Purple Passion Cruise.

We had another successful Purple Passion Cruise; ten boats and 25 people were able to make it to Des Moines Marina for the fun. We love this lively event at the end of the summer where we can all catch up on summer cruises – or in this case, plan our next moves! – and celebrate (what turned out to be a few) birthdays. We also had a wonderful time just hanging out in the warm weather, which made for a nice Labor Day weekend.

Des Moines turned out to be an ideal location for a cruise. The pavilion at the dock had plenty of tables and chairs for our gatherings. They have a Farmer’s Market on Saturday morning and an Anthony’s restaurant that some of us dined at. We may need to work Des Moines into our annual cruise calendar.

On Saturday we were able to have dessert a bit later than originally planned because the pavilion is lighted. This gave people more time for dinner, which was mostly on our own, but as usual, there was a lot of sharing going on and many of us ate in the pavilion. The Dessert buffet offered a plethora of purple to pick from. There were so many delicious desserts and shades of purple. Nice work everyone!

Sunday’s cocktail contest had three unique and brilliant entries.  We had the cleverest entry of all times by Barbara with her Out of the Box ??? (can you get the name of the drink?), and the best tasting Mad Berry Mojito by Aliza.  Contestants tried to compete for presentation, however, for the third year in a row, resident entertainer August, (AKA Doctor Hahn. Medicare. “Certified”) won the show once again. This time with his formula for an Elixir to cure the Aging Ills of our newest Medicare recipients, and the rest of us too. His show could not be beat. With a sly smile, Dr. Hahn combined unique ingredients that he guaranteed would change our lives for the better, all we had to do was have a drink. And the liquor, it was delicious.  Who cares that it does not reverse aging, it helped me forget the inconveniences and enjoy the day. The formula is a dark secret; only known to our esteemed SBYC member.  Come next year, maybe the magic will be performed again…

Next Dinner Meeting: Thursday, September 19, 2019

IVAR’S Salmon House, 401 NE Northlake Way, Seattle

5:30pm – Meet and Greet

6:45pm – Dinner in the Banquet Room

Topic: “The Blob, El Nino, and Climate Change: Looking for a Hot Time in the Pacific Northwest?”

Speaker: Nick Bond, Associate Professor and Washington State Climatologist

This month we will hear from Nick Bond who is a principal research scientist with the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean (JISAO) of the University of Washington (UW), and is affiliated with the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) of NOAA.

He will talk about “The Blob, El Nino, and Climate Change: Looking for a Hot Time in the Pacific Northwest?”
Focusing on the recent marine heat wave in the NE Pacific Ocean (AKA as the Blob) in the context of the variability of the regional climate and global warming. This event had some major impacts on the marine ecosystem that are providing insights on likely impacts of climate change.

Fall Is Here!

The days are getting shorter.  Fall is right around the corner – I can smell it.  But hopefully this finds everyone still glowing from a great summer.  Although it wasn’t a truly hot one, I think most of us would agree that the weather was just fine.  No smoke from wildfires and very little fog (at least during our 2-week cruise.)

We had to miss the Club Rendezvous this year, as a result of coordinating what turned out to be a very successful classical music house concert in Friday Harbor on August 14.  Last year, after colliding with a submerged log approaching Sucia, we limped into Friday Harbor and stayed there for the remaining 8 days of our cruise, finally delivering our boat to the Jensen Boatyard at the south end of the harbor for repairs.  Great work by that group, by the way.  If you’re ever in need of real help while in the Islands, I strongly recommend Dennis and his team at the Jensen yard (now owned by the Port of Friday Harbor.)

Anyway, stranded in Friday Harbor last summer, we met Mr. Albert Hall and his wife, Margaret, who enjoy hosting classical music house concerts in their home, right in Friday Harbor.  We attended a piano performance last summer while there and I suggested to Albert that I would love to get on his calendar next summer, featuring my 2 symphony friends John Weller (violin) and Walter Gray (cello), with me accompanying on the piano.  We played this August 14 as a result to a crowd of roughly 45 people (his living room can accommodate up to 80 people) and we were very well received.  Albert and Margaret suggested we do this regularly over the next few summers.  Maybe not every summer, but don’t be surprised if you see an Evite in your inbox next summer for another concert there.  We’d enjoy seeing our SBYC friends join us and I’m sure you would find it very enjoyable.

I hope to see as many club members as possible at this Fall’s monthly Dinner Meetings.  Our September meeting is on Thursday, September 19, at Ivar’s Salmon House.  AJ has a great program in place and with the schedule change from Tuesday to Thursday this month, perhaps some of you who can’t make a Tuesday night can join in on this special Thursday date.

We were all very saddened this summer with the passing of our friend Joe Bozick.  The Club made a donation to Footloose Sailing in Joe’s name and a number of members were able to attend his Celebration of Life in mid-August.  Joe has been a tireless supporter of Footloose Sailing’s efforts to get disabled people enabled to go sailing.  And that was just one of his many contributions to the world.  We wish Chris and other members of Joe’s family all the best in moving forward without Joe.  He will be missed.

My wife Julie and I attended our first Husky game this last Saturday, embarking from Leschi Marina on the Newport 27 sloop Mary Ann with our longstanding Husky game ritual approach around “sail-gating” to Husky stadium for the game with our friends on Mary Ann.  And you know what?  I noticed just across the dock from the Mary Ann the Catalina 30 Scotch and Soda, owned by Ken McKenzie.  Ken’s boat suffered a full sinking to the bottom some time back, so I’m thrilled to see that she’s once again floating and looking like a real sailboat.  Next step is to get Ken to some of the cruise events skippering that fine craft. Stay alert folks for a McKenzie sighting.

Your Board of Directors will be meeting shortly, reviewing the summer together, planning for this Fall’s activities, and preparing for the election of some new Board members before the end of the year.  If you have an interest in supporting the Club by participating on the Board, please give any of us a call.  We’d love to hear from you.

All for now.  Keep getting out on the water as long as possible – it ain’t winter yet.  Raise a toast to our friend Joe Bozick and a life well lived.  And let’s catch up together soon at a Dinner Meeting.  Oh, and “Go Dawgs!”

Paddle Boarding: A Near Conversion

Paddle boarding? Moi? Are you crazy? Why would I want to risk getting dumped into Puget Sound where I hear the water is 57 degrees (and I don’t get into any water colder than my body temperature)? Why would I want to balance on something barely bigger than my feet? And most of all, why would I want to go to a talk on a sport I have no interest in—like none, zip, nada, zero?

Last April, when we got the notice for the Club meeting, with a speaker who was going to expound on paddle boarding, my first thought was booooring, for all the reasons outlined in the previous paragraph.

However, we hadn’t been to the meeting the previous month and despite my misgivings about sitting through a, you know, booooring, speaker topic, we decided to go to the meeting anyway. As usual, we had an enjoyable social hour talking to people we hadn’t seen in a while, getting caught up, telling stories, and having a great time.

When Steve Sherrer, barefoot, got up to talk about his favorite sport, I settled back to daydream for the next half hour. NO WAY! With his inflatable paddle board, he demonstrated (enthusiastically) how to balance on it, how to stay upright, how to turn, hold the paddle and all the other little tricks to keep yourself on the board while whipping around Puget Sound. This talk, on a subject I had no curiosity about, was entertaining, interesting and even somewhat motivating (although I’m still not getting into cold water or even taking a chance on getting dumped into it). All this to say, I truly enjoyed the speaker and his talk with added input from a couple of Club members who had taken lessons from him.

This wasn’t the first time I was surprised going to a meeting and expecting a dull, mind-numbing presentation that actually turned out to be fun, challenging, educational and entertaining.

The moral of this is that our dinner meetings are designed to be all of those things plus more. Sometimes, we think the subject matter just isn’t our cup of tea, and then it turns out to be something novel and inspiring. Or, I admit, sometimes the topic didn’t stimulate me, but I did enjoy being around other club members.

For some unfortunate reason, fewer and fewer people have been coming to the dinner meetings. There are many reasons, but for the club to continue these kinds of gatherings, we need members to show up. There are always good reasons we can’t make a meeting, but do we have a good reason or is it inertia, or we just don’t want to battle traffic, or the topic doesn’t sound interesting, or the food isn’t as good as we’d wish?

It often takes some effort to get to meetings, but it also takes effort for the club officers to make the arrangements and conduct the meetings, and it takes effort to get quality speakers who should be honored by having a large and enthusiastic audience.

So, if you’ve been passing on these get-togethers for no particular reason, why don’t you seriously think about joining us at the next opportunity?

By Pat Hillis

Past Commodore

SALMON BAKE: September 28, 2019.

ATTENTION: New Venue: POULSBO MARINA

The Salmon Bake, September 28, is SBYC’s final cruise of the year.

Take Note:  The venue will be held at the Poulsbo Marina this year.

This event’s POTLUCK dinner party is Saturday evening beginning at 6:00 p.m. BYOE; a dish to be shared, beverages, cups, plates and utensils.

For a mere $10 per person, SBYC provides the salmon, which will be prepared on the grill on cedar planks by Jan Lanham.

Ten slips have been reserved, E26 through E44 at the Marina.  If you wish to reserve a particular slip, contact me, CruiseChair@Shilsholebayyachtclub.org, or Port of Poulsbo Marina. For questions call 360-779-9905. Payment for your slip is handled by the Port Office.

RSVP is required for this event in order to purchase the right amount of salmon.  Watch for your EVITE, and if you have not heard by September 21, let me know: Patricia@Shannon-Garvey.com.

Port of Poulsbo is accessible by car as well as boat.  Poulsbo is a charming port town, nice walks, delicious bakeries, great restaurants, and shopping for boat goods, art, and slightly worn clothing.

See you at Pouslbo on September 28.

2019 SBYC Summer Rendezvous

This was a great year for summer cruising and the SBYC Summer Rendezvous is always a highlight! This year the rendezvous was in Reid Harbor on Stuart Island on July 31.

Hikes to the lighthouse, purchases from the Treasure Chest and other adventures along with lots of communing, happy hour nibbles, libations, potluck dinner and laughter were enjoyed by all.

Qayaq arrived early and secured space on one of the floats in the harbor, they were joined by Morning Star, Olele, Gallivant, Antares, KaDenza and Victoria. For the second year, we were lucky to get space on one of the floats in Reid Harbor with enough room to accommodate all boats.

When planning your 2020 cruising itinerary in the San Juan Islands, please make time to come to the rendezvous next year. The date is generally late July/early August, stay tuned to the Rudderpost and/or the club website, https://shilsholebayyachtclub.org/, where the date will be posted as soon as it is scheduled.

SBYC extends our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of longtime member and Past Commodore, Joe Bozick, who passed away on July 28th.

He and his wife Chris, also a Past Commodore, have been members of SBYC since 1987. Joe served as Commodore in 2014 and both he and Chris have been active volunteers, participants and supporters of club activities over their 32 years as members. Joe was instrumental in SBYC’s support of Footloose Sailing Association, an organization Joe actively supported as a volunteer.

Joe was a passionate, talented and well-known racer in the Puget Sound sailing community. He had a long history of sailboat racing wins and his skill and competitiveness on the race course kept the fleet competitive. He was a great friend and mentor to others.

Joe and Chris enjoyed many summers cruising on their sailboat, Breeze, and were familiar faces at cruise events. A talented guitar player, Joe frequently played for sing alongs in the evenings. Joe will be deeply missed. 

SBYC has made a contribution to Footloose Sailing Association in Joe’s honor.