March 2010 Anam Cara chases Riva

March 2010
Vol. 60 No. 3
Anam Cara chases Riva
Photo by Dale Mack
COMMODORE―S COMMENTS
T
he
Commodore’s Ball is
now in the record books. It was a
most memorable night
and was enjoyed by
160 attendees decked
out in their finest. Master of Ceremonies Larry Snyder had certainly done his
homework and was able to present a
burgee from the Helsingborg Yacht
Club in Sweden, the hometown of
some of the Johnson ancestors. Larry
was able to obtain the burgee with
Karen Anderson’s help in spite of rumors of unpaid Johnson HYC dues and
membership revocation. The club was
elegantly decorated thanks to Julie
Hinkley, Marcia Hoelscher, Judy Wells,
Ruth Parr, Kim Lee and Kristi Miller.
Following the traditional Command
Change Ceremony, Officer in Charge,
Harry Braunstein, assisted by Past
Commodore’s Bruce Aschim and Bill
Stevens were able to successfully complete the historically impossible Grand
March to a tight eight abreast conclusion within the confines of the club
ballroom. Members were then introduced to the band, “Five Guys Named
Moe”. They were comprised of the
five Moe’s plus three more guys in the
brass section and three lovely ladies
doing vocals. I never really figured out
which of the band were the “Moes” but
they were certainly great.
Crab Feed
The next event will be the Crab Feed
which occurs after Portlight press time.
Jim & Sandi Hansen and Mike &
Tammy House, event co-chairs, and
their cast of workers are bracing for a
hungry crowd of 360 people and have
ordered 1200 pounds of crab to keep
everyone happy. Jim Johnson was
again coerced into providing a short
boat ride “team building session” for
the crab feed workers prior to the
event. Fortunately, Kelly Johnson will
be helping Jim get the engines started
so there should not be a repeat of last
year’s difficulties.
2 PortlandYC.com March 2010
Special Projects
Your Board has been active with the
annual review and approval of housekeeping items. New for this year is the
appointment of Rod Wells to a three
year term as Endowment and Special
Gifts Chair. You may recall that this
position was established to provide
assistance to members wishing to make
special purpose gifts or create endowments for the benefit of Portland Yacht
Club. Our membership includes many
generous members who have given
time and money that will prevail to the
benefit of all of us. Rod will be available to discuss and make recommendations to any prospective donor or their
representative. The remodeled dining
room and bar areas are in large part the
result of just such gifts and will be enjoyed by all of us for years to come. At
the March 1st Winter Meeting, we will
consider another similar project for the
remodel of the kitchen. The cost and
scope of these types of projects often
make them unachievable from our dues
and labor alone. I salute these individuals and hope that you are able to
attend the Winter Meeting to discuss
the kitchen project in detail.
Education Sessions
On the education front, Dan & Doris
Dickson and Brian & Pat Hedges
hosted the first education series event.
Captain Bob from West Marine conducted a class on Marlinspike Training
and furnished line and fids to a group
of about fifteen wanna-bees who attempted eye splices with braided line.
It was a fun two hour session before
the Saturday lunch. As a participant
and surprised casual observer, there
didn’t seem to be a discernible skill difference between boaters although I was
unable to find any completed splices by
the power boaters. Future education
sessions have been opened up to prospective members as a part of our “Get
to Know Us Better in 2010” campaign
and include the following:
March 20
Nobeltec Navigation
& Weather
Phil Volker
April 17
Crossing the Bar
New Member Recruiting
Our thanks to the members who
staffed the Portland Yacht Club booth
during the Portland Boat Show. The
show had been shortened but we saw
no signs of lost enthusiasm. A total of
forty-five boaters expressed interest in
PYC and were invited to our Happy
Hour on February 12th and the prospective member cruise to Willow Bar
on March 7th. Bob Bishop’s Membership Committee is looking for members
to participate and mentor prospective
candidates.
(Continued on page 3)
the PORTLIGHT
published monthly by the
PORTLAND YACHT CLUB
1241 NE Marine Drive
Portland, Oregon 97211
P: 503.285.1922 | Fax: 503.283.4960
Email: office@portlandyc.com
EDITOR—Dale Mack
OFFICERS AND TRUSTEES
Commodore
Vice Commodore
Secretary/Treasurer
Rear Commodore
Trustee
Trustee
Trustee
Trustee
Trustee
Nick Johnson (sail)
Rod Wells (power)
Nancy MacGregor (sail)
Jerry Miller (power)
Julie Hinkley (power)
Michael Lewis (sail)
Larry Justice (power)
Charlie Bishop (sail)
Larry Cirotski (power)
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Bob Knauer / Bernie Bills / Stan Borys
Skip Nitchie / Frank Tillman
Donna Moore / Virginia Peterson
SAILORS― TELLTALES
T
he Sailors’ Dinner on April 9 is
shaping up to be very special.
Craig Mortensen will be giving
us an account of his circumnavigation
of our earth in a thirty-six foot boat.
You will find out if he avoided pirates
off the Somali coast and what to do
when a whale crawls under your boat
and takes your rudder 600 miles from
shore. Craig will leave plenty of time
for Q&A. Five trophies will be presented to well deserving recipients.
The 2010 OCSA Race Book is available
at Schooner Creek Boat Works or
North Sails for $25. All racers should
have one to find race dates, read the
Notice of Race (NOR) announcements,
and have the forms for entering the
races. You will also receive an indispensible waterproof race chart with the
book. The Race Book has the wrong
date for the Sailors’ Dinner. It will be
held April 9.
TRAINING
Education
Session
Nobeltec
Navigation
& Weather
Taught by
Phil Volker
It is time to get your boat polished,
review the rules and join in the fun.
March 20
Skip Nitchie
Sailing Captain
M/V Gilligan
9am to 11am
PYC Ballroom
COMMODORE―S COMMENTS (cont.)
(Continued from page 2)
Cruising
So when do we start boating you might
ask. Tom & Sheila Winslow are planning great things for our March 12th14th St. Patrick’s Day Cruise to Willow
Bar. There will be a chance to dispose
of your old socks and enjoy a little
Guinness. Vessel Safety Checks will
also be available.
Our first
“Weekender” cruise is to Sandy Beach
on the weekend of April 9th. The Stag
Cruise is on the weekend of April 23rd.
We hope to have at least one traditional
cruise and one no-host “Weekender”
each month throughout the cruising
season.
Opening Day is not far off so install all
those boat show trinkets, put on your
new tags and get your 2010 VSC so we
can get going. See you at the club.
Nick Johnson
Commodore
S/V Molodez
MANAGER―S REPORT
W
e are getting closer
to
the
Opening Day Parade.
All boat owners are
required to provide
insurance verification
to the office, and to provide proof of a
current VSC. The Fleet Captain has a
notice in this Portlight with dates that
we will have inspectors available for
VSC certifications. As many of you
already know, Marie in the office
watches the insurance expirations like a
hawk. It is a difficult job, and this is
the first time that we have spent this
much effort in monitoring these policies.
We will have the water on at the outstation about the first of March in order
to get it cleaned up in time for our
March events. The water in the moorage will be turned on sometime in the
middle of the month.
We extended the fence at the west
moorage and moved the gate up to the
landing above the N-row ramp. By the
time you read this we should have a
new ramp in place also. We are marching along, probably not as fast as some
may wish, but we do what we can as
funds become available.
The days are beginning to get longer,
thank goodness. We can all look forward to another year of fun and fellowship on the water.
Fred Carter
Club Manager
Portlight Deadline
March 10
Email articles and photos to:
Dale Mack
celtic-myst@comcast.net
March 2010 PortlandYC.com 3
CRUISING SCHEDULE
T
his is going to be a great year to
go cruising. Commodore Nick
has laid out a great cruise
schedule that includes a number of bonus cruises. There will be eighteen
cruises this year!
The schedule includes the traditional
holiday weekend cruises, men’s cruise,
ladies cruise, plus nine No-Host Weekender cruises. These mini-cruises will
be a gathering of PYC boats at some
destinations that PYC hasn’t cruised to
officially in a number of years: Hadley’s Landing, Coon Island, Sandy
Beach. This is also the year that PYC
will do the Bluewater Cruise to Barclay
Sound on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. You might make the weeklong Downriver Cruise to Astoria part
of your summer vacations this August.
Hosting a cruise is a lot of fun, and is a
great chance to enjoy the teamwork
and camaraderie of our club. Nick was
resourceful enough to engage chairs for
most the hosted cruises, but a few
openings remain. The Labor Day
Cruise needs a host-chair in particular.
All the cruise host-chair people would
appreciate you joining their committee.
Date
Destination
March 12-14
St. Patrick’s Day—Willow Bar
April 9-11
Weekender—Sandy Beach
No Host
April 23-25
Stag Cruise—Willow Bar
Jim Butler
May 1
Opening Day
No Host
May 14-16
Weekender—Hadley’s Landing
No Host
May 28-31
Memorial Day—Willow Bar
Tom & Sheila Winslow
Bruce Padgett and
June 11-13
Weekender—Camas
No Host
June 25-27
Martin Island
No Host
July 9-11
Weekender—Oregon City
No Host
July 16-18
Bald Eagle Days—Cathlamet
Rod & Judy Wells and
Don & Barbara Peterson
Barclay Sound
August 6-15
Downriver Cruise
“Cruising to Your
Favorite
Destination”
May 14 –16
at Coon Island
Come join the fun.
Roger Jorgensen
Fred & Kay Koudele
Brian & Donna Moore
Cliff & Becky Stephens
Ken & Pam Emmons
Don Dell & Roberta DeBouver
August 27-29
Weekender—Coon Island, East
September 3-6
Labor Day—Willow Bar
No Host
<< Host Needed >>
September 17-19 PYC Ladies’ Cruise—Willow Bar << Host Needed >>
September 24-26
Beacon Rock
October 15-17
Weekender—Bartlett Landing
No Host
November 26-28
Thanksgiving Leftover Cruise—Willow Bar
No Host
4 PortlandYC.com March 2010
Larry & Laura Cirotski
Cruising Chair
M/V Morning Star
Chairs / Hosts
Karin Denman
July 24-August 1
If you would like to host a cruise, or be
a part of the committees for the individual cruises, let us know. And when
we’re out on cruise, please offer your
assistance as it is needed—setting up
tables and chairs, helping pick up during and at the end of the cruise, etc.
The more help there is, the smoother
things will go. Being on a cruise committee is an ideal way to get better acquainted as newer members.
Bob Martin
Contact
Julie Hinkley
shoreleave4@comcast.net
or
Barbara Peterson
myseaotter@yahoo.com
or
visit our website at
Ladiescruise.com
St. Patrick’s Day Cruise
March 12 — 14
PYC Willow Bar Outstation
Friday
Dock Greeting at Arrival
Appetizer Potluck with Guinness Beer
Sock Burning Ceremony at Dusk—Bring your old socks
Saturday
Traditional Irish Breakfast
Dock Activities
Vessel Safety Checks
Appetizer Potluck and BYOB Happy Hour
Irish Dinner Stew in a Bread Bowl, Salad & Dessert
Irish coffee
After Dinner Fun with Irish Music
Sunday
Continental Breakfast
Weekend Farewell
Adults: $18
Children: $9
Please RSVP early to
reserve your spot
RSVP 503.735.0632
or
admin@portlandyc.com
March 2010 PortlandYC.com 5
COMMODORE―S BALL
6 PortlandYC.com March 2010
Photos by Bob Knauer
NEW YEARS AT THE OUTSTATION
Photos Don Dell
PORTLAND BOAT SHOW
Photos by Donna Moore
PYC SMILES
Photos by Donna Moore
March 2010 PortlandYC.com 7
PALM SPRINGS RAMBLINGS
Photo by Mike Walker
O
n Saturday February 13th, a
Pre-Valentine’s Day celebration was held at the Hilton
Terrace in downtown Palm Springs.
Can you imagine thirty-five people attended! The food was great, and a
good time was had by all. Could this
be the start of a Winter PYC Outstation? I know you need water for an
outstation, and the pool and fountain
should take care of that!
Stan Borys
Roving Palm Springs Reporter
Children’s
Easter Egg Hunt
Outstation
Cleanup
Saturday, April 3
9:30 a.m.—12:00 p.m.
Easter Egg Hunt
Face Painting
Balloon Art
Coffee, Juice, & Snacks for Kids
and Adults
 BYOB (Bring Your Own Basket)




Cost: $5 per person
Reservations by April 8
503.735.0632 or
admin@portlandyc.com
Gary has determined
that a major cleanup
won’t be required this
year.
Contact Gary Erdahl
503.666.8892
8 PortlandYC.com March 2010
“ESPARRED‖ — THE QUEST FOR HEAT
M
y 1991 boat favored me with
no repairs required for the
first twenty months of our
ownership. I now know that this was
too good to continue.
duced anything but sympathy; there are
no such switches available anywhere,
and they are not repairable. The dealers each offered a new D8L heater as
the only remedy.
The Bunch has an Espar D7L Diesel
fired heater (rebuilt in 2004) that easily
keeps the boat warm in the worst winter weather, and it had been completely
reliable until one day in
January. I came aboard and
found the boat at 54° and
the thermostat calling for
heat. I tried switching the
heat off, then on and the
heater fired. Success, but
the next morning the heat
was off. Switching the thermostat off/on worked
again, so I replaced the wall
thermostat ($39). Success,
but several days later the
fault was repeated. I then
replaced the igniter with a
new part ($97), and the
heater ran for several days
before the heater failed
again.
Okay, I am an engineer, and I was
$1,000 into fixing my heater. Yet another search of the Internet located a
source of thermocouples and a zippy
This time, the heater fan
wouldn’t start. I found that
the fan motor had developed a “dead
sector” and would randomly refuse to
start. A search of the Internet and several phone calls located “the last remaining new D7L fan motor anywhere” in Seattle. Since the alternative
was a new heater, I bought ($797) and
installed the new motor, noting that the
failed motor had been installed in 2004.
Success, but then I saw soot on the
dock, and black smoke whenever the
heater was running.
I traced this condition to a failed
“thermal switch” that senses the presence of flames in the combustion
chamber. It was randomly failing to
switch over, and this had failed my new
igniter. I ordered another igniter ($97),
and began a search for a new thermal
switch. Neither the Internet nor calls
to all of the listed Espar dealers pro-
little programmable controller that
would functionally replace the failed
switch. I ordered the parts ($7 + $83),
programmed the controller, and installed the thermocouple in place of the
switch. Success, but not without first
burning one thermocouple to a crisp. I
then measured the running temperature
at the bottom of the probe housing at
1,700°, far in excess of the 900° rating
of the thermocouple insulation. I posi-
tioned a new thermocouple farther up
in the probe housing and finally, I
thought, perhaps, maybe, had things
under control. The heater seemed
happy, but “Owaa tafoo liam,” as we
chanted in the Boy Scouts.
One day later, the heater failed. All of
the usual suspects seemed okay, and
just before I disassembled the electronic heater controls, I
thought to check the fuel
supply. Both main fuel
tanks were empty! Switching to the auxiliary tanks
and bleeding the filters
and lines had the heater
back on line. Again.
How much have I
“saved” by making these
repairs? That depends
upon the future durability
of the heater, but a new
Espar D8L is more than
$5,000. Boat Electric, the
happy supplier of the igniters and the “last remaining D7L motor”
wants me to supply the
switch replacement to
them. It seems that there
are several thousand of the Espar D7L
and D12 heaters out there with failing
thermal switches.
We will work something out. I owe it
to the other victims.
Joe Brady
M/V The Bunch
ADVERTISE IN THE PORTLIGHT!
For information about commercial advertising in the Portlight,
please contact the PYC office
at 503.285.1922 or
email: office@portlandyc.com
March 2010 PortlandYC.com 9
JOIN THE FLEET FOR OPENING DAY
I
your name, include your boat’s name,
power or sail, and your boat’s length
over all.
Start by signing up on the bulletin
board or call the club office. Besides
Berkeley Smith
Fleet Captain
S/V Hotspur
t’s time to start planning to clean
your boat, get your Vessel Safety
Check, and commit to participate
in the Opening Day Parade on May 1st.
P
Cookout—March 5
lan on getting it done early!
Make a Reservation today!
An Annual VSC Inspection is required
for all boats in the PYC moorage, and a
copy of the inspection form must be
provided to the club office. PYC wants
all boats participating in the Opening
Day Parade to have a VSC also. Points
are awarded to clubs for VSC participation.
PYC Vessel Examiners will be available
on the following dates to do a VSC and
award VSC Decals for those meeting
the requirements:
March 12-14
St. Patrick’s Day Cruise
March 20
PYC
April 9-11
Sandy Beach Cruise
April 17
PYC
April 23-25
Stag Cruise
Sign-up sheets will be on the bulletin
board for VSC’s for those dates. If
those dates won’t work for you, then
call one of examiners.
PYC Vessel Examiners
Michael Lewis
503.981.7467 (h)
503.522.0140 (c)
John McCoy
503.657.5253 (h)
503.703.7661 (c)
Larry Snyder
503.737.1509 (h)
503.799.3351 (c)
David Stuckey
503.247.2545 (h)
503.753.5339 (c)
10 PortlandYC.com March 2010
Salad Bar * Baked Potatoes * Garlic Bread *
Bean Soup
with Dessert & Coffee to top it off!
If you’re a Barbequing Enthusiast, don’t forget to bring your entree of choice.
Your Cookout Committee Host & Hostess are Chris & Susan Dorn
Cookout—March 26
“Spaghetti Night‖
Your Cookout Committee Host & Hostess
are Michele King & Lucky Klassen
Enter the “Free Cookout” drawing by signing up before noon on the Wednesday proceeding the cookout.
3:00 Bar Opens — 6:30 Dinner
Cost is $7.50 per person
RSVP 503.735.0632 or admin@portlandyc.com
Planning your summer vacation?
Save August 6-15 for the
DOWNRIVER CRUISE!
Cruise Hosts: Fred & Kay Koudele
CALENDAR
Happy Hour
Saturday Lunch
Golf
Board Meeting
Bridge
Portlight Deadline
Every Friday
Every Saturday
Every Wednesday, year round
Third Wednesday every month
Third Thursday every month
10th of every month
March
1
5
7
12-14
20
26
3-9 pm
11:30-1:30
10 am
April
mo
fr
su
fr
sa
fr
Winter Meeting
6 pm
Cookout
6:30 pm
New Member Flotilla to Outstation
Cruise: St. Patrick’s, Outstation
Education Session
9 am
Cookout
6:30 pm
3
sa
sa
9-11 fr
fr
15
th
17
sa
23-25 fr
Children’s Easter Egg Hunt 9:30-12 am
NO LUNCH
Cruise: Sandy Beach
Sailors’ Dinner @ PYC
Ladies’ Spring Dinner
6 pm
Education Session
9 am
Cruise: Stag, Outstation
Sales - Installation - Service
Please consider us for your next boat equipment or electronics project
Visit our website for details on services we provide www.rodgersmarine.com
3445 N.E. Marine Drive Portland, OR 97211
Phone 503-287-1101 FAX 503-288-3745 sales@rodgersmarine.com
Spring Ladies’ Dinner
“Changes in Latitudes”
Thursday, April 15
th
 Save the Date 
Details to follow in the April Portlight
March 2010 PortlandYC.com 11
Portland Yacht Club
1241 NE Marine Drive
Portland, OR 97211
Need to Move a Car?
*** Snow Birds ***
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To or From any State
Over 100 terminals nationwide
800.214.5622—Vancouver,WA
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FULL SERVICE BOATYARD
all repairs, service, installs, all boats up to 65’
503-543-2785
prompt written estimates
A&D Yacht Services AT ROCKY POINTE MARINA
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12 PortlandYC.com March 2010
Photo by Dale Mack