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a unit of United States Power Squadrons® since 1953 - District 28 - America's Boating Club

Executive Committee Meeting Minutes

August 8 2005

The meeting was called to order by Commander Katharine Law at her home at 1902. A quorum was present.

Present:
Commander Katharine Law
Lt/C Tom Fota, ExO
Lt/C Michael Fontaine, SEO
Lt/C Barbara A. Goddard, Secretary
Lt/C Trish A Carlin, Treasurer
Lt John Isaksen, Member at Large
P/C Bob Hubbard, Member at Large
Lt Dick Barck, Member at Large
Lt Karen Glaze, Member at Large

Absent:
Lt/C Nancy Renzi, AO

Minutes: The minutes of the 6 June 2005 meeting were accepted as published. (No meeting was held in July.)

Announcements:
Commander Law announced that the ocean Sail Fleet race to Mission Bay would occur on Saturday, 13 August, and the Cruiser Navigation Contest on the following Saturday. She also noted that the Festival of Sail, sponsored by the San Diego Maritime Museum, would be held on 17-21 August and reminded people that this was an official squadron activity. (Several people commented that they planned to volunteer at this event.) Mike Fontaine stated that he planned to attend the Wednesday morning Tall Ship Parade and offered berths to other people wanting to view it.
Commander Law reminded people that copy for the September/October edition of the Ship's Mail is due by Wednesday, 15 August, and should be forwarded to P/C Steven Bakalis.

OFFICERS' REPORTS:
Commander Katie Law reported that she had attended the District 28 Summer Council meeting on 18 June. There was a presentation about Cooperative Charting by D/Lt/Cs Chuck Peterson and Bill Johnson, both of the Phoenix squadron. The presentation was devoted to finding land-based geodesic marks, which will soon be phased out in favor of satellite-based technology. Phoenix SPS has by far the best record in the district on Coop Charting, with seven members on the national Honor Roll.
She also reported attending the D/28 coastal rendezvous, held on 15-16 July in Glorietta Bay, as a guest on Dave and Marie Baer's boat. Dick and Marty Barck had also attended on their new boat. Other squadron members in attendance were P/D/C Bill Bridge, P/C Bob Hubbard, and Mike and Diana Sampsel. There were three (3) boats from the Phoenix squadron, none from Balboa, and five (5) from San Luis Rey, counting D/C Veldhuisen's sons' crafts (a Sabot dinghy and a sail board). San Luis Rey won the prize for the most boats in attendance.
She commented that Safety Officer, P/C Dick Gaffney, had filed with the District his report on the National Safe Boating Week and other safety activities.
Finally, the commander advised that she would be attending the Fall USPS Governing Board meeting in Portland, OR, on 6-11 September and that, during her absence, the Executive Officer would be in charge of squadron affairs.

ExO Tom Fota reported that the figures for SDSPS vessel examiners were 59 vessel safety checks completed, with 39 passing, which compared favorably with the Balboa squadron (54 VSC's), Phoenix (48) and San Luis Rey (none). Tom noted that VSC chairman Ron Weiner believed Gordo Parham had done several exams not yet recorded. Dick Gaffney has been dropped from the list for an inability to complete five VSCs last year. Tom related our experience at the Sun Road Marina event, which was staffed by Ron Weiner, Katie Law, Bob Hubbard, Dick Barck and himself. The examiners were busy from the 1000 start until its close, about 1445, completing 17 VSCs. Bob Hubbard commented that we seem to be performing a service to boaters there, since we do well every year.
Commander Law again encouraged people to consider studying for and taking the on-line vessel examiner's test.

SEO Mike Fontaine reported that the Boating course, which began in June, had just been completed with nine (9) students passing the test. One student had retaken and passed the Seamanship test. Five (5) students passed Weather 101 and are continuing into the second module. Instructor Development, being taught by Karen Glaze, has five (5) students. A Boat Smart class, given by P/R/C Ed Mraz, is underway and will be completed on 17 August. Steven Bakalis reports that there are five (5) students in his JN class. Mike also reported that the AP class, recently taught by Shelley Bakalis and Mike Sampsel, had proved to be a problem. Mike Sampsel was not happy with the Power Point presentations and thought the course would benefit from re-arranging the materials.
The SEO noted purchasing three copies of the San Diego Bay electronic chart aboutt $40 each, which he feels will be a good teaching tool in classes. These programs need to be installed on several of our projectors. Tom Fota will look at them.

AO Nancy Renzi was not present because of her vacation schedule. Her full report will be deferred to the September meeting, where discussions about the Fall Conference will be formalized. The commander noted that plans were well underway for the Raffle and would be announced in both the Ship's Mail and the District publication. Raffle prizes pledged to date include: a week in Nancy Renzi's house in Maine and a 3-hour cruise for six on Dave Weimer's Grand Banks trawler for the more expensive tickets, and other attractive prizes for the less expensive ones. Marie Baer has agreed to oversee the Friday evening hospitality suite. The September general members' meeting cannot be held at Southwestern Yacht Club because of a conflict, and Katie stated that it would most probably be held again at Fiddler's Green.

Secretary Barbara Goddard reported the transfer into the squadron of a member from the North River [NY] Squadron. She also noted receiving a complaint from a new member and asked Karen Glaze, Membership co-chairman, to elaborate. Karen stated that she had had a number of phone conversations with this member, who was extremely upset at not having received either a squadron publication or a copy of The Ensign. He also felt he should get a squadron burgee. Karen had tried to explain that, since he had only been a member for about five weeks, a mailing lag-time of this duration was not unusual. The commander will follow up on this matter.

Lt/C Goddard then called on IT chairman, Tom Fota. Tom gave a check for $400 to Treasurer Trish Carlin, which represented the rebates from purchase of the new projectors. He reported buying two new flash drives, for which he needs to be reimbursed. He noted that the 2005 USPS guidelines for judging squadron websites have been published. They specifically note that pictures of squadron activities would figure in the judging, and Tom asked that people send him current photos for the website. He will also send out an e-mail request to members, seeking photos.

Treasurer Trish Carlin reported the squadron's financial status, as of 31 July 2005, which was substantially improved, attributable to the recent dues renewals. Trish noted that Headquarters had sent out dues renewals and the reminders, but there were still a number of members who had not renewed. She recalled that the Bridge discussed at a previous meeting the custom of calling non-renewing members. Commander Law then went to the DB2000 site and printed out copies of non-renewals, which were divided among ExCom members. She also mentioned that the assessment for District dues had not been received.

OLD BUSINESS: There was no old business.

NEW BUSINESS: There was no new business.

The meeting was adjourned at 1957. The next meeting will be held at the commander's home at 1900 on Monday, 12 September 2005.

Respectfully submitted,

Barbara A. Goddard, P
Secretary