This weekend's raft-up in the South Bay, was an amazing culmination of a fantastic cruise out to South Beach and everyone enjoying the ability to linger a bit longer in the warm late afternoon sun of a January day. - Shannon Amerman, Cruise-out Captain

You have all heard that we are going to have a display at the San Mateo Museum celebrating Sequoia Yacht Club.

The good news is the display is now in place - and has pride of place in the entrance rotunda for the whole museum. Everyone entering and leaving the museum walks past our display. There are eight fantastic photos enlarged to 30x24 and mounted on the wall. Four of the photos picture adult sailing and another four picture youth sailing.

There is a write up with a tribute to the club over our 75 years and also another write up with about  our commitment to junior sailing. The display is in place for 3 months - until May. This is by any standards a BIG DEAL for the club. We are recognized, the display has a a prominent position and it is fantastic!

I encourage you to visit the museum and take a look. The address is 2200 Broadway, Redwood City. The opening hours are Tuesday through Sunday from 10am to 4pm (i.e., closed Monday). Entrance fees are $5 for adults and $3 for seniors and $3 for children between 6-18. Under 6 it is free.

I shall organize a visit and tour for the club on Sunday February 9th in the afternoon. We shall have drinks and snacks available as well. Details to follow but please reserve from about 1.30pm for a couple of hours on that Sunday afternoon.

I guarantee you will be very proud of the club when you see this!

Peter Blackmore, Staff Commodore

Recent Past Events:

Our last DID featured a wonderfully photographed and narrated presentation of last years’ Baja-Ha-Ha prepared by Byron Jacobs and Linda Ryan.  Sue and I left that evening wanting to make plans to head South.   Thank you very much Byron and Linda!

I also want to thank Nick and Robin Weber for a spectacular cruise-out to South Beach.  It was an absolute delight.  My favorite part was a Sunday morning trip to Chinatown with Mike and Cody Hmelar.  We found Cody’s favorite pork bun place (see photo below) and did a bit of shopping.  The other highlight was an intimate après-cruise raft-up out at S mark --  the party did not stop with our leaving our slips at noon!  Saturday’s dinner is also a great memory.

Events On the Near Horizon: 

They are numerous and our lives are short, so bullet points here:

• Don't miss the Super Bowl Party hosted by Larry Mayne on Sunday 2/2.
• Join us to enjoy the DID and General Meeting with a Chinese Lunar New Year theme and menu on Friday 2/7!
• Happy Birthday Sequoia!  Band and big party.  Sign-ups are under way for the celebration on Saturday 2/22.
• What!? An SYC Blacktop Outing to Graton Casino in Rohnert Park on Wednesday 2/26?  Yes! It's a “Land Yacht’ excursion!  Look for the sign-up sheet to appear soon.

And a Sneak Preview:

A yet-to-be-disclosed but very cool field trip and belly dancing!  What!?  Yep – and not the bellies you see dancing whenever a joke is told at the bar! This will, of course, be paired with a delicious menu.

Thank you for supporting your club.  See you around!

Dan Lockwood, Vice Commodore

Don't miss our first race of the single- & double-handed series this Saturday, February 1.

We're quite excited to welcome double-handed crews this year in addition to our traditional singlehanded racers!  So all couples, whether man/wife, wife/man, man/man, women/women, dad/kid, grandpa/grandchild ... (you get the idea), come out for the opportunity to show your expertise on tiller/wheel and sheets.

Single-handers! We're not forgetting our origins. We're still looking forward to seeing the supreme discipline and enormous skills of those who single-hand a larger sailboat in a fiercely competitive race. You know who you are!

Like the Redwood Cup, race registration and results will be kept on Jibset. So please register your boat for that series here.

Series Information:

Racetype: non-pursuit race
Skippers Meeting: 10.30 AM
Start: 12.30 PM
Weather Forecast: 4-5 kts (at present) / 58 F Air

See you Saturday!

Anja & Peter Weigt, SH/DH Series Captains

The 2014 Winter Series continues next week on Saturday, February 8 with race #4.

The series consists of 5 races with one throw-out.  The start line for the Winter Series is at 3 - 4 with a scheduled start time of 13:30.  All skippers should attend the skipper's meeting at 11:30am on the day of the race.  Boats coming down from Coyote Point are welcome to check in by cell phone (650-576-3990) after 12:00 PM or proceed to the start line and check in using VHF radio on channel 69 before the race.

Richard Butts, Winter Series Sailboat Fleet Captain

Many thanks to Nick and Robin Weber for hosting an outstanding cruise-out to South Beach last weekend. They were challenged due to the limited number of slips, as it was also the same weekend as the Three Bridge Fiasco and the Boat Show at ATT Park. Given all of that to contend with, there were still six boats and over 30 people for dinner on Saturday Night.  I know that running a cruise-out is an exercise in orchestration, but Nick and Robin pulled  it off with style.

I missed the docktails and great dinner at Delancy Street where Nick and Robin had arranged for a private dining room for the 30+ people from the club. (Carole and I couldn’t make it as it was the same evening as the Installation Commodore’s Ball for the PICYA and I was installed as a Director.)  But, I was able to join everyone for breakfast on the dock at South Beach Marina. There was no shortage of food and conversation as folks congregated on the docks before heading home.

The trip home had light winds and initially a good ebb. I hitched a ride back on Web Tide with Nick and Robin. It was beautiful warm day and we sailed wing-on-wing for a while. After an hour or so of sailing and not making much progress on our homeward direction, we reluctantly decided to motor sail.

Normally when we reach the San Mateo Bridge, we would be looking for marker 12 and heading to the entrance of Redwood Creek, but the day was too beautiful and the water too flat to head home. Rick and Petra had anchored north of the “S” mark and we decided to raft up. It was a perfect day for it and at one point we had 7 boats rafted up, while flying the new, huge Sequoia Yacht Club cruise-out burgee.

The raft-up in the South Bay was an amazing culmination of a fantastic weekend and I know everyone enjoyed the ability to linger a bit longer in the warm late afternoon sun of a January day. Thanks to the Gilmores’ setting the anchor , the delicious treats, and also the treats that came flowing from the companionways in all directions, the Club came together once again and connected with ease as did the camaraderie and conversation. 

As someone lucky enough to be Commodore of this club, I will cherish this day and the time we had together for years to come.

Thanks again to Nick and Robin for their hospitality and their leadership of this terrific Sequoia Yacht Club cruise-out.

Winston Bumpus, Commodore

We had a marvelous turn out to the first Sequoia Reads of 2014. Author (and our very own Treasurer) Phaedra Fisher was on hand to share her personal experiences in the former Soviet Union with the 20 or so members who came to the book discussion on Wednesday night.

Thank you, Phaedra, for leading our discussion!

Next Sequoia Reads Selection

How many knots is the wind blowing when you see "Small wavelets. Crests of glassy appearance, not breaking." (hint: conditions during Redwood Cup #1) what about "Moderate waves of some length. Many whitecaps. Small amounts of spray." (hint: typical conditions during our Summer Beer Cans)?

Our next Sequoia Reads selection is Defining the Wind:The Beaufort Scale and How a 19th-Century Admiral Turned Science into Poetry by Scott Huler.

You can find them at the following libraries:
Santa Clara County Library: 2 copies
San Mateo County Library: 3 copies
Or on Amazon

Discussion date: TBD. Sometime in early March.

If you did not sign up for the SYC 2014 Calendar, we still have a limited number available.  Put together by our own Fabian Pease, it features action photographs by Fabian and other SYC members of Sequoia on-the-water activities and the SYC event calendar for the year.

These calendars are $16, and will be available at the Club this at the sign-in desk.

Joanne Wright, Past Commodore & Bookkeeper

PLEASE UPDATE YOUR MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION FOR THE UPCOMING DIRECTORY

Now or never!  The new printed  2014 Membership Directory will be coming out in February.  Please let us know of any changes to names, address, phone numbers, email addresses, boat name and make.  Send information to sjustjones@gmail.com.

Please give our supporters your first consideration.  Note that most listings will have the ability to click through for further information. Also note the advertisers will change the sequence of listing so we will have a new advertiser at the top of the list each week.

If you have feedback on this advertising section or would like to have your business listing included in future editions of “The Weekly Blast”, please contact Larry Mayne at lrmayne@aol.com