The Masthead

Volume XXVIII No. 5 - A Publication of the Masthead Cove Yacht Club -September-October 2006

MCYC's July 4th Weekend Cruise

Story & Photos by Marilyn Gerber

And the rockets’ red glare . . .Fireworks over Oyster Bay

Celebrating America's independence - and, for most

people, a nice long weekend - Masthead Cove YC
enjoyed a wonderful cruise to Manhasset Bay.
Beautifully organized (again) this year by Linda and
David Strickler, the MCYC fleet was graciously host-
ed by Knickerbocker Yacht Club in Port Washington.
The sail over on Saturday morning brought warm sun-
shine and wind - although not necessarily in the right
direction. But, that was no problem for ambitious
MCYC sailors, many of whom took advantage of the
The “Kids’ Table”
L to R: Elliot Tuck, Justin Martinolich, Alexandra
Martinolich, Luke Mazzotta, Jessica Martinolich,
Anna Shmulak, Paul Mazzotta, Levi Tuck.
a variety of local eateries in town. All in all, it was
another terrific weekend cruise. Sailor caps off to the

lovely day - and took their time getting to their desti- Stricklers - as well as to all those who participated!
nation - by tacking to make the most of the nice wind.

On Saturday and Sunday some people spent time

lounging on-board boats or at the pool, while others Editor's Note: Be sure to read another interesting
walked into town. The Saturday night dinner at KYC account related to the weekend in this issue -
was delicious and fun and on Sunday we patronized “The Travails of Tiki”.

The kids – plus one Big kid – have fun in the pool.
 From the Helm rience. Everyone had a great time visiting the many
ports of call, including a side trip, via a rented mini-
By Commodore Tom Mazzotta van, to watch Pipin (staring Mickey Dolenz of “The
Monkees” fame) at the historic Goodspeed opera
house.
As I write this column (post-Labor
Day), I'm happy to say that it has
There was little time to rest upon our returnp; final
been quite an eventful sailing sea-
arrangements still needed to be made for The
son to date. We kicked off the “unof-
Masthead Race scheduled for the end of August. This
ficial” start of summer with a very
year we were sponsoring the event to benefit the
successful cruise to Knickerbocker Yacht Club over
Marcincuk Fund for ovarian cancer research at Cold
Independence Day weekend. As many of you know,
Spring Harbor Lab. In spite of the weather, a record
KYC is a favorite venue for our club; their hospitality
23 boats participated in the race, more than 60 peo-
is always impeccable and Port Washington is only a
ple enjoyed the party held at the Bay Club that day,
leisurely day-sail away. Upon our return, we planned
and through the extreme generosity of our members,
to hold the annual raft-up and commissioning party,
friends and local merchants, we raised $5,600 for
however, due to threatening weather, it was not to be
CSHL in the process… not bad!
until the “redo,” just over a week later. In addition to
our traditional spectacle of flying the commodore
Again, the weather was not cooperative over Labor
(yours truly) as a “human burgee,” this year featured
Day weekend which required us to cancel our cruise
a reporter and photographer from Newsday as our
to Milford. However, while this was the last scheduled
guests for the event. Their visit would later produce a
cruise for the year, there is still plenty of great sailing
spectacular cover article dedicated to MCYC in the LI
to be had on the “back nine” of the season. In fact,
Life section of the newspaper!
the Target Rock Fall series starts September 24. Not
to mention the many land events we have planned for
By the end of July we were off on our summer cruis-
this fall. All in all, we still have a lot too look forward
es. The first week set sail for points east on Long
to before the year is out!
Island, with the second week featuring a trip up the
Connecticut River. In spite of the heat wave, I
thought our cruise of the river was a wonderful expe-

AHOY, NEW MEMBERS!

•Eileen & Tom Conneely sail a Catalina 32
named Loose Foot.

•Sailing My-Own, a Westerly Cirrus, is Mary Jane

- “MJ” - Malone.

•Also new to the Club this year are Myrna &

Charles Pitman, who sail Cast Off, a Catalina 27.

•And rounding out this current group of new

members is Wendy Radcliffe-Miller, who has a
36-foot Mariner Sloop named Radcliffe.

MCYC wishes them all a warm

“Welcome Aboard!”
@ Sea, at sea – well, on the Sound.

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 Taking Amenity South Though not a sailboat port - it's more for fishing,
parasailing, high-speed gas-guzzling adventure rides,
by Bob Harrison and toerail tearing dockage conditions - there was
available sustenance for both the boat and the crew.
I was in the company of past MCYC Commodore Dick We docked overnight during the early August heat-
Burton and his boat Amenity, heading south. As you wave and survived by placing a 5k btu air condition-
may know, Dick has purchased a condo in ing unit in the companionway, which made it 79
Georgetown, South degrees inside, while it
Carolina, and moved his was 90 degrees outside!
household there. All that
remained in New York was The following day at noon
his Pearson 323. At one we departed Ocean City
point he considered sell- like popping out of the
ing her, but I don't think seamy side of a modern
that was ever a serious Dickens novel. We needed
consideration. So around showers! Again through
the time of the Club's 4th the night we motor-sailed,
of July cruise to Port tacking upwind to keep the
Washington, Dick asked main full and stabilize the
me if I would join him in boat. After dawn we were at
bringing the boat south. the bottom of the
Chesapeake! A short hop to
My first question was, "Do the Naval Amphibious
you have an Autopilot?" Base at Little Creek,
Having done a few thou- Farewell NY City: Under the Manhattan Bridge Virginia found us at a
sand miles of deliveries, I marina for 75 cents a foot,
have grown to value this piece of equipment as right cheap food and dollar beers at the CPO club (Chief
up there with drinking water! Dick quickly acquired Burton is retired Navy).
a Simrad wp32 and installed it and we were set. We
were joined by Kathy, a third crew member. The boat It was now Friday, August 4th and the party was
was provisioned and we departed City Island on ending. Kathy and I flew back to New York and Dick
Sunday, July 30 at noon. was hanging out for a week awaiting new crew for the
trip down the Intercoastal Waterway to Beaufort,
I had plotted the tides for the best ride through the North Carolina.
city and we were whisked down the East River at 8 to
9 kts, while the traffic on the FDR bathed in its own
bumper-to-bumper exhaust fumes (Ha!) Sometimes,
though rarely, sailing is faster than car travel.

We cleared under the Verrazano Bridge around 3:00

pm, an 8 to 10-kt. breeze came up, the sails were set
and the New York City skyline merged with the haze of
the day. We had decided to go through the night, con-
ditions permitting, and we reached Cape May, New
Jersey approximately 20 hours after leaving New York.

A word of advice for a trip like this: BRING THE BEST

BUG REPELLANT YOU CAN FIND! As the day ren-
dered itself nearly imperceptibly into night, the colors
turned from blue to blueish to red to purple to dark.
Amenity in Ocean City, MD. Note the A.C. unit in the
Sailing is a wonderful opportunity to dissect this
companionway to combat the 100 degree heat
transition sky-wide. Fabulous! But, you must share
all this glory with cockpit flies! Tiny sharks with
wings that eat your legs with electric stings! So yes, Being in MCYC has broadened and brightened my
do bring good bug repellant! sailing life in many ways, not the least of which is the
people I've come to be close with. One of these is our
We took on fuel, water, etc. in Cape May harbor then friend and past Commodore Dick Burton. I was
anchored out until 4am, at which time we puttered happy and personally rewarded to join his crew and
out into the Atlantic Ocean for a six-hour trip to we all wish him well in his new life/adventure!
Ocean City, Maryland.
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 Taking Amenity South – Part 2
by Dick Burton
* A salty, wet dog - Captain Burton on a rainy day.
The morning that my daughter Judith (she prefers
Judi and I call her Jude) and I cast off from the docks
at the Little Creek Naval Base in Norfolk, Virginia,
“Smitty” was there in his dinghy. He wished us a safe
trip and acted as a tug boat, pushing our bow out
against the prevailing wind. So, father and daughter
set off for the eight-day trip to Georgetown, SC, a dis-
tance of more than 400 miles via the Atlantic
Intercoastal Waterway, or ICW as it is commonly
referred to.
My son and my daughter both
used to sail with me years ago
when they were kids. Now Joe is
30, married and living in
Indianapolis, and Judith is 26,
grown, with her on ideas of life.
It has been a while since we
sailed together and even longer
since we spent hours and days
at a time together confined to a
space 32 feet long and about 10
feet wide. But, she was deter-
mined that I was not going to
make this voyage alone and now
that it is over, I must say she
was right. Exiting Deep Creek Lock and entering
the Dismal Swamp Canal
The morning was beautiful. A steady breeze out of
the southwest, gentle seas, clear skies and a fresh-
ness to the morning air that you could smell and feel.
We motored out of the channel and headed to Norfolk
and the start of the ICW, passing Naval ships, sea-
going tugs pushing barges, container ships and,
finally, part of the “mothball fleet” (Navy ships put
out of commission but kept afloat in case they are
ever needed again).
As we passed the first of the mothball ships I did a
double take. It was the LY Spear, a ship I had actu-
ally been aboard when it was commissioned and
brand spanking new back in 1971. “Dad, you look
better than that ship,” commented Judith. “Thanks,
Jude,” I replied. It was pretty sad. Rust dribbling
down the side, multi-colors of gray paint, and com-
pletely deserted, tied to the dock and dying from lack
of use. We passed on with my memories being
replaced by the next channel marker and the need to
concentrate on my course.
For months I had been working on this voyage in my
mind. There were two possible routes to take. One to
the east and more traveled, the other the “Dismal
Swamp,” described in the all the books as the less-trav-
eled route. I now understand why it is the less traveled
route. Needless to say, that is the route we chose.
It was a very narrow, calm waterway, straight as an
arrow to the horizon, lined with trees so that the sky
and the trees formed a reflective pathway meeting at the
horizon. Water looking like tea and tree stumps lying in
wait for my sailboat. Judith was on the bow warning of
hidden dangers just below the surface, while I was at
the helm, trying to
control my blood
pressure.
We pushed on and
made good time,
ending the day at
the North Carolina
Welcome Center,
just four miles from
the lock that would
drop us down eight
feet and send us on
our way.
The next day saw
us up and at the
lock when it opened
and then on to
Elizabeth City, the Albemarle River, the Albemarle
Sound and then the Alligator River. I am sure the
people of North Carolina really love the wildness of
this area, but to me it was really a very unfriendly
place and I had terrible thoughts of engine trouble,
no cell phone signal and no one to receive a distress
call on the radio. But my little Volvo diesel ran like a
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top that day and the next and on and on. There was trash, oil and sewage. Luckily the only thing I did not
a little bit of white smoke trailing us as it has since have was a poster warning everyone on-board not to
the day I bought the boat, but it got us here without dispose of trash overboard within three miles of the
ever a hiccup. coast. So after convincing them I was not a terrorist
but a comrade, having retired from the Navy, they let
So each day became sort of a ritual. I would wake up us proceed, minus Jude's telephone number.
at 6:30 without ever setting an alarm and then wake
Jude. I would start getting things ready and Jude The morning of day eight, we left Little River, SC with
would fix my coffee and make us a breakfast of bagel only 50 miles left. As each mile fell behind, I became
and cream cheese (Oh, we're still sort of New more and more proud of what we had done as a fam-
Yorkers). We would cast off a little after 7am and be ily. Jude and I had not only reacquainted with each
on our way. other, but we had done
something to sort of brag
Lunch was around noon about in the process.
and by dinner we would Together we had experi-
make a new destination. enced and passed through
After Alligator River, we wilderness areas, rough
were in Belhaven, a cute seas, high winds, being a
little town where the mari- little lost at times, a cou-
na gave us a golf cart to go ple of near groundings
into town for supplies. and one hard grounding.
Then Oriental followed by We had learned about
Beaufort (pronounced locks and bridges that
“bow fert”), where we have to open for you. We
decided to push on down had experienced currents
the ICW, rather than go so strong against us at
out to the ocean. High one point we barely made
winds and very rough in through a bridge pass-
seas helped in that deci- ing. Finally, as we passed
sion. The marina at Cruising along the Alligator River under the last bridge, I
Wrightsville Beach topped called ahead to a couple of
the golf cart hospitality by giving us a loaner car for friends who met us at the dock and we all celebrated
the evening. Not as much fun, but by that time we with a little champagne Jude had bought for the
needed to go to a grocery store. occasion.

On leaving Wrightsville Beach we were just cruising
along on a beautiful morning, me at the helm, Jude
down below getting our breakfast when a Coast
Guard RIB (rigid inflatable boat) with about six
guardsmen flew past us. I waved and smiled. The
next thing I know, I am being boarded by them for an
inspection! To Jude it was great fun as she got to flirt
with the cute ones. I, on the other hand, had to sweat
out whether I had all the proper safety equipment,
life jackets, distress flares, whistles, lights, horns,
etc., and whether I was properly disposing of my
As I write, we are expecting Tropical Storm Ernesto
to arrive tomorrow. The boat is all latched down and
hopefully secure, but I am finding out that “swinging
with the flow” down here may not be as easy as I
dreamed of. True it is probably okay for this one, but
when the big ones come along, boats around here
have to run and hide in the nooks and crannies of the
rivers and that may be interesting.
But, for now Amenity is out on the river at anchor,
swinging with the flow.

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 Message From the Editor
There is an expression called the
"80/20 Rule," which I believe can
apply to Masthead Cove Yacht
Club. In our case, I interpret it to
mean that 20 percent of the mem-
bers do 80 percent of the work to
keep the club going. I'm hesitant
to use the word "work" since, after
all, we are a group formed to enjoy leisurely activities
in a pastime we all love. But, somehow those activi-
ties must be planned and executed, including the
one-time events, as well as the overall smooth opera-
tion of the club.
At the risk of leaving someone out - I certainly hope I
don't! - I'd like to publicly acknowledge those people who
go more than an extra mile to make Masthead as won-
derful as it is. The list begins with all of the officers and
board members - what a group! They are: Tom Mazzotta,
Jim Martinolich, Bob Bergsten, Nancy Kinney, Stan
L.I.'s Newest Marine O'Marra, Jack Posner, David Strickler, Charlotte
Berman, Jackie Martin, Ron Laufer, Bob Harrison,
Supply Store Marilyn Posner, Barry Zusman, Linda Strickler, Michael
Gorwits, Ken Lotterhos, Allan Pearlman and John
Off ering: West. Every one of these people does an amazing job of
making sure MCYC is the best it can be.
A full line of Maptech Charts, Chart Kits and
Embassy Guides. Although I don't want to be “politically incorrect,” I'd
Marine Batteries. like to single out a few people from this auspicious
Rope. group as truly being “heroes:” Dave Strickler (for the
Anchors. printing and, recently the layout, of the newsletter, as
Complete Marine Hardware. well as his continuing efforts with the racing pro-
All Orion Safety Products. gram; Linda Strickler (for her tireless, non-stop sup-
Full line of American Hot Dipped Galv. Chain port overall); Jack Posner (for the racing program,
& Hardware. and he and Marilyn for their heart-filled “Day in the
Free samples of Mary-Kate Cleaning Products. Sun” Special Olympics program); and Tom Mazzotta
Epifanes Varnish. (for… everything!). And personally, my thanks go out
B & S Zincs. to Dick Burton, for continuing to do the layout and
And So Much More...... design of The Masthead - from wherever he is! - as
Our prices are competitive with any marine well as to ALL of the MCYC folks who have con-
supply store on Long Island! tributed articles, photos and other items for the
All major credit cards accepted. newsletter. And, on that note, I invite you to enjoy
this month's edition! (Okay, so maybe this is more
than 20 percent.)
Till the next time, sea 'ya… Ed.
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5
 The Travails of TIKI
by Anita Stein
We started out with high expectations on the MCYC
cruise to Knickerbocker Yacht Club for the July 4th
weekend. Saturday was an absolutely beautiful day
to sail to Manhasset Bay. Since the wind was not
always in our favor on the trip over, we decided to
stay out in the Sound and play awhile, following the
wind. It was great!
Once we turned the motor back on, however, and
came into the harbor, Tiki's rpm's started rising and
falling, and the engine slowly died. We were able to
sail part of the way in, and the launch at KYC towed
us the rest of the way to the mooring. Sunday morn-
ing Howie got up and did whatever he could do with
the engine (changed a filter we had on-hand and bled
the system) and ran it for 11⁄2 hours. We thought she
sounded fine, so we took her off the mooring and
started to motor. She didn't even last 10 minutes!
Luckily, we were able to sail back to the pin. Now we
really didn't know what to do. Brewer's and KYC said
there were no mechanics available till after the holi-
day, no club members knew of anything further to
help, so we were really stuck!
Thank goodness for the KYC dockmaster, Will. What
a great guy! He not only hooked us up with a
mechanic who lives on his boat, he took us by dingy
to a dock near West Marine for a primary filter,
because it was too far to walk. After changing the fil-
ter Howie could no longer get any flow to bleed the
system and it was time for a mechanic.
The mechanic, Ralph Miller, came at 6:00 pm on
Sunday and worked on Tiki for nearly two hours,
restoring good flow. He felt there was a blockage, but
could never really identify any specific item causing
the problem. Tiki sounded great, so we were happy to
motor off on Monday toward Oyster Bay.
6
We were unable to sail, so we used the motor the
whole way and everything was fine. We anchored at
Center Island with no problem and started socializ-
ing. A few hours later, as we were all on Strickly Ours,
Howie said to me, “Where's the boat?” I don't know if
that's ever happened to you, but what a fright! We
saw where she had drifted and realized she actually
must have passed right by us!
We jumped in the dinghy and, as we got to Tiki, we
found out she had hit a big trawler. In Howie's excite-
ment, he fell out of the dinghy trying to get on-board!
The people on the trawler said our flag had hit her and
broke off - it sure did! Thankfully, we did not see any
damage. We moved her back and reset the anchor.
After we left the party, Howie wanted to make sure we
were anchored well for the night and put her in reverse.
I was down below and when I came up, we had broken
loose again! We saw an unused mooring ball nearby
and since it was so late, we jumped on it. Fortunately,
we were fine and set out on Tuesday for the raft-up.
Once again, in less than 15 minutes, the rpm's start-
ed to drop and we crawled to an open mooring. Howie
blew out the hoses and bled the system again and
she started up. Right about this time Strickly Ours
came by and saw we needed help. They stayed
behind us, but the motor died again and that's when
they towed us all the way home! We were really glad
it was not good sailing weather or we would have felt
awful that we had them motoring!
When we got into our harbor, we called our launch
operator to tow us the rest of the way to our mooring.
The Stricklers had certainly done enough. The pin
situation would have been really hairy to negotiate!
Fortunately, Howie had already made an appoint-
ment with Bob at Long Island Yacht Service for next
week, so we hope all will be well for our next trip.
All things considered, no one was hurt (other than our
flag and flagpole). It could have been much worse.
Due to the true kindness of others, we were able to
make it home in one piece. Although, it was not exact-
ly how we thought the weekend would turn out!
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 Sailing into Retirement
by John Forbes
After 50 years of toiling, more than 45 of them with
The New York Times, I have abandoned Times Square
and the rigors of photo editing for the “Science” and
the “Escapes” sections. And already I have spent
more time on Bluejacket. The reduction in the anxi-
ety/high-speed level is remarkable, as those who
have been before me well know. I even thought that I
might run out into traffic on Third Avenue in the city,
just to jostle my serenity. I promptly discarded the
idea.
I had a great sail up to Milford, Connecticut on a
recent weekend to visit a sailing chum and his, for
him, new boat, a Cal 33. The wind and tide were fair,
NNW at 8-10, on the way up. Coming back, the tide
turned favorable at the Middle Ground and
Bluejacket and I flew (if that's the word for hitting 7
knots) in on a veering SSE breeze that piped up to 16
knots in the late afternoon.
These are the days I must remember on those sleety
February days when all in the city is gray. Hope to
see you all soon on the water or at the Club mooring,

I have been expanding my weekends to Mondays with

my new-found freedom. As a city guy, spending
weekends aboard has always been a healthy release
from concrete and asphalt. I have discovered that
there is a qualitative difference to the harbor after the
weekend hustle. Sunday I often awake to engine
noises, and happy voices of sailors boarding neigh-
boring boats, getting ready for a day-sail. Mondays,
though, the harbor becomes still, perhaps a clam-
mer's outboard or and occasional great black-backed
gull barking. During our last soggy Monday, the only
sounds below at dawn were creaking mooring lines
as Bluejacket swung in the breeze and the spattering
of rain on the overhead. What a great, new way to
start the week.

8
10
 The Sunshine Corner
by Helene Laufer

“Yes, I will!” Four MCYC families celebrate engagements this summer…

Rose & Phil Averbuch are delighted to announce the engagement of their daughter Stacey to Tony Munoz.

Lauren Strickler, Linda & Dave's daughter, was also recently engaged. The lucky groom-to-be is Ben Yarbrough.

Sandi Shulman, daughter of Bobbie & Larry, was proposed to by Randy Udell. She accepted, of course!

Beverly Smith and Bob Harrison are proud to announce that their daughter Mercedes is engaged to marry Jason Thomas.

More leisure time ahead for me. I officially retired from teaching after 22 years “in” first grade.

Two more girls, to be exact!

Charlotte & Len Berman's daughter, Maggie, and their son-in-law, Richard Ewell, gave birth to baby Sarah
Charlotte, named for Charlotte's father and grandmother. There has been a Margaret and a Charlotte in
every generation of Charlotte's mother's family since 1820!

Vicki & Dave Schwartz are also thrilled about the birth of their first grandchild, Alanna Rebecca Meyer.
The proud parents are Vicki & Dave's daughter Elizabeth and her husband Bob Meyer.

Happy Anniversary - 40 years! - to Karen and Dan Kalina.

MCYC member Rose Huergo recently underwent knee replacement surgery. We understand she is
doing well and hope she continues on the mend quickly.

It is with sadness that we announce that Al Delli Paoli's granddaughter, Jessica Mihok, recently passed away.
Our most sincere condolences go out to Al, Eva and their entire family.

The Masthead
Editor: Marilyn Gerber, Publisher: David Strickler, Photography: Various
Advertising: Allan Pearlman, Mailing: Jim and Loy Norris

E-mail your materials to editor@mastheadcoveyc.org, or call 917.225.2977.

All rights reserved. Published by Masthead Cove Yacht Club, Inc. P.O. Box 433, Huntington, NY 11743. Not for profit.
www.mastheadcoveyc.org

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