Harbor Lights July / August 2014 page 1 www.madisonsquadron.org Volume 41, Issue 4 Super Sized Summer Issue July/August 2014 United States Power Squadrons United States Power Squadrons United States Power Squadrons® Harbor Lights Harbor Lights Madison Sail & Power Squadron Dick Baker Tackles Another Challenge Stf/C Jim Pahl-Washa, JN Inside this Issue Summer Issue Summary 1 From the Helm 2 Squadron Contact List 3 Meet our New Members 4-6 Paddles UP! 7 Dragon Boat Race Photos 8 The Looper’s Journal 9-12 Anita Boyer Memorial 13 Calendar of Events 14 Boang Safety Week Recap 15 Take A Stake Cleanup Day 16 On the River: Dick’s Journal 17 Finstad Party Photos 18 Duck Pond Coloring Books 18 New Boat Camping Docks 18 Back Page Closing Photo 19 There is a lot to cover in our Summer Issue, re- capping several acvies during May and June. First of all, we had a great spring Boang Safety Class that brings several new members to the Squadron. Most are already very acve, having parcipated in our Ready Set Wear It lifejacket day at the dock and other events. I get the op- portunity in this issue to introduce them to you in their own words. We also celebrated the new life member achieve- ment for P/C John Finstad, JN with a dinner party that we captured in pictures for you. We also caught up with our Great Loopers as their guests at Martha Alber’s home, where Cdr Carol hand- ed out some awards that have been waing for them. The Squadron also undertook a new outreach program by providing complimentary USPS color- ing books. We used the 3rd Annual Night at the Duck Pond to distribute these to families as they entered the Madison Mallard’s ballpark. Finally, Madison Sail & Power Squadron members celebrated with Gilda’s Club of Madison during a day of Dragon Boat races at Wingra Park. We celebrated the spirit of friendship, love, and life in memory of all the dear friends we’ve lost to Cancer and to the Survivors among us. Congratulaons Dick for being one of our latest Survivors! Lots to read in our Super Sized Summer Issue, enjoy.
Transcript
Harbor Lights July / August 2014 page 1 www.madisonsquadron.org
Volume 41, Issue 4 Super Sized Summer Issue July/August 2014
United States Power SquadronsUnited States Power SquadronsUnited States Power Squadrons®
Harbor LightsHarbor Lights Madison Sail & Power Squadron
Dick Baker Tackles Another Chal lenge St f/C J im Pahl-Washa, JN Inside this Issue
Summer Issue Summary 1
From the Helm 2
Squadron Contact List 3
Meet our New Members 4-6
Paddles UP! 7
Dragon Boat Race Photos 8
The Looper’s Journal 9-12
Anita Boyer Memorial 13
Calendar of Events 14
Boating Safety Week Recap 15
Take A Stake Cleanup Day 16
On the River: Dick’s Journal 17
Finstad Party Photos 18
Duck Pond Coloring Books 18
New Boat Camping Docks 18
Back Page Closing Photo 19
There is a lot to cover in our Summer Issue, re-capping several activities during May and June. First of all, we had a great spring Boating Safety Class that brings several new members to the Squadron. Most are already very active, having participated in our Ready Set Wear It lifejacket day at the dock and other events. I get the op-portunity in this issue to introduce them to you in their own words. We also celebrated the new life member achieve-ment for P/C John Finstad, JN with a dinner party that we captured in pictures for you. We also caught up with our Great Loopers as their guests at Martha Alberti’s home, where Cdr Carol hand-ed out some awards that have been waiting for them.
The Squadron also undertook a new outreach program by providing complimentary USPS color-ing books. We used the 3rd Annual Night at the Duck Pond to distribute these to families as they entered the Madison Mallard’s ballpark. Finally, Madison Sail & Power Squadron members celebrated with Gilda’s Club of Madison during a day of Dragon Boat races at Wingra Park. We celebrated the spirit of friendship, love, and life in memory of all the dear friends we’ve lost to Cancer and to the Survivors among us. Congratulations Dick for being one of our latest Survivors! Lots to read in our Super Sized Summer Issue, enjoy.
Harbor Lights July / August 2014 page 2 www.madisonsquadron.org
Happy Summer….don’t we just love all this rain coming down and the storms! We are having a wonderful summer by hav-ing our boat in dry dock…unfortunately with the cold, cold, winter…our boat is always stored on our hoist behind our house, we winterized it as normal…BUT because of the really cold winter our engine has some problems.
However, we are getting a lot of projects done around the house with the boat out of commission.
I want to welcome eight new members to the Madison Squadron from three families. Each have provided introduc-tory articles for this newsletter, so you can read all about them…..
Thank you to Jim and Julie Pahl-Washa for doing such a nice job of teaching our ABC Classes again this year at Waunakee. We had a really nice turn out for the class and had a great “Boat Safety Week” event at Warner Park with our students attending. A big thank you to Greg Norman for bringing his boat to the event for all the demonstrations Jim and Julie presented.
We have had a very busy June starting off with the Take a Stake in our Waters. We had 25 people show up for our event, a new record number of volunteers. Special thanks to Jan and Greg Norman for carrying the cooler of drinks, the breakfast donuts, Danish and coffee pots. We all appreciate your hard work to coordinate the day.
We had a delightful potluck at Martha Alberti’s home on Lake Wisconsin, where we had a chance to catch up with Bob and Martha during short stop back home from their Great Loop trip. They are now back on their boat to resume their adventure. Keep posted with Martha’s articles, great news!!
Our biggest and newest event for June was sponsoring the Gilda’s Club Dragoon Boat Race at Lake Wingra. Dick Baker, Cindy Parisi, Kris Stone, Fred Mohns, Claudia Miran and I all rowed in the boat along with Club survivor members.
With only 45 minutes of practice on the prior Saturday, we won second place in the Consolation Race. We all felt pretty proud of ourselves. We had a great leader, Kirsten Norslein, who is also a cancer survivor in addition to being Director of Gilda’s Club.
Gilda’s Club is located in Madison, providing services and support for people and families affected by cancer. They also have a continuous series of events. Our squadron has been affected many times by cancer, especially recently, so the Dragon Boat project was a very worthwhile and mean-ingful project for us.
Let me also report that our own Dick Baker is now a cancer survivor…YEAH!!
The District 10 Summer Rendezvous is right around the cor-ner, which will be in Duluth, MN from July 18 thru the 20th. It’s not to late to register. Commander Lance and his squad-ron are very ready for everyone to attend.
The Bridge is on summer vacation, so there are no bridge meetings scheduled for July and August. However, we’ll keep you all posted as events unfold. Enjoy our wonderful newsletter created and edited by Jim Pahl-Washa.
ALWAYS REMEMBER TO WEAR YOUR LIKE
JACKETS!
BE SMART AND ATTEND CLASSES!
<<<HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY SUMMER>>>
Cdr Caroline Fritsch, AP
F rom the Helm Cdr Carol ine F r i t sch, AP
Dragon Boat Commander
Cdr Carol Fritsch and P/C Dick Baker and crew practicing
with the rest of the crew. Looking Good Commander!
Harbor Lights July / August 2014 page 3 www.madisonsquadron.org
P/C Bob Satterfield and Martha Alberti recently returned home to their Lake Wisconsin homes for a brief respite to catchup with family events, and I suppose a chance to recharge their batteries as well.
They were gracious enough to take some time out of their brief time in Wisconsin to host a gathering at Martha’s lakeside home on Saturday, June 14th, following the Take a Stake in our Waters cleanup day. have been sharing their Great Loop adventure with all of us for some time now
In the photo above, Commander Carol presents the USPS Educational Achievement Award to Martha for completing the requisite Advanced and Elective Courses. Poor Bob! The distinctive Bent Prop Award, which is normally awarded at the January Business Meeting was finally presented to Bob for the problems he has encountered (and resolved, and resolved, and resolved) during the Loop. Last year’s winner (Cdr Carol) hands over the traveling trophy below. Bob joins an elite small group of recipients that have received the Bent Prop on more than one occasion. The list of past award winners is below. The award is always given in good humor, so be prepared to share your personal adventures and of course the misadventures of your fellow members with Bob. Who knows, you could be next year’s winner or responsible for locating the winner.
Past Bent Prop Award Winners
Catching Up wi th ou r Loopers
1988 – Charley Quirt 2001 – Jon Hecox
1989 – Dennis Hoelzel 2002 – Steve Bruns
1990 – Scott Winger 2003 – Dave & Gloria Conrad
1991 – Bob Story 2004 – Dick Baker
1992 – Tedd Gimber 2005 – Dave Farwell
1993 – Don Holcomb Jr 2006 – Dave & Gloria Conrad
1994 – Dick Zellers 2007 – Jack Stone
1995 – Wally Coombs 2008 – Jim Pahl-Washa
1996 – Eric Schramm 2009 – Jim Pahl-Washa
1997 – Glenn Deedon 2010 – Bob Satterfield
1998 – David Miran 2011 – Kris Stone
1999 – Jeff Kenyon
2000 – Bob Niemi
2012 – Fred Mohns
2013 – Carol Fritsch
Harbor Lights July / August 2014 page 4 www.madisonsquadron.org
New Member In t roduct ions: Bob and Merr i lee Sacht jen
As you know I became a new member as a result of completing the Boating Safety Class you conducted in Waunakee this spring. I really enjoyed the class, and I believe that I am the only graduate who does not own a boat. I think you (Jim) were somewhat shocked that someone would actually take a boating safety class before they bought a boat. Coming from an IT (technology) background in financial services, I think that is the only logical way to go about it. There are probably a lot of "boaters" out there who would benefit greatly by taking the Boating Safety Class. Merrilee and I returned to the Madison area last year (we now live in Waunakee) after spending time in Chicago, the San Francisco Bay area and Philadelphia during our "full-time" working years. Merrilee retired from Teledyne Electronic Technologies where she was an HR Manager and I retired from SunGard Data Systems where I was a Product Manager. I joined First Weber Group as a Broker-Associate in May 2014 to keep myself busy during "retirement". We have two children (Jason and Alyson) and five grandchildren (Jackson and Carter, Jason's boys - and Brenna, Ella and Delaney, Alyson's girls). Jason lives in St. Louis with his wife Beth and Alyson lives in Carver, MN with her husband Tim. We have always been active members of our church (Saint John the Baptist in Waunakee) and Merrilee vol-unteers at local food pantries (The River Food Pantry in Madison and the Waunakee Food Pantry).
Bob Sachtjen
In the photo above, Merrilee and Bob are in Newport, Rhode Island where Bob spoke at a Shareholder Ser-vices Association (SSA) Annual conference. In the lower right photo, Bob and Merrilee are pictured with Joni Aeschbach (left) at the same conference as they prepare to go sailing. The photo below was taken of Bob receiving his course completion certificate from Cdr Carol and Julie .t
Welcome Bob and Merrilee!
Harbor Lights July / August 2014 page 5 www.madisonsquadron.org
New Member In t roduct ions: The Mol ina Fami ly
Francisco, Melody, Eric, and Daniel are new to boating and when
they decided to buy a boat, they wanted to make sure that they
could do it safety.
After taking the USCGA safety class Francisco looked for a group
where they could continue learning and joined the USPS in May.
Francisco heard about the Waunakee ABC3 Safety class and decided
to take it. “It was a great experience, Jim’s knowledge and teaching
style, combined with examples of real world experiences made the
class not just very valuable because of the content, but also enjoya-
ble!”
The Molina’s enjoy now their Crownline 210, feeling more comforta-
ble and safe as they enjoy Lake Mendota with family and friends.
(pictured below at UW Memorial Union dock). They look forward to
be part of the Madison squadron and continue learning.
Daniel & Francisco Molina (above, left to right) during the June 14th
Take a Stake in our Waters Cleanup Party at Mendota County Park
Melody & Daniel Molina aboard the family “Tube” (below)
Welcome
Molina Family
Francisco, Melody, Eric & Daniel
Harbor Lights July / August 2014 page 6 www.madisonsquadron.org
New Member In t roduct ions: Tom and Ros ie Gal l
Tom and Rosie Gall got acquainted with our Madison group by taking the ABC course offered in May. They will be spending most of the summer in Sturgeon Bay, and have become affiliate members of the Door County squadron. Having boated on the Madison lakes for the past 28 years and now close to retirement, Tom and Rosie made the leap in May to a much bigger boat. They purchased a 1986 44' Marine Trader trawler, which they hope to take on the Great Loop in two or three years. As you might guess, they are big fans of Bob and Martha’s Great Loop Journal. Tom is the Maintenance Manager at the Campus Inn in Madison and Rosie is an Educational Assistant at the Oregon High School. You'll find them practicing the fine art of twin engine cruising at the Harbor Club Marina, Slip A-33.
Tom & Rosie Gall
Accepting their ABC3 Course Completion Certificates
Rosie with Cdr Carol & Julie (above)
Tom Shakes Cdr Carol’s hand (right)
Tom & Rosie (holding knot board) in class photo
Welcome
Tom & Rosie
Harbor Lights July / August 2014 page 7 www.madisonsquadron.org
“It’s Always Something”
On June 21, 2014, members of the Madison Sail and Power
Squadron participated in the Capital Lakes Dragon Fest. What is
a dragon fest you may ask? The origin of dragon boat racing can
be traced to events that happened in southern China over 2,000
years ago. Originally, boats adorned with dragon heads were
part of a fertility rite as a way to encourage plentiful rains and a
good harvest. The sponsor of Capital Lakes Dragon Fest is Team
Survivor Madison, Inc. Their mission is to provide women can-
cer survivors a variety of fitness activities, education and sup-
port while taking an active role in their physical and emotional
well-being.
There were 24 teams participating in the Capital Lakes Dragon
Fest this year, which takes place on Lake Wingra. Each team
consists of 22 members, including 1 steersperson and a drum-
mer. So what does that have to do with Madison Sail and Power
Squadron? Dick and I have gotten involved with Gilda’s Club
(Gilda’s Club is for anyone, of any age, with any type of cancer,
and for those in their lives who are touched by it: family, friends
and others).
One day it was announced that they were participating in the
Capital Lakes Dragon fest. We have watched the dragon boat
races on the Mississippi for years and I was always intrigued by
them. This was my big chance. Gilda’s team “It’s Always Some-
thing” needed sponsors. What a great community activity for
the Madison Sail and Power Squadron to be involved in. We
have had several members affected by cancer and it’s a water
activity.
I brought this to the bridge meeting and most bridge members
made personal donations, and the squadron donated $300. Our
donations covered the registration fee and the team shirts. The
best part was we got to participate in the actual races. It was an
all-day family event with three races for each team. The Madi-
son Sail and Power Squadron had 6 members paddling. While
we didn’t take home any prizes we had a great time. I look for-
ward to next year already.
The event started out with a ceremony to awaken the dragons,
and at mid-day there was a petal ceremony (honoring all those
who have experienced cancer and those who have not survived
and their supporters). Five boats filled with survivors (yes, 100
survivors) went out and rafted up and came back as one, throw-
ing rose petals into the water.
.
During the “Petal Ceremony”, paddlers put their paddles into
the air to honor those who lost their battle with cancer.
Throughout the day there was live family oriented entertain-
ment at the shelter. There was music, dance teams, hula hoop-
ing and more. The day was overcast so it was comfortable and
the rain held off until all racing was completed.
Paddles Up.
P/C Cindy Parisi, P
MSPS Suppor ts Gi lda’s Club Dragon Fes t Ent ry
Harbor Lights July / August 2014 page 8 www.madisonsquadron.org
Dragon Fes t on Lake Wingra -June 21 , 2014
Harbor Lights July / August 2014 page 9 www.madisonsquadron.org
Updates f rom the Great Loop wi th Bob & Martha Aboard F ie ld T r ip
Field Trip update May 25 to June 28, 2014 Since leaving the boat on Saturday, May 24th we have been pretty busy. There have been multiple graduations (we made a couple), a wedding (that we missed), a 40th anniversary party and time with family. My kids and grandkids are at my house on Lake Wisconsin for the summer and Bob had all four of his grandchil-dren for over a week. I called him once to see if he needed anything at the store and he wearily said, “Sleep.” We all had a wonderful time. We saw quite a few friends while we were home, but sadly missed seeing quite a few others. Our local Power Squadron (about 15 of them, at least) came to the lake for a potluck and we hosted a granddaughter’s graduation party for about 40). Numerous dentist and doctor appointments were scheduled and I got my new prescription sunglasses to replace the ones I lost in Savannah. I also man-aged to squeeze in several trips to the Apple store for help and a camera class. When we left Wisconsin on Thursday, June 19th it was bittersweet. We were anxious to get back on the boat, but I desperately miss being a part of all the fun, laughter, activities, company and chaos at my house at the lake. With overnights in Louisville at Kate and Chris’ (Daughter and s-i-l) and another in Williamsburg we arrived back to Field Trip on Satur-day. The work that was supposed to be done wasn’t. Surprise!! It’s a boat!!! Worse, it was in a boatyard!!! The work finally got done mid-week. Bob thinks they did a good job, but the bill was very high. With no way to dispute the extremely high labor hours there was nothing to do but pay it and get underway. For you Loopers, that was AYB - Atlantic Yacht Basin…. We will not be having work done on the boat again without being on site. We did meet two very nice couples on Grand Banks while we were back there that week though. The first, Jerry and Wendy Taylor, have a Grand Banks Classic 36’, “Aurora” like Field Trip, but older – from the 70s. It is in beautiful shape – immaculately kept. They have lived aboard for many years. They are full time delivery captains and have been for over 30 years. We hope to run into them further up the Chesa-peake this summer to hear more of their stories and learn more from them. The other couple, Kurt and Sue Smith on their 42’ Grand Banks Classic (1979), “Irish Lady Too”, was towed into AYB. They had hit something in the Dismal Swamp. It was big enough and hard enough that it broke the engine mounts and twisted the engine out of place. Of course, it also bent the shaft and the prop. It’s a beautiful boat - hope they can fix it. Nice people. They live on the Chesapeake so we hope to see them again, too. Finally, all was ready for us to take to the water again. We left AYB on Thursday, June 26, and went back to Norfolk. We are anchored out in the midst of all the Navy bases and shipyards in downtown Norfolk. The anchorage is right in front of the Navy hospital at Hospital Point. It is NOT one of our lovely quiet anchorages, but it certainly has a flavor of it’s own; big ships, tour boats, helicopters going right over our heads, many fast cigarette boats, small training sailboats scurrying about and other pleasure craft. The lights of Norfolk are lovely.
Yesterday (Friday, June 27), our friends, George and Mary Fischer (Beach Quest) arrived here. We traveled with them from Ottawa, IL in early September until we split in Miami in late March. It is great to see them again. After they anchored two boats down they came over in their dinghy. We hopped in and dinghied to Portsmouth for the afternoon. It is a lovely old, historic town. One of the really old historic houses that is for sale had a Realtor “open house.” So, we stopped and took the tour. It is beautifully restored and tastefully updated. It was nice to see the inside of one of those beautiful historic houses. The price seemed very reasonable. It is on one of the wide streets, 4200 sq. ft. and it’s listed at $485,000. We looked at some in Charleston, where nothing in the historic district was under a million. We stopped in one little bar for our cocktails and then went to the Bier Garden for a German dinner. Mary is German and was almost purring in ecstasy over the authentic German food. It’s been quite warm and humid, but this morning is mid-80s, lower humidity and a great breeze. We don’t know yet what we will be doing today. George and Mary are late sleepers, but I’m sure we’ll find something fun. As I write this, we are listening to the throaty roar of at least 45 (that’s how many I counted, but there may have been more) cigarette boats leaving the downtown marina. Pretty impres-sive sight. I’ve heard that they start at about $250,000 and go up from there. Bob just said he’d like to own the places they will stop for fuel today. I’m sure that their fuel bills will be an impressive number too. Looks like the roar of the boats woke up George and Mary.
Chesapeake Area Location of Field Trip
Harbor Lights July / August 2014 page 10 www.madisonsquadron.org
Updates f rom the Great Loop wi th Bob & Martha Aboard F ie ld T r ip
Field Trip update June 29 to July 12, 2014
Sunday, 6/29 Norfolk
Today George and Mary (Beach Quest) picked us up in their Dinghy and we went back to Portsmouth. There is a very nice Maritime Museum there. One part of it is the lightship, Portsmouth. Lightships act as a lighthouse in areas that are too deep or otherwise unsuitable for light-house construction. This ship was built in 1915 and served at various sites along the coast for 48 years. Now she is permanently dry-docked in Portsmouth and is outfitted similarly to the way it was when it was working. It carried 15 crewmen who lived and worked at sea for months at a stretch. It was very interesting to see how they lived while doing this incredibly dangerous job.
Monday, 6/30 James River and Chickahominy River - Ron & Gail’s
This morning we left our anchorage across form Norfolk’s downtown to head up the James River. Again we passed the naval bases and ship-yards with the HUGE ships. Newport News, VA has one of the biggest ship builders in the world. We watched a warship pull up the anchor and followed it as it went through Hampton Roads harbor and headed out to sea.
Once we got into the James River we had this big wide river almost all to ourselves. We passed many docked or anchored Navy ships, some of them “mothballed”, but there was almost no activity on the water. We did have one pair of dolphins, but they didn’t seem interested in us.
My son-in-law, Chris’s best friend, Ron and his wife Gail have a home about 50 miles up the James River. They live in a wonderful little pri-vate marina/golf course community just before you get to the Chickahominy River. The homes surround the harbor and each home has a face dock along the shoreline. I’m guessing the marina itself holds about 60 boats on its docks along one shore. If you still have the most recent Spot (actually sent out 6/31) you can see this lovely little harbor. (Be sure to switch the view from “map” to “satellite” in the upper right hand corner.)
Ron and Gail were watching for us to come into their harbor and were there to welcome us and help us tie up. They both look wonderful and it’s so good to see them. Their house is beautiful and the location is superb. They look right out into the James River. We didn’t take long to ask to use the shower (we had been anchoring for several days and the temps are in the 90s). Gail made us her special “Dark and Stormy” drinks and then we left for a tour of the area. Ron went to college at William and Mary in Williamsburg for his undergrad degree so we got a nice tour of that before we went to one of Ron’s favorite restaurants for pizza.
Tuesday, 7/1 Ron and Gail’s
Ron loaned us his truck so we could sightsee today. They live within minutes of Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown. The Indian chief Powhatan controlled all of the surrounding tribes and lived very close. Pocahontas was his daughter, so the land where their house is now is considered to have been Pocahontas’s playground. There is so much history in this area that you just have to start somewhere, so we decid-ed to start with Jamestown. Jamestown, founded in 1607, was the first permanent English settlement. The museum and the recreated settlement and Indian village are amazingly well done. We spent most of the day and didn’t see everything.
Friends of Ron and Gail had us all for dinner: nice people, beautiful home, great food and a wonderful evening.
We asked Ron and Gail if they minded if we stayed another day to see Yorktown. They graciously said they’d love to have us another day, so that is the plan. We were pretty tired by “Looper midnight” (9:00 PM) from all the walking and the sun & heat – mid 90s so we went to bed soon after coming home from dinner.
Wednesday, 7/2 Ron & Gail’s
When we got up this morning the Marine weather was talking about an approaching storm – Hurricane Arthur. The storm is predicted to arrive off Norfolk on Friday. We spent several hours debating whether to leave this morning, while the winds are OK and get tucked into Norfolk which is somewhat protected from the ocean.
We really didn’t want to put Ron and Gail out any more and if we stay, it isn’t one more day; it is until at least Saturday. Finally after talking with them it was decided it made absolutely no sense to travel 50 miles closer to the eye of the hurricane when we are safely tucked into a wonderful little “Hurricane hole” here. So here we are. Thank you, Ron and Gail. We really appreciate your hospitality.
As the weather is still clear and sunny, we spent the day sightseeing at Yorktown; another very well done historical site including battlefields/museum/recreated village and a farm depicting the revolutionary period. Temperatures were again in the mid-90s so when Ron texted to see if we wanted to join them for dinner, we readily agreed that we’d seen enough.
Harbor Lights July / August 2014 page 11 www.madisonsquadron.org
Updates f rom the Great Loop wi th Bob & Martha Aboard F ie ld T r ip
Thursday, 7/3 Ron & Gail’s
The wind is increasing some today and the temperatures are approaching 100 degrees. It was sunny and humid most of the day, but now it is starting to cloud up. They are predicting thunderstorms and heavy rains tonight as Arthur nears. The winds are forecast to be over 50 mph at Norfolk so we think we made the right decision to stay put. We’ve been told that Norfolk floods a lot too.
We have just been hanging out today. Catching up on bills, laundry (thanks for the use of your washer and dryer, Gail), reading etc.
Bob talked to the dock master at the marina this morning. They asked that we move the boat to a more secure spot and tie it to the pilings and not the face dock. We only had to move it one space down to the house next door, which is for sale. However, when we hooked up the electricity there so we could run the air conditioner, we blew the circuit – not just on the dock, but we are afraid it might be to the house. The house is vacant now as the people just moved to a retirement complex. Ron and Gail have been gone most of the day, so we are waiting for them to come home and help us figure out what to do about it. Meanwhile, we are in their air-conditioned house as the boat is rather (read VERY) warm. Ron says not to worry about the electrical circuits in the neighbor’s house. They all have breakers that come to the docks, so that is all we would have thrown. Whew!!!
9:00 PM Arthur is coming closer to Norfolk with some pretty good winds so we are glad to be here in Ron and Gail’s protected little har-bor. We have to run the generator to cool things down, but it’s like it would be if we were anchored out. We are safe, dry and out of harm’s way. We expect to be able to get back to Norfolk on Saturday if all keeps going according to the predictions.
Friday, July 4th James River and the Chickahominy River on the dock at Ron and Gail Gilden’s house
Today, Hurricane Arthur arrives. Thanks to Ron and Gail’s hospitality we only got a little rain and wind out of it. We stayed on the boat and read most of the day. I guess we did borrow Ron’s truck for a groceries run in the afternoon. Ron and Gail invited us to go to their country club for a fourth of July picnic and fireworks in the evening. That was very nice: lots of good food and some really nice fireworks.
Our friends on Beach Quest (George and Mary) rode out Arthur in Norfolk. They are fine, but said it was ‘rock ‘n roll’ and lots of rain. Curt and Marilyn on Castaway (the 26 foot sailboat we have traveled with) were within 20 miles of 100 mile an hour winds up on the Erie.
Saturday July 5th Norfolk – Waterside Marina
This morning dawned calmer and much cooler – in the high 50s. A welcome change from the steamy hot we’ve been having. We left Gilden’s about 8:15 and had an uneventful trip to Norfolk, arriving before 2:00.
The marina had only about 8 boats when we arrived, but it quickly started to fill up – every slip. Norfolk had had to postpone their fireworks until today so the waterfront park was jumping by late afternoon. The parks were wall-to-wall people enjoying the beautiful day, the bands that were playing and all the food stands and other attractions. We poured a drink, went upstairs and had catbird seats to the fireworks from our fly bridge.
Sunday, July 6th Norfolk
The marina started to empty out in the mid-morning and by mid-afternoon it was down to 8 boats again. It has been a really nice day in the low to mid 80s with a nice breeze
We walked to one of the really nice historic districts today. It is a lovely, well-preserved, genteel area. The streets are like the old brick ones except they are brick-shaped stones: a very nice look. On the way we noticed that a number of the office buildings had sandbagged their entrances in anticipation of Arthur. Thankfully the water didn’t reach that far, though.
Monday, July 7th Norfolk
Today was a cleaning day. We cleaned in and out: Bob washed the salt and grime off the outside and I cleaned in. Much better!! I’m glad we got it done this morning it is going to be in the high 90s today.
There is a water fountain in the park by the marina that kids just LOVE to play in. The water shoots up from ground level from numerous jets. They are random so the kids never know which ones are going to be spraying. This morning I started chatting with a young mother, Tania, who was playing with her 2 little boys in the water. She was telling me that the older one, John-John who is three, is fascinated by boats but had never been on one. I invited them to come aboard when they were done playing in the spray fountain. About an hour later there was a knock on the door. She had taken me up on it. Her little boy went all over the boat and enjoyed “driving” at both wheels. It was really fun and he did not want to leave.
Harbor Lights July / August 2014 page 12 www.madisonsquadron.org
Updates f rom the Great Loop wi th Bob & Martha Aboard F ie ld T r ip
Tuesday, July 8th Norfolk
The temperatures are supposed to be in the mid to upper 90s with very high humidity for the next several days. We will be staying here in the marina, attached to shore power to run the air conditioning until the temperature breaks. Bob does not like that kind of heat nor does he handle it well. Good days to stay on board and read.
We had a docktail with a couple on the boat next to us tonight. They have a sailboat similar to Kate and Chris’s, but much older. The boat is
“Zipadedoda”. They were very interesting – he reminds me of Big Steve – he could fix or remodel anything
Thursday, July 9th Norfolk
We had another good day to just hang out in the air conditioning (humid and upper 90s) until late afternoon – when BANG - a storm hit. We have heard that there are frequent, sudden, violent storms that hit the Chesapeake in the late afternoon. The “rule” here is to be in a mari-na or securely anchored by 4:00 in the afternoon. We usually watch the clouds and keep close track of the weather, but we had been inside and not traveling, so it caught us totally off guard. Bob had gone up to the marina and was on his way back when the wind hit. I’ve never seen him run before!!! WOW!!! I quickly started to add extra lines on the boat and when Bob got here he tied them off to the dock. Before we got done, it started to pour. We got over 2 inches in about 20 minutes and then it blew over and we had a nice, cooler evening.
Thursday, July 10th Anchored in the York River near Yorktown.
The weather looked like we might get a little rain today, but nothing serious so we left Norfolk about 8:30 with Beach Quest (Mary & George). Their company is gone now so they can travel with us for a few days. We headed for Yorktown, about 9:00 and about half way there we could see a serious storm brewing to the West of us. At only 8 miles per hour we can’t run very fast, so we were going as fast as we could to get to Yorktown before it hit. The closer it got it looked like the worst of it might pass south of us, but it was starting to rain before we could get the anchor down.
I guess we were lucky. Norfolk got hammered with high winds and 3” of rain in a short time again. We had no problem except a little rain. Dodged that one!!
Friday, July 11th Yorktown
We lowered our dinghies ((Beach Quest, too) and went to do some sightseeing in Yorktown today. We went separately because we had seen some of Yorktown when we were staying with Gildens. We figured, correctly, we’d want to come back to the boat before they did. We all had a nice day.
Saturday, July 12th Anchored in the Corrotoman River off the Rappahannock River
We traveled seven hours today up the Chesapeake Bay to the Rappahannock River, then up the Rappahannock to the Corrotoman River to a nice anchorage in the West Branch. It’s been a beautiful day and now I am watching the full moon come up over the trees and shining an orange-gold path on the water: very nice.
More later
Love to all
Bob & Martha, on Field Trip
Harbor Lights July / August 2014 page 13 www.madisonsquadron.org
Ed and Anita Boyer were two very
special Squadron family members. I
remember them as extremely gen-
tle and caring souls.
We lost P/D/C Ed Boyer, JN nearly
five years ago (2009). I remember
him as a brilliant instructor, having
taken classes from him during my
earlier years with the Squadron.
Ed also had a passion for Coopera-
tive Charting, and we often
“buddied” up on weekend events
to go hunting for geodetic survey
markers.
I have some great photos of us in
the fields of Dane County and sur-
rounding areas that I will always
treasure.
Please keep Anita and Ed in your
prayers, because I’m sure they both
continue to serve as guardian an-
gels for all of us.
Remember ing Ed & Ani ta Boyer S t f / C J i m P a h l - W a s h a , J N
Madison: Anita R. Boyer, age 90, passed away peacefully on Monday, June 23, 2014, at Attic Angel Place in
Middleton.
She was born June 1, 1924, in Springdale Township, Dane County, to Melvin Colby and
Delia Peterson. She was a graduate of Madison Central High School. She married Edward
J. Boyer on Dec. 4, 1943, at St. Paul’s University Chapel in Madison. Edward and Anita
met in 1942 while riding the bus to work, and they were married the next year. Anita joined
Edward in College Station, Texas during WWII while he was in the Air Corps. They enjoyed
66 years together in Madison. Anita was a generous, gentle and caring person. She took
great pleasure in spending time with her friends and family and had just recently celebrated
her 90th birthday at her home.
Anita worked as a bookkeeper with the State of Wisconsin and then spent many years as a
full-time mother. After her children were grown she went back to bookkeeping for several
local banks. She enjoyed photography, gardening, sewing and travel. Anita was a member
of St. Patrick Catholic Church, Cathedral Parish.
Anita is survived by her three children; Mary Boyer Phillips (Robert) of DeForest, Beth Ann
Fryk (Jeffery Fullmer) of Lodi and John Boyer (Jason Purdy) of New York, N.Y.; as well as two grandchildren, Evan (fiancé Heather
Soehle) and Marc Rortvedt.
Anita was preceded in death by her husband P/D/C Edward Boyer,
SN in 2009. Commander Boyer was a longtime Madison Sail & Power
Squadron member, having served in many roles, including Command-
er from 1979-1980. Edward served as District Commander 1984-
1985.
Ed and Anita were active members, two extremely kind and gentle souls, that often attended
squadron social and business functions until their declining health prevented attendance.
We were all honored by their commitment to the mission of the United States Power Squadrons
and their love of the Madison Sail and Power Squadron.
Harbor Lights July / August 2014 page 14 www.madisonsquadron.org
July
This Weekend! Friday through Sunday July 18-20: The Summer Rendezvous
will be hosted by the Duluth Sail and Power Squadron (DSPS) at
their squadron dock facility, located in Superior, WI along Allouez
Bay. More Information can be found on page 12 and at the Duluth
website: www.duluthsailandpowersquadron.com
August Saturday Aug 2: 0900 start time Madison Area Antique
& Classic Boat Show at Christy’s Landing, 2952 Waubesa Avenue, Lake Waubesa (Free admission)
Thursday Aug 21: 1800—2000 Monthly Third Thursday Potluck at Dave & Carol Fritsch’s 6213 Winnequah Rd Home. Bring a dish to pass and BYOB. Dessert will be provided
September 7-14 September 2014: USPS 2014 Governing Board
Meeting in Arlington, VA. Conference Hosting Hotel is the Hyatt Regency in Crystal City. A full schedule of events and conference agenda can be found at www.usps.org/php/reservations
Monday Sept 9: 1900-2100. Monthly Bridge Meeting at the Monona Gardens Family Restaurant, 6501 Bridge Rd, Monona. Dinner off the menu at 1800. Open to all members.
October Monday Oct 13: 1900-2100. Monthly Bridge Meeting
at the Monona Gardens Family Restaurant, 6501 Bridge Rd, Monona. Dinner off the menu at 1800. Open to all members.
Friday through Sunday Oct 24-26: D10 Fall Confer-ence at the Landmark Resort in Egg Harbor, WI, sponsored by the Door County Sail & Power Squad-ron. Mark your calendar. More info in later issues.
Madison Sail & Power Squadron helps set a new Life Jacket
Harbor Lights July / August 2014 page 15 www.madisonsquadron.org
Carol Fritsch Dave Fritsch Bob Sachtjen Merrilee Sachtjen John FinstadJean Finstad Francisco Molina Danny Molina Melody Molina Dawn Perdaw Pam Truog Tony Truog Gloria Conrad David Conrad Kris Stone Fred Mohns Cindy Parisi Richard Baker
The morning class was a huge success as
the photos demonstrate.
At the conclusion of class, all that attend-
ed put on life jackets at the noon hour
designated time as participants in the
Ready, Set Wear It Campaign that helped
set a new world’s record.
6,973 participants in 120 events across
the United States helped set the record,
and those pictured above are part of that
record.
Oh yeah, Greg’s boat was awarded a
2014 decal, and we celebrated with a
boat ride to the Nautigal for lunch.
B o a t i n g S a f e t y We e k K i c k s o f f w i t h a C l a s s a t t h e D o c k
For the second year in a row, an optional
day at the dock was offered to all our
ABC3 Spring Boating Safety Class mem-
bers. The event was held at the Warner
Park Boat Ramp on the eastern shore of
Lake Mendota on May 17th, the start of
Boating Safety Week.
Lt/C Greg Norman, AP graciously provid-
ed his runabout and tow vehicle to use as
a training aid to help demonstrate the
safety issues that are discussed in a Ves-
sel Safety Exam.
Therefore, we conducted our first Vessel
Safety exam for 2014 on Greg’s boat.
Harbor Lights July / August 2014 page 16 www.madisonsquadron.org
Carol Fritsch Dave Fritsch Bob Sachtjen Merrilee Sachtjen John Finstad Jean Finstad Francisco Molina Danny Molina Melody Molina Dawn Perdaw Pam Truog Tony Truog Gloria Conrad
David Conrad Kris Stone Fred Mohns Cindy Parisi Richard Baker Glenn Deedon Mary Beth Deedon Julie Pahl-Washa Jim Pahl-Washa Greg Norman Jan Norman Claudia Berry Miran (All pictured below)
The Squadron looks forward to this annual
event each year, having participated for
nearly 20 years.
For more than a decade, we have been
assigned to cleanup the shoreline of Men-
dota County Park on the north west shore
of Lake Mendota.
Thanks, as always, to our Project Leader,
Jan Norman and to everyone who made
2014 a record year for participation.
Kris Stone & Jean Finstad are pictured to
the right with Greg Norman in the back-
ground. John Finstad, Glenn & Mary Beth
Deedon to the left.
A Re c o r d N u m b e r o f Vo l u n t e e r s fo r “ Ta ke a S t a ke i n o u r Wa t e r s ”
Francisco & Dan Molina in photo to the
left. Cindy Parisi, Claudia Miran, and
Fred Mohns in the photo to the right.
The list of volunteers are below
Harbor Lights July / August 2014 page 17 www.madisonsquadron.org
I have often wondered what it is about being
near water that attracts people so much. I’m
sure you’ve heard the theory that humans are
approximately 60% water, and that is why we
are so drawn to it. It could be as simple as
that, I suppose, but I have another theory.
We’ve been fortunate enough to have a house
where I’ve been able to spend some time stud-
ying the question. Truthfully, when I started
writing about being on the Wisconsin River, I
wondered if I would be able to find enough
things to write about. As it turns out, subject
matter is not a problem. There is always some-
thing happening here, and it’s almost always
interesting. When the natural world activity
slows down, there is the human world to pro-
vide the next scene. It’s almost like watching a
movie. There is an old joke, told by a lazy per-
son, who said “work fascinates me; I could
watch people do it for hours and hours”. This
movie is like that; it’s captivating, and I could
watch it for hours.
This year over the Memorial weekend, we
finally got to splash a boat in the river. Three
boats, really, two kayaks and our dingy. We
had a couple grandkids up, Niko and Hannah,
14 and 10 respectively. Neither had ever pad-
dled a kayak before, so they were a little ap-
prehensive. We were most concerned about
Hannah; the current is strong, and she’s light
and inexperienced. Our fears were unfounded,
as both of them took to it right away, and they
loved it. At one point, Cindy and Hannah were
in the boats, and Niko and I were sitting on the
bench watching. I sensed that he was restless.
“Are you getting bored?” I asked. “Maybe a
little” he said. “Well,” I answered, “ever since
my cancer diagnosis, I have a whole different
way of looking at stuff. I’m not in as big of a
hurry any more, and sitting here watching the
river makes me really happy.” You could have
knocked me over with a feather when he re-
plied “I get that.”
However, lest you think Niko is being over-
come by sensitivity, I have another brief story
that maybe shows another side. We were at
the river on the weekend of Madison’s fire-
works show, and we thought if the kids and
their mom didn’t want to brave the crowds,
maybe they would want to come up and go for
a boat ride on our newly acquired jet boat.
Niko’s response, by text, to Cindy’s invitation,
was “send picture of boat”. The boat must
have not looked that exciting, since they opted
for fireworks. It was the red blooded American
choice, loud noise and exploding flashy stuff!
So, the story comes back to Memorial Day
weekend. It was lunch time, and we decided to
go upriver to Hooker’s for lunch. Niko decided
to go by kayak and the rest of us took the din-
gy. Two blocks upriver in a kayak doesn’t
sound like much of a challenge, but trust me,
with a 2 1/2 mile-an-hour current and a cheap
recreational kayak, it’s an appetite builder. We
all made it, and we were happily munching on
some of the best burgers in the area when I
noticed a 20’ or so boat with an outboard pull
away from the dock. It seemed like his engine
was low in the water, and as he made a big
circle, it got even lower. All of a sudden, the
motor ingested water and quit. The current
grabbed that boat and started to take it away.
A neighbor of ours who was at the bar jumped
in her boat and tried to come alongside the
disabled boat to pull it ashore, but that didn’t
work. Then a line was thrown, and missed, and
just like that they were all out of sight. A few
doors down river, a couple of the passengers
jumped out and were able to hold the boat.
Eventually a line was passed to the running
boat and they slowly made their way back to
the landing. You may have surmised what
happed here, but if not I’ll tell you. The young
guys did the No. 1 stupidest thing that we’ve
all done once; they forgot to put the plug in
before they put the boat in. Most folks realize
it though, before they go into the bar for sup-
plies, like these guys did. This allowed a lot of
water to enter the inner hull below the floor,
where they didn’t see it right away.
So now, the task was to get a very heavy boat
back on the trailer. Suffice it to say that it took
a long time, involved many people gesturing
wildly; pushing, pulling, winching and doing
other amusing things and it finally included
help from a tractor.
I was totally surprised at how long it took for
that water to run out of the boat. We finished
lunch, paid the bill, got Niko back in the water,
walked to the dock and got settled in our boat,
untied, turned around and headed downriver.
I’m not sure if it was empty yet as the Sheriff’s
car pulled up and a couple of deputies got out.
Talk about adding insult to injury. Picture this:
your basic rookie move, executed in front of a
full bar and a yard full of people on the busiest
boating day of the year; and just when it can’t
get worse, the cops arrive. I’m guessing they
just wanted to see what all the commotion
was about; I can’t imagine a ticket-able
offence here.
The best story so far happened last weekend.
We had been kayaking and passed some
young folks that had camped on a sand bar a
mile above our house. They were out on an-
other sand bar obviously having some alcohol-
ic refreshment. After we got back and got our
boats stowed, we were sitting on the pier try-
ing to catch fish (ha! another story there). All
of a sudden, a there is a commotion a little
upstream involving our 3 ladies from earlier,
who are now on two rubber rafts. They were
being rescued by 3 young gents in a deck boat
with a small outboard. The ladies had enlisted
the guy’s help, having realized there was going
to be no other way to get back to their
campsite. First, was an attempt to tow them
upriver; that didn’t work. I heard the skipper
say, “I haven’t got enough power here to tow
you against the current. You have to come
aboard”. What commenced to happen from
that point was not what you would call digni-
fied for the damsels, since they were now in
an advanced state of happiness. After much
screaming, stumbling, falling and a little curs-
ing, all the lasses were made secure and the
boat headed upstream with the rafts in tow.
For me, the big question was, would they pass
Hooker’s bar, and motor on home to their
campsite? The answer was; are you kidding?
Of course they stopped. I would have loved to
see the rest of that movie.
On The R iver “The Movie” P/D/C R ichard Baker , AP
Harbor Lights July / August 2014 page 18 www.madisonsquadron.org
Wednesday, May 21st
John and Jean Finstad received best wishes from the Madison Sail & Power Squadron on their pending retirement from owning and operating Light House Lamp Repair.
We also used the occasion to present P/C Finstad with his Lifetime membership award, which is presented to any USPS member after they earn their 25th merit mark. Jean Finstad is on deck to receiver her Lifetime membership award in the very near future. Jean is pictured to the right with Cdr Carol and Julie Pahl-Washa
Much has been written over the years about the unique business that John and Jean ran out of a small Park Street location in Madison.
I recommend reading Doug Moe’s recent arti-cle, “A life in Lamps” at the following link to read more
Harbor Lights is published six times a year by the Madison Sail and Power Squadron. MSPS is a unit of the United States Power Squadrons®. USPS and MSPS are tax exempt non-
profit organizations under IRS Code Section 501 (C) (3).
