Start your New Year’s Resolution to be social in December!

Hosted by the PBC Open Sculling Program, you are cordially invited to celebrate the Season’s Spirit of Giving in our beautifully decorated, heated ballroom!

The Potomac Boat Club Annual Holiday Party
Date: Sunday, December 11, 2011
Time: 3:00 – 5:00 PM
Dress:  Festive Attire (Yes, it’s time for that sweater. The only time.)

Hors d’Oeuvres ~ Beverages
Good Friends and “Others”
Fun Photos with Santa
Belly Button Bakery for the Children
PBC Members, Friends and Guests welcome!

AND please don’t forget to bring an unwrapped, NEW gift to support the United States Marine Corps’ Toys for Tots!

Oh, for all of you crazy “Senior Members” out there (and we know you’re crazy because you actually read this far down …), at 2:30 PM, before the start of the “regular” party, there will be a brief “Special Meeting of the Membership” in the “Club Lounge” to vote on an “extra special” amendment to the Club’s “Constitution.”

Now, that’s what we call getting the party started “early,” if you know what we “mean” … (wink)!

Not that we do, of course.

 

Don’t worry. Only 38 percent of you will need therapy after reading this.

Gosh.  So funny.

Remember that time you were filling out your security clearance paperwork and you had to ask your mom for a copy of her passport and you found out that not only was she 10 years older than she had been telling everyone your entire life, but that her birth name was something only she and her sisters could pronounce?

Oh.

Well, welcome to our world, Potomac Barge Club founded in 1859!  Click here to read yet more about the Club’s gambling, fist-fighting elitist past.

Good thing they didn’t mention all of the oysters we shucked.

Stay virile, P”B”C.

 

 

Hypothermia alert

It seems that every year there is another sad reminder of the dangers of cold water activity.  The latest tragic incident happened right in our area.

Don’t let a warm day here or there fool you, PBC.  Water temperatures are dropping, along with your chances of surviving a flip.

Please read the following cold water story posted on the Star last year; it contains links to important information about hypothermia that we all need to know:  Safety lesson learned the hard way.

Save the date! Dec. 13 – Public Info Mtg re Non-Motorized Boathouse Zone along G-town Waterfront

PUBLIC INFORMATION MEETING FEASIBILITY STUDY TO IMPLEMENT A NON-MOTORIZED BOATHOUSE ZONE ALONG THE GEORGETOWN WATERFRONT CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL NATIONAL HISTORIC PARK AND ROCK CREEK PARK

TIME/DATE:  6:00 pm to 8:00 pm, Tuesday, December  13,  2011
PLACE:  Washington Harbor, 3050 K Street, NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20007

The  National  Park  Service  (NPS) will  conduct a public information meeting on Tuesday, December  13,  2011, regarding a feasibility study to examine implementation of  a non-motorized boathouse zone along the District of Columbia’s side of the  Potomac  River  waterfront  in  Georgetown.   The  NPS  will study the structures  and  facilities  related to non-motorized boat usage, including rowing,  canoeing  and  kayaking, that can be accommodated within this zone (project  area),  as  well  as  other  uses,  such  as  cycling and passive recreation.

This  study will lay the groundwork for future decision-making regarding  (1)  scenarios  for development/improvement of NPS facilities or potential  land  exchanges  for  private development of boathouses, and (2) further  planning  and  National  Environmental  Policy Act (NEPA)/National Historic  Preservation  Act (NHPA) compliance as necessary to implement the non-motorized boathouse zone.

The  meeting  will  consist of an open house with a short presentation. NPS staff will be on hand to visit with you and answer questions.

For  further  information,  or  if you have special needs to be accommodated during  this  public  open  house,  please  contact Tammy Stidham, National Capital Region at (202) 619-7474.

The 2011 PBC Triathlon

In case you didn’t check the listserv this week, or conveniently chose to ignore the message, you were invited to participate in the 2011 PBC Triathlon this morning.  Missed that one, huh?

On November 19, 2011, PBC’s Open Scullers, led by Coach Reilly Dampeer, combined their usual training efforts into a little triathlon. They erged, ran, rowed, and invited everyone to participate in the “fun.”

Here was the format:

• Erg – 10km
• Run the “Bridge loop” out to Virginia across Memorial Bridge and back to the Club from Virginia across Key Bridge (approximately 3 miles)
• Row a single out to Roosevelt Bridge and back to PBC (approximately 4km)
• No ‘Transition Time” allocations or assistance allowed (e.g., oars or boat to the dock)

Reilly briefed participants at 6:30 AM, and the clock started at 7:00 AM.  Finish time was recorded for each participant when the participant’s feet were firmly planted on the PBC dock.  No handicaps were used to calculate the results.

Well, who was the big winner?  We’ll have to get the update from Reilly!

 

 

Potomac Pirate?

 

 

Mike McGuirk sent us a photo of this wayward pirate lurking up at the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta last weekend.  He claims to be a senior member of Potomac Boat Club.  Below is the proof that PBC member or not, this pirate is just after your booty.

Ahoy, Mateys! (No, he didn’t say that. Too obvy.  But admit it.  You expected it.)

Dear PBC friends:

I am announcing our plan to move the floats downstream on Saturday Dec. 3rd.  We’ll need all hands to make the move go fast and easy.  If the weather is really cold, raining/snowing hard, or extremely windy, we can try the next day (Sunday, 4th). Stay tuned.

Coaches and rowers who know the motor boats can help ahead by being sure we have the tanks all fueled up, and engines to use identified.

In the week preceding the move can some of you sweep rowers please get the big wooden outboard-motor bracket out from behind the 8’s?

Also, close to the date, would someone please volunteer to untie the short ropes we put on to keep the ramps in place if a flood were to come?

Thank you everyone!

Chuck Selden

PBC Float Captain and Pirate (… or Privateer, in polite company)