This past fall, the club made a push to activate more committees.  The Social Committee, under the leadership of Anastacia Stathakis, has grown to be our largest committee and they are putting together a great schedule of events. 

You can always see the latest schedule of upcoming club events on our homepage www.myc.org.  Check the right column for "Latest News & Events."  If there are any last minute changes to an event (such as a snow cancelation), this is where it would be posted.  Events are also publicized on the club Facebook page.  This Facebook is private to members so you have to register at  https://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/groups/52257408910/

Thur. Feb. 20 - Navigational Trivia on the Willy Wall- 6 - 10 pm

Mastering navigation of NYC in the snow will not help you come sailing season! Join us for a navigational trivia game night to get you ready for May. Prizes will be awarded and even if you're not familiar with the topic it is a great way to learn! See you then.

Thur. Mar. 6 - March Birthday Celebration on the Willy Wall- 5:30 -10 pm

Join us on the Honorable William Wall to celebrate March birthdays and bid bon voyage to the sailors departing to the warmer waters of the Caribbean for the St. Martin/St. Barth's regatta.

Thur. Mar. 27 - Chili Cook Off Fundraiser on the Willy Wall - 7 - 10 pm

Do you love to cook, love chili or just want to support a good cause? Join us on the Willy Wall as Manhattan Sailing Club hosts our 1st Annual Chili Cook Off to raise money for the New York Harbor Sailing Foundation. More details to follow and if you're interested in submitting your chili for the contest please email astathakis@gmail.com by March 18th.

Since our club boats are put away for the winter, this is a great time to improve our sailing knowledge.  The club organizes a series of FREE educational seminars on the Honorable William Wall.  All seminars will begin at 6:30 p.m. with the doors of the clubhouse opening at 6 p.m.  Members are encouraged to come down to the club, listen, ask questions and learn.  Also, if you wish to suggest a seminar or volunteer as a speaker, please send an email to lynn@myc.org. 

Tues. Feb. 25 - Secrets to Winning Races at MSC

Racing is an important and very social part of our sailing club.  Every year, new members join the racing program and more teams are formed.  This seminar will focus on some of the secrets to winning races at the club.  The discussion will cover advanced tactics as well pre-season preparation such as sanding the bottom.  

Speakers: Commodore Michael Fortenbaugh and his team of Alan Wolf, Danielle Gallo, John Elliott and Sandy Krasovec.  Last year, this team completed a hat trick by winning the Spring, Summer and Fall Tuesday Series.

Tues. Mar. 4 - Understanding the Outboard Engine

Sailors often view the "iron horse" at the back of the boat with fear and contempt.  Actually, the engine is your friend and the more you know about the engine, the friendlier it becomes.  This seminar will discuss engine basics and get you familiar with how it operates, the major components and the common operating errors.  This seminar will be held on the upper deck of the HWW.  There is heat but please also wear warm clothes.  

Speakers: Angelo Valitutti and Brendan Randell.  Angelo and Brendan are in charge of J/24 maintenance for the club.  They are experienced with all aspects of the outboard engines, including fuel, lower units and replacing the powerheads.

Tues. Mar. 11 - Basic Navigation and Reading Harbor Charts

If you are new to sailing in the harbor or have not ventured outside the area by North Cove, this seminar will guide you around the harbor and discuss basic navigation.  The seminar will be based around a chart of the harbor allowing participants to virtually navigate.  The discussion will center around what you find in these locations, including currents, commercial traffic and other items involved with navigation.  

Speakers: To be announced

Tue. Mar. 18 - Understanding Tides & Currents, Eldridge Tide Book

New York Harbor has good currents.  These can be your friend or foe.  Experienced sailors make the currents their friend and in return, the currents let you cover more distance than normal.  It's always a great day when you can sail down to the Verrazano Bridge on an ebb and head back just as the flood begins.  This seminar will be based around the Eldridge Tide Book.  You will learn how to read the book, predict the harbor currents and discover some of the other information packed into this publication.  

Speakers: To be announced

March 25 - Basic Racing Rules

For new racing sailors, it can be quite intimidating when teams call for buoy room.  There are many rules which cover racing.  This seminar will be for new racers and start with the basic rules of starboard-port and windward-leeward.  The discussion will then progress to more complicated rules.  (There may also be an advanced rules seminar at the club this spring so advanced racers should keep an eye on the schedule.)  

Speakers: To be announced

 

However, if during a short trip, say from Block Island to Newport which normally would not qualify, you were cast adrift by a waterspout, blown out into the Atlantic, survived for days on end only on the Merlot, brie and crackers you stowed in your ditch bag, were subsequently picked up by a Panamanian tanker and taken to the Azores where you finally managed to hitch a ride home, then that's another story - you would qualify.

King Neptune
c/o Manhattan Sailing Club
385 South End Ave #6H
New York, NY 10280

Each winter, members of the Blue Water Society gather for their annual dinner. This year, the Blue Water Society Dinner will be Wednesday, February 26.   The dinner will be held again at El Quiote Restaurant, 226 West 23 St.  Seating for dinner will be at 6:30 p.m.  The cost of dinner is split among all attendees.  If you wish to attend the dinner, please RSVP to lynn@myc.org. 

This is a great annual event at the club and is filled with drinking, eating, laughing and making merry. New Blue Water Society members are asked to tell their story before being presented with their medal and inducted into the society.

Thank you to all of the member volunteers who helped build the Holiday Train Garden!  Steve Norring was our main coordinator again.  The train display was built on the upper deck of the Honorable William Wall.  This year, the display included seven Lionel trains running at the same time.  There is about $15,000 in train equipment on display.  For two weeks, this Holiday Train Garden delighted kids young and old around North Cove.  Pictured above are members Krystyna and Finn Marable.  It was good to see the train garden running again this year because it was not organized last year due to the hurricane and lack of electricity.  We hope you will consider getting involved next winter to help create the biggest display ever!

Now that the sailing season has ended for the club, that doesn't mean that learning has to stop for all those wanting to be skippers or those newly minted skippers.  Learning how to be a sailor is a lifelong never ending endeavor. I would suggest you get a copy of Annapolis Book of Seamanship or Chapman's Piloting and Seamanship and whenever you get the itch to go sailing this winter, open the book up instead and read a chapter or two.

Learn some basic weather forecasting. What is progression of clouds during the approach of a low pressure, buy-ballot law, wind circulation around lows and highs, how to read a barometer.  Learn how to read a chart other then the few symbols required on the skippers test. Even though we pass bell and gong buoys constantly can you describe what the difference is between the 2 - both physically and sound wise. Learn how to figure compass deviation. There is a wealth of information for the harbor in the Coast Pilot, read it. Learn how to use the current tables using the Narrows as a reference station. The Upper Bay, the lower Hudson River and East river up to the Brooklyn Bridge is our playground - you should try and learn it as best you can.  Anyway, you get my point. There are plenty of things to learn during the winter months. It takes a lot of effort and hard work to become a skilled sailor.

Now the off-season is here if you use an inflatable life jacket it's a good time to check the dobbin and CO2 cartridge and make sure they are in good working order and they aren't out of date.  Feel free to contact me with any questions.

The Club is asking for volunteers to serve on a "Tradition and Etiquette" Committee.  The idea for this committee comes from our club's recent trip to Yacht Club de Monaco to race at the Primo Cup.  Yacht Club de Monaco has a beautiful yearbook and one of the sections is devoted to yachting tradition and etiquette.  The book explains the proper dress for certain occasions as well as other club traditions such as which flag to fly on which of Arabella's masts.  Our club would also benefit by recording these traditions.  Every year we have many new members join our organization.  If we wrote down our traditions, then all members, new and old, would be able to read and learn them.  If you would be interested in participating in the Traditions & Etiquette Committee, please send an email to Commodore Fortenbaugh at mike@myc.org.