CLIPS FROM THE COUNCIL

Volume XVIII No.8 May 4, 2008

**The General Meeting of the Florida Council of Yacht Clubs was held at the Royal Palm Yacht Club on May 3, 2008, and was chaired by Commodore Art Ferguson. Thirty two of the thirty seven clubs were in attendance.

**Commodore Ferguson reported Skip Allcorn,(Florida Y.C), 1992 FCYC Commodore, and wife Dee, passed away in recent months.

**Publications Committee Chairman Sally Scheffer resigned for personal reasons. Several people have indicated an interest in the position. Meade Ferguson is currently chairing the committee.

**Ray Starsman (Isles Y.C.), appointed as Parliamentarian, is a new member of the Executive Committee.

**The 15^th edition Cruising Guide is now available.

    The orders for them should go directly to:
     Mr. Ed Printing Shop
     Phone: 941-924-2805

**Directors are encouraged to submit interesting articles to their clubs monthly publication, informing members of FCYC news, club reciprocity, advantages of membership, FCYC cruises and other activities.

**The monthly financial reports, starting in July, will be E-mailed to Directors prior to the meeting. This saves printing costs and permits more time to become familiar with the reports.

**The speaker for the July Coral Ridge meeting will be Mr. Matt Culver, Director of the Brevard County Marine Master Plan. This should be an interesting look toward plans for the future.

**The Sovereign Submerged Lands Issue is on hold. Now that the session has ended, we expect CFO Sink’s office to re-address this issue shortly.

**A less than anticipated increase in vessel registration fees has passed. The language in the bill will exempt those vessels owned and used by the clubs to teach boating safety, sailing skills, or used in competition. The bill requires a minimal $2 fee for each boat which covers the cost of FL numbers for each vessel.

**As most everyone knows, unless legislation is passed, we will all need an EPA permit to operate our boats after Sept. 2008. Since the previous bills introduced have not succeeded, a new bill has been introduced by Senate Environmental and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-CA). S-2766, The Clean Boating Act of 2008, fully restores the longstanding exemption for recreational boats to have a permit for water discharges incidental to the normal operation of a boat. Additionally, the bill establishes a three-year framework for the EPA to determine if any Best Management Practices (BMP’s) are needed for incidental discharges. If the EPA determines any “reasonable and practicable” best management practices are needed, the Coast Guard would take over as the lead agency and write regulations. The Coast Guard would be required to determine the impact on the operational capability, and safety of the vessel, and the economic cost of any BMP’s that might be recommended. Even if BMP’s were determined necessary, it would be difficult for the Coast Guard to administer any such regulations. The bottom line is we must all ask our Senators to serve as co-sponsors of S2766. For details log on to www.boatblue.org.

**The next General Meeting of the FCYC will be held on July 12, 2008 at the Coral Ridge Yacht Club.

Dentis S McDaniel
Secretary, FCYC