Cruise Calendar for 2019

May 17 – 19.  Burger Burn, at Brownsville Marina.  The cruise will be to Brownsville Marina this year.  The potluck will be under the pavilion, a wonderful place protected from the spring rains to have a barbecue.  Grills are available for cooking.   A croquet game is planned for non-competitive cruisers to renew their coordination skills.  Bring a potluck dish to share, and meat to grill.

Marina reservations have been made;  it is NOT necessary to confirm one for your boat.  The Marina knows we are coming, first come first served for the slips.

June 14 – 16. 2019 .              CHECK YOUR SPAM EMAIL FOR THIS INVITATION! 

SHILSHOLE BAY YACHT CLUB invites club members and their guests to the Kingston Cove Club House for its annual DINNER DANCE, June 15^th, Saturday, 4:30 to 10:30.  SBYC is trying something new this year; the Kingston Ale House will be providing the main dish for the dinner

 ‘La DOLCE VITA’

‘Cena’ provided by Kingston Ale House
This event is accessible by boat as well as by car.
Dinner, Drinks, and Dancing, $50 per person.

This all-inclusive evening includes a wine & beer Happy Hour with snacks, dinner, dessert, and dancing to live music with terrific musicians.

‘Cena’: Chicken Piccata , or Pasta Primavera, with Salad, Garlic Bread, and Tiramisu

RSVP required by June 4, include your choice of main dish in your RSVP.

If there are special dietary requirements, please contact:  CruiseChair@ShilsholeBayYatchClub.org.  We will be happy to honor your request.   Anyone interested in helping with preparations, decorations, cooking, or clean up?    In addition to your RSVP, please let us know, and we will get back to you.

Come for the whole weekend!   Friday night there will be an impromptu Happy Hour on the docks.  If you are coming by boat, please confirm your reservation at the Kingston Marina by calling (360) 297 3545.  Make sure to tell them you’re with SBYC so they put our boats together.  We reserved 10 boat slips ahead, more if we need them.
See you there.

July 2-3-4  Fireworks Spectacular.  Poulsbo, Liberty Bay.

Watch July Fireworks in RAFT UP-Liberty Bay, Poulsbo, Wednesday, July 3, 2019.   Boats only, raft-up anchoring in the bay. Look for the SBYC burgees! Consideration of sailboat’s draft is included in the selection of the raft up.  Coordinates will be posted on SLACK.

July 31-August 1.  Summer Rendezvous, San Juan Islands

San Juan’s Stewart Island.  Meeting  with SBYC cruisers at Steward Island anchorage, Reid Harbor.  Picnicking, hiking, wonderful place to enjoy a stop over while summer cruising.  If you get there early, save a place at the dock.

August 31-September 1.  Purple Passion Event,  Des Moines Marina.  NOTICE CHANGE OF VENUE.

Purple Passion will be at the Des Moines Marina over Labor Day weekend this year due to renovations being made at the Dockton Marina on Vashon. On Saturday evening, 8/31, we will have a Purple Passion Dessert Buffet and on Sunday, 9/1, we will have the Purple Passion Cocktail Contest at 4pm, followed by a Purple Passion Potluck dinner, with club members encouraged to bring purple food. So get your Purple on and your creative juices flowing! Reservations for 10 slips have been made at the marina.

September 28-29.  Salmon Bake, Port Orchard Marina.

Our final get together of 2019, at the nice port of Port Orchard.  Bring potluck vegetable and dessert dishes, and enjoy salmon baked by our club members. A pleasurable way to say goodbye to cruising for 2019.

Footloose has its new boat!

Last month Footloose put a deposit on an immaculate 2006 Catalina Capri 22 at Windworks in Shilshole. The owner accepted the offer and after several weeks of inspections and insurance reports, Footloose is the new proud owner. She is named Inspiration and she will live up to her name for many years to come as sailors with disabilities are able to experience the joys of sailing on her.

The kickoff event for Footloose this year was May 4th and Inspiration was the star. All the volunteers and sailors were lined up to go out. I had the privilege of taking out Aaron, a quadriplegic, and his caretaker, as well as a friend from high school, who offered to be the photographer. There was not much wind when we scooted out of the marina and raised the sails, but when we turned to look back at the marina we were surprised to see we had crossed halfway to Bellevue! Inspiration is a smooth sailing little boat that knows how to move around the water in the light conditions often experienced at Leschi. Aaron typically sails on a Martin 16, where he has full control of the boat via electronics, but he had a great time in the “big boat” and is looking forward to learning more about how big boats sail.

Inspiration has been a smashing success so far and I still cannot thank you enough, the excellent members of SBYC,  for helping Footloose along in the next chapter of her life. As we enter our 28th year of operation we are moving ahead confident in Footloose position to serve the disabled community for another 28 years!

We still have Columbia sailboat to replace. If you would like to help with that purchase head over to the Donate page and be sure to leave a note that the funds are for a new sailboat. https://footloosedisabledsailing.org/donate/

This summer, we have a full schedule. One of our most anticipated events is the Blake Island trip. This year we will be at Blake Island July 21 – 23. We need boats to help ferry the sailors from Elliot Bay Marina to Blake Island on the morning of the 21st and back to EBM the morning of the 23rd. If you can help, let me know so we can plan capacity- ben@lobaugh.net.

And as always, you are welcome to check out any of our events. They are listed on the calendar on the Footloose website- just drop in! https://footloosedisabledsailing.org/events/

Commodore’s Corner – A Distinctly World View

Hi Everyone!  It’s early May and we’re havin’ a heat wave!  Hard not to get spoiled and be thinking it’s now going to be 80 degrees until October.  Alas, we all know the ups and downs of Seattle area weather – but that’s all the more reason to go for the gusto while we have the good weather.  I hope everyone is getting out on the water and enjoying this summer-like stretch.

Yellow Fest was again a great gathering on Blake Island.  Harold Baldwin has made a new barbecue grill, which gained immediate high marks.  Jesse Lundin did a most admirable job of taking over the bottle hunt duties and general supervisory responsibilities in the absence of Sam and Dave Krause, who are busily moving to central Oregon.  A good time was definitely had by all and the SBYC 2019 Cruising Season has been properly initiated.

Be sure to check out all the upcoming Cruise Events, which Patricia Shannon-Garvey and a host of volunteers have worked hard to put together.  Burger Burn is up next in May, with the June Dinner Dance in June, July 3^rd in Poulsbo, and the San Juan Islands’ Summer Rendezvous at the end of July.  These are such fun ways to enjoy boating and enjoy all the terrific friendships we have within the SBYC Club.

My wife, Julie, and I were blessed to have enjoyed another great bare boating vacation in early April, cruising for a week in the British Virgin Islands with some friends aboard a Sunsail Charters 45’ catamaran.  Those BVI’s were exactly as advertised – close proximity of the islands to one another, making the sails to another island fairly short, easy, and line-of-sight – plus great snorkeling and exploring.  The Baths on Virgin Gorda are truly an amazing geological wonder, with the huge boulders spilling down the island’s west side and into the water, making a fabulous trail called The Caves that takes you through cavernous spaces between boulders and salt-water inlets that help cool the hot tropical sun.  What fun!

Various club members I’ve talked with have plans for both summer cruising in our neck of the woods, as well as bare boat chartering in far-flung places, reached first by airplane and then a rented vessel for self-directed local boating fun.  Frankly, I think bare boat sailing is just about the best mode of traveling the planet there is, discovering foreign countries and their culture while taking your floating hotel with you.

One last thought – plPlease check out the “Sails and Ales” events scheduled for the last Thursday of each month, I believe, that AJ Mallory is leading.  It’s another way to enjoy our wonderful boating, with current club member/friends as well as a means to invite prospective new members.  More on this new program can be found at our website.  Please join us.

It’s Summer!  As Commodore of the Club, I hereby declare it!  (This job has got to have some fringe benefits, right?)  I declare it to be open season for all fun and frolic boating on the Puget Sound and anywhere else your wanderlust and pocketbook will take you.  See you on the water this Summer!

Roger and Julie Newby

Our first Sales (and Ales) was a success. In attendance were Harold Baldwin, Larry Clark, and Mike and Sheryl Wytychak. Though Sheryl decided to stay behind. I think she was hoping for a ride on one of our member’s new powerboat, plus she gets to sail all the time.

Wind was in the 20 knot range when we set out from Shilshole. We took Victoria out for a spin, put a reef in the main and got her sailing nicely. We rounded Meadow Point and then set out across the sound. The wind dropped considerably after we crossed into Port Madison so we shook the reef and went to full sails. Then we headed back across the sound and wrapped up a delightful evening sail. Finally we finished up at The Yard pub in Greenwood with a pint and some delicious Mexican food. Fun was had!

The next Sails and Ales is coming up on May 23rd. I’ll be doing a delivery leaving that morning for Victoria so Ben has graciously offered to step in and take the helm for Sales and Ales this month. Be sure to show up and make him feel loved. It should be a nice long evening.

In case you missed the announcement for Sails and Ales click here for all the details. Here’s a quick recap: To attend the next Sails and Ales, meet at 4:30 around the picnic tables in front of the Shilshole Office. Depending on how many people, boats (and what type), and the day’s weather we will decide what makes the most sense. It might be a quick jaunt across the Sound for dinner, a raft up, or a lazy sail around Meadow Point. If the weather is really crappy we will head to a pub and swap some good sailing stories over a pint. Use the Slack channel #sails-and-ales for pre event and during event communications and also VHF channel 72 on the water.

Next Dinner Meeting: Tuesday, May 21, 2019

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

5:30pm – Meet and Greet

6:45pm – Dinner in the Banquet Room

Topic: “Vessel Traffic Services Puget Sound and the US Coast Guard”

Speaker: Mike Bove and Coast Guard Staff

In prep for all the time we spend out on the water this summer we will hear about how to make our travels and use of the water safer. Mike Bove is the supervisor of the Puget Sound Vessel Traffic Services. He and another staff member will join us to talk about the VTS and small craft. We will get an inside perspective on this service and meet some of the folks who work to make boating safer for everyone. REMEMBER: Please use the Comments box in your RSVP on Evite to advise how many people and which dinner menu choice each would like. Also due to restrictions on gifts we are not able to provide a meal to Mike or his staff so please be sure to thank them for coming and for their service.

VTS Puget Sound

The Vessel Traffic Center is located at Pier 36 in Seattle and monitors the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Rosario Strait, Admiralty Inlet, and Puget Sound south as far as Olympia. Since 1979, the U.S. Coast Guard has worked cooperatively with the Canadian Coast Guard in managing vessel traffic in adjacent waters. Through the Cooperative Vessel Traffic Service (CVTS), two Canadian Vessel Traffic Centers work hand in hand with Puget Sound Vessel Traffic Service. Prince Rupert MCTS (Marine Communications and Traffic Services) manages the area west of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. North of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, through Haro Strait, to Vancouver, B.C. is managed by VICTORIA MCTS. The three Vessel Traffic Centers communicate via a computer link and dedicated telephone lines to advise each other of vessels passing between their respective zones.