April 2022 Ditty Bag - Lake Canyon Yacht Club

April 2022

Commodore’s Report

by Bill Clark, LCYC Commodore

Hello from the Commodore – Well, it happened at the March board meeting — the decision to open the club house to 75% of its occupancy. That’s a total of 45 people inside at one time, including the cooking and serving crew.

We had our first Commodore’s Breakfast hosted by Lori and Joe McDonough on March 13th, to rave reviews! Even with a very cold morning start, we filled up to approximately 38 fellow members and had a wonderful time. We even had a couple of hardy souls eat outside on the McKowen deck. And thank you to a new volunteer for April’s breakfast!!

Another first – we had our new member orientation on Saturday morning, March 19th. The response was high and we had approximately 28 new members and some of their sponsors. We stressed that we are an all-volunteer club and had quite a few show interest in helping where they could.

But wait, there’s more! On March 19th, the club hosted Italian night after our races. The weather was perfect. We had a huge number of RSVPs, and well over 100 attended. Thanks to Kathy Leubner and all the volunteers it took to pull this off: Audrey Anderson, Dave Anderson, Linda Arnold, Phil and Barbara Crane, Karen Sigler, Scott Wells, Dru Wright, and our hard-working port captain, Mindy Rogers.

You can probably sense a theme here. The club is getting back to normal! Hopefully, as conditions continue to improve, we will be 100% open.

See you on the water!

Welcome New Members

William Soto, Austin TX
Teddy Belitsos, San Antonio TX

Wurstfest Regatta

by Anu Day, Vice Commodore

Planning for the Wurstfest regatta is well under way. We hope to have a full-fledged event this year, which means we will need a lot of volunteers. If you can help in any capacity, please contact me at vicecommodore@lcyc.net, or contact Carolyn Popp, who is the Volunteer Committee Chair. We will need help on the water, on the ramp, in the galley, with the entertainment, registration, etc. etc. We plan on having a raffle this year; if you have items to donate or wish to help during the event, please contact Marty Chrisman or Both Wells, who are co-chairing the raffle committee.

Our club operates on volunteer power. Let’s come together to make this event a huge success.

Adaptive Sailing – Skippers Needed!

by Joe McDonough

For more than 15 years, with the unwavering leadership of club member Bill McVey, LCYC has offered the “adaptive sailing” program to local military organizations and to a local organization that helps people with disabilities. The essence of the program is that LCYC members provide a sailboat ride to the participants. This enables LCYC members to give back, and greatly thrills most of the participants, many of which return year after year.

Operation Comfort is the military organization and helps support wounded veterans along their path to recovery. Our first outing with them will be May 7th. The other organization is DITW.Texas.org, and June 4 and Oct 1 are their dates for 2022.

On May 7th Operation comfort comprised by wounded veterans and their families will start arriving around 11:00. They will gather in the clubhouse, discuss general sailboat safety then enjoy a simple lunch provided by LCYC. LCYC boat owners who have volunteered, meet at the club house around noon for their assignments. Skippers will provided with skilled crew if they don’t have their own. Then skippers take their delighted passengers for a 1.5 – 2 hour sail before returning them to the club house. If you are new to the club and can crew or have a boat, this is the most rewarding way to participate in LCYC. Watch for email blasts starting in April looking for volunteers with boat or a willingness to crew. If you know you are free May 7th to help, email our new adaptive sailing chair, Joe McDonough at jmcdonough@swri.org

From the Treasurer – Online Payments

by Vivian Miller, LCYC Treasurer

Over the past few months, I have received several questions about why the Club does not have an on-line payment function for dues and fees. As your treasurer, I am very interested in ways to make paying dues and fees on a timely basis easier for members, and more cost-effective for our administrative staff to process.

First, a bit of background. Currently, approximately 220 members use a bank bill paying service to pay their dues and fees. The remaining 170 or so members send personal checks. Throughout the month, our Club Administrator, Carolyn Cole, retrieves the mail twice each week, plus extra trips on and after the 25th of the month. She deposits the checks remotely and posts the payments by the following day, again with extra posting days on and immediately after the 25th, since approximately 80-120 checks come in around the 25th date.

Regarding on-line payments, Maggie Carty, the Club’s business manager, and I have researched the options:

Credit Cards: To accept credit cards safely and securely would require the Club to (1) subscribe to several annual or monthly services, (2) pay a per transaction fee and (3) pay a percentage of the amount collected. After calculating the fees for several scenarios, the costs that would pass through to members ranged from $5 to $15 per transaction, depending on the number of members who would use it. Since over 200 members pay using bank bill pay, I believed the number of members who would potentially use credit cards would be limited, so the per transaction cost would skew to the higher end of the range. I recommended to the Board that we not pursue credit card payments, due to the costs, some of which the Club would incur even if no one used the function.
On-line Debit: Our Intuit/QuickBooks system offers an on-line debit processing option that carries a $3 per-transaction charge. We are still working out the details, but we believe we will be able to open it for general use by June. This methodology will require users to sign up to use it and then enter their bank account information for each payment. In other words, this is not a credit card transaction, instead, it will debit the member’s bank account. More details will be provided when we are ready to go live with this option.
Electronic Acceptance of Bank Bill Pay: My to-do list includes investigating how we might go about accepting bank bill pay payments electronically, instead of by check. I hope to research this by the end of the summer, so we can see if that is a cost-effective option that will minimize the time lag on those payments.

As members, we all have an interest in minimizing the costs of operating the Club. So – how can you help? Consider paying your statement earlier in the month. According to the By-laws, dues and fees are actually due when the statement is received and are considered “late” if not received by the 25th.. Paying earlier, or setting your automatic payment to an earlier date, saves expenses in several ways:

It reduces the time spent compiling “late” or past due accounts. I estimate that the Club spends over $250 per month in clerical time compiling and posting late account schedules – something that the Bylaws require.
It smooths the monthly workload of posting payments and reviewing statements. Fewer mistakes result in less time spent on corrections.
It minimizes the possibility of postal delays or mistakes. In November 2021, a postal mistake delayed over 50 payments for almost three weeks! It took many many emails, phone calls, stop payments, and re-issued checks to work out that problem.

Thanks for your consideration

LCYC – ADULT LEARN TO SAIL CLASS Wrapup 2022

by Mike Stellato

This year’s class was a great success by many measures. After a 2-year hiatus, we were back with a total of 58 students signed up! That was narrowed down to 30 students (by date of sign-up) and a few on the waiting list. Only 20 students showed up because of the cold & damp. The weather this year was a factor with the first Saturday class indoors stretching the entire day because of freezing cold and drizzle. The first day’s class focused on teaching the basics of sailing, types of boats, names of parts, sails, lines, etc, directions relative to boat and wind, what a makes a boat go, and how to stop, start, and turn a sailboat. The first Saturday was just too darn cold & nasty to sail. The next day – Sunday – was perfect weather for student learning with 11 boats out on the water allowing one to helm and the other to trim sails almost the entire time experiencing all of what they had been taught.

The second Saturday had very good winds – finally, but fickle in direction. All the boats went out to teach man overboard procedures, navigation, right of way rules between boat, as well as up-wind and down-wind sailing.

The Second Sunday’s classes were well attended, but the weather did not cooperate with moderate temps, but high winds gusting to 37 knots. Phil May gave a wonderful class on boat maintenance and safety. On the water class portion was cancelled. Videos were shown for those who stayed. The overall reviews from the students were very good.

The student critiques submitted all were very appreciative of our volunteer skippers, crews, instructors and all club members for making this opportunity possible for them. I believe four have already submitted applications for LCYC membership and a couple more are considering do so! Some wish to help out on Race Committee & Youth Sailing! Attendees included four LCYC member couples – some with their own boats, as well as new beginners.

Those who volunteered to help this year included the following: INSTRUCTORS: Bruce Dunn, Phil May, Mike Stellato [Bill McVey for his spiritual leadership!]

HELPERS: Nancy Hodo, Ed Taddia, Susan Hoffman, Margarette McGill, Gary Bourgeois, Dave Sanford [always willing to help!]

SKIPPERS: This Class cannot exist without Skippers!! Leslie Heath, Fred Day, Bruce Dunn, Dave Sanford, Aaron Brittain, Bill & Anne Cook, Chuck Begley, Steve & Stacy Wilson, Travis Grahmann, Jordon Merson, Joe McDonough, Donna Rice, Jerry Anderson, ‘Bog’ Godlewski, Mike Stellato

Please join me in thanking them for giving their time, talents and resources to teach this class of students about the sport we all love!

Sail On Boat Program

by Ann & Bill Cook

Interested in sailing a small sailboat? The LCYC Sail On program may be introduced this Spring if there’s enough interest from club members.

Sail On will use boats in the club’s fleet of youth sailing dinghies. We envision the core Sail On boats to be the Coronado 15, Sunfish and 420, but boats from the Pico, Laser and Opti fleet may be available. Visit the waiting list for boat information.

The program will only be available to LCYC members. Sail On members will be required to help maintain the rental fleet in occasional weekend clean-up sessions, and sailors are expected sail and stow their boat responsibly.

For more information or to comment, email sailon@lcyc.net

TSA Canyon Cactus Regatta – Boat Ramp

by Debbie & Chris Fogle, TSA Representative

The LCYC boat ramps will not be available for use by club members during the TSA Canyon Cactus Regatta April 23-24. Please plan your boat launching accordingly.

Docks and Grounds

by Pete Prados, Docks and Grounds Chair

The next member work day April 2nd at 8:00 AM. See the EBlast for RSVP information.

Series Racing

by Fred Lindsey

The races on March 20th for Spring Boardboat Series were abandoned due to weather conditions. Many thanks to the Race Committee volunteers that showed up.

The next race date is April 10, 2022

Boating Safety

by Vivian Miller from BoatUS Foundation

ANNAPOLIS, Md., March 22, 2022 – Last summer was the first full season boaters were required to use an engine cutoff switch as a result of a new law that went into effect on April 1, 2021. The law mandates the use of either a helm or outboard lanyard or wireless engine cutoff switch (ECOS) on certain vessels less than 26 feet when traveling on plane or above displacement speed.

Read the complete article here.

Port Captains

by Mindy Rogers and Dru Wright, Co-Port Captains

A big thank you to Joe and Lori McDonough for hosting the first Commodore Breakfast of 2022.

We look forward to seeing more of you out for our second breakfast on April 10th 9:00am-10:30am hosted by Josue & Rosario Martinez. Watch the weekly blast for more information and to RSVP.

Italian Night was a smash hit on Saturday night March 20th. Big thanks to Kathy and Ray Leubner and their helpers for hosting and putting on a great party. The weather was perfect and we served over 125. Everyone was excited to gather together again at the club. The outdoor set up was great with lots of seating, good food and conversation!

Looking on to the month of May we’ll have the Mother’s Day Breakfast on May 8th and the Carl Hawkins Memorial Day Fish Fry on May 30th. More information on these events coming soon!

We are always looking for kitchen volunteers to help host, decorate, prepare food, serve and clean up. Let us know if you would like to be a member of the infamous “Galley Crew”! It’s a great way to meet new members and renew old friendships!

Farewell to Lynn Simpson!

by Robin Engel, LCYC Member

Friends of Lake Canyon Yacht Club’s Women’s Sailing Program bid farewell to Lynn Simpson on Sunday, March 27. Lynn and her husband John Simpson flew to Florida, their new home, on March 29.

On board Mike Stellato and Alexandra Meyers’ Beneteau 35.5 “Baroque Encore” are: First row, left to right, Alexandra Meyers, Robin Engel, Donna Rice, Lindsey Sorensen, Amy Slagle. Second row, left to right, Sue Hoffman, Lynn Simpson, Debbie Fogle, Jenny Faulkner, Suzanne Walker, Marissa Avila. Not pictured: Terry Beasley and Georgina Taddia.

Lynn taught Women’s Sailing and spearheaded the SEW-MAD Women’s Regatta for the past decade, encouraging women to take the tiller. She also served as LCYC Commodore (2017); organized the club’s 50th anniversary celebration; and in 2016 chaired the Wurstfest Regatta. In June she returns for the eighth year to teach sailing at the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland.

US Navel Sea Cadets Job Opportunity

by Michael Starnes, LCYC Member

The U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps (Sea Cadets) is seeking an Area Commander for the South Central US region. The Area Commander will be responsible for all Sea Cadet activities in one of six regions of America. This requires leadership and oversight of approximately 60 units with 1,000 cadets and 500 adult volunteers across 10+ states in the south central part of the country. This position is responsible for overseeing all aspects of training, unit management, outreach to hosts of drill sites, and training/guiding the adult volunteer workforce. The Area Commander is responsible for the growth and health of the organization.

For information visit https://usnavalseacadet.formstack.com/forms/applications or email hq@seacadets.org

Sea Scouts

by Bryant Bowington, Sea Scout Mater Ship 26

The end of February and March so far has been very busy for Ship 26. Saturday, February 26 saw the Scouts selling BBQ Chicken Dinner tickets at Brookshires Market for our Chartered Organization – North Shore United Methodist Church.

Clara Sutton completed her Quartermaster project for WORD at Canyon Park Sunday, February 27th.

The benches that had been pre-cut were assembled and stained on a cool bright sunny blustery Sunday morning at the group pavilion near Hancock then delivered to the fenced area that will become the Butterfly Garden.

Saturday March 5th the youth of Ship 26 assisted in the delivery of BBQ Chicken Dinners at the Church before portaging down to Woodlawn Lake in San Antonio on Sunday March 6th.

A big thank you to LCYC Club member and Ship Committee Chair Gus Mcgrath who removed and repaired the well seized trailer bearing from the Lake Nimitz/Kerrville travel adventure, Presidents Day Weekend, that welded itself to the spindle just 100 yards before arriving back at LCYC.

Commodore, Ray Seta and few members of the Woodlawn Lake Sailing Club welcomed the Ship. Ray shared some history about the club, his involvement in Scouting along with former and current LCYC club members that have sailed at Woodlawn Lake. Woodlawn Lake Sailing Club has transitioned into a Model Yachting club although the youth proved the lake could still be sailed, fished in and paddled on.

Spring Break saw four Scouts making a pilgrimage to the first ever Spring Long Cruise at the New Camp Strake. Spring Long Cruise is a weeklong advancement camp like Boy Scout Summer Camp.

The New Camp Strake saw its first ever Sunfish sail on the lake.
You may have seen a video of it if you follow our Facebook page: Sea Scout Ship 26 Alamo

Congratulations to Eliza Sutton and Jacob Miele who attained the second rank in Sea Scouts, Ordinary. The other two made headway on their Ordinary Rank although time in rank prevented advancement.

Youth Sailing Volunteers Urgently Needed

by Chris Fogle

Do you wish you could get more involved in our Club’s activities and – at the same time – learn more about our sport?

We currently have two open positions looking for dedicated volunteers!

LCYC Representative to the TSA – Our club is a member of the Texas Sailing Association (https://www.txsail.org). Many people know of TSA’s affiliation with the annual youth racing circuit in Texas, and each year LCYC hosts a youth regatta as a stop on their circuit. As the LCYC Representative to the TSA you’ll act as a conduit for information from TSA to the club. You’ll participate in the annual TSA meeting held at the last youth regatta of the year, usually in November. You’ll participate in setting the schedule for regattas, reviewing proposed changes to published Race Conditions; and relaying information to club members about upcoming youth and adult championship regattas. If you would like more information or have any questions, please contact member Chris Fogle, our current TSA rep.

LCYC Youth Regatta Chairperson – Each year LCYC hosts a Youth Regatta which typically attracts over 80 youth sailors from across Texas and Oklahoma, and sometimes as far away as the US Virgin Islands. We currently are in urgent need of a person or team to take on the task of organizing the regatta for 2022. This is a great way to learn what goes into planning and running a regatta, and it has the added benefit of introducing you to our sport of sailboat racing. If you volunteer to lead this important club activity, you will be provided training and mentoring from a very experienced team! If you would like to find out more information about this important position or have any questions, please contact Chris or Debbie Fogle via the regatta email address: youthregatta@lcyc.net