Catalina Spirit ~ Texoma Style

Fleet 15

Catalina Spirit ~ Texoma Style

Our second half of the season started off with a bang.  Fleet 15 volunteered for some Sailing Community Service by organizing our first All Catalina Event on Lake Texoma. 

Despite the triple digit temps, we were successful in organizing a 10 boat raft-up. Boats came from all points of the compass. Represented were the 310, 34, 375, and of course our beloved 36s.  It was a true team effort from Fleet 15’s members with email distribution, web site development, sailing club contacts, and local marina advertisements.  Thank you to everyone for your help in making this event a success. There is already demand for the next event.     

With the Texas summer blaze safely off our stern and the winds starting to make their way out of the North, Fleet 15 has shifted focus into the prime sailing season in North Texas.  With a raft-up in September and our 2 day cruise in October, our 2009 activities will come to an end in November with our year-end dinner and elections. 

Fleet 15 did reach a few milestones in 2009.  We welcomed John and Deborah Lowe on Camelot, Hull 1946 out of Cedar Mills Marina.  They have become the 16^th boat in our fleet.  We have also added a fleet gear offering to the membership from the help of the Stroup’s. Finally, we have reached over 2500 visits to our website, www.c36fleet15.com, which continues to serve the membership with event information, photos, news, and fleet gear selections. 

As we close the 2009 chapter, I would like to thank the entire membership and our officers for making this year a success.  As we enter the holiday season, we wish everyone the very best and look forward to 2010.  

See you on the water,

Jack

Fleet 15 Captain – Solstice #1598

Fleet 15 – Catalina Spirit, Texoma Style

Fleet 15 has had a very active first half of the summer despite the high water on the lake.  With a very wet May and early June we ended up with too much of a good thing and the lake had risen almost 12 feet above normal. Mother Nature finally put the brakes on the rain and the US Army Corps of Engineers pulled the drain plug down at the dam. We are almost back to normal in mid-June and no longer require a boat to get to our docks.

With the abnormal lake level causing us to move the schedule around, Fleet 15 was still able to pull off 2 events in May and June.  In May, four boats rafted up for the afternoon in Sandy Creek followed by a perfect night on the hook with overnight temps in the low 60s.

June brought us back together at the southwest corner of the lake for a raft-up in Paradise Cove. Despite the hot conditions, and after a little swimming and relaxing, 12 members made the trip for dinner at Pelican’s Landing in Cedar Mills Marina.  Thanks go out to Ralph and Teresa Johnson for being able to move the schedules around and organize these great events. 

Fleet 15 also continues to bring additional offerings to its members with the addition of our “Fleet Wear” gear section on our website.  Special thanks to Teresa and David Stroup for getting this up and running.  The gear looks great!!

Please visit our website at www.c36fleet15.com for fleet updates, events, photos, and gear. 

We hope that this summer has been your best sailing season yet. 

Fairwinds,

Jack Montani

Fleet 15 Captain

Fleet 15…Catalina Spirit – Texoma Style

Congratulations to Mary and Mike Hogan, Ciscocat, for winning the Fleet 15 slogan contest.  While many members submitted entries, Mary and Mike successfully navigated through the tight online voting in the prelims (and a runoff) to have their slogan selected as the new slogan for Fleet 15.  “Catalina Spirit – Texoma Style” will be used on the website and Fleet 15 merchandise.  In addition, just in time for the season, they earned a gift card to West Marine sponsored by the Fleet 15 Officers. Thank you to David Stroup for setting up the voting on our website.

Fleet 15 is off and running on a packed year of events. We will have had our first 2 events in March and early May.  Coming up, we have a raft-up and dinner overnight in the west end of the lake at Cedar Mills on June 13^th.  In addition, Fleet 15 will be hosting an “All Catalina Event” on July 11^th so please spread the word and be sure to check our website for more details, www.c36fleet15.com. We hope to see many fellow sailors at this event.  Lastly, all events are posted on the Fleet 15 website or you can use the message board to organize additional events.

We hope the 2009 season brings you warm breezes, quite anchorages, great lasting memories, and a return to the simple pleasures of time spent under sail.    

See you on the water,

Jack

Solstice – Fleet 15 Captain

Fleet 15 updates...

Fleet 15 ended 2008 with two fantastic events.  In October we had an anchor overnight at The Islands on Lake Texoma.  The day started with Windseeker, Prime Time, Still a Thrill, Solstice, and Bolero sailing in from both ends of the lake.  After setting anchor and grabbing a light jacket, we all headed to the beach for refreshments and dinner.  Prior to dinner, the beach was combed for wood, a little dinghy fuel was sacrificed, and our beach fire was going.  After an incredible sunset and great evening of conversation and friendship, we doused the coals and retired to our boats for a perfect unplugged evening on the hook. 

            November brought us back together for our final dinner and 2009 elections at Cedar Mills.  With cooler temps and winds gusting into the 30s, some of us had a chance to breakout the foul weather gear for the trip over.  While some came by boat and others by land, we hit a new high for an event with 9 boats/18 people attending. Special thanks to Jim and Veta for hosting a wonderful happy hour in their cabin prior to dinner! While no “official” election took place, it was clear that all members voted telepathically and re-elected the existing board for another term. 

             Now that the Holidays are behind us, we are able to focus on 2009 fleet activity.  Our first event is scheduled for an overnight at Mill Creek on March 28^th followed by a 2 day cruise in May.  Fleet 15 had an incredible 2008 and we are planning an even better 2009.   Please stop by our website at www.c36fleet15.com for more information or membership details.

Fair Winds,

Jack Montani

Fleet 15 Captain – Solstice #1598

Fleet 15 Updates

Fleet 15 had a very active summer and had two major events in June and July. 

Our June event was located at the west end of Texoma at Cedar Mills.  Wastin-Away Again, Sails Call, Still-A-Thrill, Prime Time, Val Jean, and WindSeeker were in attendance.

An early Saturday afternoon raft-up was planned; however, dark skies rolled in and all boats headed for the safety and comfort of a slip with power for overnight air conditioning.  Dinner reservations were waiting for sailors and crew at the newly opened Pelican’s Landing Restaurant.  After great food, drink, and catching up on stories since our last raft-up; we returned to our yachts with the sound of rain on the deck, and a good night’s sleep was enjoyed by all.  Sunday morning brought mostly sunny skies for the sail home.

In July, we spent the afternoon in Sandy Cove with six boats attending.  While our anchorage provided a “Ski Show,” the breeze and refreshing water more than made up for the periodic wake.  As the afternoon came to a close we raised anchor and headed to Mill Creek for a pot-luck dinner and an over-night at the dock.  We were all treated to Teresa’s home-made ice cream! Thank you Ralph and Teresa for hosting a great evening.  

Now that great fall sailing is upon us, we are out on long day-sails with destinations of quite coves and cool evenings on the hook.  As we finish our year with 3 more events in the fall, thank you to all Fleet 15 members for making this year a success.  Please visit our web site at www.c36fleet15.com for more information on membership and events.   

Fleet 15 Updates…

Fleet 15 is now in gear for 2008.  We have hit water under full sail with our initial meeting and the addition of two new boats to the fleet.  We welcome Mike and Mary Hogan - Ciscocat # 226 as well as Edd and Suzanne Onofrey – Prime Time #912 as our newest members. 

Fleet 15 kicked off 2008 with a day sail and overnight at Mill Creek Marina.  Ralph and Teresa Johnson did an outstand job hosting our fleet and our appreciation goes out to them for providing slips and other accommodations at the marina.  During our event we had six boats attend (not bad for the first weekend in March), existing officers were re-elected, 2008 cruising schedule was established, and we discussed new business for the Fleet. 

One area that we made major improvements on was the Fleet 15 website.  David Stroup, Waistin’ Away Again, has developed a website for Fleet 15.  It contains photos from our events, 2008 schedule, member roster, and message board to hit the highlights.  Please stop by www.c36fleet15.com and take a look around.  Thank you very much to David for all of his hard work on getting this up and running.    

Our summer events will be a raft-up/overnight at Cedar Mills on June 28^th, Sandy Creek on July 12^th, and Buncombe Creek on September 13^th.  With that being said, please use the message board or the distribution list should anyone wish to organize additional events.  In addition, please check the web site for RSVP, schedule changes, and location maps of upcoming events.  

Again all information can be found at www.c36fleet15.com. We are off to a great start to make 2008 our best Fleet 15 year!

Fleet 15 Updates:

The flood waters have receded, clean-up and rebuilding is underway, and we have been provided with excellent fall sailing.   By the time this is printed, we will be well into our preparations for the new sailing year.  We will have had our elections, our calendar of events will be in place,  and we will have added two new positions for Fleet 15. 

We will be adding a Fleet 15  Historian/Photographer as well as a Fleet 15 Webmaster.  David Stroup, Wastin’ Away Again, will be proving his services to get Fleet 15 up and online.  We are hoping to have this completed the first part of the new year.     

While the flooding put a damper on most of our plans for the sailing summer, the fall turned into a time of great wind, perfect overnights on the hook, and amazing sunsets on the beach. 

We will continue to sail throught the “winter.” In North Texas we are fortunate that we can sail all year round.  Our winters are usually mild so we do not need to put the boats into hibernation. 

We did make great strides as a Fleet in 2008.  We are up to 15 boats in the area and are continually looking to add to the roster.     If you are looking for additional information about Fleet 15, please email Terry Stoll, Fleet 15 Admin. Capt., at atlstoll@tx.rr.com. 

21^st Annual Lakefest Regatta – Lake Texoma

Lake Texoma is located about 1 hour North of Dallas, Texas.  It is formed by the Red River and is approximately 90,000 square acres at normal pool.  It offers open sailing, beaches, islands, and coves.

For the past 21 years, Texoma Sailing Club has partnered with the Denison Chamber of Commerce to provide a regatta with a sole purpose of giving back to local children’s charities.  In the past 21 years, Lakefest has raised over $1 Million dollars for charity.

This 4 day event is held in April, and consists of a corporate sponsor race on Thursday followed by 6 races over Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  Races are followed by great parties and dancing in the evening.  With Lake Texoma’s central location, this regatta has had as many as 100 boats participating in the event.  We have had boats from several States make the trip in as well as crew participants fly in from both coasts. 

This year there were 7 fleets ranging from “high octane performance sleds” to the cruising class boats. The weather for the regatta this year was perfect.  Temperatures were in the 70s. Winds held at 15 – 20 all weekend long with the occasional gust into the mid 20s. 

Catalina 36 Fleet 15 was represented at Lakefest.  Solstice #1598, owned and skippered by Jack Montani, raced in Cruising Class 5 (non-spinnaker).  Solstice and her crew won their fleet with 3 firsts, 2 seconds, and 1 third for a 7 point total after one discarded race.  

“We had very close racing all weekend long.  One race, the margin between first and second was just 16 seconds. Very close for a one hour race in 20mph winds,” Montani said. “We have participated in Lakefest for 10 years. Spending time with friends and family sailing while giving to charity makes this a great event for everyone.”

Lakefest Regatta is currently scheduled for April, 2008.   

More information on Lakefest Regatta and the Texoma Sailing Club can be found at www.texomasailing.org.

Fleet 15: Lake Texoma 

A lot of news has happened since we last left the mainsheet.  Our membership continues to grow.  We are now up to 15 boats in the fleet. 

We have great schedule of events for this year.  Our first of five events was a dinner and overnight at Alberta Creek.  Alberta Creek is located at the most Northern end of the lake for sailboats access.  We had 6 boats make the trip up, 13 people for dinner, and 4 boats spent the night on the hook. 

Our evening started with a raft-up and happy hour followed by dinner ashore.  While the wind was light on Saturday, it did pick up in the evening providing a very comfortable night at anchor.  We all slept well with the aid of Margaritas and the gentle background noise of the Burlington Northern freight train crossing the bridge off to the Northeast.  Sunday, eight of us enjoyed breakfast accompanied by stories about “the one that got away” from the fishing charters returning to the dock. 

It was great to see everyone for the first time this season and I know that everyone is looking forward to this season’s events.  Special thanks to Ralph and Teresa Johnson for setting up the dinner reservations and to Jim and Veta Holland for taking great pictures. 

Our fall events will be September 8^th - Buncombe Creek raft-up followed by November 10^th - Dinner at Cedar Mills and 2008 elections.  For more information on Fleet 15, please drop us a note at atlstoll@tx.rr.com.

Fleet 15 Update – Lake Texoma

Since its creation one year ago, Fleet 15 has doubled in size from 7 to 14 boats in North Texas and Oklahoma.

A special thanks to our Founding Fleet Captain, Fred Allen. Fred worked very hard to create Fleet 15 and bring Catalina 36 sailors together in North Texas/Oklahoma in our inaugural year.  Highlights for 2006 included doubling our fleet size, two “Official” Raft-ups, Fleet dinner/election of officers, initial web development, and Fleet 15 burgees. 

As we start our second year, we will leverage the strong foundation that has been created.  Our most recent event was our 2007 Fleet Dinner.   While the primary focus was good food, good wine, and great friends, we did manage to accomplish a little business during the evening.  Fleet 15 officers were elected for 2007.  We didn’t have voting machine problems, debates were clean, and most campaigns were above board. 

If you are in our area and would like to become a member, please email Terry Stoll at atlstoll@tx.rr.com or myself at jmontani@sbcglobal.net for further information