Hi, I’m back as Commodore this year! It was a landslide election as no one dared run against me. Now you are all in my hands, bwahahaha 🙂 Just kidding, of course. I accepted the challenge to steer the club through another year of turbulent COVID waters. A little arm-twisting from Matt Fraser (so I am told) helped, as he pointed out that I could potentially hold the record as serving in the commodore position 2.75 times; the most in club history. It’s not really about the record, I’m happy to help out this wonderful yacht club in more ways than one.
I am wearing many hats this year as Commodore and Cruise Chair, but I know it will be OK as I have the support of a great board, committee members and volunteers. My goal is for everyone to have a fun and safe time cruising, racing, and meeting up (at events real or virtual) throughout 2022. My personal goal is to do my best to attend every cruise and dinner meeting, as well as help on the race committee boat a few times.
It is important in these times of social distancing, being at home, and virtual gatherings to stay connected. Late last year I gathered a group of board members to review our communications within the club. I felt we had way too many ways to communicate to and between members (we identified ten things like Facebook, Slack, Rudderpost, Web site, etc.) After this review the board decided to streamline some items to make it simpler and more efficient for all. We decided to cut back on Facebook and Twitter to just have a basic Facebook page only that links back to the SBYC web site. We are getting a Pro Zoom license for the board to use to run virtual meetings so that we don’t have to rely on members’ private or work accounts. We will continue to use evite to send invitations and reminders for dinner meetings and cruise events. Of course, we will still have the offline SBYC roster with club and member personal contact information. The Rudderpost will continue as always, and I am so glad to have Pauline as editor again this year.
Most of all, I encourage everyone to join the SBYC Slack workspace for messaging at shilsholebayyachtclub.slack.com. We will send out invitations before the first cruise to the email address you provided in the club roster. This is a great way to keep in contact with the board and membership on a daily basis and we have a lot of fun there too. It is free to use and has no ads. There are channels for all cruises and for other fun topics. It is not required to join Slack, as all club information will be provided on the web site, evites, and the Rudderpost, but it really is fun and makes things easier when you have questions.
Date: January 18, 2022.
The presenter will be David Basiji who will discuss lithium battery and power systems for boats. He is a local sailor with a boat at Shilshole who has presented to other groups before on the subject.
The 2022 cruises begin next month when we meet up at the Bell Harbor Marina in downtown Seattle February 18 and 19. We have ten slips reserved for the club on C dock. Call the marina ASAP (206-787-3952) and tell them you are with SBYC to reserve your slip. We can (optionally) head into town in the evenings to a restaurant (per CoViD guidelines).
I am happy to announce that we have had members step up to sponsor and help coordinate some of our cruises this year. Katie and Jason will sponsor the Yellow Fest cruise at Blake Island on April 16. Barbara and AJ will sponsor the Salmon Bake at Poulsbo on October 1. The Burger Burn and Labor Day Weekend cruises are still open for sponsors to help with these events. We will have these events regardless, but it really helps me to have help coordinating these events as I am wearing many hats this year.
I am also happy to announce that we are officially adding the July 4 Blakely Harbor raft-up to our SBYC cruise events. Like we did last year (as kind of a test run), we will append this raft-up to the Liberty Bay raft-up on July 3. This gives many of us a chance to circumnavigate Bainbridge Island.
I am excited for this year of cruises. I plan to attend them all (as cruise chair, I should). We will, of course, be safe and follow state and CDC COVID guidelines and make adjustments as necessary. Looking forward to seeing you all on the Salish Sea!
SBYC 2022 Cruise Calendar
FEB 18-19 Winter Fest, Bell Harbor Marina
APR 16 Yellow Fest, Blake Island (Sponsors: Katie and Jason)
MAY 13-14 Burger Burn, Port Ludlow (Sponsor: <your name here>)
JUN 11 June Dinner Dance, Kingston
JUL 03-4 Fireworks Raft Ups, Liberty Bay and Blakely Harbor
AUG 03 Summer Rendezvous, South Sound (Evaluating Longbranch, Jarrell Cove, or Quartermaster Harbor)
SEP 03 Labor Day Weekend, Port Orchard (Sponsor: <your name here>)
OCT 01 Salmon Bake, Poulsbo (Sponsors: Barbara and AJ)
David Horn, Cruise Chair