Article by: The Outgoing Flotilla 52 Commander, Gregory Barth

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Outgoing Flotilla Commander’s Chat Show
It was a great year
By Outgoing Flotilla
Commander
Greg Barth
W ELL, 2017
was a great
year for us. I
want to personally thank all of you that
helped make this year a huge success. We
have a good hardworking crew here in
Jupiter and let’s keep up the good work.
Highlights from 2017 include the following:
On the Public Affairs front we had booths at
the Jupiter Jubilee, Sea Fest for
Kids and Turtlefest.
For National Safe Boating Week
we had a “Wear Your Life Jacket
to Work Day” event, a VE Blitz,
a Boating Safety Table at West
Marine and arranged for
proclamations “Declaring
National Safe Boating Week”
from four towns.
In Public Education – We gave a combined
(14) ABS & BS&S classes (30 Saturdays or
Wednesday Evenings) during the year with a
total of (233) graduates
For 2017 we lead Division 5. In December
at the Division 5 Change of Watch we were
presented with the “Ernest T. & Anne
Fruhner Award of Excellence in Public
Education”.
This plaque was for our performance in
2016, again the most in Division 5, one of
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the Top Two in District 7 and it came with a
thousand-dollar check.
A thank you to the Austin Blu Foundation
and the Perry J. Cohen Foundation for
helping to support our Public Education
Program.
Vessel Examinations – We completed a total
of (377) in 2017. The most in Division 5,
second year in a row. Four of our members
now proudly wear the RBS Device, most
recently Norm Sheriff.
Program Visitors – For 2017 we made (336)
accounts visits. That is a 50% increase over
the prior year.
Member Training – (8) Members
were trained to present Boating
Skills & Seamanship. We
completed AUXOP Seamanship
and AUXOP Patrols with (14)
Members earning either a ribbon
or a star towards their AUXOP
Device. AUXOP Commun-
ications is in process.
And somewhere in between we
squeezed out (10) Flotilla Membership
Meetings, an FSO Luncheon, a Flotilla BBQ
Luncheon and a Flotilla Holiday Dinner.
As you know Mark Cleveland will be taking
over in January and I know that everyone
will support Mark in his new position.
I will be taking on the Vice Commander
position as well as Member Training,
Information Services and Finance. I am sure
that with everyone pulling together we can
have an even more successful 2018.
Incoming Flotilla Commander’s Chat Show

All hands on deck!

By Incoming Flotilla community and we did it with only 25% of
Commander our membership participating.
Mark Cleveland For 2018, my goal is to continue the course
that has been laid out by Greg Barth.

O VER the past

two years
Flotilla 52 has
set records, made
His leadership and dedication are unmatched
in the District. These are big shoes to fill and
I will need “ALL HANDS-ON DECK” to
continue the good work that has been
significant started.
accomplishments and I see the Flotilla’s future having multiple
has established itself as a Flotilla that gets it missions. To meet the needs of a growing
done! boating public in Jupiter, we will need to
With the support of the Austin Blu and Perry build on our successes.
J. Cohen Foundations, we have made a Here are what I see as our missions:
significant impact on the Jupiter/Tequesta
boating community by 1) Identifying
stressing the importance Member Training
boating safety. Gaps
The Flotilla also * Conduct Member
participated in many Training Classes
community events * Boat Crew Training
throughout the year * Coxswain Training
making our presence
known and again 2) Promote and
stressing the need for Improve Recreational
safe boating. Boating Safety
Our dedicated Vessel * Public Boater
Examiners and Program Safety Education
Visitors inspected * ABS classes
hundreds of vessels and * BS&S classes
conducted hundreds of * Participate in local
visits to our commercial business partners. events
These accomplishments were done by
members who gave selflessly back to their To Page 4

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3) Program Visitor Accounts
4) Vessel Examinations
5) Facility Patrols (Facility on the
water in 2018)
6) Station Lake Worth Support
* Food Service
* Radio Watch Standers
To provide trained crews and
facilities to augment the Coast
Guard and enhance safety and
security of our ports, waterways,
and coastal regions
SNACK TIME AT LAKE WORTH: Mark Cleveland and Greg Barth deliver a
consignment of goodies to help support the Lake Worth Inlet Station. Receiving the
donation is Coastie BM1 Ryan Whitman.
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To support Coast Guard
operational, administrative, and
logistical requirements
So, as you can see, we have our work cut out
for us in 2018. To those who have given so
much over the past two years I sincerely
thank you. We are a team and the team can
only be successful with everyone doing their
part. So, I call on all the members to take a
minute and ask yourself this question, “what
am I doing to give back?”
This is Our Mission
Which one of these missions do you see
yourself on?
Hope to see you all on board.
The Egmont
Key Lighthouse
By Flotilla 52
Historian
Judy Brammer

T HE History of
this little island
in the middle of
a very busy shipping
lane goes back quite
far.
The great Spanish sailor, Ponce de Leon, may
have seen it in 1513 as he cruised up the
Florida coast.
Other early visitors were Spanish explorers
Panfilo de Narvaez in 1528 and Hernando De
Soto in 1539.
Egmont Key received its name in 1754 when
the British surveyor, George Gauld named it
after John Perceval, second Earl of Egmont
and First Lord of the Admiralty (1763-66)
during the British occupation of Florida.
Egmont Key is isolated off Bradenton, St.
Petersburg and Tampa. Residents asked the
federal government to erect a lighthouse in
Tampa Bay, but It wasn't until 1848 that
engineers built one.
That same year Colonel Robert E. Lee made a
survey of the southern coast and recognized
the military significance of the island. The
To Page 6 CHANNEL GUARDIAN: The Egmont
Key Lighthouse.

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size of the 398-acre island, only 1.6 miles
long and a half mile wide belies its
importance.
Egmont channel, Tampa Bay's main
shipping channel serves several thousand
ships a year as they go to and from Tampa
and St. Petersburg.
During World War 1, the military again
began using Egmont Key for amphibious
warfare and aerial gunnery exercises.
After World War 11 the military once again
abandoned the island except for the Coast
Guard that tended the lighthouse.
The men also maintained the Federal
Aviation Administration radio beacon that
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guides commercial air traffic into the Tampa
Bay area airports.
The island is owned by the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service. The Coast Guard plays a
very active part in protecting the island's
wildlife.
The men today fish, snorkel and swim to
relieve the monotony of a post the Coast
Guard labels “semi-isolated”.
I lived in St. Petersburg and I can say I've
never enjoyed anything more than
snorkeling and swimming at Egmont Key.
You can only reach it by boat and small
craft can be anchored on the beaches. The
lighthouse can be seen from Fort DeSoto
Park three miles away.
 Party Time/1

At the Flotilla Christmas Dinner.

Top left: Lynne DiPaolo and Terri
Schiffbauer.
Top right: Ed Schiffbauer and Bob DiPaolo.
Above : VFC Mark Cleveland and Ellen
Cress.
Right: Maria Barth.

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 Party Time/2

Above: Mike and Jean Hart.

Right: Ken Bolsch
Below left: Jesse Bush
Below right: Barbara and John
Sheetz.

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Party Time/3

Left: Kathy Bush

Above: Steve and Carol Floyd.
Below left: Carmen-Elena Gil with Norm and Cheryl
Sheriff.
Below right: FC Greg Barth.
Photos: Norm Sheriff

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COW awards
for Flotilla 52
By Outgoing
Flotilla
Commander
Greg Barth

A
T the
2017
Division
5 Change of
Watch, Flotilla 52 – Jupiter was
presented with the “Ernest T. and
Anne Fruhner Award of Excellence in
Public Education.
We were one of the two flotillas from
District 7 in 2016 that achieved the
highest number of public education
graduates with a total of 369.
A description of the award from the
District 7 Standing Rules is as follows:
“The Ernest T. and Anne Fruhner
Award of Excellence in Public
Education is presented annually to
recognize the two flotillas with the
highest number of public education
course graduates reported in
AUXDATA/AUXINFO for the ALL SMILES: Representing Flotilla 52 at the
previous year. Change of Watch Luncheon were, from left:
“The winning flotillas shall each Incoming Flotilla Commander Mark Cleveland,
receive $1000 in public education Carol Floyd and Outgoing Flotilla Commander
To Page 11 Greg Barth.

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materials or equipment of their choice to enhance their

public education program. A winning flotilla will not
be eligible for the award for the following two years.”
During 2016 our flotilla taught (15) separate classes.
(9) were at the Loxahatchee River Center, (4) were at
the Jupiter High School and (2) were at other locations
including (1) in Spanish.
A thank you for making this possible goes out to our
instructors, in alphabetical order: Greg Barth, Ken
Bolsch, Mark Cleveland, Luis Cortez-Rodriguez,
Robert DiPaolo, George Gentile, Carmen Gil, Ed
Schiffbauer, John Sheetz, Norm Sheriff, Stu Spector
and Carlos Vizcarrondo.
A special thank you goes out to the “Austin Blu
Foundation” and the “Perry J. Cohen Foundation” for
helping to fund the classes through their continued
support of Boating Safety.
Two Auxiliary Letters of Commendations (ALOC)
were awarded to Flotilla 52 Members. Gregory Barth
our Flotilla Commander for 2016 – 2017 was given
the award for his two years of Flotilla 52 Leadership.
Carol Floyd our Flotilla Staff Officer for Program
Visitors and also the Division Staff Officer for
Program Visitors was also given an award for her two
years of leadership in Division 5 Program Visitation.
Another award we received at the 2017 Division 5
Change of Watch was for maintaining a 3% or less
disenrollment during the period of January 1, 2016 to
December 31, 2016. No other flotillas in Division 5
qualified and only 13 of the 106 flotillas in District 7
earned this award.

AWARDS HAUL: Top: The Ernest T and Anne

Fruhner plaque.
Middle: The Auxiliary Letters of Commendation
awarded to Greg Barth and Carol Floyd.
Bottom: The award and Coin for maintaining a
3% or less disenrollment.

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Wreck of an
infamous ship
By
Flotilla
52
Historian
Judy
Brammer

W ITHOUT
doubt the
most tragic
shipwrecks anywhere in
the world were the slave
ships.
Whether transporting
captured Indians to work
in the Spanish colonies
in Hispaniola and Cuba
or ferrying African
slaves to work in Brazil SHIP OF DEATH: The slave ship Henrietta Marie.
and the West Indies,
those ships of death had
some of the worst conditions ever imposed overboard and tried to make it to shore,
on human beings by other human beings. completely oblivious of the screaming
Slaves who managed to survive the slaves manacled together under the decks.
transatlantic crossing had one more danger The leg irons and wrist shackles on slave
to contend with before they reached shore: ships bear mute testimony to the horrible
shipwreck. deaths those slaves experienced.
When the slave ships hit a reef, struggled
with a hurricane or simply came apart in To Page 13
high seas, the desperate crews scampered

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In 1972, treasure hunters found the remains
of a small merchant-slave ship that had
wrecked on New Ground Reef about 36
miles west of Key West.
Pewterware, including large bowls, bottles,
tankards, and spoons with their makers'
touchmarks stamped on them, enabled
researchers to date them back to English
artisans between 1694 and 1702. Ivory
tusks, trade beads, and sets of leg and wrist
shackles confirmed what the researchers had
suspected: the ship had been involved in the
African slave trade.
They concluded that the pewterware had
been intended as barter for slaves on Africa's
Guinea coast.
The ship’s bronze bell with the words "The
Henrietta Marie 1699" and further research
enabled the researchers to identify the ship
as a slaver that had left London in
September 1699, went to Africa where she
traded her cargo for slaves, sailed to Jamaica
to unload the slaves in time for the sugar
harvesting season.
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She then began her trip home to London in
June 1700 before the height of the hurricane
season, with a load of sugar, indigo, cotton,
and logwood.
The 120-ton, square-sterned ship must have
been hit by a storm as it approached the
Marquesas and ended up on New Ground
Reef.
What happened to her Captain and crew of
approximately 20 men is unknown.
The artifacts on the ship clearly showed
each of the three parts of the triangular
transatlantic trade system such slave ships
were engaged in.
Leg one: pewter, trade beads, and guns.
Much of the pewterware was discovered on
the wreck site in the Florida Keys,
The swords and firearms found on the
shipwreck site would have been used for
trading and for defense on board the ship.
The second part of the trip, the middle
passage from Africa to the New World was
the one that packed hundreds of slaves
To Page 14
HUMAN
CARGO: A
layout of
the slaves’
quarters
aboard.
 From Page 13

below decks for the

transatlantic crossing.
Searchers found many sets of
iron leg and wrist shackles on
the
Henrietta Marie that
confirmed the use of the ship.
By 1700 Jamaica had become
the largest sugar producer in
the world and had a slave
community of 45,000.
The ivory found on the ship
attested to the fact that the
crew was taking "elephant
teeth" back to England for the
high profits it brought there. SALVAGED: The ship’s bell is among many artifacts in
The third leg of the trip, from the Mel Fisher Museum in Key West.
the West Indies to England,
was represented by a great quantity of Like many ships leaving Jamaica, the ships
dyewood or logwood, which workers used proceed along the Florida coast until it could
to make purple dye stuff. head for Europe. Divers have found parts of
Merchants bought the dyewood for the trip bilge pumps used to remove water taken on
home to England after it had been grown in by the wooden vessels.
Mexico's Yucatan regions. While the transporting of slaves from Africa
A 1971 survey of shipwrecks in the Dry to the New World was bad enough, the
Torugas by the National Park Service turned condition
up 195 wrecks in that area.
s on the slave ships were horrendous. There is no need to mention here what the
The crews packed as many slaves as condition was with no head, sickness,
possible below decks. Each slave would disease and rotting corpses in the Florida
have a space of about 16 inches and five and heat.
one-half feet in length which forced them to The Henrietta Marie could have transported
lie on their sides. as many as 400 slaves each trip across the
Atlantic and experts estimate that one out of despite the laws of civilized nations that
five Africans on such ships died during the outlawed it.
Middle Passage. Why?
The international slave trade continued Profit.
through the 18th century into the 1860's To Page 15

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The immense profits slave merchants could earn from slave trade encouraged them to ignore the
laws of European and American nations.
A slave that a merchant would buy in Africa for $50.00 would bring $200.00 or more in Brazil,
Cuba, or the United States.
Multiply that figure by the 300 or 400 a slave ship could hold and one can see what profits were
available to unscrupulous men.

Until the United States took control of Florida from Spain in 1821, smugglers used the many
unguarded bays and inlets of north Florida to bring in slaves before smuggling them into places
like Georgia.
The United States had outlawed the foreign slave trade around 1807, and so slave smugglers
simply shifted their operations south to the territory of Florida.
The Henrietta Marie is a time capsule of one of the worst segments of our history. That it had
probably unloaded its cargo of slaves in Jamaica before wrecking in the Marquesas does not
diminish its despicable history.

Tiny but deadly

THIS innocuous little jellyfish is normally found off the coast of Australia. But the cute
creature is deadly. It has a venom 100 times deadlier than a cobra and 1000 times
stronger than a tarantula. Let’s be careful out there!

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Turtle rescue turns
into huge drugs haul
US Coast
Left: The turtle still
Guard News
snarled up in the
line binding the
GIANT

A sea turtle
had to be
rescued by the
huge cocaine haul
and, below, the
USCG Cutter
Thetis.
U.S. Coast Guard
after it became
entangled in a Photos: USCG News
rope attached to
packages filled
with millions of
dollars of cocaine
last week.
The Coast Guard cutter Thetis,
which is stationed in Key West,
Florida, was on a 68-day
deployment when it came across
the turtle trying to escape from
26 bales of cocaine.
The crew noticed a large debris
field while on a patrol, and
discovered the turtle stuck
among the bales which the
Coast Guard estimates contain over $53- returned 1,800 pounds of cocaine to
million of cocaine. authorities once they reached shore.
The turtle suffered from The cutter Thetis is part of Operation
“significant chafing” of its neck and Martillo — an international effort launched
flippers. The team carefully and in 2012 to target drug trafficking routes
successfully cut the lines of the along the Central American coast.
rope wrapped around it and set it free, while In its most recent patrol, the operation seized
recovering over 75-feet of line. The crew 7 tons of cocaine worth over $135 million.

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Improving
your nautical
vocabulary
This month’s term:
Three sheets to the wind
This is derived from the time of
sailing ships. The sheet is a rope that
controls the trim of the sail. A sheet
that is in the wind has come loose
from its mooring and is flapping in
the wind like a flag. A sail
(normally jib sails) is said to be
sheeted to the wind, when it is set
to backfill (set to the opposite side
of the ship from normal use).
A backfilled jib is normally a bad thing. But
in a major storm when a ship is “hove to,” additional jibs are
the helm is lashed to windward, and the sheeted to the wind to keep the ship
jib(s) are sheeted to the windward side of the balanced. A ship that has three jibs sheeted
ship (sheeted to the wind) causing the ship to the wind would be sitting sideways to the
to sit sideways to the wind and waves to wind and waves in hurricane conditions,
minimize the distance the ship is blown off causing it roll wildly from side to side and in
course during a storm. constant danger of rolling over with each
While hove to the ship is at the mercy of the wave.
wind and the crew has no control of the ship. Hence, a totally inebriated person is out of
As the storm gets stronger, more force is control and in danger of crashing, just like a
required to hold the ship in position and ship three sheets to the wind.

History of the Coast Guard in Jupiter

JUPITER Lighthouse Historian Josh Liller, left, will be giving a free presentation
at the museum on Thurs Jan 18 at 6pm about the Coast Guard in Jupiter and
Hobe Sound. He will be showing photos received from veterans and the Coast
Guard Historian’s Office in recent years, and will also be talking about what he’s
learned from CG veterans who shared their recollections of serving locally.

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New on the water

Have you ever wanted to turn your body into a boat?

It's probably not a question you get asked too often, but engineers of inflatable
technology clearly decided that enough people would answer yes to warrant the
building of something that transforms beach-goers into high-speed vessels that can
bounce across the waves.
Behold the Sumo Tube, which is a sort of inflatable shirt that swimmers can wear for all
manner of sea-going fun, including being pulled along by a speedboat. Meanwhile
other wearers use it to surf. The inflatable is made by US-based company Sportsstuff,
which says it is the only tow-able item you can wear.
LEFT: Black Pearl is one of the
most notable yachts to launch in
2017 and stands at 378 feet long.
She can accommodate 12 guests
in the vessel's six cabins and was
built by Dutch construction
company Oceanco.
One of Black Pearl's most unusual
features is that she has solar
panels on her sails and can
generate electricity from her
rotating propellers. This means
the boat can cross oceans without
using any fuel.
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Away from The Flotilla

A fleet in
miniature
By IPFC Greg Barth

I HAVE always had a love for

the sea. I was brought up
overseas and naturally my
boyhood hero was Admiral
Horatio Nelson, the Hero of
Trafalgar.
During my teens I built a number of plastic
ships including the USS Kearsarge, an
American Civil War Sloop and the Cutty
Sark, a late nineteenth century British
Clipper Ship.
These were approx. three feet in length, well
detailed, but they did not stand up to the
many moves I had in my early career. Later
in the seventies and eighties I started schooner which eventually raced against the
wooden model shipbuilding. Canadian Schooner Bluenose in 1920. This
My first wooden ship model was of the model (above) is in 1:64 scale and took
HMS Sultana, a small Royal Navy schooner between 150 – 200 hours to complete.
that patrolled the American coast from 1768 My next attempt in the mid-eighties was the
through 1772, preventing smuggling and Fair American (next page,left), a 1778 14
collecting duties. Gun Privateer.
I built this 1:64 scale model (above, right) This was a much larger ship in 1:48 scale
over a two-year period with about 250 hours with a tremendous number of parts and lots
of time going into her. and lots of detail.
Later I built a model of the 1910 American
Fishing Schooner Elsie, a gaff rigged racing To Page 20

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There is a lot of rigging. I got the hull
carved and sanded, put on the decks did
some painting and hit the wall.
My work schedule was at that time very
hectic, I travelled constantly and the Fair
American was literally put on the top shelf
in closets over a period of 30 years in
Southern Connecticut, Central New Jersey,
Northern Connecticut, Northwestern Ohio,
Southern New Jersey and finally Palm
Beach Gardens.
I took it out of the closet about a year ago
and have been working on it on and off
since then.
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The project has taken over the guest room.
At this point I have probably put 250 hours
into her over the 30-year plus period.
It is a miracle that I did not lose any of the
parts I would estimate that it needs another
150 hours to complete. Note the magnifying
glass with light, a real requirement now, did
not need it 30 years ago.
Lots of pages of plans (below, left). They
have aged a bit.
Now that I am not the FC, just the VFC,
FSO- IS, FSO-MT; FSO-FN I will/hope to
have some more free time. I will have to
expand my Nautical Corner (below, right)
when she is completed.
Loose Ends . . .
Jupiter Jubilee
THE Annual Jupiter Jubilee is set for
Saturday February 3 2018 from 11am – 4pm at the
Jupiter Civic Center.
We always have a strong presence at this popular
event
but this year we’ll have our boat there as well. We
need volunteers to man the stand and the Go-To
person is FC Mark Cleveland.

Sea Fest for Kids

THE Sea Fest for Kids will take place on Saturday,
February 24th, on the grounds of the Jupiter Lighthouse.
This will be our third year presenting at Sea Fest, a great
venue for what we do and teach.
Main Organizer Ed Schiffbauer will be asking for
volunteers to man our booth for
this important event so please
Away from mark your calendars. More
The Flotilla details as they become available.
AS you can see
from the previous THREE men die in a car accident on Christmas Eve and they
two pages, our all find themselves at the Pearly Gates waiting to enter Heaven.
members have On entering they must present something related to or
some very associated with Christmas or they will be rejected.
diverse hobbies The first man searches his pocket, and finds some mistletoe, so
and activities they he is allowed in.
get up to Away The second man presents a nut cracker, so he is also allowed
from The Flotilla. in.
So, let’s hear The third man pulls out a pair of woman's underwear. Confused
about yours – at this last gesture, St Peter asks, "How do these represent
contact Norm Christmas?"
Sheriff. The man answers, "They're Carol's."

Next Members’ Meeting – Thursday January 18 at the River Center

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Nautical
Signal Flags
This month we feature”:
Flag Q
This plain yellow flag means Quebec in
the Phonetic alphabet and when seen on a
ship entering harbor means, “My vessel is
healthy”. However, if there are two Q flags flying, this means “I have infectious disease aboard
and the ship is in quarantine”. Incidentally. The word quarantine comes from the Italian for
Forty – the number of days a ship used to have to wait before entering harbor.

January Birthdays
This month we say Happy Birthday to
John Baranzano and Carlos Vizcarondo

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