Fleet Captain's Report

TACOMA YACHT CLUB DAFFODIL REGATTA: I would like to start off this month’s report by giving a big thank you to Captain Gary Halverson for taking charge of this Fleet Captain’s Cruise and bringing it to a very successful 3-day stay. Gary did a great job of planning and doing all the necessary logistical paperwork involved with this event and getting members of QCYC informed and signed up to attend. Later in this report I will also revisit Captain Halverson’s attempt to successfully dock his boat in the confines of TYC Basin.

Jacquie and I arrived on Thursday the 14th of April after a very comfortable cruise down to Tacoma. With the help of TYC members Jacqueline was moored in a very favorable portside tie in the basin. Later in the day we were joined by Captain Halverson, V/C Don Wilson, and Captain Scott McPhee, at which time the rains started in earnest and it was very cold!! Friday the rest of the fleet arrived led by Commodore Austin and followed by P/C Bob Yates, Captain Andy Gerde, Captain Dave Bedner and Captain Kent Soffel. While according to Captain Halverson we had originally requests from 18 boats (what happened to you all?) the 9 that showed up was still a good showing for QCYC. Saturday quite a few QCYC members made the drive down to attend the party, but I lost count of how many. As Friday came to a close there was a ray of hope of better weather for the week-end.

Saturday arrived and the weather did improve. Some sun actually showed up and Sunday’s weather was also looking good. This was the first time that I have attended this Tacoma event and I had a lot of questions in my head of how it all works. First on the agenda was decorating the flagship Grey Goose with 2000 daffodils which went fairly easily. Next came the annual trivia contest which was a hoot. I saw that many of the smaller yacht clubs in the area take this event very seriously! I know also what Daffy Drinks are and I must say they were yummy! Special thanks to Nancy Austin and her crew for the great job done on costumes for all the members who participated in this very fun contest.

Sunday ended up being the best weather of the week-end. It was very sunny and made for a good day for the Daffodil Parade of boats along the shores of Tacoma. TYC put on a really fun week-end for all their guests. If you couldn’t find something to do or eat or drink you probably don’t need to own a boat or be a yacht club member. My personal thanks to TYC for their hospitality and I for one am planning to attend this event again.

Now to Captain Halverson and his seamanship abilities. I’m not here to say that every boater is a master at the helm of their boat. Far from it! I’ve had my own difficulties as well as I’m sure most of us have had a few. After a short time of being tied up at the TYC basin Captain Halverson arrived escorted by 2-3 TYC dinghies. All was going well and we had lines from his boat and gave Gary the thumbs up sign. As he left the upper helm, so he stated, his knee brushed the electronic operated shifter and as he descended the stairs from the bridge his boat was moving forward. (His boat moves very fast at idle!) Past the point of no return, Gary rushed to the lower helm station but not before the bow of his boat was 5-6 feet inside the covered boat house directly in front of him with a moored boat behind the canvas door. Once at lower helm it was all reverse and over the dock behind him with his swim step and narrowly missing my right foot and crushing it! Luckily nothing seemed to be damaged except a nice 20” scratch on Jacqueline’s hull!! I had hoped to not to hand out any Screw-up Flags this year as Fleet Captain, but when you mess up the Fleet Captain’s boat you will pay for it other than just the repair job! So on the first meeting in May I presented my first Screw up- Flag to most deserving Captain Gary Halverson.

Sign-ups are going well for the next cruise to Kingston Cove Yacht Club on the 17th-19th June. If you want to attend be sure to make your reservation with Kingston Marina. See flyers around club and on-line.

Also the Summer Cruise schedule is out and on display around club and on-line. If you are planning to cruise with us to the San Juans please follow directions and make your reservations.

Steve Weiss
Fleet Captain