This file lists ideas for meeting program topics, ideas for cruises, and information on how to run a cruise. If you would like to present a specific program or would like to hear a particular topic, please tell an officer. If you would like to host a cruise, choose an idea (or make up a new one) and read the procedures for additional information.

• Meeting Ideas
• Cruise Ideas
• Cruise Procedures

1. Adventure Stories
2. Anchoring / Unanchoring Procedures
3. Austin Yacht Club Visit
4. Boat handling tips (heave to, docking)
5. Bottom maintenance
6. Climb your mast (how to)
7. Cold weather sailing (keeping warm, dry, and safe)
8. Collegiate Sailing
9. Cooking on the Boat (if you want to)
10. Chartering: How, techniques, safety, and tips
11. Chartering: Where to Go? (best locations)
12. Cruising Trip Reports (by fleet members)
13. Electrical Systems
14. Engine maintenance (Pat F) (add a new device)
15. First Aide (sunburns, cuts, etc)
16. Heavy weather sailing
17. Historical Sailing (LaSalle's LaBelle shipwreck) )
18. How to buy or sell a sailboat
19. Hull and teak maintenance (Fred S, Eric S)
20. Instructional sailing videos
21. Knot Tying
22. Lake Travis sailing tips (wind shifts, shallows, eddies, coves)
23. Lake Travis cruising tips (cruising coves, restaurants)
24. LCRA speakers
25. Lighting and right of way rules (channel, at night)
26. Marina Management
27. Movies (Wind, Master & Commander, Capt Ron, The Dove)
28. Navigation (from sextants to GPS)
29. Nautical Adventure Stories
30. Nautical Books, Magazines, and Videos Exchange
31. Olympic Sailing
32. Person overboard recovery (video, talk, practice)
33. Psychology of Sailing: Maintaining good skipper-crew relationships
34. Racing rules
35. Radio usage, etiquette, use for emergencies
36. Roundtable Discussions - we're all experts in something!
37. Safety (Coast Guard Auxiliary, AYC members)
38. Sail trim according to wind conditions
39. Sailing on the Internet
40. Sailing Blooper videos
41. Sailing Certification (ASA, US Sailing, Coast Guard)
42. Cruising Certification (ASA, US Sailing)
43. Sail Making
44. Sailboat and boat accessories dealers (local vendors)
45. Sailing Songs, Sea Chanties (and history thereof) (Joy)
46. Tuning the Catalina rigging
47. Texas Navy Association
48. Weather (invite a local TV weatherperson)

1. Celestial Navigation
2. Consumer's Reports on nautical equipment
3. Radio Controlled Model Sailboats
4. Sea Scouts
5. Star gazing and constellations
6. Swap Meet of Sailboat Equipment
7. Trailer Towing, Safety, and Maintenance
8. Using GPS for sailing
9. Wind and Weather Web sites

Cruise Ideas we have used in the past:

1. April Fool's,
2. America's Cup (race model boats)
3. Baked potatoes
4. Bastille Day
5. Beach Party
6. Beef stew
7. Boat Show Outing
8. Breakfast
9. Buddy-up
10. Caribbean theme (limbo contest)
11. Cheeseburgers in Paradise (with Jimmy Buffet music)
12. Chili
13. Chocolate and Cherries (Valentine's and Presidents' Day)
14. Clam chowder
15. Corpus Christi & Port Aransas
1. Charter
2. Take our own boats
16. Kemah & Galveston
17. Easter Egg hunt
18. Educational, such as How to go thru Customs
19. Fourth of July Cruise
20. Fly a Kite (combine with cruise to a destination)
21. Full moon sail
22. Game night
23. Halloween
24. Holiday Party
25. Hot Dogs and Apple Pie
26. Hot Chocolate
27. Hot Rum
28. Ice cream Social
29. Ladies Only Cruise
30. Land Cruise
31. Luau
32. Kiddie's cruise
33. Mardi Gras (with boat decorated boats)
34. Marina Happy Hour
35. Monte Carlo
36. Model Sailboat Cruise
37. Novice Cruise (bring a novice)
38. Oktoberfest
39. Olympics Cruise
40. Pirates chase/treasure hunt
41. Po-Boy Cruise
42. President's Day
43. Puzzle Jumble Cruise
44. Raft-up
45. Restaurant Sail: Volente Beach Club
46. Restaurant Sail: Shades, Cafe Bleu, Boat House Grill
47. Restaurant Drive (in case of bad weather). Iguana Grill, Oasis
48. Retirement Cruise (wear PJs and robes)
49. Road rally
50. Rum Cruise (Flor de Caña)
51. Safety Drills (person or thing overboard)
52. Sail, Swim, or Draw (sailing terminology version of Pictionary)
53. Small Boat Cruise (bring your sunfish, laser, kids)
54. Sometimes Islands Cruise
55. Shiskabobs
56. Shrimp boil feast (maybe at a Marina)
57. Summer Solstice
58. Star Gazing (ex. August Meteor Shower)
59. St. Patrick's Day
60. Steak and Ale
61. Special Events: Birthdays, Anniversaries, Celebrations
62. Swap Meet at a Lake Travis Marina
63. Tax Free Cruise
64. Trivial Pursuit
65. Tropical Island (Pick your favorite, such as Tahiti) Cruise
66. Treasure Hunt
67. Turnback Canyon Regatta,
68. TNT: Tacos, Nachos, and Tequilla or Tortillas
69. Up the Lake Cruise, To the Narrows (2 or more nights)
70. Valentine's Day
71. Wok 'n Roll

In the past, we met at Starnes Island around 2:00, sailed around for a while, then went to a cove where we dropped an anchor off the stern and tied the bow to the shoreline (tree or rock.) The problem with this plan is that rarely do cruising sailboats meet at an appointed place and the same appointed time. So, now we sail on our own, looking for each other, and meet in a cove at an appointed time. Popular locations in order of preference are Barry's Cove, Arkansas Bend, and Devil's Cove in the off-season. Long Canyon used to be the best but is now getting populated with houses. We have cruises every month except December, when we have the Holiday party. We used to have many evening cruises, but since the lake is very busy now, we have done this less. i.e. many people didn't want to spend the night on their boats and would sail back to their marinas in the dark. The breakfast cruise is the exception; usually most attendees spend the night.
The key to scheduling is to set the schedule early in the year, publicize it, and try to not change it. Full Moon weekends (or the weekend before the full moon) are the best. Consider Austin Yacht Club Regatta and Series race schedules, as many cruisers also race. The Holiday party is almost always the second Saturday in December. (The AYC Annual Banquet is usually the first Saturday night of the month.)

In recent times we have liked to sail to restaurants on the lake and sail afterwards. Popular places are the Volente Beach Club and the place-formerly-called-Shades (across from Lakeway). Some like the VBC because if their boat is out of commission, they can drive and meet the group. There is also a new restaurant up Sandy Creek called Cafe Bleu.

The fleet owns at least the following and the social chair has to track it all, after each cruise, which sometimes isn't easy:
1 small and 2 large tables, large 3-burner stove, and grills to put over a campfire.

Each cruise chairperson is responsible for making sure the campfire is out (sometimes they are prohibited by the county during dry spells) and that the shoreline is in equal or better condition than how we found it.

Before each cruise notice goes out, make a quick check to make sure it includes who, what, when, where, why, how, etc. A map is nice for newer members (now on the web). Also, mention a phone number (which has a recorder) which people can call in case of inclement weather. If we know in advance that the weather will be bad, we will either reschedule, move to indoors, or cancel the cruise.