America's Volunteer
Lifesavers

            

Flotilla 86 Venice, FL             www.cgauxvenice.org           7th District

Judi Bidwick, Commander            Juan Hernandez PhD, Vice-Commander

Flotilla Commander's Message

From the Commander

This past weekend the Coast Guard partnered with the local sheriff and marine police to focus on speeders in the local ICW.  This is a constant problem especially in the minimum and no wake zones in the Albee Road Bridge vicinity.  Coast Guard boarded boats and checked equipment in the moorings area.  Unfortunately, due to cloudy weather, there weren’t as many boaters out as expected.  We can help with this effort by continuing to educate boaters about speed limit areas and proper equipment for their boats.   

With the upcoming Shark’s Tooth Festival in April and National Safe Boating Week in May, we need to create new efforts to get the word out to boaters about wearing life jackets, outfitting the boat properly, avoiding alcohol while boating and taking a boating safety course.  Plans are underway for these special occurrences. 

We are inviting flotilla members to attend the official opening of our new training center at the moorings on Wednesday, March 21 at 2:30. Commander Crawley will be there to congratulate those who worked to transform the garage into a great instructional room and watch standing area. 

On March 24, Flotilla Commanders from Division 8 will join Public Education and Public Affairs Officers at our Harbor Drive facility for a morning meeting.

 The Public Education Program will graduate a class of 20 members in a week.  A GPS course will follow with registration on Thursday, March 22.  We hope to add an ABC class to our PE program in April. 

 I encourage you to join the PE and MT program by becoming an instructor this year.  If you are a current instructor and wish to teach a different class or add a class to your repertoire, let Ruth Bruno or me know of your wishes.

 Judi Bidwick, FC
 Flotilla Commander

 

Judi Bidwick, FC

Information

 

Important Notice Best Viewed With Windows Internet Explorer Flotilla Staff Officers                CM - Juan Hernandez                CS -  Denis Keyes                FN -  Janet Heijens                IS   - Harry Bruno                MA - Richard Markwitz                MS - Roman Gzyl                 MT -  Lou Magyar                OP - Jim Sleichert                PA - Al Bidwick                PB - Judi Bidwick                PE - Judi Bidwick                PS - John Kandes                PV - Jerry Mitchell                SR - Ruthanne Bruno                                       General Meeting:               First Tuesday - 1930                  Training Center               On The Water Training               Every Thursday - 0830                Marine Max, Venice

Vice Commander
Juan Hernandez Ph D

 

This month we will celebrate the inauguration of the renovated facility at the Nokomis station, an important milestone that represents the core values of our Flotilla: teamwork, fellowship and commitment to excellence.  I want to thank all the members that have contributed to this project. 

Commander Crawley will be here on March 21, 2006 to join in this celebration; this is particularly important since he funded this project and is retiring from active duty.

Our next projects are to help crew members and coxswains qualify for the Operations Excellence program and find opportunities for the FSO staff to collaborate on supporting important programs, such as the National Safe Boating Week, May 19-25, 2007.

Finally, I plan to have a staff meeting at the end of the month to consolidate our plans for the year; I will send out a notice shortly.

Juan Hernandez
VFC

 

Information Services
Harry Bruno, FSO-IS

 

Just a reminder that the District 7 website (www.cgaux7.org ) now provides easy access to basic information for all members.  The information is taken from auxdata and enables you to access reports, qualifications, certifications, etc. without a password.  Access is available on the Member Information Menu of the site.  Click “Auxinfo Reports” on the left menu.

Don’t forget to submit all forms in a timely manner.  The only exception is the 7029 form.  If you have only a few hours to report per month, then you may hold the form until you have at least 15 or more hours.  Thank you for your continued cooperation.

Harry Bruno,
FSO-IS/SO-IS

 

Marine Safety
Fred Shaneyfelt, FSO-MS

FROM THE EDGE OF THE WATER

 On March 10, Marine Safety attended an awareness-level class followed  by a class for Assistant Pollution Investigator (AUX ED PQS).  These classes were presented by: MST1 Heather Norman, USCG Sector St. Petersburg, Incident Management Branch. It was a long day but a lot of useful information was passed on and will be put to use.

 Marine Safety is still waiting to hear from Boat US to see if our grant was approved for the trading card idea of Be a Boating Winner and Can your Litter.

 The Marine Safety proposal to join with The 2007 Kellogg/Wal-Mart / Auxiliary “On the Box” National Promotional to Wear a Life Jacket received approval. MS will be involved at the Wal-Mart – Osprey store and pass out LASH- whistles to all school age children. Exact date has not been set yet. Any flotilla member interested in participating can email, call or see me in person. This will only happen once and will be no more then four (4) hours of your time. 

A Marine Safety proposal was made and approved to update the home page of our Flotilla Website. To be added will be a teachers/kids area so they can down load coloring and safety materials.

 When doing VE checks, make each boater (passenger) is aware of America Waterway Watch, our Boating classes, and our WEBSITE to obtain safe boating information.

 FSO-MS

Fred Shaneyfelt

 

Member Training
Bud Beeman, FSO-MT

 

Member Training continued through February with a SAR planning session, and three boats the following week to execute the plan.  The Partner-Ship, Double Deuce, and Bomar sailed on just a few large gound-swells to test SAR pattern skills on the Gulf. 

On the return, the Partner-Ship had a real SAR, finding a disabled boat anchored in the ICW, then taking it safely out of the way.   

Thanks to Charley Dulany for the planning session--not for the real SAR.

Training continues to prepare members who need a requalification this year.  Coxswain and Crew training proceeds for possible QE time early April, prior to the departure of some snow-birds.   

The navigation class continues for Public Education and flotilla members. 

Strong interest in the crews for the Operational Excellence program moves ahead.

The Moorings classroom has been expanded and greatly improved through members' efforts. 

Bud Beeman
FSO/MT FL86

Operations
Jim Sleichert, FSO-OP

From the Operations Desk:

Patrols are doing well.  We will  have done a patrol every weekend for the month of March.  O.W.T. is getting a great response from flotilla members.  Our main concentration is getting Coxswain and Crew ready for re-qualification with a QE.

         We will have put 11 facilities on the water for training during the month of March.  At this time, we  have one facility and crew that will be in training for operation excellence.  We will have more facilities and crew members training for operation excellence in the near future.ture.

         Mistakes are still being made filling out the 7030 for patrols.  The code 01A must be used for safety patrols and o.w.t. patrols.  A class will be given shortly dealing with the proper procedures for filling in the 5132 and 7030.  If you are not sure about filling in the forms properly, call a friend who knows or give me a call.

         We will have two facilities for each o.w.t. session in April.  Will do the best we can to make sure that everyone takes a turn on the water.  We will also be doing land tasks and reviewing Nav Rules, as well as line handling and knot tying.  It is important that all crew members that must re-qualify attend every o.w.t. session. ion. ion. ion.

          All facility inspections must be checked and double checked by the VE.  A wrong FL number or identification number can cause improper data being entered in auxdata and POMS.  Correcting this situation is time consuming and difficult.  Please, check and double check before submitting to the Flotilla Commander.

          Also, do not forget to cancel patrols properly.  Coxswain’s are either forgetting to cancel the patrol or doing it improperly.

1.      Any patrol orders that are cancelled for any reason must have a copy of the 5172 sent to Group St. Petersburg at the address shown on the patrol order with the "Attn:  AUXLO" added in the address. 

2.      The orders should have the notation "CANCELLED" written across the face of the orders, in red.  That is similar to the "VERIFIED" that is written on the face of the orders, for patrols that were completed, which also must be mailed to Group St. Pete.

 The address to group St. Pete is the following:

        U.S.C.G. GROUP ST. PETERSBURG
        ATTN:  AUXLO
        600 8TH AVE. SE
        ST. PETERSBURG, FL. 33701       

JAMES P. SLEICHERT
FSO-OP

Public Affairs
Al Bidwick, FSO-PA

 

It’s not too early to start thinking about the Sharks Tooth Festival on April 20-22.   We will need your help in staffing the booth.  Each year we have had wonderful responses from members who turn out to greet participants at the Festival, make new friends, and acquaint people about our contributions to the community in terms of safety, public education, vessel inspections, etc.   

This month Kellogg Foods, Wal-Mart, and the Coast Guard Auxiliary will launch an “On the Box” promotional program.

Four of the most popular cereals produced by Kellogg’s and distributed through 3,800 Wal-Mart stores across the U.S. are scheduled to include a side panel with a recreational boating safety message targeting Coast Guard Auxiliary boating safety classes and vessel safety checks.

A second wave of 4 snack products is currently being negotiated for June.

A flyer describing the program in more detail is available at www.auxadept.org/downloads/kellog_flyer_20070226.pdf.

We may want to take advantage of this tremendous exposure by establishing Boating Safety exhibits and VSC Stations at one or more of our local Wal-Mart Stores.  We can discuss this and other possibilities at our monthly meeting.

Al Bidwick
FSO-PA

 

 

 

Public Education
Ruth Bruno, FSO-PE

Our BS&S class of 24 students will soon be completed.  Thank you to all who have assisted with these public education classes.  Please help to spread the word about our GPS class that is coming up in March:

Registration is Thursday March 22 at 6:00 p.m.

Class begins Thursday, March 29 through April 9 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

Class cost is $40.00

Ruth Bruno
FSO-PA

 

Official Imagery Types

As with all things the proper and consistent labeling and naming breeds quality control. As set forth by stated references the following Imagery Type Labels are designated for use.

1. EMBLEMS are the primary visual icon of an organization. The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Official Emblem has been designated to both identify us as a component of the U.S. Coast Guard and to sufficiently distinguish ourselves as a unique and separate entity. The main difference between the two emblems is that the Auxiliary's standard emblem has solid blue anchors, while the Coast Guard's anchors has outlined, or stroked, anchors. The next most significant difference is the wording around the central disc. The third difference is the coloring. CG Blue is lighter than AUX Blue, while CG Red is, in actuality, International Orange. Consult Appendix B - Authorized Colors Chart for specific color values. The Auxiliary Emblem has three variations: A stylized version based on the emblem used in the Official Seal (see below); an operational version used historically on our patrol signs; and an alternate version using the same stroked anchors as the Coast Guard Emblem. Caution MUST be exhibited when using the alternate emblem so that we do not misrepresent ourselves in which the casual viewer would confuse this with the Coast Guard Official Emblem. The standard and alternate emblems also have reverse versions for use against dark backgrounds. When displaying the Auxiliary Emblem alongside the Coast Guard Emblem, always choose the version with different anchors.      

2. MARKS are the secondary visual icon of an organization and with the Coast Guard and the Auxiliary our marks have historically been known as "Racing Stripes." Trivia says that it was President John F. Kennedy who came up with the racing stripe idea to more clearly identify the U.S. Coast Guard. The Coast Guard's mark is a large International Orange stripe with a small white and then blue stripe. The Auxiliary's mark alternates these colors with the large stripe being blue. The mark may lean either way and when used with lettering, the small stripes are next to the letters.
     
3. SIGNATURES are an extension of the Official Mark category. This historically has been used on letterheads and consists of the official mark with the words: "U.S. Department of Homeland Security" in the serif font of DHS (Joanna MT) and "United States Coast Guard Auxiliary" in a bold sans-serif font (Arial)
  
.4. SEALS are For Official Use Only in documents requiring signature under seal. The Auxiliary Official Seal is a derivation of the Official Seal of the United States Coast Guard with the following differentiations: The Auxiliary Stylized Emblem is used; the
rope around the outside is colored silver vice gold; and the background is Auxiliary Light Blue.
  
5. LOGOS identify other aspects of the Auxiliary. While logos are encouraged to be produced locally, it is advised that the values of consistency and branding as established in this STYLE USAGE GUIDE be considered.