South Whidbey Yacht Club

Search
Close this search box.
Commodore’s Message
The Holidays are on us – a time of celebration, for reminiscence about meaningful events in our lives over the past year and for looking forward to the promise of a new year.  As the new Commodore I look forward to growing into the role with the assistance of our current and past members of the board as well as the rest of our SWYC community.  Should you have any thoughts you wish to share, please do not hesitate to reach out to me or to one of the board members for a chat.

SWYC Organizational News
How about that Commodores Ball?  It was fun!  Getting to know our newest members.  Singing along to the Shifty Sailors.  Even the embarrassment of a birthday cake for me – all made for a memorable evening.  Next year I truly hope we can all be together again, dressed to the 9’s, partying like it’s 1999.  Which to most of us means hoping for a little more agility to get out on the dance floor and shake it.

Congratulations to our award recipients. Katy Shaner was selected as this year’s Founder’s Award recipient – a much deserved recognition of the creativity and time she’s contributed in finding interesting speakers for our monthly member programs and as the leader for the Kayaking interest group.  The McArthur Award went to a team of volunteers who reconditioned a floating dock for use by the YSA sailing program.  Congratulations to team “Bismarck”.

Thanks again to all who stepped up to plan this year’s event.

As announced during the Commodores Ball the new Flag Officers are myself, Peter Grimlund – Commodore; Bruce Morris – Vice Commodore; Dan Mooney – Rear Commodore;  Patty Maxfield – Secretary; Barbara Grimlund – Treasurer.  At Large Members; John Gibson, Jake Levitt, Kathy Rodgers, Stark Scott and Katy Shaner. Commodore Emeritus, Jim Rogers will continue to provide his advice and counsel as an ex officio board member.  My appreciation to all these volunteers who have agreed to serve.

I wish to personally thank Martha Ford for her years of service working “undercover” as the “Bilgerat”.  With her transition off the board, we are in the process of redistributing her responsibilities to others.  Barb Grimlund will add “Bilgerat” to her title and assume some of Martha’s member communications functions and support for co-membership chairs Kathy Rodgers and Debra Richardson’s activities.  Sue Gibson will take responsibility for another critical piece of Martha’s previous role – managing the SWYachtClub.org web site content.

If you have content that you would like to share with our community, please reach out to Bilgerat to review.  Bilgerat@swyachtclub.org

Looking Forward – Meetings and Speakers
2021 was a learning year for all of us as we adjusted to life during a pandemic.  As a social club with shared interests focused around water activities, it has been challenging to find the means to deliver value to our members.  We believe the hybrid meeting formats have allowed us to pull together and deliver programs to each of you in a way that allows individuals to decide what level of interaction with other members they are most comfortable with.  We also realized that it will allow us to engage future speakers from outside of our region, greatly enhancing our ability to bring interesting topics to our monthly meetings.

We are beginning the process of pulling together our 2022 calendar of events.  There are eight (8) monthly meetings where we feature a presentation.  We need everyone’s help to keep these presentations coming.

  • If you have a topic that you would like to hear about, please send us your suggestion.
  • If you have a speaker who you think would be great, please send us your suggestion.

Suggestions can be emailed to Rear Commodore, Dan Mooney who’s in charge of programs.  rear.commodore.swyc@gmail.com

We anticipate being able to continue our in-person meetings at the Greenbank Progressive Club.  We encourage you to come in person to the meetings to renew old friendships and make new ones with our newer members.  However, if you are unable to make it or are uncomfortable attending larger gatherings, you can still participate by dialing in electronically via Zoom.

As a reminder, the annual Christmas Party will be held at the Greenbank Progressive Club on Wednesday, December 15.  The planning group still could use a few more volunteers to show up an hour early to help decorate the hall.  If you can help, please reach out to Katy Shaner.

Looking Forward – Interest Groups
The SWYC has five (5) identified interest groups.  Cruising, Kayaking, Racing, Sailing and Windward Women plus the YSA.  Over the next two months people who are interested in participating in one or more of these group’s activities will be getting together to develop a tentative schedule for the year.  This will allow everyone to plan ahead should they wish to participate in a specific activity.  This is a member led planning process so please step up and let us know which group(s) you would like to be involved with.  You can message Bilgerat@swyachtclub.org with your interests and she can connect you with others in that group.

Looking Forward – Membership
Next month you will be receiving a reminder that it is time to renew your SWYC membership.  Last year the board made a decision to temporarily reduce the annual member dues since all of our traditional programming was at risk of not happening.  We were pleased that the move to a hybrid meeting format allowed us to continue to deliver interesting programming to our members – those who attended in person and those who choose to attend electronically.  The SWYC is evolving to meet its members’ needs and with that comes the responsibility to maintain its financial health.  Effective Jan 1, renewals will return to $100 per year for a family membership and $75 per year for a single membership.  The new member joining fee will remain at $100.  If you have questions, please reach out to one of us on the board.  We would be happy to discuss any questions you might have.

And with that, thank you for your trust in me as the new Commodore.  I know, I was the only choice on the ballot, but you could have written someone else in.  I hope to see more of you while cruising on our Boston Whaler 305 Conquest or enjoying a peaceful paddle with the kayaking folks.  While not currently a sailor, I am sure there will be those of my peers who will succeed in getting me out on a sailboat once or twice.

Wishing you all the Best during this Season of Holidays.

Excitedly Yours
Pete
Commodore, SWYC

HEAR YE, HEAR YE, COME ONE, COME ALL!

FESTIVE SWYC HOLIDAY PARTY

Wednesday, December 15, 6:30 – 8:30

Greenbank Progressive Club

(In-person only – No Zoom hybrid)

It is Holiday Time! *Celebrate each other. *Celebrate the times. *Celebrate with the South Whidbey Yacht Club!

This will be an in-person only get-together with Sips & Dips and potluck to share. Bring your own eating utensils. If you feel more comfortable eating only your own food, BYOE. And your name tags as well, if you have them.

The entertainment for the evening will be Barbara Dunn and Karen Calhoun. Some of you may be familiar with Barbara and Karen as they perform in various venues on Whidbey Island. Their performance style range is folk or improvised, can be light and upbeat and will include select holiday themed songs with vocals. The instruments they use is a combination of guitar, hand pan (a delightful sounding percussive instrument), bass, flutes, and vocal.

Each year, the SWYC chooses a local charity to support with contributions from its membership. The name of the charity will be announced. For those who are not able to be present, will have access to the charity’s contact information on the SWYC website.

Please RSVP directly to Katy.  It helps.

HEAR YE, HEAR YE. LET US CELEBRATE ONE AND ALL.

*** To celebrate is to acknowledge a significant or happy day or event with a social gathering or enjoyable activity. To celebrate during the challenges of Covid is to celebrate with wisdom and respect for others and yourself. All who attend need to be fully vaccinated. *** 

Kayaking News

KAYAKING – PLANNING FOR THE 2022 SEASON 

Kayakers, it is almost a new year and that means thinking about paddling the seas of Whidbey Island and beyond with the SWYC!

If you’re interested in kayaking with SWYC in 2022, let’s get together, share some snacks, share your thoughts and start the planning process for our 2022 kayaking outings.   You’re  invited to get together in person or by Zoom at:

Barb Grimlund’s home
2350 Discovery Pl
Langley

Saturday, January 8, 2022
2:00 – 4:00 

(It’s a Saturday afternoon so that we can hopefully include those of you who are unavailable during the weekdays. Please come!)

Please RSVP to Katy  If you wish to participate but by Zoom, let Katy know so a Zoom link can be sent to you.

The Windward Women gather bi-monthly, the first Tuesday of the month.  Email Bilgerat@swyachtclub.org to get on the mailing list!  The next gathering will be on Tuesday, January 4 at 4:00.  More information to come the week before, which is the holiday week , so keep an eye out for the notice. 👀

*** If you know of any club member who is not receiving these newsletters or other club communications, please email bilgerat@swyachtclub.org. *** We’ll help them get connected.

Looking for gift ideas?  How about some SWYC swag under the tree this year?  Land’s End Store