As we start to sail through 2016, I'm very happy with what I'm seeing on the horizon.  We are blessed to have a great PICYA Board and very active committee chairs.  What lies ahead, just located on the next tack, is the Leadership Conference headed by our Rear Commodore, Winston Bumpus.  Next will be a superb Opening Day put together by our Vice Commodore, Linda Blue.  What I'm happy to see is that we are working as a team, with one Goal in mind.  Make 2016 a Great Year for all PICYA yacht clubs and the communities they live and work in.  Thank you for all your loyal support.

Erich Schoenwisner, Commodore

Welcome to the inaugural edition of the PICYA Navigator. The PICYA Board has decided to publish a monthly eNewsletter to help provide you with timely information regarding PICYA and PICYA Member Club events. 

This newsletter will be sent out every Tuesday Morning 8am in the following week after a PICYA Delegates meeting. This will give us time to gather all of the important content from the delegates meetings and to gather and format information regarding your important upcoming club events as well.

This should give us a new vehicle to share important information that will be of interest to our 105 member clubs.

Please send your information by end-of-day on the Friday following a Delegates meeting to PICYAnews@gmail.com and we will do our very best to add it to the issue being distributed on the following Tuesday morning.

Winston Bumpus - Rear Commodore - 2016

The Spring Leadership conference will be held on Saturday March 26th at the Martinez Yacht Club. We will have a lot of great speakers with information for leaders of yacht clubs. We are also putting together a set of "birds of a feather" meetings for the afternoon so folks interested in recruitment, communication, race management, etc. can come together to discuss and exchange ideas. Registration is open and details can be found by CLICKING HERE

The 99th Annual San Francisco Opening Day is set for April 24th. The theme this year is "Heroes on the Bay". For those who want to decorate their boats and participate, this will be a fun event. For others who want to participate, the committee boat is the Hornblower Spirit   This boat is a great way to watch all of the activities for opening day and also have a great lunch aboard. Think about participating either by decorating your boat and joining the other 100+ boats on the bay or joining fellow members of yacht clubs from Santa Cruz to Tahoe and the over 200 people on this fun cruise on the PICYA Opening Day Committee Boat. For more information and registration for Opening Day 2016 CLICK HERE  

The Worldwide Boaters Safety Group (WBSG) and the Pacific Inter-Club Yacht Association have joined together to offer $2,500 scholarships. These scholarships are for students whose parents, grandparents, or guardians are members of a yacht club belonging to PICYA. Applicants must be graduating high school seniors of the current year, or college students continuing to pursue their educational goals. Application must be signed and submitted (received) by June 15th 2016. For more information and application please CLICK HERE  

The Pacific Inter-Club Yacht Association Foundation transforms donations into opportunities to improve the lives of students and veterans. Many people and organizations contribute to the PICYA Foundation as their way to financially support scholarships to qualified students and for the Wheelchair Regatta that honors our veterans.

Donations to the PICYA Foundation supports the:

Scholarship Program Fund: Education is an investment that never loses its value!  The Foundation supports excellence in education.  High school seniors and college students are eligible for Scholarship grants that help to underwrite a portion of an aspiring student’s school expenses in pursuit of higher education and academic success.

Wheelchair Regatta Program Fund:  Honoring those who served our nation touches everyone’s heart!  The Foundation financially supports the Wheelchair Regatta that recognizes the men and women who served in our armed forces.  The Wheelchair Regatta brightens the lives of hundreds of veterans for a day aboard various PICYA members' boats cruising the San Francisco Bay and provides them time together for camaraderie.

Scholarship Expense Fund: This fund supports the expenses associated with awarding scholarships to students; such as: dinners for parents or guest, plaques and scholarship clerical expenses.

Foundation Administrative Expense Fund: This fund supports the overall administrative expenses of the Foundation; such as, insurance and very basic overall Foundation operating expenses.

Donations may be made as a memorial or remembrance contribution. Donations may also be specified to one or more of the Funds. When a donation is not designated to any particular Fund, the Foundation Board then directs the contribution to where funding is the most needed at that time. If insufficient donations are received for the Scholarship Expense Fund, the Foundation will be limited in paying scholarship related expenses.

Donations:

Checks should be made payable to:  PICYA Foundation

Mail checks to:  Chief Financial Officer, Mike Billington, 3717 Dragoo Park Drive, Modesto, CA 95356

As a recognized 501.C.3 Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation (IRS tax number 01-0961815), contributions to the PICYA Foundation are eligible as a tax deductible contribution to the extent allowed by law. Incorporated in 2010 under its own Articles of Incorporation, financial and policy oversight of the PICYA Foundation is administered through its independent five member Board of Directors.

Thank You from your PICYA Foundation Board of Directors:

President: Fred Rutledge – frutl68894@aol.com
Secretary: David Breninger – dbreninger@surewest.net
Chief Financial Officer: Mike Billington –theDianeB@yahoo.com
Director: Vern Bendsen – vbendsen@pacbell.net
Director: Jane Brennen – tbrenj2@comcast.net
(March 2016; DAB)

Take advantage of the following important FREE educational workshops on:
Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) Prevention
Oil Spill Response Communication
To register for any of these workshops, please contact the Boating Clean and Green Program Coordinator Vivian Matuk at (415) 904-6905 or Vivian.Matuk@coastal.ca.gov
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Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) Prevention Workshops
Workshop participants will:
* Gain an understanding of the impacts AIS have on the environment;
* Learn to recognize them in their region;
* Learn how to take action and prevent spreading the invasive species by inspecting and cleaning equipment and watercraft.
Oakley – March 16 (Registration Deadline: Friday, March 11)
* Time: 8:45 a.m. - 2:45 p.m.
* Location: Big Break Regional Shoreline, 69 Big Break Rd, Oakley 94561
* Partner: Big Break Regional Shoreline Park
Modesto – April 12 (Registration Deadline: Friday, April 8)
* Time: 8:45 a.m. - 2:45 p.m.
* Location: Stanislaus County Department of Environmental Resources Training Center Room DE, 3800 Cornucopia Way, Modesto, CA 95358
* Partner: Stanislaus County
Santa Cruz – May 19 (Registration Deadline: Friday, May 13)
* Time: 8:45 a.m. - 2:45 p.m.
* Location: Seymour Marine Discovery Center, La Feliz Room 100 Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
* Partners: Seymour Marine Discovery Center and Save Our Shores
The workshops are being hosted by California State Parks Division of Boating and Waterways, California Coastal Commission, California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

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Oil Spill Response Communication Workshops

Workshops will cover information on:
• California’s oil spill response structure
• Office of Spill Prevention and Response Equipment Grants
• Third party claim process
• General information on oil spill kits for boating facilities
• Marinas and Yacht Clubs Spill Response Communication Packet
• Tools and resources available to increase communication capabilities between boating facilities and offices of emergency services during oil spills
March 29, 2016 - Stockton (Registration Deadline: March 25)
9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Ebony Boat Club, 445 West Weber Avenue, Stockton, CA 95203
Partner: Ebony Boat Club
April 1, 2016 – Newport Beach (Registration Deadline: March 25)
9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Marina Park - Bay Island Room, 1600 West Balboa Boulevard, New Port Beach, CA 92662
Partner: City of Newport Beach
Key presenters include representatives from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, California’s Boating Clean and Green Program and the Governor's Office of Emergency Services.

The California State Parks Division of Boating and Waterways (DBW’s)  and the California Coastal Commission’s Boating Clean & Green Program, the Bay Foundation (DBW’s Clean Vessel Act program) in partnership with the US Power Squadrons, the US Coast Guard Auxiliary and the Lake Berryessa Partnership will conduct more Dockwalker trainings this year.  If you are already a trained Dockwalker and were trained more than 3 years ago, please join us this year for a refresher class.

Dockwalkers are trained to engage members of the public and the boating community to adopt clean boating practices. Dockwalkers share clean boating information with boaters and distribute educational materials (boater kits), while visiting marinas, launch ramps, marine supply stores, boat shows and special events (i.e. regattas, opening days, among others).  As you realize, “Dockwalker” is only a generic term because you do not necessarily have to “walk the docks” in order to talk to boaters about safety and clean boating practices. Remember safety and the environment go hand in hand.

Training is FREE and Dockwalking is a fantastic way to interact with boaters to help keep California’s marinas, waterways, and ocean clean and healthy. The training provides an overview of environmentally-sound boating practices, information about how to conduct Dockwalking, and educational materials that Dockwalkers will distribute including the 2016 boater kits (attached photo).  These boater kits include; A Boater’s Guide to Keeping Pollutants Out of the Water; Oil Absorbent Pillow to capture oil leaks and drips; a variety of informative Clean and Safe Boating Resources including the “Environmental Boating Laws Every Recreational Boater Should Know,” the ABC’s of Boating Law, among others. Depending on your region, we may also provide the Delta Clean Boating map and the San Francisco Bay Area Clean Boating Map.  In addition, newly trained Southern California Dockwalkers will receive the new edition of the Southern California Boater’s Guide. This year we are also including a fuel bib.

In the last five years, more than 700 Dockwalkers have distributed over 90,000 boater kits statewide. Hours spent training or educating the public qualify as community service. 

Yacht Clubs believe that education is critical to successfully operating a clean boating facility and minimizing water quality impacts. Becoming a Dockwalker or having a staff person or yacht club members trained as Dockwalkers will provide you with the educational materials and tools to work with your tenants and visitors as partners in the clean marina/yacht club, clean water effort. Participation in the DOCKWALKER PROGRAM counts towards the nomination of the Club of the Year under the community service category

Download the flyer/registration form in PDF.

Upcoming Trainings
Saturday, March 17 - San Leandro
7 pm to 9 pm
San Leandro Yacht Club
20 Mulford Point Dr, San Leandro, CA 94577

Thursday, March 24- Redwood City
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Sequoia Yacht Club
441 Seaport Court, Redwood City, CA 94063

Tuesday, April 19 - Petaluma
6:30 pm to 8:30 pm
Petaluma Yacht Club
10 C St, Petaluma, CA 94952

Friday, April 29 - Vacaville
8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Solano County Water Agency (Lake Berryessa Room)
810 Vaca Valley Pkwy #203, Vacaville, CA 95688

Tuesday , May 3 - San Rafael
7 pm to 9 pm
Loch Lomond Yacht Club
95 Loch Lomond Dr, San Rafael, CA

We hope you can join us at a training and become a volunteer Dockwalker! 
Please help us spread the word about the upcoming trainings.  Forward this email to your colleagues and people who might be interested in our program.  You can also include this information in your newsletters, calendars and bulletin boards.  If you want us to send you some copies of our flyers, please let us know.

To register for a training or if you have any questions, please feel free to contact Vivian Matuk at (415) 904-6905 or vmatuk@coastal.ca.gov.