The

Great South

Spray

November 2013

A Publication of the

Great South Bay Power Squadron

Boating is Fun…we’ll show you how!

The Great South

Spray

A Publication of

Great South Bay Power Squadron, Inc.

A Unit of the United States Power Squadrons

Chartered 16 May 1941

________________________________________________

Commander Kevin Miller, AP 631-567-4824 47 Manta Ct, Oakdale NY 11769

Executive Officer Alicia Pilek, AP 631-289-5193 12 Virginia Dr, Medford NY 11763

Educational Officer Richard Fogel, JN 631-224-9025 389 Cedar Ave, Islip NY 11751

Secretary Suzanne Mora, P 631-312-2889 48 Twin River Dr, Oakdale NY 1769

Treasurer David Weisberg, JN 631-758-1885 25 Blueberry Ln, E. Patchogue NY 11772

Spray Staff Karen Becker, P: Editor

Becker44@optonline.net Sandra Brown Joseph Milano, AP Patti Morrissey Tom Pilek, AP

Articles, opinions and supporters do not necessarily reflect USPS policy or endorsement unless so designated.

November 2013

Great South Bay Power Squadron

A Message from Commander Kevin Miller, AP

23 November 2013 will be the District 3 Fall Con-ference at the LI Marriott Hotel in Melville. District 3 holds two conferences per year. The Spring Conference is the Annual Meeting with the Dis-trict Change of Watch. The Fall Conference is to show our appreciation to the Education Departments and the service they provide to the USPS mission of Safe Boat-ing and Education. The Flyer for the Conference is in the Spray and on our Web site. Make plans to attend and support our educators. This year there will be two presentations that all members will be interested in. The first will be a presentation and discussion on the New York State’s newly signed Boating Law. The second will be a presentation about RENDEZVOUS EAST and changing the location to Strongs Wa-ter Club and Marina in Mattituck. I want to reiterate to all our members that the Ex-ecutive Committee functions as the Board of Di-rectors for the operation of the squadron. All members are welcome to attend the executive committee meetings. All members can and should contact the member representatives if there are any issues or items that you would like the committee to take up. The following is the list of the current member representatives.

Rich Baierwater, AP, Michael Becker, JN, John Bradley, SN, George Fontaine, AP, George Kravis, AP, Vivian McCourt, P, Helen Nolin, S, John Pergola, AP, Barry Schwartz,AP, Lynn Torre, P,

A Message from the Executive Officer Lt/C Alicia Pilek, AP

Fall is here and it is time to start focusing on the many upcoming events. The Tobay Boat Show was held 26-29 September. Thanks to all that helped to man the booth. Our Treasurer, Dave Weisberg, was there on Fri., P/C Joe Milano, Joan Milano, P/D/C Larry Postel, J/P/C Tom Pilek and I manned the booth on Sun. The District Council Meeting was held on 27 September. Some of the topics discussed in-cluded: -Rendezvous East event had participation from 13 squadrons, with 278 paid and 33 boats. Un-fortunately, there were about 100 less members that attended compared to last year. -Disrtrict is working on the venue for next year’s Rendezvous East, which is scheduled for 2-3 Au-gust 2014 most likely at Strong’s Marina in Matti-tuck. Detailed information will be given at the 23 November Fall Educational Conference. Please see the flyer in the Spray. Hope many of you will make an effort to attend the Educational Confer-ence. -There was 100% participation with the submis-sion of Safety Reports by squadrons. -With respect to the MIRA Awards for member-ship involvement and retention, 10 squadrons submitted the report with Bayside in 1st place and Oyster Bay in 2

nd place.

Continued on Page 5

A Message from the Educational Officer

Lt/C Richard Fogel, JN

TheSeamanship class at Brookwood Hall taught by P/D/C Angelo Giovanniello, SN was taking its exam at the time of this writing. I received very positive feedback from the students who enjoyed the course and were enthusiastic, reading two chapters per week.

At the time you are receiving this Spray, an Ad-vanced Piloting class should be running in East Islip, Brookwood Hall, on Thursday nights, 7:30-9:30.That class is taught by Lt. James F. Milton, A.P. The class commenced 7 November, with 10 students registered at the time of this writing.

I was contacted by the Long Island Yacht Club who, unbeknownst to me, advertised that the USPS courses will be taught there. I greatly ap-preciated the club taking the initiative and seeing the wisdom that offering USPS courses are a “win-win” situation for the club, as well as, the GSB Squadron. At the time of this writing, we were in the process of scheduling at least one ABC course.

I have not heard from any members requesting specific courses since the last Spray went out. I only heard from one member, Suzanne Mora, who was actively encouraging other members, as well as her non-member contacts, to organize a group to take USPS courses/seminars. Member-ship in the squadron, along with the Squadron’s budget, are greatly affected by education. This is a 200 plus member squadron with an impressive breadth of knowledge, experience and contacts in boating on Long Island. If the members are not willing to encourage education for others and pursue further education for themselves, than I will have a quiet tenure as Educational Officer.

Continued on Page 5

A Message from the Administrative Officer

Our Holiday Party will be at Villa Lombardi’s in Holbrook on Friday, 6 December from 7:30 to 12:00. Please mark your calendar. The flyer is in the Spray and posted on the web site. We are having a Band at the party. The plans for the West Point / Bear Mountain bus trip was a great success with 53 members at-tending. The weather cooperated and the trip was interesting and very educational. A fun-filled day was had by all. Lt. Denise Miller had to step down as Chairper-son of the Membership Involvement Committee. Lt/C Suzanne Mora has volunteered to take the position for the remainder of the year. Please reach out to Suzanne to offer your help and sup-port. We have almost 50 new members this year and would like to get them involved.

Cdr. Kevin Miller, AP

All About Boating Safety

P/C Joseph Barrato, AP

The season is over for most of us. It’s time to think about cold weather activities and put our boating on the back burner. As I write this, however, two sinkings of vessels took place in the last two days. One happened in our own back yard, when two clammers took off from East Islip, but never made it to their destination. The boat started to take on water west of the Robert Moses Bridge and sank pretty quickly. They lost everything but their life jackets and a lighter and managed to paddle to an island near the bridge. Despite being very close to land, it took all night for the Marine Bureau to find them because of fog. They lit a fire and that is what called attention to them. Would the outcome have been different had they not had their life jackets on? Most assuredly! Good move on their part; they can live to tell about it. Also, they had a very good float plan, their Mom, who alerted authorities when they were overdue. Another fishing vessel sank very quickly in Gardiners Bay in rough waters with three aboard. This time the people aboard did not don life jackets until they were told to by the Coast Guard. A boat is sinking beneath you and you do not put a life jacket on? “What were they thinking”? They were very lucky as they were able to walk off the sinking vessel on to a rescue boat without even entering the water. Three more lucky guys. I guess we can gather from these incidents that boats do sink, no matter what size. Now is the time, while our boats are on land, to start peeking down in the bilges to look for any signs of deterioration, etc. Make sure your bilge pumps and float switches are working properly. Pay close attention to your shaft log clamps if your boat is an inboard and your hull seal if it is inboard/outboard. I have stressed before that a failure in any one of these places can send you to the bottom very fast. Many years ago, a work ac-quaintance of mine, used to go to Old Inlet, (yes, the one that breached), because he liked the solitude.

Continued from Executive Officer’s message -Merit Marks are due to District by 15 November. Hope you have submitted your recommendations to our M/M Chairman P/C Larry McCourt. -The incoming Bridge Orientation Meeting is scheduled for 24 January 2014. Details to follow. -The National Meeting will be held on 29 January to 1 February 2014 in Jacksonville. -Council Meeting scheduled for Friday, 21 Febru-ary 2014. Important dates to remember: GSB C.O.W. meeting on 28 February 2014 with dinner dance on Saturday, 8 March 2014 Spring Conference & C.O.W. 14-15 March 2014 at the Melville Marriott

Seems like a lot of dates to keep in mind so soon; but, these dates will be here before we know it! Look forward to seeing you at these upcoming events. Continued from Boating Safety message One day, upon arriving, he noticed that the boat was listing and not acting properly. When he lifted the hatches, all he saw was water. Panic set in because there was no one to turn to for help. He reached down trying to find the leak and found that his shaft log clamps had snapped and the whole unit pulled out from the hull. Wa-ter was gushing in at a fast rate. He had all he could do to push it back on and then limp home, but not until he spent the weekend there. Now that is an example of a true boater. I want to wish all a Happy Thanksgiving, enjoy the season.

Boating Safety is Skill, Knowledge and Common Sense

Continued from Educational Officer’s message

Most of you are aware that I work full time as an attorney running my own practice and I am also an adjunct professor teaching business law at Nassau Community College. I am pleased to do my job organizing courses and seminars that members and non-members desire to take. How-ever, I cannot also be a marketer and sales per-son. It is impossible for any one person to “knock on doors” and contact local boating clubs and other organizations that would likely be inter-ested in courses. This Squadron is all of ours and it is our responsibility as USPS members to advocate boating education. Courses will not happen without your active efforts.

On the boating front, the “skinny water” problem in Great South Bay continues to show signs of worsening. I came across very shallow water, less than 4 feet of water, in late September by the Babylon Town dock as I was traversing well known waters to the nearby fuel dock. I have used that fuel dock, which also has a pump out, regularly for the past decade and have never ex-perienced depth issues. This confirms what we all know: we have to be constantly vigilant about depth on the Bay, more so now than ever, even when travelling across familiar waters where there has never been a problem. On a trip the same weekend to Watch Hill, I touched bottom several times in the channel and had extremely shallow water all the way from the Marina to the first channel buoy on the bay. It was not dead low tide at the time. I passed a much smaller ex-press cruiser that was soft aground not fifteen feet from me right on the edge, but still inside, the channel. My advice is to avoid the Watch Hill channel unless it is high tide.

2012 Award-Winning

Newsletter for 37

It's All In A Name "Brina"

The first thought I had when I first saw Paul and Joann DiGiulio's boat was, I cannot believe how many people stay on board, it must be huge. Certainly it is very unique, a boat of which I have never seen before. They got into boating through friends and eventually would learn on their own by renting boats in Freeport while on vacation. The first boat they owned for 20 years, "Family Jewel", was a 20 foot Grady White Dolphin with a cuddy cabin and "potty" for the kids, and they loved it. Joann was not involved in the decision making on this venture. After all the years they owned and maintained "Family Jewel", Paul put it up for sale to make room for a larger family boat. The boat was kept so well that it was sold on a trailer with no sea trial. Paul sold the boat for what he paid for it. The hunt was on for a new boat, 28-32 foot vessels were considered and soon discarded, opting for in-creased size. Joann's only requirement was that the boat again have a head and shelter for the kids. There was no negotiation on these is-sues. They saw "the next boat". It was a beautifully decorated 1978 Pacemaker. Excitement was high. Deposits were left, friends were shown and the survey was performed. It did not go well. Paul said, "No". Needless to say, Joann was extremely disap-pointed. So now we get to the current "Brina". Again, I see the owners, their children, grandchildren and friends all coming and going on this boat and no one is named Brina, and there is no possible acronym to be made for any of their names. Paul and Joann now came upon the unique 35 foot Concord. She was the "Queen of the New York Boat Show" of 1970. The original owners were 52 years old when they purchased her brand new. Now at 82 they were reluctantly giving up their boating life. The boat was kept lovingly for 30 years in a heated boat house. What a surprise when touring the boat, the oven was still in the original plastic and never used. Paul found "Brina" on his own and brought Joann to see her as he knew this would be THE BOAT.

The former owner was named Blanch, and she had always gone by the name Brina, for which the Con-cord was named.

When Paul and Joann purchased "Brina", they had no where to keep her. The original owners offered to keep her and the keys in their boat house with the stipulation that they would be in-vited to tag along whenever they took her out on the water; a very generous offer, but a new dock space was found very quickly. When pulling away, the former owners were at the dock in a tearful goodbye. Blanch was so up-set that Paul promised her that he would not change the name of the boat she loved. This made parting a little easier. So today you will still see "Brina" on the transom giving it a true testament to the new owners' char-acter. After all, Paul said, "a promise is a prom-ise." Please contact me, I would love to include your stories in the next issues.

Gail

Gail J. Cino 631-581-5368

gjcino@hotmail.com

Welcome Aboard Brian Ferruggiari

34 Wagstaff Ln, West Islip, NY 11795 Tel # 631-587-5243, Cell # 516-381-8433

Spouse: Luisa Boat Name: Wine Down

Boat LOA 32 E-mail: briferr@optonline.net

Richard C. Keller 323 Old Willets Path, Smithtown, NY 11787

Tel # 631-445-9089 Spouse: Maryellen

Boat Name: Journey Boat LOA 34

E-mail: parkavelaundry@aol.com

Peter Sikinger Michelle Sikinger

44 Twin River Dr., Oakdale, NY 11769 Tel # 917-842-5028 (Correction)

Spouse: Michelle E-mail: petsik@optonline.net

FOR SALE

1990 BAHA Cruisers Family Express 290

Original Owner, Meticulously Maintained ¯

Twin-350 Volvo-Duo Props ¯

Radar Arch, Full Canvas, Windless, Battery Charger, VHF ¯

Dockside Power, AC / Heat ¯

Sleeps 5, Mid Cabin, V-Birth, Dinette, Stereo, TV, Head, Stove Top, Microwave, Refrigerator, Hot Water Heater, Transom Shower

Contact Charles Homan 631-258-7741

FOR SALE

2000 22’ Wellcraft Walkaround (purchased 2005)

¯

200hp Mercury Outboard 99 gal. gas tank 8’4” Beam

¯ Garmin 4200 Series Large Screen Chartplotter\GPS

(purchased 2007) ¯

New Canvas (installed October 2012)

631-289-5193 avpilek@AOL.com

FOR SALE One Set of 2 Propellers

One set of 19.5 x 19

with a bore of 1.375" or (1 3/8")

3 - Blade Dyna - Jet Propellers

NiBrAl Bronze – Used - Just Reconditioned

Asking: $800 for set

Call Dave @ 631-278-1012

2013 Fall Picnic, Atlantique Pictures by Tom Pilek, AP

\\

2013 FALL PICNIC, ATLANTIQUE Pictures by Tom Pilek, AP

2013 FALL PICNIC, ATLANTIQUE Pictures by Tom Pilek, AP

CALENDAR 2013 – 2014

2013 VSC Examiners

Carolynn Cairo Frank DeMayo Mike Dowgiallo Joe Gagliano Angelo Giovaniello Luann Kazanecki Larry Postel Irv Smyle Rich Torre Scott Krawchuk

631-581-4066 516-993-5228 631-921-5270 631-232-9378 631-661-5318 631-581-2290 631-981-0273 631-587-5965 516-731-6124 631-697-4277

happytrails@verizon.net fdemayo1@aol.com singulpa@aol.com zeppo53@optonline.net descon@att.com lukaz@aol.com lawpos@optonline.net seanote99@aol.com sawhorse66@verizon.net scottkraw1@verizon.net

Ray Albanese, Richard Baierwalter,

Nancy Baierwalter, Joan Barrato,

Robert Brown, Peter Cichanowicz,

Charles Cino, Debra Dallas

Victoria Danseglio, Debbie DellAccio

Rosemarie Garone, Laura Gill

Diane Hess, Patricia Hushin

Janice Jijina, Louis Merz

Edmund Neale, Diana Parisi

John Pergola, Sheila Personelli

Gerry Russo, Joseph Russo

Dennis Schmidt, John Sinacore

Richard Turner

And Best Wishes to all our

November Birthdays

The Ship’s Store will be at the

General Meeting at Rusy-Bohm on

22 November.

I will be there at 7:30 for your shop-

ping convenience.

There is no Ship’s Store in Decem-

ber. Therefore, you must order/

purchase items for your holiday gift

giving at the November meeting.

Suggestions: Jackets, shirts, hats,

decals, burgees, towels, laundry bags,

license plate frames, etc.

Any questions, please feel free to

contact me.

Thanks again for supporting

the Ship’s Store.

~Joni Milano

Joan Milano

Supply Officer 72winner@optonline.net

631.587.7421