December 2002 Chartroom Chatter

Commodore's Corner

Kenneth W. Bean

This is my first article written as your Commodore. It is my honor and pleasure to lead this fine organization for the coming year. You have also elected a fine Board and we will all strive to work to support and protect the rights and interests of recreational boaters and our member clubs.

We have made several changes as a result of the recommendations of the Special Communications Committee and approved by the Delegates at the August 2002 Delegates meeting. We hope that you have seen some positive changes. This special committee will be reappointed again this coming year with V/C Betty Stahler serving as Chairperson. We hope that the interactive website has not only made it easier for you to contact us, but has improved the timeliness and accuracy of information published on the website (www.cbyca.org) and in the Chartroom Chatter. W no longer will publish incomplete information. The Special Communications Committee will conduct a 6-month review of the new procedures. In the April 2003 Chartroom Chatter we will publish a questionnaire requesting input from each club as to the changes made and also to solicit input as to how to improve the way we conduct business.

The Delegate and/or Alternate Delegate will be the primary point (s) of contact between CBYCA and member clubs. Please ensure that responsible individuals are appointed to these jobs. As a reminder, the new Delegate pins will be issued to the club Delegate and Alternate Delegate, on record, in attendance at the February 2003 Delegate meeting. Please ensure that your club representatives are present.

Bridget and I hope that everyone has a very fine holiday season and Happy New Year and we look forward to seeing you at the Commodore Balls or around the Bay.

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Rear Commodore Report

John Garlotta * cbycrc03@yahoo.com

Hello to all my fellow captains. It is my pleasure to serve as Rear Commodore of the CBYCA for the year 2003. One of the duties of the R/C is to serve as chairperson of the Roster book.

I talked about the roster book at the November delegates meeting held at Bush River Yacht Club.

The roster book is the main source of income, with which to fund the CBYCA. The CBYCA does no hold any fund raising events during the year to raise additional money. We have kept the membership dues at the same level the past five years. It is therefore necessary to have the cooperation of all clubs and the membership of these clubs to give their support by placing ads in the Roster book. To those clubs who have placed ads in the past years, I give you my thanks. Clubs who have not placed an ad in the past years, I urge you to do so this year. One eighth of a page will only cost $50.00

New for this year we will have a PRINCESS PAGE . Those clubs who place an ad can have their princess picture placed on the princess page for an additional $25.00

For individual club members, they can place one of three different ads.

1. INDIVIDUAL $l2.00 for which your name, the name of your boat and club, will be placed in the Roster book.

2. BOOSTER $10.00 your name, the name of your boat and club name will be placed in the Roster book. In addition you will receive a copy of the Roster book.

3. PATRON $20.00 you will receive all the above, plus you will receive the Chartroom Chatter, the monthly newsletter of the CBYCA.

A packet for the 2003 CBYCA Roster book was sent out November 22. Please submit your club's Roster and advertising form as soon as possible. A blank advertising and Roster form are included in this issue of the Chartroom Chatter

Deadline date is February 10, 2003.

If you or your club has any pictures from this past boating season please submit them to me. I will try to have them placed in the yearbook. Please send the pictures with your club name and event noted on the back of the picture.

I had the pleasure of attending the Miles River and Delaware River ball in November. I want to thank them for the reception they afforded me. I plan to attend many more balls this year and in 2003 . I am looking forward meeting many more of you

Have a safe and happy holiday season.

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Maryland Legislative Report

Coles Marsh, DSLMD * marshcr@prodigy.net

First, let me thank Charlie Tulip for leaving the Director's position in such great shape. He opened many doors for CBYCA and truly will be missed. CHARLIE, HAPPY AND SAFE BOATING TO YOU AND YOUR LADY.

I have been honored by the CBYCA Board of Governors to try and fill some BIG SHOES. I will need Delegates and members help to continue to be a positive voice in Annapolis. Please help me spot any legislation that would have an effect on your club or recreational boating.

The state has some major issues to address before getting to other legislative matters. The first issue is the budget. (My guess some licensing, registration and excise tax collection will be looked at as good income sources). This matter was already discussed with DNR last year. The proposed increases were in your January 2002 Chartroom Chatter. The board request any funds raised by boating fees should be placed in an account that can be used only for boating related activities, mainly those outlined by DNR. DNR should be the recipient of the increased fees. No doubt this will come up again this year.

I will have a meeting with DNR and the Marina Trade Association next month.

INFORMATION IS NOT A BAD THING.

YOUR CLUB CAN BE A GREAT SOURCE.

WE NEED YOUR VOICE.

New Jersey Legislative Report

Jerry Donofrio, Sr., DSLNJ * security@fcc.net

SPEED LIMITS

Speed limits were the main topic of discussion at the New Jersey Boat Regulatory Commission meeting held in Perth Amboy, at the Raritan YC, November 6th. A preliminary paper outlining a maximum of 30 MPH on waters of the state met with the largest turnout of boaters in recent history giving testimony against such restriction. The only body of water not affected would be the Delaware River and Bay but would include sections of the Hudson River South to Cape May.

Commissioner Brown led the meeting by pointing out that there had been more deaths this year and many high speed boats were involved in disruptive operation traveling through fleets of sailboats regattas in narrow channel bay areas. He went on to say that if high performance boaters want to go fast, they could hold special sanctioned races and get permits for the activity from the State Police. The New Jersey State Police said that any event, including sailboat races, requires a permit. They also pointed out that the performance boats do have the supervision of the NJSP. None of the deaths involved speed.

After several hours of testimony from racing groups, sales organizations, boating associations, other regulatory advisors and myself, the speed limit question was tabled until the next Commission meeting. The Commissioner did say, that possibly the limit should be 40 or 45 MPH because some boats cannot operate properly under that speed. The discussions finally led to possible speed restrictions only in narrow or congested channels. It now appears that the outcome of the meeting indicates that we need more education and not speed limitations. The Commission meets every two months with the next meeting being held in West Trenton at the State Police Headquarters this January. We will be there!

MANDATORY EDUCATION

I attended a hearing, on November 15^th, of the New Jersey Assembly, Sub-Committee on Boat Safety held Rutgers University in Camden, NJ. The hearing was called by Assm. Smith. Also attending was Assm. Moran, from the Barnegat area, and Assm. Johnson, from Jersey City. The usual assemblages of boating representatives were present, as well as the sole survivor of the accident involving a sport fishing vessel, operated by Mr. Flowers and a small craft with four fishermen aboard. As you may have read in periodicals, Flowers received 6 months in jail and no fine. Both of the boat operators had many years of boating experience but failed to observe rules of watch keeping and keeping out of the path.

Interestingly, Chairman Smith was involved in a capsizing of his 27-foot fishing vessel in the Cape May Rips this past October. The Rips are narrow channels with frequent shoal areas and generally are known for their rough waters. His boat was hit abeam by a wave which caused the three occupants of the vessel to be trapped under the boat for a time and almost losing one person in the current. The rescue came from some nearby fishermen. Smith started the meeting with the story of his experience.

Various people, including me, gave testimony regarding the requirements to purchase a boat, operate a boat and the need for education. New Jersey does not require education for an operator unless they were born after 1979. Everyone there felt that some form of education would help to eliminate some of the improper operation of water craft. This preliminary hearing was about education, certification and licensing as methods to thwart off the ever increasing level of just plain ignorant operators.

Boating safety is becoming a big issue here in New Jersey as elsewhere. One organization pushing legislation is The National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA). They are trying to get every state to conform to established standard written by NASBLA. They also teach boating safety courses and are involved in the Marine Trades Association. Is there possibly a dollar bill involved in all this too?

There will be several more hearings, however, the Legislators indicated that they plan to act fast on this issue. Laws on boating, in New Jersey, must be passed between September and May by statute.

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Be Prepared

P/C Harry P. Seeback * jeha13@juno.com

This is the Boy Scout motto, however it should be the motto of every club in CBYCA. What am I talking about? Think forward to May 2003 and the North American Safe Boating Campaign. Kits for this will be mailed to each club. CBYCA will provide the National Safe Boating Council (NSBC) with the names and addresses of each club's Vice Commodore listed in the 2002 Yearbook, thus they should reach a responsible person who can get the kits into the proper hands.

As CBYCA Liaison to NSBC, I would like to report to them on how the program was implemented by our clubs. This will help them organize for the following year, plus give CBYCA a feeling on how we can further assist member clubs. Please let me hear from you at my address in the 2002 Yearbook. Thanks

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Galvanic Corrosion

Art Murray, CBYCA Safety Committee,

CBYCA Safety Committee U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary

Galvanic corrosion is the corrosion or deterioration which results from the flow of electric current between dissimilar metals immersed in an electrolyte. When two dissimilar metals are connected and placed in an electrolyte they will produce both voltage and current . The electrical current will flow from the more active. For example, Magnesium, Zinc, and Aluminum are less noble (more active) whereas Tin, Copper, and Nickel are more noble (less active). If a plate of aluminum were connected to a plate of copper and both plates were placed in an electrolyte, an electrical current would flow from the aluminum plate to the copper plate, and the aluminum plate would deteriorate. In such a situation, the less noble more active metal would be termed the Anode, and the more noble less active metal would be termed the Cathode. The further apart metals are on the Noble List, the larger the electrical potential between them. Salt and even brackish waters make a reasonably good electrolyte. It is reasonable then to assume that a boat with an aluminum hull that also has copper or copper alloy fittings below the water line should develop significant hull deterioration or galvanic corrosion.

Various metal alloys are used in the construction and assembly of boats. Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin. Some stainless steels are an alloy primarily of copper and nickel. Brass screws, bolts, and similar fasteners, bronze struts and propellers, steel (iron) parts, and stainless steel (monel) propeller shafts are often used together in the construction and outfitting of a boat. Galvanic action between these dissimilar metals can cause serious problems. The zinc of a brass alloy can erode away when galvanically coupled to an alloy of more noble metals such as those in bronze or stainless steel. This could leave the brass fitting severely weakened and it could fail. If it were a critical fitting such as a through hull fitting, the failure could result in flooding the vessel and represent a serious safety hazard. Galvanic corrosion of an aluminum hull caused by a stainless steel shaft and a bronze propeller could result in failure of the hull to maintain its watertight integrity. A severely corroded portion of an aluminum hull could fail and allow sea water to flood the boat.

The bad effects of galvanic corrosion can be avoided by the careful use of sacrificial anodes. Zinc is one of the least noble more active metals. It is also relatively inexpensive and easily formed in a variety of shapes which makes it an ideal metal for use as a sacrificial anode. To protect the metal parts of a boat that are immersed in the water connect them with wire or other means inside the hull. Provide a zinc component or components outside the hull attached to the propeller shaft, strut, rudder, or similar part. Some or all of these parts will be connected to the other immersed metals items by the internal wiring. The zinc components will act as the anode for the electrical currents created by the galvanic action, and the other metal parts will essentially act as the cathode. The more active zinc will erode and protect the other metal parts. Since the zinc components will erode, it is important that they be checked periodically and replaced when they show signs of significant erosion. How fast the zinc components will erode depends on the severity of the galvanic currents created and the zinc component's exposure to the other abrasive forces. The boat owner who ignores the potential dangers of galvanic corrosion does so at his peril and probably the peril of others.

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2003 CBYCA DUES

A REMINDER

2003 Dues are now due. If you club has not yet mailed in it's check,

"NOW IS THE TIME".

Mail Checks to:

V/C Betty A. Stahler

3003 Mountain Road

Pasadena, MD 21122

If you have any questions regarding your account, please do not hesitate to contact me at 410-885-2492 or donburton@dmv.com.

2003 CBYCA Meeting Schedule

Mark Your Calendars!

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

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