Dear Oconee Sailing and Yacht Club members: A reminder to all that our annual Fall Membership meeting is scheduled for the evening of November 12, starting with club-provided dinner at 6pm and followed by board reports and wrapped up with election for 2012 officers. We will start Happy Hour at 4:30. Appetizers and desserts will be greatly appreciated. Please RSVP to my email. Kennifer@windstream.net Thanks Ken

We have been fortunate to have had some terrific sailing weather lately, and if the “wind gods” are benevolent we just might have some good wind this weekend. If you are interested in racing, come on out this weekend and we’ll give it a shot. Saturday skipper’s meeting at 12:00 noon, race to start at 1:00, Sunday, skipper’s meeting at 1:00, race to start at 2:00. If you are interested in racing but would like to check it out via crewing with someone, come on down and we’ll put you on a boat. If you would like to participate in our racing program and/or have any ideas, suggestions, complaints or input of any kind, please reply to this e-mail and see if we can get a discussion going. We have the facilities and equipment to do a really top drawer racing program and I would love to see more sailors take advantage of the unique experiences, fun and acquisition of knowledge a good racing program offers.

{{Saturday Balloon Chase}} The sky was blue and the wind was blowing, so why only three boats? Might be due to the chilly temperatures and the whitecaps on the lake, but honestly I’ve seen no better sailing on Lake Sinclair all year. Thanks to Ken for blowing up a couple dozen balloons and playing balloon distributor. The three boats that braved the conditions and went balloon chasing were Jay Harrell and family, Jack Sterret and Jimmy Harrell, and D. Wilson and guests. The Impulse proved again to be the ideal boat for balloon chasing with it’s combination of speed and low sides, and everyone had a blast. {{Saturday Dinner, Party, and Costume contest}} Grayson set up the decorations and Ken set up the grill, and the party commenced with kids in costumes and hamburgers and hotdogs. Prizes were awarded in categories like most beautiful, most dramatic, jazziest, scariest, most lethal, best fantasy character, best walking dead and most tiggerish. As I recall, nine kids and four adults dressed up for the parade. Thanks to Lauren, Pete and Jimmy for judging. {{Sunday Racing}} Here are the un-corrected times for Sunday’s Race, courtesy of our race chair Mr Gimp: |D. Wilson | Pearson 26| 2 hrs – 50 min – 34 sec| |Jim Weadick | Catalina 22WK| 3 hrs – 2 min| |Jack Mahaney | Thistle| 1 hr – 56 min| |Ken Griffin | Hunter 260| 2 hrs – 22 min – 30 sec| |Greg Phillips | Catalina 25 WK TR| 2 hrs – 35 min – 20 sec| |Dave Schnider | Y-Flyer|2 hrs – 16 min| {I will run these through the program when I get a chance later…}

Please mark your calendars for our wonderful Halloween weekend. Instead of having a race on Saturday we will have a Balloon Chase. This event is fun for children and adults. Balloons will be filled and scattered around our portion of the lake. Sailors and crews will then try to retrieve the balloons (nets are recommended). Prizes will be rewarded in several categories. This is a ton of fun. Skipper meeting at noon, Chase starts at 1:00. We will then start our Fall Series races on Sunday. Skippers meeting at 1:00 racing starts at 2:00. Sat. night at about 6 p.m. we will have a cook out and Ken will decide about what to grill. In the past we have had hamburgers and hot dogs and charged a small fee. Side dishes, desserts and hors d’ oeuvre will be most welcome. Plan on a costume for our Halloween parade, and come join the fun.

DANCING UNDER THE STARS will be held on Oct 1, 2011, Sat. night at OSYC. The RX band will once again perform from 7p.m. until 11p.m. Last year was a hoot and we would like to have a big crowd again this year. Members and their guests ( families included) are encouraged to attend. There will be a $10.00 per person charge and children 12 and under are free. Food will be available at reasonable rates on site so bring your friends and come and dance under the shade of the OSYC pavilion. Bring lawn chairs and friends. BYOB. Please respond to this e-mail or to Bill Lewis @(615)383-6924 by Sept 25 if possible. Thanks, and we still need a few volunteers. Bill Lewis

Dear OSYC Members and Their Guests, This coming Saturday July 2, 2011 is another big day for our club (although how can we top the wonderful past Children’s Day???). We will have a race as, Micheal, our race committee chairman announces, if conditions permit: skippers meeting at 12 noon and race gun at 1 p.m. The fired up grill will be ready about 6 P.M. for our “club burn”, and then Ken is providing Jimmy Buffet music and Jimmy is bringing the CD player for our entertainment. We, as members, are suppose to bring the meat or vegetables as each family desires to be cooked by our Commodore Ken. He will also provide 2, as not yet announced, side dishes. The rest of us are asked to bring an hors d’ oeuvre, another side dish to share or a dessert that will knock our sandals ( not socks) off. If that is not your wish, you might donate $3 to defray club costs. Aloah or island shirts, tropical hats and parrot-head costumes are most welcome-we might even come up with a prize or two. Also, if anyone has tiki torches, lanterns or other island decorations, please bring them. We plan to have our feast on the point as we might even catch a breath of wind down there. Happy 4th of July to all and to all our ancestors who have fought, died, or worked our land so we might have the freedoms we now enjoy. –Grayson

On Saturday, June 25th, after much serious meditation and contemplation, a few intrepid, hard corps mariners elected to look a major case of heat-stroke dead in the eye and attempt a pursuit race. This group included two “newbie” neophytes, (Miguel, I didn’t get his last name but he is a co-worker of Carl Saylor, and Sean Conner, my nephew) who crewed with Charlie and I on the Thera-P. Even though the sun was brutal, the humidity stifling and the winds were light, erratic and consistently inconsistent, we had a good race…at least my crew had a blast. The two newbies were enthusiastic and quick learners and expressed an adamant desire to be invited back for a repeat performance…well, at least when the temps retreat from the “deepest pits of hell” region. On Sunday, without the prospect of looking like wimps in front of the “newbies”, who couldn’t make it, the inherent fear of our own common sense kicked in and we elected to call off the races. I mean…no kidding, the winds were a little lighter and the temps a little higher…honest. Results for Saturday, June 25; – 1st — Ken & Jennifer Griffin / Impulse 21 – 2nd — Greg Phillips / Catalina 25 WK TR – 3rd — Jimmy Harrel / MacG 26 DB – 4th — Michael & Charlie Dortch, et al / MacG 26 DB

This weekend, June 25 and 26, we will be racing…I hope. If the “gods o’ the semi-decent winds” do perchance to smile upon us in any sort of favorable fashion, we will attempt another weekend of riotous rail-rubbing, rule bending, hollerin’ ‘n yellin’, laughin’ ‘n lyin’ and, more than likely, a good bit of drinkin’ and debauchery…and maybe get a race or two in too boot. Saturday will begin with a Skipper’s Meeting at 12:00 noon and Racing to begin close on to 1:00 p.m. or there abouts. As usual the infamous OSYC Happy Hour will commence immediately after the racing. Sunday’s schedule will be; Skippers Meeting at 1:00 p.m. and Racing to begin ’round ’bout 2-ish. So come on out and join us. If you haven’t raced with us before, don’t be shy or skeered. The rules are simple, the competition’s friendly, the advice is free and all your questions will be answered cheerfully and expeditiously. So… come on out and join the dance! Gimp

Jack Sterrett and I went on the BEER 2011 cruise earlier this month in my MacGregor 26D. Other OSYC boats included Bob Horan (Morgan 240), Tim and Carry Aupperle (Catalina 22), Mike Barr (Mac 25), and Ken and Jennifer Griffin (Hunter 260). It was hot, but all in all it was a good trip. If you would like to know more about the cruise which is held around the first weekend in June, click on this link: [http://www.beercruise.info/->http://www.beercruise.info/] A couple of highlights for us: {Water balloon fight.} We went by a Walmart the day before we were to depart the marina to buy groceries. Jack saw a package of water balloons and bought them. Jack filled the up the night before we left and shortly after clearing the channel maker into Pensacola Bay, we spotted a boat with three teenagers on board. Not sure how they would react, we threw a balloon in their direction being sure to miss the boat. Little did we know. They immediately went below and came up with water balloons of their own along with a launcher which required three to operate, two to hold it and one to pull back the rubber tubing and aim. War was on. We were the faster boat so we sailed pass them several times, getting in several direct hits, one of which went through their companion way and into the cabin. They, however, had much greater range with their sling shot type launcher. Their first shot passed us about 20 feet above our mast. Then they got the range corrected. Jack and I both took direct hits on our persons. They also hit the mast once and the sail several times. We were definitely out gunned. We left the encounter wet. {Motor quit.} As we were entering the anchorage on the third night, I reached down to start the motor and the choke know came off in my hand and it would not start. We were confused about where the anchorage was and sailed downwind through the narrow entrance to Mosquito Cove. We realized that we must be in the wrong place so we called Bob Horan and discovered that the anchorage was supposed to be at Sailboat Cove, about 2 miles further. We tacked out of Mosquito Cove and headed for Sailboat Cove. I preferred entering the anchorage under motor but it would not start and I thought it would be difficult to pull the cover and reattach the choke so we sailed in and dropped anchor successfully just like we knew what we were doing. We pulled the motor cover and were able to reattach the choke knob and the motor started just fine. Note to self: don’t pull on that knob. It is supposed to be turned. I did not take many pictures, but you can find a few at the link below. [https://picasaweb.google.com/jimmy.harrell.photos->https://picasaweb.google.com/jimmy.harrell.photos/BEERCruise2011PensacolaFL?authkey=Gv1sRgCMqM546jvO_1bA] — Jimmy Harrell

If you’ve been wondering what you going to do with the rest of the year, wonder no longer! The club schedule for the rest of 2011 has been posted at the “Club Schedule” link over on the left menu. Or just [click here->187].