The 2015 SYC Calendar with racing photos from the 2014 season is now available by signup.  A sample copy is on the bulletin board along with a signup sheet.  This is a beautiful, large calendar on heavy duty, glossy paper.  The action-packed photos are done by our own Fabian Pease.  We would like to order these as soon as we can so that we get them by the start of the new year.

Ahoy Sequoia!

The Children's Holiday Party last Sunday was great fun! We had a whole club full of holiday spirited kids running around, decorating cookies, getting their faces painted, watching the always entertaining Magic Mike's Magic Show and visiting with old St Nick himself! It was great to see each child's beaming face as they were called up by Santa to receive a gift. It was real holiday magic.

Thanks to all that helped out including: Kathy Harris, Terry"ho ho ho" Burley, Ron Howard, Bernie Wahle, Commodore Dan Lockwood, Rear Commodore Tim Petersen, Club Steward Lina Renyolds (great Krispie treats!), 2009 Past Commodore Petra Gilmore and all the parents who helped with crafts.

The Holiday DID and Sing-A-Long is this Friday, December 19th!

Come on down to the Club this Friday night. The Club will be filled with the delicious aromas of Lina's special Holiday fare and then filled with the jubilant sounds of you and your friends gathered 'round the piano in the lounge.

We have a special treat! Our own Secretary Robin Weber and Bob Hughes' mom, Jo Hughes will be playing the piano accompaniment for a rousing, festive holiday sing-a-long! Jo is a wonderful musician and this is going to be a "not to be missed" evening.

Cocktails at 6:00PM, Dinner at 7:00PM, Sing-A-Long after dinner.

Lina's "Italian Christmas" Fare-

• Lasagna with meat sauce or Veggie.
• Fresh Ham with Glaze.
• Pomegranate salad with mixed greens, green apple, nuts and cranberries tossed with cranberry dressing.
• Caesar salad.
• Garlic bread.
• Special Italian Dessert.

All for only $11.50

Mark your Calendars!

New Year's Eve at THE Sequoia Yacht Club!

Live Music! Hor d'oeuvres! Dessert! and an option for a delicious crab dinner More details and a sign-up coming soon!

This is going to be fun!

On a less-happy note: It appears that the 44" flat screen TV in the lounge at the club is "kaput".

We had a chance to do some trouble shooting on Saturday and it was determined that there is a failed component in the unit. As with many modern electronics it is rarely cost effective to repair them.

So here is "the call" to the whole club…. Is someone getting a fancy new flat screen TV for Christmas? If so, are you looking for a home for your old, perfectly good, flat screen TV?  How about donating it to the Club? Imagine the joy that you'll bring to your fellow members when they can once again gather 'round the Telly and cheer on their favorite sports team or count down to the ball drop on new Year's Eve!

Can you help? Drop me a line and let me know!

See you 'round the Club!

Thank you Sequoia for a very memorable Holiday weekend!

We had a great General Meeting and Drop-In Dinner complete with two new member families.  Sue and I participated in a very exciting Winter # 2 Race.  The excitement was mostly in seeing how close we could drift to channel markers waiting through race postponements, but it was attention-getting nonetheless…

The Build A Bike extravaganza was terrific.  The bikes are beautiful and on display and are sure to represent real treasures to their recipients.  Assembling them was very satisfying and imagining the Christmas joy of their new owners made it all the more special.  They will be picked up for distribution at this Friday’s Holiday Drop In Dinner which promises to be a fun-filled, festive evening. (See more photos below)

And if that were not enough, last Sunday was the Children’s Holiday Party.  I arrived in time to see Magic Mike’s performance and I am still smiling and the unbridled enthusiasm of the kids and Mike’s really corny, groan-inducing jokes.  It was all very funny.

And…we sold all the available spots for the new club chairs!  Fantastic and thank you to all of you who signed up!  I have been looking forward to chair races on our new dining room floor!

And it doesn’t end there…There is much more to come this Holiday Season like our Holiday Drop In Dinner this Friday and a very special New Year’s Eve (with a great band and menu).  So may I recommend you watch these pages, our club website and club bulletin boards for announcements, sign-ups and more news regarding upcoming events.

And finally, watch these very pages for a bowling opportunity later this month…

The Sequoia Race fleet turned out on Saturday, 12/13 for Winter Series Race #2. The only problem, however, is that the wind forgot to show up. There was a bit of optimism on the way out when a bit of a breeze came up in the channel.  But once at the start line, we were lucky to see anything other than a big goose egg for wind speed. A couple of boats even broke out paddles to provide auxiliary power. Race Captain Tim Anto called a number of postponements until finally abandoning the race just after 14:30. The plan is to run a make-up race in conjunction with one of the upcoming Winter Series races if the winds cooperate. Pictures from the start area can be found at by clicking HERE.

Don't forget the decorated boat contest this week. Prizes for the best display will be awarded at the DID on Friday, Dec. 19. Due to work in and around the harbor, there will be no lighted boat parade this year, only dockside displays. We want to see your boat lighting up the marina!

Looking forward, we have Redwood Cup #2 this Saturday, 12/20. The skippers meeting is at 12:00 and the first start is just after 13:30. This is followed two weeks later by Winter #3 on Saturday 1/3. So plan on making a Sequoia race (or two) a part of your holiday traditions.

For the cruising fleet, I hope you consider participating in the South Bay Wreck raft-up. The plan is to cruise out on Saturday morning in the vicinity of marker Y and the South Bay Wreck (straight out Redwood Creek in the middle of the Bay). Here the boats will anchor and raft-up. There will be a potluck dinner followed by some eclectic entertainment out on the water. This should be a really great event. Contact Cruise-out Captain John Graves for more information. (ed note - see "Wreck Raft-Up" below)

Have a wonderful holiday season. I'll be watching for you out on the water.

Pied Piper and crew arrived safely in the BVI in the early hours of Thursday morning the 18th. December.

It has been a tremendous adventure. We sailed 4,300 miles and visited some great places on the way. The boat performed very well and she is in her element on the high seas.

What was fun - sailing at 8 knots with moderate waves on a starry night with no one else in sight or on AIS. Enjoying a beautiful Sunset with a beer on the back deck with not a care in the world and watching the Dolphins play with the boat. And tuna fishing down the coast of Mexico - we did very well and enjoyed Sushi and tuna everyday a la mode all the way.

What was challenging - gale force conditions (there is a huge difference once it gets above 35 knots); 20 foot plus breakers over the boat for 15 continuos hours; being hit by swell from multiple directions which gives a washing machine effect that is less than pleasant! Trying to get around a boat heeling over at 40' without breaking something. Hearing the boat pound into the troughs at speed - a crashing sound that is scary. Experiencing a huge tropical thunderstorm with lightning that made it as bright as day in every direction with buckets of water coming down.

What was interesting - seeing Mexico change as we went South . It depends what you enjoy but the further south the more fun and interesting it was for us. The villagers were great and non commercial, the lifestyle was simple but elegant and it was a different world.

What was unforgettable - the Panama Canal passage which takes a day plus all the preparation and documentation before that which we were fortunate with - it only took us 4 days. 40,000 people died building the canal in the two efforts   French and American - with technology that predates the First World War.

What was charming - the San Blas islands which are still unspoiled and a tropical paradise of coral reefs. Navigation is not for the faint hearted though - lots of sad wrecks around bear testament to a misread chart or a failed engine.

My thanks to my wonderful wife for the big idea to do this and being with us until the Panama Canal.  My thanks to my other companions who taught me everything I now know about ocean sailing and handling a boat when it gets tough (plus they could fix almost anything!). They are Captain Nikolay Alexandrov who is an outstanding sailor by any standards and a person I owe a great deal to throughout all the voyage and to John Thomley who not only has built his own 46' wooden sail boat but is a US Navy trained marine engineer and a universal Mr Fixit and chef. A Great team! My sincere thanks as well to Captain Robin Weber and his wife Kathryn who helped us with fantastic advice and detailed spreadsheets of what you need, what to prepare and be ready for. If something went wrong (which fortunately very little did) we had a solution. There is no 1-800 dial Svendsens on the open seas..... 

Seeing the BVI after 4,300nm and 53 days at sea was quite something. Even at 4 am in the morning it felt great!

A new membership record was broken this year!  Thirty-two new members joined and several applications are ready for First and Second readings in January 2015.  Thank you members for all your recruiting efforts to make this a great year.

Check your membership information in the online Membership Directory and update your listing as required.  Send any new updated information to Sheila Jones.

Second Readings at the December general meeting:

Christopher Brown & Leslie Kowaleski, from San Carlos.  Their son is involved in High School sailing and racing which has rekindled their interest in sailing and joining SYC. Nominated by David Jackson and Michele Hartman.

Shengwen Xu & Ye Yuan from Campbell.  They have taken sailing lessons and are looking forward to participating in SYC racing activities.  Nominated by Mark Nardini and David Jackson.

Let's all welcome these new members aboard and introduce yourself.  Their name badges have a Green Dot on them.

All of the SYC bar chairs have been sponsored! WOW! What a response from our club members!

We won't be buying chairs again for a looooooooong time so this was a unique opportunity for club members to step up and donate proceeds to purchase these fancy new chairs.

During the last bar renovation (1990s), SYC members sponsored bar chairs for the club's enjoyment. Their chair donations received an honorary plaque on each chair. Now, 20 years later, we are continuing this tradition. Thank you for your continued member support into our 75th year.

ALL WHO SPONSORED A CHAIR - We need your engraving info!

We will soon begin sending around your engraving details so your brass dedication plaques can be made and ordered. You can dedicate the chair in your name, on behalf of your family, your vessel name, or whatever you wish. Get creative or be classic. More details to come shortly!

Here's to 3 more decades of happy bar sitting and fun times!

Three cheers,

To see more photos, click HERE. All photos courtesy of Sheila Jones.

Ahoy Sequoia!

Have you ever been at the at the club by yourself on a weekday and noticed how many jackets are on the coat rack? Over the years members and guests have hung up their coats and forgotten about them.

Here's the idea……This Sunday, December 21st we will gather up all those abandoned coats and donate them to a local shelter. So… Come on down to the club BEFORE Sunday and take your coat home….or bring all of your old unwanted coats to the club and hang them up. On Sunday we will box them up and drop them off for people in need. Maybe we should call this "Charity from the forgetful"!!

Happy Holidays!

- Rick Gilmore
  "Mirth"
 Vice Commodore

We're planning something different to start off 2015, a raft-up in the South Bay January 10-11th! 

Enjoy the DID and general meeting Friday night, then join us Saturday morning somewhere near marker "Y" and the South Bay Wreck (straight out Redwood Creek in the middle of the Bay), to anchor and raft-up.  No anchoring experience (or anchor) is required for most boats.  Plan to arrive anytime after 11am Saturday when the current switches from slack to flood.  The outermost boats should plan to leave sometime after noon on Sunday when the current switches back to flood.

We'll have a potluck dinner and drinks Saturday night, then perhaps a showing of the classic Wizard of Oz with the Dark Side of the Moon sound track.  Amazing if you haven't seen them together.  Bring a warm sleeping bag or bunkmate as it can be cold in January, though we'll have heat on Metridium for dinner and socializing.  Rain or shine, unless it's particularly stormy.

No need to sign up for this free cruise-out, just show up. Metridium will be monitoring on VHF channel 69.

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