Happy New Year, everyone! Lisa, Arriana and I hope you all had a wonderful and safe holiday
season. We also hope you got everything on your Christmas wish list. Mine was pretty simple, but at the top of the list (along with such annual staples as world peace and new boat equipment) I wished for 2023 to be the best, most enjoyable year all of us will experience on our boats in quite a while.
To that end you’ll find club cruises this year are a bit more than “just the usual."
We still have the perennial favorites, such as Fourth of July in Reid Harbor, Bell Harbor in December, and the late Summer Pleasant Harbor cruise. But, thanks to the 27 members that participated in the Cruise Planning Meeting last October, we also have a few new ideas. In the latter part of May, the Gorskis will lead a “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” cruise to Bell Harbor to take in a Seattle Mariners game (will we see another playoff bound team?)
The end of May also kicks off the most ambitious new cruise of the year: “Sunshine Coast and Beyond”. Led by the Asburys and Williamses, this wonderful 6-week adventure heads up the BC mainland to Desolation Sound, north to the Broughtons, and back down into the Gulf Islands eventually ending up in Sidney for Canada Day on July 1st. From there it’s an easy jump over to the San Juan Islands and our club’s annual Fourth of July celebration on Stuart Island…
Where two other cruises are designed to end up for Independence Day! Those busy Gorskis will Captain a Canada Day/Gulf Islands cruise starting in late June, while the traditional Fourth of July cruise itself begins on July 1. Members will be converging on Reid Harbor from the two cruises in Canada and from the Port Townsend area.
Also new this year, are a week-long Whidbey Island cruise captained by Lisa and me in the first week of August, and an intriguing South Sound cruise led by the Madingers in September. With eight cruises planned from May through December, you know there’s going to be a lot of fun on the water. Be sure to check out and sign up for the 2023 Cruises on our awesome new website.
View Cruise Details Here
But wait, there’s more! There are a couple of new events this year as well. In February we have a Wine and Chocolate Scholarship Fundraiser night. I don’t know about you, but the organizers had me at “wine and chocolate tasting”. Knowing the proceeds will benefit our PTYC Marine Trades and Professions Scholarship Fund makes it all the tastier.
And in a new wrinkle on an old favorite, instead of the annual Chili Cook-Off returning this year in April, we will have a Safety Day and Spring Chowder Party. Of course, the Annual Garage Sale takes place in the clubhouse once again in October (can we possibly top 2022??), and the now appropriately named Carl Sidle Memorial Crab Feed, back after a COVID hiatus, will again satisfy member’s crustacean cravings in November. Don’t forget all the other great traditional events we hold, such as the Change of Watch Dinner, Open Boat, Opening Day, and the Christmas Dinner Party. And just like cruises, you can sign up for all club events on that great new website of ours.
While we all look forward to a promising 2023, I would like to thank our 2022 board and officers for such a stellar year. Thank you one and all! Especially Past Commodore Jim Gorski and former club secretary Susie Gorski, the dynamic duo who expertly transitioned us out of the “pandemic years”. Those four shoes are going to be hard to fill!