Commodore's Message
We have some exciting news to pass on for the approaching boating season. After ongoing discussions with the Port of South Whidbey, the Board has approved a proposal by the Port to lease a 36’ moorage slip at the Langley marina. The lease will allow for use by Club members as well as members of Clubs with whom we have reciprocal agreements. The Port will still be able to rent the slip for short term moorage when it is not booked by Club or reciprocal members which will help offset the cost to the club. Our annual moorage rate will actually be less than it was for the Brandt’s Landing slip for a much more desirable spot located right in our own back yard. It should get lots more use than the Brandt’s landing moorage. Our expectation is that the Club’s cruisers and users of the slip will contribute towards the cost to help reduce the financial burden to the Club. We are also optimistic that access to such desirable moorage at the Langley Marina along with reciprocal agreements with other Clubs will attract new members. I would like to pass on my appreciation for the tenacious work done by Phil Simon, Pete Grimlund and Bruce Morris to help make this happen. We still need to finalize the agreement with the Port but I am optimistic that it won’t be long before we see a SWYC burgee flying at the Langley Marina. The Home Port of the South Whidbey Yacht Club!
In my last Commodore’s Message, I mentioned that we plan to hold this year’s Crab Fest at Freeland Hall and are considering the Hall for additional events possibly including our monthly Club meetings in the future. Toward that end Freeland Hall has offered to host our May meeting there as a sort of “trial run”. Although there are a number of features that would make Freeland Hall an ideal venue for our events and meetings, we want to make sure parking won’t be an issue. So we appreciate the opportunity to try it out before making any further commitments. Please join us for the May meeting and let us know what you think. In the meantime, the Freeland Hall Activity Association has also graciously invited SWYC members to attend their First Thursday Dinner Club potluck in April. It will be held on April 3rd at 6 PM at Freeland Hall.
On a final note, I am pleased to announce that Judy Canfield has offered to takeover the Membership Committee leadership role from Mark Conover. After doing an outstanding job of covering both Membership and Communications for the past few years, Mark asked if we could spread the work load a bit and allow him to just focus on Communications. I have very much appreciated Mark’s willingness to take on both of those tasks and the great job he has done on Membership at a time when our membership roles were increasing significantly. Please join me in thanking both Mark and Judy.
Kayaking by Co-Fleet Captains Nina Fitts and Diane Lagerstedt
The kayaking group enjoyed a soup and salad dinner together at the home of Pete and Barb Grimlund before diving into a basic introduction to various marine apps for winds, tides, currents and route planning. Members also got some hands-on instruction using the VHF marine radios we take on our paddles. Al Fitts demonstrated how to set up the radios for our use and we ran through various scripted radio calls with half the group in the living room and half the group in the dining room. It was a fun time with many members getting familiar with the radios for the first time and others getting additional training making calls. As it is often said, there is no such thing as too much practice when it comes to preparing for your own personal safety and that of others while on the water.
Upcoming Kayak Events
March 23, 2025, 3:30-6pm at the John Vanderzicht Memorial Pool, Oak Harbor.
Training session in the Oak Harbor swimming pool on self-rescue and assisted rescue of another kayak. Organized by Jack and Ann Horton and Diane Lagerstedt.
March 26, 2025, 6pm at Freeland Hall
Crab Fest committee meeting. This will be our first committee meeting with those in our kayaking group who have signed up as volunteers and expressed interest in helping with the Crab Fest. We welcome anyone in SWYC to come to this initial crab fest committee meeting if they are interested in helping to organize this fantastic event. A great way for all SWYC interest groups to interact together. Contact Nina Fitts or Diane Lagerstedt to be added to this committee.
April 6, 2025, 9:30am-4pm, Cornet Bay to Skagit Island paddle for lunch and a hike to see the wildflowers. Organized by Joel Shrut and Mary Knighton. This is for SK3 level paddlers.
Details and RSVP for the Oak Harbor Training session and the Skagit Island paddle can be found on the Group Me invitations located in the Group Me Calendar for the SWYC Kayak Group.
Plus, Fort Flagler camping and paddling trip in June, Sinclair Island camping paddle in July, Possession Point kelp beds paddle in August and West Beach Orcas Island trip in September. Information on these paddles can be found on the SWYC website in addition to Group Me.
Windward Women by Fleet Captain Katy Shaner
“March came in like a lion…” For sure this year! And along with that, the activities of the Windward Women are going full speed ahead!
The weekend of March 8th and 9th, some of us Windwards traveled to Port Townsend for the “She Tells, Sea Tales” event put on by Northwest Maritime. “A sea story event told by women mariners in support of Northwest Maritime and their female-centered maritime education programs.”
Amazing stories the female mariners shared with us. Some were so challenging that they said they were fortunate to have survived!
Three Windwards and their ‘first mates’ spent Saturday evening in Port Townsend and heard tales of the sea. Seven of us, five Windwards and two friends of Katy’s, went to Sunday’s event – an almost not event for them. The winds were blowing, the waves were crashing and the Coupeville/Port Townsend ferry was canceled until further notice. Well, shukydarn. What to do? “Let’s have breakfast at Callen’s”, Which is across from the Coupeville ferry landing. Just in case the ferry starts up. And that is exactly what happened. We caught the 11:45 ferry and had a great day!
Other events/ activities are being planned. See the hikes already scheduled below after the photos of “She Tells, Sea Tales”.
Windward Women Scheduled Hikes
April 11, 10:00
Meet at Whidbey Camano Land Trust for a presentation of WCLT and “Hiking Close to Home” by Maribeth Crandell. Hike to follow at Keystone Farm and Forest Preserve. Lunch at Old Spots Bistro, Greenbank.
Wednesday, May 7
Wilbert Trail South Whidbey State Park
Led by Leslie Flohr. Picnic afterwards at SW State Park Amphitheater.
Tuesday, May 20, 11:00
Whidbey Institute led by Stacy Taylor. Picnic in covered shelter
Wednesday, June 4, 11:00
Sharpe Park on Fidalgo led by Julie Demaree. Lunch in Anacortes.
Tuesday, June 10 10:30
Pacific Rim Institute led by Jann Ledbetter with guest guide from the Paific Rim Institute. Lunch afterwards at Goldie’s and the Roost in Coupeville.
All women of the SWYC are invited to participate in Windward Women activities. Contact Fleet Captain Katy Shaner.
Sailing / Racing
Pelican Fleet
Ahoy Pelicaneers. The time has come to think about summer sailing. First though, there are Pelican Viking Fleet 3 Winter/Spring events you may want to attend.
Pelican Viking Fleet 3 Winter 2025 Race Schedule
| Date | Location | Potluck Host |
| 3/1/2025 | Atlantic City/Rainer Beach | Kevin & Hannah Haag |
| 3/15/2025 | Lone Lake | Marijke Robbins |
| 3/29/2025 | Lake Ballinger | Clyde & Dori Jenkins |
| 4/12/2025 | Big Lake | Max Jackson |
| 4/26/2025 | Mukilteo to Possession Sound Reserve cruise | No Host Leave beach by 10 AM. (SWYC contingent will launch at Glendale and join the cruisers.) |
| 5/10/2025 | Big Lake | Steve Ruhl & Terry Gosse |
Skipper’s Meeting 12 PM Races start at 1 PM. Be there early to rig and help set marks (and socialize). Life Jackets must be worn during club events, including racing. Races will be run with the “rabbit starts” come early for a review Potlucks – Bring your own plates, silverware, drinks and an hors d’oeuvres, salad or desert to share. Hosts provide a main dish – soup is always a good option.
A SWYC Summer Series TENTATIVE schedule is listed below. Please provide comments and suggestions to Bill Brown which will be considered prior to finalizing the schedule. Also, provide Bill with a generic statement your probability of participating in the summer series. If there are insufficient interested racers, the series may be cancelled.
| 5/14/2025 | Practice races | Lone Lake |
| 5/28/2025 | Summer Series 1 | Lone Lake |
| 6/11/2025 | Summer Series 2 | Lone Lake |
| 6/25/2025 | Summer Series 3 | Lone Lake |
| 6/27/2025 – 6/28/2025 | Aquaplooza | Langley Harbor |
| 7/9/2025 | Summer Series 4 | Venue TBD |
| 7/14/2025 | 8/1/2025 | Break during youth sailing classes |
| 8/6/2025 | Summer Series 6 | Monroe Landing |
| 8/20/2025 | August Social | Ashore |
| 9/3/2025 | Summer Series 7 (Final Races) | Monroe Landing |
As to my intentions, I will probably not be racing this year, and Pelican 2660 (Kermit) is available free to a good home for someone handy at fixing leaks and wanting to join our racing fleet.
– Bill Brown
Laser Fleet
Many in the fleet have already got in tons of practice in 2025 (special shoutout Brad and Sean!). We are currently working on building the fleet, planning our 2025 clinic, and looking forward to the start of the race season!
– Zak Malbin
Cruising by Fleet Captains Jim and Kathy Rogers
2025 Shakedown Cruise
Friday, May 9 – Sunday, May 11
Destinations
May 9 Coronet Bay State Park
May 10 Port of Skagit Marina – La Conner
May 11 Port of Anacortes Marina (Cap Sante)
Leaders: Bruce Morris & Barbara Bergmann
Reach out to Bruce for all the details and to join the Shakedown Cruise.
La Conner Marina – We will be on North Basin G Dock – reservations are not required, but are highly recommended. Make reservations online at https://portofskagit.com/la-conner-marina/
Cap Sante Marina – We have a block of slips on C Dock. Please notify Bruce by 04/15/25, and provide Vessel Make, Boat name, LOA & beam. Slips not reserved by 04/16/25 will be released.
Youth Sailing Association
The Youth Sailing Association (YSA) has kept its light under a bushel basket unintentionally. Here’s a little glimmer from under the basket.
Things are cranking up for the coming teaching season. Dates have been set for adult lessons and kids lessons, see below. Rates have been increased, not to keep up with inflation, but to provide us with the capital to acquire some new, more modern boats for the kids to learn in. We hope to consider the RS Tera, the O’pen Bic Skiff, and possibly some others.
Some of the gang met at our boat barn on March 12 to assess what needs to be done to our fleet of boats, trailers, and motors. We have a couple of El Toros that need some serious repairs. However we did purchase a very nice El Toro that we can use to replace one of the sicker boats for lessons this year. We also weeded out some accumulated junk and organized the good stuff more neatly.
The YSA has had some very welcome help from John Porter, David Millar, and Pete Grimlund. John and David have been active with Laser racing and are bringing that expertise. Of course they are also bringing along skills honed over years of gainful employment, but we don’t have room here for their full resume’s. Pete has brought some great management insight, helping to keep the organization on track.
The YSA welcomes anyone who
— likes to teach kids
— likes to teach adults
— wants to work on small boats
— can sit in a lawn chair for a few hours and be available as a responsible adult if a child needs to come ashore during lessons.
Note that these interests can be separated with “or” not “and”. You will be welcome with whatever time and interest you can bring. Contact Clay Canfield, cmcanfld@gmail.com, for more info. Or just show up at one of our meetings. We get together at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday’s at a couple of different meeting places. Check the SWYC calendar for exact dates, times and places.
Registration for adult and childrens’ lessons are expected to open up sometime in early April. (That’s the best South Whidbey Parks and Recreation has committed to thus far.) Check the SWYC website for details under Sailing > Learn to Sail.
Adult Sailing Lessons
Introduction to sailing at Lone Lake. Two students and an experienced instructor sail in a San Francisco Pelican. We’ll have slots available for 8-10 students
May 31 and June 1
June 7 and 8
Introduction to Laser sailing at Lone Lake. Students must have taken our lessons in Pelicans or bring a suitable sailing resume’. We have room for 4-6 students. You will learn to rig, launch, sail, land and unrig a Laser dinghy. Wetsuit or drysuit required.
May 31 and June 1
June 7 and 8
Kids Sailing Lessons
Beginners sail in the 8 foot El Toro, one for each kid. We have slots for 10 students who must be 10 years old or older.
Intermediate sailors must be 12 years old or have permission from the head instructor. They sail in Lasers, now known as ILCA Dinghies. We have slots for 8 kids.
July 14 – 18
July 21 – 25
July 28 – August 1
Safety Matters #20: Crew Overboard by Clay Canfield
When was the last time you practiced recovering a crew overboard? This is mostly for sailboats, but the last couple portions for approaching the victim and coming alongside apply to power boats also.
Considering that many of us cruise with just two aboard, as in husband and wife, the crew overboard procedure is not only very important, but more likely than not, falls on the wife to perform. There are several methods for executing the maneuver. US Sailing’s Basic Keelboat course recommends either the Quick-stop method or the figure eight method. Personally, I prefer the Quick-stop method for a spouse, as it can be performed without trimming the sail until the last minute, is easier to learn, and simpler. I recommend that anyone who owns a sailboat practice their crew overboard (COB) procedure at least once every time they take the boat out. I recommend researching as many methods as you can and using the one that best suits your situation and capabilities. By practicing a “worst-case” scenario, meaning only one person would execute the maneuver, you’re pretty much assured that with more crew, it will be easier.
When I was skipper of the Everett Sea Scout Ship, I insisted we practice the maneuver at least once every time we took the boat out. I used what I called the “racetrack” method, which is basically the quick-stop method using a racetrack pattern. In this method, upon learning that someone is overboard, the helmsman, after tossing a life preserver, immediately tacks through the wind without touching the sails, thus backwinding the jib. Then, turning downwind on a heading parallel to that before the COB with sails now improperly trimmed, you sail downwind until you can make a turn to sail directly up to the victim on the original heading, as the sails should still be trimmed for that point of sail. We would approach the victim on a close reach allowing us to come up or fall off as needed. We typically did not trim the sails until we were approaching the victim. Approaching the victim can be tricky, as coming alongside you can wind up either drifting away from the victim or drifting into the victim. If conditions allow, it may be best to put the victim on the leeward side. Another potential issue is avoiding the propeller if the victim is brought into the boat from the stern. The husband of one of our club members was badly sliced up by a prop when being recovered from the stern of a power boat.
I’m not necessarily recommending the procedure we used, rather giving an example of a method that was easier for youth to understand and practice. Again, I recommend researching appropriate resources to determine the procedure you prefer. Recovering the victim is a whole article in itself, and I’ll go into that for another Safety Matters. Here is a link to an overboard situation that occurred in the recent Possession Point race.
Seattle Times Article: Sailors Rescued
Coming Events
General Meeting
Wednesday, March 19th
6:30 pm
Greenbank Progressive Hall
Whidbey Veterans Resource Center
Dana Sawyers, Retired Air Force Lt. Colonel
This year, the SWYC has selected the Whidbey Veterans Resource Center as our local non-profit organization to support throughout the year. Dana Sawyers, retired Air Force Lt. Colonel, will be giving a brief history of WVRC, a run down on the services WVRC offer and an estimate of how much our veterans with benefits return to Whidbey each year. Our own Clay Canfield is a board member at WVRC.
We have a number of SWYC members who are veterans that we would like to recognize and thank at our meeting. Veterans, please consider wearing an item that identifies you as a veteran such as a hat, jacket, insignia or similar.
To learn more about the WVRC and the support they provide, click here for their website: WVRC
Opening Day
Sunday, May 4
3:00 – 6:00 pm
Pole Barn at Langley Fairgrounds
Opening Day is coming soon. Make sure to mark your calendar.
Sailing Classes
Youth Sailing Classes
Registration Coming VERY Soon
As many of you know, the Youth Sailing Associations (YSA) sailing classes are very popular. South Whidbey Parks & Recreation Department tells informs that we can expect registration to open up the first week of April. All slots fill up very quickly. So if you have family members who want to participate, be sure to monitor the Parks & Rec web site frequently. Registration @ Parks & Recreation link.
Here’s a link to the YSA’s youth sailing page to provide details, including schedule.
Adult Sailing Classes
Our legendary Pelican Sailing classes are scheduled for the end of May and into June. This year we also will offer an Adult Intro to Laser Sailing.
Fort Flagler Camping and Kayaking – All Members Welcome!
Camping & Kayaking at Fort Flagler State Park on Marrowstone Island
Sunday, June 22 – Tuesday, June 24, 2025
Come join the SWYC kayakers for 2 nights and 3 days of kayaking and playing at Fort Flagler State Park. All SWYC members are invited, whether you are a kayaker or not. If you’re not a kayaker or if conditions aren’t great to be kayaking on the water, there is sailing, trails to hike, bike paths to ride, beaches to walk, and cideries, eateries, galleries and shopping to explore in nearby Chimicum and Port Townsend. If you are a boater, there is a boat launch and limited moorage. We’ll all share group dinners and camaraderie telling sea tales by the campfire. Something for everyone!
The Wagon Wheel group campsite has been reserved and has plenty of sites for our SWYC group, with a 25-vehicle limit. There’s a large covered picnic shelter, two BBQ’s, multiple fire rings, two vault toilets and potable water access. Campers and trailers are welcome, but there are no electric hook-ups. The group site is private and apart from the general campground. It’s ~3/4 mile from the boat launch, but we also have a single campsite site reserved near the boat launch where we can store our kayaks overnight, if preferred. We’ll split the cost of the campsites once we know how many are coming.
If you prefer a single campsite in the general campground, and then just joining the group for activities, be sure to make your campsite reservations now. The sites are reserving fast. Also, make your reservations for the Coupeville to Port Townsend ferry. The spring reservation schedule opens mid April. Mark your calendars.
Ready for some fun and adventure? Let Barb Grimlund know if you are interested in this trip to ensure you are on all future communications for this outing.
2025 Calendar of Events
Check out our Calendar for the dates of all of our Annual Events. And be sure to get them on YOUR calendar!
SWYC Logo’d Clothing & Merchandise
**** SALE ON SWYC LOGO’D CLOTHING AND MERCHANDISE ****
This offer runs through Friday, March 21st, so you have to act fast!
You can enjoy 25% off with a $75 minimum purchase, exclusions apply! Summarizing, the total of the merchandise itself must be $75 to qualify for the discount. The logo application fee does not apply towards the $75. There are a few items that are not included.
The best way to take advantage of this offer is to go to our SWYC Land’s End site. Then review and select the merchandise you want. Then instead of just ordering it, call 1-800-497-6566 to connect with a customer service rep. Identify yourself as a SWYC club member and mention the promotion code OUT4. They can ensure your item is covered under the promotion, help you with selecting and placing the logo, answer any questions on sizing and place the order for you. Remember, there are several logo’s to choose from.
Looking for snazzy SWYC clothes for the upcoming spring /summer boating season? Or maybe hats, canvas tote bags, aprons, towels or throws for the boat or home? Two different SWYC logos plus Windward Women logos to choose from. Make your customized selection and order on line.
Click here: Land’s End Store
Or, you can choose a local on-island option.
Washington Design Company in Ken’s Corner now has our burgee logo on file (Only the burgee. Not our other logos). SWYC members can stop in to Washington Design Co. and have the logo applied to their own personal item, or select a hat from their selection. Stop by next time you’re in Clinton to better understand this alternative to Land’s End.
Land’s End still offers the greater variety of merchandise, more logo configurations and the ease of shopping from your home, but it’s nice to have a local alternative as well.
Visors from Washington Design Company
These are examples of some of the products that Washington Design Company, in Ken's Corner, is able to create for you locally.
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