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Catalina Fleet 21 - Chicago
Region June 2008
DON’T MISS THIS ONE! If you’re a WGN listener, you know who Lyle Dean is. If you’re an avid traveler, you know what the Great Loop trip is. Attend the General Meeting at the Burnham Park Yacht Club on June 17 and tag along as Lyle Dean recounts his adventures on the Great Loop in his boat Heidi Ho. Lyle’s career in broadcasting spanned more than 50 years, from his hometown in Sterling, Colorado to WLS, WFYR and WGN in Chicago. Prior to retiring from regular news broadcasting in 2006, he worked with such legends as Bob Collins, Wally Phillips, Fred Winston, Larry Lujack, Art Roberts and Clark Weber. He also served as ABC Radio newscaster from Chicago for three years, began the Emergency Closing Center that provides school closing information to Chicago radio and television stations and began what is now the Illinois Radio Network One of his passions is boating. He holds a U.S. Coast Guard Masters license. Over some 40 years, he and his wife, Sharon, and their family have traveled aboard boats ranging from 18 to 50 feet, mostly on Lake Michigan. Currently, they operate the Heidi Ho, a 2003 Sea Ray 500 Sundancer, based in Burnham Harbor. Lyle’s Great Loop trip takes us over 6,000 miles from Chicago to the Illinois River via the Cal-Sag Canal, into the Mississippi River as far as Cairo, IL. Then, a short distance up the Ohio River to the Cumberland River. The Cumberland connects with the Tennessee River at Kentucky Lake. We’ll take the Tennessee to the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway (a canal with locks connecting to the Tombigbee River). The Tombigbee empties into the Gulf of Mexico at Mobile, AL. From there, we will cruise the Gulf of Mexico shores of Alabama and Florida, to Ft. Myers. The Loop continues up the east coast in to the Hudson River to the Erie Barge Canal and into the Great Lakes for the trip back home. Lyle’s presentation will begin at approximately 8:00 p.m. Come early and enjoy dinner at the Yacht Club. Call 312-427-4664 for dinner reservations. There is no General Meeting in July. Our meeting in August is on the 19th and features the cruising adventures of Fleet members Dan and Pat Harrington. A MESSAGE FROM THE COMMODORE One of the things about being commodore two years in a row is that I can always check my computer for the previous year prior to writing my message. Not to make my job easier. Nothing is recycled. Actually, I do it to make sure that I am not recycling. This month though I have to recycle. I can’t help it. I checked June 2007’s entry. Last June I wrote about the selective amnesia that we have as sailors. Selective amnesia is akin to doing the same thing over and over but hoping for a different result. Last year I wrote about putting our boat in the water in April and then not sailing the entire month of May. Last year it was cold weather. This year our boat went in in April. This year it’s tornadoes, flooding and everything else. Oh well, it’s better than not sailing. We all could be doing yard work every weekend. That said, we did get the sailing season started in grand fashion. This year we had about 72 people at the Margarita Party. Ron and Pat Shereyk and Lori and John Lauraitis did a great job of putting the event together. Ted Kuenzli did another fantastic job with the directory. Make sure you get a couple extra copies. Mickey Thompson pulled out all stops as our fund raising chairman. She had some great raffle items and unveiled the 35th anniversary commemorative wine offering. Award winning, smooth drinking with just a hint of oak. This will be available throughout the season at meetings and outings but supplies are limited. Get yourself a bottle or two. It’s for a good cause. Us. Leon Anderson will not make the newsletter this month. All is well. Ted Kuenzli and Nancy Bartlett on the other hand got into the boat delivery business this past May. I understand that they learned the true definition of a sailboat. Read . . . no motor. I heard something about lee shores and following seas but again, you’ll have to ask one of them for the full story. The board, with Lois Bretall in charge, has solidified the outings schedule. The schedule will be in the newsletters throughout the summer and on the website. Pay particular attention to the 35th anniversary outing. It is at Great Lakes Naval base. We must get our applications in ASAP because of security issues. The date is August 2nd so don’t wait until the last minute. The deadline is this month. Just a thought here. There is a METRA train that stops at Great Lakes. You can get an all weekend pass for $5.00. By the time August rolls around that will probably be less than the cost of a gallon of gas. Ray Kalinsky has been doing a great job as our Rigging and Equipment guy. Ray recently reported that he has available a rivet type tool for putting screw anchors in fiberglass or thin aluminum. If you need something like that give him a call That’s about it. The storms a have passed and it’s always cold until August anyway. No excuses. Get out there and sail. Brian OUTINGS Have you been out there sailing yet? It’s time! Our Fleet outings have begun and they generally go on no matter what the weather. If you can’t sail to an event, drive! This month we have a summer solstice sail to New Buffalo on June 20 or 21 (whichever fits your schedule) and a Photo Cruise on June 28. The photo cruise is a fabulous opportunity to get your boat photographed by a professional with the Chicago skyline in the background. (The Photo Cruise will require you to sail there!). In July many Fleet members head for the Michigan Shore and stop at the LMCA Catalina Rendezvous July 11 – 13.
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