The date was announced way back at the first of the year, but here’s your gentle reminder: The OSYC Annual Membership Meeting is scheduled for November 10, 2007 at 6pm at the clubhouse. Dinner will provided by the club, and an email will be going out shortly with dinner logistics and asking for RSVPs. As always, this is the primary annual business meeting of the club and we will be electing new officers for 2008. The Nominating Committee has assembled the following recommended slate of candidates for 2008. Each of them has agreed to serve if elected. -*Commodore: Jimmy Harrell -*Vice-Commodore: Ken Griffin -*Secretary/Treasurer: Jay Harrell -*Trustees -**Howard Gregory -**Bill Lewis -**George Thorpe -**Ronnie Young And of course, Bill Shaw will round out the Board as Immediate Past Commodore. Additional or alternative nominations may be submitted to the club secretary and any nominations received before the meeting will be presented by the secretary along with the Committee slate above. Also in keeping with Roberts Rules, nominations can be made from the floor as well. As always, a quorum will be required to transact club business and if you are unable to attend in person, please provide a written proxy for you vote to another member that you trust to represent your interests at the meeting.

I was looking at the forecast earlier in the week and couldn’t help but notice the Halloween Regatta weekend sandwiched there between two storm systems. Certainly we could use the rain, but to my thinking two back-to-back storms were likely to bring good sailing conditions for our annual Halloween event. And indeed it did! Cool nights, warm, but not hot, clear blue skies and sunny days all coupled with nice, full, moderate breezes each day. In other words, exactly what fall sailing at OSYC is supposed to be like. Saturday came with the breeze from the NW blowing straight down the lake giving us a nice long course. Nine boats, including Bill Lewis in his new Merit 22 and Bill Shaw in his new San Juan 23, did two 2-laps WL courses, one at winds 8-12 and the other a bit more. The Bolinger family and friends pulled off a flawless race committee, and [took the photos to prove it->http://picasaweb.google.com/jharrell26/20071020OSYCHalloweenRegatta2007]. Despite the length, each race was only about an hour long and we hit the dock before 4pm so master chef Ken Griffin could light the grill. With boats put away, the clubhouse became the center of attention. Grayson was directing the decorations and set up of the sale, while Ken and the Goodie Gallery whipped up the food. By the time it was over, if anyone went away hungry, it was their own fault. I’m not exaggerating when I say it was some of the very best sailing club food you can find anywhere, and far-far better than most. After dinner there was the requisite costume contest highlighted by an awesome headless Dexter and followed by the drawing of raffle tickets on the porch. Some how this year I managed to come home without any huge items, but I did end up with a lawn alligator. Hey at least it doesn’t take up any room in the garage. (And Ken definitely owes me a favor for not donating tickets to his daughter for the sewing machine.) Sunday morning dawned cool, blue, sunny and windy again. Once again a beautiful day for sailing. Somehow overnight the wind had turned 180 degrees and was now blowing straight down the lake in the opposite direction, once again giving us a long wide-open WL course. The MacMillans gave us 3 laps for the first race in a bit over 12 mph wind and 2 laps for the second in what turned out to be a bit less wind. The races were hard fought and in the end only a few second separated 1st and 2nd for the weekend. The Harrells took 1st, the Griffins took 2nd and Calvin Smith sailing solo took 3rd. In 4th we had Bill Shaw and Bob Horan tied, followed by Michael Dortch, Bill Lewis, Greg Phillips and the Davis rounding out the fleet. As it was with the food, so it was also with the sailing. If you didn’t get enough sailing this weekend, you have only yourself to blame. As if to make up for less than decent weather for most of this year, the lake served up it’s very best and we were there to enjoy it. But wait, there’s more! Check the 2007 schedule and watch this page – we still have the rest of the Fall Series and the Fall Membership meeting before we pack things away for the holiday…

Click on the link to see announcement [2007 Halloween Regatta ->http://osyc.net/OSYC2007%20Halloween%20Regatta.htm]

(Editor’s note: Tuesday is the name of Bill’s boat and Outback is a regatta on Lake Murry. At first, I thought he was going to give us a restaurant review. Jimmy) The Ronnies and I decided to try the Outback Regatta. With a combined age of 182 vs 30 and and estimated 70 we had the experience, but not necessarily the the agility and good sense to sail a smart race. On the first race we were 3rd at the first mark, very close to the 1 and 2. We were ready for the spinnaker set because Ronnie #1 (Young) and I had practiced the spinnaker set and retrieval a few times a week or so earlier and all had gone well. Ronnie #2 (Hartley) had decided to work on the committee boat for the “good of the team” as the air was light, building to 7, and he knew we did not need the extra weight. I think he also knew that it was going to be a hot light air race. Anyway, since we had done so well in practice, we left the spinnaker in the boat rigged just the way we had taken it down on our last retrieval. Back to the race: The spinnaker went up OK and we were OK but the course dictated a jibe. We jibed the spinnaker and all went to hell instantly. The spinnaker and sheets wrapped around the forestay in a bad way. After a few “casual” conversations about what might be going on, I realized that when we had set the boat up, after leaving the spinnaker just as it had worked well during practice, we had left the spinnaker sheets inside of the forestay when we set the boat up. We pretty much waved the fleet by as we worked through the disaster. We were so bad that the committee gave us the dsq for Jay going through the closed start line. In all fairness, in the end, they gave both of us the dsq for Jay going through the closed start line. You should be punished for doing dumb things! In race 2 we were caught below some really big boats at the start, and tacked away into a hole and were never heard from again. End of racing, day one. Day 2, the air was once again light and Ronnie #2 had once again abandoned ( I mean volunteered for the committee boat) After a bit of a delay, the race #3 was started. We were 4th at the first mark very much in contention. We rounded and hoisted the spinnaker and it would not budge out of its dark little hole. We pulled the halyard hard and still no spinnaker. It had worked well in race # 2 and it was just as we had left it except for the knot I made in the halyard to the forestay to keep it in place while towing back to the launch ramp. If you pull on a loose knot hard enough it gets very tight. Once again we waved the fleet by as we practiced boy scout knot un-doing. The regatta was great!!!!! If any of you miss this event next year, you are missing a major happening. I have never been to a regatta with better food and beer. Period! If you like to sail and you like a good time, put this regatta on your calendar next year. Hyatt $107 a night for a 3 bed room. How does that compare with Boston? In the end, Alex wiped Jay and me on the course, and we really don’t care. I think Alex is the southeast’s hope for beating up on some of the Marblehead group in the future. He sailed a great series, but more importantly was a great host for his home regatta. Put the Outback on your schedule next year and come try to beat Alex and enjoy a whole bunch of Columbia Sailing Club hospitality

In a surprise twist of fate, summer returned to the south for what’s likely to be our final weekend of “dang hot” temperatures and very light wind. The bad part is that this occurred at the end of week of cool, dry, sunny and windy weather while we all suffered at work. So instead of our hoped-for first taste of fall sailing, instead we got a last blast of summer. No matter, we still managed to have fun! With only three boats, the Vipers were lumped into the large “PHRF spinnaker” start. We had 3 Vipers, 6 U-20s, a bunch of J-24s and S2s, some large cruisers, and even an Olson 30 starting with us. In the light wind, these large boats cast a wind shadow about a mile long. And we were well under hull speed, so this wasn’t going to be a good day for handicap racing. The first start ended in a general recall as much of the fleet crossed the line as much as 30 second early. Wow! On the restart, Alex got the jump on the fleet and never looked back. Meanwhile Bill and I where able to prove beyond a doubt that it was Alex’s skill in play and not just his fast boat by finishing somewhat further back in the pack. Not to mention a DSQ for me for sailing through the “closed gate” not just once but twice. (So did half the U-20s BTW, so I wasn’t the only one to miss that line in the SI). As if the first race wasn’t light enough, the second was even more so and part way around the wind died completely. Ratings no matter, the entire fleet converged on the leeward mark at the same time in a giant ghosting pinwheel. Except for Alex that is – he was already nearing the finish line by then. Sunday morning brought a 10am start, but the wind didn’t arrive until later. With finally enough wind for a start, we got yet another general recall. The restart (with the I flag) was successful and we got in one more drifter before heading in for lunch and packing up, and watching Alex pick up his prize. And to those who didn’t make it, you missed the best regatta food anywhere – fantastic meals both Friday and Saturday night. And next year there will be a new $3 million club house overlooking the lake. I would definitely recommend a return trip, particularly if we can get enough sportboats there to have our own start as a group instead of being forced to fight it out with the bludgers. (So, where exactly does rule 18 turn on when one boat is 21 and the other is 30 feet long?) Here are a few [photos->http://picasaweb.google.com/viper640photos/2007OutbackRegatta]. Jay

The weekend of August 25th and 26th are scheduled for the Summer series races 7 and 8. As an extra bonus, we will have a “Club Burn” the night of the 25th. This is an activity Ken Griffin learned from the Rudder Club in Jacksonville and suggested we try it here. This will be a cook out. everyone bring a meat they want to grill and the club will furnish the sides along with the grill and for those that want it, the cook. Ken said he will be glad to man the grill and cook for anyone that wants him to cook their meat.

The OSYC Nominating Committee will present a single recommended slate of candidates for election as Officers and Trustees for 2008 at the Fall Meeting on November 10, 2007 as required by Section V of the Bylaws. This will include the following positions. Commodore Vice Commodore Secretary-Treasurer Trustees at Large (4) Also, individual members may nominate candidates at any time. If these nominees are willing to serve, they will be added to the slate provided to the membership prior to the Fall Meeting. Such nominations may be made by contacting the club Secretary by October 5th. Jay Harrell’s email address is [jay.harrell@riverside.net->jay.harrell@riverside.net] and his postal address is 2710 Henderson Mill Road, Atlanta, GA 30341-5710. The Nominating Committee’s recommended slate, along with other nominees from the membership received by October 5th and who agree to serve, will be mailed to the membership prior to the Fall Meeting. Nominations may also be submitted later or made from the floor at the Fall Meeting. These later nominees will also be added to the ballot at the Fall Meeting if they agree to serve upon election.

{{{ {{Trailer Sailors Association North Channel Cruise}} {{Clary Cove to Eagle Island to South Benjamin Island to Little Current}} }}} July 16-18, 2007 – Days 4,5,6 – Personal Log – Jimmy Harrell {{July 16, Day 4: Cleary Cove to Eagle Island.}} 16 miles straight line, sailed/motored 18 miles, wind out of the west at 10 to 15 with a fetch of about 50 miles, 1 to 2 ft swells increased to 3 to 4ft, air temperature in the mid 60’s. [Google map of the area sailed. Clary Cove on left and Eagle Island on right.->http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=116651256621430826857.000436e50f20b5b75de9a&ll=46.122273,-82.462692&spn=0.284128,0.529404&t=k&z=11&om=1]] Both Jerry and I are early risers, so we were up way before the radio net. I’m not quite as early a riser as Jerry is and when I awoke he already had the water boiling for coffee. I still had remnants of a headache from the day before but Jerry convinced me that a little Bailey’s Irish Cream in my coffee would help. It worked and shortly I was ready for a little shore time. It worked so well that we had Irish Cream in our coffee every morning for the rest of the trip. Henk told us that previously he had been able to use his cell phone from atop a rock hill next to the anchorage. We had poor reception at Spanish so we rowed ashore. Henk was close behind in his kayak. The three of us climbed the hill and sure enough were able to call and check in with the home front. There were blue berries everywhere, so we picked and ate our fill before returning to the boat for the 9 AM radio net. The blueberry bushes were different than I had seen before. They were seldom more than a foot tall and usually nestled between adjacent rocks that were higher than the bushes. In Georgia, wild blueberries are ofter 4 or 5 feet tall. I suppose the harsh winters had something to do with the size of the bushes. Also there were a lot of juniper bushes, white pine, hemlock, spruce, cedar and maple. Also saw a few trees I think were oak. Very few of the trees were very big compared to similar trees I had seen in SE Alaska. We left Clary Cove about 9:30 AM. After clearing the cove, we were able to sail downwind all the way to Eagle Island and started the motor just to get inside the anchorage. It was a beautiful, cool day. Conditions couldn’t have been much better for sailing. We arrived at Eagle Island about 1:55 PM. (Note to self: This headache, lousy feeling thing has happened before when I had a drink at the end of the first day of a cruise, probably a combination of motion sickness, dehydration, and alcohol. So, don’t drink at the end of the first day and always bring along a bottle of Bailey’s just in cast.) {{July 17, Day 5: Eagle to South Benjamin Island}} 2.9 miles straight line distance, sailed 7 to 8 miles (estimated since I failed to save the track log), Air in mid 60s early to lower 80’s by late afternoon, water 65 degrees, wind 0 to 5 mph. [Google map of the area sailed. Eagle Island on the left and South Benjamin the right.->http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=116651256621430826857.000436e50fe82c61338bf&ll=46.09847,-82.275753&spn=0.071063,0.132351&t=k&z=13&om=1] Again we rose early and were ready to go before the 9 AM radio net, but waited to get words of wisdom from cruise leader Brian Childs before we headed out. By 9:15 AM we had sails hoisted and were sailing out of the anchorage. Jerry hates the motor and I don’t like it very much either so we decided to try to make this leg of the trip totally by sail. Winds were light at the start and dropped to nothing about 2 hours later. It was a short sail and we were not in a hurry so we kicked back and watched the other boats motor by while we imitated what we call “Shake and Bake” down South. The difference is that the Bake part when in the North Channel is very pleasant. After a while the wind picked back up and we sailed the rest of the way and into the anchorage. Wind inside the anchorage was light so we ghosted around the anchorage under sail, which by now had more than 30 boats, until we found the perfect spot and dropped anchor at about 2 PM. A few others who also shunned their motors sailed in after we arrived. We noted that today we had seen only the second house on shore since we left Spanish. Later in the cruise we saw only a few more houses except in villages of Little Current and Kilarney. We also noted that on this leg, we had picked up some black flies but they did not seem to be the biting kind or at least Jerry and I were not very tasty. Mosquitoes, just after dark, were also worth noting. They were big and persistent and the extensive netting that Jerry brought was worth its weight in gold. Benjamin had a lot of good places to land a dingy and cliffs overlooking the anchorage and the North Channel. Jerry and I dinghied ashore and hiked to a cliff overlooking the anchorage. It was easier finding our way to the top of the cliff than it was finding the trail back down. Every attempt to follow a rock path ended up at a drop off that was more than we wanted to negotiate. We could see where we wanted to go, but just couldn’t get there easily. Finally we decided to head down one of the ravines through dense vegetation, full of mosquitoes and spiders. By the time we got down, we were hot and buggy with remnants of spider webs all over. Even though the water was 65 degrees we decided that a swim to drown or freeze the critters clinging to us was better than the alternative. The afternoon sun had warmed the rocks so after a short and very refreshing swim we lounged on the warm rocks while others were playing Bingo. Dick and Char Travis had brought laminated bingo cards and grease pencils and prizes. In the past, the bingo had been Dingy Bingo with the contestants gathered around a mother ship in their dingies. The flat warm rock was so inviting that this year it was called rock bingo. Sorry, I forgot to take my camera shore so I don’t have pictures. Jerry posted some earlier on TSBB. {{ July 18, Day 6: Benjamin to Spider Bay at Little Current}} 17 miles straight line distance, sailed 21, Air in mid 60s early to lower 80’s by late afternoon, water 65 degrees, wind out of the east starting out at 5 mph then to nothing and then to about 15., air lower 60s. [Click here for a Google map of the area sailed. Benjamin Island on the left and Spider Bay Marina on the right.->http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&ll=46.026528,-82.061691&spn=0.284622,0.529404&t=h&z=11&om=1&msid=116651256621430826857.000436f88fe440a250a9b] Again we were up earlier than most and had a little emergency. Jerry and I are compatible on most things but his preference for breakfast is oatmeal and mine is grits. (Jerry was born and raised in Alabama and he prefers oatmeal to grits; can you imagine that?) Jerry bought the food for the trip but I told him that I already had a package of single serving sizes of grits and that I would bring them. Turns out that Jerry had a few packs of grits in with his oatmeal and I had been eating them. But I had had the last package the day before. Not to worry, I would start using those that I had brought. After searching high and low, they were no where to be found. I’m fairly adaptable so I decided to eat oatmeal which we could re-supply in Little Current. That morning I had my second and last bowl of oatmeal. In addition to tasting blah, that much oatmeal so early in the morning doesn’t set well with my digestive system. Enough about that. We were ready to leave by 8:30 AM and since we had gained a little confidence in our navigation skills, we decided to head out before the radio net and listen in as we sailed. Wind was out of the east and our initial course was SE around Amedroz Island and then east to Little Current and Spider Bay. Wind was about 5 mph and decreased all morning to nothing about 1 PM. We were the first out of the anchorage but the whole fleet passed us before we finally started the motor and motor sailed for about 11 miles to Spider Bay Marina. About 3 miles from the marina, the wind picked up rapidly to about 15 mph and was on the nose. We decided to continue motoring and arrived at the marina to get the last available slip. Others had to stay at the town docks which were closer to shopping but was exposed to wake from passing boats. [Click here for close up of Little Current on Manitoulin Island. Spider Bay Marina is under the blue ballon.->http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&t=h&om=1&msid=116651256621430826857.000436f88fe440a250a9b&ie=UTF8&ll=45.978355,-81.925907&spn=0.035609,0.094328&z=14] The itinerary called for leaving Spider Bay the next morning for a fairly short trip to Heywood Island. Therefore, there were things to do and not much time. Laundry facilities were sorely lacking, the main problem being the inadequate dryers. Something had to be wrong with them. It took several cycles to dry a load. The grocery store was small but adequate except they did not carry grits, so I bought fruit bars. A meal of whitefish at a local restaurant was excellent. By early evening the group was abuzz about a storm forecast to arrive about noon the next day, lightening and high winds. Some thought about leaving early and making it to Heywood Island before the storm hit. Others thought about waiting until the storm passed before heading out and still others thought about staying a second night at the marina. Jerry and I got everything ready to leave the next morning depending on an update forecast the next morning. We did not get to bed until after midnight because of the slow clothes dryer. [Click here for photos of this section of the cruise->http://osyc.net/photos/July%2016-19%20Days%204.5.6.7/July_16_19_Days_4.5.6.7/]

July 15, 2007 – Day 3 – Personal Log – Jimmy Harrell On Sunday morning we had a skippers meeting at about 10 AM to go over the plans for the day and do a roll call. There were about 30 boats planning to participate in some or all of the planned routes. Eight boats planned to sail one week; 23 for two weeks; and 9 for more than two weeks. We were in the two-week group. Most of the boats had trailered into Spanish but a few boats arrived by water having put in some where else. Harry Rowe and his great nephew Jeffrey sailed into Spanish in their Montgomery 17 from De Tour Village in Michigan, taking two days to cross a wide part of the North Channel west of Spanish. A few others joined the group along the way. The itinerary for the first few days was the same for the three groups. Plans for the day were to leave the marina by noon and meet at the anchorage near Johns Island. We left the marina at noon and headed west through the narrow channel for 1 to 2 miles and raised the sails (reefed main) as soon as we were out of the channel. Wind was on the nose and estimated at 15 to 20 knots. We estimated the waves to be mostly 1 to 2 feet with some as much as 3 to 4 feet. The waves tossed the boat around a bit but not too much and we had a great sail. The air was chilly and the water was a cool 65 degrees F. Jerry and I both wore our harnesses and tethers. About 3 hours later we were approaching Whales Back channel and had to drop sails and start the motor. At about 3:45 PM we rounded the west end of Johns Island and headed southwest into a channel between Johns and Dewdney Islands. We were immediately behind Henk Vanderhuist (82 years young), single handing his Precision 23. Henk motored past boats that had already anchored on the left side of the channel next to Johns Island. We had already learned that Henk was a veteran of these waters and a knowledgeable sailor so we followed him. He led us around a shallow reef, through a narrow opening and into a beautiful cove, 5 to 6 feet deep, and protected on all sides. By 4:30 we had the anchor set and were relaxing a little after a tiring sail when Henk paddled up in his kayak. He didn’t look tired at all. Well, it was almost 5 o’clock so we invited Henk aboard and opened a bottle of Jack Daniels. I tried to keep up with Henk and Jerry and think I had one too many. Henk paddled off in his kayak and Jerry rowed off in his dingy and I lay down to nurse a headache. 9 PM. By pre-arrangement, all the cruisers turned their radios to channel 72 for the “net.” Cruise leader Brian Childs came on and recapped the days events and gave the waypoints next day’s anchorage. He then opened the mike for any reports from the cruisers. He did a remarkable job of keeping up with where everyone was. The “net” was held twice a day at 9 AM and 9 PM. Cleary Cove is 13 miles from Spanish as the crow files. Our GPS track showed we sailed and motored a total of 22 miles. [Click here for a Google map of the area sailed. Spanish in under the blue balloon on the right and Cleary Cove is under the blue balloon on the left.->http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&oe=utf-8&hl=en&t=h&msa=0&msid=116651256621430826857.000434c77754db27c231e&om=1&ll=46.162237,-82.542343&spn=0.283922,0.461426&z=11] [Click here for a few photos taken on Day 3->http://osyc.net/photos/July_15_Day_3/]

July 13-14, 2007 – Personal Log – Jimmy Harrell Jerry Hardin and I arrived at Spanish Municipal Marina, Ontario, at about 5 PM on Friday, July 13 with Miss Jo’s Catalina 22, Sandpiper, in tow. This was two days before the scheduled departure. We arrived early because we allowed time to deal with any problems which might occur on the long trip from Georgia (three days for me) and Tennessee (two days for Jerry). A few other boats arrived the same day, but most arrived on Saturday, July 14. Air temperature was in the low 60s, it was overcast and the wind made it feel much colder. I began to wonder if I had brought too many warm weather clothes. We slept in the boat at a slip in the marina Friday and Saturday nights. On Saturday we woke to a cold, windy, rainy day. We dressed in several layers, including fowl weather gear. Jerry and I spent the day helping others launch and getting to know the cruisers.. I decided to reallocate my clothes between my boat bag and my stay-in-the-truck bag in favor of taking more long sleeves and long pants on the cruise. This turned out to be unnecessary because after the first day, the weather warmed up. (Note to self: Next time, take a full compliment of cool and warm weather clothes). By 3 PM the rain had stopped and the temperature was up to 65 degrees F. By this time most of the boats had been launched but they kept coming in until about dark. At about dark:30 we gathered in a meeting room at the marina complex for a pot luck dinner; there was a lot of good food. By the end of the meal we had met a lot of friendly and helpful folks who we would get to know better over the next two weeks. They went out of their way to make sure that the Southern contingent felt welcome. I will post more of the log as I have time to edit it. Two of my grandchildren are arriving today for a 17 day visit and they take a lot of my time. [Click on the link below for a few pics taken at the marina. Click on the thumbnail pic to enlarge. ->http://osyc.net/photos/July%2013-14%20Launch%20Day/July_13_14_Launch_Day/].