Shields Fleet 9

If you haven’t seen http://www.t2p.tv/index.php , check it out, great video of sailing around the country.  Mark Still is in Newport and was out for several Wednesday nights and got some great coverage of our fleet.  With a little help, this will get on line.  To learn more, email Mark at mark@pearlproductionsnewport.com

read a good article about the LNG story from the Herald News

http://www.heraldnews.com/opinions/x262902651/OUR-VIEW-Strengthened-opposition-08-09-09

I feel this is appropriate to pass along to the fleet, so we are informed of this project, it has fallen out of the news quite a bit over the last year, much to the pleasure of the Hess LNG developers.  I hope everyone who reads this article will pass it along, spread the word, and try to make contact with anyone and everyone they know to help put an end this idea, which would certainly be the imminent death of sailing on our bay.

LNG tanker security issues kept secret by Coast Guard
3:28 PM Tue, Aug 04, 2009 |
C. Eugene Emery Jr.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The public apparently isn’t supposed to know how the Coast Guard hopes to thwart a potential terrorist assault on a liquefied natural gas tanker traveling to Mt. Hope Bay or how it will
keep other boats away from the supertankers as they travel through Narragansett Bay.

Key portions of last week’s Coast Guard letter recommending that the insulated vessels, loaded with the high-volatile fuel, be allowed to travel to an offloading terminal in the middle of Mt. Hope Bay have
been removed.

The letter says the information, including a section dealing with the need to close the Pell Bridge in Newport and the Mt. Hope Bridge between Bristol and Portsmouth during tanker trips, was deleted because it involves sensitive security issues.

The recommendation by Raymond J. Perry, captain of the port in Southeastern New England, removes a major stumbling block for the plan by Weaver’s Cove Energy to bring the tankers to a berth in the center
of Mt. Hope Bay.

An earlier plan, to send the ships up Mt. Hope Bay and along the Taunton River, was ruled impractical by the Coast Guard.

Rep. Raymond E. Gallison, Jr., D-Bristol, said Tuesday he was surprised and concerned that so much of Perry’s report, dealing with key issues, has been redacted.

Gallison said he hopes the information will be made public when the proposal goes before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which must approve the project.

FERC had endorsed the initial proposal by Weaver’s Cove, the one ruled impractical by the Coast Guard because the tankers would have had to make too many hairpin turns going up the Taunton.

Even though Weaver’s Cove says its wants to bring cheaper energy to the region, the project has very little public or political support in the region. There are fears that the tankers will be tempting targets
for terrorists and the security associated with the 70 trips they make up could disrupt life in local waters.

Perry’s letter of recommendation confirms that every tanker trip has the potential to be disruptive to life in Narragansett and Mt. Hope bays.

He says the security zone around a tanker, as it travels up the bay, could extend for two miles in front of the vessel, one mile behind it, and more than half a mile on either side. That exclusion zone of 1,000 yards on either flank of the 145-foot-wide ship would effectively force all occupied boats out of the waters off Newport whenever a tanker came through, particularly from Castle Hill Light to the northern edge of Fort Adams State Park.

The same would be true for the bay waters off Middletown and Portsmouth, anywhere in the vicinity of the Mt. Hope Bridge, the south eastern coast of Bristol and the waters off Fall River.

Part of the report dealing with escorting LNG vessels notes that public festivals and other events with VIPs are frequently held in Newport, at the Naval War College and at other portions along the
tanker route. “Additional security measures should be considered on a case by case basis,” the letter says.

The other four sections dealing with vessel escort have been redacted.

Once berthed, all boats should be required to stay more than half a mile from the supertanker, according to Perry’s letter. That would cut off boating access to a large chunk of Mt. Hope Bay.

The section that is supposed to deal with bridge closures has been stripped to two sentences, one saying that the Pell and Mt. Hope bridges cross over the LNG tanker route, the other saying that both bridges are owned by the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority. Everything else has been deleted. Experts have said that the bridges will have to be shut down during the transits.

Also redacted from the analysis is information on shoreline security, remote surveillance and monitoring, security measures when a tanker is at berth in Mt. Hope Bay, and measures to protect the 4.2 miles of underground insulated pipeline that will be used to pump the LNG from the offloading terminal to Fall River, via Somerset.

That much secrecy is unwarranted, said Gallison. “Everybody knows where the pipeline is going, everyone knows where the tanker is going. You can figure out the fallout zones if, God-forbid, there should be a

breach of one of the tankers.” Weaver’s Cove has said it is now on track to have the facility running in 2015.

gemery@projo.com / (401) 277-7442, reprinted from the Providence Journal

George Winslow Memorial Regatta – 1 August

The NOR and registrations forms for the CHNYC Winslow Regatta are available
on line.  Both the registration and crew waiver can be done on line if you
like, or bring them out on the water with you.  The entry fee is covered by
your Fleet 9 racing fee, so there is no need to use the mail.  There will be
a post-race party and awards ceremony at the Navy Marina.  Racing begins at
noon, so come out and join us for some great spinnaker racing on the first
Saturday in August.

Ron Oard
Icea, #15

http://www.chnyc.org/RegWinslow.html

If anyone won’t be racing this year, or knows of someone who may want to charter their boat, there is a local member of the sailing community who is ready and able to charter and race this year.  please email the webmaster for more information.

This weekend, 222 will be entering in the Leukemia Cup as Peggy Comfort just informed me of an AMAZING challenge to the Shields Fleet.

FOR EVERY SHIELDS THAT ENTERS ($75) THERE IS AN ANON. DONOR WHO WILL KICK IN ANOTHER $1,000 !!!!

So I encourage every Shields to enter for this weekend as we (Fleet 9) have the opportunity to be the genesis of one of the largest single contributions of the weekend.
www.leukemiacup.org/ri

(There have been a few other boats mentioned as sailing too!)

To all Shields Owners

Come support a worthy cause –the Leukemia Cup – June 6th.  To help encourage the fleet’s participation, a supporter has agreed to donate $1,000 for every Shields that has registered for the regatta.  Let’s not miss this unique opportunity to “leverage” the strength and numbers of our class and get as many sailing in this important event.   Below is a link for information and registration and is attached is the NOR.

http://www.leukemia-lymphoma.org/regatta/hm_reg

Word is, we should be able to set up any format the fleet wants, several short races or a couple long races…

Dear Fellow Shields owners and skippers,

Kim Cooper recently sent me an e-mail asking if there were going to be enough Shields sailing in the Newport Regatta, July 11 & 12 to warrant a Shields start. Last year Shields were invited, but because only 2 boats had registered the Shields start was scratched.

She reminded that this will be the 25th anniversary of this regatta. When the regatta started, the Shields class was the only class. I think they will hype up the 25th anniversary, and with all this hype I hope we have a good turnout. There is the potential of a lot of publicity focused on our fleet, and we can use this opportunity to make other sailors aware of our large fleet.

I responded to Kim’s request by stating that I would try to identify skippers, who will be sailing. You can make my job easier if you would e-mail at drshoe@verizon.net.

It usually is a great regatta with 3 races on Saturday and 2 on Sunday. Some years we have raced off shore, but we have also raced inside. Let me know your preference-inside or outside. I sense that Sail Newport is in the process of drafting the NORs and SIs; if we have a significant number of sailors wanting to sail inside or outside, I think Sail Newport would be responsive to our request. The sooner you respond, the more likely that Sail Newport would honor our request.

I hope you will join us and make this a memorable regatta for the Shields.

Charlie

At the request of Dr. Wallace, our Race Officer, I would like to publish the follow instructions included on our USCG/Homeland Security Permit for Marine Event, which covers all our racing on the bay.  The original document will soon be uploaded to our website for your review, i have included most of the relevant instructions below.

…There will not be a Special Local Regulation issued.  no restriction is placed on the use of any navigable waters by other parties.  your event shall not obstruct any channel or normal shipping lane, or interfere with any aid to navigation…

…Participants operating in a negligent manner may cause the event to be terminated.  All committee vessels must be able to switch to channel 13 VHF for bridge-to-bridge communication in accordance with federal law.  In the event of decreased visibility (less than 2 nautical miles) the sponsor must ensure that the participants comply with the COLREGS sound signal requirements.  Failure to comply with these permit requirements may result in the revocation of this permit.

It is your responsibility as sponsor to ensure that the participants understand that they are subject to the Navigation Rules of the Road. Participants do not automatically become “stand-on” or “privileged vessels” by virtue of participation in a marine event.

In the event that Coast Guard assistance is required during the event, please contact Coast Guard Station Castle Hill on VGF channel 16…Information about your event will be posted on http://homeport.uscg.mil/sene/…