waterlines - Grand Traverse Yacht Club

Grand Traverse Yacht Club
WATERLINES
FROM THE HELM
by Katie Horvath,
Commodore
January 2011
As the January snow flies, it is amazing how many of our Members are on the water. Our prayers
for a safe voyage have been with Sara Boys and Doug Roberts as they crossed the Atlantic on Mindemoya
just after the New Year. We wish GTYC racers good luck in Key West Race Week later this month. Other
GTYC racers are heading to Sydney, Australia to prepare for the Farr 40 World Championship. Many are
departing for vacations on warmer waters including the Pacific, Atlantic, Gulf and Caribbean. And ice boating beckons those staying home in the north. For a small club in Northern Michigan, the diversity of our
cruising and racing representation in January is remarkable.
Thank you to PC Steve Wyckoff for leading the GTYC during 2010 and making it a great year for us.
Thank you to outgoing Board Members Ken Stepnitz, Mac VanStratt and Matt Hughey. We welcome Rear
Commodore Jim Sorbie, and new Board Members George Kobernus, Lisa Wilmeth and Jordan Owen.
Thank you also to our 2011 committee chairs and officers: Building and Grounds: George Kobernus and
Cheri Buchbinder; Membership: Deb and Steve Wyckoff; Moorings and Storage: Bill Allgaier; Social: Kim
Marian and Libby Tomlinson; Race: Scott Porter; Interlakes: Bob Sagan; Lasers: Patrick Gerber; Cruisers:
Lisa Wilmeth and Karen Downing; Food and Beverage: Jim Dye; History: Tom Cowell; Merchandise: Gerri
Sorbie; Waterlines: Karin Willman; Website: Jim Sorbie; Committee Boat: Marc Nugent; Treasurer: Dave
Skibowski; Comptroller: Bud Cline; Secretary: Gregg Diehl.
Please join a committee. We are a club run by volunteers and we need your help. Contact a committee chair to lend your talent and have your voice heard. The Social Committee has a number of great
events to look forward to this winter. The GTYC Culinary Trophy contest kicks off shortly with Crew Dinners. Dinner-and-a-Movie Saturday Nights are back this winter. We have invited the Great Lakes Maritime
Academy faculty and cadets to join us for a Friday night in February. We are planning for a similar evening
with the Coast Guard late winter or spring. February also includes two Sunday afternoon events: the Superbowl Party and our first Mad Sailor’ s Tea. You may find the GTYC calendar on our website for a complete
listing of events, and please expect further event details to be coming. I look forward to seeing you at the
Club.
Best regards,
Katie Horvath
WWW.GTYC.ORG
Misc Ramblings, PC40
Happy New Year and I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and holiday week
with friends and family. First, a HUGE THANK YOU to Dannielle Higgins for a wonderful job as Waterlines Editor for ??? Years !!! Danni did a great job bringing the Waterlines from print to an online publication. We all wish you and Doug the best in your
new adventure in Virginia. Welcome to our new Editor, Karin Willman. I’m confident
that Karin will do a great job and take the Waterlines on to bigger and better . . . Congratulations to
Steve Wyckoff for a great job as Commodore this past year and a toast to Katie Horvath for a successful
‘year in the barrel’.
Winter has definitely arrived and we’ve already had two excellent iceboat regattas in Minnesota and
Wisconsin. The Western Challenge was held early in December on Sturgeon Lake MN (between Minneapolis & Duluth) followed by the 2010 Western Districts on Lake Winnebago WI the weekend before Christmas. Dick & Julie made the trip to both events while Bob Gray and I jumped in the van for the latter. I
was invited to serve as RC for the Western Districts and even though it was pretty cold we got in a full
event with 7 races for each fleet. Winnebago is an interesting body of water - 30 miles long, 10 miles
wide, and 20 feet deep - which makes for an early freeze and lots of iceboating activity as it is in the
midst of a fairly large population area. The area we sailed was near Neenah on the Northwest corner of
the lake and it was quite fast with a few seams, but little snow. Since returning, the local group has been
sailing on Walloon Lake near Petoskey and we’re hoping for more sailable ice nearby in time for the Central Districts scheduled for the 15th/16th of January. Check the GTIYC website for updates and come out
and enjoy a great sport. Monthly meetings are the first Tuesday of the month, 7pm at the Club.
TACS NEWS — At the recent TACS Board Christmas Luncheon, Barb Hutchens received the Annual Robert
Allor Award for her work in developing the TACS Adaptive Sailing program. Congratulations Barb for a
job well done. The TACS High School Sailing Team wrapped up another successful season with their
awards party at the Club last week and they are all looking forward to the ice going out of Boardman
Lake so they can start practicing for the Spring season. Later this month, Jim Sorbie, TACS President, will
be attending the US Sailing National Sailing Programs Symposium in Clearwater FL. This is an excellent
event with volunteers and employees of both private and public sailing programs from across the country participating. TACS has some exciting plans for the year. We are hoping to fill all of our programs to
capacity and also see more participation in our open sailing program. If you are an experienced sailor
and are interested in sailing a small boat on Boardman Lake, all you need is a season pass and you can
sail Monday thru Friday, from 9am to 9pm on any available boat. Check the TACS website for more details.
Here’s a few apps for you smart phone addicts — Glympse (available for iPhone, Droids, and Windows) allows you to send your location to your choice of individuals for a specified period of time and it can be
sent to either a computer or another smart phone. - Need a Pedometer to help you get rid of all those
extra calories/carbs from the holidays??? Both the Free version and the All-In ($1.99) will do a great job of
tracking your exercise and the calories burned. Finally, if you’re not happy with any of the weather site
radars, try Radarscope. It’s $9.99, but it has a ton of features available.
One last item. A friend of mine has a Hobie Tri-Foiler for sale. If you are interested, I’ll put you in touch with
him. That’s about it for this month. — See you on the ice!!!
Belt Sander Drag Racing at the MHA Shop
Yes, you read that correctly‐ the Maritime Heritage Alliance, along with Brown Lumber and Ace Hardware, is pleased to host the 2011 Belt Sander Drag Racing Championships! The humble belt sander becomes a top‐fuel dragster...what a riot! On February 19, 2011, a 60‐foot long drag strip will be set‐up at the MHA shop and you are invited to enter your own belt sander. Food, prizes, and fun for the whole family. More details to follow, but in the meantime, check it out on YouTube. See you at the dragstrip! January’s Social Bits & Bites by Kim
( L ovell ) Marian
Happy New Year! We are kicking of 2011 with several opportunities to mix and mingle with
fellow GYTC members. Thanks to all who shared in our first Theme Night, “ Ugly Sweater Night” –
what a sight! Crew Dinners are in full swing. If you haven ’ t picked your date, do so soon – the best
dates go fast! Did you catch that “ Crew ” is not necessarily defined as those who operate one boat?
Gather a group of friends or family members to whip up something marvelous. Rumor has it that
TACS wants to host one of the Crew Dinners. The Sign-up Board is posted at the Club.
We hope to see everyone at our first Dinner & A Movie Night on Saturday, January 15. The
title will be a surprise! It’ s family friendly and sure to be entertaining for all. What better option on a
snowy January night than a cheap night out with the family among friends? If you ’ r e looking ahead
to February, stay tuned! We look forward to hosting our first-ever Salute to the Maritime Academy on
Friday, February 4.
Do you want to help organize any of the fun social affairs we have planned for this year? Kim
& Libby would love to have your thoughts and energy. Just contact either of our Social Co-chairs
( K imgoblue@yahoo.com or Libby.Tomlinson@gmail.com) to get more involved in your GTYC!
for the Calendar of Events,
click here
A Note from Dannielle:
I would like to thank you all for the support you've given me while I was Waterlines Editor. It was always a treat to read the submitted articles, letters and to see the pictures, and I loved putting them all
together. Hearing and reading the feedback was fun too - I always enjoyed hearing and reading
what everyone had to say! Karin Willman has been editor of the GTIYC and has agreed to take Waterlines on also - I know it will be a very good fit! I look forward to read the coming issues while we're
out of state ( a nd be good to her or I'll be back to kick some butt! ) .
Doug and I will continue to be members, and will come back to visit during the time we live in
Culpeper - we miss Grand Traverse Bay and Lake Michigan already, not to mention all our
friends at GTYC!
Best wishes,
Dannielle Higgins
Membership by Deb Wyckoff, Committee Chair
It's that time again - dues invoices will be sent out in a couple of weeks! The dues this
year will be $420 for full members and $252 for social and senior members. Payment is due by
March 1, 2011. When you send your payment in, please note if you have changed your email
address. It is important that we have your correct email address so that you will be up to date
with all of the Club news and events. Currently our membership is at capacity with a wait list of
25. Additional wait list applications are available at the Club and on the website. If you have any
questions, please contact Deb Wyckoff at dwyckoff@chartermi.net or 932-1472.
Notes from the Cruising Fleet:
Happy New Year to all! Our January potluck is scheduled for the 13th of January and it should
be a great time as we think warm thoughts and hear about Cruising the St. John's River. Jim
and Lisa Favors will be our 'tour guides' and they promise to provide a delicious entree as well.
Let's all prepare our favorite side dish, bring a few dollars for the 'kitty' and meet at the club at @
6:00 on Thursday, January 13th. Looking ahead to February we will be hosting Hans Van
Sumeren of the Northwestern Michigan College Water Studies Institute who will present a program on exploration and imaging of the lake bottom. Should be very interesting. The date is
February 10 and Carol and Mike Morris will be providing the entree. Stay tuned for more info
and reminders and please plan to join us!
Lisa and Karen
Hello from Virginia!
I just wanted to thank everyone that showed up for my send off in November.
It's been a hard adjustment down here, but we'll make it. Best wishes for a great year,
and I hope to get back soon to visit.
Doug Higgins, AKA PC “ Higgy”
The Picture Pages….
Dave Hollis, a long time member of the GTYC and crew member of Relentless, married his fiancé, Tammi, at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve. Old Timers Trivia—ha! If anyone can correctly identify the people and events in these two photos, please see Eric Lind for a complimentary refreshment. Hint: They were taken approximately 27 years ago! Bay Breeze
Charters
Basic thru advanced
sailing instruction
and custom courses.
New in 2010 - Spinnaker Training!
231-941-0535
www.bbyc.com
Send newsletter articles, stories, advertisements, pictures, or free Caribbean charters to:
karinpix@gmail.com
Next deadline is Monday, January 25, 2011
The Grand Traverse Yacht Club newsletter Waterlines is published monthly.