In Memory of Mike

Receiving boat of the day award
in Key West with Dan Lorenz

This past Saturday we lost a good friend in a tragic accident. Mike Badendieck was a close companion to a number of people. He had the bearing of a military man (he served a tour aboard a submarine) and showed composure under pressure. He knew how to have fun but had the seriousness to be not taken for granted. Trim and athletic, he was a very accomplished sailor. He could handle any job on the boat.  Mike was a bit quiet but you would get an opinion that was always well thought out. He was passionate about his BMW. Annually he would go to performance driving school with old chum Rob Ramirez. It was washed at least 3 times a week and he was even got caught vacuuming his engine. He positively touched many lives and all will truly miss him. He is survived by his wife Marian Green;  his parents, Laurna and Juergen Badendieck; his sister Claudia (Mike) Simons.  He will also be missed by his Uncle James and Aunt Anne Kalitta, in-laws Lee and Oliver Green,  brother-in-law Edward (Marisa) Green, and nephew Oliver and niece Eleanor.

In lieu of flowers, his family will appreciate memorial donations be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.

I had quite a few requests for the poem read at the service so here is "Navy Wife", written by Lance Brady for his wife Joan:

She stands behind the man she loves,
A Sailor from the sea,
And waves farewell and sheds a tear,
When err he has to leave.

Each day she humbly carries on
This prayer upon her lips,
"Our Heavenly Father keep them safe,
The men who sail our ships."

She often writes and tells him of,
The things gone wrong ashore,
His oft reply "I love you dear,
But I must sail some more."

So oft she stands out on the pier,
A kiss upon her lips,
Reserved for him who holds her heart,
Her Sailor on the ship.

His final day along the rail,
"Request to go ashore,"
"I love you dear, I’m home to stay,
In ships to sail no more."

Going 19 knots downwind in Key West. Mike is the farthest right standing

Miami standing with Rod Weston, Nancy Caldwell, Rob Ramerez, Mike Pearson, and Doug Scheibner

Yes that is Mike water skiing on a bunk board

Chicago Mac

Mike and Marian loved to ski

Always active here they are with their bikes

A day to remember!
Winner overall Bayview Mac with Rod Weston, Nathan Caspers, Nancy Caldwell,
Fred Rozelle, Steve Rozelle, Colleen Flanagan, and Bob Declercq

At BMW school with Rob Ramirez  and Dave Rodrigas

with Rob Ramirez

with Henry Mistele in Key West

On the way to Nassau, Bahamas

Lynn Kotwicki, Bob Declercq, Colleen Flanagan, Karl Kuspa, Mike Kirkman in Nassau

Partying with crew of Hot Ticket at Mackinac Island

I love my car!

Race from Ft. Lauderdale to Key West January 2010 - Chuck Bayer is also in this video

Regata del Sol al Sol - St. Petersburg, FL to Isla Mujeres, Mexico - "Race of the sun to the sun"

The race started with very little wind. The race committee has a rule that is really cool so that the race is not delayed.  If there is no wind the committee boat will fly the postponement flag and leads the entire fleet down the course until the wind fills in. We were the second start but passed the entire group of boats by the bay bridge. We were able to see the yacht Second Wind by the first evening but after that we did not see any of the fleet. Difficult to believe, but Carinthia was able to point higher than most of the boats in the fleet. The next 400 miles were 15 to 25 knots of a port fetch. When it came to put a reef in the main we suddenly discovered that we had forgotten to put the reef line in. Although a bit slow, we did get it in by lowering the sail. However when it went back up, there was a tear in the back of the sail. Fortunately it was along the leech cord and we sailed 300 miles with it that way. We also broke one of the genoa halyards but just had to make bareheaded sail changes with the other one.

This was a tedious race and we kept sailing into square waves that caused the boat to drop every 4th wave. In fact I got launched out of bunk and landed on Jim Best's head, a pleasant surprise for him. We rode the southern current as long as we could and crossed the northernly stream as quickly as possible. We had to cross back on a starboard tack just north of Isla Contoy. Bob noticed just west of the island the depth decreasing to 24 feet. We immediately saw the foam of a reef straight ahead and tacked. It was a close call for ending up on the rocks but we did manage to duck that bullet. We did finish on Monday morning at 1: 54 am and the next boat did not arrive for the next 8 hours. That is the first time Carinthia got to be first to finish. We were first in the tiny spinnaker class but the day after our finish the wind finally filled in  from the north so our great performance was nullified.

Beach at finish line

Crew: Bob Declercq, Jim Best, Karl Kuspa, Paul Falcone, Eric Ryan, Greg Thomas

Race Tracking: http://cloud.iboattrack.com/r/start.php?r=2010_regatadelsol

Race Website: http://www.regatadelsolalsol.org/

Final results: pdf document

At dock at Isla Mujeras

Paul Falcone's all terrain golf cart

Paul tried his hand in the suitability of the golf cart's off roading capabilities. In the end he did not care for it, but managed to miss the rocks and landed in the sand. He did not break his neck so I guess it was a relatively successful endeavor.

Manitee River to St. Petersburg

Tampa Girl is on the right, Carinthia is in the group on the left

This was a broad reach start in about 16 knots of air for this 12 mile race.  Madcow managed to sail in our quarter wake and stuck to us like glue. The second leg was a short run. After rounding mark 2 it was pretty much a beat to weather. We managed to cross the finish line in 2nd place and only losing to Warrior by 23 seconds corrected time. If we would of beat her we would of won the regatta in our class. However we did to place 3rd overall for all classes so it was not too bad.

Link: Race #3

        Series

        Overall Series

This race was mostly upwind up the bay

Crossing the finish line

Race from Tampa to Manitee River

Pre race..Nicole, Rodney, Karl, Con, Mark

Straight trip down the bay

On the second day we started on a broad reach in breeze under 10 knots for this 25 mile race. The start did not go well. We got on the leeward side of the fleet and could not get out from under Warrior, a Tripp 38. She was the slowest in our class and it hurt us. Madcow, a B-32 tried to bluff us by forcing us up when we were rolling her inside the 3 boat circle of a mark of the course. Unfortunately the second half of the race it turned into a moderate air run and that was our weak point of sail. Tampa Bay Girl, a shoal draft J120 was able to stay ahead of us and with their 8 second PHRF advantage we could not get close to her in this race. We could only score 5th in class. We had some problems with our electrical system we could not get the engine started. We could sail into the Manitee River but soon found out that the approach to the Brandenton Yacht Club was in some spots under 7 feet so we got stuck. Carinthia did get a tow and a place to spend the night. Link: http://henrymoore.org/scrw/2010_race_2_scrw.pdf

Carinthia is on the left

Carinthia in front of Brandeton Yacht Club

Suncoast Regatta St. Petersburg to Tampa

Carinthia in front of St. Pete Yacht Club

This was the first day of a three day regatta with the first a 21.3 miler from St. Pete to Tampa (Davis Island Yacht Club). It started with a decent 16 knot wind from the stern. We got caught in a little bit of traffic but got the .6 spinnaker up with no problems. We managed to round the first mark in 4th place but managed to move up in the upwind leg. At the top end of the bay the wind at 15 knots turned into a reach. At that point we put up the code 0 and started to reel the other boats in. We finished 2nd corrected time so it was a pretty decent day. Link: http://henrymoore.org/scrw/2010_race_1%20scrw.pdf

Spinnaker class start...Carinthia is in the middle

Rodney hard at work

Rodney in front of Davis Island Yacht Club