Written by Trisha Garber | 01 January 2012

Boating Season is Almost Here!

Well, my watch is drawing to a close but this year’s boating season is just beginning.  Nancy and her crew have been working very hard to make plans for the upcoming boating season.  We have a lot of activities on the list starting with our Change of Watch on March 3rd, followed by the District Conference in Fort Worth on March 29th, then we will Flip to Flop with Sabine April 14th , followed by Contraband Days the first two weeks of May and to finish off the Spring with Memorial Day weekend in Lake Arthur for the Sailboat Regatta.   That is a LOT of activities and the list continues to grow.    Also, we will also have the USPS Water Training Boat pulled by the promotional truck in Lake Charles March 10th.  Also Bow for Kid’s Sake on March 3, public boating classes and Boat Safe week at the end of May.   2012 will be a  very active year and I hope you plan to participate in several of our activities!

I want the LCSPS to be YOUR Power Squadron.  I encourage you as a member to participate with a committee, help plan boating activities, attend a social event or bring a friend to a meeting.  The LCSPS is one of the best and most active squadrons in the USPS.   It takes good leaders to plan good events but it will only succeed if YOU participate.   Please review our membership manual on the website under the “Join Now” section and review all of the benefits of membership.  Nancy is still putting committee’s together and filling spots on the Organization chart, so please say YES if you are called to serve or let her know that you are interested in playing an active role in the LCSPS.  

It’s easy to promote the Lake Charles Sail and Power Squadron when we have so much to offer.  We have great members, a great facility, and schedule full of land and water events and a wealth of educational opportunities to interest and challenge everyone.   I am very proud of the LCSPS and what we have to offer our members and our community, I hope you are too!

Cdr. Trish

Written by Trisha Garber | 01 April 2011

Typically, a new Commander would start out a first article by saying thank you to the new Executive Board and members, but I as I stated in my Change of Watch speech we are no typical organization.  I will get to the thanks later, but first I want let you know what an exciting year we have planned!   At our Executive Board meeting, someone asked when are we going to have to time to use our boats?   I think our organization has no problem having fun with boating so we will continue to have monthly boating activities.   To add to the fun, our Education Department also has very high goals and plans.  This year we will have seminars, elective courses, advanced boating and public boating classes.  Our new Youth program is eager to put they plans into action with the upcoming National Boat Safe Week.  Finally, to help us keep track of all the exciting activities and news, our meetings committee has planned some great meetings!

The theme of my goals are “I Want You” to focus on membership participation.  We all have special skills and something to offer the LCSPS.   You might enjoy cooking, teaching, organizing, making calls or just attending events and meeting.   All of these things are very important in the structure of a great organization.  I would like to thank those who took my Change of Watch speech to heart and plan to participate.

We had over 30 members attend the Sail into Spring Dockside Social!   Thank you for attending and thank those you cooked and cleaned to make it a great evening.   Also, thanks to Captains Gary and Mike for coming by boat and offering a great evening sail aboard My Love. 

Finally, thank you to everyone that has volunteered their time to serve on the bridge, committees or activities this year.   You are the reason the LCSPS is so successful!

Trisha Garber
Commander

I Want You to be a great member!

Written by Trisha Garber | 21 January 2011

So what is the Coast Pilot?   Where do I find it and how do I use it? 

The United States Coast Pilot® consists of a series of nautical books that cover a variety of information important to navigators of coastal and intracoastal waters and the Great Lakes. Issued in nine volumes, they contain supplemental information that is difficult to portray on a nautical chart.
Topics in the Coast Pilot include channel descriptions, anchorages, bridge and cable clearances, currents, tide and water levels, prominent features, pilotage, towage, weather, ice conditions, wharf descriptions, dangers, routes, traffic separation schemes, small-craft facilities, and Federal regulations applicable to navigation.

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Written by Dale Thibodeaux | 25 January 2011

The LCSPS is proud to announce the launching of our new website.  The site uses a modern design and state-of-the-art technology to manage and deliver our organization’s information to the public.  All of the information that was on the old site is on the new site, plus many other updated features that will help us share information with our members and the public.

Take a few moments to look back through our photo galleries or look through our archives of newsletters.  We have years of information stored on the site, so please take a look at what we have done recently as well as our past accomplishments and activities!  After looking through the site and all of the photos from so many events, I know that we do follow our motto that boating is fun and I know we can show you how!

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