|
January 1, 2009 |
|
Editor: Fred Buchas |
|
“It is that time of the year to renew our memberships. ” |
|
Some Tidbits From Your Fleet Captains Steve & Diann Saunders |
|
Steve & Diann Saunders FLEET CAPTAINS |
|
Hello Everyone:
By the time you read this article, it will be 2009…so let us wish you all a “Happy and Healthy New Year”!! Gosh…in looking back over the last year, we are sure you will all agree how fast it has flown by.
Recapping the past year, we have had many enjoyable events…we lunched on the water at places like South Seas Plantation, the Nav-A-Gator Grill, Crow’s Nest in Venice, Cabbage Key, Rum Runners in Fort Myers, Barnacle Phil’s, Tarpon Lodge, and Rum Bay. And, on land, we did a night out with dinner on Boca Grande at South Beach Bar & Grille and afterwards off to Royal Palm Players Theatre to see “S’Wonderful”. Another evening was spent at the Van Wezel in Sarasota, where we enjoyed their Friday Fest On The Bay under the stars. And speaking of stars, there was our 4th of July celebration in Charlotte Harbor where we rafted up and watched the beautiful fireworks. Other events included picnics on the beautiful beach at Don Pedro and Cayo Costa. Also, the grand parties to celebrate our Club’s 2nd Anniversary at The Isles Yacht Club and our recent Christmas Party at the beautiful home of Fred & Judy Buchas where we got front row seating and watched the Punta Gorda Boat Parade right in their back yard. Then there were weekend trips to ‘Tween Waters Inn on Captiva Island where we relaxed and spent the weekend in the water and basking in the sun and then a weekend spent at Roland & Martins in Clewiston where a lot of us enjoyed our first airboat ride on Lake Okeechobee. And last but definitely not least, was our big trip of the year to Holiday Isle in Islamorada in the beautiful Florida Keys. Needless to say, all of these events turned out to be great times with our Grady friends and some great memories were made to last a lifetime.
So…without any further ado…Steve and I are now busily at work planning what events we can put on our calendar for this upcoming year. Within the next week or so, we hope to have a calendar of events for at least the first quarter along with some choices for our annual trip which we usually do in the spring. If anyone has any trip suggestions, please let us know, as we would be happy to check into them for a club event.
Hoping this upcoming year brings more of us together as our motto is “The more the merrier!”
See you all soon, Your Fleet Captains, Steve and Diann |
|
“Within the next week or so, we hope to have a calendar of events for at least the first quarter “ |
A Report From Treasurer/Web MasterDan Eisenberg |
|
Dan Eisenberg TREASURER/WEB MASTER |
|
“we are raising our dues in ’09 to $35 per family.” |
|
“Check out the club photo gallery on Flicker”. |
The Safety SceneSafety Officer/Newsletter Editor-Fred Buchas |
|
Fred Buchas SAFETY OFFICER |
|
“We can make the newsletter better this year, but we need your help. ” |
Other Items & Member News |
|
A Word From The Commodore-Dan Clark |
|
Mark Your Calendar for our Next Meeting – Jan 21st, 6:00pm
Please note the time change to 6:00pm from the traditional 7:00pm. The board voted to move to an earlier time for the convenience of the members. Also, our meetings are now on a quarterly basis, but because of Grady Fest, our Spring meeting will be the third Wednesday in April instead of March.
It is that time of the year to renew our memberships. The dues for 2009 will be $35 dollars which covers operating expenses for the Club. You can send your renewal payment to our Treasurer, Dan Eisenberg, 1618 New Point Comfort Rd., Englewood, Fl. 34223 or bring it to the meeting on the 21st. Our Club goal is to have all dues collected by the 21st.
The meeting will be held at the Whiskey Creek Wood Fired Grill, 2746 Tamiami Trail in Port Charlotte, 941- 766-0045. Please, please, RSVP to me via email by Jan 19th so I can give the restaurant a headcount. Please let me know if you are bringing guests. johnsemple@verizon.net
As always, we will have a 50/50 raffle with half going to the Club and the rest going to the lucky winner.
Remember, it is important to check your e-mail and our Website on a regular basis so that you know what neat things are going on with the Club. |
News From The Secretary-John Semple |
|
Dan Clark COMMODORE |
|
Well so ends another year, and as your Club Safety Officer I’m pleased to report that we didn’t have any serious safety related mishaps last year.
As we begin the New Year, now would be a good time to take stock of the whole gamut of safety related items on or boats. Here’s a quick list of general categories that should be checked. First-aid kits checked for completeness and brought up to date. Check all navigation lights and get some spare bulbs. Also have an assortment of spare fuses for general replacement needs. Make sure your VHF radio is working. Actually do a radio check with someone to make sure you’re transmitting properly. Check batteries in any devices that use them like flashlights. Check your insurance policies and registration and make sure they are up to date. Also make sure that you have put your newest registration sticker on your boat. Check out all signaling devices like your horn and flares and make sure they are working and in the case of flares that they are not expired. Also remember to check your fire extinguishers.
This by no means covers every item that could be checked and everyone’s list will vary. As long as we are well prepared, we stand a much better chance of avoiding safety problems and will be better able to handle the unexpected.
As your Newsletter Editor, I’d like to say that I’ve enjoyed publishing it during this past year and I hope you’ve enjoyed it as well.
All year I’ve been including a reminder in the newsletter that I would welcome and encourage contributions from any of our members and I’m sorry to say that to date I’ve received none. I think I can speak for all of the newsletter contributors when I say that we would appreciate your comments and contributions. It could be in the form of suggestions for column topics or stories or information that you feel would be of interest to the membership.
I’d love to add some new regular columns. Some possibilities could cover fishing, travel destinations, boat repair and maintenance just to name a few. If anyone would be interested in writing a new column please let me know.
We can make the newsletter better this year, but we need your help. Remember, we who do contribute regularly don’t do it for fat salaries or other perks. We are a nonprofit club and all the work is done by volunteer members.
Our club will only be as good as we members care to make it!
Wishing everyone a healthy, happy and safe new year,
Fred Buchas |
|
John Semple SECRETARY |
|
Copyright © 2009 Tarpon Coast Grady-White Boat Club All rights reserved |
Our Vice Commodore-Burt Wahlburg |
|
Burt Wahlburg VICE COMMODORE |
|
I continue to look for member contributions. It could be almost anything that would be of interest to the membership. It could include your personal fishing or cruising stories or just information about hot fishing spots, dining or cruising destinations etc.
Fred Buchas fbuchas1@comcast.net |
|
HOME | CALENDAR | TRIP PLANS | MEMBERS | LINKS | PAST NEWSLETTERS |
|
Website Links: Use Your Browser Back Button To Return Here |
|
“Our Fleet Captains truly went out of their way to bring us to wonderful destinations.“ |
|
“We have booked 16 speakers, 27 exhibitors and millions of door prizes.“ |
|
Happy New Year All
This edition of the Navigator not only begins a New Year for everyone but closes out a terrific year for the Tarpon Coast Grady White Boat Club. Actually, our Club year runs from February 1st thru the end of January and we are about to begin our 4th year. Wow! That’s pretty impressive. Four years ago Ben Knisley met with Gary Ingman and agreed to form a new Grady owner’s club and the rest is history. The founding board consisted of Ben Knisley, Jerry Mroczkowski, Diann Saunders and Geri Bembry.
The original charter of the Club was, as Ben has said so many times, “to have fun”. From my point of view, I’ll say “mission accomplished”! It’s hard to list all the memories that Cher and I have from the last four years, all the places that we’ve cruised to and all the friends that we have gained. I am very proud of our Club and grateful for it.
The New Year will bring many exciting opportunities for our members. We will have a very active cruise schedule and more social gatherings. Our goal, as always, is to give you what you want. We really appreciate hearing your suggestions and ask to keep them coming. We will be on a quarterly publication schedule of the Navigator and we may decide to skip meetings for a month or two in the summer but we are working on a news posting process for our web site so you will want to check that often for the latest in Club news.
The New Year marks a special one for our Club. As you know, we will host Grady Fest 2009. This historic event, which will take place on March 28th at the new Charlotte Harbor Event Center, is unprecedented and not only will be a fun filled and informative day, but I assure you; it will be a day that will make you proud to be a Tarpon Coast member. We have booked 16 speakers, 27 exhibitors and millions of door prizes. Grady-White owners from all around the state will join us in Punta Gorda for this truly memorable day.
It has been my pleasure and privilege to serve as your Commodore this past year. I am very grateful for the opportunity to work with our incredible Board and to have the opportunity to cruise and party with the terrific members of the Tarpon Coast Club.
Happy New Year! |
|
Happy New Year from the Bean Counting Department!
This is the time of the year that as a club, we have to close out our books. Even though our membership year runs from February 1st thru January 31st, as a non-profit corporation, we follow the normal IRS tax year.
Closing out is not a big deal, we just have to liquidate all funds in our account. Actually, that sounds fun except for the fact that there really aren’t many funds in our account. This year, for example, we are dealing with about $1000. We first set aside a portion to subsidize our Annual Club Dinner that is held on February 7th, then pay for some modest Y/E accounting costs and then take what is left and pay down our rather large debt for “made but not shipped” burgees. After that, our spending spree is over. We would have liked to either contribute more for the Annual Dinner or to pay off the burgee bill but at this point, that’s not possible.
As you know, throughout the year, the club does not spend very much money. Our expenses generally are to pay for a room for our meetings, a small fee for our guest speakers and then the big one… buying T-shirts and burgees. Those require a large outlay of funds. Currently, our T-shirt inventory is holding up so for ’09, we just have a large bill for the unshipped burgees. The operating costs for our club, such as our web site and our photo site are paid for by Ingman Marine.
As you’ve heard, we are raising our dues in ’09 to $35 per family. This decision did not come easily and the board spent a great deal of time debating the pros and cons. We decided that since we give the money back to the members anyway, a small increase should not be too objectionable. We hope you’ll support us on this. Our goal is to have enough working capital to pay off the burgee bill and be prepared for unexpected expenses. As the year progresses, we’ll access our financial situation and use the account to pay for some of the club gatherings, like our annual picnic at Don Pedro.
Thanks for all your support this year and a happy and exciting boating year in 2009.
Above article contributed by Commodore Dan Clark WEB Site:
LINKS TAB:
Below those are links to lessons learned and safety information. Below those is a table with links to external sites on a number of topics including weather, fishing, safety, other boat clubs, etc. One recent addition is the Yamaha bulletin on Ethanol use. The LINKS page is at http://tarponcoastgwbc.com/links/links.html
NEWSLETTERS TAB:
|
|
AHOY and HAPPY NEW YEAR
It’s hard to believe that another year has passed us by, it sure seems that the older one gets the faster time goes! The previous year brought many memorable journeys to new and old favorite destinations in addition to meeting new members. Our Fleet Captains truly went out of their way to bring us to wonderful destinations.
ENTHUSIASM!!
A goal for us this year could possibly be enthusiasm: maintaining our friendships inside and outside the club and sharing in our boating experiences. Despite the difficult and stressful economic outlook, we can keep out boating “afloat” by sharing excursions on each other’s vessels , plan some trips that keep us on the west coast (less fuel consumption) and perhaps have some outings that are by other mode of transport (car, bike, moped, etc..) or “pooling” for a theatre trip, museum, such as Mote, Edison, Botanical Gardens, etc., and of course trips to other Grady dealers in FL would always be on the Wahlburgs agenda at a moment’s notice!! Perhaps sharing our excitement for boating with other clubs and sharing the information regarding the Grady Fest..other clubs must surely have a web-site (they may NOT be so lucky as to have a web-master as knowledgeable as we have). Enthusiasm for boating is one of the things that keeps us looking forward to the week-ends when our work gets into overload.
We are so fortunate to have a club that brings us all together, and I for one am looking forward to a great New Year with renewed “enthusiasm”. |
|
“Our goal is to have enough working capital to pay off the burgee bill and be prepared for unexpected expenses. “ |