Given this is the time of year to renew our memberships in the club, I thought it timely to point out there are a few financial benefits that come from being a member in SBYC. Here are the “Big Three”:
(1) Reciprocal Moorage
We have a number of relationships with other yacht clubs that include reduced overnight moorage costs. Check our website or your Club Roster booklet to see the list.
As you plan your next cruise or outing, think about whether an overnight moorage at one of these clubs’ facilities would be fun. I recommend checking the website as new reciprocal relationships get added during the year. There are some rules to follow (usually just a single night per trip), but this is a great way to enjoy the shoreside area where you’re cruising at a significantly reduced cost.
(2) Fisheries Supply Discounts
One of the local mainstays of the marine supply business, Fisheries Supply has for decades provided yacht club members with discounts from regular list pricing. These discounts vary in relation to the margins available in a given product line, but every little bit helps, especially when you’re talking “boat projects.” There is a procedure to follow here, which I have just confirmed with the Fisheries Credit Manager. It is this:
Go online and follow this link to a special Landing Page on the Fisheries website: https://www.fisheriessupply.com/welcomeaboard
Once you are here, just click the box to open a Fisheries Account. You may wonder why they don’t ask you to name “Shilshole Bay Yacht Club” in this process, but it is effectively “built-in” to the logic behind this initial Landing Page. You enter your name, create a password, and get your own account linked to your email that you provide.
The last step is the system takes you back to this same initial Landing Page, with a prompt that says “Almost done – enter your promotion code”. And that code is “Welcome”, which you saw when you first got to the Landing Page. I just went through this process myself. Hopefully, my explanation here will help guide you and reduce confusion. When you shop online as an “account holder” their Details button will show the List Price and your Discounted Price on a specific item. When in the store, just advise the store personnel at check-out that you are an Account Holder, providing your ID and potentially confirming your email address to validate that. If you’re doing major projects, the money you save through this opportunity will more than pay for a year’s Club dues. In the past, Fisheries would establish a Club account and then get the names of people authorized as club members. With today’s digital credit card information used by most of us, this led to the new approach above of each person having their own account, in order to not have people charging things on other people’s cards. If you were used to the old system, please take a minute and go online to ensure you have your own Account.
(3) Charitable Contributions
This is a bit of a stretch in that you don’t necessarily need to be a member of SBYC in order to deduct charitable contributions on your tax return.
However, as most are aware, SBYC provides a good deal of charitable funding to the Footloose program (providing sailing experiences to the disabled) every year, and Northwest Harvest, and other charities. Our Trans-Puget race proceeds all go to Footloose (over $1,300 just recently). But, you can also make a personal donation to Footloose or other marine-oriented charities and get a tax deduction for that. Thanks to your membership in SBYC, you will become more familiar with many of these organizations, potentially leading to those personal contributions and the tax deductibility of those.
Of course, the biggest return for one’s membership in SBYC is the great fun we all have together, but getting a little financial lift here and there sure doesn’t hurt.