Spring is here and summer is oh so near! I had a great time at Yellow Fest last month. I can’t thank Katie and Jason enough for putting on a fabulous cruise. And the sailing there and back again was absolutely amazing. I think I will stick with my expectation of a cold and rainy sail to any SBYC cruise and revel in the beautiful sunny days that have come, so far, instead. I am looking forward to seeing many of you in Port Ludlow this month and across the many summer cruises. I really appreciate all the club members, board members, and appointees stepping up to sponsor cruises, manage the club finances, run the dinner meetings, keep the website updated, chair our races, manage burgees and club materials, configure payment options, manage reciprocal agreements, edit and publish this newsletter, document our efforts, and so much more. When we all work together like this, we have a truly amazing club. I’m really glad to be a part of it.
As we head into summer and get out on the water, let’s all be sure to keep in contact by email, texts, phone, and our Slack workspace. With the details on summer cruises starting to get worked out, we will be sure to keep the website updated and send out Evites to events in a timely manner. If you have any questions on anything, contact me or the board member in charge of that area.
We have begun assembling the nomination committee to help us fill the election slate for the 2023 board members. We are looking for a couple more people to join Katie on this committee. Pretty much all board positions are open for 2023. Please consider taking a role in the club to keep it strong with your fresh ideas. We don’t want the same people on the board for a long time. It’s your club, too! I’m having a lot of fun this year on the board, and I feel invigorated about the club more than ever. So come join the fun; it’s not a lot of work.
We have another fun volunteer opportunity on June 4th with the Shilshole Bay Marina “Boat Fest” event. We will have a booth set up at the plaza by the marina office to talk to people about our club. It will be a lot of fun, as we always have when we get together. Come represent SBYC at the booth, help set up or take down the booth, or donate tables or chairs or a tent. Let’s show people who we are as a club and find a few potential new members. Tell your dock mates to come chat with us. We have a channel on Slack to get this organized, so please join that channel and help out.
New membership is going well. It’s great to see all the new potential members we have coming in attending Zoom calls and cruises. Be sure to introduce yourselves and meet these new applicants when you can. We hope to have some new member burgee ceremonies soon this summer.
Speaking of Zoom calls, we are still planning to resume in-person dinner meetings in the Fall. Thomas and Dennis are researching venues this summer to see what is best for price, quality, parking, and a good central location.
Lastly, I want to thank Ann for bringing attention to the recent hearing on the proposed changes to the Blake Island Marina. We needed to have the State Parks Department hear about real boater needs at the marina and let them know that 30′ slips are not practical for most boaters. This change could really impact our cruises to Blake Island. Thanks again, Ann.
Here’s to a fun and safe summer ahead. See you on the water and at our cruise destinations!
“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” — Ernest Hemingway
David Horn, Commodore
When: Tuesday May 17, 2022
6:30 Happy Hour chat to share updates and summer plans.
Discussion of future plans for the Club meeting in the fall.
Hello all!
The Board and I decided that the focus of this month’s meeting will be catching up with all of your current experiences and summer plans. I suspect pandemic zoom fatigue, the emergence of longer days, and the hint of better weather has us moving away from our computer screens this time of year. I have been happy to leave my home office for the great outdoors over the last few weeks to enjoy brighter, if not drier, days. As such, we have noticed a significant drop off in participation in the zoom events the last two meetings. and out of respect to our planned speaker decided to move that talk to the fall.
As noted already Yellow Fest was a resounding success so I am looking forward to hearing about the summer cruise plans from our Commodore and Cruise chair David Horn. Please tune in so you do not miss out! Julia and I just planned our summer schedule and for the first time have two weeks set aside for the boat. We may actually make it into Canada by water for the first time. Feel free to share any advice on dealing with those pesky Canucks.
One important subject I need input on is the re-emergence of our meetings in September 2022 after the summer break. With a little luck we hope to restart in-person dinner events. This will be dependent on the current state of the pandemic, the inevitable emergence of variants, and community standards at that time. We are truly hoping to schedule face to face events, but as always, safety is a primary consideration.
With that in mind let me know what you think about the dinner meetings, especially the venue. While I have been a member it has always been at Ivar’s Salmon House. The location, free ample parking, drink service, and the room itself have been very good. Some members have raised concerns about the food. I am open to suggestions. Please consider the following and let me know your thoughts;
How important is parking? Does it need to be free?
Is a full service meal expected? How about buffet, catering, pot-luck, or even a food truck?
How about the cost? If the dinner were to be more expensive than Ivar’s would you decline to participate?
Would ordering from a full menu be important, or is it OK to continue with more limited meal options?
Please keep in mind we can’t have everything, especially in Seattle these days. Send me an email at vicecommodore@shilsholebayyachtclub.org, or better yet, bend my ear at this month’s zoom meeting or at one of our cruises this summer.
Tom King, Vice Commodore.





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Shilshole Bay Yacht Club