EMSK Meeting Minutes from Thursday the 18th from 7:00pm to 8:15pm Thank you to all who attended and contributed to the meeting! Here’s the link to the meeting announcement: https://www.mountaineers.org/locations-lodges/everett-branch/events/emsk-committee-meeting-2022-10-20-2023-01-19-2023-02-16-2023-05-18 Approval of the last meeting’s minutes for February 16, 2023 was moved and approved. See those minutes at https://www.mountaineers.org/locations-lodges/everett-branch/committees/everett-sea-kayaking-committee/documents/minutes/emsk-zoom-meeting-minutes-1-19-2023.pdf/view Congratulations to Cathie Frizalone for her fine work organizing this year’s EMSK Basic SK course! And to the many EMSK members who served as instructors and assistants this year! We had 13 students and 17 instructors at the Open Water Saturday, April 29th on Lake Sammamish. Many thanks also to our friends at Kayak Academy for supplying boats and gear, and to Scott at Frugal Navigator for the navigation charts used in the trip planning portion of the course. Thanks also to the EMSK trip leaders who are planning to lead trips for students to complete their badge requirements!!! And congrats to two students from this year’s Basic SK course who recently completed their two student paddles: Rebecca S. and Michelle M! In-meeting training topic: MK2 Mara Devros from US Coast Guard gave a sea kayaker focused presentation on what happens when you place a mayday/help me call by: ◦ calling for help (mayday mayday mayday) on channel 16 on a VHF radio or pressing the distress button on a DSC equipped VHF radio* or ◦ making a call to 911 or a Coast Guard emergency number or ◦ pressing the SOS button* on a portable satellite communicator like the Garmin Inreach or on a Personal Locator Beacon device. • NOTE: use of the DSC features on a VHF requires registration of your MMSI number in order to operate properly. Likewise, use of a portable satellite communicator like a Garmin InReach requires registration and activation. Consult the documentation for your device for more information or contact the manufacturer for more details about how to properly prepare your device to make distress or SOS calls. Mara stressed that multiple means of signaling are better than just one. What if you just have a phone or a radio and you break or lose it? Having a second option is always better than just one and calling or signaling on multiple devices is fine. The point is to get the message through whatever way you can. She gave a recent example where a PIW (Person In the Water) with a DSC equipped VHF radio was rescued thanks to the repeated transmission of his changing location. The Coast Guard also has a business number for non-emergency questions. Use it to ask questions and get clarifications on rules and so forth (such as what to do with expired flares, etc.). If the CG finds an unmanned boat adrift they immediately start a search pattern, devoting precious time and resources to find a Person In the Water. Having an “if found” sticker in your boat is an enormous help, especially in cases where a boat gets blown or washed off the beach with no one in it. Mara outlined the five things the Coast Guard needs to know when you make a distress call: •POSITION: –Latitude / Longitude or Geographic Reference (seaman’s eye) •PERSONS: –How many persons on board or in distress? # of Adults, Children •PROBLEM: –Nature of your distress, describe briefly but in detail •PICTURE: –Describe your vessel: color, length, make/model, etc •PFDs: –How many life jackets available and are they being worn? Allow time for rescuers to mobilize and travel the distance to your position. Wind and water conditions affect how fast they can travel to in order to reach you. Spring and summer are busy times for rescuers. For more details, check out Mara’s presentation…  Mara’s presentation and other files are also available at https://www.dropbox.com/sh/j6ipejmxd9a7zzr/AACkel4YX4FUEoNQtI_NNzPSa?dl=0 Mara offered her USCG email address and encouraged participants to feel free to send questions her way: Mara.L.Devros@uscg.mil 2023 Trip leader candidates/volunteers. This is a standing item about expanding our trip leader corp. Cathie F. and Justin S. are working their way toward trip leader status. Michele R. is interested in getting on the trip leader path and is thinking of leading paddles for photographers. Remember that besides looking for trips on the Mountaineers website you can also check out “routes and places” to learn more about places we paddle. Also check out books on paddling destinations. Rob Casey’s for example. 2023 Equivalency events - Ongoing discussion to organize special equivalency events for small groups of experienced sea kayakers looking to participate in Mountaineers paddles. Anyone interested in helping out with this please contact Rob King. New trip plans. A standing item to allow trip leaders a chance to talk about their upcoming plans and to discuss ideas for new trips. Robert mentioned he needs an assistant for his upcoming Jetty Island paddle. New clinic or other training plans, including in meeting training sessions. A standing item for discussion. ◦ Many thanks to Bill Coady and his team (Dan, Donna, and Cathie) for organizing the upcoming Towing Clinic. Bill is targeting July 29th or 30th for a tow clinic at Cornet Bay. Price will be around $40 for students. Two tow belts are available for students who don’t already have one. ◦ There have been requests for a repeat of the DeepZoom features review, tips on making custom NOAA charts and trip planning. If you are interested in helping out, let Doug Palm know. The date for committee elections to select officers is set for the next EMSK meeting, on Thursday September 21st (7pm to 8:30pm). Please let Doug P. know if you are interesting in taking on the roles of committee chair, special events coordinator, and treasurer. Dates for upcoming events: Baker Lake Shindig July 7-9, 2023. Everett Mountaineers Sea Kayak Baker Lake Shindig — The Mountaineers Have a great summer and see you all at our next meeting (third Thursday in September per a suggestion received after the meeting from Bill Coady). September 21 7pm-8pm. For more details and to RSVP for the meeting check out: https://www.mountaineers.org/locations-lodges/everett-branch/events/emsk-committee-meeting-2022-10-20-2023-01-19-2023-02-16-2023-05-18-2023-09-21 Remember to keep checking the activity guide for upcoming Mountaineers Sea Kayaking activities. And sign up for automatic notifications to get instant notifications of new events. Thank you all for your participation in the Everett Mountaineers Sea Kayaking program! We have activities, courses and events thanks to the the engagement of our members. End meeting https://www.mountaineers.org/locations-lodges/everett-branch/committees/everett-sea-kayaking-committee/documents/minutes/emsk-may-2023-meeting-minutes.pdf