Richard, greetings from Port Angeles, thank for the note on the passing of Walt Little in the April issue. I never knew him but, he was right, the fleet here is currently 12 boats and growing. The reason we are growing is the ability to accommodate the wide diversity of boats here. We race every other weekend all year long and manage to provide a fun, fair and challenging experience for all competitors. On any Sunday our start will feature a 34' Cheoy lee cruiser, an Eric Jesperson built hot rod, a 36' Halberg Rassy/with butler and numerous Columbias, C&Cs and T-Birds. The goal is to have fun and practice for the day when we may get the opportunity to race with the big dogs and as Walt said "provide a wider distribution of trophies"

Three cheers for Walt and the PHRF legacy.

Bill Roberds
Rear Commodore
Port Angeles Yacht Club

You thoughts were echoed by many a Northwest sailor. It's always good to keep sight of the goal—to have fun, especially in club racing. And the more boats full of friends or soon-to-be friends, on the water, all the more fun. Of course it's not a perfect system, that one's always in the works, but until then, PHRF provides a lot of enjoyment for a multitude of sailors.

Living Aboard IS a Right

In your response to "Liveaboards, Clean Up Your Act" letter in the April issue, I wish to challenge your statement that "Living aboard is not a right, it is a privilege granted by the marinas." Living aboard is no less a right than it is for you to live in a house. This right has been improperly denied by governments and organizations at the behest of a few influential individuals that have managed to prevail using distorted data inappropriately applied. It is a clear case of the misinformed prevailing of a minority. I have the right to live aboard and will defend that right to the end.

Brian
S/V Nereid
moored somewhere in WA.

"Living aboard is no less a right than it is for you to live in a house." There are a lot of restrictions put on those that live in houses, especially those that are buying as opposed to renting. In fact, let's not even get into the private property thing. There are a miriad of things that we each see as rights but have to be altered because of a bunch of people living in a small space. You only have to look at what you can and can't do in public parks, forests, airspace, whatever, to see that personal freedoms are becoming more and more of an illusion than reality. Should we fight it, of course, but some compromises need to be made so that we can preserve even the illusion of a free lifestyle Đ whether its camping, boating, flying, fishing, or living aboard.
      Don't mean to sound like a politician, but... We've worked with lots of folks in the liveaboard world to quash some of the problems that have plagued liveaboards for years. You're right, most of the perceptions of liveaboards stem from outmoded stereotypes based on just a few bad apples. I like your phrase "the misinformed prevailing of a minority." Unfortunately it can be applied to just about any group, anywhere at anytime.
      Living aboard is a chosen livestyle which is difficult to justify to those who aren't doing it, or don't see why you want to do it—"it's only rock and roll but I like it, like it, yes I do." So, to demand it as a right is a tough row to hoe. It's not really the lifestyle but places where you can do it that's the big problem. I know, you can't separate the two, but that's basically what it's all about.

Living Aboard: The Demand is Up for a Limited Resource

I am responding to Sara Johnson's letter and your comments about the liveaboards at Shilshole. First off, the reason she and others can't get liveaboard moorage is the 20% cap. The cap has been in effect for five years but the number of liveaboard boats only reached the magic 300 number in September 2001. Hence the waiting-list now. It has nothing to do with the appearance of some liveaboards and the marina cutting back on our numbers. I am sorry that Sara can't enjoy living aboard her boat at Shilshole. I feel even worse that some 25 other boat owners who were already living aboard here as subleasers for up to two years while waiting for their name to come up for permanent moorage have been forced to leave. Blame the economy, housing costs or the DNR, I don't know the exact reason. All I do know is demand is up for a limited resource.
      There are perhaps 340 days a year when most of the parking lot is empty. Then there are those race days, boat show days, long weekends in the summer, when people feel like the only available parking spot is up on Crown Hill. Yes, that bread van has been there most of the whole year but all of those usually empty spaces are filled by fellow boaters who got there a little earlier. They just don't stand out like "that van". Should all boats have only two cars allowed per slip? Should race crews have to carpool for example? Maybe at some point, but not yet. I think the vans are more a lightning rod for the real complaint about finding a parking space.
      There are liveaboard boaters at Shilshole who don't fit the profile of nice neat boater. There are also non liveaboard boaters whose boats look "abandoned". Crab pots on the dock at a marina. Oh no, what's the world coming to? The point is, just like any other group, there are people who stand out from the crowd, both good and bad. You should neither condemn nor praise the group based on a small percentage of the group. With 300 authorized households and some number of sneakaboards, there are going to have some problem "children". Some are eminently visible as Sara mentions, there are others who are mostly invisible, those few,who still ignore proper sewage practices for example. They are all difficult things to deal with. What is important to one is not to another. All boaters need to realize their impacts, at the marina, anchorage or out sailing.
      Shilshole Bay Marina has been home to liveaboards through out its forty year existence. The quantity has never been higher than it is today. The marina has been a trendsetter in working with liveaboards in forming solutions to deal with a changing user base and new laws and regulations while helping to maintain a viable liveaboard community. Is it perfect? No, I resent paying an extra fee for using my boat on a full time basis. Seven years ago a committee at Shilshole looked at the extra monthly costs of liveaboards and determined them to be approximately $5 per vessel, mostly in extra garbage. I pumpout twice a month, pay metered electricity and more taxes than an equivalent household. I am a caretaker, pollution monitor and security observer for the other boats at Shilshole, surely worth $5 a month. Yet the Port decided we should pay more because of the added value the marina provides and their market policy, which I read as because they can. I pay it and get on with life.
      The Liveaboard Association and the Marina management have worked very hard at improving water quality and developing a cleanliness standard to make Shilshole a better place for all boaters not just liveaboards. We are currently in the process of renewing the liveaboard agreement with the Marina as the current one expires at the end of this August. It is hard for us to believe that almost five years have passed since the last groundbreaking agreement with the Port was instituted. Believe me, the very issues brought up by Sara and your comments have been talked about. Solutions are much harder to come by. I welcome input from you and your readers about solutions to these and other difficulties with a lot of different users of a great, but constrained public facility.

Sincerely,
Al Hughes
Shilshole Liveaboard Association

You make a good a point about the "ugly boaters" not being restricted to the liveaboards. Unfortunately, when the talk turns to lievaboards,they tend to get lumped in to all the bad boats we see in the marinas, which is far from being the true case. The boats you see that would need an environmental impact statement to leave the docks are usually not liveaboards vessels but recreational vessels. Those vessels need to be removed so that someone who wants to actively use their boat can have moorage. However, using Shilshole as an example, one of the bi-products of the marinas getting stricter to get rid of all abandoned and ignored vessels and cleaning up the parking lot, is increased vigilance and increased enforcement of the rules which apply to everyone.

CANPASS Private Boat Reporting System Now Reinstated

We have received word from Canadian Customs that the Private Boat Clearance Program, CANPASS, has been reinstated as of early April. The CANPASS program had been suspended due to the events on 9/11/01.
      Current applications for CANPASS are now being processed. Customs informs us that if you currently hold an unexpired CANPASS number, they are automatically extending it by adding 6 months to your current CANPASS. For example if your CANPASS number was to expire at the end of May 2002, it will now expire at the end of November 2002. The extra time is to make up for the recent suspension period.
      The CANPASS officers are asking us boaters to be patient while they are getting CANPASS back on line. They are in the process of sending letters out to all CANPASS holders explaining the procedure and changes. There will be some small changes to the CANPASS system. In the meantime, if you are planning on boating to Canada you can just report in by telephone as before using your unexpired CANPASS number and follow the old procedures.
      To report in via telephone please call 1-888-CANPASS. For questions about your CANPASS membership or to request a new application call CANPASS in Surrey, B.C. at 1-604-535-9346.

Good Sailing,

David Kutz
2nd VP Recreational Boating
Association of Washington

Looking for Information on Thailand

Looking for information. Will be moving to Thailand shortly and would like to know if any of your readers or staff might have any local knowledge of the sailing scene in the Gulf of Tailand. Especially the East coast of Pattaya. I was in the area last year for three weeks and saw lots of local speed and fishing boats, the Seventh Fleet, but only one sailboat! All that warm water and wind, whats wrong with this picture. What am I mising here?
      Looking for ex-pat boating communities, marina locations, reputable yards, brokers or brokerages, good marina bars, books, web sites and just plain old advice. Anthing would be a start, anything would be appreciated.

Ralph
Marinatt@hotmail.com

Lots of speed and fishing boats, the Seventh Fleet, sounds like paradise. Sunsail Charters has a base in Thailand, call their office in Vancouver, B.C.

Marinas Squeezing Extra Revenue Out of Tenants

I have been meaning to write you about this for some time. Over the winter my marina came out with a new way to squeeze extra revenue out of the tenants.
      They now charge by foot on the entire length to the vessel including OVERHANGS. (Rails, dinghies, antennas, etc.) For my 36 Catalina I am now being charged at 39 feet.
      When I asked for an explaination, I was told that the marina managers had attended a conference of NW marinas and this formula was now the standard for the Puget Sound.
      So... have you guys heard anything about this? Is my marina out on the pointy end of the spear on this one?
      Also, I would appreciate your comments on the DNR bedlease tax. That also doubled over the winter. I don't ever recall being asked to vote on this DNR tax. My marina of course, passes the charge right on the the boater. I have this unpleasant vision of some faceless bureaucrat raising taxes by edict with no oversight.
      I wouldn't normally be upset by either of these two moorage increases, but it had the net effect of raising my moorage from $216 a month to $260 a month. 20% overnight. Ouch!

Regards,

Mike Ward

Marina's can pretty much charge anything they want for their slips, there is no standard formula they have to adhere to. I tried to get you an answer from DNR on the tax question but haven't received a reply at press time. On their website under "Questions and Answers, Residential Uses of State-Owned Aquatic Lands, Washington State Department of Natural Resources Aquatic Resources Division, January 24, 2002" a marina owner asks about new regulations raising his rent. DNR's reply is: "The rent you pay to DNR is adjusted on a regular schedule as described in existing law and in your lease, so it may increase based on that schedule, but will not increase due to these proposed rules." I know that doesn't answer your question, contact:

Rich Phipps
Aquatic Resources Division
Washington State Department of Natural Resources
PO Box 47027, Olympia, WA 98504-7027
rich.phipps@wadnr.gov (360)902-1091

The good news for you is that if you were at Shilshole you'd be paying $384 (just up from $366) for the same size slip.

Thanks for the Mags

To: Nancy Very at 48° North.
      Many thanks for sending the three copies of 48° North; the January, February and March 2002 editions. Be assured that all three magazines will be read many times from cover to cover. If the mail had arrived a few hours earlier, all three magazines would have been in the photograph.
      Diana Jessie's article, "What's With Watermakers," and the Lowtide article about Peter Blake is of particular interest. We also read with interest House Bill 2124. We keep a "Rules of the Road" book on the bridge and consult it often.
      The USNS Pecos is a Kaiser class tanker. The dimensions are 677 feet long, 98 feet wide, with a maximum draft of 35 feet. The ship weighs 9,500 tons light and 42,000 tons fully laden. The top speed is about 20 knots. When I was first employed with Military Sealift Command back in 1984, many ships were veterans of World War II, and the post war era. There were up to six deck deportment sailors in one stateroom. On the Pecos, everyone has their own stateroom. Though we seldom are pier-side, the work load here is not that much. We provide United States ships along with Canadian, English, Australian and Dutch ships with D.F.M. Diesel Marine Fuel and J.P.F. (a jet fuel) and for the American ships, provisions and stores. We operate in both the Persian Gulf and the Northern Arabian Seas, where there's a naval blocade in search of Al Qaeda and Taliban elements. It is heartening to let you know that the United States has the solid support of the English, Canadians, Australians, Dutch, French, Italians and even a few Japanese warships.
      All Military Sealift Command ships have E-mail access for the crew but now we have Internet access via the satellite. Using the satellite Internet is a bit slower than a shoreside based system, the screen clarity is just as good and such contact with the outside world is a considerable moral booster.
      On these long underway deployments, I have macrame projects and write poems. A few of my poems are on the Internet. If you write in When the page is displayed, write in Mills, Anthony and then hit enter a number of Mills, Anthonys will appear. I wrote the poems: The Distant Thunder, The Schoolyard, The Flower Children, Cloud Interpretations, Snow and The Morning Dew.
      I have also written two books: Drake's Bay and Subic Bay - The Last American Colony. If I had a copy of Drake's Bay aboard ship I would have sent a copy but in the haste of packing I simply didn't put a few copies in a box.
      Again, many thanks for the three editions of 48° North, for taking the time to write and most of all for your moral support.

Sincerely,
Anthony Mills
USNS Pecos
Persian Gulf/Northern Arabian Sea

CYC Burgee Goes Missing

The almost new CYC Burgee that was flying at the mast head on the Memorial Flag Pole on the central pier at Shilshole has gone missing. It was last seen by one of the employees in the Port of Seattle's Shilshole office when a mysterious woman with long hair drove her car to the base of the flag pole, lowered the burgee, and drove away. The burgee had only been in use for several weeks, having been specially made for CYC by Prestige Flags in San Diego, CA.
      The Memorial Flag Pole at the center of the marina is a gift to the Port of Seattle by Corinthian Yacht Club of Seattle, and honors Charlie Frisbie, CYC's first Commodore, and one of the founders of CYC.
      The missing burgee is 36" on the hoist and 60" on the fly. If it was taken by mistake, it may be returned to the Port of Seattle's Shilshole office without any questions being asked.

David M. Blakemore
dmbmore@foxinternet.net

If whoever had the "courage" to take the flag doesn't have the courage to return it directly to CYC, they can drop it off here at 48° North (behind Shilshole West Marine) and we'll make sure they get it.