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From the Commander
Cdr William (Billy) H. Lynes, AP

On behalf of the entire Charleston Power Squadron a heartfelt congratulations is extended to our Secretary and Executive Officer on the birth of their daughter.

It's hard to believe that our squadron year is about half over. I am very proud of all the positive accomplishments of the Charleston Power Squadron to date. There are so many areas of involvement for a squadron and it's members that at first look it would seem overwhelming. This is where the squadron membership have proved themselves up to the task at every turn. Our public service and educational efforts require dedication and professionalism that our members easily meet. Our social and recreational efforts are always entertaining and fun thanks to members making it happen. Thanks to so many members working together in so many areas of our squadron's operation it all seems to happen effortlessly. I know these accomplishments do not happen effortlessly and I cannot praise all who contribute enough. With so many members sharing the load I know the remainder of the year will be even more successful than the first half. Now is the time for members to start thinking about which areas they can help the squadron with next year. There's a job for every member and a member for every job.

EDUCATIONAL OFFICER
Lt/C Steve Rawe, N

Charles F. Chapman was one of the founding members of USPS. In 1913 as the associate editor of Motor Boating magazine, he generated national interest for the formation of power squadrons within several prominent yacht clubs. This publicity was instrumental in the formation of USPS

By 1946, he had served in every capacity in our organization including Chief Commander. It is for him that the prestigious Educational Award for Excellence is named. Dick Finn, AP is our 2001 squadron nominee for this award. The Engine Maintenance course as taught by Dick is our most popular and highly subscribed squadron elective course and he has the highest percentage of squadron members who successfully complete his course.

For the year 2000, 11 members enrolled in his course. Ten members took the final examination and all successfully completed the course. Dick has taught this course for the last 14 years. He exemplifies the qualifications and character that are prerequisites for this award.

Congratulations to John Milton, Tracy Harler, and Mike Harler for successfully completing Bob Lovinger's Cruise Planning course. Wendy Walsh, Allison Ryan, and Sylvia Owen have completed both the closed and open book exams for Advanced Piloting. Mike Page has completed the closed book exam while Bob Dorsey and David Coleman have completed the open book exam. Glenn Workman has had another successful AP class.

EDUCATIONAL COURSES----------------------FALL SESSION 2001

Monday 10 September 2001 1900

Course Instructor

Piloting (P) Harry Gindhart, SN
Engine Maintenance EM) Richard Finn, AP
Junior Navigation (JN) Ed Kridler, SN

Tuesday 11 September 2001 1900

Weather (W) Steve Brueske
Instructor Qualification (IQ) Peggy Bauer, AP
Seamanship (S) Mike King, AP
Advanced Piloting (AP) Ken Beeber, SN
Navigation (N) Steve Rawe, SN

The initial organizing courses on 10 and 11 September will start at 1830
(6:30pm) at squadron headquarters. The start time for the remainder of the
year will be 1900 (7:00pm).

EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Lt/C  J. Stephen Yeomans, P

Now announcing the newest potential member of the Charleston Power Squadron! Caitlyn Charlotte Yeomans was born Friday, 11 May 2001, at 1:31 p.m.; she was 20½" long and weighed 6 lbs. 13 oz. She is a bundle of energy, quite an angel (not that I'm biased or anything), and waiting to meet everyone!!

If anyone is interested in Vessel Safety Checks, whether needing an inspection of your boat, or if you're interested in becoming a VSC Officer, please contact me at (843) 869-7808 or stevejy@aol.com, or P/C Tony Ward, AP at (843) 881-8465 or knotless@juno.com for more information. This is a great opportunity for the squadron to get out into the community more than it already is! Please contact us with any questions you may have!

ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER  
 Lt/C  Vince Lombardo, P

Thank you to everyone who came out to the "Strawberry Feast" membership meeting. We had fifty people at headquarters on May 10th who appeared to have a great time enjoying all the fine desserts that were brought and not worry about calories.

Thank you to Charlie Sneed of The Spirit of South Carolina Tall Ship Project who gave an informative and entertaining talk about that project including line drawings of the ship and some tall ship history.

Thank you to Jane Orenstein for her ideas and involvement as meetings chairperson. Check out Jane's article and I believe you will see another example of her ideas for variety in our meetings.

For those of you who were not able to attend the Commander's Cruise to Lake Moultrie, I'm sorry you missed a great time. Five boats and twelve persons eventually made it up to the lake and we had a good time talking about the trip and spending time together at Sandy Beach. By the way, the directions were great Billy. Lorvin was the first boat to the beach and by following the directions in the Palmetto Log beached directly on the sand at the right place. The "resident osprey" wasn't home at the time of arrival, but the nest was within fifty feet of our course line and she did show up later. Loretta, our son and I spent Friday night tied up to the pier at the Dock Restaurant then proceeded through the lock at Pinopolis to Short Stay for gas and provisions on Saturday morning.

After spending the day until late afternoon at Sandy Beach, we proceeded down the lake where we met Margie and Frankie aboard "Yes God". Short Stay welcomed both boats and crews at about 1530 and provided good transient space next to each other, very close to the store and gas pier. After good conversation and tasty food prepared on board, all enjoyed a comfortable night of rest for the trip home. Cleared the lock at 1110 on Sunday morning and after a relaxed passage all arrived at home ports by late afternoon. Thank you to all that made the trip.

By the way - for those interested, the trip is about forty miles from Charleston Harbor to Short Stay. The Cooper River spends a lot of time curving back on itself, but the markers are there and the water is good the entire way.

As a result of experiences by some on the Commander's Cruise the reminder lesson for today is: Don't release your dock lines until you have started your engine and know you have maneuvering power.

On a final note - we are looking at the idea of starting a volunteer list. The main list we need is people who are willing to work on the setup and cleanup for dinner meetings. The clean up is not normally any problem, many people pitch in without being asked. The setup is something we need to work on. Those tables are HEAVY. It would be nice if we had more than two persons to work on this. This involves being at headquarters at about 1800 in order to get the tables up, table cloths in place, chairs in place, the bar set up and the other number of small tasks that take time but are necessary for a successful meeting. This doesn't mean the same people every meeting. I see this as a means of member involvement in squadron functions and that is important. When people get to work together, they get to know each other and all gain a greater satisfaction from the end result. PLEASE contact Jane Orenstein (821-0233) or me (572-9127) if you are willing to assist in this. It would be nice if we had enough willing people to use different people each month and share the load.

Finally - On Saturday, 12 May, There was a Vessel Safety Check blitz. Scotty Jeter and I joined Bob Orenstein and three other USCGA volunteers at Charleston City Marina about 1000 and checked vessels there and at Ashley Marina next door. Many people were very happy to see us there and were excited about the program. Some even went to the ship store in the marina during the inspection to buy what they needed to ensure they would get a decal. We met some very interesting people including the Bill and Connie of New York who own the sixty foot sailboat that lost a crewman at the jetties in Charleston and Serge Claire, a former Charleston Power Squadron member who now sails a 48 foot Symbols, motor yacht out of Florida. Serge asked us to say hello to Fred Wichmann for him, so - Hello, Fred. We had a good time meeting new people and doing THIRTY inspections all together. The word is spreading about this program and more people are becoming interested in having the VSC decal on their boat. More importantly, people are learning about USPS and USCGA involvement in boater safety and, as a result, safer boats and boaters are on the water.

It's been a fun, productive month. I'm looking forward to seeing you all at the nest meeting.

GOOD HEALTH AND SMOOTH SAILING - VINCE

Fourteen squadron members braved the morning sunshine and soft breezes on 10 March 2001 to search for geodetic marks in the West Ashley and Johns Island areas. We divided into four teams and with compass, GPS, shovel, and measuring tape, set out to successfully recover 17 marks. By "recover", we mean to have located and examined survey disks placed over the years by the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, the National Geodetic Survey, and the South Carolina Geodetic Survey.

The recoveries have been transmitted to the National Geodetic Survey by a new online reporting system that came on stream 1 April 2001. USPS 77-4 forms have been prepared for submission to our District Cooperative Charting Chairman, our own D/Lt/C Vince Lombardo, S, so that the squadron and individual members will receive proper credit for the recoveries.

Special thanks to the squadron members who took part in the recovery outing: P/D/C Kenneth Beeber, SN, P/D/C Robert A. Gissell, SN, Lt Michael S. King, AP, Joan King, AP, D/Lt/C J. Vincent Lombardo, S, Robert J. Lovinger, Sophie L. Lovinger, Cdr William H. Lynes, AP, William Marinko, P, Lt Corrin Marinko, JN, P/D/Lt/C Kathryn Page, S, Sarah H. Shiner, S, and David E. Walsh.

P/C Frederick Wichmann, AP, also recovered marks that are placed close by his home.

The cooperative charting outing scheduled in conjunction with the Beaufort Cruise over Memorial Day weekend was cancelled. Other activities on the Beaufort waterfront conflicted with the Charleston squadron's plans. Plans are still in place for a fall 2001 CoCh charting event covering part of the area assigned to our squadron under the Adopt-a-Chart program. Since the fall event will be a dedicated monthly cruise, we can expect a large number of boats and participants. More details will be forthcoming regarding the November event. The weather should be cool and comfortable by then.

Participants will take bottom soundings and verify the position of objects on charts of the Charleston harbor area. Those without boats will be assigned to help on the boats participating in the charting efforts.

If you are aware of new or recently closed marine facilities, please call me at 762-7576 or email me at pagej@citadel.edu. Reports of changes in facilities are important to the USPS-NOAA cooperative program. Changes in such facilities, primarily marinas and boat ramps, will be investigated and reported for the safety and convenience of the recreational boater. The report form is provided by the USPS national office in Raleigh and is available to anyone wishing to use it by calling Vince Lombardo or me.

Tentative plans for November include a rendezvous following the charting work at a convenient location. An oyster roast or a fish fry in the late afternoon will give everyone a chance to swap stories and enjoy a festive get together to celebrate charting successes.

This month we have two items that should be of concern to our members:

Federal Blood Alcohol Standard -- The Coast Guard is revising the Federal Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) standard under which a recreational vessel operator would be considered operating while "intoxicated." For recreational vessel operators, the final rule lowers the current Federal BAC threshold from .10 BAC to .08 BAC effective 11 May 2001. This change is appropriate because boating accident statistics show that alcohol use remains a significant cause of recreational boating deaths and because the Coast Guard supports a trend in State recreational boating laws toward the .08 BAC standard. Further, the revised Federal BAC standard does not supercede or preempt any enacted State BAC standard. Additionally, the final rule replaces the term "intoxicated" with the phrase "under the influence of alcohol or a dangerous drug." This change brings the regulations into conformance with current statutory language. The final rule is expected to reduce the number of recreational boating deaths and injuries resulting from accidents caused by operators under the influence of alcohol or a dangerous drug. Coast Guard behavioral standards and related field sobriety tests remain unchanged.

PFDs and Children: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking -- The Coast Guard proposes to require that children aboard recreational vessels wear personal flotation devices (PFDs), or lifejackets. During 1995-1998, 105 children under 13 died in the water, 66 of them by drowning. This proposed rule childpfd.htm is intended to reduce the number of children who drown because they are not wearing lifejackets. The Federal requirement would apply to children under 13 years of age, except when they are below decks or in an enclosed structure. The Federal requirement would adopt the applicable age of children set by a State statute within that State. The comment period closes on 29 August 2001. Identify your comments and related material by the docket number for this rulemaking [USCG-2000-8589]. Submit your comments only once:

* By mail to the Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of Transportation, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
* By hand-delivery to room PL-401 on the Plaza level of the Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone number is 202-366-9329.
* By fax to the Docket Management Facility at 202-493-2251.
* Electronically through the Internet Site for the Docket Management System http://dms.dot.gov/ or the Coast Guard's Boating Safety website.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Be sure to visit the new site of
COMMANDER BOB'S BOATING SAFETY NOTEBOOK
http://www.commanderbob.com/

The United States Power Squadrons in collaboration with the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary is sponsoring a National Vessel Safety Check day on June 2nd. All West Marine Stores and all Boat US stores except four will provide space, advertising and promotion such as flyers and safety items discounts to the general public.

The "Hello all Stations" is a call to all USPS and Coast Guard Auxiliary Vessel Examiners for their help in coordinating the manning of all participating locations with Vessel Examiners. Vessel Examiners already work with many yacht clubs, marinas and use boat ramps around the country. This is also included. We have over 1,000 VEs in USPS and over 8,000 in the Auxiliary for a total work force of 9,000! All Safety Checks with the date of June 2nd will be used to determine the success of this day.

Our Goal is to increase the public awareness of this fantastic program. Helping to save lives is a great bonus! More details will be forthcoming in the Ensign and various other forms of communication. Thank you for your support of the Vessel Safety Check Program!

P/D/C Luis Ojeda, JN, USPS National Chair VSC

The Spring 2001 Governing Board met in Denver 19-22 April. The meeting itself was held on 21 April, with the days preceding the meeting full of other committee meetings, good food, companionship, and even a few libations (but not too many).

The Governing Board meeting dealt with many issues, but the over-riding issue concerned finances. There were several items brought up by the Educational Department which will be mentioned later, and which are important to the squadrons of USPS.

The GB gave two ad hoc committees full committee status. These were the Squadron Development Committee and the Vessel Safety Check Committee. Each of these committees will be under the Executive Department.

The GB voted for a dues increase. The amounts of the increased dues are nominal, but the increase will do much to solidify the finances of USPS. Annual increases are $6.00 for Active Members, $3.00 for Additional Active Members, and $1.50 for Adult Family Members.

The GB approved a revised set of On-The-Water Guidelines. These guidelines were developed on the basis of USPS insurance coverages, and affect all of our on-the-water activities and programs, especially those involving non-members of USPS. There are also provisions for insurance coverages of a member using his vessel for squadron activities and a rented or chartered vessel. A copy of the policy will be given to Cdr Lynes.

There is going to be a reorganization of the EdDept. The details will be discussed at the Fall GB Meeting, and will go into effect at the 2002 Annual Meeting. Some closely related committees will be combined, and there may be some committees that will be headed by a Rear Commander with two Staff Commanders reporting to the R/C. The department will also do away with division chairs. Departmental committees will report directly to the National Educational Officer and the Assistant National Educational Officer. This will remove one layer of management within the department. Other departments are expected to be reorganized also. A part of these reorganizations is for spending reduction.

The GB set prices to be charged to the squadrons for educational materials. All course materials will have an increased cost to the squadrons. Another policy that will be changed is the supplying of instructor materials to the squadrons at no cost. Some squadrons were taking advantage of this policy by ordering a large number of the free instructor sets, and never placing orders for student materials.

USPS will no longer tell squadrons the price that must be charged for manuals for Boat Smart or the Squadron Boating Course. Boat Smart manuals will be sold to the squadrons at $15.00, and the Squadron Boating Course manuals will be sold to the squadrons at $20.00. Instructor manuals for these courses will continue to be shipped with the student manuals at no cost to the squadrons. USPS has set suggested retail prices for student materials for these courses; Boat Smart at $30.00, and the Squadron Boating Course at $35.00. However, it is up to the Executive Committee of each squadron to independently determine and establish its own retail prices for these materials for its own market area. The suggested retail price is not binding on any squadron.

The USPS Educational Fund has given a grant to the EdDept covering the cost of Instructor Qualification course materials and examinations, including shipping and handling costs, for all USPS members. Orders for materials for eligible non-USPS members must be kept separate from orders for members. Student materials for non-members will have a $25.00 charge and instructor materials for non-member courses will have a cost of $12.00 per set. We can now advertise the IQ course as the best deal available for our members of any of our in-house courses.

Our first change of pace was very well received, and we thank you for your support! The strawberry desserts were delicious, and I know you extracted all the calories before arriving at the clubhouse!

The June meeting, at Headquarters, will represent our first attempt at having a caterer and also a change of the usual operation. We cannot plan a meeting such as this without reservations. The meal will be provided by Po' Pigs from Edisto Island - and if you've never eaten at "the gas station on the island" you're in for a big treat! This is real food, folks! The menu will be varied and will include pork, chicken, sweet potatoes baked with sliced lemon, the best cole slaw you'll ever have, beans baked with ginger, etc. So bring your appetites and $15 per person (gone are the days when you can find a good catered meal for less!). But, you MUST call 843-821-0233 by Sun. June 10 to reserve a seat. If you get the answering service, feel free to leave a message with your name, phone number and number attending. (And, as you can appreciate, once you've reserved, if you don't attend, we'll have to ask that you pay.)

The program for June will be a talk by David Loring of Mount Pleasant. David was a member of the Olympic sailing team and will share his experiences with us. He is a lively speaker, and we're confident you'll enjoy listening to him.

A peek ahead - the July meeting will be a salad buffet with the type assigned by last initial. Details in the next issue...

FRED SAYS!

Thank you, everyone, for the successful yard sale. To all of you who donated items, to all of you who got up at the "crack of dawn", and all of you that helped with the clean-up - a HUGE THANK YOU. Thank you, Cindy, for taking the "left-overs" to Habitat so that they can be used to help with their programs. We made $395.60 for the Squadron that will greatly help our budget. Again, thanks to all!!!