Photos by Winston Bumpus

PortFest was a big event this year for Sequoia Yacht Club!  We had three bars to manage, plus the lunch for PYSF which was put on by Larry Mayne on our deck. The final tally isn’t in, but it looks as though the Club grossed nearly $2,000 or more.   And all this was because of the hard work from many members of this great Club.

I first need to thank our Nick Weber, with the sustained help from Ron Howard, who provisioned for the beer, wine, mixers for the mixed drinks, soda, water, etc… We also had to meet the requirements for the county health inspectors with wash stations, floor tarps and gloves for the servers.  (All of their prep work allowed us to pass the health inspections with flying colors.)

I would also like to thank our social chair, Theresa Howard, for arriving early and spending  her day with us to make sure the Mimosas, Bloody Marys and Mai Tais were well garnished and mixers were supplied.

Also a special thanks to Commodore Peter Blackmore for supporting this effort by being with me from early morning until we finished and put things away. And also a special thanks to Robin Weber and Sue Lockwood who worked the entire day to make certain everything went smoothly, as well as Phaedra Fisher, our treasurer,  who collected, counted and made sure the cash drawers and our credit card devices worked smoothly throughout the day.

Our Officer of the Day should win the OD of the year award (if we had such award).  Dennis Lowe and his bride, Grace, worked tirelessly from morning to night helping with signs, set up, stocking and manning the house bar when business got really busy.

There is also a long list of members I would like to thank for manning the bars, shuttling supplies and helping with set up and tear down including: Deb Garvey, Tim and Carol Petersen, Dan Doud, Petra Gilmore, Deirdre Sparks, Kathy Harris, Rick and Linda Dalton, Jen Thompson, Patricia Corcoran, Jon and Karin McCarty, Peter Weigt, Anja Borg, Ted Eberle, Richard Butts, Kate Humphreys and Tom and Teri Wikman. (if I missed someone, I apologize in advance)

We were also lucky to have support from our friends at Strike Brewing who brought their tent, their great beer and stayed all day to help with the beer and wine tent. They were terrific.

In addition to this being a good money-maker for the Club, it was a great opportunity for the community to see our beautiful port and to meet the great members of our Yacht Club. I overheard many discussions about the Club and boating between our members and the visitors, and I think the visitors were quite impressed with what they saw and who they met.  (Some of those people may become future sailors and members of this Club.)

It was a fantastic day and I am very thankful to all of you for all of your tireless work and energy you provided this Club to make the 2013 PortFest a great success!

Winston Bumpus – Vice Commodore

Ahoy Sequoia

We celebrated the final race in our Beer Can  season on Wednesday. It is getting late in the year and the days are shorter but they are not lacking any enthusiasm in our Beer Can event. We had 28 boats and a fantastic race.

One can get poetic about the sunset and the moon and the splendor of the evening as the boats came down the channel to the Club. It was very special.

The finish tightened up as everyone closed in on each other  down  the final stretch. Rick Dalton called a great course as he has done all year.

Afterwards the club was packed. We had over 100 people joining us for dinner and the energy and enthusiasm was clear for all to see.

Some observations on the success of an extraordinary Beer Can season.

Everyone was encouraged to participate. The format allowed everyone to win. When you won the whole team was up there at the podium and celebrating. The camaraderie and the passion was evident.

We had 27 races with 35 plus boats in the Summer and we never had less than 27 boats at any time. Each boat had more pickups then ever. So 27 races x an average of 30 boats is over 800 boats competing in the season with an average of at least 4 people = 3,200 plus people.

It is no surprise that our membership is growing - a record 29 new members so far this year and that our income as a club is doing very well. More important is the energy and passion of the new members!

Rick Dalton had a standing ovation at the club after the final race - it was more than well deserved! He led from the front, he put forward a program that allowed all to compete and he was passionate about getting each and every competitor to be proud of what they did. We presented him with an English Tankard - more importantly he received very sincere thanks and tributes from all!

Rick - an exceptional year and achievement - very well done!

What an evening, what a Beer Can season, what a club!

Thank you Sequoia - you knocked it out of the park!

Peter- your Commodore

This Friday at the General Meeting and DID, we will elect our newly nominated officers for the next term starting in November.

This year’s slate is as follows:

Flag Nominees –
• Staff Commodore – Peter Blackmore (868)
• Commodore – Winston Bumpus (928)
• Vice Commodore – Dan Lockwood (775)
• Rear Commodore – Rick Gilmore (865)
• Port Captain – James Brown (968)
• Treasurer – Phaedra Fisher (958)
• Secretary – Mrs. Robin Weber (940)

Continuing and Nominated Directors –
• Tim Petersen (924) – Will serve 2nd year of 2-year term
• Michele Hartman (946) – Will serve 2nd year of 2-year term
• Rich Butts (906) – Will serve 2nd year of 2-year term
• Dennis Lowe (852) – Newly nominated for incoming 2-year term
• Clinton Ward (765) - Newly nominated for incoming 2-year term
• George Carr (735) - Newly nominated for incoming 2-year term

A big thank you to our outgoing Directors: Tod Klingler, Dan Doud and John Ryan. We really appreciate all you do for the club.

At the General Meeting on Friday, September 13th we proposed both the Flag and the Director nominees to the members. This is the normal process. The Flag nominees were uncontested. However there were three additional nominations for Directors from the floor and each one was seconded. They were Micky Alm (#980), David Elliott (#951) and Brett Herr (#849)

As a result we have six Directors proposed and we need to select three to fill the vacancies. This will be done by ballot at the General Meeting this Friday. It is a positive that we have so many people interested in supporting our club. A reminder that, as stated in the by-laws, members have to be present at the General Meeting to vote in person. Absentee votes are not allowed.

Sue Lockwood, Larry Mayne , Robin and Nick Weber have kindly stepped forward to manage the ballot process.

For dinner Lina is making a "Fall Picnic"

Slow Roasted Ham

Lemon Chicken

Peas and Carrots with a touch of honey

Pasta with Basil Cream Sauce

Salad with Artichoke and Heirloom Tomato

Assorted Dressings

All for $14.50 Per Person!

• Cocktails - 18:00 
• Dinner - 18:30
• General Meeting and Election - 19:30

Peter - your Commodore

When:  THIS Friday Oct 11, at the 7pm General meeting!
Why:  I love sailing and my passion is getting new people out on the water and into the Best Club on the Bay!

My goals for the Board:
1.  Focus on sailing, fun and getting more people on the water more often!
2.  Grow the membership.
3.  Keep the Club’s Lasers & Santanas in good condition so members can enjoy sailing them and boatless prospective members have a simple reason to join the Club today!
4.  Learn the words to Gangnam Style, in Korean. 

Experience:
• Signed up 24 new SYC members.
• SYC member for ten years, past Director. 
• Founded the Merit Winter Race Series & ran it alone for the past five years.
• Skippered 300+ races in the South Bay. 
• Built a 16 foot wooden sailboat at home.
• Shipwrecked that boat on Greco Island; froze all nite; lived.  Ooops!
• Dismasted a … (never mind).

Let’s go sailing! 
Brett Herr 

When I joined Sequoia a little over 3 years ago I never expected I would be officially nominated and become a flag officer in just 2 years and I certainly didn't expect I'd be asking the general membership to vote for me as a director the very next year.

I look at the membership around me and I see an incredible mix of familiar faces and new blood in our ranks-- this in a climate where the clubs around us are suffering from dwindling membership and reduced participation.  Many, many club members both in official capacities and unofficial have played a crucial role in maintaining and increasing this vitality in our club.

The programs each of these members advocate multiply to incredible success. I'm incredibly proud to have been a part of making Sequoia the best club it can be.

As a director of Sequoia Yacht Club I will continue to encourage and foster the participation that makes Sequoia great.  I hope to see you tomorrow, Friday, October 11 at the general meeting where I know you will cast your vote for the club you want.

David Elliott - Port Captain

About 3 years ago I started coming to Sequoia Yacht Club as a guest after sailing in Beercan races with Chris Owczarek and Brett Herr. A year later, I also began sailing in PHRF races. In May of 2012, Dave Elliot, Stan Phillips, and I taught Sequoia's first Crew Class bringing in a lot of new members and excitement. What next? That summer, I joined Sequoia because of the additional benefits of membership, such as Laser sailing.

It is an honor for me to be nominated for Director by two members, Chris Owczarek and Przemek Karwasiecki, whom I've enjoyed sailing and racing with. My goal as Director is to promote sailing at Sequoia and to focus on the future of the club. My previous experience has included rebuilding vibrant active memberships and leadership teams as a strategic advisor to an alumni association and as an officer of a volunteer run educational club.

In the past few years our yacht club has grown in numbers and energy. The deck and fireplace are often crowded with new and old members alike.

By putting together a strong strategic plan and the systems to support it we can achieve great things and:

* grow an active, sailing, and long term sustaining membership
* offer attractive well maintained facilities shoreside and on the water
* make the work lighter by making it easy for members to be involved - lets not burn-out and lose some of our hardest working member volunteers

Sailing is what brought most of us to together. Sitting on the deck or around the fireplace enjoying after-sailing-drinks or dinners and parties at home or at cruise-outs is what makes us a strong community. Let's keep all that up and go sailing!

Please come to the general meeting and vote.

As a finale to the great 2013 racing season at Sequoia, join us for the South Bay Championship on Saturday, October 19. This event will include boats from neighboring yacht clubs with two races for spinnaker and non-spinnaker divisions (3 boats required to form a division) with a trophy going to the winner of each.

The Sailing Instructions will be posted on the Club website on Saturday October 12.

Then, after all the racing is complete, all skippers and crew are invited to come back to the club for the Racer's Ribs Dinner. The dinner will be followed by the presentation of the 2013 season race awards. So be sure not to miss this event. Anyone who has participated in a Sequoia Race in 2013, whether it be the Beer Can Series, any of our Saturday/Sunday race series, or any of the special one-day (or night) regattas should plan on attending to properly close out our 2013 season.

Richard Butts
Large Sailboat Fleet Captain

Please come join us next Saturday, October 19, 2013 for the Racers’ Ribs Dinner.  It is the long anticipated celebration and awards ceremony for the 2013 racing season.  All club members are welcome and we especially want to see you there if you have been a skipper, crew, beer-can participant, or have a tale to tell about racing this year.

We will welcome you with an excellent dinner and an awards ceremony worthy of our hard fought year.  It will go something like this:  Names will be named and winners and crews will strut forth.   We will question them as to their exploits.   Stories of tactical triumph and mastery of the elements of wind and tide will follow.  Eyes will roll heavenward with incredulity.    Awards will be awarded and egos will swell to nearly insufferable status.  We have much to celebrate.

As for dinner, I have to clarify; no actual racers will be harmed in its preparation.   The ribs will be from the farm animals that usually provide them.   We will enjoy said ribs with baked beans, potato salad, macaroni salad, and a green salad with tomatoes and cucumbers.  There will also be a vegetarian lasagna offering.  Dessert will be a delicious surprise.

The evening will begin with cocktails at 1800.  Cost is $16.00 for adults and $8.00 for children.

Dan Lockwood - Rear Commodore

It is time again for the Angel Island Thanksgiving weekend cruise-out, November 28th through December 1st.  Yes, there will be turkey with all the fixin's, stay tuned.  Tom Keegan can help with your questions about this popular and fun cruise-out event.

It's seems not that long ago we were saying "Bon Voyage" to our dear friends Kathryn and Robin Weber. They sailed out the Gate, with help from their Sequoia Yacht Club friends, and made the big left turn south.

They have been in Ensenada for a couple of weeks adjusting to not having a dozen projects to complete and enjoying themselves before they leave to go further south with the annual Baja Haha.  

They updated their blog yesterday with a complete summary of their trip so far. For more pictures and to enjoy their adventures, visit  their blog at www.svagaveazul.blogspot.com.

Winston Bumpus - Vice Commodore

Photo by Shelia Jones

On behalf of Isabelle Copeland I am pleased to announce a memorial for Ed Copeland at the Sequoia Yacht Club on Sunday 20th October at 2.00pm.

This will not be a religious memorial. It will be a tribute to Ed including his contributions to Sequoia Yacht Club as Past Commodore and to his country as Captain USN (ret.).

All members, past and present are welcome.

Please join us for this memorial to a very fine man.

Peter - your Commodore

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