Septemberfest Adds Program: Sailing 101

by friendsofyellowcreek@gmail.comNews, sailing, SeptemberfestPosted on Comments are Disabled

Sailing 101 – Get Outdoors PA, 9/27/14 10am-noon

Yellow Creek State Park, Day Use Area

Join us to explore the sport and art of sailing on Yellow Creek Lake. This two-hour session begins with a lesson on the parts of the sailboat and introduces future sailors to the basics of wind awareness, sail trim, and points of sail. US Sailing Certified instructors will be on hand. After this orientation, in the second hour each student will have the chance to enjoy a short sail accompanied by a experienced sailor (weather permitting).

This event is co-sponsored by the Friends of Yellow Creek and hosted by the IUP Sailing Club. Sailing 101 is part of the annual Septemberfest at the park. Participants are invited to enjoy music, kayaking, paddle-boarding and other activities throughout the day. Following the program, you will also have the chance to see IUP and Pitt sailors compete in round-the-buoys racing.

We will wear PFDs, but to participate, sailors must be physically capable of swimming 50 yards in clothing and shoes.  Your instructors will conduct the class with your safety in mind; like all outdoor activities, sailing entails certain risks. We’ll try to stay dry and capsizes are rare, but waterproof shoes and a change of clothes are recommended.

Pre-registration required. Participation is free but is limited to 12 students over the age of 10 years. To register call the Park Office at (724) 357-7913 or register online at: http://bit.ly/FOYC-Sail101-Fall2014

Donation Thanks

by friendsofyellowcreek@gmail.comNews, sailingPosted on Comments are Disabled

Generous donors have helped Friends of Yellow Creek embark on a new phase in the promotion of sailing at the park. We now have two Escape Captiva sailboats that members who participate in Community Sailing can access.  Do you remember the good old days of the Sailing Base? Well, FOYC is helping to bring back that facility AND we’re gathering a small fleet of boats for community use.

The Escape Captiva is an ideal small dingy for one or two sailors.  Beginners will appreciate its easy righting power (yes, everyone capsizes from time to time.) And more experienced sailors will take advantage of the unique roller furling main sail to challenge themselves with high winds in the Fall!

Friends of Yellow Creek thanks Joe Charny and the Moraine Sailing Club (of Lake Arthur) for these donations.  Contact friendsofyellowcreek@gmail.com for more information on Yellow Creek sailing.

escape
Two young sailors giving the FOYC Escape sailboat a trial run earlier this summer.

Hydro Fracking in the Yellow Creek Conservation Zone

by friendsofyellowcreek@gmail.comMarcellus Shale, NewsPosted on Comments are Disabled

 

MDS Energy has resumed drilling at the Ray Road site within the Indiana County Conservation Zone just 1500 up hill from the lake. After beginning this well illegally, they have now been granted permission to drill, with some conditions, by the Indiana County Zoning Hearing Board which held that the operation would not be in violation of the Conservation ordinance.

Ray Road, Penn Run Pa. Y

Unfortunately, the current law does not explicitly prohibit drilling within the zone, even though its intent is “to ensure adequate protection for the quantity and quality of the park waters and to prohibit any use that poses a potential to degrade the park waters. Additional environmental concerns include air pollution in the forms of particular and noxious odor, noise pollution, and aesthetic incompatibitities, any one of which can destroy the rural park setting if allowed to operate at an abusive level. (4.600 Intent of Conservation (C) Zone)”

As many FOYC members will know, this well is close to both the Boy Scout Camp and the DCNR cabins.  If you would like to become more informed and participate in the effort to get this 30-year old law revised, please visit Coalition for a Healthy County.