December 1
Lighted Boat Parade and Holiday Buffet

December 16
Gingerbread House Decorating Workshop

 Club Calendar

click above for racing

Contents

Commodore's Report

Harbor View

From the House

Social Committee

Education

COMMODORE’S REPORT

.This begins my third and final year as one of your three principal flag officers. I’d like you to know how much I have enjoyed each of the first two years and that I’m looking forward to the coming year as your Commodore. Craig Wong and his staff do such a great job managing your Club’s operations that I have had the luxury of spending the bulk of the my last two years doing what I enjoy most which is looking ahead and trying to construct the long range operational & financial forecasts that our Club must have to ensure its future. Looking for ways to improve a business has always been fun for me but that is just one small skill set and your Club has a huge capacity to absorb the efforts from members with all kinds of experiences. I would encourage every one of you to become involved with your Club's governance. Each Committee and Board position requires its own unique skill sets and time commitment but I believe that you’ll find all of them to be both fun and rewarding. Craig can help point you toward a variety of areas that would benefit from your energy and your experiences. It is always the right time to get involved in your Club's functions.

Please keep in mind that you are always welcome to attend your Club's Board of Director’s meetings that occur on the third Thursday of each month at 7:00pm. Your comments about our Club are always welcomed at the beginning of each Board meeting during the “Member’s Forum”. At the conclusion of the Member’s Forum, further discussions regarding club business will normally be restricted to the members of your Board.

Any time that you have an idea about improving our Club your Board members would like to hear from you. Please give your ideas regarding House and/or Harbor changes to either Rear Commodore Jim Canada or to Vice Commodore Carolyn Hooper respectively; they will be happy to accept these ideas at the bar, via e-mail, or at their committee’s monthly meetings on the first Thursday of each month at 7:00pm.

Our racing, cruising, and social Chairs have each scheduled their events for 2008. The Club’s pocket calendar showing all of our 2008 events will hopefully be published in mid December and distributed as soon as possible after that.

I am looking forward to this year and will continue trying to find ways to make our Club even more enjoyable.

Have a Very Merry Christmas & a Happy and Healthy New Year.

Mike Jackson.

Commodore.

As your new Vice Commodore, I feel this will be a fantastic year for the harbor and the club.  Our first harbor meeting will be on December 6 and I would like to thank the following for agreeing to work with me this year:  Len Cardoza, Frank Hooper, Tom Charron, Steve Shaffer, Jim Macintire, Jack Traughber, Ed Firebaugh, Bob Paulsen and of course, our Commodore, Mike Jackson.

The permits from the City of Alameda should be forthcoming and then we can start on the reconfiguration you have all been waiting for.  Len Cardoza and our Commodore, Mike Jackson, along with the rest of the harbor committee have done so much this past year to get us where we currently are and I plan, along with their continued help, to follow through on this project.

This year we will review many items including a professional harbor plan, maintenance of the harbor, slips and live aboard issues.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions you have or any issues you would like me to present to the committee.

Thanks for your support.

FROM THE HOUSE: Jim Canada, Rear Commodore

I would like to start by introducing myself as your new Rear Commodore. My name is Jim Canada. I have been a member of the club for a couple of years now. My wife Mary and I live aboard our Hunter 41 Sail boat at Grand Marina with our two dogs, Max and Digger. We truly enjoy the “Friendliest Club on the Bay” and I wanted to give something, back so here I am.

December is the month for Holidays and lots of get-togethers as well as great parties here at the club.  It is also the month for the New Board of Directors and Flag Officers to hit the deck running to keep things moving here at the club. I want to continue with the hard work Carolyn Hooper, the House committee and of course the wonderful staff have started so don’t worry about a lot of sudden changes. I do need help though, so this is a call to anyone that would like to be a part of the house committee. Please feel free to get a hold of me through the club or just come to the House meetings held the first Thursday of the month upstairs in the Commodore’s Hall. You will find I am very open to suggestions and everyone is welcome.

I wanted to report also, that Carolyn and her crew finalized the ordering of new carpet for the Commodore’s Hall and stairs before she moved on to the Harbor committee and we will see the changes in the first quarter of next year.

Again many thanks for allowing me to serve as your Rear Commodore this year. I look forward to working with everyone.

Navigation and Oil

No, I am not going to make any remarks about the tanker hitting the Bay Bridge. But, I want to say something those two topics and the Editor expects at least some relationship between the title and the article. That’s a reasonable expectation.

First, I want to remind you of the Coastal Navigation course the USCGA will give at the OYC, beginning on January 9, 2008. This 12-week course will meet at the Club, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., on Wednesdays. Cost for the program is $120. Space will be limited and it is important to pre-register as soon as possible. You can do so by contacting Nancy Schimmelman, instructor for the course (phone: 510-601-6239; email: nancy@windwave.com).

Now, to the subject of oil. I have been thinking about it for several reasons. First, there was the big spill on San Francisco Bay . . . 58,000 gallons of bunker oil. Ugh! I would use a lot stronger language if I were a shorebird. And, of course, the news tells us almost daily about the rising price of crude oil. Gas prices are constant reminders. I filled the tank on my little pickup yesterday and coughed up almost fifty bucks. Another thing that put oil on my mind was when I had it changed on the truck a few days ago. Out of curiosity, I asked the service person what grade of oil they used in my rig. I had not checked in a long time . . . and assumed it was 15W-30 or 40. Her response was 5W-20. That did not sound right but, when I looked in the owner’s manual, there it was, 5W-20 recommended.

Another reason for thinking about oil is that the end of the year usually forces me think about when I last changed it in Almond Joy’s faithful Yanmar. Preparatory to doing something about that chore, I looked under the starboard berth, where I store useful items and other things. There were three half-full quarts of oil left from prior changes. A couple were SAE 30 and one was SAE 15W-40. Well, that raised a question. What is in the engine now? I do keep a log and it tells me when I changed it last . . . but there was no record of the grade of oil. I am smart enough to not mix brands. However, the circumstantial evidence suggested pretty strongly that I mixed grades. What I needed to know is which one should it be.

I got on the Internet and nosed around about oil. There is some good stuff there. I typed in some terms like “oil viscosity” and “SAE oil grades,” and got way more information than I needed or could even understand. There was an article pointing out disadvantages of using 5W-20 in the truck. But, nothing on the boat engine question. So I called Mike Haley at KKMI. Sure, I could have looked in my Yanmar manual, but it is buried under a bunch of old charts, tide tables back to about 1996, several outdated Latitude 38s, etc. . . . and I wanted to say hello to Mike anyway.

I have known Mike since we bought Almond Joy back in 1989, when he was owner and manager of the Richmond Boat Works. We had our boat in his yard on several occasions when we had a slip at Marina Bay. Mike knows our engine. His answer to my question was that I should be using SAE 30. Multi-graded oils are recommended for turbo-charged diesels, but ours is naturally aspirated.

Besides clearing up that question and passing along some other useful information, he emphasized the need to change oil at least every six months . . . no matter how little you run it. I know it needs to be done but, somewhere along the line, I got it in my head that once a year was enough. I am aware of how long the old oil has been in the engine. Further, I know the consequences of not changing it on time. So, it pained me to hear what Mike said. Given his advice, I had better get smart and get some SAE 30 in the crankcase soon . . . certainly before 2008 rolls around (past experience tells me I also will get it under my fingernails, on my pants, and at various places in the boat).

Incidentally, if you have not read it yet, take a look at the article on diesels in the November 2007 issue of Latitude 38 (pp.136-140). It is excellent and Mike Haley was much involved with the preparation of it. You also might want to know that he offers a one-day course on diesel care and feeding every now and then. There is a $197 charge for the session but if you have had any boat work done at KKMI the fee is waived. Even if you have to pay, you get back an equivalent amount in class materials and coupons (good at KKMI). KKMI also offers periodic seminars on other topics, such as rigging and electronics. Call Ginger in the office (510-235-5564) for information about these classes.

When Chef, Roger Simpson, retired back in April, I had two goals for the galley operation:

1. Modernize the menu by incorporating new ingredients, flavors, cooking techniques, and plate presentations.

2. Change the production philosophy to a seasonal, 100% “scratch” operation.

Considering the constraints inherent to the galley operation – (1) finite number of customers, (2) limited operational resources, (3) below market revenue structure – I wasn’t certain how far we could go in reaching these goals. However, I felt confident that if we could move in that direction, member satisfaction would ultimately increase.

To succeed, I knew I needed to find someone who shared my goals, who had a passion for food, and who had the background to execute the vision. It took a few attempts, but I believe that I have found that person in our new Chef, Kris Ott. From my perspective the galley operation is moving in a great direction, ahead of schedule. In fact based upon Kris’ progress, I am confident that the goal of a seasonal, 100% “scratch” operation is attainable by the end of this next year!

Where the operation previously utilized pre-processed foods (canned foods, box mixes, packaged stocks and sauces, and frozen vegetables and dough), Kris has eliminated the use of all of these products. He has redirected the production schedule to make time for preparing all of these items from scratch. For example in place of canned beets on the salad bar, we now roast fresh beets each week; instead of canned pudding or jarred salad dressing, we make all of it fresh each week; and instead of boxed cake or muffin mix, we make these items from scratch.

Over the next year, it’s our goal to replace dried pasta with fresh house-made pasta and to pickle and jar our own products in order to capture flavors when they are at their seasonal peak. We also look to expand the in-house production of our bread and pastry options.

In terms of proteins, Kris’ background in butchering is proving invaluable. By bringing in bulk items (i.e. entire fish, whole chickens, and sides of pork or beef), Kris is able to increase product quality while maintaining cost margins. In fact, through this practice, we can now guarantee that all of our seafood, with a few minor exceptions (i.e. trout) is wild and line caught. As we look towards next year, we hope to offer more organic/free range meats on our menu.

Considering that Kris has only been here for a few months, he is still getting used to the preferences of the membership. Both of us want you to enjoy the food, but we encourage you to participate in the process. Tell us what you like, what you don’t like, and what you would like to see on the menu. It’s always easier to give a customer what they want, rather than trying to guess what they want.

To illustrate this, a member recently informed me that he understood that fresh, roasted beets on the salad bar is consistent with the new food philosophy, but some of his friends preferred the flavor of the canned, pickled beets. As a result, Kris is working on a recipe for pickling his own beets. It won’t be available tomorrow, but when it is, it will be a product that will be healthier, more flavorful, and something in which we can take pride.

To offer suggestions, feel free to email me at cwong@oaklandyachtclub.com or Kris at kott@oaklandyachtclub.com.

Bon Appétit,

Craig

Puppets Lucy and Jennifer aka Jenny and Monica were surprise performers at the Change of Watch

Social Report November 2007

And now, don’t forget to come to the remaining events of the year!

Events in Bold below require reservations. 

Dear OYC Members:

The holiday season is upon us once again and thoughts towards family and loved ones abound.  But not all families are as fortunate as we are.  In fact, not all people of good will have good families at all.  So we have made it easy for members to answer those tugs at their heart strings by providing New Toy Barrels and Food Barrels at the Club.  The New Toy Barrels support the Oakland Firefighters Random Acts.  This charity program has been created by the dedicated firefighters themselves.  From the City of Oakland metro fire department, the firefighters truly believe that they can make a difference in our community.  As they respond into the homes of citizens they can observe up close the personal situations where people truly need a hand to live and succeed.  They seek to plant positive seeds in our districts to the benefit of the whole community.  There can be no nobler calling than to help truly needy people at a time of the year when all those around them are celebrating and enjoying each others warmth.  Please be sure your toys are new and unwrapped.

The Food Barrels support the Alameda County Community Food Bank.  The Food Bank provides food to 300 community agencies that serve on-site meals and food bags.  A steady paycheck does not protect against hunger.  Low-income families must often make the painful choice between paying for housing or paying for food.  Tens of thousands of low-income Alameda County residents cannot afford meals for themselves and their families.  Many never imagined they would need to request food assistance, but barren cupboards and empty pockets lead more than 40,000 of our community members to local soup kitchens and food pantries every week.  35% of them are children and 18% of them are seniors.  Can you imagine children going hungry in a community with so much abundance?  The following is a list of the most needed food drive items:

Canned Fruit and Vegetables
Canned Meats and Fish
Peanut Butter
Pasta and Tomato Sauce
Dry and Canned Beans
Rice and Rice Noodles
Canned Soup
Healthy Snacks ( granola bars, raisins, pretzels)
Breakfast Foods
Hot Cereal ( creamed wheat, oatmeal )
Dry Milk and Fortified Soy Milk
Nutritional Drinks
Pre-packaged meals

All of our members are wonderful people with huge hearts who care so much for each other.  Please reach out with a little effort to help others who struggle everyday for basic food and shelter.  You are all so kind to help.

Best wishes and thanks so much,

Jim and Dee Sadler
 

San Diego
November 9, 2007

In Memory of Denis Mahoney

We rounded Point Loma the other night -- too close it turned out -- and were trapped in the kelp. By the time we got ourselves out, the engine sounded funny, and I soon realized that I had heard that sound before, once when we had started to leave the OYC dock with the engine intake valve closed. I cleaned the strainer of kelp leaves and our old favorite, eel grass, but when we restarted the engine and listened again, the sound was the same. While puzzling over how to clear the intake line and thru-hull, I remembered a story Denis told at the bar about clearing a clogged intake line with an air horn. I reached for the compressed air horn and blasted it down through the top of the strainer housing and out the thru-hull. With a loud gurgle, the remaining crud was blown out and water gushed in. The engine sounded fine when we restarted it.

We will miss Denis and his resourcefulness, and we will be better off if we remember both him and his stories.

Ted & Diane Keech
FAYAWAY
Keeches@gmail.com
http://picasaweb.google.com/Keeches/LogOfFayaway

Nancy Schimmelman 
Subject: changed price for class

When I placed the ad for the BCN/ACN class in Latitude 38 for next month, I dropped the price to $120 to make it easier to price things for students who only want to take the BCN portion of the course instead of both BCN/ACN

Ladies Luncheon

PUT IT ON YOUR CALENDAR!

SATURDAY February 16th
11:00 – 3:00 PM

Help us usher in Spring!

Share a special afternoon with a new friend, best friend, mentor, your mother, grandmother, or any other special women in your life.

Guest speaker!
MORE DETAILS TO COME.
 

Cruise to Point San Pablo Yacht Club

January 11, 12, 13, 2008

Sign up at the club!

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