VOLUME 56 February 2004 NUMBER 11

Thanks, again, to everyone who came to celebrate at November’s Change of Watch Ceremony. Even more so, thanks to those who shared the holiday spirit at the Squadron’s Holiday Party.  Jenkins Orphanage is very appreciative of all of the gifts given to the teens and young adults in their care.  Thank y’all so much!

Steve and I are in Orlando as I write this article soaking in all of the knowledge, information, camaraderie, and fellowship that were presented at the National Meeting.  It has been an experience that will be repeated in the future!  Thank you to P/C Vic Schwartz, P/D/C Marge Schulte, P/Lt/C Cindy Kridler, P/R/C Ed Kridler, and P/C Steve Yeomans for helping to represent Charleston along with Associate Members P/D/C Jim & D/Lt/C Carol McVey.  I also express my deep appreciation to Steve, Ed, Cindy, Jim, & Carol for “showing me the ropes”.

Some of the highlights of National:

• There were a total of 30,006 Vessel Safety Checks completed in 2003!

• Golden Corner Lakes ranked 1^st in the top five squadrons of USPS as having the highest percentage of its membership participating in the VSC Program.

• The representative from the National Safe Boating Campaign announced that the information kit would arrive by the end of March - please start thinking of different ways to celebrate National Safe Boating Week in May and then please let us know how we can help!

• There is a “healthy” push for increasing interest in helping with the USPS National Endowment Fund.  Please keep it in mind when completing estate planning, etc…

• For the first time, all 33 districts made the National Safety Honor Roll!  Let’s strive to help achieve that again…

• Congratulations to Lake Murray Squadron for recognition of its students’ successful completion of each course during the previous year!

• District 26 Squadrons took six awards in the Teaching Aids Exhibit:  Electronic Teaching Aids 2^nd Hilton Head, 3^rd Lake Murray; Marine Electronics 1^st Savannah River; Navigation 2^nd Charleston; Piloting 1^st Lake Murray; Sail 3^rd Charleston.  All winning entries will be displayed on the USPS website in the Educational Department’s Teaching Aids link.  Please visit the site to see the winning exhibits!

• An incentive to work towards for the Chapman Award for Excellence in Teaching: Besides a nice sextant, the instructor now receives a card with a 4-yr term as a Certified Instructor.

• Discounts are now available for USPS members in good standing for NobleTech (25%) as well as for Dell (10% on all hard & software).  Information is available on the USPS website.

• There are now three (3) more Charter Squadrons within USPS: Sebastian Inlet, Aroostook Valley, and Columbia Bend.  Congratulations!!

• D/26’s Hospitality Suite was great; Betty Rakes and her team did a great job with the Ice Cream Social Friday evening!

• Make certain to attend the First Timers Social even if it isn’t your first time for one-on-one time to speak with various representatives and leaders within USPS.  My special thanks to Roberta Dougherty, Bruce Troth, P/C/C Ted Smith, and C/C Johnson who made me feel welcome there!

• Make double certain to attend the Social given by District 33 out of Puerto Rico; it was a wonderful time had by all!!  They were gracious hosts making certain no one was empty-handed or standing by himself or herself.

• Watching the Change of Watch Ceremony inducting C/C Leslie Johnson, SN, and the “Roast” of “Charter Chief / M & M” P/C/C Ted Smith, SN, was a great way to top off Saturday’s Meeting!

• C/C Johnson’s address centered upon the following points:  a large push for Public Boating Safety Classes; resolving USPS’ cash flow problem; making meetings more time-efficient to have more social time where everyone (him included) can sit back, relax, and talk with each other; a reminder to attend the 19-23 May 2004 USPS Governing Board in Pittsburgh PA - Please do keep it in mind!

We’ll see y’all at the 12 February membership meeting, and then - “Lord willin’ and the creek do rise” - at the Cape Romain Lighthouse outside of McClellanville on Saturday, 14 February.

Please, everyone, think of what you will help out with on this upcoming year’s committees and activities.  The squadron has many openings in many different departments that still need filling.  If you don’t know what you want to do, take a peek at the Squadron Job Descriptions that the Bridge Officers have - that should help with decisions, also.

Everyone who is interested in participating in a Saturday course on First Aid and CPR, please contact me.  It will take place during the winter months of this upcoming year; the course will be all day with a lunch provided.  I truly need to know if there is an interest within the membership before scheduling this event to please let me know.  Thank you!

Fore any more information on anything mentioned in this article, or anything else, please feel free to contact me at (843) 875-0510, or at cfyedisto@aol.com.  Thanks and see y’all soon!!

Cat
 

Great news! We have the results from the Seamanship & the Engine Maintenance courses. Ed Dyckman and Orion Hall successfully completed the Seamanship course taught by Mike King.  Chuck Altschul, Grady Barnwell, & Bob Gulbrandsen successfully completed the Engine Maintenance course taught by Dave Walsh & Ken Beeber.  Don’t forget that spring courses start the week of 16 Feb.  Come on out & take a course.  They are really worth it. 

Let me tell you a little story about something that happened today.  Janice and I are on a month long trip to Florida.  Needless to say, my newest super duper computerized navigation system quit the second day out.  No Problem - dig out the paper charts.  So now we have been navigating with paper charts for 3 days or so.  We cross the St Mary’s river in search of someplace where the wireless service is good enough for me to write this article using my super duper hi tech Internet access system  - which has been on the fritz for the last 3 days because Verizon doesn’t have any service in southeastern Georgia. 

Anyhow, we read the chart and determine that we are supposed to turn off the river at marker 28 (quick quiz:  what color is 28).  We make the turn and notice that the buoy has an Intra-coastal Waterway symbol on it.  Great - that is just what I wanted to see.  Turn to starboard and proceed up the channel.  We spot marker 2 that makes sense since we are coming off the river and the numbering on the ICW was starting over.  Problem is we are having trouble finding the next marker.  As we go flying by (another quick quiz:  how fast does No Sense go?) I notice that there is no ICW symbol on the marker.  Ok, stop the boat to sort this out.  Start back to marker 28 with the intention of going down river to check the next markers for ICW symbols.  While we are doing that, another boat that made the same turn we did radioed an outbound boat and asked where the ICW was.  Turns out that the main channel had been renumbered starting at marker 28 and now the turn for the ICW was a marker 23 (which is what color?).  Once we got that far, the rest, as they say, was history.

So what the point here?  There are actually several.  First, the Squadron has drilled into my head that you always need to have paper charts so when your super duper electronic navigation system dies, you can still navigate.  So we had paper charts.  Second, if you do understand or don’t like what you see, stop, backtrack and sort out the navigation.  This was drilled into my little brain by instructors like Mike King, John Van Way, Glenn Workman, & Ken Beeber.  We did, however, make one mistake.  We did not check the Local Notice To Mariners before we left.  We were going to rely on our super duper electronic system, so unless they moved the river, who cared.  Besides, if we needed to, we could always check NLM’s on the Internet using our super duper wireless system.  Finally, it has also been drilled into my brain that things never go wrong one at a time, they go wrong in bunches.  Here’s proof.  Oh well, no new holes in the boat - so it was a good day. 

After that rousing speech I hope I convinced you to take a course.  We have published the schedule with this edition of the Palmetto Log.  If you want to sign up, just send me an email at skromer@tariffs.com (of course unless my super duper wireless internet system is working I can’t read your email or reply) or call me at 843-906-5631 and tell me which course you want to take.

Steve

Executive Committee Meeting
Thursday, 1 January 2004

Lt/C Mike Paige called the meeting to order at 1940 at the Headquarters Building at 1376 Orange Grove Road, Charleston S.C. Those in attendance were: Lt/C Mike Paige, Lt Wendy Walsh, Lt David Walsh and Lt/C Robert Gulbrandsen. A quorum was not established, therefore the members dismissed and the meeting did not continue.

Those in attendance adjourned at 1945.
 

January Chinese Auction

Much fun was had by all who attended the January Membership Meeting/Chinese Auction.  We had around 25 donated items, and we want to thank all that brought something for the raffle.  Lucky (???) Billy Lynes won back just about everything he had donated.  The auction raised almost $150 for the squadron kitty.

Upcoming Membership Meetings

On February 12, 2004, Paul Yura of NOAA will be our featured guest.  Paul has given seminars to our squadron previously, and he is always an interesting and informative speaker.  The meeting will be held at headquarters on Orange Grove Road, and we will start the social hour at 1830.  Please bring something for our potluck dinner, and the cost will be $5 per person.

I am trying to arrange a speaker from the Charleston Pilot’s Association for our March membership meeting on the 11^th of the month.  Since we’ll be saving our dollars for the April meeting (more information to follow), we will again meet at headquarters and have a potluck supper with a per person cost at the door of $5.

I am thrilled to tell you that Claiborne Young will be coming to Charleston to speak to the Squadron members on Thursday, April 8.  Claiborne hasn’t picked his topic yet, but no matter what his subject, he always presents a wonderful and enjoyable program.  This dinner meeting will be held at Sticky Fingers on Main Street (Route 17A) in Summerville.  The cost will be around $20 per person.  As we get closer to April, I’ll finalize the details and give directions to the restaurant.  Let’s all come out and make this a very successful night! 

And remember that we’ll be trying something different for May’s meeting.  We will be combining the monthly membership meeting with one of our weekend cruise rendezvous.  Whether you come by car or boat, please try to attend.   We’ll be meeting for lunch somewhere in the Charleston area and if anyone has any suggestions on a restaurant that would be appropriate, please let me know. 

New Members
 

Please welcome Leah Henly to our squadron as she is now an “official” member.  Many of you already know Leah, who is a frequent volunteer at our meetings and events.

Terry Moore also became a member in January.  Terry recently passed BoatSmart, and he has a 14-foot powerboat.

Janice
 

Ahoy!  We are going to try and add to the squadron income by offering advertising space in The Palmetto Log.  Editor Nelson Hicks and I have been putting together the details of how to make this work. We think we can now roll this project out and see what happens. The Palmetto Log is offering two layout sizes. The first will be a business card size advertisement at a one-year donation cost of $50.00. The second will be a 3-inch by 3-inch display at the annual donation cost of $100.00. We will be talking to local marine oriented business as to their interest in our offer. If as a member you have an interest in placing an advertisement, or know of someone that would be interested. Please contact me Bob Gulbrandsen or Nelson Hicks and we will be happy to fill you in on details and get your ad started. These advertisements do not have to be marine oriented; just anything you might want to get the word out about. The Palmetto Log is distributed to about 250 readers each month, with eleven issues per year. So come on, give us a hand, lets make this work. Proceeds from the advertisements will go into the squadron fund for future project like a new roof for the Headquarters Building. 

The next project being addressed by the Secretaries office is the annual Member Directory. I’m happy to announce that the 2004 Directory is on track and should be in printing by the time of this issue of The Palmetto Log. New features to look for in the 2004 Directory will be the “Squadron History” as told by P/C Fred Wichmann. Also added will be the squadron committees to better assist you our members in locating who to contact on questions in their areas. And not to be forgotten is the 2004 Cruise Schedule provided by Lt David Walsh. Things that have been removed are the “email list” and “Boat Name list” as these items have been included in the members listing information. I hope everyone will enjoy the new Directory, and find it a helpful tool to stay connected to your squadron. 

This printing of the Directory is now a done deal, but if as a member you have ideas on something else that should be included, or corrections to this issue. Please feel free to contact me at Morningstar804@msn.com.  I’m open to your ideas. If there is something you feel would be helpful to the membership, I can run with it and see if it can be used in the 2005 Directory.

Cooper River Open

The Cooper River is now open for transit between the Don Holt I-526 Bridge and the entrance of Back River near Bushy Park.

Boaters must maintain a 100-yard clearance of all naval vessels (or as much as the river width safely allows).  No anchoring, loitering, mooring or fishing is allowed within this zone.  Vessels must proceed at normal speed and no photography of any kind is allowed during the transit of this area.

Boaters must also follow the instructions of any on-scene Navy, Coast Guard or law enforcement patrol boats.

Vince Lombardo
 

NEW STUDY PINPOINTS CAUSES OF BOAT FIRES
July Issue of Seaworthy Magazine Reports Findings

As the boating season gets into full swing, a new study released by BoatU.S. Marine Insurance indicates that the leading causes of fires aboard vessels are AC & DC wiring problems, engine and transmission overheating, and fuel leaks.

"Unlike a house fire, boaters generally have no where to go but in the water once a fire breaks out, so understanding how fires start, and what can be done to prevent them, is even more important," said Chuck Fort, Seaworthy associate editor.  The study, which analyzed hundreds of fire claim files over two years and focused on fires originating aboard vessels (marina fires excluded) is highlighted in the July issue of the BoatU.S. publication, Seaworthy, the nation's only damage avoidance magazine for boat owners and the marine insurance industry.

Leading the pack, "AC & DC wiring/appliances" accounted for a whopping 55% of fires. The report further detailed the electrical sources into subcategories such as DC shorts/wiring (30%), DC engine regulator (12%), shore power (4%) and other causes. "Wire chafe is the biggest problem we see," adds Fort. "Electrical fires can also re-ignite even after an extinguisher has been emptied, so it's also important to have a main battery switch and/or AC breaker to stop the ignition source."

The number 2 cause, "engine/transmission overheating," had 24% of the claims. Obstructed intake or exhaust cooling water passages are the main cause for hose or impeller meltdowns, which lead to overheating. Keeping these clear, especially exhaust manifolds and risers, as well as regular replacement of pump impellers, would have prevented most of these fires.

"Fuel leaks, " the number 3 cause, came in with 8% of claims. Typical problem areas are fuel lines, fuel connections on the engine itself, and leaking tanks.
 

February Membership Meeting
Paul Yura from NOAA

On 12 February 2004, Paul Yura of NOAA will be our featured guest.  Paul has given seminars to our squadron previously, and he is always an interesting and informative speaker.  The meeting will be held at headquarters on Orange Grove Road, and we will start the social hour at 1830.  Please bring something for our potluck dinner, and the cost will be $5 per person.
 

27 MARCH 2004

All around the Lowcountry are bronze disks set in concrete by the National Geodetic Survey and it predecessor organizations, such as the National Coast and Geodetic Survey.  These monuments provide horizontal and vertical reference marks for surveyors to use in determining exact locations for construction, research, and defense uses.  In cooperation with the NGS, we find the location of geodetic markers and verify that they are in good condition, or destroyed, or simply “not found”. 

The Charleston Power Squadron has scheduled a Geodetic Marker Recovery Outing in conjunction with the annual Hornick Cruise at Buzzard’s Roost Marina that will be held this year on Saturday, 27 March.  Teams will be formed and assigned areas to survey for geodetic marks in the area nearby the marina.  Call Mike Page at 324-8049 for more information or to sign up for this entertaining Squadron effort.  We will start out at 0930 from Buzzard’s Roost and should be finished by 1100 in time for other Squadron activities.

Maps showing the locations of marks to be located and detailed data sheets giving specific directions will be given to each team.  Each team will need a measuring tape at least 100 feet long and a hand held compass.  If at all possible, each team will also have a GPS to help locate the marks and to record the GPS position for comparison purposes.  Teams will be provided with probes that come in handy for finding marks that may have been buried over time.

This is an important opportunity to participate in a relatively little known facet of Power Squadron membership.  Our reports will count toward individual and Squadron credit in the USPS®-NOAA Cooperative charting program.

Mike Page
 

14 February 2004

Earlier information about the Annual Cape Romain Cruise included the pertinent information, except we should be leaving Jeremy Creek at Jimmy Leland's Marina at about 9 or at least two hours before high tide. This is important for us to arrive at the site of the old dock about one hour before high water, giving us an hour to explore the sights, climb the tower, and get back out of there as the tide begins to fall. All these details are very carefully designed to make better mariners of us all and limit our experiences with groundings since we have all earned post-graduate courses in that subject, especially your olde Cruise Captain.

Trusting that there will be, as always, those stout hearted small boat owners on hand, it is the unadulterated pleasure of the Captain to invite all and sundry to enjoy a memorable voyage on the restored 42’ Grand Banks trawler, DISTANT ISLE, we will be traveling on this year. We should have room for about thirty on board and everyone is welcome aboard provided they salute the Captain.

Upon our safe return from this nefarious voyage, the Village Museum has invited our entire crew for a tour. For those of us who have not had the pleasure of viewing this remarkable collection, we are very fortunate to have this great opportunity and we should all be happy to support such enterprises.

Later we will repair to the infamous Crab Pot Restaurant, where genial hostess, Laura McClellan, has promised not to serve us any of those ancient oysters her late great uncle picked out of the olde Captain's leg some seventy years ago. Again our faithful resourceful members will come thru the fray providing land transportation to those poor boat people who will have no other means to travel to the Crab Pot. Hopefully Ellis Thomas may favor us with one of his famous concerts, since he has been absent for so long, 

Cruise Captain Fearless Fred - 556-2l00
 

No Sense - Janice & Steve Kromer