Lake Charles Yacht Club

(Established 1964)

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LCYC Messabout 2002

Below are commits from participates in the LCYC Messabout. Looks like everyone had a good time. Thanks to Ken and others for putting this event together.

If you didn't go to the Lake Charles messabout, you really missed a fun
event!

Ken Abrahams pulled out the red carpet, the yacht club is an excellent
facility, had great food, the wind was blowing, nice people, a variety
of boats, and to top it off, free T-shirts!!!

I had a wonderful time, thanks Ken!

Shorty

ShortyPen's Sailboat Pocket Cruiser Guide:
http://www.shortypen.com/boats/pocket/
 

Lake Charles Messabout Report

taken from www.trailorsailor.com

Posted By: Jeff F. V 21 Beast of Burden, Vermilion Bay, LA <jeff@jeffandjanice.com>
Date: 8/11/2002 6:29a.m.

Sailing Bobber

Click here to read other commits about the LCYC Messabout.

Concern about a storm and mosquitoes

The storm seems to have missed this area of the state.  We had a small shower yesterday only.  Mostly north or north east winds.  Don't know about this weekend, but if it rains we can move indoors.   

Mosquitoes:  I spent yesterday afternoon and early evening at the club, racing and hot dog social afterwards.  I did not notice any mosquitoes (this is unusual for this time of the year).  The State and Parish (county) have been very busy spraying with airplanes and trucks plus an ad campaign advising insect repellents.  I personally do not feel threatened by the mosquitoes problem.  The club has a fogger which can be used plus insect repellent would be advised. 

New boats coming:  Dave Sargeant will have his JarCat in the water for the first time.  I'll have a new motor skiff in the water for the first time.  I'll also have a Wing Dinghy rigged out for anyone to use.  Darrell C. will have his ''Cruise Dink'' available to look at.  I'm not sure what else is coming but several of the club members will be there to mess about. 

See you this weekend, 

Ken Abrahams 

More information about West Nile Virus and mosquitoes:         

 CDC

West Nile Virus: Avoid mosquito bites to avoid infection. Apply insect repellent, stay indoors at dawn and dusk, and wear long, loose clothing.

 Lake Charles Messabout

A ''Messabout'' is simply an informal gathering of boating people who get together and mess about in small boats.  Usually, people bring their home built boats of the Michalak or Bolger types, but all boats and boat people are welcome.  The Potter and Montgomery small cruisers have particularly invited.   Others are welcome also.   (A note to LCYC club members,  please come out and enjoy the event.)  

There is no ''schedule''.  People just show up with a boat (or without)  and enjoy the company of other small boaters.  Usually they share the use of all boats.  The only planned activity is a lunch sometime around noon.  Also, if there is enough interest, a sailing race will be held.  There is no charge for the Messabout. 

For those who want to stay the night, there is room to camp on the grounds.  There are also several wet slips with electricity.  There are hotel rooms around but you will probably need reservations.   The riverboats have restaurants and there are many other good eating places in the area. 

Directions:   Lake Charles Yacht Club is located on the north-west corner of Lake Charles, right next to the I-10 bridge.  The phone number for Lake Charles Yacht Club is 337-433-9257 and the address is 1305 north Lakeshore Drive.  The phone is not manned, so it will not be answered unless a member is there.    If you are coming by water, the Club is on the Calcasieu River right at the I-10 bridge.  The LCYC is about 35 miles from the Gulf of Mexico and about half that to the ICW. 

For assistance, you may call Ken Abrahams at 337-583-7560 or Ship-to-Shore at 337-474-0730.  My e-mail address is abrahams@structurex.net.  If you could, for planning purposes, drop me a line to let me know if you are coming. 

 Ken Abrahams, LCYC 

Experienced/Novice Racing 

In order to attract more casual sailors and non-racers to the racing program,
we will offer two separate racing categories for the 2002 racing season.
Details are as follows:

1.  Two experience levels will be recognized this racing year.
                Experienced           'A'  Fleet    
                Novice                   'B'  Fleet 

2.  'A' Fleet:            This fleet will be for the experienced group of racers in the club.
                              Others will be placed in the 'B' Fleet unless they request to be in the 'A' Fleet. 

3.  'B' Fleet:            This fleet will be for the less experienced racers.  Rules are: 

1. A person who has never raced before or who has never won first place in a LCYC regatta or series.
2. Eligibility will for the Novice fleet will be for the season.
3. A person may request to move up to the  'A' Fleet at any time, but it is suggested that a full season of the novice classification be used.

4.  How administered:

1. All racers will sail together whether A or B Fleets.  There will be no differences on the water.   All boats will start and race together.
2. The differences will be in the scoring.  Corrected times will be calculated for al lracers but will then be separated into A and B Fleets.  The object is to be sure everyone has the opportunity to sail with and learn from the experienced racers.

Sorry for not submitting a letter for last months Tacking Times and the Web site.

My business actually demanded more from me than I normally produce and the time just slipped by.

I have some bad news and some good news. Bad news first. Apparently Wednesday 7/18/01 after the board meeting we had eleven moored boats broken into and vandalized.

Hector Ponton discovered the damage Thursday afternoon and reported it to the Police.

The following people may or may not have been contacted. If your name appears here contact the Lake Charles Police department @ 337 491-1311. Investigating officer is Cpl. Jeff Morgan and the complaint number is 01-007381.

Hatt Hendrich

Daniel Lafleur

Mark Howard

Kelly Barrymore

Bill Gardiner

James Calhoun

Tim Phillips

Bob Dowden

Hector Ponton

Norman Heyd

Al Guerrini

If your name is on the list go check your boat.

Now some good news: Christine Harper, our assistant instructor for the annual lessons and a proud Hobie owner, has made the Deans list at Northwestern. Congratulations Christine! Gerry Becnel , your newsletter board member, Is getting married sometime in August to a childhood sweetheart. We are very happy for Gerry. Unfortunately, Gerry will be moving away back to his hometown of Vachierre. That leaves a very important board position open which Carrie Chrisco has agreed to fill. So we say good by to long time member and super guy ,Gerry, and welcome a new member to the team with Carrie.

We have some new members this month and I would like to welcome them to the club. As usual I don’t have my notes with the new names , but welcome to the club.

The Flying Scott sailors are getting ready for the Lipton cup and of course we wish them well. They do a good job of representing the Club at the nationals.

Capt. Mike is having some excellent turn outs for the Wednesday series races and the Regattas. If you looking to have some fun come on down and join the races.

Steve Kitts and I would like to remind all club members to lock the gate when you leave the club. We found the gate open late in the evenings with no one at the club. So a good rule of thumb should be to lock the gate even if you think someone is still in on the grounds. Everyone should have key. On a houskeeping note, please empty the trash cans if they are full. We do not have a service to do it so its every member for himself. If it’s full empty it! Please help keep the grounds trash free.

That’s all I have for now. Enjoy the club and keep sailing.

Bob Dowden

4/23/01

Letter From the Commodore:

If you missed the Deep South Regatta, you missed an exciting event. This year the term, "contact sport"applied to sailing. The winds were robust and 60 plus boats made the lake look small and busy. The races each had 4 starts with different classes in each. If you were in the 3^rd or 4^th start in each race you were in a mix of boats returning from the first mark and another group coming off the second mark. In short you had to pay attention. There were a few mishaps. Lots of boats flipped in the strong wind including the Zzone Stiletto and a Nacra was demasted from a collision, but everyone seemed to enjoy the competition. Of course the food and drink were once again superb and the late night parties were a hit. A good time was had by all. Kudos to Glenn and his crew.

Next up the Lake Charles Yacht Club Contraband Regatta. Come on down and sign up or send in your entry fee (details in the newsletter).

I would like to welcome several new members to the club and hope they enjoy the sailing and fellowship . Welcome(names)

We have a new captain at the club. Lena completed her captains course last week in Houston and aced the exam. Congratulations Captain Lena…

We also had a wedding that I attended with Ken & Sondra Abraham. Daniel and Gena Lafluer tied the knot on the boardwalk and had a great reception at Prien Park. Then the new couple sailed away in Daniel’s 22’ Catalina (very romantic). Congratulations Daniel and Gena.

It’s with much regret that I must tell you about the loss of Dorothy Becnel. Gerry and Dorothy have been members for years and have achieved the honorary status as club members. Gerry is our current newsletter chair and has been a fixture at the club forever. We will continue to support Gerry through this healing time and pray all will be well. As spokesman for the Yacht club let me express our deep sorrow for your loss.

See you on the water.

Bob Dowden

Club Boats!  Reminder! When use Club boats remember the following rule! All Junior Members are required to wear an approved life jacket on the water at all times. Adults should always obey U.S. Coast Guard regulations regarding PFDs (personal floatation devices). A throwable PFD must also be on board any Flying Soot. A hand bailer is also advised on the Scots.

Tie Downs! - ATTENTION! We are replacing metal above ground anchors with below grade anchors (concrete/wood logs). The metal anchors (like those used for mobile homes) are very dangerous and have caused some injuries at the club. Those whose tie downs are replaced will be assessed approximately $25 for labor and materials, unless they do their own replacement. This is to proceed immediately! See your membership kit for appropriate tie downs and installation.

1/9/01

Letter from the Commodore

Happy New Year everyone. Hope the new year brings you prosperity and fair weather.

If you haven’t heard the new lease has been signed sealed and delivered by the mayor. According to the lease we can look forward to 15 years of business as usual. Of course there is a clause that gives the city an out with a years notice. If the city decides to utilize our property in conjunction with proposed lakeshore improvements we will cooperate and get the best deal possible to keep sailing alive and well in Lake Charles. Until then we sail.. In other words don’t worry about it, just have fun and sail as much as possible.

The new board is in place and our first meeting is January 17^th. We will cover budgets by department and list our on going and future projects for 2001.

Steve Kitts and Ken Abraham just had the west docks rewired and all boats should have power. Lets us know if there is a problem. Rudy is planning the Awards banquet for Feb ( no date yet) and hope to see all of you there.

Mike Petry is putting together a new race schedule for the 2001 season . Look for that in the newsletter or on the web site (saillc.org). Mark Howard has put together a great web site with some excellent links. Check out the weather link, its better than KPLC’s .

Jerry and Dorothy Becnel are going through some rough weather. Dorothy is in the hospital but is doing better according to the last report. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

See you at the Club

Bob Dowden

The Voyage of Excalibur        August 4-8, 2000

Purpose of voyage: Delivery of newly purchased sailing vessel from Lake Charles, La. to Corpus Christi, Texas. for Frank Stagg, the new owner. The Excalibur is a Lancer 29 sailboat, a 29’ overall sloop of 10,000 pounds. It is equipped with a main sail, large and small jibs, 8 hp Yanmar diesel, autopilot, depth meter and knotmeter.

The plan for the Voyage:  depart Lake Charles and sail to Freeport, TX; drop off Alvin Touchet, and then continue on to Corpus Christi.  All of the sailing was planned to be offshore.

Ships Log:

Thursday Afternoon -Outfitted Ship
05:30 AM Friday - Arrived at LCYC
06:05 AM Friday - Left LCYC.  Boat aground and required backing out to deeper water. under engine power only. Engine 2500 rpm, smoking and quit.  Restarted and ran at 2400 rpm, 5.4 kn.
06:45 - Passed I-210 bridge. Raised Mainsail.
07:15 - Passing Citgo.
08:00 - Passing Moss Lake, Channel Marker 103; Mark took the helm.
08:50 - Turners Bay Marker.                  
 click picture for larger Image    

Excalibur Motor Sailing down the Calcasieu 

08:55 - Autopilot on.  Mile Mark 20     
09:19 - Texaco Cut,  CM 84
09:40 - Gold Roof House,  CM70
10:00 - Dugas Bay, CM 77.  Ken at helm.
10:30 - Met Zip Gilmore and Max LeBeauf in Channel. Max had just caught a speckled trout to take the lead in the CCA tournament, about 8.3 lbs.

10:42 - CM 69.  Lower Mainsail.  Motor only.  Alvin at the helm. Met Lena Touchet in Channel.  She also told us about Max's catch. News travels fast over the outboard telegraph.
10:54 - MM 9,  CM 67.
10:59 - Alvin brought out shrimp and sauce.  Good! Thanks Cindy!
11:00 - Saw first of many Dolphins. 
11:10 - Increased engine rpm.  Engine quit.  Reset at 2400 rpm, ok.
11:30 - MM 6, Bottom of Big Lake.
12:00N - MM 3, Cameron.  Frank at Helm.
12:20 PM - MM 1.
12:30 - Boat ramp at East Jetties.  MM 0. We are at the Gulf of Mexico. 
Still have to clear Jetties.
12:45 - Clear Jetties,  Raised Mainsail and Jenny, motor sail at 6 kn.
13:15 - Shut down engine.  Sails only at 5.5 kn.; pleasant.
15:30 - 6+ kn.  White caps.  Depower main.
16:16 - Tacked to clear Sabine Pass.
19:15 - Engine seized.
Night Hours - Full sail.  4 hr shifts, 2 hr tiller, 2 hr lookout.  Lookout was on the Bow, this was very treacherous as swells pounded the boat, one could just hang on to the bow pulpit.  Many platforms, etc.  The moon set at about midnight and it was difficult to see, but the stars were incredible. Many meteorites were seen and the water was peppered with phosphorescent plankton as the boat sailed through.        

07:30 AM Saturday - Restart engine.  Will put into Galveston rather than Freeport.  Not making enough progress to Freeport due to wind direction.
09:30 - Lowered sails, no progress with sails.  Engine only.
10:00 - Pump the poop.
11:00 - Bolivar Jetties.
13:00 - Arrived Galveston Yacht Basin.  Purchased 3 gal diesel, 80 lb. Ice. Cindy and sister met us to pick up Alvin.  We cleaned up and went for sandwiches.
15:00 - Left Galveston Yacht Basin. Headed to ICW. (Intercoastal Waterway) 
16:30 - ICW clearing Galveston Causeway Bridge. 
18:00 - and on; Going through washout area of ICW.  Channel is shallow and narrow.  Tug boats go through singly.  We followed a tow.  Many depth warnings and bumping ground.  Nerve racking!

21:00 - Engine quit.  Raised Jib.  Had main up.  Tried to sail into the wind. Ran hard aground.  Wind on the nose, no engine, aground, narrow shallowchannel, dark, etc.  Trouble shoot engine. After cooling for an hour, restarted.  Hand crank as battery and starter not working.
22:00 - Motor restarted.  Rocked boat to free from bottom.  Underway in the moonlight. Mud everywhere from two anchors.  
23:00 - Attacked by killer bees.  Ken repelled with Silver Cross and Deep Woods Off. 
Night hours - Motored to Freeport.  Tense due to engine questions. Cleared Freeport bridge and raised sails again. Wind angle ok.

02:00 AM Sunday - Discussed resting for a while.  Decided to    press on.
03:00 - Cleared Freeport Jetties.  110 nm to Aransas Pass. (Near Corpus Christi.)  Shut down engine. Making good progress with sails.  Main and large jib, 6 kn all night, 3' seas.  Employed Autohelm, what a Godsend, like having an extra person on board that never tires.  We were able to put only one person on watch and rest more. The wind was out of the SSW and we were able to maintain a course of about 240°.  We were, however, still on a close reach but able to maintain our layline.  The engine was run for 15 min. every two hours to keep the battery charged.
05:00 - Attacked by giant squid.  Frank turbo-charged the engine to 5000 rpm, planed the boat at 23 kn and outran the squid.
09:30 - Ran engine 15 min. every two hours to keep battery charged.  Mostly on auto-pilot.AM to PM - 6 kn under sails only, wind 15 kn SSE, blue water. Nice. Sailed out of sight of land all day.  Great Sailing!
15:00 - Course change to correct Southerly drift.
16:00 - Mermaid spotted and heard siren song.  Mark wasn't tempted and kept on going.
17:00 - Course 230, reaching at 6-7 kn,  15 kn wind, 3'  seas, 75' water depth, 

BLUE water.  Hour after hour after hour.
click picture for larger image
02:30 AM Monday - Aransas pass Jetties. 
05:00 - Corpus Christi Dock, Slip 23, Pier A.  We are there.  Frank went to find phone and breakfast. Unloaded boat and went to Franks House.  Coffee, etc, bath and bed.  Sondra met us at  9:30.  On the road home at 10:00.  Lake Charles at 5:00 pm.
Highlights of the Voyage:  Sailing the blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico and seeing many Dolphins. 
Low Points of the Voyage:  The diesel engine quit even before we were out ofLake Charles.  This set the tone for the remainder of the voyage.  The engine quit several times and caused many hours of worry. When it quit in the Intercoastal Waterway, among the commercial towboats, we discussed quitting and calling for a tow.  Then, after it restarted and we made it back to the Gulf, we figured that the remainder of the voyage could be made under sailalone if necessary.
Additional Low Points:  The voyage was very tiring and boring.  We used shifts of 2 hours on and 4 hours off .  At night we used 4 hours on and 2 hours off due to needing an extra lookout for rigs, platforms and other vessels.  Daytime sailing was HOT and rest inside the cabin was difficult due to heat.  Portholes were shut to keep out spray.  Winds were generally 15 knots and seas were 2 to 3 feet.  Perfect, but it was impossible to sit or stand without holding on to something, even inside the cabin. By the end of the trip everything, including the crew, had that wet sticky salty feeling.  YUCK!  It was difficult to sleep as only two spots were comfortable, the low side bunk in the cabin and the low side of the cockpit. If we slept in the cabin, the port had to be closed to keep out spray.  This made the cabin very hot.  The cockpit was generally in the sun and also hot and had nothing to retain you in position as the boat moved. 
We were so smelly after three days at sea without bathing that we rode in the back of Frank's pickup truck for the trip to his house from the boat.  The shower at Frank's house was like Heaven. Would we make this trip again????  Not for a while.  However, a trip in a 40' trawler with Air Conditioning, shower, etc. might be considered.