Updated 1/22/2007
News from 2006:
December Holiday Party: The annual fleet Christmas party was held at the new home of Robert and Sheila. With 32 sailors in attendance, it was a great party and a wonderful time for "old" and new friends alike. With a wide assortment of delicious dishes and desserts, no one worried about that holiday diet plan. Conversation was lively as we told stories of sailing adventures and misadventures of 2006. We didn't burn the house down, though we tried. Robert was awarded the Stough Award (a new link to the description of this esteemed award is on the Fleet Home page, under Awards.) Phyllis and Cheryl "won" the blooper award for "the end of this anchor line is tied on somewhere, right?" The party was a fun way to wrap up the year and sail on to 2007! Photos.
November Cruise: The "Toga Turkey in a Fog" Fleet cruise was on Sunday, November 12. It a sunny, windy and brisk autumn day with highs near 70. A fleet of four boats and seven sailors met in Barry's Cove, which is near 645 feet. Anchoring in the narrow cove and windy conditions was tricky but manageable, since Gary did the anchoring and others tied up to his boat. The sailing was great and the Thanksgiving type potluck was delicious.
November Meeting: Boat Maintenance. Jim Merritt, who has over 70 years of boating experience (!) came to our meeting and talked about boat maintenance from bottom to top, and a boat's worst enemy (water!). It was informative for all, even for experienced sailors in the group. Thanks Jim!
Octoberfest on Lake Travis Cruise: It was a beautiful autumn day on Lake Travis. 82 degrees, winds 5-10, and sunny. There were 6 boats and 18 people in the vanishing Barry's Cove. Shorelines were steep and rocky. We had lots of food, lots of fun. Many went swimming. Go to the Phleet Photo Page for all the pictures. Clay's even have accompanying music!
Octoberfest on Lake Travis Cruise: It was a beautiful autumn day on Lake Travis. 82 degrees, winds 5-10, and sunny. There were 6 boats and 18 people in the vanishing Barry's Cove. Shorelines were steep and rocky. We had lots of food, lots of fun. Many went swimming. Go to the Phleet Photo Page for all the pictures. Clay's even have accompanying music!
October Meeting: Sailing in Tahiti: The Social Time began as Chis, the wait staff, brought everyone their order of beverage as we all stared with curiosity and wonder as Robert and Sheila put up their Charts and Maps of Tahiti on the wall. They had just completed a 12 day ASA Course 108, Ocean Passage Making, in Tahiti. One of the legs of their sail was 220 NM. Robert and Sheila had a great presentation and answered lots of questions from land-locked sailors. What an adventure they had! For show and tell, they had relics and sand from the black sand, brown volcanic sand, and white sand from the atolls. Of course Sheila had to proudly demonstrate their world famous Tahitian Black Pearls. Winds were unseasonably light and from an abnormal direction, so they were at sea longer than expected. They even had a chance to do some engine repair at sea (or was that a part of the course?) Thanks!
September
Breakfast Cruise: Sept 16-17 (Saturday). Clay hosted another successful
edition of the ever-popular Breakfast Cruise. For this September tradition,
we sail to a cove on Saturday evening (or early Sunday.) On Sunday morning,
the cooks fire up the coleman stoves and cook pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage,
mimosas, and coffee. We always have a wonderful time, and this year was
no exception, as you can see by the photos.
The lake was very low, around 647' (it was 642' at this time in
2000), but Barry's Cove had a nice formation
where we could drop stern anchors, tie the bows to the shore, and just
step off onto shore. Two boats and 4 sailors spent the night, which was
very peaceful until 3 am when Clay's bow line broke loose and Double Happiness
drifted into the cove. Repeated callings to the other boat, JJ, brought
someone to the rescue and the boat was quietly and professionally brought
back to shore. "No blue duck here," said Clay.
In
the morning, there were 5 boats (Double Happiness, JJ, Summer Song 2, Lane,
and Rose) and 9 sailors. We ate and went for a pleasant swim in the lake.
Oh, there was a little rain, but just a brief shower, and this fleet is
experienced at cooking on a stove while others hold up the tarp. It was
a grand time, and we'll repeat it next year!
September Meeting: This month only, because of problems with finding a suitable meeting location, we met on the second Tuesday at Mangia's on Mesa Blvd. We will resume the second Thursday, as we have for many years, next month. If you have ideas about a nice meeting place where we can eat and have enough quiet and privacy for meeting programs, in a convenient location, for no or minimal charge, please contact a fleet officer.
We had an excellent and facinating multi-media presentation by Toni Turner, of the Texas Historical Commission, and co-author of the book "From a Watery Grave: The Discovery and Excavation of LaSalle's Shipwreck, La Belle." On a frigid, stormy day in February of 1686, a small French sailing ship lost control and ran aground in Matagorda Bay. The crew had braved an ocean voyage, attacks by pirates, raids by Native Americans, and ravaging diseases under the command of famed explorer Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, hoping to establish a colony in the New World. Pounded in the Texas bay by gale-force winds and storm surges, La Belle finally slipped beneath the water and sank to the bottom, where it would remain for centuries.
More than 300 years later, Texas Historical Commission archaeologists discovered La Belle's resting place. Using cutting-edge technology and scientific innovation, investigators excavated the shipwreck and salvaged from its watery grave more than a million artifacts, including bronze guns, muskets, trade beads, axes, rings, bells, dishes, medicines—everything a New World colony needed for survival.
Many
thanks to Clay for arranging this program.
August Wok n' Roll Cruise: It was over 100 and the lake was low (651'), so Norma fired up the wok, and with help from Clay and Phyllis, she cooked up a storm of wonderful and delicious Chinese food, including shrimp chips, egg rolls with Norma's homemade sweet and sour sauce, Cantonese Roast Duck, BBQ Port (Cha Siu), Pepper Steak with Cashews, Shrimp and Lobster with Straw Mushroom and Vegetables. Twenty-four fleet members and guests attended at the home of Charles and Pat. There was a door prize drawing for jars of Norma's sauce, and Elaine, Sheila, and Carol won. Photos Set One and Set Two.
August Meeting at Berry Hill: We met at Berry Hill Restaurant, which is located just south of Lake Austin on 360, in a shopping center with a beautiful view of the hills and sunset. 14 people attended and enjoyed excellent Tex-Mex food. The room wasn't totally closed off, but after a while the other people left and we had the space all to ourselves. There was no official program, but we talked a lot about our sailing experiences, both past and future. We heard about cruising in the Mediterranean and around Tahiti.
July Red, White and Blues Cruise: It was 99 degrees and winds were near 4, but that didn't stop 10 boats and at least twice as many sailors from going to Arkansas Bend for an afternoon of sailing, swimming, eating, and listening to the Blues. Jeff and Robin provided pulled pork BBQ, which was delicious. Others provided all types of salads and desserts. A great time was had by all !
July Meeting: We met at the Waterloo Ice House and while the food is good, it is way too noisy. We will try another location next month (see above). We talked about the June cruises and discussed plans for sailing in Switzerland.
Ladies' Cruise: On Saturday, June 24, seven ladies of Catalina Fleet 69 sailed out of Yacht Harbor on a Catalina 34. It was partly cloudy and winds were light. Lake is getting low, near 659 feet. We anchored in Arkansas Bend, swam, ate, and had a great time. We'll have to do it again, maybe in the fall!
June Cruise: The second annual land cruise at Yacht Harbor Marina, home of Sea Lake Yacht Sails, was well attended by pirates and tourists for the fleet's, "Pirates of the Carribbean Theme" party. The food was awesome, beverages were a plenty (beer and Pain Killers), and all the pirate jokes were family friendly. The first annual Catalina Croquet match was played with much rigor, cheating and sight seeing. Prizes, if you can call them that, were awarded for various silly things, including Robin's remarkable talents. Thanks to all for coming, sharing your grub, relaxing under the full moon and helping put up and take down the decorations. Jeff has the pictures.
June Meeting: "Dave, The Roaming Commodore" wasn't there, and we didn't really talk about him too much. We did review past and future events. Mark presented 2 choices for a new Fleet Burgee. A vote was taken and we selected a new style of burgee: swallow-tail style, like the Texas flag, and with 69 on the white section. No "Austin." The food and service was good at this Waterloo Ice House, but it was still quite noisy since the ceiling wasn't solid and the room was the entry-way to the patio. We'll try it one more month. Anyone have other ideas?
Turnback Canyon Regatta was May 27 and 28. It was a lot of fun. They started at AYC on Saturday morning, sailed 20 miles up the lake to Lago Vista. Anchor, ate BBQ, talked with sailors, danced to the music. On Sunday they all sailed back to AYC. A few of our fleet members participated and had a great time. Gary took first place in the C30 class with crew Clay, John, and Sam. Steve and Meri took second in the Non-Spin B class. Congratulations! Story and race results at this link. Pictures here, thanks to Clay.
May Cruise: The Kentucky Derby Mint Julep Cruise was held on Saturday, May 13, in Barry's Cove. Our hosts, Bob and Karen, served refreshing Mint Juleps with 0 to 3 "Juleps", the first ever for most of us. They also had delicious sandwiches for the Fleet. In all, there were 8 sailboats and a fishing boat. 19 people. Barry's Cove was getting pretty small at 665.7', but we had most of the cove to ourselves. The winds were 12-15, the air was in the upper 80's, and the water was 77. It doesn't get any better than this in Austin, Texas! We sailed, ate, swam, talked, and sailed. We all had a wonderful time!
May Meeting: Thursday, May 11, 2006. Program: How to watch a total eclipse of the sun while on a sailboat in Turkey (click here to see video), and adventures of sailing in the British Virgin Islands.
April Bring a Novice Cruise: The weather was good and about 4 boats and a dozen experienced or new sailors sailed to and anchored in Barry's Cove. We had snacks, swm in the cold water, then raised anchor and sailed some more. It was great fun.
April
Meeting: Well, our Commodore was in China,one backup was in the BVIs,
and other one was probably in Australia or England. Who knows. Our VC graciously
stepped in and held an interesting meeting, in spite of the noise level
in our reconstructed-without-a-door meeting room. We'll try it one more
month. Bob gave a good report of the Spring Regatta. Weather was good for
the race to Lakeway and back. The race committee used a staggered style
start, which means that each boat type started at a pre-determined time
based on her handicap, and all boats sailed exactly to their handicaps,
they would all finish at the same time. I don't think that happened but
would have been interesting to see if they did!
Then Jeff talked
about recent experiences at the Maimi and Charleston Race weeks. In
the
March
St Patrick's Cruise: Saturday, March 18, 2006
Since
it was 50 degrees and pouring rain, the sailors of Fleet 69 decided to
stay on green land at Yacht Harbor for the St Patrick's Day cruise. About
15 sailors were there. Hosts Dave and Dianne provided delicious Irish Stew.
Others brought green shamrock cookies, fried rice, green desserts, and
Irish whiskey. Photos
here.
March
Meeting: Thursday, March 9, 2006
Program:ASA
Instructor Speaker Joe Laughlin,of www.bayareasailing.com,
gave us a very informative talk about ASA Sailing Certifications and Courses.
February Valentine's Cruise: Sunday, February 12. It was a beautiful February day on Lake Travis, with plenty of sunshine, temperatures in the 50's, and strong but not too strong winds. Barry's Cove continues to shrink at 663', but at least there were no power boats! Several anchors were dropped to hold the 5 boats and 13 sailors. Captain Gary was there on "Somewhere N Time" with Lane, guest Kelley, Steve, and Cheryl. Robert came on Flying Cloud. Dave and John were on MoonShadow. Phyllis, Patrick, and Clay were on Summer Song II. Our special mystery guests were former fleet secretary Patric and Donna on Livin' It!. Attendees bought goodies that were true the theme, "Honest Chocolate" (because it was Lincoln's birthday). We had Port and Starboard Cherry Brownies, Caramel brownies, Coconut brownies, really-made-from-scratch-with-real-cocoa Brownies, cherry cream cake, chocolate chip pizza cookie, Chocolate Cherries Garcia ice cream, and a chocolate bar from Athens. After administrating the insulin we took a vote. The voters changed the rules and nominated hosts Cheryl and Steve's P&S Cherry Brownies as the winners. I personally liked Robert's from scratch brownies. After a while, we all decided to head back, before dark and under a rising almost-full moon. Honestly, we all had a great time! Photos.
February Person OverBoard Meeting: Dave brought a DVD with several sailing safety videos, including one about person over board. The keys are to be prepared, practiced, and relaxed. There are several techniques for various conditions, so read about them all, practice them, and be ready!
January Hot Toddy Cruise: Sunday, January 22. Now we know how to finally make it rain in Austin. Schedule a cruise. The predictions were a 90% chance of rain, temperatures around 50, and winds 15-20. However, there was no lightning, so 3 of our intrepid sailors sported their best foul weather gear and sailed to Barry's Cove for hot coffee and chocolate. The weather cleared a little and there were very few other boats out on the lake. Any day sailing is a good day. Photos
January
2005 Meeting: We had a lively session recapping past events and
brainstorming future events and meetings. It was great fun and a great
way to start out the new sailing year.
News
from 2005
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from 2004
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from 2003
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from 2002
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from 2001
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from 2000
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from 1999
