Bilge Pump: January 2012
1. Commodore's Report
WOW! Its already 2012!
December was a very busy month. For Judy and me it started with a “Shark” Christmas Party with our Grand XIV classmates on the second of December. December 3rd we were attending the Seattle Yacht Club’s Commodore's Ball. Very swanky! We had no time to sleep in the next morning as it was the day of the Special Peoples' Cruise. Bill Field and Chuck Gould led a platoon of volunteers to again successfully make the day as special as possible for all of our guests. We had more volunteer boats than any other yacht club. I want to thank all of you that donated your time, boats and effort. You have made a number of lives a little richer. It is one of the most gratifying activities that we participate in. Thank you all.
Thursday, December 8th, the Tarettes, led by President Renee Kimes, did an absolutely wonderful job of presenting the Captains’ Dinner. This year they surprised us with a dessert auction. It must have been a success because our table bought TWO desserts! I am sure I gained a pound or two but it was really worth it. Great job, Renee and crew.
The weekend came and there were two nights of Lighted Boat Parade. Randy Jamerson and assistant Chuck Gould did a great job. I believe we had over thirty boats both nights. Friday night the weather couldn't have been better. The moon was out and the sky was clear...just about perfect. Even though Saturday was a bit misty it was still a great cruise. I am sure that everyone appreciated the narration regarding the history of The Lighted Boat Parade. A big thank you to those turn boats that kept us on track. I heard that we had little problem on Jesster, but a rescue was made and all was well. Jess, I hope there was nothing serious.
The Children’s Holiday Party took place Saturday, December 10. After working on crafts and watching a magic show, the children were excited to see Santa arrive by boat. Thanks for all of the effort and a job well done to Chas and Sandy Werner.
Our annual looks great this year, thanks to the hard work of Kathy Fish. We have 60% of the member’s pictures in the annual this year. Our goal is to have everyone pictured in the annual. Any ideas on how we can accomplish that next year?
P/C George & Nancy Austin again presented "NEW YORK, NEW YORK" for our New Year’s Eve Party. The food was authentic New York deli fare and other “single plates of New York.” We again celebrated on New York time.
On the 20th of January our own “Chef Mike Cochran” will be cooking up an extraordinary presentation of gastronomical delights at the Friday night social to coincide with the “First of the Season” predicted log race. QCYC is the host club for this event. You don’t have to be a racer to enjoy this dinner.
It’s back again! January 28th is Martini Madness night. This is always a sellout. Attendance is limited to the first 125 pre-paid RSVP’s. Enjoy an evening of heavy appetizers and Premium Martinis.
Remember that there are always committees at work around the club, so please make a New Year's commitment to participate in YOUR yacht club.
Don Wilson
Commodore
2. Vice Commodore's Report
Greetings:
Happy New Year! The holidays are behind us now and it’s time to reset our clocks for the New Year ahead. But not before I mention how impressed I was at the way our clubhouse looked with all the decorations, fun activities and wonderful events that took place during the holiday season. When we look back on the month of December, it’s pretty astonishing to see the amount of activities and energy that QCYC members generate during the holidays. How about that Christmas party for the kids, big kids too, and then there was our December cruise for “Special People” and also the annual lighted boat parade which was another big hit with members. A big thank you to our Tarettes for another successful “Captains’ Dinner.” What a nice evening we had and the auction was very successful. Thank you, Willie, for the delicious food and tasty dessert you served that evening.
Our kudos and special thanks go to Nancy Austin and her team on their successful “New York, New York” New Year’s Eve dinner dance. Queen City members were treated to great evening of fun, food and dancing to welcome in and celebrate the New Year based on New York time.
DOCKS: During the next four months you will be seeing a lot of action going on at the Seattle main station docks. Chairman Art Mauldin could use more volunteers to help out, so if you have an hour or two, please consider calling him to volunteer or better yet just show up on the designated Saturday.
REMINDER: Please check your shore power connections at least monthly at both ends, the dockside service and boat connection. It’s a good plan to physically disconnect each, check the prongs for signs of overheating, and if they are OK, plug them back into the receptacle and refasten the A/C screw-on electric rings at both locations.
MOORAGE: It’s nice to note that so far this winter, we have been keeping our electrical consumption within the safe limits and haven’t had to deal with a Dock # 3 power outage. We appreciate all the fine effort and ask that we continue to conserve our A/C consumption.
- Recently we had to do some temporary re-shuffling of boats to reduce the A/C electrical load on dock #3. I want to express special appreciation to each captain for their cooperation. Also, I want to note that the re-shuffling is only temporary and eventually the “move boats” will be returned to their original assigned slip.
- Non-Compliant Boat Inspections: It’s been a challenge, but this month we are introducing the “Red Tag” (RT) option to our regular monthly boat inspections. The new (RT) feature is quite straightforward and simple to follow. When our monthly inspection reveals that one or more of the twelve listed infractions exist, a (RT) will be placed on the member’s boat. Remember...all twelve infractions are shown right on the face of the Red Tag.
- THE FOLLOW UP: It will be the responsibility of the ship’s captain to call the QCYC office to find out which infraction (s) the inspector identified on the tag. The tag infraction must be cleared within (30) days. When the infraction has been taken care of, the skipper will need to call the office and request its removal from the list. Our inspectors will be following up in the next month’s boat inspection to verify that the infraction has been satisfied. Finally, the Red Tag will be placed in one of three locations on the boat, (1) bow pulpit (2) stern pulpit (3) access door handle to the cabin.
ELECTRICAL PROJECT: The following is a brief summary on the status of the Dock Electrical Project:
- The improvements to the dock lighting power supply have been completed.
- A/C replacement fuse kit for power outage is now complete and ready for use.
- The electrical committee is making good progress in drafting restart procedures in the event of a power outage. This is a very important procedure to develop because if the power is off for any extended time, there could be an electrical surge that could take the A/C electrical system right back off line again unless the restarting of the A/C load is brought on line gradually
- QCYC’s request for service will be ready to submit to City Light for their review in two weeks. This is the first step in the process to upgrade the dock electrical system.
- The observed power consumption during the cold weather before Thanksgiving was within an acceptable range and no problems were observed except for low voltages. It looks like the conservation measures have paid off. However, there is nothing that can be done about low voltage until the new system is in place except by decreasing the demand load on the system. Less power consumption means less voltage drop, lower electric bills, and less likelihood of an outage.
HOUSE: P/C Jeff Ewell reports on clubhouse activity...
- The third deck ship’s clock has been ordered and shipped from back east and will probably be installed by the time you read this.
- While cleaning and pressure washing the clubhouse kitchen tile floor we experience some water overflow that leaked down into the women’s bathroom below. The leakage was a little messy to clean up but no serious damage occurred. We learned a good lesson and from now on we are going to have a special steam cleaning service come and do the job. It’s very important that we periodically pressure clean and re-seal the entire kitchen tile floor.
In closing, special thanks to an excellent turnout of volunteers to help out in December. Your generosity of time really contributed to the success of the Queen City HOLIDAY SEASON. Lois and I extend our best wishes for Happy and Prosperous New Year.
Regards,
Bob Stettner
Vice Commodore
3. Rear Commodore's Report
We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and we wish you a sunny, warm, delightful, prosperous New Year.
Grounds: We discovered the west parking lot back-flow preventer housing to be rotted and has been replaced with a new insulated box. All completed in time for the cold weather thanks to our work crew, Captains Jim Damery, Orrin Phillips, Gary Fisker and P/C Jeff Ewell. Stellar efforts sirs!
Security: No issues at this time.
Membership: We are really looking forward to featuring our great yacht club to potential members during the upcoming Seattle Boat Show, January 27-February 5, 2012. Please come join us! Captain Chris Benson will have a QCYC membership booth at the CenturyLink Exhibition Center; let’s invite interested boaters to consider the QCYC advantage. Sign up to volunteer!
Great dialogue and discussion continue regarding ways to increase our membership choices to attract and recruit as well as broaden and retain our club baseline. Will keep you posted on the outcome.
QCYC, you’re the best! On November 22 Laurean and I had a fire in our kitchen. We lost the kitchen, the ceiling in the family room, the sewing room and our clothes closet on the 2nd floor. Our clothes, furniture, rugs, and TVs have been taken for restoration. All food and most of our personal belongings have been damaged. The fix will take 3 months. We thank God no one was injured. We are so grateful to the many members who have shown us kindness.
Bob Myers
Rear Commodore
Bowl & Roll
Keep the date January 18th (non Captain meeting Wednesday) open for a book discussion of House of Sand and Fog, by Andre Dubus, III. The book is recommended by Renee Kimes and features the dilemma of an Iranian immigrant family and a woman in California who are both vying for the same house. It is a 1999 publication and should be easily attainable at the public library.
We will meet at the main clubhouse at 6:30 for a light soup meal, followed by discussion of the book. Several women have expressed interest in book clubs, so this is an opportunity to gather together and see if we want to make this an ongoing event. Both guys and gals are welcome.
It will be helpful to know how many plan to attend so we will have enough soup and rolls.
Please RSVP to Margaret Krows 425 488-3202
Boyer Children's Clinic
Boyer Children’s Clinic is a non-profit therapy and early childhood educational facility, under the medical direction of a developmental pediatrician, serving children from birth to teen years, that have neuromuscular disorders such as cerebral palsy or delay in development. Boyer also provides select services to children without developmental delay. Queen City Yacht Club has been a long time supporter of the local clinic as part of its efforts to support our neighbors in the local community.
I would like to thank everyone who attended the Tarettes’ Captains’ Christmas Dinner and donated toys to the Boyer Children’s Clinic. Over 125 toys, including stuffed animals, books, games, dolls and even a tricycle were delivered to the Clinic on Friday December 9th. In addition members donated gift cards totaling over $125.00. Commodore Don Wilson authorized a $500.00 donation to the clinic in the name of Queen City Yacht Club Members. Michael Stewart, Executive Director, and Jennifer Ross, Volunteer Coordinator, graciously accepted the donations on behalf of the clinic and expressed their appreciation to all the members of Queen City Yacht Club and wished us a Happy New Year. Thank you, everyone.
Shirley Rogers
Tarettes’ Captains’ Christmas Dinner Chairperson
Docks Committee Report
It’s still autumn. Stuff (leaves, mostly, is falling down. Maybe that’s why we also call this season “fall?”
While falling leaves may be delightful, falling docks would be disastrous. Look out at our marina and ask, “Why is that there?” It would be tempting to conclude our marina exists because about 50 years ago members sweated and sacrificed to build it. Tempting, but only partially correct. If we had not spent more time and far more dollars maintaining, replacing, and improving portions of that original marina it would be little more than a rotting memory today.
A previous generation of club members created the docks, and generations since have maintained them. Now it’s the turn of current members to do the same. Properly maintained docks are more enjoyable for our immediate use, as well as an irreplaceable gift to the QCYC of the future.
The Dock Inspection Process got a delayed start in October, and is always in progress for those who’ve truly involved themselves in their yacht club. Plan to turn out to lend a hand in addressing the findings of a myriad of inspectors. The docks belong to all members, and if we each do our share to maintain them, nobody will be individually overworked.
Other projects underway include the relocation of light fixtures to increase visibility on all docks. The Docks Committee shares several members in common with the exploratory committees examining the issues surrounding a possible rewiring of the marina.
How to get involved: The Docks Committee includes every member of the club. Meetings are the fourth Tuesday of each month, at 6 PM. Or let the vice commodore, Art Mauldin, or Ron Stevenson know of your interest. Just showing up works particularly well.
Regularly scheduled work parties are the second Saturday of each month. All skill levels from “step and fetch it” to journeyman tradespersons are welcome, and there is always something fun and interesting to do. We meet for a Dutch Treat Breakfast about 8:30 (lunch is on the club) and are usually done by mid afternoon. Dock parties are a wonderful way for new members to become involved with QCYC.
Turn out for Docks Committee opportunities. With sufficient participation, we can prevent our docks from collapsing without requiring the members to do so instead.
Chuck Gould
for the Docks Committee
Ferry Flyer
Flare Recall
Dec 8 2011 in Currents by Deborah Bach
Orion Safety Products has issued a recall for two models of its hand-launched aerial signals, citing problems with the devices failing to launch and/or ignite.
The recall applies to older Orion XLT and 12-gauge signals made with orange ABS plastic. XLTs are self-contained, hand-launched signals, while 12-gauge signals have a pistol-style launch and a plastic shell.
In 2008, Orion switched from orange ABS to red-colored, glass-filled polyethylene for its better strength, durability and resistance to moisture. The last XLTs that used orange ABS in the launch tube body expire this month, while the last 12-inch gauge shells using the orange ABS plastic expire in March 2012.
If you have an XLT signal with an orange launch tube that has an expiration date between November 2011 and December 2011, or an orange 12-gauge shell that has an expiration date between November 2011 and March 2012, you are eligible to receive a free, four-pack replacement at no cost.
To obtain a replacement pack, submit the following information by email to customerservice@orionsignals.com,
subject "SIGNAL REPLACEMENT,"
or by mail to Orion Safety Products, Attn. Signal Replacement Program, P.O. Box 1047, Easton, MD, 21601:
§ Name
§ Address
§ Daytime phone number
§ Signal quantity
§ Lot number
§ Expiration date
Customers are also asked to submit a photo of their signals, clearly showing the expiration date and lot number. Do not ship any signals back to Orion.
Replacement packs cannot be shipped to a P.O. Box.
Fleet Captain's Event
Friday Night Social - January 20th
| Attachment | Size |
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| BP-2012-01.pdf | 5.79 MB |
