Far Away Fortune 30 Friends

Richard, a few years ago I read and replied to a letter to the editor in your magazine. This began an online friendship which continues today. I thought you may enjoy the results of what you started. It is so nice to have found these friends half-way around the world.

Don and Jean Danbert
Halfmoon Bay, British Columbia

Go to sailblogs.com to read about Don and Jean’s friends, Manny and Robin and their adventures.

Shorthanded Sailing Society Becoming Reality

Thanks for publishing my letter to you about the Northwest Shorthanded Sailing Society.  We appreciate your support and thought we’d bring you up to date on the latest news for the NWSSS.

We had a great meeting in early January and have been making progress through numerous email and online discussions since our first meeting.  Through the connections of the more than 45 folks on our email list, we have secured commitments from many local clubs to provide starts for our fleet so long as we have five or more shorthanded boats competing.  With these commitments in mind, we have set a 2008 Championship calendar and a scoring method to calculate the winners of our Singlehanded and Doublehanded Championship Trophies.  Our Championship schedule will include: Race To The Straits; Northern Century (a new 100 mile Doublehanded endurance race circumnavigating the San Juans); Double Time (another new 129 mile Doublehanded endurance race sailing from Seattle around Smith & Protection Islands); Vashon Single/Doublehanded; Jack & Jill races hosted by: Seattle YC, Three Tree YC, Shilshole Bay YC, CYC Seattle, CYC Tacoma & Tacoma YC & Sloop Tavern YC.

We’ll be counting each competitors top 5 scores for the Championship trophy.  The following organizations have generously agreed to sponsor the NWSSS trophies: Clear Ahead Sailmakers & Productions NW, Northwest Rigging & Northwest Multihull Association.

With our first event, SYC’s Jack & Jill on April 26, we already have more than 10 boats on record, with their intention to sail in an average of at least 4 events each.  We’re hoping that as momentum builds we’ll see average fleets for the big races at more than 20 boats, and for the smaller races around 10-15 boats.

In addition to our Championship Schedule we’re also encouraging sailors to attend the many other Shorthanded Sailing events in the Northwest such as: RNSA’s Vancouver/Nanaimo/Vancouver Singlehanded Regatta, CYC Edmonds Mad Dash, Vendee Saltspring, STYC’s Singlehanded Regatta and many more.

Lastly, we’re still trying to work out the logistics of membership in NWSSS - so stay tuned - we’ll hope to have this sorted out by the end of April.  Meantime sailors can sign up for any of the events in our schedule directly with the host clubs, and can be sure that they’ll be scored once they join up with the NWSSS.  As always more information and details on how to contact is on our website at www.NWSSS.org.  

Thanks again for your help and support,
Jamie Reece, NWSSSailing

For those looking for further notices from NWSSS, go to their website or check our racing section for the latest news.

Disappearing Buoys or Disappearing Intelligence?

This letter is in response to the letter, “Case of the Disappearing Buoys” in January’s 48° North. He states he picked up a buoy at Fort Warden SP in Port Townsend, only to have it flip over. State Park buoys are well-maintained and labeled, but those buoys, along with others in Port Townsend Bay, belong to the Port Townsend Sailing Association. They were donated by West Marine, along with the rode, anchors and installation at a cost of many thousands of dollars. We have to pay DNR for permission to put these on “their land”, and they’re valuable. Each year, boaters with little skill, less consideration and no thought, tie up to these racing buoys, and then when the boat AND buoy drift off into deeper water, they just cast them off and move somewhere else. These skippers obviously never consider that this buoy actually belongs to anyone, that they should call someone (park, police, harbor patrol) to report what they did so the equipment can be recovered. Last year, PTSA tracked down six wayward buoys, one making it almost all the way north to Smith Island, tackle and all, before being recovered. I know, because I’m one of those who has to go get them.

Larry Eifert aboard Sea Witch
Port Townsend, WA

Another Groote Beer Story

I read with great interest the letter (Feb. 25th) from Hugh Watkinson about the Groote Beer which was allegedly built for Hermann Goering, so I must relate the following story.

In 1953, when I was 13 years old living in Hollywood, Florida, a friend and I were returning from the beach,walking along a seawall on the Intracoastal Waterway. Some guys on a large boat yelled to us asking if we’d dive into the water to recover somebody’s lost sunglasses. After retrieving the sunglasses, we were asked aboard, given a brief tour of the boat and a cold soda in appreciation. I’d never seen anything like it, and can still recall the fancy interior woodwork. They said they’d just brought the boat across the Atlantic and that it was formerly owned by Hermann Goering. The name on the boat was ‘Groote Beer’. This early experience fermented a lifelong interest in WWII military history and an interesting collection of German military firearms from ?that era.  

Peter Clancy
16921 S.W. 80th Court
Miami, FL  33157

B.C. Macs Club Growing

In January of this year, the Macgregor Yacht Club chose a mandate to grow the club with a full agenda of activities. The staying power behind our members is a strong camaraderie, you feel this as a new member the moment you join our club. Everyone has much to share with you.

As we take stage in 2008, the club wants to maintain our sailing rituals like MacRendezVous, with focus on fundamentals like: MacFun is forefront. Skills, “man overboard” safety on the water and we encourage members to take courses through organizations like the Power Squadron. We also offer time on the water so that we can teach the quirks of our craft, like docking exercises, and basic racing skills our regatta. Members will share how they set up their boats. In the area of Sail weekends and Cruises, events that allow new members to travel in numbers, safely with experienced members. Here we plan local weekend getaways like MacTheNite, where we do a night sail or two during our season. Solo sailing is how to single hand our boats, gain confidence, and hone our skills. Keep your eyes on our website: mycbc.ca as we post a year’s worth of fun after our next meeting on March 1st.

There has been much interest from MacOwners to start a club on the Island and the Okanagan. I call on all of you to contact us through our website and we will help you initiate your club. We attract members from Calgary and Washington, and why not, our Membership is still $20 per year, $35 for new members, which includes a club burgee. The low annual fee is still the main reason why we don’t have a club next to the RVYC. Then again, we do meet and have MacFun on our BC Waters.

Dates to remember: May 3rd weekend Mac Regatta in Blaine, June 21st weekend MacRendezVous on Bowen Island, book your birth now! See you on BC Waters

Steven St-Amour
Commodore MYCBC
http://mycbc.ca/

Queen Charlotte Cruiser’s Info on Web

The Queen Charlotte Islands are an occasional destination for cruisers in the northwest,  but their remote location and reputation for rugged conditions can make getting there a daunting task.

Durkee and Mary Richards traveled from their home port of Sequim last summer and have compiled a log of their trip as well as reams of helpful information on getting there, what to look for, how to deal with the hazards, how to communicate with home, how to handle emergencies, what materials would be helpful for preparation, even down to details like where to find an internet connection on the way. The information is all on a web site, www.qcsail.com, and should be considered for review by anyone heading north to the Queen Charlottes. Included is information on cruising the outside of Vancouver Island, their return route, as well as hundreds of photos of the trip, the people, and the remaining totem poles of “Haida Gwaii,” as the area is known by the Haida people. I have also put together the “North Sound Racing Calendar” for those racers from Whidbey Island north. It’s designed to assist us in the far north to make sure we get our racing in without having to travel all the way to Seattle to get our time on the water. I have it at www.olysailing.com. It lists the events (races open to sailors from other clubs), the sponsoring club, and a link to the web site of the sponsoring club. Thanks in advance for any help you can give us on getting that site known.

Jerry Cornell

No More Wearing Out the Docks

From Olympia to Bellingham, our family had worn out the docks of nearly every broker in search of our ideal sub-30’ sailboat. Our hopes of finding a quality boat, listed with the “right” broker, dimmed as our nearly two-year search continued. Tim Hoving and the San Juan Sailing team exceeded even our highest expectations with their recent Islander 28 listing. From survey to sea trial to post-sale support I can imagine no better buying experience than the one our family enjoyed with San Juan Sailing.

Too often we fail to recognize and thank brokers and others whose professional services make the boat buying experience extraordinary.  Thank you for sharing these remarks with the 48° North community so they too can realize the same ‘best-in-class’ service from Bellingham’s San Jaun Sailing.  

With thanks,
Tim Meye