Updated 1/22/2011

This file lists ideas for meeting program topics, ideas for cruises, and information on how to run a cruise. If you would like to present a specific program or would like to hear a particular topic, please tell an officer. If you would like to host a cruise, choose an idea (or make up a new one) and read the procedures for additional information.

• Meeting Ideas
• Cruise Ideas
• Cruise Procedures

1. Adventure Stories
2. Anchoring / Unanchoring Procedures
3. Austin Yacht Club Visit
4. Boat handling tips (heave to, docking)
5. Bottom maintenance
6. Celestial Navigation (fleet member speakers)
7. Consumer's Reports on nautical equipment
8. Climb your mast (how to)
9. Cold weather sailing (keeping warm, dry, and safe)
10. Collegiate Sailing
11. Cooking on the Boat (if you want to)
12. Chartering: How, techniques, safety, and tips
13. Chartering: Where to Go? (best locations)
14. Cruising Trip Reports (by fleet members)
15. Educational Videos
16. Electrical Systems
17. Engine maintenance (Pat F) (add a new device)
18. First Aide (sunburns, cuts, etc)
19. Heavy weather sailing
20. Historical Sailing (LaSalle's LaBelle shipwreck) )
21. How to buy or sell a sailboat
22. Hull and teak maintenance (Fred S, Eric S)
23. Instructional sailing videos
24. Knot Tying
25. Lake Travis sailing tips (wind shifts, shallows, eddies, coves)
26. Lake Travis cruising tips (cruising coves, restaurants)
27. LCRA speakers (safety, regulations, lake status)
28. Lighting and right of way rules (channel, at night)
29. Marina Management
30. Movies (Wind, Master & Commander, Capt Ron, The Dove)
31. Navigation (from sextants to GPS)
32. Nautical Adventure Stories
33. Nautical Books, Magazines, and Videos Exchange
34. Olympic Sailing
35. One pot gourmet meals
36. Person overboard recovery (video, talk, practice)
37. Psychology of Sailing: Maintaining good skipper-crew relationships
38. Racing rules
39. Radio usage, etiquette, use for emergencies
40. Radio Controlled Model Sailboats
41. Rafting and Anchoring with the Fleet
42. Roundtable Discussions - we're all experts in something!
43. Safety (Coast Guard Auxiliary, AYC members)
44. Sail trim according to wind conditions
45. Sailing on the Internet
46. Sailing Blooper videos
47. Sailing Certification (ASA, US Sailing, Coast Guard)
48. Cruising Certification (ASA, US Sailing)
49. Sail Making
50. Sailboat and boat accessories dealers (local vendors)
51. Sailing Songs, Sea Chanties (and history thereof) (Joy)
52. Sea Scouts
53. Star gazing and constellations
54. Swap Meet of Sailboat Equipment
55. Trailer Towing, Safety, and Maintenance
56. Tuning the Catalina rigging
57. Texas Navy Association
58. Texas Nautical Archeology
59. Using GPS for sailing
60. Wind and Weather Web sites
61. Weather for Sailors (perhaps by a local TV weatherperson)

West Marine speakers (ex. use of flares, life sling, GPS, electronics)

Cruise Ideas we have used in the past:

1. April Fool's,
2. America's Cup (race model boats)
3. Baked potatoes
4. Bastille Day
5. Beach Party
6. Beef stew
7. Birthday Cruise
8. Boat Show Outing
9. Breakfast
10. Buddy-up
11. Caribbean theme (limbo contest)
12. Cheeseburgers in Paradise (with Jimmy Buffet music)
13. Chili Cookoff
14. Chocolate and Cherries (Valentine's and Presidents' Day)
15. Clam chowder
16. Corpus Christi & Port Aransas
1. Charter
2. Take our own boats
17. Dragon Boat (Chinese theme)
18. Kemah & Galveston
19. Easter Egg hunt
20. Educational, such as How to go thru Customs
21. Fourth of July Cruise
22. Flor de Caña Cruise (rum)
23. Fly a Kite (combine with cruise to a destination)
24. Full moon sail
25. Game night
26. Halloween
27. Holiday Party
28. Hot Dogs and Apple Pie
29. Hot Chocolate
30. Hot Rum
31. Ice cream Social
32. Jimmy Buffet (cheeseburgers)
33. Ladies Only Cruise
34. Land Cruise
35. Luau
36. Kiddie's cruise
37. Mardi Gras (decorated boats)
38. Marina Happy Hour
39. Monte Carlo
40. Model Sailboat Cruise
41. Novice Cruise (bring a novice)
42. Oktoberfest
43. Olympics Cruise
44. Photo Op Cruise
45. Pirates chase/treasure hunt
46. Po-Boy Cruise
47. President's Day
48. Puzzle Jumble Cruise
49. Raft-up
50. Restaurant Sail: Volente Beach Club
51. Restaurant Sail: Shades, Cafe Bleu, Boat House Grill
52. Restaurant Drive (in case of bad weather). Iguana Grill, Oasis
53. Retirement Cruise (wear PJs and robes)
54. Road rally
55. Rum Cruise (Flor de Caña)
56. Safety Drills (person or thing overboard)
57. Sail, Swim, or Draw (sailing terminology version of Pictionary)
58. Small Boat Cruise (bring your sunfish, laser, kids)
59. Sometimes Islands Cruise
60. Shiskabobs
61. Shrimp boil feast (maybe at a Marina)
62. Summer Solstice
63. Star Gazing (ex. August Meteor Shower)
64. St. Patrick's Day
65. Steak and Ale
66. Special Events: Birthdays, Anniversaries, Celebrations
67. Swap Meet at a Lake Travis Marina
68. Tax Free Cruise
69. Trivial Pursuit
70. Tropical Island (Pick your favorite, such as Tahiti) Cruise
71. Treasure Hunt
72. Turnback Canyon Regatta,
73. TNT: Tacos, Nachos, and Tequilla or Tortillas
74. Up the Lake Long Distance Cruise (to the Narrows or Turkey Bend) (2 nights)
75. Valentine's Day
76. Wok 'n Roll

In the past, we met at Starnes Island around 2:00, sailed around for a while, then went to a cove where we dropped an anchor off the stern and tied the bow to the shoreline (tree or rock.) The problem with this plan is that rarely do cruising sailboats meet at an appointed place and the same appointed time. So, now we sail on our own, looking for each other, and meet in a cove at an appointed time. Popular locations in order of preference are Barry's Cove, Arkansas Bend, and Devil's Cove in the off-season. Long Canyon used to be the best but is now getting populated with houses. We have cruises every month except December, when we have the Holiday party. We used to have many evening cruises, but since the lake is very busy now, we have done this less. i.e. many people didn't want to spend the night on their boats and would sail back to their marinas in the dark. The breakfast cruise is the exception; usually most attendees spend the night.
The key to scheduling is to set the schedule early in the year, publicize it, and try to not change it. Full Moon weekends (or the weekend before the full moon) are the best. Consider Austin Yacht Club Regatta and Series race schedules, as many cruisers also race. The Holiday party is almost always the second Saturday in December. (The AYC Annual Banquet is usually the first Saturday night of the month.)

In recent times we have liked to sail to restaurants on the lake and sail afterwards. Popular places are the Volente Beach Club and the place-formerly-called-Shades (across from Lakeway). Some like the VBC because if their boat is out of commission, they can drive and meet the group. There is also a new restaurant up Sandy Creek called Cafe Bleu.

The fleet owns at least the following and the social chair has to track it all, after each cruise, which sometimes isn't easy:
1 small and 2 large tables, large 3-burner stove, and grills to put over a campfire.

Each cruise chairperson is responsible for making sure the campfire is out (sometimes they are prohibited by the county during dry spells) and that the shoreline is in equal or better condition than how we found it.

Before each cruise notice goes out, make a quick check to make sure it includes who, what, when, where, why, how, etc. A map is nice for newer members (now on the web). Also, mention a phone number (which has a recorder) which people can call in case of inclement weather. If we know in advance that the weather will be bad, we will either reschedule, move to indoors, or cancel the cruise.