Port Ludlow Yacht Club

January, 2013 JIB SHEET

Commodore’s Column

by Brett Oemichen

As we prepare for 2013, my very best wishes to you for a Happy New Year as we celebrate

our 40 years together as a yacht club!

It was good to see so many of our members at our Change of Watch in early December. We truly had an “Evening to Remember” thanks to those who participated in this most celebrated tradition for our club. And a special thanks to the 45 members of our club who

contributed to organizing and conducting our Change of Watch.

Congratulations to our 2012 award winners: Steve and June Antoine, recipients of the Meritorious Achievement Award; Peggy Kulm, who was honored with the Distinguished Service award; and Harv and Jen Portz who, once again, earned recognition with the

Longest Cruise Award.

Thanks to Port Ludlow Marina Manager Kori Ward for sponsoring the Lighted Boat Contest. The contest winners were announced at the Wreck Room on December 21 and the crowd all sang a mariner’s rendition of “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” Congratulations to Don and Anne Whipple for the winning decoration of Dolphin Spirit. Our club also presented Kori and her marina staff a plaque recognizing their years of ded-

icated service to our club members.

Thanks to each of you for being members of our club. We value you as members and hope that you find value in belonging to our club. PLYC’s diverse array of social events, sailing and cruising activities, educational programs, Women’s Group functions, and new member Open Houses make for a lively and ac-tive life in our club. There is something for everyone. Of course, none of this would be possible without a willing cadre of volunteers. Thanks to all of our members who donate their time and talents to plan and

conduct the variety of events that we all enjoy! We also invite our new members to join in the fun.

Speaking of new members, we welcome John and Patty Willis, Bill Dias, Steve Gross and Fran Bodman, and

Coming Events

Board of Directors Meeting– January 2, WR 2:30PM

Every Wednesday in January – Enjoy Pot Luck meals in the WR with fellow members. 5-8PM

Every Friday January—Chef’s choice appetizer at a bargain price. WR 5-PM

January 25– Marine Exchange begins again

Born in January? Come celebrate your birthday in the WR on January 30. In addition to the Pot Luck,

there will be cake a free drink ticket for all those born in January.

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a a new dream.”

C.S. Lewis

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Ramsay and Anne Burrell-Smith. They were officially welcomed December 7 at the Wreck Room. Thanks to Mike and Kathy Larkin, Diane Purdy, Brad Newell, Ned and BJ Luce, Elizabeth Van Zonneveld, and Steve Hall and Kathy Kubesh for sponsoring the applications of our new members. As of this writing, we have two

second readings and two first readings on the agenda for the January board meeting.

Please check out the calendar of events for January at the Wreck Room. You will immediately notice a few changes in the schedule as Peggy Kulm and our event coordinators respond to suggestions from our mem-bers. There is a great variety of food and fellowship to enjoy, and I hope to see you at the Wednesday and

Friday functions that are planned for the first quarter of the year.

Finally, please make note of some important activities in the first quarter of the New Year. Rear Commo-dore Steve Hall and Kathy Kubesh will begin planning our Training Day which will be held Saturday, April 27 at the Beach Club. Peter Joseph and Kevin Ryan will host the next Marine Exchange on Friday, January 25. Destinations for our 2013 cruises, led by our Fleet Captain Olav Pedersen, will be planned at the Tuesday, February 19 Cruise Directors meeting. I also want to recognize John Neesz for leading the effort to plan events in which our sailors would like to participate in the coming year. Also, please use our Web site to stay in touch with our club’s activities. Liz Healy and Harlen Whitling have been busy working on numerous updates to keep our members and others informed about our club. And on Saturday, March 9, please mark

your calendar for the Officers Open House to be held at the Beach Club.

In closing, it is an honor for this flatlander from the Midwest to serve as your commodore this year. We have both new and familiar faces on our 2013 board and I am really looking forward to working with them

as we journey through this New Year for our club.

Please join me in making 2013 a fun and exciting year for PLYC. We value your input and ask for your help celebrating 40 years together as a club. As we sail into the New Year, we can find inspiration in these

words from C.S Lewis: “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”

Wreck Room Highlights by Peggy Kulm, WR Scheduling & Events Coordinator

December was a great month at the WR. The White Elephant Party was a huge success. As we celebrated the holidays, boat lights twinkled on the dock and Anne and Don Whip-ple's beautiful decorations aboard Dolphin Spirit won the Lighted Boats award. It was presented at the WR by Kori Ward, our marina manager, who contributed wonderful ap-petizers to the event and a great rendition of the Twelve Days of Christmas. By the time you read this, 2013 will have been ushered in with the first New Year's Eve Party at the

Wreck due to the efforts of Deanne Pederson, Teresa Forrest, and Kathy Kubesh.

Thanks to suggestions from our membership, we are trying some new and different expe-riences at the WR for 2013. For the first quarter, the WR will be open on Wednesdays and

Fridays of each week from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. instead of the usual Fridays and Saturdays. Every Wednesday will be a potluck with members bringing whatever dish appeals to them. The last Wednesday will include a Birthday Celebration, with a special treat, for every member born that month. Appetizers will continue on

Fridays and the Marine Exchange resumes again in January on the last Friday of the month through April.

March will be coming in like a lion with the Officers Open House, the annual St. Patrick's Day party coordi-nated by Sharon Lynch, and a get together with the Navy Yacht Club Everett. A Bourbon and Scotch Taste

is in the works in the early Spring as is our perennial Spring Cleaning and Training Day.

During January, we will be putting together a small task force to plan our WR activities for April onward. We need creative ideas and volunteers to help with the planning and implementation phases. I would ap-preciate hearing from you with your interests. All ideas are welcome and your participation is important to

the continued success of the WR.

I know that many of you plan to visit warmer, sunnier climates during the winter months. However for those who plan to be in Port Ludlow, your help at the WR would be appreciated. As always, I encourage

you to sign up for a shift. It is great fun.

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Rear Commodore’s Column by Steve Hall

The year 2012 ended with a flurry of activity that started with the Change of Watch din-ner dance followed by the holiday cruise to Bell Harbor. The Christmas White Elephant Party, lighted boat celebration at the wreck room, and the New Year’s Eve party rounded out a busy December. My sincere thanks to our fellow club members who worked many

long hours so that our club could enjoy this special time of the year.

My wife, Kathy, and I are relatively new members of PLYC, so this first column of mine will include a brief bio and thoughts on why, after less than a full year of membership, I

am grateful to accept this position in the club.

Although born in Ontario, Canada, I was raised in Southern California where we still have a home. I retired almost two years ago as chief information officer after 31 years in local government. In January 2012, Kathy also retired from the county after 25 years service ranging from accounting to systems

to budget/finance. We married in 2001 and have six grown children between the two of us.

After many years of sailing in San Diego, we purchased our first powerboat, Lucky Two, when we moved to Port Ludlow. We joined PLYC and, while growing more excited about the cruising season, realized we lacked any experience cruising in the Northwest or in safely operating a powerboat. The members of PLYC were very patient with our inexperience and were always there to grab a line, offer advice, and the all im-portant ‘buddy boat’ to ensure our safe arrival. On shore, we received the same friendship, advice, and camaraderie at remote cruising ports and in the comfort of the Wreck Room. Accepting the position of rear commodore will offer me the opportunity to give something back to the club that helped us have a very

exciting, enjoyable first summer of our retirement.

As rear commodore, one of my responsibilities is coordinating Training Day. There will be more to follow about this informative and educational program in future Jib Sheets. For now, please save the date on your

calendar as this annual activity held on Saturday, April 27.

Finally, I want to welcome the new members who have joined us recently, and many thanks to the sponsors who shared the benefits of PLYC membership with their friends. New members add greatly to the vast tal-ent and experience of our club membership as well as bringing many fresh and exciting new ideas for our

consideration.

Change Of Watch 2012

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Change of Watch 2012

Photos thanks to K. Kubesh

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Fleet Captain’s Column by Olav Pedersen

Hello fellow mariners! For those of you I have not had the opportunity to meet yet, let me introduce myself. I was born and raised in New Orleans. Deanne and I moved here from Texas where we were members of the Waterford Yacht Club. We have two daughters, Anne and Karin. Anne is working in Seattle and Karin is living outside of Paris, France. I graduated from Louisiana Tech University and have worked almost 30 years in the oil field industry in Norway, Scotland and Texas. I am currently semi-retired and continue consult-ing as a contracts specialist. I have sailed since I was 10 on an Islander 29, Cal 28, Colum-bia 36, Catalina 34 and currently own a Catalina 400MkII, the Midnight Sun and am also

one of two technical editors for the Catalina owners magazine Mainsheet.

I’d like to begin by thanking Jim Tulley for all of his assistance in bringing me up to speed with the duties

of the fleet captain, and also Commodore Brett Oemichen and Harlen Whitling for their help.

We DID have an outstanding 2012 cruising season! What a great place to live! What a great yacht club! My wife, Deanne, and I enjoyed our first year of cruising in the northwest and, all things considered, the con-ditions could not have been better. Coming from the south, our experience with tides, currents, rocks, narrow passages, active marine traffic and the like was practically non-existent. We trucked our Midnight Sun, a 40 foot Catalina sloop, to Port Townsend in September 2011 and our first trip was to Port Ludlow. Having poured over charts, tide and current tables, updated my Garmin and Standard Horizon chart plot-ters to cover the entire west coast of the US and Canada, as well as talking with as many locals as I could to get the skinny on my new surroundings, I felt we were fairly prepared for whatever could be thrown at us weather-wise. What can I say? The Midnight Sun was lowered into the water, the blue skies opened up and the wind dropped to zero. We motored to Port Ludlow. As uneventful as that may seem, it was a satis-fying first step at getting acquainted with our new surroundings and building up our confidence. We thanked the wind gods for being so kind to us on that first day. The 2012 sailing season continued on that

theme. Now we look forward to more smooth sailing and pleasant adventures in 2013.

Thanks to Jim and others, the number of cruise directors we need for the 2013 season is almost complete and we look forward to filling the remaining openings shortly. For anyone that would like to sign on as a cruise director, please give me a call at 360-437-9998 or 713-907-3301 (cell). The open cruise director slots

are for the May, July Short, and October cruises.

And remember the date: Tuesday, February 19 at 5 p.m. for our Cruise Director’s Meeting at the Wreck

Room.

For those of you interested in reviewing where the PLYC has cruised over the years (since 2003), please go

to the PLYC Web site, click the Cruise Schedule page, and then click the link under Cruise History.

Judy Perrotta – 2013 PLYC Secretary

Judy was born in Sacramento and raised in Northern California. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Providence College of Nursing, in Oakland, CA. In the mid-nineties she ob-tained a Baccalaureate degree in Health Services Administration, from Saint Mary’s Col-lege, Moraga, CA. She spent 20 years in hospital based nursing in Critical Care, mostly ICU, but also CCU and the Burn Unit. Her next 21 years were focused on case management for insurance companies, HMOs and PPOs, first as a field case manager and the last ten years in management and program development. She retired from nursing in 2008, just prior to

moving to Port Ludlow.

Judy and her husband Cam have been boaters for almost 34 years. They cruised the Cali-fornia delta and Lake Berryessa in their 21 foot Sunrunner. In the late 1990s, they joined the Solano Yacht Club in Suisun, CA and bought their first “big boat,” a 34 foot Bayliner sport fisher, Red Pelican, in the year

2000. In 2006, they upgraded to their current boat, Judy C, a 40 foot Bayliner motor yacht.

Judy and Cam have three daughters, a son-in-law and three grandsons and other relatives living in Northern

California, whom they visit often. Judy looks forward to her stint as 2013 PLYC secretary.

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December’s Holiday Cruise to Seattle by Liz Healy, Cruise Director

December’s intrepid cruisers lucked out again this year by having a relatively fine day to head to Seattle –

no rain and calm seas – and an equally nice day to head home.

We had a smaller group this year with nine boats and 18 cruisers making our berths on C dock at Bell Har-bor Marina very cozy indeed! I want to thank Brett & Sue; Wally & Kay, Gale & Peggy; Bob & Jan; Harold & Sheila; Marilynne & Roger; Dick & Lani; and Jim & Mollie for helping us make this cruise such a fun, relax-

ing time.

On Monday, we held our traditional first-night cocktail parties on three host boats who welcomed the other cruisers who brought delicious appetizers. Harlen and I were on the beautiful Eos with Bob and Jan Quick

hosting and Brett and Sue Oemichen to round out our lively group.

Since the motto for this cruise was KISS (Keep It Simple, Sailor), we had nothing planned on Tuesday so we scattered all over Seattle enjoying ourselves. I know Dick and Lani Adams rode on the new Seattle ferris wheel just south of the marina, and loved it. Harlen and I took the monorail to Seattle Center to see the permanent Chihuly exhibit there. If you haven’t been by all means go! The exhibits indoors and outside in a gorgeous northwest garden are too stunning for words. The Center House at Seattle Center has tarted itself

up since my last visit so it, too, is worth a trip.

Tuesday evening, Harlen and I joined the Oemichens on Alley Cat for Gale and Peggy Kulm’s world-class

French onion soup (over the top delicious).

Wednesday, the group headed to Cutters Crabhouse restaurant at Pike Place Market for a super lunch. Cut-

ters has had a recent facelift making it more stunning than ever with views of Elliott Bay and beyond.

The rest of Wednesday was on our own the cruisers dining aboard or heading out to one of Seattle’s many terrific restaurants. It was a fun, relaxing time for all of us and about the best way I know to wind up our

PLYC cruising year.

If you haven’t been on the December cruise, which always goes to Bell Harbor in downtown Seattle, consid-

er it for this year!

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White Elephant Party at the Wreck Room

Thanks to Santa and his lovely elf, plus cheerful bar tenders and “creative” gifts, the party was great fun.

Some gift recipients seemed bewildered, others delighted, but all managed to enjoy the evening. If you missed it, plan to at-tend next year. Some of the really special treasures looked fa-

miliar and re-gifting has become a fond tradition.

The Lighted Boat Boat Celebration

Don and Anne Whipple won first prize for their boat display and all those attending enjoyed wonderful decorations in the wreck room plus great food and Teresa Forrest’s special punch. Kori and her elves led a

mostly willing group in singing an unusual and original version of the Twelve Days of Christmas.

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JIB SHEET P.O. Box 65338

Port Ludlow, WA 98365

Port Ludlow Yacht Club

The Jib Sheet is published month-ly by volunteers from the Port Ludlow Yacht Club. The opinions expressed in the Jib Sheet repre-sent the views of the contributors and are not to be construed as the official position of the Port Ludlow Yacht Club, the members, offic-

ers, or the Editor.

Please email articles, photos and classified ads by the 23rd of the month to Editor Jamie Bima at

JIBSHEET2011@aol.com.

Email address corrections to Vic Draper, Secretary at

foglifter@cablespeed.com

Board Meeting Highlights for December 5, 2012

2012 CALL TO ORDER: Second readings for William Dias sponsored by the Larkins and Newells; John and Patricia Willis sponsored by the Larkins and Purdys; Steve Gross and Fran Bodman sponsored by the Luces and Elizabeth van Zonneveld; and Ramsay Smith and Anne Burrell-Smith sponsored by Steve Hall

and Brett Oemichen.

First readings for Bryan and Lorry Gilbreath sponsored by Larry Carter and Steve Hill; and George (Jake)

Jacobsen sponsored by Roy Kraft and Harvey Portz.

Treasurer BJ Luce reported club assets of $228,465.

Immediate Past Commodore Harold Brunstad stated that he, Commodore Brett Oemichen and Chris Hashagen will meet with PLA’s Diana Smeland to negotiate a new lease for the Wreck Room (essentially

same as current lease).

2013 CALL TO ORDER: Past Secretary Vic Draper requested board resolutions for setting 2013 dues and

new officer bank signature account authorizations. Resolution to set 2013 dues at $275 was MSP.

Commodore Oemichen distributed a draft 2013 activities calendar and asked for feedback regarding ac-curacy of dates, etc. The draft calendar has been vetted with Arts Council, CEA, etc. Input from the Women’s Group has been addressed. Deadline for submittal to secretary for 2013 Directory is mid-

January.

Change of Watch feedback was very positive with highlights being table service and entertainment.

Cruise planning for 2013 season will be proceeded with a survey to potential cruisers to ascertain wants and desires.WR Coordinator Peggy Kulm reported: Should the club be charging usage fees over and above current levels; particularly when bar is not in use; Will need a task force for 2013 WR planning; For the January-March time frame, looking at Wednesday Pot Lucks and Friday openings; For summer,

hours will be 5-8 PM. Requested $50 club bucks for the 12 WR monthly coordinators ($600 total).