Hi Everyone, 

I would like to welcome the new owners of Family Feud, Catalina 27 on D dock (soon to be renamed), Ian and Shelia Shearer.  Ian had a Catalina daysailer in the past but would love to have someone help him learn his new boat.  Anyone out there interested?  (shearer.ian@gmail.com) .

Also, the gate to the shower house and waste disposal has been locked.  If you need to dump the waste caddy, the combo for the lock is 1426.  Please keep that number for club members only and remember to close and lock the gate after use.

It was definitely cold in the mornings.  The water temperature being warmer than the air left mist coming off the water.  It didn’t start to rain until Friday night.  So great night for a movie (Captain America).  It poured during the night sometimes hard enough to wake you up.  By 9 AM it was just misting, but the winds were picking up.  By 1 PM, the sun came out.  It started to warm up some.  Several more sailors came up by 3-4 PM.  By 5 PM we had 12 people up and made arrangements to meet up at the Gazebo for our Halloween Costumes and Ghoulish Pot Luck.               

We had Fram and Helga,  The Tool Guy, Jester & Deuce, Little Orphan Andy,  Buck,  Mary Popins and Bert.  The wind started to pick up and the temperature was dropping as the sun went down so we decided to move dinner to M&M. 

All 12 jammed in.  (Had to turn off the heat).  The crew feasted on intestines (hummus & chips), pumpkin barf (guacamole and chips), eyeballs (deviled eggs), witches brew (stew), baked bones & marrow (baked ziti), pumpkin innards (pumpkin cake) and turd squares (brownies).  Had some fun times and great conversation.  After some meeting of our officers, we decided the most original costume was…. The Tool Guy.  He made all his own tools out of wood.  Ron Honeycutt won the West Marine Gift Certificate.  The other costumed crew need to stop by M&M to get your prize too.

On Sunday, it was a little cool in the morning.  My weather bug said it was 31 degrees in the morning.  The sun was out and warming things up quickly.  Several more people came up for the day.  Several people came up to winterize and refuel and do some projects.  By noon, several boats went out for a sail.  There was some nice wind when we first got out.  Then it died about 3 PM.  It was very pretty on the water with all the color changes.  We now have the yellows and reds.  We had Tenacious, Honeycraft, Chiang Mai, M&M, Maximum Joy, Journey, Seahawk (her maiden sail), Namaste,& the Gray Boat.  By 4 PM, everyone was starting to return to the marina.  After cleaning up and closing things down, we had 7 people head to Zerdo’s for dinner.  Little did we know, we were celebrating Dave Wilcox’s birthday, Happy Birthday Dave.

This coming weekend is Race 5&6 of the Fall Racing Series.  I will let Eddie tell you about that.  Again please mark your calendars for Saturday November 12that 11:30 AM for our Fall Meeting (Our last club event for the year) to be held at Zerdo’s restaurant in Oxford (5593 Tabbs Creek Rd, Oxford, NC 27565).  The club will subsidize the meal.  We will collect $5 per adult and $3 per child at the door.  I will need to get a headcount by Wed. Nov 9th.  Please let me know by next Wed.   Don’t forget to bring the pictures that you have taken during the year of our different events on a flash stick (Doug, Laura T., Laura M., Barbra W. Helen R., Diane W., etc.).  Have a Happy and Safe Halloween!

Directions:
From I-85 North: Take exit 206 (Oxford 158) at the top of the ramp make a left turn.  Almost immediately, at the BP gas station (Tabbs Creek Rd) make a right.  Zerdo’s is immediately on the left just past the BP gas station.
From the Marina: Exit onto Highway 39 heading south (left at Shell station).  Continue south till you get to the Radio Tower intersection and make a right onto Stagecoach Rd.  (If you pass Cuz Seafood restaurant on the left you went too far).  Take Stagecoach for about 12 miles.  Zerdo’s will be on your right just before the BP gas Station.

Hello Everyone,

The rain has stopped up at the lake.  It still remains cloudy with mist coming off the surface.  Looks to be very eerie.  The forecast is for improving weather as the day lengthens.  If you can make it up to the lake early afternoon we might be able to do a short sail as the winds will be up.  At 5 PM it is the bewitching hour for all to get into costume and start our All Hallows Eve celebrations.  I have the Baked Bones with Marrow, What do you all have?  Hope to see you up here.

On other news, I was not able to reserve the Henderson Point Community building for our Fall Meeting on Saturday November 12th.  The weather has been pretty undependable lately.  With that in mind, I have made arrangements with Zerdo’s Restaurant in Oxford (5593 Tabbs Creek Rd, Oxford, NC 27565) to host our annual event from 11:30 AM to 2 PM.  The club will subsidize the luncheon.  The cost is $5.00 per adult and $3.00 per child to be collected at the door.  The meal is a trip to the salad bar, a non-alcoholic beverage, and your choice of any 6” sub, any hamburger or a pasta dish (Baked Spaghetti, Baked Ziti or Lasagna).  We will have the restaurant for our club only so that we can have our meeting which consists of nominations of officers for next year, showing of our 2011 photos, recognition of some of our members, Sail mate of the Year, club updates and matters to be discussed.  This is always a great gathering and reminiscing of our year up at the lake.  Please mark your calendars for that date. I will need your RSVP for this event by WED. November  9th. 

Hello Everyone,
On Saturday we will have our Halloween Group Sail and Ghoulish Pot Luck Dinner.  We will have a Captain’s meeting at 10:30 AM and determine our course.  We will sail and return at 4:30 PM.  We will then change into our costumes.  The Best Dressed Crew will win a $25 Gift Certificate to West Marine.  There will also be some prizes for the youngsters.  By 6 PM, we will have our Ghoulish Pot Luck dinner up at the Gazebo.  Hope to see you all on Saturday.  Have a great week.k here to edit.

Hello Everyone,

Just a Reminder, The Dock Water Will Be Shut Off Monday October 24th.  Fill up your tanks this coming weekend.  There is water available at the top of A dock but you either need a long hose or have to cart it.

What a great fall weekend up at the lake.  The leaves are starting to change colors and paint a beautiful picture.  Friday was a good day up at the lake.  There was wind and anyone who had a chance to be out on the lake had a great sail.  When we got up there Friday afternoon we went over to welcome the new boat, Seahawk (Dave & Barbra Wilcox’s new Catalina 34).  She is a beauty.  We also saw Martha on the dock and she said that the 2 couples Mark and I had met up in Annapolis had called inquiring about slips at Steele Creek.  There may be a Gemini 105 (34’ catamaran) and a Jeanneau 35 in Steele Creek’s future.  We invited Eddie, Dave and Ron over for a spaghetti dinner.  It was chow down on M&M.  After dinner we ended up with 11 people on board laughing away and even went through some questions from Yachting Trivia Pursuit.  Soon it was time for everyone to head to their boat to get ready for a good night sleep and the hot dog race Saturday morning. 

From 2011 Hot Dog Race Committee Chairman:  Ron Honeycutt  

Steele Creek Yacht Club's annual 2011 Hot Dog Race was successfully completed on Saturday October 15th.  The day was gorgeous with few clouds, sunny weather although on the cool side and plenty of wind.  At the captains meeting 9 race boats signed up for the race with first ever start for Mark and Meryl and crew on M & M.  Ron explained the rules and gave out the race diagram.  Racers were presented with a long race with Ron's usual interesting course with a lot of zig zags requiring racers to pay attention to the race course.  With winds predicted in the 15 to 20 knot range the fleet headed out for the 12:00 start to be handled by the our committee boat Odyssey and Jeff Matthiae.  The wind would prove to be quite blustery with numerous gusts in the 26 knot range and steady winds in the 14 to 18 knot range and quite shifty.  

Before the race was to start, Honeycraft trying to set the starting line had a major snafu.  The anchor line for the starting mark got wrapped around the rudder and after throwing out the boat anchor, crewman Duane Raver volunteered to get in the water to attempt to correct the situation.  Fortunately after about 10 minutes of concentrated effort Duane and Ron were able to successfully remove the wrap and get the starting line set.  Thank you to Proto for standing by for support.  

With the wind building and gusting most boats reefed sails with two race boats dropping out of the race even before the start.  Jeff started the race countdown at 12:00 noon with a crazy start seeing Redux going over early to have to restart and Tenacious getting a little close to the committee boat to start the race in first place followed by Journey, Godspeed and the rest of the fleet.  During the race there were wild roundups by several of the boats including Journey and Honeycraft.  ( a few almost misses too).  A little over half way into the first leg of the race, Godspeed tore their Jib tack.  However, the crew of Godspeed did not let this deter their efforts as they continued to race along in third place chasing Tenacious and Journey.  The heavy winds really showed the boat speed of the larger boats with most hitting 7 to 8 plus knots.   Pronto hailed the race committee boat that they were dropping out of the race due to a mechanical problem with the boat.  As the race progressed Tenacious continued to dominate and lead the fleet around the marks with Journey always pressing.  When Journey had a severe round up and 360 degree turn this opened up the lead for Tenacious and crew.  Redux a J22 was seen on a couple of occasions surfing in the big gusts. About a third of the way into the last legs of the race Honeycraft was able to overtake Godspeed and get into 3 place behind Journey and Tenacious.  Tenacious was able to continue to pull away from the fleet and finished to take line honors.  Special thanks to Jeff for committee boat, Eddie for setting, picking up marks and help with calculations, Duane for unsticking Honeycraft and carrying race marks to shed and all boats crews for racing and Barbara for taking pictures.  

After the race Ron presented to Eddie and the Tenacious crew the Hot Dog Flag and first place trophy, second going to Honeycraft and third going to Journey with pictures.  Congratulations to trophy winners and racers for enduring a blustery race.  Eddie presented a humorous trophy to Honeycraft a horse backside trophy for their "lack" of mark setting skills and race goofs.  Meryl then started the Boat renaming services with the Hot Dog Cookout to occur afterward.  

Race Results:
BOAT                  FINISH TIME          CORRECTED TIME           FINISH

 

Tenacious                     93.12 min.                 99.71 min.                           1st

Honeycraft                   110.78                       109.08                                 2nd            
Journey                         99.80                         112.03                                 3rd

Redux                           115.90                       114.66                                 4th

M & M                         118.85                       123.60                                 5th

Godspeed                     112.70                       125.22                                 6th
Pronto                                                                                                         withdrew

Chiangmai                                                                                                   DNS

Tumbleweed                                                                                               DNS

It was a fun and exciting race.  Thanks to Ron Honeycraft for designing the course and putting the race together.  At 5 PM we gathered near M&M for the presentation of the trophies then on to boat naming ceremony.  We had several new boat come to Steele Creek or Change Owners since the Spring.  Five of them being honored on Saturday.  We had plenty  of Champagne to share as we started the celebrations with M&M ( Catalina 350) and made our way down the dock to Namaste (Catalina 28), Hide Away (Catalina 25), Tumbleweed (Pearson 33), and Seahawk (Catalina 34). It’s always nice to have good things to celebrate.  I know that there are several boats that have not been named yet and a few more boats coming this winter.  We will have another naming ceremony in the spring.  

Then onto the Hot Dog Dinner.  We had 26 people and quite a selection of side dishes and desserts.  We gathered up at the gazebo for the cookout.  Martha was invited to join us.  The big buzz was that everyone is excited to see a catamaran come to Steele Creek.  After dinner and the clean up, several people went boat hopping.  It was a beautiful night with full star twinkling. It definitely gets cooler at night.  In the morning we had Dave and Eddie over for pancakes and bacon.  It was another beautiful morning on Kerr Lake.  The sun was up and warming things up quickly, Carolina blue skies and almost no clouds.  There was a nice steady breeze, less than Saturday’s gusts and steadies.  We had quite a regatta out by noontime.  With the winds blowing from the south, most of us did an upwind sail towards Satterwhite.  About and hour into the sail we heard on the VHF that Big Bird (Beneteau 35) had ran hard aground on a shoal just north of Satterwhite.  Tenacious and Chiang Mai were there first with Tail Wind and M&M not far behind.  A motor boat tried to help them off but was unable to pull them off.  We asked Robin to make a bridle with the anchor line.  Meanwhile John Hancock was out sailing with Tom Pearson and we asked them if John can get to his power boat Chapter Two to help.  They headed back to the dock to get the powerboat.  They were able to get in close, get a bridle on and pull Big Bird off the shoal.  Cheers went up.  Thanks John and Tom.  We continued sailing after that down to Satterwhite and back.  It was a nice relaxing sail.  Back at the dock it was time clean up and head home.  Great weekend.  Of course our usual stop for dinner at Zerdo’s.  We met Rhonda and Kier there too.   

Rick Birch asked me to post that he has his 2006 Hunter 27 up for sale.  Here is the Craigslist posting if anyone is or knows someone who is interested http://raleigh.craigslist.org/boa/2647293063.html  

Our next club event is our Halloween sail and pot luck on Saturday October 29.  We will have a $25 gift certificate to West Marine for the “Best Dressed Crew”.  (you can dress up after the sail).  Bring a ghoulish dish for pot luck.  (eyeballs (meatballs), bat wings (chicken wings), etc.)  Make up a name.  Have a great week.

 

Hello Everyone,