THE CAT TALES: MARCH 1997CHESAPEAKE CATALINA YACHT CLUB View from the BridgeMark Eller, CommodoreWell, the weather is starting to take a turn for the better, and I have detected those telltale sounds of buffers and other power tools emanating from the boatyard. Yes indeed, the 1997 boating season is closing-in on us, and I hope that everyone is as excited about it as I am. We are planning the kickoff for our season with the annual flag raising brunch at the Bay Ridge Inn in Annapolis on the 12th of April.I have asked Pat Vojtech to speak to our group for this event. Pat is a contributing editor to the Chesapeake Bay Magazine, as well as the Cruising Guide to the Chesapeake Bay. She has also written several books about the Bay, including one about Skipjacks and another about the lighthouses of the Chesapeake. Pat and her husband have done extensive cruising aboard their Hunter 34 in the Chesapeake and in New England waters. I think that everyone will enjoy her words; I look forward to seeing all of you there. Please RSVP to me as soon as possible, as I have to give a total head count to the Bay Ridge Inn by the 8th of April. Additionally, we have a minimum requirement of 30 persons.
My phone number is (301) 858-1325. Please RSVP as soon as possible. Hope to see you all there! Mark, Miss TressFebruary Winter MeetingOn Friday, February 21st, Donald C. Greenman, Esquire, joined the CCYC at the Fleet Reserve Club to talk about admiralty law and how it applies to small craft owners. Don Greenman was graduated from the Coast Guard Academy in 1960, followed by three years at sea on ocean station patrol in the North Atlantic and two years in Merchant Marine Safety in Los Angeles. Following those years at sea, he attended the University of Virginia's Law School, graduating in 1968. Since then, he has practiced maritime law from his office in Baltimore.Mr. Greenman is a member of the Maritime Law Association of the United States, and currently serves on the Board of Directors. He is also the Chair of the Committee on Limitation of Liability, as well as being a member on several other committees, including the Recreation Boating Committee. Mr. Greenman is the Editor of American Maritime Cases, an international reporter of admiralty cases, publishing 12 monthly editions of more than 300 pages each. Don was joined by his associate, Allen Black, who is also a recently retired graduate of the Coast Guard Academy and now an attorney specializing in maritime law. Both are particularly sensitive to the legal responsibilities of sail boat owners, both being sailboat owners; Don has an "antiquated Columbia T26," and Allen a Catalina 30 (!). Don talked about: Admiralty law - This applies in situations occurring on navigable waters in which potential commerce is involved. Because admiralty law has developed to serve the special needs and circumstances of maritime cases, the law is different from the more familiar state law. In the US, admiralty jurisdiction governs almost all maritime legal cases; from dinghies to supertankers. As a result, a lawsuit arising from a boat collision will be dramatically different from one arising from a car accident. Contracts involving boats may also be covered by admiralty law, including slip rentals, boat repairs, boat mortgages and dry storage. Also, product liability issues associated with your boat would be covered. Unique factors of maritime law - Federal courts have jurisdiction over admiralty matters, allowing every case to be tried in a federal court, regardless of the amount of money involved. Cases can be tried in State courts, but federal admiralty law must take precedence. This can be important because of how each court deals with "recovery" based on degree of negligence. Jones Act Seaman - A particularly interesting topic to all of us there was the Federal Jones Act, which provides remedies to a "seaman" who is injured in the course of employment on a vessel. Don cited several cases in which volunteer crew members who were hurt on a boat were awarded damages, even though there had been no compensation. Duties of owner to guests/crew, etc. - Don also talked about the liability of guests, crew and passengers, providing us with a number of examples in which boat owners were deemed to be liable for injuries occurring to individuals who had "assumed the risk" of being on the boat. Though procedures that identify risks to volunteers may provide owners some liability protection, his advise was for us all to have ample liability coverage.
Salvage - The issue of boat "salvage" led to a lively discussion. Don explained that to salvage a boat three factors must be present and only in these circumstances could someone seek salvage payments.:
Wayne Savage, Vice CommodoreBLUE WATER SAILINGFor our March 21st meeting at the Fleet Reserve Club, we will have a double hitter. John Griffiths will lead off with slides and discussion about blue water sailing, its joys and pitfalls, and how to get ready for it. He will be joined by me to talk about a proposed CCYC blue water event - around the Delmarva.John Griffiths is a very experienced blue water sailor, with more than 20 voyages of over 1,000 miles each. He served as captain on all but two of those voyages, on vessels ranging from 3 to 140 tons. Four of the voyages were Atlantic Ocean crossings. John is currently a yacht surveyor and consultant specializing in damage claims, condition and valuation, and purchase surveys. He has also owned a boat building firm which provided custom boat building, repair and custom yacht joinery for all phases of construction, fiberglass, electrical and mechanical. He also managed Prospect Reef in Tortolla, which included constructing and operating the harbor, sailing school and charter fleet. John's boat experience began in 1950 and continues today. He has participated in numerous boat-buildings and major repair projects in Spain, West Indies, and the US, including a complete rebuild of a 1925 Winslow yawl and rebuild of a late 19th century Cornish fishing vessel. He also completed the finishing of the 50' cutter, FD 12 Brendan's Isle, from a bare hull, and as an English boat builder, surveyed pleasure vessels. After John has gotten us all excited about longer voyage sailing and the coming sailing season, I will introduce (re-introduce for some of the longer time members) the proposal to have a CCYC sailing event that circumnavigates the Delmarva. This would be an opportunity to experience a relatively short nonstop cruise with an offshore leg. The idea is to put together two boats and crews and sail nonstop from Annapolis north on the Chesapeake, through the C&D canal, down the Delaware Bay and into the Atlantic; continuing in the ocean to the mouth of the Chesapeake and back up the Bay to Annapolis. This trip is about 200 miles, with the leg from Lewes, Delaware to Cape Charles offshore. We would sail together and practice the things common to an offshore trip. I would provide my Gulfstar 43 and we would need at least one other boat. Each boat would have a crew of 4 to 6. The trip takes about 4 days and we would probably leave on a Thursday in May or June. Don’t miss this meeting, it’s shaping up to be a most entertaining and instructive evening!
Gerry HeldorferKent Narrows and not-so-ShallowsThe uptight, white-knuckle experience of threading your way through the shallow, shoaling Kent Island Narrows is about to end.A new channel has been dredged and should be marked and buoyed by early April. The new channel extends from green "23" in a straight northerly line. The 2,500-foot-long channel is 60 ft wide and has an official MLW depth of 7 ft. The buoys marking the old channel will be removed as soon as the temporary buoys marking the new channel are in place.
Catalina RendezvousBackyard Boats and G. Winters Sailing Center are hosting a rendezvous of Catalina and Morgan owners July 18-20, 1997 at Harborview Marina, Baltimore Inner Harbor.Friday, July 18th Registration followed by BBQ, cocktail hour and "Sinful Dessert" contest. Saturday, July 19th Seminars, demonstrations and discussions. Cocktails, dinner and dancing. This year's theme is Island Luau, with a "Most Obnoxious Aloha Shirt" contest. Sunday, July 20th Sunday morning continental breakfast. For information and early registration ($65/person prior to March 30th, $75/person after the 30th), call G. Winters Sailing Center, Riverside, NJ at 609-461-3555 or Backyard Boats, Annapolis, MD at 888-292-6287. Membership Information on the InternetAs most of you know, the Club has a World Wide Web page, created and maintained by Paul Payne. Since this site is available world-wide, the membership list is not posted. For members' convenience, the list is included periodically in the newsletter. What most of you may not realize, an edited version of the newsletter is available through the web site. The membership list is not included but the articles do include members' and their boats' names. If you do not wish to have this information included in the web version of the newsletter, let me know. As I re-format the newsletter anyway, it is easy for me to edit the contents.
Mike Davis, Editor | ||||||