This is to notify the membership that there will be a special meeting held in conjunction with our General Meeting on February 7th. The purpose of the meeting is to vote to approve the proposed revised bylaws that have been approved by the Board of directors and discussed during our general Meeting last Friday.

There are two documents available for your review, a redlined version that allows you to see what is proposed to be changed from our current bylaws as well as an overview document that discusses all of the changes and the background and rational for the change. Both of these documents are available at either our website by clicking here or can be found with other notices on the bulletin board near the galley at the club.

I want to personally thank Past Commodore Kate Humphreys and her committee which consisted of Dan Doud, George Carr, Robin Weber, Sidney Morris, Grace Lowe, Joanne Wright, Richard Butts, Past Commodore Steve Holmstrom, Staff Commodore Peter Blackmore and Vice Commodore Dan Lockwood for their many months of service in discussing, editing, revising and developing these upgrades to our bylaws.

Winston Bumpus, Commodore

PLEASE UPDATE YOUR MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION FOR THE UPCOMING DIRECTORY

We are trying to update information for each member for the new printed  2014 Membership Directory.  Please let us know of any changes to names, address, phone numbers, email addresses, boat name and make.  We are planning to publish the new Directory in February.  Send information to sjustjones@gmail.com.

Chili Cook-off:   Saturday, January 18th:

Come join your hosts Theresa Howard and Robin Weber for this test of cooking skill!  At my last count there are five entries and I did not see a sign-up from the defending champions. 

There will be a Redwood Cup race that Saturday afternoon. So racers, please consider yourselves invited for dinner!

The festivities start at 1800 hours.

Drop In Dinner:  Friday, January 24th:

We have a special presentation this evening:   Linda Ryan and Byron Jacobs recently crewed in Latitude 38’s Baja-Ha-Ha Rally aboard Robin and Kathryn Weber’s Agave Azul and they have graciously agreed to tell us about the trip!    I think this will offer insights to a wide range of our members;  those looking to do some long distance cruising and those, perhaps, still recovering from their adventures.  I hope you will consider coming to the club for this dinner and presentation!

Zooper Bole:  Sunday, February 2nd:

No copyright infringement here, no siree.

You, no doubt, know this televised event:  a series of clever ads continuously interrupted by a football game.   We may, however, have a strong interest in this one.  Please join your host Larry Mayne for food and drink and large screen revelry. 

Wednesday Lunches! 

Please stop by the club for Winston and Carol’s tasty lunch offerings each and every Wednesday starting at 1200 hrs. It is a great way to relax with friends mid week. 

See you at the club!

Dan Lockwood, Vice Commodore

It is expected to be a beautiful, sunny day, so bring your sunscreen.  The skippers' meeting is at 1200 hrs and the race starts between day mark 20 and the dolphin at 1330 hrs.  The Sis changed to extend the time limit from 1700 hrs to 1730 hrs for all races in the Redwood Cup series.

All race registrations and result reporting are on-line at the Redwood Cup Regatta Site.

If you participated in Redwood Cups #1 or 2, you are already registered. Twenty-one boats have participatied in the series with Head Rush ( 2 points), Relentless ( 4 points) and Magic (8  points) vying for top honors. Also in the podium hunt are Pizote and Melilani.

Please note your finish time (preferred) or the names of the boats ahead and behind you so you can report them to the race committee at the club after the race.  The bar will be open and the fire will be roaring.  Or you can text or email them to 650-346-4864 or trailmaven@me.com as soon after the finish as possible.

If you track your race with a smart phone or a GPS device, please send it to trailmaven@me.com.  The race committee will add all tracks to Tack Tracker so you can see the race play out on-screen.  Exciting tactical moves will be there for all to see.  The more who participate, the more fun.

Kathy Conte, Redwood Cup Captain

Sequoia Reads is proud to announce our next book, Vodka Diplomacy, written by our very own club treasurer, Phaedra Fisher.

Phaedra will lead a discussion about her book on Wednesday, January 29. 2014, at 7 PM in the Sequoia Yacht Club Lounge.

About the Book (From the Back Cover):

Every generation of university graduates believes they are going to change the world. My classmates and I took things one step further and really tried.

The Soviet Union had collapsed in late 1991. The future was not yet written. There were no correct answers. Anything could happen.

On this raw new frontier, anyone in academia or politics or business who tried to posture as an “expert” was really just guessing as best as they could. My classmates and I who studied Russian language and economics found ourselves graduating at the precise moment in history when these skills were highly valued. I leaped into the thick of the post-Soviet era, delirious with naïve optimism, a thirst for adventure, and a mission to make a difference.

"Vodka Diplomacy" is my story of what happened next.

We hope to see you there!

Deb Blackmore & Ann McDonough

The Sequoia Yacht Club’s Junior Sailing spring classes for students aged 8 and above are scheduled to start on February 1st. Classes range from learn-to-sail beginner classes taught on classic El Toros to advanced classes taught on Laser dinghies. They are open to the general community as well as club members, at a fee of $150 per student for the series of ten classes. You can find additional information on the Junior Sailing web site.

Do not hesitate to let us know if you have any questions!

Fadi Maamari, Junior Sailing Director

To All You Sequoia Yacht Club 75th Anniversary Celebrating People –

Whenever mention is made of the Sequoia Yacht Club’s 75th Anniversary celebrations, eyes light up, smiles are brandished, ideas pop into place, and the race is on!  Everyone has an idea, an old photo, a yarn to spin, or an old ‘Sequoia Yacht Club’ song to share!  Already a plethora of historical photos of our Club have been dug up, along with written ‘oral histories’ from past members, and we have just begun! There is a synergistic energy out there that begs to be harnessed.
 
I invite you, young and old members alike, to join me in putting our heads together to plan to make this year one to remember.  All ideas are welcome; no energies will be stifled!  We have parties to arrange, parades to organize, songs to sing, because, and you may hear this many times during this year, ‘We are Sequoia Yacht Club; and that is what we do!’

Email me at carole.bumpus@yahoo.com with any and all ideas, along with letting me know your willingness to join our band wagon!  A meeting will be set in the near future.

Carole Bumpus – Chair of the Sequoia Yacht Club 75th Anniversary.

At the January general meeting Friday night we had a good start for 2014 membership.

First Readings for:

Bruce Prickett & Norene Sun from Fremont have a Lido 14 kept in the Fremont boat yard.  They are active in our Junior Sailing Program where their sons are enrolled.  Nominated by Fadi Maamari and Peter McCormick.

Tom & Nancy McHugh from Redwood City have a Beneteau 32, Mauru's Myst at Westpoint Harbor.  They are looking forward to joining us on our cruise outs.  Nominated by Byron Jacobs and Winston Bumpus.

Their applications are posted on the bulletin board in the galley hallway for your review.

Second reading for:

Arjun & Arti Verma from San Jose were approved by the membership.  Nominated by Brett Herr and Jon McCarty.  Welcome aboard!

We were pleased to have Karen Berg and Hallie Heckler join us for dinner after not seeing them for several months.  Hallie joined the club 28 years ago this month.

Jerry Jones, Membership Chairman

Overall the Club had a great year financially in 2013 and we are looking forward to more of the same in 2014.

FY2013 Wrap Up

The end of 2013 report is still preliminary, but we do not expect the final figures to be significantly different from what I shared at the 10 Jan General Meeting.  Highlights of the year end report include:

Bottom Line Net Income came in around $15,500 (including all income/expenses for Junior Sailing Program plus extraordinary expenses for the Roof Project).  This is quite healthy because it means that even though we took $10,200 out of the Facilities Reserve for the Roof Project we ended up totally covering these expenses in cash – we will be able to redeposit the original $10,200 plus make an additional healthy contribution over the $4800 we had originally budgeted. How did we have such an amazing year?

1. We retained existing members – and brought in new members!  We had over 25 net new members for 2013.

2. We enjoy socializing with other members at the bar!  Our Bar net income was a whopping 48% above budget.  Raise a toast to our bar managers – Nick Weber and Ron Howard!

3. We had an AMAZING Beer Can Season – Key statistic – 1,998 Beer Can dinners sold during the season.  The prior record year was 2009, which was 1,479 dinners.  If this is a basic indicator of participation we hit about 35% above our prior record year!

4. Plus we have great participation from Club members to volunteer for all kinds of projects with the club.  This keeps our expenses low and our participation and engagement high!

2014 Budget Summary as approved by the Board

Bottom Line Net Income – AFTER a planned $6,000 facilities reserve contribution, capital projects and the junior sailing program, we still expect to come out about $5,700 positive for the year.

Following on from the success of 2013, the basic plan is very similar:

1. Retain existing members – bring in new members:  Plan is for net gain of 23 Net New members.

2. Keep socializing with everyone at the bar! – Just socialize as much as last year and we will meet our numbers easily – socialize more and we will exceed!

3. Keep house capital and maintenance expenses low – We have a minimal budget for 2014 for essential work on the deck and lighting – serious facilities expenses are being deferred until we have firmed up the future of the club.

4. NEW FOR 2014 – A few changes over prior years:

• Small boat maintenance will be covered by the Junior Sailing Program (previously the maintenance expenses were shared on an informal basis).
   
• New expenses anticipated for Audit and Tax support – In 2013 we crossed the magic $200K income line.  This means that we now must complete the Full Version Tax Forms (rather than the EZ tax forms).  I assure you the EZ tax forms for NonProfit are NOT Easy.  And we will definitely need assistance for filing!

*** REQUEST:  If anyone has ideas of people who can help us at “friends and family” rates for Audit and Tax service – please contact me!

In summary – Keep doing what you are doing!  Retain current members, engage new members, socialize and participate in keeping our club going in a positive direction!

Phaedra Fisher, Treasurer

(Submitted by Commodore Bumpus for Ralph Lewis)

Things got pretty busy toward the end of my preparations to shove off and I didn't get a chance to come to a DID and say good-bye (for now) to my SYC friends. I was preparing Laelia for what I hope will be a circumnavigation.

It all finally came together Dec. 31st when I sailed from Richardson Bay to begin the first leg to San Diego. I headed offshore to get better wind and to stay clear of the worst of shipping. Winds were good for the first three days until I rounded San Marcos Island and turned toward San Diego.

After that, the winds were light and variable. It took the next five days to make it in to San Diego. Upon arrival, I spent a very pleasant evening as a guest at Southwestern Yacht Club. The next day I moved on to Harbor Island West Marina were I expect to stay for a couple of weeks.

This was the shakedown leg and I'm happy to say that there were no big problems. I have a problem with the wiring in the solar panel installation and I figured out a few things I need to do to make sail handling easier.

Other than that, the only significant item of business is to install the SSB transceiver a friend donated to the voyage effort.

I will be in San Diego for two weeks to a month depending on how long it takes to get everything tuned up and how the boat impounding situation works out in Mexico.

For those who are interested, I am keeping a blog and tracking map.

I am maintaining connection with SYC as an Adrift member and hope to return with stories to tell at the end of the trip.

Ralph Lewis, S/V Laelia

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

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---