New Liaison Officer Samuel Muentes

Sam Muentes is the new Auxiliary Liaison Officer (AUXLO) assigned to our flotilla.  Previously, Sam served as the AUXLO for Flotilla 91.

Sam is an E5.  He’s been in the Coast Guard for  8 1/2 years and at Station Fort Myers Beach for two years.  His previous duty station was in Maine, so he’s experiencing a real change of climate.  Sam grew up in north-central Florida.  Prior to joining the Coast Guard he worked as an engine mechanic in shipyards. 

Sam’s current specialty at the station is Damage Control officer.  His primary duty is to help other station personnel with housing issues, which range from moving in to remodeling work. Sam serves on the Morale Committee at the station.  In that role he hopes to increase opportunities for station personnel and Auxiliary members to work together on charitable activities.

Sam has two daughters.  His wife, Brandy, works at Lee Memorial Hospital. By Jim Samples

January Calendar of Events and Activities

DATE	EVENT	LOCATION
Jan. 11 - 7:00 to 9:00 PM	Staff Officers Meeting	Flotilla Building
Jan. 14 - 9:00 AM to Noon	Vessel Inspections	Wiggins Pass & Lovers Key Boat Ramps
Jan. 14 - 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM	About Boating Safety - Day 1	Flotilla Building
Jan. 18 - 6:00 to 7:00 PM	Members Social Hour	Flotilla Building
Jan. 18 - 7:00 to 9:00 PM	Members Meeting	Flotilla Building
Jan. 23 - 7:00 to 9:00 PM	Local Waters Knowledge	Flotilla Building
Jan. 26 - 7:00 to 9:00 PM	GPS for Mariners	Flotilla Building
Jan. 28 - 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM	About Boating Safety - Day 2	Flotilla Building
Jan. 28 - 9:00 AM to Noon	Vessel Inspections	Wiggins Pass & Lovers Key Boat Ramps

  Note:  Uniform for Staff Officers meeting is casual attire.  Members meeting is tropical blues.

February Calendar of Events and Activities

DATE	EVENT	LOCATION
Feb. 8 - 7:00 to 9:00 PM	Staff Officers Meeting	Flotilla Building
Feb. 9 - 9:00 AM to Noon	Suddenly in Command	Flotilla Building
Feb. 11 - 9:00 AM to Noon	Vessel Inspections	Wiggins Pass & Lovers Key Boat Ramps
Feb. 11 - 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM	About Boating Safety - Day 1	Flotilla Building
Feb. 15 - 6:00 to 7:00 PM	Members Social Hour	Flotilla Building
Feb. 15 - 7:00 to 9:00 PM	Members Meeting	Flotilla Building
Feb. 18 - 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM	About Boating Safety - Day 2	Flotilla Building
Feb. 23 - 7:00 to 9:00 PM	GPS for Mariners	Flotilla Building
Feb. 27 - 7:00 to 9:00 PM	Local Waters Knowledge	Flotilla Building
Feb. 25 - 9:00 AM to Noon	Vessel Inspections	Wiggins Pass & Lovers Key Boat Ramps

Dress for staff officer meetings is casual attire.  Dress for member's meetings is tropical blue.

March Calendar of Events and Activities

DATE	EVENT	LOCATION
Mar. 10 - 9:00 AM to Noon	Vessel Inspections	Wiggins Pass & Lovers Key Boat Ramps
Mar. 10 - 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM	About Boating Safety - Day 1	Flotilla Building
Mar. 14 - 7:00 to 9:00 PM	Staff Officers Meeting	Flotilla Building
Mar. 17 - 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM	About Boating Safety - Day 2	Flotilla Building
Mar. 19 - 7:00 to 9:00 PM	Local Waters Knowledge	Flotilla Building
Mar. 21 - 6:00 to 7:00 PM	Members Social Hour	Flotilla Building
Mar. 21 - 7:00 to 9:00 PM	Members Meeting	Flotilla Building
Mar. 22 - 7:00 to 9:00 PM	GPS for Mariners	Flotilla Building
Mar. 24 - 9:00 AM to Noon	Vessel Inspections	Wiggins Pass & Lovers Key Boat Ramps

Dockside Boating

Our Flotilla Commander, Dave Shuster, will be on the dock behind the Flotilla Building every Friday afternoon at 2:00 o’clock with a cooler. He invites members and friends to bring a chair and a beverage and join him there for informal fellowship.

Leadership Graduates

Larry Urbanek, then Flotilla Commander, congratulates members who completed the Flotilla Leadership Course in November.  Left to right:  George Stancil, Phillip Smith, Bill Willsey, John Gaston, Larry Urbanek.

Ready for Towing Exercise

A two-boat patrol on December 11 maneuvers for towing practice.  Crewman Ed Walters is in the foreground aboard Annabelle with Coxswain John Gaston and Crewman Greg Guederian. Pegasus is in the background with Crewman Michael DiPierro at the helm, Coxswain Ned Herrmann and Crewman Matt Chester aboard.  Photo by Greg Guederian. 

Sheriff"s Office Speaks at January 18 Meeting

Officer Jim Vliet from the marine division of the Collier County Sheriff’s Department will talk about what they do, what they see on the water, and what we can do to help.

Fellowship is scheduled for six to seven o’clock and meeting starts at seven with an overview of the flotilla’s 2012 plan.  Our speaker follows and we will close with the usual reports from staff officers.

Dave Shuster, Flotilla Commander

So, the year begins and we’re off to the races.  I want to thank everyone who attended the Change of Watch.  The dinner was great, well-earned awards were bestowed, past officers were sincerely thanked for their service and hard work, and new officers were sworn in.  It was a nice evening and I hope everyone enjoyed each other’s company.

I spoke briefly about our flotilla plan for this year during my remarks at the Change of Watch.   Our primary goal for 2012 is recruitment and retention.  The flotilla needs growth in members, as well as, growth in our capabilities if we are to fulfill our missions in support of the Coast Guard.  I will be discussing this in more detail at our general meeting this month.

I want to briefly talk about our philosophy moving forward and our relationships as we work together.  All of our members are sincere in their motives regarding their contribution to the flotilla and the Auxiliary. If there are problems or disagreements, we need to assume the best in others.  I hope we can all be tolerant, supportive and forgiving of each other.  

In the Flotilla Leadership Course there is a module on conflict resolution.  It covers the six phases of conflict and concludes that the second phase, which is the confrontation, is most important.  That is where we have the best opportunity to resolve issues and disagreement.  The key is that everyone engages in a healthy, respectful discussion that creates a process leading to a resolution.  If the discussion is angry and assumes the worst in others, nothing is resolved.  Not a desirable or pleasant outcome.

John Gaston, Flotilla Vice Commander

Our flotilla faces some challenges this year as our membership is down marginally from prior years due to local demographic changes, recessionary pressures on the boating industry and the aging of our members. To rebuild our membership, we have a very active recruitment and retention plan that began last year. Thanks to Program Visitation work by Neil Arnal and Dave Shuster, we already have several new recruits who will be inducted soon.

Flotilla Operations, under the capable leadership of Ned Hermann, will have increased emphasis in the areas of on-water training and safety. We intend to improve our Crew and Coxswain qualification programs through scenario-based training and SABOT (Standardized Auxiliary Boat Operations Training) methods to be implemented later this year.  Our Member Training efforts are in the capable hands of Larry Urbanek as FSO-MT.

Our Vessel Examination program set another high goal in excess of 550 for vessel safety checks which now include nonmotorized craft such as kayaks, canoes and personal watercraft that are prevalent on our local waters. Under the continuing leadership of Neil Arnal, we expect 600 vessel safety checks could be achieved this year.

Public Affairs, now in the capable hands of Greg Guederian, will see increased emphasis on media and internet-based advertising as well as an increased presence at area marine events and select conferences.

Emily Harris is once again filling our Publications staff position and we look forward to seeing new and exciting articles in Hatchcover and local publications.

Robert Morrison, Information Services

Congratulations to all our members for their hard work for the year 2011 and for turning in 18,889 hours for the year. Activity hours in December were up a little.

Mission	Hours
Safety Patrol	89
Radiowatch	44
Vessel Exams	12
Marine Dealer Visits	17
Public Lectures	8
Publications	10
Member Training	21

The Members Activity forms 7029 turned in the month of December had 2473 hours. Some members turned in back hours for two and three months. We need everyone to turn one in each month. To do so, get on your computer and go to http://forms.cgaux.org.  Go to E-FORMS.  This is the same place you need to go to when you fill out a 7030. Now click the form 7029, put in your member number and password to fill one out. When you are E-mailing me you must use this site so that I get all code and information to enter your hours in to AUXDATA correctly. Any hours for 2011 that were not turned in before January 1, 2012, cannot be entered into Auxdata for Flotilla hours.

Neil Arnal, Public Affairs

It has been a great learning experience being the Public Affairs Flotilla 96 Staff Officer for 2011.  Writing newspaper articles on our Flotilla events and trying to get them published was definitely a challenge, as I found out.  The plus side of the year was lining up speaking engagements at the local social clubs to promote the awareness of the local U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary.  We were able to promote our public education classes for safe boating and boost membership within our organization.

Neil Arnal, Vessel Examinations

The first thing I would like to acknowledge is that the Certified Vessel Examiners from Flotilla 96 are the most dedicated VE’s within the Division.  We finished the year with a total count of 488 inspections between Vessel Safety Checks and Paddle Craft inspections.  Outstanding!  Thanks to all the vessel examiners for the many hours they spent performing Vessel Safety Checks in 2011.  We helped to educate and promote safe boating and may have saved a life. Remember that the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary’s primary mission is Recreational Boater Safety. Thanks for a wonderful year.

Grant Skaggs, Navigation Systems

As we start a new year our goal is to have all the private aids to navigation and others verified before the beginning of hurricane season. I suggest beginning with those on the western half of our area of responsibility and moving toward the eastern waterways. Those wishing to get an early start please give me a call to decide what areas to look at. Also check the latest Notice to Mariners to get the latest updates on the status of the Aids to Navigation (Atons) and Private Aids to Navigation (Patons) in our area.

The new Staff Officer for Navigation Systems, Paul LeBlanc, has informed me that the Assistant Division Staff Officer for Navigation Systems, Peter Ubillos, is going to give an Aton Verifier Class at the North Port Flotilla 92 on January 21, 2012. Current Aton Verifiers along with new candidates are encouraged to attend, as there will be lots of changes coming down. If you are interested please contact me as soon as possible. Also if you need any type of assistance I am available. I look forward to working with all of you and wish you the best for the coming year

George Stancil, Marine Safety

Some flare facts:

Florida boaters generate over 500,000 out-of-date flares annually.

Flares are hazardous waste due to reactivity and toxic metals.

Soaking flares in water is not a good disposal option as some flares react when exposed to water. 

It is against the law to ignite flares in non-emergency situations on regulated waters.

For flare disposal, call Southwest Squad of the Florida State Fire Marshall Explosive Ordinance unit at 239-338-2327 in Fort Myers.

For disposal of used oil, call 1-800-741-4DEP to locate the nearest public oil collection center.

For other hazardous waste, such as old gasoline, used batteries and bilge pump switches that contain mercury, contact Collier County Pollution Control Department at 239-732-2502.

Always be careful on the water.

John Gaston, Communication Services

Sent seven blast emails in December with four related to the Change of Watch Dinner.

Contacted Division Staff Officer again for help with Flotilla website design in 2012 and got no response.

The following information on Public Affairs is from Greg Guederian:

Contacted Bonita Banner (Karen Brant) and provided them with a marked up ad for PE. The

ad will cover all Public Education classes listed for January and February in the 2012 brochure.

Added all January and February PE classes to the online events page for Naples Daily News and The Banner.

Contacted ValPak for rate quotes on direct marketing.

Contacted "Florida Weekly" and left word for their Editor to call back. I suggested that we might swap some boating related articles for ad space. I'm waiting for a call back, or will follow up on my return from vacation.

Contacted Collier County Adult Education. - In this scenario, we would essentially be providing any or all of our courses through the board of education, and would receive an hourly "instructor" pay. A minimum of seven students must be enrolled in the class for it to receive a green light. Their current winter program has already been decided but I will be speaking to the program director about joining the Spring program in April.

Partnering with the Board of Education could give us fantastic exposure and provide a feeder program for recruiting new members.

Contacted Bob Adubato, Flotilla Vice Commander of flotilla 93 about sharing space at the upcoming Naples Boat Show. He said 93 has historically paid $250 to exhibit at the show. This year the Marine Industries Association is going to charge $500, so there will be no USCGAUX representation. I have a call in to them to talk further and plead our case. If we are successful, 93 will share booth duty with us.

SW Florida Flotilla Map

Masthead

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U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, Flotilla 96, Wiggins Pass, North Naples, Florida

13531 Vanderbilt Drive, Naples, FL 34110-6085

239-594-8009

http://a0700906.uscgaux.info/

Hatchcover is an official publication of Flotilla 96.  It is published ten times a year to keep members apprised of the activities of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and Flotilla 96.  The meeting of Flotilla 96 is held on the third Wednesday of each month.  The photograph at the top of our front page is used with permission of Florida Aerial Services, Inc., and was taken in November 2008.  Articles published in Hatchcover can be reprinted only after obtaining the express permission of the editor.  Send comments or questions to the editor, Emily Harris, at eharris663@gmail.com or Flotilla Commander Dave Shuster at daveshuster1@mac.com.