January 8, 2016

It’s a New Year

It is a new year and yet it feels as though sailing season never ended. I don't know who this "El Niño" guy is, but he is welcome back any time. For those of you who may not know me, I am Perry Cameron. I have only been a member since 2008, but several in my family, have been active members of this club in the past. You can usually find me racing a J/24 or Highlander on Wednesday nights. This is my first time as Commodore, but I have recently served as Racing Chairman. I will do my best to serve the club well. The board met for the first time on December 8th to establish and approve the 2016 operating budget. Due to increased operating costs, the board decided to increase dues by $10 and slip fees by $10 for 2016. It is never popular to increase the cost of membership, but every few years, dues must go up to maintain the quality of the ECSC experience. Our long time Secretary David Fort was notably absent from this meeting. Shortly before our meeting, David called 911 and was transported to St. Vincent's with a ruptured colon. He had an Emergency surgery and has been in ICU since. The road to recovery will be long and tough for David. As a longstanding member of our Eagle Creek family, please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. This club is a "sublime" place for many due to the countless hours put in by its members. It is a labour of love, and an expression of camaraderie to those who share our love of wind on sail. It is with pleasure that I introduce a few volunteers who make it all possible.
  • Larry Conrad is our Vice Commodore. He will be assisting me and "Taking notes" for next year.
  • Kenny Chapman has returned after several years to once again be Harbormaster. He will be working to finally replace the lighting on the club grounds as well as looking into what what it will take to replace our aging ramp.
  • Rick Graef will continue to run the racing program, and I for one look forward to the many top notch regattas again this year.
  • Tom Moore, after taking a long break has decided to return to the position of club bean counter. We are definitely in good hands.
  • Jane Schmidt will continue her role as Membership chair. She consistently exceeds expectations in this role, paving the way for new members to join the club without difficulties, and old members to seamlessly transition to the next year. There are not words to describe how professional Jane is at conducting this role for our club. Next time you see Jane please give her thanks, as this club would not be what it is today without her efforts.
  • Geoff Endris will remain as Publicity Chair. He dedicates a significant amount of time to keeping us all informed. This is his third year at this position, and I am confident that it will continue to go smoothly.
  • Chuck Lessick will be in charge of Safety and Education this year. It will be his first time in this role, but he exudes an enthusiasm and competence that gives me the confidence that our junior program will be headed in the right direction for years to come.
  • Our other newcomer Vickie Greenough also exhibits these qualities. She will have big shoes to fill in replacing our long time Social Chair Chauncey Olin, who held the position for so many years that it was easy for the rest of us to take social events for granted. Make no mistake, Chauncey's hard work and patience are what made this several year endeavor look so easy. Please take time to pat him on the back and say thanks.
  • Al Wilkins will be returning to run the ships store after a few years hiatus. He did a wonderful job in the past. Come out and get your gear at any social/racing event.
Finally, I would like to give a hat tip to our past Commodore Nick Mates. He has been Commodore three times. His past experience has played an integral part in ensuring continuity to this rookie commodore by providing a great place to run board meetings, lending advice, and providing assistance whenever needed. My time as Commodore should be fairly easy, as I am surrounded by one of the best supporting casts ever.  
January 7, 2016

2016 Social Calendar set

We are putting together the 2016 Social Calendar. Below are the events and dates. We need volunteers to sign up for host and crew for the events. If you have hosted in the past, please consider signing up again. If you have worked on a crew before and want to step up to host, here is your chance. If you have never worked a social event, please consider signing up to work an event. This is a great way to meet other club members, give back to the club and earn those valuable work credits that can be applied to next year's membership dues. Vickie The 2016 Social Calendar
Event Date Time Host Status
Mother's Day Brunch May 8 11:30 am Need Host & Crew
Mayor's Cup Dinner/Party May 14 5:00 pm Race Crew
Memorial Day Cookout May 30 3:30 pm Need Host & Crew
Father's Day Brunch June 19 11:30 am Need Host & Crew
July 4th Pig Roast July 4 3:30 pm Need Host & Crew
ECSC Beach Party July 9 5:00 pm Race Crew
Lobster Fest Augutst ?? 6:00 pm Need Host & Crew
Labor Day Cookout September 5 3:30 pm Need Host & Crew
Governor's cup Dinner/Party September 17 5:00 pm Race Crew
Hornback Chili Cookoff October 8 5:30 pm Need host and crew
Final Bash November 5 6:00 pm Need Host & Crew
 
January 6, 2016

2016 Club work parties announced

Hello Eagle Creek Sailors. The first work party is going to be scheduled for Saturday March 26th from 9 am to 12 noon. We will be getting the upper shelter unpacked and ready for the season. Any miscellaneous yard work may be accomplished also. The other things I would like to do is move "B" dock out into the lake about 4 feet. "A" dock (the end closest to the ramp) needs to be pivoted toward the ramp. Also board replacement can commence this weekend of March. The following Sunday April 2nd will be another work party for those specializing in dock board replacement and minor building skills. I will have materials and some needed tools for the reconstruction of the shade roof over the Kayak shed. Those interested in painting any buildings may sign up for that duty to perform according to your schedule. Many more projects will be in the pipeline as they are approved by the board. Kenny  
January 5, 2016

2016 Racing season

Hello Fellow ECSC Racers, What a difference a year makes. A year ago we were fighting snow and ice…. This year we have all been entertained by photos of ECSC boats sailing up until Christmas!!!! Thanks El Nino. We are currently finalizing the ECSC Racing schedule for 2016. A preliminary schedule can be found on our racing website at www.ecsail.org/racing . We will go into more details at our first race meeting of the year. This meeting is scheduled for Wednesday January 13th at 6:40 p.m. Place is TBD (I haven’t had a chance to check if DIVSYS is available because our past commodore has been AWOL in Park City, Utah). Remember these meetings are for any one interested in our racing program, regardless of experience. The 14th through 17th of January is the Annual Strictly Sail Sailboat Show in Chicago. Make your way there if you can, there are lots of great presentations, boats and gear to be had. If you make it to the show, check out the gear at Line Honors Performance Sailing. Tell Bob you know me and he might just give you a special price (an additional 5% mark-up…) Also any of you lucky dogs that get somewhere warm this winter on a sailboat, share a picture to our ECSC facebook page. Sail Fast, Rick  
January 4, 2016

2016 Membership Changes

First of all, Happy New Year to everyone. Since our Last Tell Tales, we welcome another new member to our club - Lane Ely of Indianapolis sailing a Catalina 22. ECSC ends the year with 248 membership. Christy Merriman will be the new Assistant Membership Chairman in 2016. I am looking forward to having her help. Bob Hickok has done a great job the last few years of fielding all inquiries regarding new memberships. He held three New Member Orientation sessions each year, met many new members at the club to show them around, did all the necessary paperwork involved when a new person joins our great club and did a great job in this capacity. Many thanks to Bob for all his hard work as Christy prepares along the same lines. The ECSC Board made a decision at the last meeting to re-core all our locks and issue new keys to all members. So in the packet that you receive in February, you will have a new key marked with a ‘16’. This key will open the front gate, the ice machine and the power washer shed. There will be a place on the annual dues form for you to request any additional keys that you might want to the main gate or to any of the various storage sheds. The annual dues statements will be mailed on 1/20/16. And as always, will be due on the last day of February, which this year is 2/29/16. It’s not too late to let me know if there’s been a change in your mailing address. Please send this information to membership@ecsail.org. Jane
January 3, 2016

2016 Junior Sailing

We are currently putting together plans for the 2016 Junior Sail Camp, which I believe will be the club's 15th annual. Junior Sail Camp is important to the club's future, as it fosters the growth of the love of sailing in many young people each year. That in turn keeps interest in the sport of sailing and creates future ECSC club members. Another important aspect of the camp is to find new potential Junior Sailors for the ECSC Junior Sailing Team. Information on the 2016 camp as well as an enrollment form will be updated on the internet in the coming month and I will provide a link in the next newsletter. I've been around the Junior Program a few years now, and have been very impressed by the growth it promotes in the young people involved. While you may not realize it, these team members put in a lot of time both training and competing across the Midwest, as well as Nationally. Summertime for them is busy, and they represent ECSC well by their placings in the I-LYA regattas, as well as other regattas. Even as I write this, some of the Juniors are down in Florida competing in the Orange Bowl Regatta, while others are here doing their weekly workouts, both in order to stay at the top of their game in preparation for spring. We tend to think of the Junior Program as just kids out racing sailboats, but it is so much more. The program teaches them safety, responsibility, teamwork, dedication, and the rewards of hard work, all valuable lessons for their future. If you know any young person between the ages of 10-18, I highly recommend getting them involved. Be sure to keep track of the ECSC Junior Sailors by following our Facebook page.  
January 2, 2016

2016 Ship’s Store

Ahoy! Welcome to the Ships Store for the 2016 sailing season. As preparations for the upcoming sailing season are being made, I thought it would be timely to share some of the operational information with you. Purpose – To display pride of membership in the Eagle Creek Sailing Club by having wearables and memorable items affixed with our Club Logo and/or name. Operating Season – The season’s operation is from April 1st thru December 31st. Note, this ending date is correct. Even after the sailing season is over, we have quite a few club members who purchase items as Christmas presents for family and friends. Dates/Place/Times – Our main shelter will have a formal display with on duty sales personnel to help you at all regattas and major family events during the sailing season. The actual dates can be found on the club calendar followed by specific details in the monthly Tell Tales. At any other time, orders can be placed by phone or through an email request (no texting). Items can then be picked up at the club based on a mutual agreed on pickup time. The product lineup will be on the club’s website at the beginning of the sailing season. General Information:
  • 30 percent of the yearly ship stores sales are from other sailing clubs racing at our Regattas!
  • As a member of our club, you have reciprocal rights to the Inter-Lake Yachting Association (I-LYA) and US Sailing. Your ECSC membership card gets you into their clubs and a right to belly up to their bars if you desire. Sporting our club apparel during these visits opens you up to some neat nautical conversations!
More information is forthcoming in future Tell Tales. Your Ship Stores Committee chair, Al Wilkins