Outstation Report

My, oh my, it has been busy out here (and it is baseball season)!
We had the annual Outstation Work Party in mid-April and the weather tried to behave.  For the most part, we had cool but dry conditions.  It only rained a little as we broke for lunch on Saturday.  We had 25 hard working adults and two kids roll up their shirt sleeves and take on a number of projects.

We rented a thatcher for the lawn – something that hadn’t been done in a long time.  It looks a little chewed up now but will be happier this summer!

A scissors lift was rented to aid in the cleaning of the beams way up high in the clubhouse.  With the new lighting, the dust on the beams was more evident and the time had come to do something about it, or grow crops up there!

The decision was made to not try and keep green paint on the railings and benches on the deck any more.  Under John Alving’s leadership, several guys helped replace many of the boards and benches.  They ran out of time, so this is a project that will be finished sometime this summer or during the next work party.

Cleaning, yard work and organizing was being done all weekend.  Wait till you see the VHS movies!  All duplicates were given away and now they are in categories that make them easier to find.  No more donations of VHS movies please - now we need some DVD selections.

The yard really took a hit with the cold weather in November and some plants needed to be removed.  Overall, everything looks great and the weeds won’t come back (in my dreams)!  Some new plants may need to be planted but we will wait until winter is over (what happened to Spring?).

The bathrooms, showers and clubhouse got a spit and a polish.  The Rutledges even tackled the nasty job of vacuuming the attic area.  That was no fun as that low overhead ceiling is a forehead bump just waiting to happen!

We are ready for the summer festivities and Memorial Day weekend is just around the corner!   Also, Eric is eager to show off the new horseshoe pits that Bill Bressler and he reworked.  I must say, they do look nice.  They’re even level!  Warning:  Eric may come unglued the first time a horseshoe hits one of the new 8x8’s.

We and the club THANK the following volunteers:

Doug and Cathlyn MacQuarrie,  John and Lynn Sipkens,  Mike and Pam Cochran and their two grandchildren,  Chris and Sandra Benson,  Doug and Jill Princehouse,  Greg and Marcia Sorknes,  Bill Bressler,  John and MaryLouise Alving,  Bill and Trish Anderson,  Dan and Marilyn Wilshin,  Eric Turloff,  Bill Ward and Tim and Nadeane Rutledge.

Bruce and Miriam Cullen had come over for a fun dinner out on Bainbridge. They didn’t realize a work party was scheduled and didn’t have “get dirty” clothes on board.  So Bruce generously gave the Club $100 to help with the expense of feeding everyone that weekend.  Thank you, Bruce.

The following weekend we helped Steve and Sonja Jones remove the last remaining old section of dock that was temporally tied up to the dinghy dock.  We needed to wait for a high enough tide that would occur early in the morning.  Steve once again scheduled the needed crane, semi-trucks and flagger, and diver to make this project work.  Thanks to Steve, the club saved a lot of money handling the dock removal this way instead of having Marine Floats take them away and dispose of them down in Tacoma.

Last July 4th weekend, there was a pick up meal at the conclusion of the weekend and the money was turned over to me to spend on the Outstation.  I knew just what to get but have had a hard time finding just the right one.  Finally after internet searches and shopping here and there, I found the perfect one at the Ace Hardware store here on the Island!  Oh, I guess I should tell you what I bought….a clock.  The old school clock with the electrical cord hanging down by the sign-in desk always looked awful to me.  I had a vision of something a little nautical, or at least stylish.  Anyway, look for it when you are here.  If you like it, tell me; if you don’t, tell Eric!

Winter moorage ended out here on May 15, so we expect to see the docks full of “Main Station” (and elsewhere) folks soon.

Barb Wood