8 to about 3/4 mile off of Katharine Hepburn’s house in Fenwick. I didn’t favor this course because we’d have a huge wind with us and a big wind against us on the way back. Also, the intelligence coming back to me from off-shore seamen was about the adverse tide. There was surging water coming into Long Island Sound from the Atlantic, and it was causing the strong tidal currents running at 4-5 knots from the east. This coupled with a high NNE wind spells TROUBLE.
Despite my apprehensions, we got started. We had an okay start, and we were barreling along to Bell 8 with Gumdrop slightly ahead, and then slightly behind Madaket. We were trading places with Gumdrop all the way across to the Bell buoy #2PG. It got very rough, and the wind meter was registering over 30knots at times. This video shows the start. Afterwards, it got too rough to film.
Nearing Plum Island, the waves became as tall as rogue waves arriving with great frequency and they were breaking. With the help of Jack’s instruction, I was often able to position Madaket on the crest of these waves and surf the boat down the wave face. We were moving just like the whale boats on a Nantucket Sleigh ride. I don’t believe that Madaket ever went so fast. Rounding the buoy was difficult since we had to get the highly tensioned mainsheet in and tack all while trying to keep from slamming into the buoy. We took the buoy wide, and slowly but surely got the main in with Tyler cranking away as Jack yelled at him to go faster. Once we trimmed the main, Madaket accelerated to 6-7 knots. Meanwhile, Gumdrop had quickly rounded and within minutes went ahead of us as we bucked north close-hauled through the waves. The goal was to bring Madaket to a point where we could fall off and reach to Old Saybrook and surf back at great catboat speed. The strategy worked coming across the Sound.
We had travelled probably two miles or so from the Plum Island Bell Buoy #2PG mark on our way across to Old Saybrook when Madaket’s radio and our hand-held radio in the cockpit issued a “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday Madaket this is Dorian, we are sinking.” It was hard to process this immediately but when we saw Dorian just ahead of us and clearly taking on water, we realized it was all for real. We radioed back that we heard them and were coming. We dropped the sail, started the engine, and reached Dorian. It was an ugly scene. Dorian was truly sinking, and its crew of six were topside shouting for help. Seconds later Gumdrop arrived.
It was clear that a rescue would have to be executed with a boat going in on the windward side (eastern) because Dorian’s boom and other rigging was hanging off its port side. Gumdrop went in and got her bow close to Dorian’s starboard stern quarter in the rough seas. One of Dorian’s crew jumped across the gap between the boats instead of waiting for Gumdrop to get closer. The person was caught by Elio-a strong guy who caught the jumper as he hit the stern pulpit. The next person got off Dorian and onto Gumdrop more gracefully. Due to the rough seas pushing the boats apart, Gumdrop needed to go back around to get into position again. There was little time to lose at this point. Madaket was positioning to go in when Fathom, a 42-foot sailboat with a powerful engine and bow thrusters skippered by owner Tim Brewer came up out of nowhere it seemed, paused alongside Dorian and within seconds the remaining four people were off Dorian and safely onto Fathom.
Fathom rescues the remaining crew from dorian
the view from madaket as dorian goes under
Moments later, Dorian went down. We watched that beautiful vessel-a Pearson yawl that was loved and cared for and which had graced the Essex waterfront over many decades, slip below the surface of Long Island Sound, a mere ten minutes after the Mayday call. Dorian went down bow first with her stern in the air just like a torpedoed war ship, leveled out under water, and then descended. A very sad scene.
We motored home with Gumdrop and Fathom. We were all saddened by the event, and grateful that everyone got off. We didn’t have much time for Hail Mary’s during the actual event, but I believe that we were being looked after by the Almighty during the sinking-which could have gone very south.
No one yet knows what happened to Dorian, and perhaps never will as she sank in 150 feet of water. Deb and I had a discussion about thru-hull fittings. Deb said that she closes her head and other thru-hull valves while sailing and only temporarily opens the ball valve for the head if it is being used. I think that we should all practice this, or set up a method where the head can be used without the need of an open thru-hull. Like not using seawater for the head. There was a lot of pressure on the hulls of the boats racing in the Cross Sound Challenge, especially while traversing the rough surf waves while approaching the Plumb Island buoy #2PG.
Don’t assume that because there are a few boats tending to an emergency that everything is in hand. It was great to see Fusion, with NCYC member Al Ebstein as part of the crew, show up in the middle of the rescue. They were a mile ahead and turned around when they heard the Mayday call. It added comfort to us because if Dorian’s mast had become intertwined with another boat, or ropes got caught in propellers or any number of abnormalities happened there is safety in numbers. Also, don’t assume that a rescue boat has an agile crew to pluck people out of the water, if it comes to that. Many dangerous things could have happened during this rescue that would require multiple hands helping.
It is my belief that Elio Betty and Tim Brewer should be recognized for what they did. They both put themselves at extreme risk, and they coolly and successfully pulled off the rescue. Elio showed us the way in and how to approach the boat, and that people can be taken off using Dorian as a platform, versus plucking people out of rough water. All of the above was nightmarish, and people need to reflect on this rescue to lessen the chance that you end up needing to be saved in adverse sea conditions and to know what to do if it does happen to you. A good place to start is the Safety at Sea courses, offered both in-person and on-line.
Joe Carroll
2024 Launch Operations
It’s been a great season apart from a few rainy weekends. However, those rainy days don’t deter our NCYC salty sailors. I hope everyone made it an enjoyable season. Tanya will be closing our launch operations at 5pm on Monday, October 14th, 2024 (Columbus Day).
If you have decided to extend your season on the mooring to 11/17/24 with the new Harbor Commission’s season extension, you will be using your own mode of transportation or the NCYC work boats. Please consider wearing your life vest when out on the water especially when you’re alone. With the season winding down, there are less of us on our boats and around the club to keep an eye out for one another.
As always during the month of October, I’d like to take note of this past season and give thanks to our Club Stewards / Launch Captains. This has been an exemplary year for our team. Every shift was filled by our regular launch operators and backed up by various qualified club members–keeping the launch going without a gap. Thanks to Dave Miller, Len van Vliet, Tom Tydeman, Dave Chan, Walter Gayeski, and RJ Lavalee for filling those open spots. A special thanks to Elio Betty for keeping our NCYC Launch running with quick mid-season repairs. Our launch crew had a busy season this year where it seemed more folks were using their boats more often than ever before.
If there was an occasion where you received exceptional service, perhaps just help on a foul weather day, balancing gear, or assistance docking from any of our Stewards, feel free to send them a little something with some kind words. While gratuities are not a necessity here at North Cove, members are free to consider it at the close of the season for our regular operators.
On behalf of all our launch operators, we thank you for making our launch trips an enjoyable experience. Meeting your guests, hearty conversations of recent get-aways, and who kicked whose butts on race night will no doubt carry us through to next season with fond memories and laughs. We appreciate your patience on those busy days, and we thank you for making the launch the start and end of each of your trips throughout our NCYC boating season. I wish you and your families a safe and enjoyable winter.
All the best!
Bill Porter / Launch Operations
Our regular Launch Operators:
Tatiana Anderson
32 River Road
Old Saybrook, CT. 06475
Stefan Golicz
536 Main Street
Old Saybrook, CT. 06475
Steven Lee
2 Maynard Circle
Old Saybrook, CT. 06475
Jack Cardello
2 Deerfield Road
Old Saybrook, CT 06475
Activities
Hello North Cove Members! Bet you thought I fell of the face of the earth! Well, I didn’t and I’M BACK! So, let’s make the last month of the season memorable!
We are starting the first Friday, October 11th at 6:00 with a potluck dinner and a movie! Dust off your crockpots and casserole dishes and let’s share dinner together and then watch a good movie. Should we do a sailing related movie or watch something a little more “in the mood of October” with a thriller? I have a few movies in mind but would love some suggestions. Feel free to email me with your ideas
I am sorry if anyone is disappointed, but Octoberfest will not be held this year. I know some will be missing it, but as they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder, so we will skip it this year and maybe bring it back next year.
Back by popular demand, FRIENDSGIVING! It will be on Friday, October 25th at 6:00. We will finish the year with a huge turkey dinner and give thanks for the friendships, new and old, that we have made at the club, a great summer of sailing, and toast the next year. Last year we had an abundance of incredibly good food! Looking forward to what you all cook up this time. This year I will need turkey roasters (the club will provide the turkeys) and carvers again. So please look for the signup and volunteer. Set up and clean up people are also a necessity!
So that’s it for the activities for the year. Again, I apologize for not being available this summer. I hope everyone enjoyed the events that were held, and I look forward to being more present next year!
Thanks for all your support!
Melissa Clark, Activities Chair
Pizza and Bingo Night!
Great to see everyone that turned out for Pizza And Bingo night. We had a lot of fun! All the different varieties of pizza to sample were fantastic.
And then the Bingo! It got pretty funny with the cacophony of sounds that began to rise as the numbers were called and players realized they had that number on their cards. It was pretty easy to tell when they were getting close to BINGO!
A great night all in all! Thank you for playing!
Cruising News
The weather has been kind to the northeast with little adverse conditions as compared to the rest of the country. There were numerous impromptu cruises throughout the summer and thanks to our harbor commission, we have an extended sailing season into November. To all a continued and extended sailing season and many safe sorties.
David Chan, Fleet Captain
The Ship’s Store
From the Ship’s Store…
New lightweight, summer Port & Company baseball hats with an adjustable velcro back in Khaki and Navy with our NCYC Logo arrived a couple of weeks ago. Please stop by the store and check them out!
We are not planning on adding new merchandise until the start of next season unless we have interest in anything specific. One item we considered are knit hats with our logo. These hats can be useful to keep on board for the chilly days ahead on the water. Please send us a text or email if you would consider buying one. If we have enough interest in the knit hats or any other specific item, we are happy to place an order. We look forward to hearing from you!
If you are interested in purchasing anything or just getting a closer look, please contact us directly or see the steward on duty.
As always, each and every purchase is appreciated, thank you for supporting NCYC!
Tom & Julie Tydeman
Tom Cell: 860-877-3343
Julie Cell: 860-877-3344
From the Chaplain’s Quiet Corner of the Cove
Dear Friends,
Perhaps you have noticed it is becoming quieter here in town. Many of you will embark on journeys this month to secure your boats before the winter. I wish you a safe voyage and leave you with this poem, Bilbo's Last Song by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Day is ended, dim my eyes,
But journey long before me lies.
Farewell, friends!
I hear the call.
The ship's beside the stony wall.
Foam is white and waves are grey;
beyond the sunset leads my way.
Foam is salt, the wind is free;
I hear the rising of the sea.
Farewell, friends! The sails are set,
The wind is east, the moorings fret.
Shadows long before me lie,
beneath the ever-bending sky,
but islands lie behind the Sun
that I shall raise ere all is done;
lands there are to west of West,
where night is quiet and sleep is rest.
Guided by the Lonely Star,
beyond the utmost harbour-bar,
I'll find the heavens fair and free,
and beaches of the Starlit Sea.
Ship my ship! I seek the West,
and fields and mountains ever blest.
Farewell to Middle-earth at last.
I see the star above my mast!
Peace,
Jean
From the Editor
As always, many thanks to everyone who contributed to this issue. On a personal note, it was very emotional for me to watch Dorian sink and I’m unbelievably grateful to be part of a club that puts safety and service ahead of personal gain. Responding to the Mayday call, the yachts “retired” (officially dropped out) of the race to help, thereby forfeiting top race results. I think I speak for the entire club when I say thank you to Joe Carroll on Madaket; Elio Betty, Riley Anderson and Charlotte Freeland on Gumdrop; and Al Ebstein on Fusion.
Deb Paulson, Editor High Tidings
debrasachs247@gmail.com
Photos in this issue by: Craig and Lisa Elliott, Stefan Golicz, Bob Murphy, Deb Paulson, Linda Tuzzio, Tom Tydeman, and Lou Vinciguerra