Updated 16 Apr 2025

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. It's a lot of fun to host a cruise or present a program. Everyone learns something 

• Meeting Ideas
• Cruise Ideas
• Cruise Procedures

1. Adventure Stories
2. Anchoring & Raising Anchor Procedures
3. Annapolis Boat Show Report
   
4. Astronomy (Star gazing and Celestial Topics)
   
5. Austin Yacht Club Visit
6. Battery Maintenance and Care
   
7. Boat handling tips (heave to, docking)
8. Boat Electronics
   
9. Boat Maintenance
   
10. Boat Restorations (Amazing Ones)
11. Book and Video Exchange
    
12. Bottom maintenance
13. Catalina Sailboats Factory update
    
14. Celestial Navigation (fleet member speakers)
15. Central Texas Water Coalition
    
16. Consumer's Reports on nautical equipment
17. Climb your mast (how to)
18. Coast Guard - Inspections and Safety
19. Coastal Navigation
    
20. Cold weather sailing (keeping warm, dry, and safe)
21. Collegiate Sailing
22. Cooking on the Boat, One pot gourmet meals
23. Chartering: How, techniques, safety, and tips
24. Chartering: Where to Go? (best locations)
25. Cruising Travelogues (by fleet members)
26. Cruising the USA & Bahamas on a Trailerable Boat
27. Cruising in the Abacos, Croatia, Belize, BVIs,..
    
28. Cruising: Update on the Bitter End YC after Hurricane
29. Cruising: Provisioning
30. Cruising: Packing
31. Cruising: Safety
    
32. Educational Videos
33. Electrical Systems
34. Elissa Sailing
    
35. Engine maintenance (Pat F) (add a new device)
36. First Aid  (sunburns, cuts, etc) and CPR
    
37. Fishing from a Sailboat
    
38. Heavy weather sailing
39. History: LaSalle's La Belle shipwreck
40. History: Mapping the World
    
41. History: Northwest Passage
42. History: Opening of the Arctic
    
43. History: Polynesian Navigators
44. History: Texas Navy
45. History: Pirates, Patriots, Privateers, US Navy
    
46. History: Claudius Ptolemy & relationship between time and place
    
47. History/Current Events: Maritime Disputes
48. History: Viking Long Boats
49. History: Shackleton's Voyage
50. History: Sailing and Seamanship - Ancient Stories
51. History: Circumnavigation
    
52. How to buy or sell a sailboat
53. Hull and teak maintenance
54. Instructional sailing videos
55. Knot Tying
56. Lake Travis sailing tips (wind shifts, shallows, eddies, coves)
57. Lake Travis cruising tips (cruising coves, restaurants)
58. LCRA speakers (safety, regulations, lake status)
59. Lighting and right of way rules (channel, at night)
60. Marina Management
61. Movies (Wind, Master & Commander, Capt Ron, The Dove)
62. Navigation (from sextants to GPS)
63. Nautical Adventure Stories
64. Nautical Books, Magazines, and Videos Exchange
65. Nautical Movies
    
66. Olympic Sailing
67. Panel Discussion (Stump the Fleet Experts)
    
68. Person overboard recovery (video, talk, practice)
69. Photography of Sailboats (and Photo Contest)
70. Psychology of Sailing: Maintaining good skipper-crew relationships
71. Racing in the Oceans (ex. Around the World, Hawaii, Azores)
    
72. Racing rules
73. Radio usage, etiquette, use for emergencies
74. Radio Controlled Model Sailboats
75. Rafting and Anchoring with the Fleet
76. Right of Way Rules
    
77. Roundtable Discussions - we're all experts in something!
78. Safety (Coast Guard Auxiliary, AYC members)
79. Sailboat Shop speaker
    
80. Sail trim according to wind conditions
81. Sailing on the Internet
82. Sail Power Revival for 21st Century Maritime Shipping
    
83. Sailing Blooper videos
84. Sailing Certification (ASA, US Sailing, Coast Guard)
85. Sailing across the Atlantic in a 10' boat
    
86. Sailing the ICW on a Catalina 30
87. Scuba Diving from a Sailboat
    
88. Sail Making
89. Sailboat and boat accessories dealers (local vendors)
90. Sea Shanties (and history thereof) (Joy)
91. Sea Scouts
92. Secrets of Sailing on Lake Travis
93. Secret Coves of Lake Travis
    
94. Star gazing and constellations
95. Swap Meet of Sailboat Equipment
96. Tacking a Square Rigger
    
97. Tall Ships Challenges, Festivals and Experiences
    
98. Trailer Towing, Safety, and Maintenance
99. Travel: Sailing Charters
100. Travel: Sailing / Racing to Cuba
     
101. Tuning the Catalina rigging
102. Texas Nautical Archeology
103. Using GPS for sailing
104. Videos: Sailing on YouTube
     
105. Veteran Sailors (club members who served our country)
     
106. Wind and Weather Web sites
107. Weather for Sailors (perhaps by a local TV weatherperson)
108. What to do (or not): Running Aground, Stuck Anchors
109. West Marine speakers (ex. use of flares, life sling, GPS, electronics)
110. Zebra Mussels
     

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. Bird Watching Cruise
   
8. Birthday Cruise - fleet members
9. Birthday Cruise - Fleet 69
10. British Virgin Islands Charter
    
11. Boat Show Outing
12. Breakfast
13. Brunch (at a restaurant)
    
14. Buddy-up
15. Camp out Cruise
    
16. Caribbean theme (limbo contest)
17. Cheeseburgers in Paradise (with Jimmy Buffet music)
18. Chili Cook-off
19. Chinese Cruise
    
20. Chocolate and Cherries (Valentine's and Presidents' Day)
21. Cinco de Mayo
    
22. Clam chowder
23. Coddiwomple Cruise
    
24. Corpus Christi & Port Aransas Charter or Take Your Boat
    
25. Dragon Boat (Chinese theme)
26. Kemah & Galveston
27. Easter Egg hunt
28. Educational, such as How to go thru Customs
29. Fourth of July Cruise / Fireworks
    
30. Flor de Caña Cruise
31. Fly a Kite (combine with cruise to a destination)
32. Friggatriskaidekaphobia Cruise
33. Frostbite Cruise
    
34. Full moon sail
35. Game night
36. Galveston Charter or take your boat
    
37. Halloween
38. Harvest Moon Asian Festival
    
39. Holiday Party
40. Hot Air Balloons over Lake Travis
    
41. Hot Dogs and Apple Pie
42. Hot Chocolate
43. Hot Buttered Rum/Toddy
44. Ice cream Social
45. Independence Cruise
46. Impromptu Cruise
    
47. Jane Bond Cruise
    
48. Jimmy Buffet (cheeseburgers)
49. Ladies Only Cruise
50. Land Cruise at member's home
51. Land - LaBelle exhibit at TX History Museum
    
52. Long Distance Cruise
53. Love Boat
    
54. Luau
55. Kemah Charter or take your boat
    
56. Kiddie's cruise
57. Mardi Gras (decorated boats)
58. Marina Happy Hour
59. Mediterranean Cruise on Travis (represent a country)
    
60. Monte Carlo
61. Model Sailboat Cruise
62. New Year Resolution Cruise
    
63. Novice Cruise (bring a novice)
64. Oktoberfest
65. Olympics Cruise (aka Sailing Scramble)
    
66. Photo Op Cruise
67. Picnic Cruise
68. Pictionary Cruise
    
69. Pirates chase, treasure hunt, invasion
    
70. Po-Boy Cruise
71. President's Day
72. Puzzle Jumble Cruise
73. Raft-up
74. Restaurant Drive: Oasis, Lucy's on the Lake, Boat House Grill, Los Pinos
    
75. Restaurant Sail or Drive. Rusty Rudder, Oasis, Volente Beach Club, Cafe Blue, Sundancer, Gnarly Gar
    
76. Retirement Cruise (wear PJs and robes)
77. Road rally
78. Rum Cruise (Flor de Caña)
79. Sandwich Cruise (as in BYO potluck)
    
80. Safety Drills (person or thing overboard)
81. Sail, Swim, or Draw (sailing terminology version of Pictionary)
82. Small Boat Cruise (bring your sunfish, laser, kids)
83. Sometimes Islands Cruise
84. Shish-kabobs
85. Shrimp boil feast (maybe at a Marina)
86. Splice the Mainbrace
    
87. Summer Solstice
88. Star Gazing (ex. August Meteor Shower)
89. St. Patrick's Day
90. Steak and Ale
91. Students sail
    
92. Special Events: Birthdays, Anniversaries, Celebrations
93. Stone Soup (Google the story)
    
94. Super Bowl (or Football in the Fall)
    
95. Swap Meet at a Lake Travis Marina or Park
    
96. Tanabata Matsuri Festival
97. Tax Free Cruise
98. Trivial Pursuit
99. Tropical Island (Pick your favorite, such as Tahiti) Cruise
100. Treasure Hunt
101. Turnback Canyon Regatta,
102. TNT: Tacos, Nachos, and Tequila or Tortillas
103. Up the Lake Long Distance Cruise (to the Narrows or Turkey Bend) (2 nights)
104. Valentine's Day
105. Winter Sailing
     
106. Wok 'n Roll

In the past, we would meet around Starnes Island between noon and 2:00 (depends on the season), sail around for a while (depends on the wind), then go to a cove, drop anchors (the number depended upon the wind and number and size of boats), and raft-up (see the raft-up guidelines on the home page.) In the olden days, we would drop an anchor off the stern and tie the bow to the shoreline (tree or rock.) However, most of the shoreline is private and where it's not, the shoreline is rough, especially at low lake levels. It should also be noted that to ask cruising sailboats to meet at an appointed place and the same appointed time is tricky. That's what the radio (channel 69 of course) can be used for. So there can be two times: one for the sailing meet-up and another for the rafting meet-up. Popular locations include North Travis Landing Cove, Barry's Cove, Arkansas Bend, and Devil's Cove in the off-season. Long Canyon used to be the best but is now populated with private homes and lands. 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 and the level is low, we have done this less. For the evening cruises, some boats would spend the night and some would sail back after sunset, but that is now a risky thing to do. Ideally, we choose full moon evenings. The breakfast cruise used to be the exception, when most attendees spent the night at Arkansas Bend Park and some arrived in the morning by boat or by car. Now we tend to do it on shore, to facilitate the setting up of stoves and tables.

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 Sunday in December now. The request needs to be submitted to the AYC Board at least a week before the June meeting.

In recent times,  we have enjoyed sailing to restaurants on the lake and sailing afterwards. Popular places are listed above. Often in August, the hottest month with the least wind, we meet somewhere on shore, such as a home, restaurant, or lakeside park. 

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. 

For shoreline cruises, each cruise chairperson is responsible for making sure the site 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). If we know in advance that the weather will be bad, we will either reschedule, move to indoors, or cancel the cruise. An email notice is sent to the fleet. The designated time for that is around 11 am, just after the NOAA weather update. When on the water, we turn our VHF radios to channel 69. It's also a good way to use and practice the use of your radio.

Please consider being a Cruise Host. It's a lot of fun and a good way to meet other people and contribute to the fleet. It doesn't have to be complicated.