The Caloosahatchee Marching and Chowder Society

Winner of US Sailing’s 2012 Outstanding Organizational Support Award

Here is a brief summary of this very active sailing club’s activities:

• Up to twenty cruises every year. Cruises range from weekend events to two week extended jaunts. Check out our Cruising Schedule under the Cruising drop-down menu.
• Eleven race events every year. There are a combination of buoy races and off-shore races. Check out our Club Racing Schedule under the Racing drop-down menu.
• Besides our monthly socials / meetings, the club hosts several other social activities throughout the year.

Guests are always welcome to one of our casual monthly socials / meetings at 6:30 PM on the third Tuesday of every month (except January) at the Cape Coral Yacht Club, 5819 Driftwood Pkwy., Cape Coral, FL. (No dress codes here.)  To learn more about CMCS, simply, scroll down on this page to view our online journal (BLOG).  You may also go to About Us for additional links, or email us by going to Contact Us.

Big News

 

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U.S. Sailing recognized CMCS with the 2012 Outstanding Organizational Support award.  (Scroll about a third of the way down the list of awards.)  The award is given annually to an individual or organization that has made notable contributions to promote public access sailing in the development and organization of sailing programs.

In addition, CMCS member Ross Webb won the Excellence in Instruction award for his work with the Edison Sailing Center.

Overall, 2012 was a really fantastic year for national recognition of both CMCS and the sailing program for which we provide our greatest amount of support.  Pretty darn good for a bunch of “Chowder Heads”!

P.S. – Steve talked Glen into wearing a sport coat & tie.  Steve wanted a presentable (whatever that means) picture for his press release.

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February 15, 2013: The Army Corp of Engineers’ dredge is long gone, and Matanzas Pass is now plenty deep.  Red daymarks #6 and #8 are nowhere around, but by following the green daymarks you’ll have no problems at all.

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December 2012 — Florida Anchoring Laws –  click here to read the latest update from Boat U.S. and Southwinds
Magazine on Florida’s ever changing anchoring regulations.

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Recent Society Stuff

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June 8, 2013 — Ladies Day “Drag Queen” race – check out the results.

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May 24 – 27 — Danger Island Cruise – Twenty four brave boats of the Society ventured to “Danger Island” for a weekend of beautiful weather, traditional Society athletics, great Chowder, and great company.

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May 11, 2013 — Jerry Pim Memorial Estebel Race – The race began in 15 kts. of wind from the southwest with 1-2 ft. waves. As the evening wore on, the winds moderated considerably and the waves a little. There’s nothing more fun than steep waves in a dying breeze! The 15 mile race was completed in less than four hours by all 10 starters!

 

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April 21, 2013 — San Tweenie Race – Nine boats attempted this race out in the Gulf from just outside Redfish Pass down to San Carlos Bay.

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April 16, 2013 — Grill Night at the Pavilion – As most of you already know, the Society’s three favorite activities are sailing, eating, and hanging out together.  Grill night includes two out of three, so it is well attended.  Oh yes – we also had a bit of a business meeting where we recognized all our volunteers from 2012, and tried to conduct a little bit of club business.

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April 14, 2013 — Lou Tilley Fun Race – Another beautiful day for a sail on the Gulf! The Lou Tilley Fun Race had 8 participants.  Wind was from the south at 10-15 kts. Seas were 1-2 feet. The race was a reach / fetch to SC light, a distance of 1.75 miles on a heading of 260 degrees. The first race was 7.0 nm and took a little over an hour to complete. The second race was 3.5 nm and took about 40 min to complete.

 

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April 4 thru 7, 2013 — Cape Haze Cruise – fifteen boats made it up to Palm Island Marina on Cape Haze for a great weekend. We had to brave a little heavy wind on Thursday, but the rest of the weekend was great. Cruise leaders Ron & Shirley Maddix did a wonderful job!

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March 17 — Shrimp Festival Dinner – or was it for St. Patrick’s Day?  Didn’t matter to the 100 or so members of the Society that came out for an “All you can eat” Shrimp dinner.

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March 1 to 10 — Ten Thousand Islands Cruise – led by Wait Alexander, eight boats cruised down to Naples, Marco, Panther Key and Everglades City.

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March 9 — Shrimp Festival Regatta – Another beautiful day (if not a little cool) on the water. The spinnaker and multi-hull divisions managed to get in 3 races in light air. Regrettably, the third race for the non-spinnaker and true cruising divisions was abandoned due to lack of wind. I hope no one was disappointed. The wind moved much further south than expected and was also lighter than we expected. As luck would have it, the breeze returned while we were picking up marks.

Click on the image to the right to view the Shrimp Festival Regatta Results.

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February 23 — Edison Gulf Regatta & After Race Party – the racers and a number of spectating day-sailors had great winds out on the Gulf.  The fleet had three really good races as the 10 to 15 kt winds clocked from SSE to SSW.  Only a couple minor incidents.   Barefeet had to send a crew member into the water to fend off an attacking crab pot.  Then one of Vixen’s crew members had sunscreen failure which resulted in quite a glow at the after race party.  A big Thank You to Vixen’s owners for another friendly after race party.  To view the Race Results, simply click on that image displayed on the left side of your screen.

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February 15 – 17 — Edison Festival of Lights Cruise – we had 13-boats take on the coldest weather of the year in Southwest Florida for this ever popular cruise.  No problem because we could “plug-in” and keep warm at downtown Fort Myers’ Legacy Marina.  Tuesday evening’s appetizers and happy hour saw as many “Land Cruisers” as we had “Boat Cruisers”.  On Saturday approximately 1,400 oysters were devoured by 60 oyster eaters.  Every veteran of this longtime cruise said this was our largest turnout, and the best tasting oysters yet!

Oh yes – Happy Birthday to Past Commodore Bob Duff!

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February 12, 2012 — Membership Meeting/Social – It was Member Appreciation Night. Which means the Society provided food to all members. The turn out was great with about 120 people attending!

 

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January 12th — CMCS’s Chili Cook-Off Regatta – the race fleet had a great time out in the Gulf of Mexico off Fort Myers Beach.  The weather was fantastic with 85-degrees, and mostly sunny.  The winds were varied, to say the least.  Race-1 – wind was near perfect, East 10-15.  Race-2 – wind was mostly East but variable.  Race-3 – we had a Westerly Sea Breeze (in January?).  Overall, the regatta really tested our sailing skills, but in a good way.

Take a look at CMCS’s Chili Cook-Off Regatta Results.

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January 9th — Ladies Bridge Club – Biologist/Naturalist, Jonnie Gove, gave 12 of us a private swamp tour at Big Cypress in the western Everglades.  We ended the tour in a huge Gator Hole where Jonnie explained how the Gator catches his prey.  Luckily for us no Gators showed up.

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January 11th — Chili Cook-Off – Even though our date was changed on short notice by a City of Cape Coral “oversight” we had a great turnout.  Seems the members of our Society do not mind the Race Celebration coming the day before the Regatta.

The chili was great - the pot-luck dishes were great – the conversation was great – and we even had about a half dozen guests new members attend.

Speaking of guests – we had two interesting young “Loopers” attend – Katie Smith and Jessie Zevalkink from Michigan.  Check out their BLOG at katieandjessieonaboat.com.

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CMCS’s 2013 Past Commodore’s Portrait

January 5th — Change of Watch – Our one “formal” event of the year.  We celebrated another successful year with a catered dinner, and the induction of our 2013 officers.  The 2012 Overall Fleet Championship trophies were also awarded.

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December 27 – January 1 — New Year’s Cruise – Our great little Society had 20 boats cruise up to Fisherman’s Village in Punta Gorda for a fun filled long fun filled holiday weekend.  See the full story in our February Chowder Chatter.

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December 18 – Tropical Holiday Party – We had a rockin’ good time with a Florida-style holiday party! Over 100 members of our Society joined in the fun and a great meal.

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December 13 — Ladies’ Bridge Club’s Pirates Gift Exchange took place at Suzanne Aguilera’s home.  Reports are that the thievery was rampant, but all in fun.  The web guru has never attended one of these events, but it’s been reported that these ladies are NOT playing card games.

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December 1 — Commodore’s Cup Dinner, we had an Italian Feast at the CCYC.  About 75-members of the Society went home full after this post-race social event.

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December 1 — Commodores Cup Regatta, in the Gulf of Mexico off Fort Myers Beach.  The plan is for three buoy races beginning at 1000.

Take a look at the Race Results.

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November 22 – 25 — Thanksgiving Cruise to Pelican Bay & Cabbage Key.  We had a good dozen for an excellent Thanksgiving Dinner at Cabbage Key on Thursday.  By Friday evening’s Beach Soiree, we had at least nineteen boats arrive.  By Sunday most people started wandering home.

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November 16 – 18 – The Bob Macomber Cruise & Book Bash.  For as many of us that came by sea, at least as many came by land, no easy feat given the state of the Matlacha bridge.  The pulled pork and pitchers kept coming. The man of the day Robert “Cash or Check only” Macomber sold a lot of books.  The music was great early with a Cuban Group, great in the middle with a special reunion of the Yard Dogs, and who knows how it ended as we are too old to stay out after dark.  This is a popular event for our former Commodore and author – Bob Macomber.

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November 3 — Festival of the Islands Regatta – This regatta took place off of Ft. Myers Beach in the Gulf of Mexico.  It was a good day even though only 13 boats showed up with 19 entered.  Wind was light but we got 3 races in!  The weather could not have been better!  Party was excellent and well attended.  View the Race Results.  A BIG Thank You goes to Rusty Batchelor (Steve’s regular helper), Joe and Mary Periard, and Norm Astwood for helping r/c Steve Roake put on another excellant race day event!  Watch for more information in our December Chowder Chatter.

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October 26 – 27 – Halloween Cruise CANCELLED due to “Frankenstorm” Sandy!!!

 

 

 

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October 5 – 7 – Summerset!  This event is sooo big, it has its own website.  Or, you can go directly to the 2012 Race Results.  OR, read the article in the November Chowder Chatter.

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September 14 – 16 – South Seas Plantation Cruise and Kayusa Cup – with some fantastic Pain Killers on the South Seas dock.  Check out the race results.  The full story is in the October Chowder Chatter.

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September 1 – 3 –Where the Wind Blows Cruise for the Labor Day Weekend.  Well – the Naples Boat Club turned out to be the best kept secret of Naples.  It is such a shame that space was limited to just nine boats.  We had some great sailing South, some great sailing North, and a great time in between.

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August 3 – 5 – Tween Waters Cruise.  The Society’s first annual Jimmy Buffett Cruise took place at T’Ween Waters Inn on Captiva Island.

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June 30 – July 4 –The double barreled Independence Day Cruise!  We had many Society members coming and going, both by land and by sea.  The weather definitely cooperated, and there was much excitement – such as the “Feeding of the Bulls” and the Governor’s thrilling competitions.  Click here to see The Society’s “2012 Champion Bull Caller“.  Look for the full report in the August Chowder Chatter.

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June 14-17 – We had fantastic sailing weather for this year’s Fisherman’s Village Cruise up to Punta Gorda.  Read the full report in the July Chowder Chatter.

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Ladies Day Mermaid

June 9 – Ladies Day Race & Party!  This regatta took place off of Ft. Myers Beach in the Gulf of Mexico.  For this Regatta only, special rules were in effect.  A female must be at the helm at all times from the preparatory flag prior to the yachts start to the time a yacht finishes.  The weather was great.  We had 14 boats participate, and not a single “woman overboard”!  There was a great Post-Race Party at Diane & Ray’s.  Check out the final race results.

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May 25 – 28 – The Danger Island Cruise (also known as Memorial Day weekend) is the number one cruising event of the year!!!  As you all know, Danger Island – much like Margaritaville – is more than a place.  It is a state of mind.  This years cruise was great, with two days of fantastic weather & fun and games, and 29 boats, with several new members making the trip.