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 3rd 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