volume iii / issue 1 january/february 2005 - home - … · climbing in the rig is another...
TRANSCRIPT
VOLUME III / ISSUE 1 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2005
The One if by Land...
...the One if by Sea.
Bianchi Honda8430 Peach St.
868-9678www.BianchiHonda.com
We take pride in the uniqueness andinnovations of our new state-of the-artfacility which enables us to do so muchmore for our customers. This is justpart of our commitment to excellencethat has made us the #1 customer service satisfaction dealer in our 5 state114 dealership zone since 1997.
We are also proud of our 35 year association with the EYC and it’s membership.
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NTSCrewing Niagara ................................. 4
EYC Major Facelift .................................... 6
Long Point Cottages .................................12
Escape to the West ....................................18
Terrorism and the C.I.A. ......................... 24
Tenth Annual Octoberfest ..................................... 8
Basin-Dock Improvement ................................... 10
PD13 “Port Dover Style” .................................... 14
Year of the Perch .................................................. 22
Geocaching ........................................................... 28
From the BridgeCommodore Richard Vicary
Created, Designed & Published by J.G. Ashby Advertising, Inc.
Happy New Year to all! First and foremost, I would like to thank
everyone for their support and ceaselessefforts on improving our club overall. AsCommodore, my main goal will be to workon the basin and docks, period. The mem-bership has expressed their concerns and Iam going to stay focused and dedicated tothis mission. We have formed an EYC basinand dock study committee, which hasalready started to study/analyze and makerecommendations to the board. The areas wewill be concentrating on are as follows:Bulkheads, Fixed Docks, Floating Docks,Dredging, Dock Standardization, Finance, andPublic Relations. This group is very devoted
and willing to work hard to propel this projectforward. I feel very strongly that we will beable to start work in the fall of 2005. This willbe a very extensive task that will need manydifficult issues addressed. I am extremelyconfident that our Chairperson, Gib Loeseland the entire team will produce the finestbasin and docks in the Great Lakes. Trulysomething we can all be very proud of.
On a final note, the clubhouse will be goingthrough major renovations after the first of theyear, and I hope that all the members will beunderstanding and cooperative with the staffduring this period. I thank you in advance foryour patience.
On the Cover...The beauty of Niagaraunder full sail capturedby the late Bob Lowry,Niagara’s official photographer. Courtesyof Pat Claxton Collection.
OfficersCommodore Richard Vicary ............... [email protected]
Vice Commodore James Means ..... [email protected]
Rear Commodore John Murosky .. [email protected]
Fleet Captain David Arthurs ......... [email protected]
DirectorsP/C Andrew Hanks ............................ [email protected]
James Edgett ............................. [email protected]
David Penman ............................ [email protected]
Edward Schuler ........................... [email protected]
Richard Nagle .............................. [email protected]
Bob McGee .................................. [email protected]
Gerry Urbaniak ............................ [email protected]
Log StaffP/C John Ashby............................. [email protected]
Irene Boyles ................................. [email protected]
Jan Stachelek................................ 459-6991 [email protected]
Sandy Will ................................... [email protected]
Sue Parry.................................... [email protected]
Judy Emling ................................ [email protected]
Toni Sample .......................... 864/[email protected]
Alex Webster ............................... [email protected]
P/C Pat Geary ............................. [email protected]
Jill Robertson ............................... [email protected]
Kitty Ferrari ................................ [email protected]
Club House ......................... 453-4931Fuel Dock/Guard House..... 456-9914EYC Web: www.erieyachtclub.org
Club House Fax .................. 453-6182Canoe House ...................... 453-6368E-mail: [email protected]
Directory
EYC Catering: Mary Tarbrake 453-4931 or [email protected]
Proud as a peacock Pat Claxton learned howto make a rope finder under the guidance ofArthur “Skipper” Kimberly.
Training ship for the Danish Merchant Marineand past Captain of the Schooner Ernestinaand the Barque Elissa; Bos’n Brian Donnelly,who had long served on the BrigantineRomance with Sailmaker Arthur Kimberly,owner and Captain of the BrigantineRomance, with which he had circumnavigat-ed the world no less than five times.
Due largely to the efforts of Mark Wells, wewere very fortunate to find these four men atliberty. All four knew each other and hadsailed together in the past. All, except
Much has been written about the history, theresurrection and the subsequent reconstruc-tion of Commodore Perry’s alternateFlagship, US Brig NIAGARA. Very little, how-ever, has been committed to paper onCaptain Rybka’s struggle to, in a very shorttime, create from scratch the crew capable ofhandling the Brig in the circumstances need-ed to carry out her mission.
NIAGARA started construction in 1988 underthe direction of Melbourne Smith and her hullwas completed that summer. Some delayoccurred over contracts to rig her but this wasfinally completed in 1990, and Melbournesailed her on her maiden voyage in lateAugust, brought her home and put her to bed.
It became apparent that little planning hadbeen done as to what to do with her after hercompletion, but there now began a search fora suitable Captain and Officers. Severalmembers of the Niagara League, Mark Wells,Robert Kneib, Roy Strausbaugh, and GeorgeDeutsch, to name a few, set to work with thePennsylvania Historical and MuseumCommission (PHMC) to rectify the situation.
After much discussion, and several inter-views, they located and were able to hire:Captain Walter Rybka, ex-Master of theBarque Elissa, out of Galveston, Texas; ChiefMate Dan Moreland, ex-Bos’n of the Danmark,
Donnelly, were qualified Captains in theirown right. Walter Rybka was selected to beCaptain and the others proved eager to servewith him.
In the beginning these men were the onlyones with any knowledge of handling squarerigged ships. These gentlemen, (and I usethis term loosely) were faced with the task ofrecruiting and training a crew of volunteerswhose collective square rigger experiencewas exactly zero.
The first job, of course was the recruiting ofvolunteers and here, the Niagara League wasable to provide publicity and advertising. Theresponse was quite remarkable. We gotrecruits from all over the area and from manywalks of life. Dentists, lawyers, electricians,carpenters, doctors and students to namejust a few.
A square rigged ship is a very complicatedmachine, run by the wind and requires theconcentrated efforts of about forty people tomake it go. Naturally, the crew’s efforts aredirected by the Officers, but it helps a lot ifthe ship’s people have some idea of what’sexpected of them. Solution? Training.
Captain Rybka’s answer: For almost theentire summer of 1991 we remained tied tothe dock while we learned to climb the rig,loose, set and furl the sails, brace the yards,
by Pat ClaxtonCrewing NiagaraSix crew members are learning to furl the”foretopsail”.
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go through the motions of tacking and wear-ing the ship all under the keen eye of CaptainRybka, the acid tongue of Dan Moreland andBrian Donnelly and the kindly correction ofArthur Kimberly, (affectionately known as“Skipper”).
Apart from the business of learning the loca-tion and function of the dozens, nay hun-dreds, of lines, (learning the ropes), the mostdemanding part of the work is learning towork as a team. There is almost nothing ondeck that can be done by a single person.Most lines require anywhere from 2 to 10people to handle them and require a coordi-nated effort. One person takes charge, callsthe time and the others follow his lead.Climbing in the rig is another challenge.Safety is all important. We wear safety beltsat all times and “clip in” whenever possible.
I personally will never forget the look on mywife’s face when she dropped in to see whatwe were up to and found me hanging overthe topsail yard, attempting, with about 8other people, to unfurl the topsail.It sounds like a frustrating and wearing expe-
rience, but actually was very interesting andexciting. For my own part, I had sailed mostof my life in modern boats and thought myselfsomewhat skilled, only to find that in a squarerigger I knew absolutely nothing, and the restof the crew were even worse off than I.
To complicate the case, NIAGARA in thebeginning had no engines. When the Captainfinally decided (reluctantly, I think) that wecould be relied on for a day sail, we stillrequired the services of a tug to get in and outof dock. That, in itself is a story as the con-tracted tug arrived in Erie a day late to the dis-
Niagara lying in old berth during sail drills.
As the crew scrambles up the “ratlines” tofinish the various furling of the squares on theyards.
This shows various stages of furled sails during the crews training exercise.
appointment and frustration of the many citi-zens waiting to see her first sail and to thegreat relief of Captain Rybka who knew theweather was too bad to trust to a green crew.At any rate, the tug showed up, we went sail-
ing, proved adequate but not spectacular, andwere able to keep our commitment to be inPut-in-Bay for the Sept. 10th Anniversary of theBattle of Lake Erie. The trip was a tremen-dous success. Thousands of people visitedthe ship, and the crew had a great time. A finereward for all the hard work.
I should add that when the State Authoritiessaw the bill for the services of the tug it didn’ttake long to decide that NIAGARA neededengines. They were installed in dry dock inCleveland that winter and the good news isthat we got a much better engine installationthan had been originally planned. A pair of200 HP Caterpillars that give us a speed underpower of 9 knots in calm weather.
Since then NIAGARA has been to the EastCoast of the US, visited Philadelphia,Washington, Baltimore, Norfolk, New York,Halifax, to name a few cities, has cruised all ofthe Great Lakes, and has enjoyed an increas-ingly professional crew.
The Ship’s sailing program has been verysuccessful and is the envy of many other his-torical ships. It’s due to the wise direction ofCaptain Rybka and to the dedicated efforts ofthe original Officers and the green crew theybullied and trained.
That first summer, when NIAGARA’s firstcrew was recruited and trained, remains oneof the most interesting and rewarding experi-ences of my life.
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Major Facelift...the Grille room, the Bar & the Lobby
by Ross Rectenwald
ing the Grille Room and the hallway and wall shelves to accommo-date the existing ship models. Additionalwindows will be added to the north andwest exterior walls to enhance the viewsfrom the Bar and Grille Room and addnatural light to the Lounge area.
The second change you will see is theelimination of the Coat Room and theaddition of a new Food and BeverageManager’s office and a renovatedWaitress Station. This will allow a newentry from the Hall at the east end of theGrille Room. The Hall will be renovatedto accommodate additional coat hangingspace as well as a new communicationcenter, with a phone for local calls and acomputer with internet service availableto members and visitors of the Club.The Lower Grille Room will also be ren-
ovated, replacing the stair hand rails withcable rail and replacing the existing wait-ress station. All renovated areas of theClub will receive new carpeting, newwood wainscoting with vinyl wallcover-ing above and new acoustical tile ceil-ings with wood dropped soffits. The newsoffits in the Grille Room will accommo-date all of the existing burgees and theability to add future burgees. Most of theexisting charts, models and artwork isintended to be reused in new locationsthroughout the Club.
Because Odyssey Builders, Inc. has
This past Spring, the EYC Board made adecision to renovate the Grille Room andBar Area of the Club. At that time I hadseveral meetings with the house com-mittee and management to discuss themultiple revisions they wanted to maketo upgrade this area of the Club.
The first major change you will seeupon completion of the project is theelimination of the liquor storage roomand the relocation of the bar from its current location to a north/south orienta-tion along the west end of the GrilleRoom. The Liquor Storage area is beingmoved to the basement below the barand construction is currently underwayat this time. The bar will be moved adjacent to the north wall allowing aserving window to be added so drinkscan be dispensed directly to the deck. Anew expanded bar and bar equipment,including a five-tap draft beer tower andnew coolers, cabinetry and three servingstations, will be included in the project,as well as a dumbwaiter, designed andfabricated by John Murosky, that willallow liquor to be brought up from thebasement directly to the bar. There willbe four additional seats at the bar, aswell as four high top tables in the Loungearea that will be replacing the old liquorstorage room. Also in this area will be anew gas fireplace, two new see-thruaquariums installed in the wall separat-
Construction materials are currentlybeing ordered and shipped to the site toexpedite the construction process andassure there are no delays in having theClub ready for re-opening by Easterweekend. During the construction peri-od, the existing bar will be relocated tothe east end of the Banquet Room fortemporary use by members until the newrenovation is completed. All of this workwill enhance the efficient functioning ofthe Club, the aesthetic ambiencethroughout the Club and project a newimage of the Club to our guests andpotential future members of the ErieYacht Club.
been able to bring the renovation projectin under budget, some additional itemswere added to the scope of the originalproject. New ceiling mounted televisionswill supplement the relocated largescreen television and a sound systemwith CD and satellite radio capabilitiesare being included in the project. Alsoadded to the project is the renovation ofthe main entry lobby. The work in thelobby will include new carpeting with acustom EYC Logo inlaid in the center ofthe room, new vinyl wallcovering andnew acoustical tile ceiling.All of the work, with the exception of the
basement liquor storage room which isnow under construction, is scheduled tobegin on 31 January 2005 with comple-tion targeted for 25 March 2005. Althoughthis is a very aggressive schedule for con-struction, it will be accomplished by all ofthe careful planning that has been pro-vided by the EYC Board, the house com-mittee, the architect and the contractorover the past several months.
This view is from the Northwest corner of Grillroom under where the big screen television is currently.
The new location of the bar will be in theNorthwest corner of the room.
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This view is from the Northeast corner from the top of the stairs of the upper grillroom looking West.
View of the new South wall where the old bar storage room was located. Area now features newfireplace, area for ship models, two aquariums and hightop tables and stools.
continued on page 18
The Erie Yacht Club held a special meetingof regular members on September 14, 2004 atRainbow Gardens for the purpose of voting ona proposal to install a swimming pool at theClub.
Commodore Andy Hanks called the meetingof 401 members in attendance to order at7:30pm. The meeting lasted about two hours.Vice Commodore Vicary described in detailthe proposed project. Members were giventhree minutes each to address the group withtheir position regarding the pool project.When the ballots were counted the pool pro-ject failed, falling short of the 268 votesrequired for approval by 110 votes....239against, 158 in favor.
Commodore Hanks thanked all in atten-dance for their interest. It should be notedthat although the swimming pool proposalwas solidly defeated the pool committee itselfshould still be commended for their hardwork in developing the proposal.
EYC Swimming PoolVoted Down
by P/C John Ashby
WANTEDCelebrity
BartendersEYC MMembers, wwe nneed yyou tto volunteer tto bbecome CCelebrity
Bartenders. NNo pprior eexperiencerequired. IIts lloads oof ffun ffor yyou aandall yyour ffriends aand ffamily wwho wwillsurely ccome ddown tto wwatch yyou iinaction. YYou ppick tthe nnightly ddrink
Special; yyou ppour ddrinks aand hhave ffun.From 55:30 tto 77:30, eevery TThursday in JJanuary, FFebruary aand MMarch.
Please ccall BBrian aat 4453-4931 or ee-mail hhim aat:
[email protected] tto ssign uup.
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Tenth Annual EYC Octoberfest
As you can see from these photographs, the 2004 EYCOktoberfest was terrific! Each year our Oktoberfest getsbetter-n-better! This year we had a mix of Oktoberfest vet-erans and many enthusiastic first-timers, as well. Manyfolks remarked 2004 was the best Oktoberfest yet! The food was SUPER (like always), and we cannot thank
Bernie enough! Brian did a swell job with the Germanbeer selections. Mary did a great job with decorating andset-up. All the EYC staff was cheerful and accommodating.
Non-stop entertainment started with the SiebenbuergerSingers. Alternating all evening long were excellent TheHiemat Klang Alpine Band and the enthusiastic MadBavarian. The continuous live German entertainment kepteveryone “in the mood”... and the beer flowed all night long! As in every year since our Centennial, Oktoberfest would
not be possible without the hard work and dedication ofour GREAT committee of fellow EYC members: Mary AnnCurtze, Kathy Dundon, Tony and Kitty Ferrari, Tom andCindy Madura, Bob and Joyce McGee, Paul and CarolieOtto, Don and Jane Schwab, Pat Stuart, Mary Van Horn,Gary and Mary Weibler, and P.C. Harold and Sandy Will.
We thank our committee, still another time, for makingus look so good!
by Dan Dundon & Gerry Urbaniak
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“Welcome” New Members
Hey... look who’s new... new fellowmembers that is! A hardy welcomefrom the Erie Yacht Club to the following new members in 2004.
AssociatesSusan & Donald Baxter Jr.John GravandaMary & Robert GrayJeffery KeepMary & James RutkowskiGeorge HarringtonCarla & Kim FlaniganLouis PedanoKimberly & Tom KennedyWilliam HertelTerrie & William JohnsonLynette HughesChristine & Joe RysMatthew MargosianColleen & Patrick GourleyMary & Richard HerseyKarul & A. Lemuel LasherKaren & Stanley SchuylerBarbara & Michael WathanDeborah & William CrottyDenise & Samuel Varo, Jr.Pam & Frederick Marklow IIISusan & Daniel VaroMary Ellen & William Essigmann
Junior FamilyDavid JonesKelly DonlonAnna HallerAmanda HallerMichael KuderChristopher LyonsKenneth CrottyDouglas BoldtEmily HornyakNicholas HornyakClayton HornyakJohn ShreveAmanda MascharkaAlexa RichardsGregory Stachelek
JuniorZachary MalenaMark PatriziaCortenay CemelkaSarah WarnerMatthew CrottyLorena FullerFrank Genovese, Jr.Jennifer BruggerAaron Hertel
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As a result of the “Town Meeting” recentlyhosted by (now) P/C Andy Hanks, 27 mem-bers volunteered to serve on a committee tostudy, explore and recommend improve-ments to our basin. Gib Loesel was asked tochair the committee and get it started asquickly as possible. At the annual meetingCommodore Vicary announced that the com-mittee would continue under his watch andhe was looking forward to working with them.
The committee has been subdivided intosmaller divisions and their assignmentsinclude: surveying the entire basin; studyingand improving the fixed dock system; plan-ning and installing floating docks; how to payfor the various projects and keeping themembership informed of “what is going on”with this project. That is where the Public
Relations committee comes in. OurCommittee will gather information from themembership regarding this project, as well astell the membership how the project is pro-gressing.We have made arrangements with our web-
master Holly (Wolford) O’Hare to put a linkon the Club’s website www.erieyachtclub.orgwhere the minutes of the Town Meeting arecurrently posted. Members will also be ableto use this page to check the progress of thebasin committee.
Committee assignments have been madeand several have already begun their tasks.For example as pictured, Dock Master BillVogel and Jon Tushak are working with anunderwater camera, recording and videobeing used for underwater investigation. Alsopictured is a fixed dock which could be usedas a model for fixed docks.
Loesel says they want as much input fromthe membership as possible. He is suggestingthat thoughts and recommendations be put inwriting and either dropped off with ManagerMike Lynch or e-mailed to Gib Loesel [email protected]. Or if you prefer to con-tact one of the subcommittee chairmandirectly, they are: Bulkheads (Jon Tushak),Fixed Docks (Doug Nagle or Dave Blake),Floating Docks (John Murosky), DockStandardization (Rich Speicher), Finance(Sumner Nichols) and Public Relations DougBeers [email protected].
Basin-DockImprovement Committee Formed
by Doug Beers
January &February
Calendar of Club Events
January1st Tom and Jerry 11 - 2 PM2nd Champagne Sunday Brunch
11 - 2 PM6th Celebrity Bartender Night
5:30 - 7:307th Bingo Night 7:30 PM9th Champagne Sunday Brunch
11 - 2 PM13th Celebrity Bartender Night
5:30 - 7:3014th BINGO 7:30 PM16th Champagne Sunday Brunch
11- 2 PM20th Celebrity Bartender Night21st BINGO 7:30 PM23rd Champagne Sunday Brunch
11 - 2 PM27th Celebrity Bartender Night28th BINGO 7:30PM29th 143 Days till Summer Party
Key West Express & West SideSteve
30th Champagne Sunday Brunch 11 - 2 PM
31st Monday- Club Closed for Grill Room Renovation. Will Reopen on Tuesday, February 8th
February8th Club Reopens with normal hours10th Celebrity Bartender Night12th Valentines Night with Mary Alice
Brown Trio 6:00 – 10:00 PM13th Champagne Sunday Brunch
11 - 2 PM17th Celebrity Bartender Night20th Champagne Sunday Brunch
11 - 2 PM24th Celebrity Bartender Night27th Champagne Sunday Brunch
11 - 2 PMMid Week Buffet every Wednesday Night
5:30 PM - 8:30 PM • $9.95 per person
Bill Vogel and John Tushak are using under-water camera equipment to survey eachcurrent boat slip.
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This is a perfect example of a “limbo stiff”trying to go under the “limbo stick”.
143 days ‘tilSummer Party
by Dan Dundon & Gerry Urbaniak
Originally, Pennsylvania had no shorefrontage on Lake Erie, but we soon recog-nized the importance of access to America’sstrategic inland seas. So immediately afterthe Revolutionary War, we bought a forty-fivemile stretch of beaches and inlets, includingwhat turned out to be a very attractive harbor.
Partly in memory of the victory during theWar of 1812 and the recognition of the grow-ing importance of Erie as a port, the govern-ment built the nation’s second Great Lakeslighthouse here in our fair city. The light wasplaced on the Presque Isle Peninsula in 1819to mark the entrance to Erie Bay. Shortly afterthe Civil War, this early lighthouse wasreplaced by a stately sandstone tower, whichserved lake sailors from 1867 until it was per-manently discontinued in 1897. The oldtower can still be seen at Dunn Park minusthe original lantern room and dwelling, whichwere removed long ago.
The structure, know today as Presque IsleLight Station, was completed during the sum-mer of 1873. It was fitted with a fourth-orderFresnel lens, which displayed a fixed whitelight. The sixty-eight-foot square tower placedthe focal plane of light seventy-three feetabove the lake’s surface.
Presque IsleLighthouse
by Sandy Will
Do these cold winter winds make you longfor warm summer days? Do these long winternights make you dream of long summerdays? Well, friends, it’s time to stop dreamingand start partying, Summer Beach Party Style!
It’s time to dust off those tropical shirts! It’stime to find your favorite sun-dress, grass skirtor bathing suit! It’s time for the Erie YachtClub 143 Days ‘til Summer Party!!!Few things define summer like the aroma of
smoky, tangy, barbecued ribs, the taste oftender and juicy ‘garlic ‘n butter’, or ‘mediumhot’ wings with lots of ranch dressing, and ascrumptious helping of deep-fried perch, justexploding with freshness. And what would asummer picnic be without grilled dogs,homemade baked beans and corn on thecob? Still have room for desert? How aboutsome sweet, ripe watermelon, a cool, richhelping of Auntie Dot’s tropical Jell-O sur-prise, or a ‘sliver’ of Key Lime Pie?
If all of this puts you in a summer-kinda-mood, just picture palm trees swaying in awarm breeze while the music of Key WestExpress fills the air with the sounds of sum-mers past and future. Who can’t help butsmile when that bawdy, brilliant, West SideSteve fills in with songs and tales of Lake Erieand boat-lore at its best?
As you look around, everywhere, you’ll seesigns of a great summer party: dancing, laugh-ing, the limbo, great summer outfits, cool
refreshing tropical drinks, and ice-cold brew.It doesn’t get much better than this! You canhave it all when you need it the most: duringthe cold, blustery days of winter!
So save yourself a heap of money on airfareto the Florida Keys. Dance to the music ofErie’s own Key West Express. Go into maxi-mum-party-mode with West Side Steve, theSkipper of the Lake Erie Booze Patrol, directfrom Put-in-Bay, the party capital of the GreatLakes!Don’t miss the Erie Yacht Club’s ‘143 Days ‘til
Summer Party’ on January 29th, 2005. Greatfood, great drinks, great music and greatfriends.
Are these EYC members having any fun... YES! So don’t miss the next beach part on January 29th.
EYC Catering!
• Weddings • Showers • Parties• Company Award Banquets
Call our Catering ManagerMary Tarbrake
453-4931
or e-mail to
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The Cottages, owned by The Long PointCompany, have always been elusive. Thecottages are a privately owned and main-tained duck hunting club of the very elite andfamous. That also makes them very appeal-ing. To some of us who are not so famousand elite we have graciously been granted thewonderful pleasure of visiting the cottages,many times. Sleeping and eating at the cot-tages, fishing off the back wall, climbing tothe top of the big house where the wind millchurns, riding the punt trails through themarshes……these are things of a fairy taleexistence. Except, they are real. The onlyway to the cottages is by boat. And, by invitation.
From Erie, as you round Long Point penin-sula, head on a north westerly course alongthe south shore. Pass "Bluff Bar" which alsois the home of the "The Bluff’s (duck hunting)Club" and give the bar a wide northerly berth.Continue in the outer bay where you’ll findDoctor’s Inlet, Snow Island, Second Island,Ryerson’s Island and Pottohawk point (southwest to north east) which guard the openingto the Inner Bay. At the end of PottohawkPoint is a narrow passage (like the EYCentrance) to cross through into the inner bay.On a south westerly course you will end up atthe Long Point Cottages. As you approach the cottages from the inner
bay, out of the horizon of wild rice marsh landwill rise a self-contained village of 32 grayroofed red buildings. Sixteen of these build-ings are utility buildings for such things as thecarpenter shop, electric light plant, boat
house, vegetable house, duck house,Punters Shanty, and the Cook’s cottage. Theowners are in residence about two weeks ayear during duck hunting season in the six-teen privately owned and furnished cottagesat the far end of the boardwalk.
These cottages are built on metal pilingsatop wooden boardwalks. The metal pilings
The Inside of the owners cottage - note the waders, woodbox and tongue and groove wood paneling.
Looking out over the cottages, boardwalk and marsh - from the top of the big house.
have been added in the past ten years afternearly losing the cottages several times dur-ing rough Lake Erie storms. The "cottages"are finished inside in tongue and groove nat-ural wood. The large picture windows lookout over the grassy marshes. The accou-trements of the cottages are gracious and fineincluding beautiful paintings, stuffed ducksand birds, fine antique wooden tables andsideboards, overstuffed chairs and divans.The hunters boots and jackets hang fromhooks in the entries. The books laying on theside tables are that of the elite. It is difficult tobelieve that this all exists in the back marshesof Canada. The security for the area is yeararound and access is very limited. In the Main House you will find that the front
of the house contains the Keepers Quarters,the back is the Keepers dining area and foodpreparation area. There is a separate sideentrance directly into the Dining Hall which isused only by the owners for their meal pre-sentations. The owners dining room containsa large antique wooden dining table andchairs that will seat 40 or more. The walls areadorned with original paintings and piecessuitable to the room. The China is crested.The Crystal is etched with the Long PointCompany insignia. The flatware is silver.
A few of the owners include Fredrick Eaton(Eaton mall in Toronto), J. P. Morgan(banker), John A. Morgan, John A. MorganJr., John H. Hale (Montreal), Daniel Davidson(Chairman of Christie’s fine art auction housein NYC), Senator John Nichol (Canada),
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Frederic Winthrop, Jr. (Railroad partner withJ. D. Rockefeller), Paul Cabot (Boston),Carroll L. Wainwright, Jr. (NYC), FrederickWinthrop, Jr., Robert Winthrop (NYC), FerrisHamilton (Denver), Michael Scott (Montreal),James E. McConnell (Toronto) , and RussellTrain (Washington, DC). One of the mostfamous guests of the hunting club was theKing of England. The "Cottages" require a full time keeper and
at least three full time employees to maintainthe properties and keep poachers and otherintruders at bay. There are several ‘outposts’among the marshes which house employeesfrom vantage points that allow them to surveyand watch for outsiders. Long Point itself,not just the man made buildings, requires aconstant attention and refurbishing. TheLong Point Company plants thousands oftrees to provide erosion control and to keepthe sand and the Lake water from breakingthrough to the delicate marshes. Protectingthe sand dunes from interlopers is anothermajor function of the Keeper and his assis-tants. Once the sand dunes break down theyafford little protection for the delicate ecosys-tem of the inland. The deer also do immensedamage to the necessary trees and foliageand so the keepers find themselves buildingfencing systems around new tree plantings sothey have an opportunity to spread roots andgrow. Dave Sample, on one of our many vis-its to the cottages, worked with Buck andDave Wamsley and "Coop", planting thou-sands of new saplings on the north beach.
During the duck hunting season the LongPoint Company hires ‘punters’ to punt thelong narrow boats. The trails through thewatery rice grass areas are cut with a "cookiecutter" (like a Florida Everglades "fan" boat).The owners personal punters are locals whohave generally grown up in punter families.Some of the earliest punters (and also famousdecoy carvers) were Phineas Reeves (father),Charlie Reeves (son) and Jack Reeves(grandson). The Reeves worked for the LongPoint Company 1866 (it’s founding) to 1981.Ten members of the Ferris family puntedfrom 1881 to 1972. Byron Cooley, an earlyEYC visitor to the cottages, would always bewelcomed by Keeper Norm Ferris.
Placing the decoys is a major part of duckhunting. The formation of floating decoys,most hand carved, alerts the flying ducks thatthis is a safe place to land thus bringing them‘in to’ the hunters.
The "Company" hires servers, cooks, maidsand cleaners, before and during the busyduck hunting season time. The cooks aregenerally Chinese and are adept at cookingduck in the "Peking" fashion. The ducks areplucked and gutted and are placed in ovensover 1200 degrees Fahrenheit for a mere fewseconds so that the outside of the duckbecomes a crisp hard shell and the inside issoft and pink with the juices running red.
Soiree sitting at the main dock for the cottages.
Toni and her sister at the top of the big house, looking out over the cottages.
J.P. Morgan’s “punt boat” in the boat house with his decoys.
continued on page 26
A number of EYC boats and crews crossed the pond to be part ofthe Friday the 13th biker’s madcap motorcycle mania held in PortDover on Friday, August 13th, 2004.
Today this is truly a big biker event that just keeps getting biggerwith the passing of every Friday the 13th. It all began back in 1981when, by word of mouth, 25 or 30 people gathered at the oldCommercial Bar to discuss getting together on Friday, November13th, 1981 to have a motorcycle rally type event. They did. They allhad fun and decided to repeat the event on the next Friday the 13th.They did. And it just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Estimatesrange from 40,000 bikes and 80,000 people to 100,000 bikes and200,000 people for this year’s event.
“It is difficult to get exact numbers because people and bikerscome and go throughout the day. Therefore many may be countedtwo or more times” reports Commodore Robin McFarlane of thePort Dover Yacht Club.
Chris Simons who owns a motorcycle shop in Port Dover is gener-ally credited with being the event’s original founding father.
This biker extravaganza is not only for fun and frivolity, it also gen-erates big bucks for over 30 local and regional charitable organiza-tions and is administered by a substantial PD13 committee of locals.Want to learn more? Check out the website at www.pd13.com.
If you would like to see this spectacle up close and personal justbe there ... Port Dover, Ontario Canada, population normally around3,500, on Friday, May 13th, 2005. Suggested mode of transportation,either boat or bike ... but either way you’ll fit in just fine.
by P/C John Ashby
16
17
Commodore’s Ball...A South Seas Soiree
by: Kitty Ferrari
“Commodore & Mrs. Andrew Hanks Request theCompany of All Members For the South Seas SailingCommodore’s Ball 1930 Hours, Saturday, October 16, 2004... Black Tie Optional.”
Such an elegant invitation - and the affair surpassed theelegance of the invite About three hundred ladies andgentlemen enjoyed the fantastic evening. Upon yourarrival at the Yacht Club, guests were greeted by thereceiving line of the officers; Commodore and Mrs.Andrew Hanks, Vice Commodore and Mrs. Richard Vicary,Rear Commodore James Means and Charlene Shedd, andFleet Captain John Murosky and Sue Zieber. Honoring sailing, the love of the Commodore, South Seas
décor was evident throughout the entire Club. Palm trees,sparkling lights, ti leaves, and palm leaves decorated theclub along with parrots suspended from the chandeliers.Tables were adored with lovely green plants containingsailboats or palm trees. Two beautiful ice carvings werethe center of the main Hors D’Oeuvre table - one a gor-geous sailboat and the other an equally lovely palm tree.Also on this table was an awesome water fountain -maybe we are in the South Seas?! In another corner of theroom stood a sailboat brought to the inside of the Club byits owner, Dave Heintzenrater - thank you Dave! Brightlycolored fish net decorated all the tables and mirrored thehues of the parrots, palm trees, sparkling lights, and sail-boats. Party goers were encouraged to mingle and social-ize by the placement of tall tables in all the rooms alongwith regular tables. However, encouragement was notneeded - mingling and socializing and partying were certainly the order of this evening.
Delicious food stations - keeping with the South Seastheme - featured Pesto/Scampi Station with Sesame rice,Seaweed Bay Scallops, Clams Casino; Polynesian ChickenSate, Carved Sirloin with fantastic specialty sauces,Montreal Smoked Salmon, Potato Pancakes withPolynesian Flavored Sour Cream, Vegetable Spring Roll,Peel and Eat Shrimp, Teriyaki Chicken Salad, andMesquite Beef & Mushroom Brochettes. Then - guestscontinued to the Dessert Station - which included a gor-geous Chocolate Fountain! A Pineapple Tree with a FruitDisplay also caught the attention of the guests - as choices were made between Lemon Cake, Tiramisu,Cheesecakes, Chocolate Fudge Cake, Chocolate Covered
continued on page 30
18
Escape to the WestEYC Member is National Hero in Poland
by Erika Jarecki, edited by P/C John Ashby
Last summer, while sitting comfortably atthe bar, I noticed that there were four or fivestrangers, obviously part of a film crew, shoot-ing video in the grillroom. The next thing Iknow, Frank Jarecki sits down next to me andsays “talk to me!” Today I’m wondering if I’vemade my film debut in a Polish TV documen-tary partially shot right here in our Clubhouse.
Escape to the West....this is the FrankJarecki’s story
In early 1953, with a smoldering “Cold War”in Europe and a very hot Korean War raging inAsia, USAF Intelligence was scouring theworld trying to obtain information on modernSoviet aircraft. Suddenly, on March 5, 1953,news of two startling events flashed aroundthe globe. The Soviet dictator, Joseph Stalin,was dead and a young Polish Air Force pilothad escaped to the Danish island ofBornholm in a Russian-built MiG jet fighter.
Lt. Franciszek Jarecki assigned to the 28thFighter Squadron stationed at the Polish AirForce Base at Slupsk, located just west ofDanzig near the Baltic Sea, had taken off in aMiG-15 BIS (first version of the MiG-17),Aircraft No. 731, and headed to the West. Heeluded all pursuit and landed on a small cowpasture with the aircraft intact. It was anintelligence prize of enormous value to theFree World...especially the USAF.
In 1939 Poland was a divided country occu-pied by Germany in the west and Russia inthe east. Jarecki had lost his father, an officerin the Polish Army, at a very early age to theRussians. His mother Valerie Jarecki workedlong hours in a Russian Hospital. Jareckiremembers, “During the summer, I went to aRussian School. We were playing outsideone day when all of a sudden they calledeverybody to get together and took us to the
railway station. I was told I was returning tomy home in Stanislawow. When I got off thetrain I just stood there dumfounded watchingGerman planes bomb the railroad station.Suddenly some man picked me up anddragged me safely to a house far away fromthe station. That was the beginning of theGerman invasion of the Eastern (Russian)part of Poland on September 1, 1939, thebeginning of the Second World War.”
Frank enrolled in Glider school at the ageof fifteen. Although the required age was six-teen, Frank, determined to fly, lied about hisage. He finished out his high school careerfocusing on mechanics in Bytom, where aninstructor took notice of his excellent gradesand flying talents. He confided in Frank thatto make his dreams of flying come true heshould remain a loyal friend to “the Party.” SoFrank joined the Communist Polish Youth
Frank and his wife, Sandra, at Frank’s Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum exhibit. Note the case holding Frank’s actual flight suit he worethe day he escaped and a replica of the MIG 15 BIS that Frank flew out from behind the iron curtain.
Alliance where he formed his own localchapter, the Friends of the Soviet Union...”thethings you do, if you want to fly,” remembersFrank.
Frank’s hard work paid off in 1950 when heenlisted in the Air Force Academy in Deblin,forging his mothers name on the consent slip.Out of 10,000 applicants, Frank was one of thelucky 150 accepted in the Academy.However, after the government’s initialacceptance, the men are put through a seriesof tests, not just for common knowledge orknowledge of mechanics, but also theirknowledge of Communism. The men whopassed this test were sent one by one into atribunal. The tribunal judges could not seethrough Frank’s web of lies. They did notdetect his bitterness being the son of a slainPolish Army officer, that he was a yearyounger than he had claimed, or that he had
relatives living in the United States. If they hadknown any one of these facts, Frank neverwould have become a pilot for the RoyalPolish Air Force.
Frank kept up his political studies and flyingcame naturally to him. He distinguished him-self becoming number one in his class of 100men. On the day of his graduation, Frank wassummoned to General Ivan Turkiel. TheRussian was “concerned” about Frank notjoining the Communist Party. In the mostpolite way possible the General hinted thatFrank should either join the Party or sacrificehis wings. That day, April 6th, 1952, Frankbecame a member of the Communist Partyand was commissioned as a SecondLieutenant.
Only the top dozen pilots with the bestgrades were sent to Warsaw, where the firstRegiment was located. Frank was so highlycommended for his handling of the Old MIG15’s that the wing commander erected a signat the entrance to regimental headquartersstating, “PILOTS! FOLLOW THE EXAMPLEOF LT. JARECKI.” And Frank was happy, aslong as “The Party” left him alone.
It was in June 1952 that Frank got a taste ofwhat he was in for. He was told to spy on hisfriends and fellow officers. He was to meetevery week and report any wrong doing heobserved, such as slandering of theCommunist Party or any ideas of escape. Andif Frank should not cooperate or shouldbetray “The Party”, he would be sentenced todeath. But since Frank had been schooled inwhat mannerisms to look for in those plan-ning to escape, it kept him safe while plan-ning his own escape. Frank knew exactlywhat “NOT” to do. Frank’s first spying appointment was to meet
a man in a park in Warsaw where he was toslip him his written report. Frank showed upat the park, spotted his contact man, butnever approached him and never handedhim any report. Frank heard no more of thatincident for months.
In September, Frank was invited to fly thelatest MIG-15 BIS in Slipsk, however in orderto do so he had to get the signatures of four-teen officers, one of these being the manFrank was to have given his spying report to!The officer refused to sign Frank’s transferpapers until he received his report. Frankwent back to his barracks and forged the offi-cers signature. Now Frank was playing a real-ly dangerous game and it was only a matter oftime until he would be discovered. Frank
President Eisenhauer signing Frank’s “Special Congressional Citizenship” document... Note thetwo future Presidents as onlookers, John Kennedy and Gerald Ford.
Frank on Art Linkletter’s show. It looks likehe’s really having fun, but he has no ideawhat's going on because he couldn’tspeak any English yet.
Frank and Sandra with Bob Hope at an AirForce Society dinner in New York. Sandra is arealtor with Howard Hanna.
Frank had chosen his escape destination ofBornholm, Denmark from remembering apropaganda comic book he had seen yearsbefore. He had heard that the island wasoccupied by Americans. He had no map ofBornholm because the Western Countrieswere left off their maps. Also Frank had noidea how the Americans would feel abouthim being a communist fighter pilot...maybe
knew that he had to get out, so he bought alittle calendar and every time he opened it, itopened on the same date, March 5th. In January of 1953, Frank’s luck skyrocketed.
A Colonel had announced that they werereceiving ten of the new MIG-15 BIS’. Thesewere the first version of the advanced MIG-17’s, which were lighter, faster and had moreoperational space than the MIG-15.
19
continued on page 20
20
Frank and Clark Gable on the movie set of“King and Four Queens”. Frank recalls “he wasa very down to earth great guy”
Cover Photo in the “This Week Magazine” section of the Boston Sunday Herald newspaper, onAugust 23, 1953.
Contestant Frank on Groucho Marx’s “You BetYour Life” TV Show. continued on page 29
he would be shot out of the sky before beinggiven a chance to explain that he was not oneof them...that he was not “really a commu-nist.” On March 5, 1953 Frank had a long sleepless
night. After breakfast he headed out to theflight line. He noticed some of MIG’s off to theside were fully armed and ready to take flight.He knew these would be the fighters that theywould send after him. So Frank walked overto a Russian Lieutenant and gave him someflying “advice” while clandestinely checkingto see what frequency the armed MiG’s radioswere on.
Frank was leading a four plane squadron.He instructed two of his men to stay close tothe coastline while Frank and the other pilotwould be on the sea side and flying a littlehigher. Knowing that Stalin had fallen death-ly ill the day before, Frank had told his menthat he was flying higher because he was on
a special mission. At 9:10am, Frank’ssquadron was cleared for take off, once in theair he knew there was no turning back.
He switched places with his wing man andnear Kolobrzeg he jettisoned his wing tanksfor extra speed and went into a steep dive20,0000 feet above the Baltic Sea.Immediately “731 escaping” came blastingover the radio. The first thing out of Frank’smouth was, “I am on a secret mission to getmedicine for Papa Stalin.” Then he heard theorder for the four armed MIG’s to pursue 731
and shoot him down. Frank came out of thedive at 1500 feet which was low enough toavoid the Russian radar. Traveling at over 700mph, the plane was hard to maneuver andFrank had a difficult time pulling out of thedive. After spotting Bornholm, Frank circledthe island trying to find a place to land. Hespotted a small cow pasture down the centerof the island. It looked to be roughly half thelength needed to land the MiG. With no alter-natives, Frank had to take his chances. Hetouched down safely and could hear thesound of the pursuit MIGs above him.
He got out of the plane and looking aroundsaw a sign that was in Russian. Fearing hewas still on Russian soil, Frank panicked, sohe grabbed his pistol and cocked it thinking“the Russians will not take me alive.” In thedistance he spotted a farmhouse with awoman and a baby standing outside staring athim. He began to approach her when a groupof men came out of the woods. The menassumed Frank was Russian. Finally realizinghe was safe he announced, “CommunistKaput Asylum”.
21
There are many legends that tell why fishhave gills and a favorite in the islands of theSouth Pacific concerns a grouper that fell inlove with a beautiful girl.
The fish saw her one day as she was weav-ing on the shore and fell in love with her atfirst sight. He set about wooing her in the onlyway he knew—by swimming about as fast ashis sluggish body could and splashing waterat the girl with his tail and fins. Twice heasked her to marry him and twice the girlrefused. Then he swam out to the deepwaters of the reef and lay there mourning hisunrequited love.
When he decided that he could not give upso easily, he swam back in the lagoon right upto the shore where the girl was still weaving.He stretched out a fin, snatched the girl andflipped her into the water. Before she knewwhat was happening, he swallowed her beingcareful not to hurt her because he loved hervery much. When the girl realized where shewas, she demanded to be let out. Thegrouper refused telling her of his love and hisdesire to be with her always.
Then the girl had an idea. She still had thesharp shells that she used to pattern her cloth.With them, she cut two slits in the fish’s body,one on each side, and slipped out and swamto shore.
As for the grouper, once he got used to thewater rushing in and out of his throat throughthe cuts, he rather liked the feeling andvowed never again to fall in love with ahuman girl.
And that’s why all fish have gills in theirthroats today.
Why FishHave Gills
by Sandy Will
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22
by Mickey McMahon, Al and Allison Church as told to Alex Webster
anchor goes up and down like a chicken’shead in a barnyard trying to find a fish cache,so the fun can begin. Once they found the fishit was not uncommon for them to fish theirlimit in a short time, once it was less then 40minutes, for the six person crew. Speaking of crew, they had a motley crew of
many people this year, in addition to Al,Mickey, and Al’s two daughters Amy andAllison (Allison has been fishing with her dadfor as long as women were allowed in on thefun, since she was about 10 years old). Theyalso had Amy’s boyfriend, Tim Boetger,Allison’s boyfriend, Stephen Joseph, Mickey’sson Michael was a regular and son Patrickmade the trip once, when he was home onleave. There were cameo appearances byFritz Curtze, Itchy Penman, Glenn Thompson,Brian Rickloff and a slew of others. JessMurdock, Al’s partner, made a few trips, andwould have made more, if Al had been a littlemore careful, and had not broken Jess’s leg inan ATV accident. Their first outing this yearwas Memorial Day weekend, and theybrought home 160 perch between Sundayand Monday. During this very fruitful season,they had some adventures, such as the timethey were at hard anchor, and needed rescu-ing by a dive team (Sept./Oct.’04 LOG “FiveHours at Hard Anchor”). They discovered thatthere is a difference in “east side fish” and“west side fish”. Mickey and Al said they pre-
Al Church’s wife, Joanne made a decree bythe end of fishing season, “DO NOT bring anymore fish home”. That is a strong declara-tion, made by the woman who by allaccounts adds the finishing touch to all fishthat her daughters and husband bring home.However, it sums up how Al, his two daugh-ters, and fishing partner Mickey McMahon’sperch season went in 2004. It was a goodseason, very good in fact; the Great White Vbrought home 3,043 perch this season.
I sat with Mickey, Al and Allison Church as“turkey day” approached and discussed theparticulars of this boom year. They all agreedthat in general, this year was rough, bumpy,cold and rainy. For example, on Labor Dayweekend, the waves were breaking OVERthe hardtop of the two-year-old Tiara. Ofcourse, with this crew of avid anglers, theweather had no bearing on their weekly fishing forays.Their fishing day begins with Mickey the first
to arrive at the Great White V, Al’s 41’ Tiara,powered by two diesel Cats. Mickey arriveswith bait and the groceries. His first order ofbusiness is to warm up the “kitty cats” andopen up the boat for the day. Departure timevaries, depending on the crew, but generallyif Allison and her sister Amy are on board,they depart at about 8 am. They travel out tothe lake and start looking for the fish eithereast or west toward Walnut Creek. The
fer west side fish because they are generally alittle meatier, but Mickey and Al are very goodfriends with “someone” (who shall remainanonymous to protect the guilty), will takeany perch that he can find, east or west or inbetween.
Speaking of people who are “hard core”,Allison says that they do not come back to thedock until the fish limit is achieved. She hasno mercy, even on herself. If you develop anacute case of the quesies on the Great White,you will have to muddle through. Stephen,Allison’s boyfriend, was ill almost every tripthis year, but he kept coming back for more!.
Dedication. Itchy Penman spits in the eye ofthe storm for one more prized perch, whileFritz Curtze’s crew aboard Obsession look onin amazement.
The crew’s work is never done until all the fish are filleted down to the very last one.
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In addition to the 3,043 perch taken by hook,line and sinker this year, (compared to 1,448perch caught in 2003) which made their wayto many a fish fry, they caught an assortmentof white perch, walleye, bass, sheep head,gobies, one mudpuppy, that now resides inAl’s pond and a unique catch, a “rock”. The“rock” was taken by one astute angler, GlennThompson, who struggled for about ten min-utes to “land” this large 3 pound pebble,which Glenn reported “was dead by the timehe got it on board.” When the boat returns toport, there is of course, more work to bedone. They divide themselves into the boatcleaning crew and the fish cleaning crew.Sometimes this process can take hours. Asight to be seen they are, I have stoppedmany a night to gawk at the large crew hardat work. I am, however, careful to stay out ofpitching range. Many nights they are stillcleaning after dark, and once they were stillcleaning fish when Louise closed the bar andwent home for the night. Now that just addsinsult to injury.
Can you imagine after all that work theycouldn’t even go to the bar and brag to theircohorts about how well the fishing day hadbeen again for the crew of the Great White!My favorite part, however, was the revelation
that Mickey has “poor impulse control” when
In this rough year, many people were ill, evenAllison, who is rarely, if ever seasick. Crewmember, Chuck Shaner, was sick three tripsin a row and Mickey and Al think that he maynever return. In addition, Amy is known to geta little under the weather at times, but shejust fishes between bouts of sickness andnapping with her pole in her hand.
This is what 3,043 perch fillets look like in your “Perch” freezer ... or is it actually 6,086perch fillets?
The optimist view aboard Great White...“it’s only half full”.
Amy “under the weather” fishing.
Some people’s kids will do anything for onemore perch!
it comes to fish that almost get away. He can’thelp himself at times and has been known to“jump ship” to retrieve fish by hand!! Andthat’s no fish story.
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Erie, PA • 833-0261
We are proud to do our part as anadvertiser in supporting our new LOG.
24
The Erie Yacht Club’s Auxiliary held their FallDinner Meeting on November 3rd at the Club.Seventy plus members and guests gatheredto partake of the social gaiety and the finefeast connected with this event.
The Auxiliary’s Dee Bressler introducedCommodore Andy Hanks who in turn intro-duced his life long friend, fellow EYC memberand guest speaker David Martine. Dave treat-ed attendees to an extremely candid, wellpresented, inside look at terrorism and theWar on Terror. Dave’s parents, the late P/CRoy Martine and Rosemary Martine Weaver,were instrumental in his early introduction tolife at the EYC.
After graduating from Strong Vincent HighSchool, Dave attended the University ofDayton where he received a Bachelor ofScience Degree in Criminal Justice. He thenwent on to receive his Masters of ForensicScience from George Washington Universityand a PhD in Clinical Psychology from UVA.
Dave’s early career spanned a five year stintin the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).He has spent the last twenty three years as aSpecial Agent with the Central IntelligenceAgency (CIA). Since joining the CIA Daveserved three years as Regional SecurityDirector in the Far East then he was promot-ed to Senior Manager for both CounterEspionage and Counter Narcotics.
Since 9/11, Dave has been the Chief ofCounter Terrorism for Overseas Operations.Now, I don’t know about you, but I would sayhe certainly has the credentials. From thispoint on this article is simply excerpts fromDave’s fascinating and highly informative presentation.
While government employees are certainlynot restricted from voting for their individualpreference, they are encouraged not to pro-mote their personal preferences in any publicforum. This was Martine’s disclaimer fol-lowed by his professional opinion...workingwith the same executive team (administra-tion) as we go forward in the War on Terror isa distinct advantage to CIA operations.
Dave’s responsibilities, everything “Anti-Terrorist”, give him the opportunity to travelall the world’s continents, to many beautifulcountries and cities such as Paris, London,Amsterdam and Moscow....and then ofcourse there’s Iraq and Baghdad. He worksin both the most delightful and the most dan-gerous places on the planet trying to keep ussafe from attack.Keeping us safe runs in Dave’s family. At the
time of the dinner meeting his one son wasdoing a tour of duty in Iraq and another sonhad just received his ROTC commission as asecond lieutenant.
Among the many responsibilities ofMartine’s work his three major areas of con-centration are to disrupt terrorist mobility,finance and communication. And how arewe doing from Dave’s perspective? Mobility:It is becoming increasingly more difficult forterrorists to travel around the world. OsamaBin Lauden has been hiding since 9/11 andtwo thirds of his top operatives are eitherdead or detained. Finance: We haveexposed and shut down clandestine AlQaeda fund raising organizations throughoutthe world. We have frozen Al Qaeda assetswherever we’ve found them. And communi-cations: We have been very successful instopping cell phone and computer e-mail
communications all over the world. Now ter-rorists have to communicate through letterwriting delivered by couriers.Terrorists are pretty much a cowardly bunch
in that they prefer “soft targets” like unguard-ed civilian populations that are relatively easyto kill and mame in big numbers. As com-pared to attacking our troops who can easilycause them more hurt that they are normallyable to hand out, and people like Dave whoare well trained, heavily armed and guardedas they go about their days.
Resource management is a big part ofMartine’s responsibilities. Making complicat-ed, vital life and death decisions in assigninghis teams to field operations in which he has
Terrorism & the C.I.A.by P/C John Ashby
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P/C Andy Hanks is pictured here with lifelong friend and guest speaker, EYC member Dave Martine.
25
Mirabella V is the world’s largest single masted yacht at 247 feet. She boasts a 48.5foot beam, draught 13 feet minimum , maxi-mum 33 feet, mast height of 290 feet and ahalf load displacement of 765 tons. Being asloop, she has the largest sails ever built, all40,000 square feet of them. The design andconstruction of this beauty took five yearswith hundreds of people around the worldutilized to create her.
Here are just a few of her amenities: a 20person Jacuzzi and a dip pool, also a 29 footHinckly tender, 4 laser dinghies, and a num-ber of jet skis all stowed in her lazarette. Ohyes, also an open air cinema, al fresco diningon her sky deck, a gym and sauna, a 600 bot-tle wine cellar and spacious suites for twelveguests and she’s available for charter.
Boy that sounds great. Now all I need is a lit-tle time off work, invite my guests, send in acheck for $250,000 and we’ll have one funweek of sailing in the Mediterranean beforethey come and lock me up for writing a badcheck. Man would that be one big overdraft.Learn more at www.mirabellayachts.com.
determined to be of the greatest threat, is allpart of the job. The fact remains that “wehave the difficult duty because we have to beright 100% of the time and the enemy only hasto be right once,” Martine stated.The western media is guilty of creating prob-
lems in the handling of “news” coming out ofthe middle east. When the Iraqis, Saudis,Pakistanis and Afghans actually do create andmake good positive moves against terrorismthe media lambastes them just about everytime by creating something negative out oftheir positive efforts. Another example of thisis the Abu Dai prison guard fiasco in whichthe US media referred to as “torture” by USsoldiers upon suspected terrorist prisoners.These acts, while being absolutely improperby U.S. standards, can not compare to raperooms, torture chambers and beheadingscommitted by Sadam and the insurgent ter-rorists operating in Iraq today. The extensivepublication of photos of our soldiers andquotes by so called tortured terrorist prison-ers was one of the greatest tools used by AlQaeda in recruiting new members and incit-
ing the Arab world against us.Remember, today there is big...really big
money to be made out of terrorism. Theattempts at buying and selling weapons ofmass destruction around the world is a bigmoney game and is a really dangerous, mas-sive problem for the Free World.
The War on Terror is real. It is probably thegreatest threat to freedom and democracy, ifnot mankind as a whole, that has ever threat-ened this planet. To date we are winning thefight. But it is going to be a long struggle. The United States must continue taking theleadership role in the world in defeating thismenace.
David’s entire presentation is only recappedhere. He covered many other subjects in thequestion and answer session at the conclu-sion of his remarks. His presentation washighly interesting, informative and I stronglysuggest that the next time the Auxiliary bringsDave back for an update...be there. I canassure you I will be.
Dave is pictured here with his three children, (L to R) Doug, Dad, Madeleine and Kurt.
The Brugger Family110 Years Serving Erie.The Brugger Family110 Years Serving Erie.
1595 West 38th Street • Erie, PA 16508 • 814/864-4864
Mirabella V...worlds largest sloop
by P/C John Ashby
26
814/838-86392240 Powell Ave.Erie, PA 16506
There is no running water and no electricityat the Cottages, except what is made frombanks of batteries and the windmill that sitsatop the main house. All the water used atthe cottages is carried in in jugs from otherlocations.
Among the EYC members who have beenpermitted frequent access to the Long PointCottages and the hospitality of the Keepersare, to name a few, Byron Cooley, CortSkyler, PC Richard Amthor, Dave and ToniSample, and PC Doc and Billie Nagle andtheir family, We have had the pleasure of being friends of
former Keeper, Buck Wamsley. Buck was abig man who seemed able to do ’superhu-man’ feats. Buck was always an enigma. Hewas bigger than life. A ’Paul Bunyan’ of ourtime. His son, Dave Wamsley, the currentKeeper for the Long Point Company is larger
marshes and the sand spit itself from breakthrough by the raging lake waters. There arenot roads on Long Point as there are on ourPeninsula. It is maintained primarily for thepreservation and study of flora and fauna --birds, animals, duck and fish and to protectthe sensitive ecosystem of this giant sandbar.
than life, like his father, yet warm and hos-pitable, like his mother. Many of the EYCmembers who have visited Coleman Point inPort Dover have had the pleasure of meetingDave, his wife Penny and their daughtersMariah Jane and Sally. Dave and Penny arecooks and caterers and love to have folksover for a party.
The Long Point Company is not just a richman’s club for fun. These owners have alsodonated the major portion of Long Pointpeninsula to the Provincial government. TheLong Point Company spends considerablemoney protecting the delicate wild rice
Dave in the Long Point Company boat traveling from the Old Cut to the Cottages.
Visit ourWeb Site for all the
latest in ClubActivities
www.erieyachtclub.org
365 RAFFLEThe “365 RAFFLE” benefits the
EYC Reyburn Junior RacingTeam. One ticket is good for allweekly drawings of $100 each(Friday nights at 7:30pm) andthe final 52nd drawing for theGrand Prize of $1000. It’s aGreat benefit for a bunch of
Great kids.
“The Long Point Company’s”COTTAGES(continued from page 13)
Support
with your Advertising!Show your fellow members
you’re helping make itpossible.
Call: John Ashby 455-2757
27
In 1993, EYC member Jack Tate and his wife,Esther, were browsing the shops in the WestPalm Beach area of Florida when somethingcaught Jack’s eye; a beautiful bell that lookedlike it could possibly be from an old steamengine. Knowing a fair amount aboutPennsylvania’s railroad history, Jack went intothe shop for a closer look. Much to his delight,he found that the bell had the PennsylvaniaKeystone imprinted on the back, and that itwas indeed the original bell from a retiredsteam engine. Jack promptly bought the belland returned with it to Erie.
Jack and Esther donated the bell to the EYCfor the Centennial celebration. They engagedDoc Bressler to help them to get the bell hung,along with its identifying plaque. The wordson the plaque are the Tates’ own and read asfollows:
“Signaling in Sound A Time ofCelebration for the Erie Yacht Club”
1895-1995
This beautiful bell is still used at large par-ties and certain ceremonies held at the Club.We can all thank Jack and Esther for theirgreat contribution to the EYC.
Did YouKnow?
by Jan Stachelek
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Recyclers of commercial residential and industrial metals.
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We Do it Right...the First Time.
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by Gene Polaski
Do you have a handheld GPS? After you lay-up the boat , consider using your GPS to go ona treasure hunt.. in any state…in over 200countries or even at the club!
There is a fun hobby being played through-out the world where people are hiding smallcontainers (i.e. caches) and posting the lati-tude and longitude on the internet. Anyonewishing to find the container, can then down-load the co-ordinates as way points into theirown GPS and go hunt for it! This hobby iscalled geocaching.
What are in these treasure caches? Nothingreally of any real value, mostly trinkets suchas key rings, kids toys, a tape measure orsome other non-valuable item. Some of thecaches are very small (micro caches) like amagnetic key box or a 35MM film canister andonly contain a log to sign your geocachename. The excitement is in the hunt. I recent-ly was in London, England and located 8caches and also have done some inColumbus Ohio, Kansas City, Cincinnati,Bradford, and Warren as well as otherplaces. I have found over 175 caches the firstyear of doing this hobby and have 4 cacheshidden for others to find.
Some caches are hidden in cities, some inthe country that involve hiking and "bush-whacking" to some extent. There are proba-bly over 100 caches in the Erie area. Some are
very tricky. Your GPS may take you within 15feet of the cache, but to actually find it can bedifficult as they blend so well into the back-ground that you can be looking at it and notreally be able to pick it out. There is one onState Street like that. It's in the outside door-way of a business (with the owner's approval)and looks just like part of the door. I missed iton my first attempt and was within arm'slength! It's a 35MM film canister painted thecolor of the doorway. There are severalcaches on the peninsula (with the permissionof the park), some being small( e.g magnetickey holder) and others are larger like a metalammo box. Some caches are multi-part, thefirst containing co-ordinates to the secondand so forth. Once found, the finder returns tothe internet site and posts their find (e.g.Found it, signed the log, took the toy soldier,left a golf ball, thanks for the find). Cachescan be under a log, in a tree hole, up under apublic telephone stand, and in places whereyou really wonder if you want to put yourhand there or not!
There is no cost to become a geocacher.. Ifinterested, go to the web site,geocaching.com to learn more about it and toobtain your geocaching name; mine isGeneP. Kids love to do this and I know of sev-eral families that geocache as a team. One 6year old girl even has her own GPS!
I have hidden 3 caches on the grounds ofthe Erie Yacht Club (with permission). Theseare not part of the geocaching community butI have hidden them for members only (familyof course is included) so you can practice!The first cache is easy. The second is a micro
cache and may give you some fits! They havea log for you to sign and if you take any "trea-
Gene’s new hobby takes him to great loca-tions which can be found all over the world.
28
sure" from it, you are expected to replace itwith something else so the cache stays full.Please do not remove or destroy the caches. Iwill keep them available until late spring, thenremove them from the grounds. The contentswill be transferred to "real" caches. If you cannot locate them, e-mail me([email protected]) and I will send you aclue. Remember that our co-ordinates canvary so when you think you are close, maybeyou should turn off your GPS and just startlooking! All are above the snow.
Here are the co-ordinates:
1. White plastic jar, Latitude, N42 07.187,Longitude W080 07.895. Hint: when you getclose, your suspicion will be correct. Roomfor small trade items.
2. Micro container, part 1 of 2. Latitude N4207.315, Longitude W080 07. 974 contains theco-ordinates to the final cache. Hint: youprobably are looking right at it and don't evenknow it.
3. Part 2. Plastic Tupperware- type containerinside a plastic bag. Hint: That should give youfood for thought. Room for trade items.Results of the EYC “Geocache” will be pub-lished in a future LOG. Good Luck!
Uptown, Downtown or in the wilds, geocachingis everywhere.
“Geocaching”GPS-ing In The Off Season
1652 West 8th St. 16505452-2347 • Fax: 459-5736Toll Free:1-800-700-7809
24 Emergency Service 459-5736 • Cell 392-4465
1652 West 8th St. 16505452-2347 • Fax: 459-5736Toll Free:1-800-700-7809
24 Emergency Service 459-5736 • Cell 392-4465
29
After several weeks, the Danes returned theaircraft to Poland in crates by ship. Some ofthe parts still retained traces of gypsum plas-ter used to make casting of them. Frank wassent to the United States after a brief stop inLondon where he was recognized for hiscourage by the Free Polish government. Inthe U.S. Franciszek Jarecki was personallywelcomed by President Eisenhower andgranted American citizenship by a special Actof Congress.
Today Frank’s story is not forgotten. Hisflight suit was inducted into the Smithsonianin December of 2003. Erika Jarecki and ColinKorbelas, of Stellarlight Entertainment, havesecured the Life Rights to his story and arecurrently adapting it into a motion picture.For the last thirty years Frank has been living
here in Erie with his wife and five children.Although being a pilot was part of his past, henever outgrew his love of mechanics. Frankfounded Jarecki Industries, located inFairview, where he has been manufacturingmetal and resilient seated ball and specialtycheck valves for over twenty-five years.Dealing with his customers himself, Frank
Jarecki (in dark flying gear) and his undamaged MIG-15 BIS shortly after landing on theDanish island of Bornholm.
As a member of the Senatorial Advisory BoardFrank was invited to the White House where hemet President Ronald Reagan.
flies several times a month, the exception isthat Frank sits in business class, letting some-one else take him to his destination.
7 locations including 3 Giant Eagle locations open 7am to 10pm 7 days a week.
3700 West 12th St. • 4114 Peach St. • 5604 Peach St. • 4025 Pine Ave.Plus 3 Giant Eagle locations: Yorktown, Girard & Harborcreek
Enjoy Your Time Boating...we’ll spend14 hours a day, 7 days a week making you look good.
Enjoy Your Time Boating...we’ll spend14 hours a day, 7 days a week making you look good.
Escape to the West(continued from page 20)
Support
by Supporting Log Advertisers
Enrich Your LOG.Tell us your
story...everyone has got at least one.
Contact any memberof the LOG staff
listed on the insidefront cover.
30
Strawberries, and Cookies, or perhaps a littleof each.
The extent of the planning was obvious - anevent of this magnitude must require a greatdeal of work and organization. Our thanksare extended to Andy and Rosalie Hanksalong with Mike Lynch, club manager, andMary Tarbrake, Catering Manager. Manyhours were put into the planning, from theformulation of the ideas for the grand affair, tothe actual Ball on Saturday night and greatwork was done by all those involved. Praiseis also due to the entire staff of the Yacht Club- our wonderful bartenders (Louise, Linda,April) and to the fourteen other staff mem-bers who worked very diligently to make thisevent such a success. We cannot thank youall enough!
Rosie Hanks commented on the extensiveplanning of the Ball. “The Commodore's Ballwas a truly memorable event. During theplanning stage Mike, Mary, Andy and I metseveral times to discuss ideas for menu, invitations, themes and decorations.Brainstorming with them was fun. We dis-cussed some good ideas, some not, until wemade a choice. Choosing the menu was alsofun. Mary had a big folder of menus and foodchoice ideas for all different occasions. Shealso had pictures of tables and food layoutideas. We made our choices early so therewould be plenty of time for supplies to arrive.(I also have to say the staff did a great job ofdealing with last minute issues, such as someof the party supplies not arriving as expected)
If anyone has plans for a party with a theme,don't hesitate to choose the Erie Yacht Club.Choose a theme and work with the staff tocreate a wonderful ambiance. They will alsouse their artistic creativity, good taste, knowl-edge, experience and professionalism to helpmake choosing a great menu an easy task. Thank you to the entire staff. “
The music was absolutely perfect - TheMarshall Brothers played to the crowd, andalmost all made it to the dance floor at somepoint of the evening. Songs played lured allcouples to the floor, ranging from the slowromantic tunes to the more modern “jump-ing” dances - with, of course, the electric slidethrown into the middle of this! The attire ofthe ladies was a vision of black, with a fewsplashes of color added to the scene! Anddefinitely, the men with the black ties andthe various distinguished suits - completedthis handsome picture. We were able to rec-ognize one another - quite a different imagefrom our normal jeans etc. As is said, we doclean up nicely.
This is an awesome Club and this was certainly the event of the year - thank you toall who made it possible!
SPECIALTY FASTENERS • CNC COMPONENTS • FABRICATION
814/456-7797 • Fax: 814/459-1867www.accutool-fasteners.com • e-mail: [email protected]
Commodores Ball(continued from page 17)
Leclair Point, Inc. is an inlandmarine service center that providesa vast selection of professional spe-cialized boating services to itsgrowing customer base. LeclairPoint is your premier partner inhandling all your boating needsfrom storage and winterization, torefurbishment and vessel trans-port, to repair and maintenanceservices.
Owned and operated by boatingenthusiasts living right here in Eriefor over 17 years, Leclair Point people understand the meaning of quality, superior workmanshipand fair pricing. And we offerboth in-house and on-site mobileservice.
We’re new. We’re eager. We’redetermined to make you our next“customer for life”. Check out ourwebsite or give us a call. We’llboth be glad you did.
Captain Chris LeclairPresident/General Manager
