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January 2002 Chartroom Chatter

Commodore's Corner

Joseph Hellner

Ahoy there! What a great time Kathy and I had at the CBYCA Commodore's Ball!! Our warmest thanks and appreciation go to all who attended. For your 2002 CBYCA Bridge and us, it was a wonderful welcome aboard and a fine way to start what I know will be a great year for our clubs and fellow boaters. A special thanks goes to P/C Earl Waesche for a superb job as M/C, to R/C Betty Stahler for reservations, to Captain Al Freedman of Maryland YC for photography, to Chaplain Sam Weiner for the invocation, to Scott, Joel, Jay, and Tim of the quartet, "Fourgetaboutit" for entertainment and singing of the National Anthem, to the friendly Best Western Hotel and Conference Center staff, and to one of my longtime favorite bands, "Rich and the Roadrunners" for a rockin' good evening. Special thanks also go to Belvedere YC members P/C Brooks and Peggy Broome for VIP line-up and chairing the Hospitality Room, P/C Bob and Anna Davis for guest check-in, F/C Jeff Smith for Hospitality Room bartending, and the Hospitality Room crew including Princess Tiffany Smith and Commodore-Elect Diana Landergren.

While I am on the subject of thanking folks, I would like to highlight Miss Candace Steele, Queen of the Chesapeake and Miss Barbara Gricco, Queen of the Delaware River Yachtsmen's League as well as all the club princesses. These young ladies shoulder the responsibility and give a lot of their free time to represent their clubs and in the case of the Queens, all the clubs together. In my mind, they are our ambassadors of goodwill and symbols of our pride in the next generation. Growing up around us on the water from little deck rats to Princesses and Queens, they demonstrate that ours is a hobby of family, unity, and confidence that we will pass onto that next generation, a bright future for our clubs, boating, and our waterways. Well done, ladies. I salute you and know that you will continue to make us all proud that you represent us.

Now, on to business. We had a great Board Meeting in December while enjoying the find food and hospitality of Key Yacht Club. Thanks and well done to Danny, Kitty and the officers and members! The legislative season is about to begin in our various states. In this regard we heard from Mr. Bruce Gilmore, Director of Licensing and Registration, Maryland DNR, on the subject of raising vessel registration fees and the fact that a bill will be introduced to raise these fees. Our legislative officers will provide you with more details, but in light of the fact that these fees are quite modest and have not been raised since the 60's and 70's, the CBYCA Board is favorably disposed toward this bill. We will likely testify in favor of the bill, provided the bill contains sufficient restrictions such that the additional funds raised from boaters will be used to benefit boaters and waterways.

If you or your club has an issue you feel strongly about, now is the time to get involved in the legislative process. In our great country, everyone has a voice. Only by your letter, email, phone call, or presence in committee rooms or legislators' offices do your elected representatives know there is a high level of concern about an issue. Your personal story or expertise can be critical. Our legislators can't be experts on everything. Don't let them hear only from professional lobbyists. Your volunteer CBYCA Board and staff will help guide you and get the information you need. We will continue to go to bat for you before the legislatures, but you, your clubs, and your Club Delegates must back us up if we are to be successful.

Another effort kicking into high gear is our annual Chartroom Chatter Roster Edition aka "The CBYCA Yearbook". As always, our goal is to get a 100% update on our clubs and officers but we need your club to send us the information!! The yearbook is also our major fund-raiser and how we control the need to raise club dues. Please consider a personal ad (a picture of your boat perhaps), urge your club to take an ad, and, if you patronize a great business, band, caterer, or service, we should all know about, suggest to them an ad in our yearbook. Also, don't forget our Patrons and Friends Program.

I must close on a sad note and report to you the recent passing of CBYCA Past Commodore Henry E. "Gene" Davis of Rose Haven Yacht Club (now known as Herring Bay Yacht Club). Although we have not seen him in recent years, he was very active in the successful operation and progress of the CBYCA and a mentor to many. I plan to have an article on him in a future issue of Chartroom Chatter. For those of you who had the privilege of knowing and working with him, I would appreciate any stories and information you can provide.

Best wishes for a Happy new Year and I hope to see you soon around the Bay or at a club affair.

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Vice Commodore's Report

Kenneth W. Bean

I hope that everyone had a very enjoyable holiday season.

The meeting schedule for 2002 is located in the back of this issue of the Chartroom Chatter. The next Delegates meeting will be held at Bodkin Yacht Club on February 16. Lunch will be available at 1200 and the meeting will start at 1300. Details on the menu will be in the February Chartroom Chatter. The guest speaker will be J. Charles Fox, Secretary, MD Department of Natural Resources. I hope to see you there.

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NOTICE

Please check with the appropriate Bridge Officer of your club to assure that the 2002 Roster Information Sheet has been completed and forwarded to AO Faye Broseker. The deadline for submitting advertising for the 2002 yearbook is February 8, 2002. If you, your club, a member of your club or a contractor is planning to place an advertisement, please remind them of this fast-approaching deadline. And last, but certainly not least, please remember to forward your 2002 CBYCA dues to the CBYCA Treasurer as soon as possible. All the appropriate forms and mailing information are included in this issue of the Chartroom Chatter. Your assistance will be greatly appreciated.

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CBYCA Dues

A Reminder

Treasurer Donald H. Burton donburton@dmv.com

If your club has not yet mailed in its 2002 CBYCA dues,

please forward it to :

Donald H. Burton, CBYCA Treasurer

105 Tower Point Road

Chesapeake City, MD 21915

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Maryland Legislative Report

Charles Tulip, Jr., DSLMD C2lip@aol.com

1.   Conversations with several Legislators, DNR and MDE officials, and CBF indicate that redistricting will be the main topic of the 2001 Session of the Maryland General Assembly.  Other than the proposed increase in boating fees, discussed below, legislation affecting recreational boating does not seem to be on the horizon.  This may change, however, as the session progresses.

 2.  Proposed boating fee increases:

The DNR will be proposing the following fee increases to the General Assembly:

The current fees bring in to DNR about $2.2 million  a year, and the new ones are projected to bring in about $4.5 million a year.  The increase of $2.3 million will be used in DNR for boating related purposes, specifically:

1. Putting the licensing process on-line: Currently, the licensing/relicensing process is done either in person or by mail.  The fee increase will provide for the programming and support to allow DNR to put the licensing/relicensing process on-line and allow Maryland boaters to conduct business with DNR electronically.  This could be a major time saver for Maryland and out-of-state boaters.

2. Since children learn about the environment and develop an ecological ethos best when they are taken out of the classroom, the increase will provide for an additional 15,000 students each year to participate in an outdoor Bay or stream experience (tied to Maryland Learning Outcomes).  Schools in the urban and low-income neighborhoods that have traditionally lacked access to such activities would receive special attention.

Additionally, the increase will provide funding to assist schools in creating habitat on school grounds, expand student Aservice learning@ opportunities through DNR restoration programs, and the expand DNR=s Project TEAM which trains volunteers to provide classroom and outdoor presentations on Bay and stream ecology.  Finally, web-based curriculum materials will be developed and put on-line to support these programs. 

3. Healthy Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) beds are crucial to the ultimate success of the restoration of the Chesapeake Bay.   Currently,  SAV populations are less than 25% of historic levels.  To reverse this trend, Maryland will implement a strategy to accelerate protection and restoration of SAV beds in both the Bay and coastal waters.  This initiative would implement such a strategy through a three-pronged approach, funded by an increase in the boating registration fee:

• First, fund new shallow-water monitoring technologies to improve efforts to restore habitat and SAV.

• Second, additional SAV beds would be planted in strategically identified locations. 

• Finally, provide greater protection of existing SAV beds from damage by dredging operations and commercial fishing activities. 

The Board discussed the fees increases with Bruce Gilmore, Director, Boating Licencing at the January Board meeting.  Even though they were not happy with the prospect of further costs to the recreational boater, they were cognizant of the needs expressed above and the significant time since the fees were last changes.   The Board tentatively agreed to support the increases, pending hearing from member clubs.   All our clubs are encouraged to discuss the fee increases with their Boards and members and to e-mail their comments to me at c2lip@aol.com.   The hearing on the fee increase bill should occur sometime in February and the CBYCA Board will make a final decision at the January Board meeting.

3.   DNR will be contacting many of our clubs that are located in marinas to ask them to encourage their marinas to become AClean Marinas.@   In addition, those clubs with their own facilities will be encouraged to sign-up.  We provided DNR a classification of our clubs for them to use in this campaign.

DNR will again this year be holding AClean Marina@ workshops in Annapolis, Solomons, Baltimore and Easton.  The tentative dates are January 29 & 31 and February 5 & 7 .  As soon as they attach a date to a place, I will be contacting clubs about the sessions and asking them to attend.

4.   DNR will be contacting marinas on a random sample basis this winter regarding boating infrastructure needs.  This relates to the use of Waterway Improvement Fund use.  The excise tax on boats and the boating fees go into this fund.

5.   The Ad Hoc Committee to Revise the Boat Act has held its last formal meeting.   The DNR is preparing the report (they still need some language to be drafted) and they expect the final product out for comment by early January.   Without committing to the content of the report, it appears that there will be a specific time period before the excise tax could be due to replace the Aprincipal use@ standard.   This should allay many of the fears out of Maryland boaters have voiced.

6.   Maryland=s request for FERC to reconsider the Cove Point permit is still under review. A USCG workshop on risk management for the vessel operations was held in  Hampton Roads in early December.  The results of that workshop have been forwarded to the USCG Captain of the Port of Baltimore for his use in making a decision regarding the suitability of the Bay for LNG tanker operations.  If the Captain of the Port of Baltimore finds that the Bay is suitable (since LNG tankers used the Bay in the early 1980's, it=s probable that he will again find the Bay suitable for LNG operations) the Williams Company will have 30 days to submit for approval their plan for vessel operations.  The time table for decision making is not precise, but the Williams Company feels that they will be able to start ship borne deliveries when the facility ready next fall.

7.   The Volvo Around the World Race (nee Whitbread) will be in the Bay in April.  District 5 of the United States Power Squadrons is making arrangement to supply picket boats for the entry into Annapolis on April 26 and the restart of the race on April 28, 2002.   Participation when the boats arrive in Baltimore on the 17^th and lower Bay activities is still Aworking.@  Any of our clubs= boats that may want to be part of this should give me an e-mail message (c2lip@aol.com) as to their interest.

7.  The Boat Act Advisory Committee met in Ocean City on December 13 and recommended the following to DNR:

a.  Take no action to make the water trails in and around Jane=s Island State Park that are principally used by canoes and kayaks off limits to PWC=s because PWC=s are not permitted anyway because of the width of the trails is less than 100 feet.

b. The 6 knot speed limit on Assawoman Bay should be moved 200 yards to the west to slow traffic in the area.

c.  The requested ban on PWC=s in the 94^th Street area of Ocean City was not recommended because the channel is less than 100 feet and enforcement of the current rules would solve the problems raised.

d.  Information on the proposed USCG rule requiring their inspection inflatable life rafts for recreational boats was provided.  No action by the Committee was taken.

8.  In my November column, I attributed the ABay Journal@ to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in error.  The ABay Journal@ is published by the Alliance for the Bay through a grant from the EPA.

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Pennsylvania/Delaware Legislative Report

Rex Beers, DSLPADE

Pennsylvania and Delaware Legislative are out on recess untill January 2002 for Pennsylvania and Delaware is out until July of 2002. But A study conducted by the Pennsylvania The Fish and Boat Commission Executive Director Peter A. Colangelo, and Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at Penn State University suggests that consumption advisories, beyond the statewide one-meal-per-week advisory applicable to all recreationally caught sportfish , may not be warranted for hatchery trout fed a standard diet of commercially-available fish food over a period of months in a carefully-controlled scientific study at Benner Spring fish hatchery (Centre County). Dr. Robert F. Carline, the lead researcher in the study, presented his findings to the Game and Fisheries Committee of the State House of Representatives at a meeting on December 4 in Harrisburg. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission funded the study as part of its ongoing research into the low levels of PCBs found in state hatchery trout. The study explored the relationship between known levels of PCBs in fish food and the resultant amount found in adult trout of the size typically stocked for recreational angling. The study also looked at the possible contribution of PCBs from water, the amount of PCBs retained by trout as a result of various exposures and looked for any seasonal variation in the PCB levels found in hatchery fish flesh. The core experiment in the study involved feeding trout a variety of diets, each with different, known levels of PCBs. The trout were tested at regular intervals to determine how much of the PCBs in fish food was assimilated. The fish fed the standard feed to stocking size had such low levels of PCBs that no consumption advisories beyond the existing statewide one-meal-per-week advisory would be warranted using Great Lakes Consumption Advisory Protocols for state hatchery trout. In fact, diets deliberately spiked with additional PCBs also yielded fish below or just at levels  which could trigger more restrictive advisories. The study also concluded that trout assimilated a large portion (87%) of the PCBs in feed. PCBs were found in the water source used in the study, but the researchers determined that, in this study, the minute levels of PCBs in the water did not significantly contribute to levels in the fish. There was also no indication that hatchery infrastructure at this site contributed any additional PCB exposure. The Fish and Boat Commission Executive Director Peter A. Colangelo, said “the Fish and Boat Commission sees this study as an important step in advancing our understanding of PCBs in hatchery fish. This is a complicated area involving many variables. The study provided good news in that it demonstrated that feeds like those used regularly in PFBC hatcheries may produce adult trout with PCB levels that should not result in any additional consumption advisories. However, the study also showed that more work is needed to identify why trout fed the standard feed at a couple of hatcheries showed somewhat elevated levels of PCBs.”  Mr.Colangelo told the Game and Fisheries Committee that the Commission has asked the Research Unit to develop a proposal for additional studies that would explore the impacts and feasibility of creating alternative diets for trout. The proposed study would also look at operations and infrastructure at Huntsdale Fish Culture Station, Cumberland County. The largest of the state-operated trout hatcheries, Huntsdale trout have shown, on average, slightly higher levels of PCBs than found at the PFBC’s other trout producing stations. Extensive testing on water sources, feed, soils and facilities have not led to any conclusions about why there are slightly elevated PCB levels at Huntsdale. PCBs are a group of chemicals used prior to the 1970s in a variety of industrial and electrical products such as capacitors, transformers, turbines, hydraulic fluids, lubricants, etc. PCBs are very persistent, and even though their manufacture was discontinued nearly 25 years ago, trace levels of PCBs remain in the environment, including wild and hatchery-raised fish. All recreationally-caught sportfish in Pennsylvania are subject to a statewide one-meal-per-week consumption advisory, which covers mercury and other contaminants. Consumption advisories are information tools to help anglers plan their consumption of sport fish. Consumption advisories for PCBs focus on exposure of pregnant women, women of child-bearing age and children. Pennsylvania is the only state regularly to test its state hatchery fish for PCBs and apply the Great Lakes Consumption Advisory Protocols to the results. The testing of Pennsylvania hatchery trout over the last three years has confirmed that these fish are safe to catch, safe to handle and safe to eat in moderation. Although a small number of samples of Pennsylvania state hatchery trout have, in the past, showed levels of PCBs for which low-level consumption advisories were appropriate, the reported levels have remained far below the action levels set by the federal Food and Drug Administration for PCBs in fish sold as foodstuffs in interstate commerce. The final report of the Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit will be released to the public when it is submitted to the Fish and Boat Commission and the House Game and Fisheries Committee early next year. Dr. Robert Carline is leader of the Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit and adjunct professor of Fisheries Science at Penn State. He holds a bachelors degree from Rutgers University, a Master of Science Degree from Oregon State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin (Madison)(1975). He has authored numerous technical and professional publications and articles, and his work has earned wide-spread recognition and many awards.

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New Jersey Legislative Report

Jerry Donofrio, DSLNJ

DREDGING THE MONEY PIT IN JERSEY

New Jersey Legislative Report

New Jersey is considering (Bill A3857) sponsored by Asm. John Gibson to dredging ICW channels and back bays.  Cost of the dredging is with money collected under the motor fuels tax not dedicated to funding the Transportation Trust Fund. The Bill provides an annual $2,000,000 to maintain channels and secure land for disposal of dredge material.  Presently, the only intention is to work on Atlantic shore ICW bays. Although the Delaware shore has not been excluded it is not specifically included within the text of the proposed legislative draft. 

Under this bill, the Treasury will create an account entitled the “Intercoastal Waterway and Back Bay Dredging Account”.  The account will be supplied with revenue derived from $.015 per gallon tax imposed on the sale of motor fuels to an amount during any fiscal year not to exceed the $2,000.000 cap.

The Department of Environmental Protection shall establish an Intercoastal Waterway and Back Bay Dredging program under which the department shall:

(1) Identify dredging disposal needs and probable disposal sites, and obtain the necessary rights of way required to dispose of dredged  materials from Intercoastal Waterway and back bay dredging projects at these disposal sites;

(2) Provide the funding for the State portion of federal and State dredging projects in the Intercoastal Waterway and its back bays; and

(3) Provide matching grants for 50 percent of the cost of municipal  dredging projects, approved by the Department of Environmental Protection.

 On the upside this sounds like a great forward move for boaters in the New Jersey.  On the down side it fails to consider the responsibility to dredge the ICW is a Federal Army Corps task and the Bill fails to particularly embrace other back bays on the New Jersey coastline.  Another problem, funding for the dredging  is derived from tax collected  on gasoline sales and not diesel.  There is no state tax on diesel.  This bill would again impose an overwhelming burden on gas boaters to supply funding for dredging.  At present, gas boaters in New Jersey pay  10.5 cents per gallon in tax to the state.  This money is directed to the Transportation Trust Fund (est. $150,000,000) enacted as a Constitutional Amendment two years ago.  The fund to date is dedicated to highway and infrastructure improvements.

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Teak Surfing

Art Murray CBYCA Safety Committee Chairman

It seems that people are constantly inventing new ways to put their lives in jeopardy. The newest fad is called "Teak Surfing". The procedure is for one or more persons to hang onto the swim platform of a boat while the boat pickes up speed. After sufficient speed is attained, they let go and body surf in the boat's wake. This procedure may be exciting and even thrilling, but it also has some severe risks. Obviously, it is inherently dangerous for anyone to be in the water close to the stern of a boat when the engine is turning the propeller or propellers. Severe injury can occur if any part of a person comes in contact with a running propeller. But even more insidious is the danger of carbon monoxide poisoning. A person hanging onto the swim platform with the boat's engine running will stand a good chance of breathing in the engine exhaust fumes which are rich in carbon monoxide.

When a person goes "Teak Surfing", he does not wear a life vest because it is not possible to body surf while wearing one. This makes the practice even more dangerous. Even if the person does not breathe in enough carbon monoxide to cause death, enough may be inhaled to cause unconsciousness and then death from drowning. It does not take very many breaths of engine exhaust rich in carbon monoxide to reach dangerous and often lethal levels. In one reported fatality, a young man died after breathing a boat engine's exhaust for only five minutes. A subsequent autopsy showed that he had a carbon monoxide concentration of 56% in his blood. More than a lethal dose. Carbon monoxide gas is by itself odorless, colorless, and tasteless and therefore offers no warning. However, it can be assumed that the exhaust from any internal combustion engine will include high levels of carbon monoxide.

The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health reported that there have been 265 poisonings and 44 carbon monoxide deaths at the stern of boats during the past ten years. The number of carbon monoxide deaths might be even higher. Many of the reported drownings may have actually been due to the victim being exposed to carbon monoxide poisoning. Although these poisonings and deaths involved a variety of boats and activities, it does demonstrate the danger of carbon monoxide from engine exhausts accumulating around the stern and swim platforms of boats. It is the skipper's responsibility to make sure that his passengers or guests are not exposed to carbon monoxide poisoning. This may require that there be no "Teak Surfing" off his boat, or that exhaust producing engines be shut off if there is any possibility of people on board or people swimming at the stern being exposed to such exhaust.

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2002 CBYCA Meeting Schedule

Mark Your Calendars!

Please be prompt with your articles. It makes our job easier.

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