CANE

Welcome!

Catalina Yachts Congratulates CANE on it's 25th year

Announcement:

The May Tech Session, "Cooking on Board" has been cancelled.  Please look for it in next year's schedule!

West Marine Tech Session Winch Maintenance and Repair

Saturday April 4th, 2009

Thirty-five members of CANE gathered at West Marine – Plymouth for our annual WM tech session. This years program was on winch maintenance and repair. Store manager Don Larson welcomed the fleet to the newly renovated and enlarged store. Mike Lee from the Harken Company was the presenter and demonstrated the complete breakdown of a winch. Mike provided a multitude of tips and ensured that the maintenance task was not a mystery and could be done by all owners. He strongly suggested that all perform this task on a regular basis. The session was followed by a question and answer period that provided all with specific information to satisfy their needs. Don Larson provided a number of raffle gifts and needless to say Dick Weiner was the big winner with a WM handheld VHF radio.

Fleet Commodore Mark Schmidt provided an update on the South Cruise and encouraged those planning to go to make their reservations as soon as possible. The cruise information is on our web site. Also noted was the fleets next event, the annual Memorial Day Brunch at Mill Wharf Restaurant in Scituate Harbor on Sunday, May 24th.

Sincere thanks to Don Larson and West Marine for providing this program for CANE. They continue to be a strong supporter of the fleet.

Scott MacKinlay

Basic Electrical and LED Tech Session

The Basic Electrical and LED tech session was held at Jubilee Yacht Club in Beverly, MA on March 14th. It was well attended by approximately 40 people with mostly CANE members and a few potential members invited from Salem Willows and Palmer Cove Yacht clubs as well as Jubilee.

CANE member, Dick (Doc) Weiner started off the session (3188a) with an overview on "Basic Electricity" which included an experiment (3192a), that made an analogy of electrical parameters to water (3191a). After drying things out Dick continued with definitions of voltage, current and resistance and then followed with a few examples of series and paralll circuits. Dick wrapped up his presention with a dissertation on power which led into the main topic, LEDs.

Dick did a nice presentation and managed to keep everyone interested during the heavy technical parts.

The LED session was presented by folks from Imtra corporation , Kinder Woodcock (product manager) and Mike Moriarty (LED engineer). Kinder and Mike brought a varied array of LED lighting displays.

Things got a bit technical as they described LED terminology (luminous, lux, efficiency, flux density). Kinder discussed the thermal design aspects of LEDs. The presenters talked about color temperature and were able to show the differences between "cool white" and "warm white" with their display. The Imtra presentation continued and covered low and high powered LED lighting systems with comparisons to incandescent, florescent and halogen lighting.

We had a short break to refresh our coffee which also  allowed the group to get "up close an personal" with some of the displayed products. When the presentation continued Mike Moriarty described the many uses of LEDs which seems to have found their way into just about every application these days. This was followed by a "what to look for" and  described various ratings and certification marks (CE, UL, RoHS, WEEE, EMC).

Probably the most interesting and applicable portion of the session was Imtra's discussion on LED replacement bulbs. Imtra presented all attendees with a set of very nice color brochures which included a 15% discount card on their products through April 30th. The order must be placed online (www.imtra.com) with the promo code CANE-09.

In addition to the presentations there were several handouts from Practical Sailor magazine on conventional  and LED lighting. Practical Sailor has also offered the CANE group a 20% discount on their Guide to Sailing Gear which must be ordered over the phone (800-424-7887). One of the invitees brought copies of a Cruising World article on LED lights. So it seems the CANE attendees are now the most knowledgeable group of sailors on the subject of LED lighting. If you missed it, send Ralph Lombardo (lombard0@comcast.net) and e-mail and he can forward the presentations and/or articles to you.

CANE CPR Session Certifies Twenty-Eight Members

Twenty-eight CANE members participated in our 2nd CPR certification session on Saturday, February 28th at Wessagussett Yacht Club. Prior to the program members were treated to coffee and fresh baked cinnamon rolls prepared by Mark and Lois Schmidt. Trainer Ann Phelps provided expert instruction to an eager group (as noted by the significant number of questions being asked). All aspects of CPR from adults to infants were covered including the use of the Heimlick maneuver. The participants had ample opportunity to practice the procedures on the models provided. This program provided members with emergency training that could one day save a life. Thanks to all who came.----Scott MacKinlay
 

Members receiving instruction

Trainer Ann Phelps

Catalina Association of New England (CANE)
March 1, 2009 - Mainsheet Report

CANEs Annual Meeting and Holiday Gathering was held on December 5th
In Quincy, MA. Fifty-two members attended and elected the following officers for the 2009 season - Commodore- Mark Schmidt, Vice-Commodore Paul Dardano, Treasurers- Phyllis and Paul Robinson ,Web-Site Editor- Larry Robertie , New Membership Chair- Dave Mariano, Directors- Steve Dempsey, Jim McCarthy, Peter Wood, Richard Albert, Scott MacKinlay , Jay Swartz and Judy Doherty.

With all CANE boats on the hard it's time for the fleets Tech Session (TS) seminars to kick-in. The first session of the winter was held on January 24th with 40 members in attendance at West Marine-Braintree,MA for a Raymarine tutorial on upgrading GPS systems. The next TS will be held on March 14th at the Jubilee Yacht Club in Beverly, MA. The subjects will be Basic Electrical and Upgrading the Lighting System with LEDs. The final TS is scheduled for West Marine- Plymouth, MA on April 4th and will cover Winch Maintenance and Repair. Lewmar will provide the program.

Supplementing the TS programs the fleet will again provide a CPR certification class on Saturday, February 28th at Wessagussett Yacht Club in Weymouth, MA. Thirty members have signed-up for the program. Also, CANEs annual membership drive was held at the New England Boat show in Boston, MA on February 14th-21st. Again our friends at Eastern Yacht Sales provided space for the fleet to set up its booth.

Fleet Commodore Mark Schmidt has outlined the annual two week cruise. It will begin on July 25th and will visit ports in Cape Cod, Block Island, Montauck,NY, Greenport,NY, Stonnington,CT, and Newport,RI..

It is a very busy off-season filled with opportunities for our over 120 members to learn how to better maintain and update their Catalinas.

Submitted by Scott MacKinlay

In 2006 the CANE fleet sailed the waters south of Cape Cod.  It was an unusual trip with lots of stories to tell and in the end all had a great time.  read more   Be sure to check out the photo gallery   The 2005 cruise started on Cape Ann, then up to Portsmouth NH, up to Portland ME,  across Casco bay and back.  read more

The CANE Fleet at Cuttyhunk

CANE at Hansen Marine for a Diesel Maintenance Tech Session

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