Saturday October 17th
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Rain or Shine

Lakeshore Drive near Gilbert Street

This will be a silent auction of several boats located on Lakeshore Drive. Bids will be accepted in person between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Simply write your bid on the paper attached to the boat(s) you are interested in. To see pictures of the 10 boats we currently have to auction, click here (or click on the photos to the right):

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=vipatek&target=ALBUM&id=5391361673427494369&authkey=Gv1sRgCIbbmO2E1YC6QQ&feat=email

At 2 p.m., all bids will be closed and the highest bidder will be notified. Payment must be made at that time preferably in cash. No credit cards will be accepted. Once payment is made, the winner then takes ownership and responsibility for their boat.

If you have a boat you would like to donate to the sale, please contact Andrew Natale. Proceeds from the sale will pay for expenses we incurred for the disposal of junk boats and for building new boat racks for kayaks and canoes.

If there are any questions, please click on the Contact Us link to the left and we will forward your question to Andrew Natale. Hope to see everyone there. Good Luck!

Link to Photos of Boats at Picasa

TRUESDALE LAKE SUNFISH RACING SCHEDULE 2009
SUNFISH FLEET #27

OBJECTIVE
The prime objective of our racing series is to have fun and encourage us all to leave our lawn maintenance, desk work and other chores and spend some time out on our beautiful Truesdale Lake.

SCHEDULE
A summer Sunfish series of 20 races will be held, with 2 races each Sunday, the first beginning at 1:30 p.m. Practice & fun races will be held in June. The regular series on the 10 Sundays from June 28- August 30. (“President’s Cup special race on 9/6) Since we only count your best 10 races, you can win the series, and still miss 1/2 the races. If sufficient boats participate- two fleets will compete allowing beginners an easier learning experience otherwise beginners will also be given early starts and minimal rule enforcement.

SPECIAL EVENTS:
Summer Sailstice fun races & warm up Saturday June 20: 1:30pm; non-racers welcome
Sign up at http://www.summersailstice.com for a chance to win prices and/or buy T-shirts etc.
Full Moon regatta Sunday July 5, 8:45pm (all boats welcome – put a lantern on your dock)

TROPHY
The winner keeps the fleet trophy for a year.

SERIES RULES
Two official races will be run each Sunday. A race will be canceled if no boat finishes within one hour of the start. The winner of the series will be determined by adding up the scores for each boat's best 10 races out of a possible 20. Ties will be broken by counting the number of firsts.

SCORING
1 point for starting (register with race committee),
1 point for finishing
1 point for each boat you beat, 1/2 point for first place finish
Results posted at: http://www.truesdalelake.com

[more below...]

Truesdale Lake Annual Moonlight Regatta

Saturday, August 16, 2008 - 9:00PM

This coming Saturday is the annual moonlight regatta.

Come out in your boat to join your neighbors as we sail, paddle, row or just float around the lake and watch the full moon rise.

Those with lakeside property are encouraged to put lanterns and candles along their property. (No spot lights please.)

Please invite your neighbors - pass this link on!

ICE SAFETY (this document is also available as a pdf download here)

Truesdale Lake freezes in the winter and is often perfect for sledding, skating, ice hockey, cross country skiing and just taking a beautiful winter walk. However one must never go out on any frozen body of water without knowing some rules of ice safety. Please discuss these safety tips with your children and emphasize their importance.

Before you go onto the ice:
1. Do not go alone. Always use the buddy system on the ice. Alcohol in your blood is dangerous because it impairs your judgement and increases chilling by bringing blood to the surface of the skin. At night carry a flashlight.
2. Check the thickness (see benchmarks below)
3. Look for the nearest yellow ice rescue ladders

Surviving an Icy Plunge into the Frigid Waters of Truesdale Lake
Whether you have fallen through thin ice or are trying to rescue someone who has, the most important thing to remember is: you have more time than you think.

What to do if you fall through the ice
Try not to panic. Call out for help only if you see someone. Otherwise, save your breath. The cold shock that makes you hyperventilate will subside within 1-3 minutes. The best thing to do is to get your breathing under control and keep above water. You are more likely to die from drowning than from hypothermia.

Remove any extraneous objects that will weigh you down. (skis, skates, etc.)

Try to get out from the direction that you came in. Place your hands and arms on the unbroken surface of the ice. You will only have 2-5 minutes before you lose the strength to pull yourself out.

Begin kicking your feet to get your body horizontal. Then, pull yourself along the ice until you are out of the hole. Be slow and deliberate to conserve your strength and body heat.

If the ice breaks, move forward and try again.

Once you are lying on the ice, DO NOT stand up. Roll away from the hole, then crawl following your footsteps back toward shore. Don’t stand until the hole is well behind you. You want to distribute your weight evenly over a wide area to prevent going through again.

If you can’t pull yourself out within 10 minutes from the time that you went in, cease all attempts. At this point, you need to extend the time period in which someone else could rescue you by conserving body heat.

The body loses heat much faster in water than it does in air, so get as much of your body out of the water as possible.

Keep your forearms flat and still on the ice. Hopefully, your clothing will freeze to the ice, possibly preventing you from going under, even if you become unconscious.

It is possible to survive for up to 2 hours before succumbing to hypothermia. In other words, if you stay composed and keep above water, you have almost a 2 hour window of opportunity to be rescued.

Do not panic.

What to do if you see someone fall through the ice?

Keep calm and try to keep the victim calm.

Assess the availability of extra help. If possible, call 911 or look for people in the vicinity.

If you are on the ice, DO NOT run up to the hole. If you are on shore, DO NOT run onto the ice. The last thing you want to do is become a second victim. Tell victim you are getting help. (reduces panic).

Use an item on shore to throw or extend to the victim that will allow you to pull them out of the water. (Rope, ladder, branch, extension cord, skis, jumper cable, etc.) You can also form a human chain with people lying flat on the ice to distribute the weight as evenly as possible. NOTE there are ladders with attached ropes located at several locations around Truesdale Lake. Hold on to the rope and push the ladder out toward the victim. Then once they grab it, pull the rope. The ladder will help distribute their weight and thinner ice should hold them up.

If the person can not hold the ladder, get a third person to hold the rope and the rescuer can carefully crawl out the ladder to grab the victim.

Once the victim is safely on shore, they may seem to be in relatively good condition. However, a potentially fatal condition called “after drop” can occur soon afterward. Cold blood that has been pooled in the body’s extremities starts to circulate again as the body warms up. At this point, the body begins to shiver violently in an attempt to raise the core temperature again.

Never rub the victim’s arms, hands, legs or feet, as this could cause or exacerbate the “after drop.”

Never give the victim alcohol or caffeinated products. They restrict the blood vessels and slow circulation.

If possible, exchange wet clothes for dry clothes, wrap the victim in a blanket and get the victim out of the elements.

Get an ambulance or rescue squad to the scene as fast as possible.

Is the ice thick enough?
Better err on the side of caution (Note ice quality can vary in strength and thickness based on underwater currents, plant growth, water depth, waterfowl activity, and other factors.)

Black (new) ice is much stronger than white (snow or melted and refrozen) ice. Also even if the ice is strong in one place, there could be open water in another part of Truesdale. There have been winters when there was a strip of open water running across the lake all winter even though there was excellent ice skating north and south of it. There is usually open water and or thin ice near the inlets and along much of the eastern shore.

Minimum thickness (inches)....NY.........USACE........NH
1 person on foot ............2-3**.........2*.........4
group (single file)..........3**...........3*.........6
1 car (2 tons)...............7.5...........7.........7.5 (not allowed on Truesdale Lake)

Sources for ice thickness and ice safety/rescue tips:
http://www.exn.ca/video/?Video=exn20020325-icewater.asx -really worth watching
USACE = U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - http://www.mvp-wc.usace.army.mil/ice/safety.html
* number is for black (new) ice; recommends stay off old ice
NYS DEC -www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dfwmr/fish/icefish.html#theice -
** this site now says 2-3 inches of good clear ice
NH Fish & Game Dept - www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Fishing/Fishing_PDFs/Safety_on_ice.pdf

Thanks to Mark and Barbara for putting this information together.

No dogs are allowed at the beaches of Truesdale Lake.

Why are no dogs allowed on these areas?
- Westchester County prohibits pets from designated swimming areas.
- It is against the TEA Beach Rules.
- It is against the TLPOA Beach Rules.
- Common sense says any area where small children are likely to play should be off-limits to dog traffic based on the risk of diseases and parasites such as hookworm, roundworm, and campylobacter. (click here for brochure)
- These diseases can cause fever, diarrhea, vomiting, and blindness. The effects are more severe for our youngest and most at-risk citizens.

From the Federal Centers For Disease Control (CDC) website:
Quote:

See the Centers For Disease Control (CDC) website for more information.

If you think "My dogs are clean, dewormed, etc. so they shouldn't be a problem -- I'll take my dog to run on the beach when no one is around" then you are placing your short term needs above the long-term health of the lake community. Why take the chance?

Any problems that happen will affect the small children who are the most frequent beach users -- and also the most likely to encounter your pet's feces in the sand at the beach. Nobody knows with absolute certainty that their pet is disease or parasite free. Why take the chance?

"I wouldn't let my pet 'go' anywhere on the beach area." If you have a remote control switch for your pet's bowels I am sure other dog owners would love to get one too. Be realistic. Why take the chance?

We have also heard "the geese poop on the beach all the time - what difference will my dog make?" While it is true that geese share our lake, they are also wild animals. Unlike dogs, they have no owner who is responsible for them. Also, there are fish in the lake, and frogs, and turtles, and heron, racoons, muskrats, fishers, otters, and the occasional bald eagle. All presumably do their business in the lake. Again we have no choice in the matter. But YOUR DOG is controlled (most of the time) by YOU! Why take the chance?

Please - Do not take your dogs onto the beaches of Truesdale Lake.

Feel free to leave comments about this article. Register by clicking here.

Also: If you walk your dog or dogs around our lake, please read this previously posted article by a local vet.