Happy New Year!January Meeting: Orcas Ahoy!

Rumor has it that these wonderful whales will travel to South Puget Sound this winter. Wewill learn more about these extraordinary animals at the January Meeting, and how we canmake them feel welcome in our South Sound waters while enjoying their visit here. Arepresentative of the Orca Network will share stories, sightings and recommendations for safeviewing.

Orca Network is a 501 (c) (3)non-profit organization registeredin Washington State, dedicated toraising awareness about the whalesof the Pacific Northwest, and theimportance of providing themhealthy and safe habitats.

Micki McNaughton,The Stargazer

Meeting Parking : If you are notan OYC member you can not parkin the OYC lot. You can park inthe lot behind OYC for $3.00.

Commodore’s Corner:ResolutionSuggestions

Happy New Year! I want tothank all those who havevolunteered themselves, theirpartners, or other family membersto support the Club. AsCommodore, it takes many peopleworking in the Club for things to sail smoothly: Members donating their time, money, houses,cars, and boats to the Club. Thanks for volunteering and please continue to do so!

After you pat yourself on the back for a great year, get ready for the next! Take some timefor yourself and enjoy the next few months despite the weather, heed the small craft advisoriesof course. Here are a few simple suggestions of how to spend your time on land or on deck:read an adventure sailing book, I would recommend The Sea of Glory by Nathaniel Philbrick,practice making neat knots at animatedknots.com, checkout the South Sound charts, put newtelltales on your rigging and sails, snap some pictures for the S-t-S, soak you summer clothesin some rain protective solution, and/or attend the Island Home Cruise in January. These aresome ideas just to get started!

I look forward to hearing about your new year adventures. Ralph Cumberland

Andrew Kerr Racing Seminar January 7Andrew has taught at every major sailing school. He has a list of National and class

championships too long to print. People pay hundreds for his classes. This will only set youback twenty. Do not miss it. Your competition won’t..

New Year's CruiseDecember 31 - January 1

Hope Island RaceJanuary 2

Board MeetingJanuary 5

Race Seminarwith Andrew Kerr

January 7

Duwamish Head RaceTTPYC

January 9Southern Sound Series Race 2

General MeetingJanuary 12

Visitors WelcomeDoors open at 1830, Meeting starts 1900

Henderson Inlet RaceJanuary 16

Island Home Cruise OYCJanuary 29-30

Board MeetingFebruary 2

McAllister Creek RaceFebruary 6

General MeetingFebruary 9

Visitors WelcomeDoors open at 1830, Meeting starts 1900

Toliva Shoal RaceWeekend, SSSS/OYC

February 19-20

Volume 45 Issue 5 January 2016 www.ssssclub.com/ssss.htm

Ship-to-ShoreThe South Sound Sailing Society’s Newsletter

Ship-to-Shore

GIZMO REBUILT : PHRF DUES DUE : BUYING ADVENTURE ENDS

Herron Island Race photo: Glen HunterMore Herron Island photos by Glen on line

Ship-to-Shore January 2016

RC Report: Radios and the RC PhoneAs of this writing we are half way through the Island Series.

Eagle Island was a drifter and Herron Island was sailed in adownpour. Winter Vashon was a combination of both: very, verywet and little breeze. But don’t let your guard down, heavy windsand rough seas could be served up at any time this winter with ElNino bringing in some big weather systems of wetter and warmerweather than normal.

As a reminder, last year we instituted a change in the SafetyEquipment Requirements(SER) for the Inlet andIsland Series so that boatsare now required to carrya handheld VHF radio.SSSS has removed therequirement for the VHFradio to have DigitalSelective Calling (DSC)and GPS capabilities sothat cost is not a barrier tomeeting the rule. Theintent of this rule changeis to improvecommunication betweenracers and with the racecommittee over ch.72,while keeping costs down.Although SSSS does notrequire boats to carry aVHF with DSC/GPScapabilities it is importantto note that that having aVHF aboard with DSC/GPS is a requirement for Toliva Shoaland all the races of the Southern Sound Series. The cost of a VHFwith DSC/GPS capabilities is hovering right around $200 or less.This is a safe and affordable technology that could save you orone of your crew members lives. DSC equipped VHF will allowyou to do the following: Have a One-Button Emergency Transmitcapability that sends out the vessel's unique MMSI number and, ifproperly connected to a GPS or Loran, the vessel'slatitude/longitude position.· Continue sending the distress signal even if the captain is

incapacitated.· Allow for a non-experienced VHF user to send, with the

pressing of one button, a goof-proof continuous distressmessage.

· Privately hail another DSC equipped vessel, or shore station,with a known MMSI number. Like having a VHF phonenumber this avoids having to monitor high traffic channels justfor a hail from your boating buddy. It even rings your radio,similar to a telephone, notifying you that you have a call andthen switches you automatically to the channel your caller iswaiting on.

· If properly connected to a Loran or GPS, a Polling featuretransmits your vessel's position, in digital display, that can bemonitored by DSC equipped home station/fleet station or boat.

· Fully function as all other regular VHF radios.

I’m aware that many Members now own VHF radios withDSC/GPS capabilities although they do not fully understand howto take advantage of this technology. I’m working to arrange aneducational overview of MMSI registration, the basics of DSCand general VHF etiquette for the Club.

VHF communication was a topic of a recent Class Captainmeeting. You soon may notice boats checking in with the Race

Committee prior to thestarting sequence. Thisis not a requirement,but rather a courtesy tothe Race Committee.Feel free to check inprior to the race, andplease radio the RaceCommittee if you areretiring from a race, orfinishing in poorvisibility.

In the event that youare out of VHF range,or are experiencingVHF problems andhave an urgent oremergency matter toreport to the RaceCommittee, you maybe able to reach BillSheldon on his cellphone (360) 890-8450.

The previous dedicated RC Cell Phone is no longer active.Additionally Bill Sheldon, our Race Officer, is looking for

additional crew members to assist with running races aboardTransition. If you are interested contact me or Bill or approach usat the next Meeting.

Cheers,Reese, Redline

PHRF Dues DueYour PHRF NW dues are due at the first of the year. Here at

SSSS we give you a grace period, until Toliva, before we check.But why wait? Return your dues form now, the one you got inthe mail back in November,with your check. Lost it? You canpay on line.

Three Tree Point YC gives you a much shorter grace period,until their first race. So make sure you pay before DuwamishHead. They will check.

PHRF is a volunteer organization that makes our racingpossible. In the long run, we need it, even those in D Fleet. If youare a committed D Fleet racer, consider joining PHRF, eventhough you do not have to to race. The organization counts onthose it serves to support it.

And if you are thinking of racing with a spinnaker you will beracing in a PHRF class and need an official handicap. Either waysee Rafe Beswick, our handicapper.

Steve Worcester

The Toliva Shoal Race is Next Month

Squaxin Island Race photo: Glen HunterMore Squaxin Island photos by Glen on line

Ship-to-Shore January 2016

Southern Sound Series RepReport: Winter Vashon

The 2015-2016 Series has started! TheTacoma Yacht Club hosted the WinterVashon race on Saturday, 5 December2015. Seventy boats registered for thisannual event that kicks off the four-raceSouthern Sound Series.

The Tacoma Yacht Club is to becommended for their excellentorganization of this race. The dockingcommittee ensured that boats had a placeto tie up and for most had anopportunity to plug into shorepower. The registration deskgreeted every one as they enteredthe club house and the check inwas flawless. Racers couldobtain their meal tickets fordinner as well as breakfast andpurchase a real cool-lookingWinter Vashon 2015 shirt. ThePHRF class breaks were postedaround 1730 which allowed all todiscuss about their competitionbefore the dinner which wasserved at 1800. One of the majortopics of discussion was theweather predictions: Winds fromthe south 15 to 25 knots with alot of rain! It could be a fastrace!

The start on Saturday morningwas also well organized. Classeswere informed on Channel 72 of thewarning , the prep flag going up, prep flaggoing down, and the count down for thestart. The use of the radio is being usedmore often to coordinate races, which inmy opinion, is great: racing can beintimidating for the novice and the radiotakes much of that fear away during thestart. The cruising classes started at 0930in a light southerly and headed towardsColvos Passage with the help of a floodtide. Thirty minutes later spinnakers wereraised on the first PHRF class start. Asmentioned in past reports, starting first inthe NFS cruising class allows you to seethe entire fleet as they zip past you! Allwere able to sail downwind until around PtRichmond when the wind shifted 180degrees to the north.

The wind remained light and the RaceCommittee wisely chose to shorten therace at the north end of Vashon Island.Being in the back of the fleet this wasdiscouraging because we did not see the

fast boats motoring back to Tacoma aftertheir finish. The riddle was solved when wediscovered that most of them kept onmotoring north to their marinas in Seattle!

The shortened course meant that one had tofinish within 8 hours of your start. Koosahwas almost to the finish line around 1630, 7hours from our start, when the wind died andwe were swept past the committee boat on theincorrect side!! We missed the boat by about50 feet. We fought back against the currentin the light wind and then made the decisionto go for the line before our 8-hour, 1730cutoff time. Again, the current caught us and

we had to start our engine to avoid a collisionwith the committee boat! This happened to acouple of other boats, so we didn’t feel sodumb, just frustrated! It was a long motorback to TYC!

Thank you again to TYC for reserving thedocks Saturday night! There were twentyboats from SSSS who participated in the raceand many of they stayed at TYC that nightand would deliver their boats back toOlympia Sunday morning.

Sunday morning confirmed the weatherforecast from the previous day! Winds wereout of the south in the mid-teens gusting intothe mid-twenties. With a flood tide, thewaves through the Narrows and then up nearToliva Shoal, made for a slow slog back toOlympia!

Results may be found on thewww.ssseries.org web site. Most racerscould see how they placed by using theirsmart phones and check the web site on theirway back to the dock. US Sailing RegattaNetwork seems to work well. It was great to

visit with sailors from up north whomyou only see during this series.

The next race is Duwamish Head on 9January 2016, sponsored by the ThreeTree Point Yacht Club.

Dave Knowlton, Koosah

SSSS Boats atWinter Vashon, TYC

1 PHRF-6  73392  Bodacious2 PHRF-3   82  McSwoosh2 PHRF-4  32589  something special2 PHRF-6  79182 Folie `a Deux2 PHRF-7  69063  Gizmo4 PHRF-4  87652  Altair7 PHRF-3   26064  korina korina1 NFS   154  SkookumDNF PHRF 1 12  PAXDNF NFS 50105  Jolly RumbalowDNF NFS French LeaveDNF NFS 39110  KOOSAHDNF NFS PrimaDNF NFS FreshAireIIDNF NFS 81948  PuelcheDNF NFS 427  Desert SageDNF NFS 172  KlatawaDNF FS Steamy WindowsDNF FS 5421  Emma Lee

Editor’s CornerMy computer crashed. I had most

everything backed up, except my e-mails. The only back up in thatdepartment was in my reading them. Soif you sent me an e-mail and got no

response, I apologize. Youmay need to resend.

As you can see from thisnewsletter, we need morephotos. I have not been able topost large groups of photossince the site crashed. I shouldstart doing so as soon as I amdone with this S-t-S. So takeyour camera sailing and sendme more photos to post.

I used most of my Membersstories and we need more.While it is wet and coldoutside, is a good time toremember your summeradventures. While you areremembering, write and tell usabout some of it.

Remember, this rag is onlyas good as you make it. Wewant to hear from you.

Steve Worcester, Star 6937

Squaxin Island Racephoto: Peggy O’BrienMore Squaxin Island

photos by Peggy on line

Ship-to-Shore January 2016

Host of the SSSS Board Meetings

Letter: Gizmo RestorationLessons Learned

So, you have a nice old boat that is looking alittle weather beaten and you’d like to freshenher up? Or perhaps you’re consideringpurchasing an older boat that’s available for asteal on Craig’s List? And you foolishly thinkthat you have the skills and time to do ityourself? And you have a dry place to do thework? And your spouse is really OK with allthis? There actually are a few people, a very fewpeople, who canactuallyaccomplish thisrestoration in areasonable amountof time. And youthink you’re one ofthem? Here’s myadvice: take theboat straight to thenearest boatyard,sign off a blankcheck and just walkaway. Even if theyard can’t get toyour boat foranother six months, it’s still way faster thanyou’re ever going to do it. Prospective boatrestorers notoriously suck at estimating howlong a restoration project will take, and are evenworse at guessing how much it will cost. Can’tafford the $20K paint job from the yard? Well,consider spending down your kid’sinheritance… Or maybe their college fund.College is over rated anyway. Send them off towork in the trades, and enjoy your shiny perfectpaint job!

But if you insist on proceeding, despite all mywarnings, then go for it! Gizmo came out well.Yes, I can point out all the defects but she passesthe 5’ test. Hopefully, you can find somewhereindoors to do the work so you can work throughthe crappy winter weather and enjoy her duringthe beautiful summer. It’s very hard to get a

good paint job outdoors, especially in the yardwith all the dust. If it’s not dust, its pollen. Orinsects… I have heard of people getting aroundthe dust issue simply by buffing out the finalcoat with 1200 grit paper and then applying waxto return the shine. The problem with thisapproach is that you need to reapply the wax twoor three times a year. The better option, one thatI also adhered to, is to pick white for your hullcolor. Dark colors will show every surface flaw,every brush stroke, every insect imprint. Whitehides everything!

Before you getstarted, please letme know so I canrun out and buystock in 3M. A littleinsider informationnever hurts. Youare going to gothrough so muchsand paper, yourhead will spin. Butwe wouldn’t beworking on thisproject if weweren’t allcheapskates. Andso we all tend to try

to get our money’s worth out of every sheet ofsand paper. Get over it! You’ve alreadycommitted to an endless hemorrhage of cashwhen you started this project. Change the paperfrequently! And get the good stuff. New sandpaper cuts cleaner, scratches less and wastes lessenergy. Don’t use hand sanding if you can helpit for anything less than 220 grit. There areareas that you just can’t use a sander on andyou’ll have to break that rule, but it’s a goodgeneral rule. And use a sanding block, maybe aflexible one or a curved one, instead of wrappingthe sandpaper around your fingers. I alsosuggest you use disposable gloves whilesanding. It preserves your fingerprints. If youdon’t have a spouse, go ahead and let yourfingers get gnarly, prickly and manly. But if you

Cruise NewsISLAND HOME CRUISE

DATE CHANGENOW JANUARY 29-30OYC has invited us to their

outstation, Island Home. Thishas a very comfortable,warm, building withelectricity, cooking facilities,and all the amenities: thinkhouse. There is a dock. Thisis an ideal spot for a winterCruise.

Island Home is just north ofSquaxin Island. See the littleisland on the chart below. Seethe rock. It can be a littletricky getting in at low tide.

We will have moreinformation on the Cruise online. Watch for it.

It is a special event. NonOYC members are not invitedto Island Home. They do notentertain other clubs there.Except for this Cruise. Youdo not want to miss it.

Gizmo recovered photo: John Thompson

Ship-to-Shore January 2016

Squaxin Island Race December 12Transition/Spiff were the RC Boat. Thank you.

Place/Points Finish CorrectdOA Class Sail No. Yacht Name Yacht Type Rating Time Time

A CLASS Start Time: 10:05 Distance: 20 nm 1 0.75 73392 BODACIOUS BENE 35 S5 129 14:17:06 13:34:06 2 2.00 69399 FLYING CIRCUS EXPR 37 72 14:04:12 13:40:12 3 3.00 69051 SPIRIT BENE 36.7 81 14:09:37 13:42:37 5 4.00 87562 ALTAIR J 35 72 14:30:59 14:06:59 6 5.00 18351 MISS CONDUCT OLSN 29 102 14:42:56 14:08:56 7 6.00 69927 BALDER II ERIC 38 126 14:53:06 14:11:06 9 7.00 69804 REIFF J35C 105 14:52:22 14:17:2210 8.00 64985 LIBERTY C&C 35 123 DNF10 8.00 79182 FOLIE A DEUX BENE 35 S5 135 DNF

S CLASS Start Time: 10:05 Distance: 20 nm 4 0.75 79089 LIGHTLY SALTED BENE 10R 96 14:22:37 13:50:3710 2.00 79 RUFUS MEL 99 DNF

B CLASS Start Time: 10:00 Distance: 20 nm 8 0.75 47914 KAITLIN RANC 32 168 15:03:05 14:07:0510 2.00 5421 EMMA LEE CATA 30 207 DNF

D CLASS Start Time: 09:35 Distance: 20 nm 0.75 923 WHITE RAVEN CAV45 147 14:52:55 14:03:55 2.00 50105 JOLLY RUMBALOW C&C 34 135 14:51:10 14:06:10 3.00 39110 KOOSAH PEAR 36-1 177 15:08:26 14:09:26 4.00 427 DESERT SAGE CATA 42 147 DNF

One D2 boat was out but did not finish: R Time

do have a spouse, and you have anyintentions of romance…. Just saying….

Choosing a paint brand is quite thechore. Prepare to be shocked at the pricefor good yacht paint. And also considerthat a good portion of that paint, probablymore than remains on the boat, will end upin the vacuum cleaner after you sandbetween coats. It’s quite painful to emptythe vacuum and see $300-$400 of paintgoing into the trash. Two partlinear polyurethanes provide atougher finish with a longerlasting gloss than one partfinishes. They are far moreexpensive and are moreexacting in their application.Two part paints cannot beapplied over the top of onepart paints. They will lift theunder coat like paint stripper.If your boat is just gelcoat,then you’re good to go. Justspend some time with a gooddewaxer before you startsanding and filling in all thescratches. Sand the gelcoat toonly 100 – 120 grit for theprimer for maximumadhesion, and go to 220 grit when youapply the finish coat. Every paint brand isdifferent, so get over your manliness andread the directions. Or let your spouse doit and actually listen to her / him foronce…

Speaking of filling the scratches, don’tuse automotive Bondo on a boat. It willabsorb water even through the paint andeventually crumble. And it doesn’t fit thetheme of spending endless amounts ofmoney…. Spider cracks in the old gelcoathave to be opened up and filled with putty.If you simply paint over them, they willshow up immediately through the newpaint. Your common can opener, the oldfashioned kind, is perfect for scratchingopen the spider cracks. Every good shop,and even most not so good shops, have can

openers. Don’t forget your safetyequipment. If you can’t afford a goodrespirator, don’t even get started. Yachtpaint rots brain cells even faster than theboob-tube.

The boat really needs to be stripped ofgear before you paint. It’s a good time toreseal all the fasteners especially aroundthe windows, and those winches probablyhaven’t been greased in the last ten years

anyway. Tape what you must, but it’s veryhard to do a good taping job so that itdoesn’t show. And never leave maskingtape on a boat for more than a couple ofweeks if it’s indoors and a few days if it’sout of doors.Use only brandnew, goodquality maskingtape. Lightenup and spendsome money!After all, youalready spent$350 per gallonon the paint!

If you havethe ability tospray the boat,

well this article probably doesn’t apply toyou. Spraying in an environmentallycontrolled paint booth results in a veryprofessional finish. But you can’t affordit. No problem. You can get fairly goodresults using the roll and tip method. Atleast it’s good enough to pass the 5’ test.But you’ll need to sand every coat betweencoats so that you are always applying thenext coat to a perfectly smooth surface.

This is where at least half ofyour expensive paint ends up inthe vacuum. I ended upapplying at least three coats offinish coat on Gizmo, of whichmaybe one coat plus a little bitremains. It’s really frustratingto sand between coats and endup sanding through theprevious coats all the way to thegelcoat. Choose a low-nap highquality roller and apply paint toa very small area (maybe 3’ x3’) in both vertical andhorizontal strokes to make sureyou have complete coverage.Apply the minimal amount ofpaint possible to cover the area,and don’t use brushing thinner.

You’ll get sags and runs. Then take afoam brush and very lightly run the tipover the paint knocking down anyremaining stipple from the roller. I like todo the tipping horizontally. Have plenty of

Gizmo just before relaunch photo: Sue Willis

Ship-to-Shore January 2016

Letter: The GreatInternational

Yacht Buying AdventureIn pat issues we were told how Jim

and Dee Ann had found their boat, inCanada. They learned the technicalitiesof buying and importing a boat. Theywere in the process of a survey when weleft them last month

The boat started to ease out of the slipand soon I had the ability to steer. Iremember an instructor telling me that ifbacking seems to be giving you a betterangle to get out, then just keep goingbackwards. Everyone will think youplanned it that way. In our debrief wedecided that next time we are in asimilar situation we will let go the bowline after the boat starts to move. Thatway we can control the boat’s desire tospin because of the prop walk.

We thought we could cover the next90 miles in three days ofmotoring. We set oursights on Kingston andpulled out an hour beforethe tide. It was Monday.

We contemplated waiting for the officeto open so we could go in and ask aboutgetting the night credited to ourreciprocal moorage rights, but myoversized neighbor was flying an out-of-town burgee and we figured he probablyalready had it claimed.

The current was slightly stronger thanpredicted, but it eventually turned andgave us a 1 1/2 knot boost. Today was to

be the best weatherfor the trip. The nextstorm would arrive onTuesday. The skiesbecame lighter andthe breeze continuedto pick up as wepressed southward.We made Kingston by1:00 pm and agreed itwas too early to stop.The weather forecasttold us that we wouldbe pressing into a 15knot headwind onTuesday, so wewanted to go as far aswe could. We nowhad filtered sunshine

and probably 7 knots of north windhelping us along. I say 7 knots, becauseit had the effect of keeping the cockpitfull of diesel exhaust. I know it smellslike perfume to some, but I’m still newat this diesel stuff and I wasn’t enjoyingit that much yet.

We had been reluctant to open thesails before now because the rig gave ussome trouble during the sea trial. Wehad it worked on before the trip, but itwas still untested. The constant exhaustsmell convinced me that we had enoughof a tailwind to keep the jib full, so werolled it out. Dee Ann was so thrilled tosee the sail that she momentarilyabandoned her post as the sheet tenderand started taking pictures and texting

Ditty Bag1973 San Juan 21 hull #1333. One good set of racing sails,Comes with a Honda 2 horse 4 stroke ob Eazy Loader trailer.Clean titles for boat and trailer in hand. $2500 obo. Contact Jeff

Kloppel at mannygodzilla@gmail.com or (360)80-48401985 Santana 20 w/2008 Trailer - $2000 obo trailer has never been in saltwater. Jeff Glandon

Jeff@busybeelawnservice.com 426-1614Theses ads are free for Members, run three months, and can be

renewed. Contact me by the Meeting to be listed .

Crew Sheetmore information on line

Crew Wants Ride Fair weather or foul. frank.j.jasper@gmail.com

Moving to Lacey . John A Hooper 217 Camelot Dr Liberty,MO 64068 Office: (816) 792-0423 Mobile: (816) 547-4844

johnahooper@gmail.comracing or day sailing. Aaron Wolfman 786-0861. John Brown, 360-59-5997, jb1011@comcast.net

Looking for CrewD’Lavicea, Terry dbleupher@aol.com, 459-2650

Want a ride? You could be listed here, and on line, for free:Ads run three months and can be renewed. Contact me to be

listed on line now and printed in the next S-t-S.

foam brushes available. As they get full ofpaint, start with a fresh one. Sometimes thepaint will disintegrate the brush, so you haveto exchange it frequently. Always try towork from a wet edge so the next paintedarea will merge into the previous one. Andtry not to run out of paint until you get ahard corner like the edge of the transom.That’s a good place to hide a paint seam.And when you get a run or a sag, leave it.Trying to fix makes it far worse. After itdries, sand it out and repaint.

I’ve been asked more than once how I gotsuch a great deal on the carbon fiber mastfor Gizmo. The answer is to get lots ofbids. I spent a lot of time measuring theexisting mast and penciling up a scaledrawing of it. Then I simply shot-gunned itout to every mast manufacturer I could findonline. The results were all over the place!Aluminum masts from $5,500 to $9,000each, and carbon masts from $4,500 to$17,000! Huge differences for the samemast! But if you get lots of bids, then yourchances of getting a good one improvedramatically. I bought Gizmo’s mast fromForte Composites for $4,500 (before Ijacked the price up with all the options andstanding rigging). They are an OEmanufacturer for both Melges and J-Boats,plus half a dozen other builders, soobviously the quality is there. Gizmo’s mastis beautiful, though if I was to do it over Iwould order the white finish over the clearcoat. It holds up better and doesn’t get sohot. Epoxy doesn’t like heat. I suggest youmeasure up your existing mast before youhave the misfortune of breaking it. It’s hardto get accurate dimensions from multiplepieces.

John Thompson, Gizmo

Squaxin Island Raceaboard Balder 2

photo: Mike Gowrylow

Ship-to-Shore January 2016

them to the kids. “Put down your phone,dear. We’re sailing! We can send thepictures later!”

The jib came out about the time wecould see the Seattle skyline. It stayed outfor the rest of the day. Our new target wasBlake Island, directly west of Seattle. Thewind had picked up to the 10 to 15 knotrange and was blowing out of thenortheast. We didn’t have a dinghy withus, so if we caught a buoy on the lee sideof the island we would have no way tomake shore to pay for it. And thenortheast wind was bearing down on theboat basin in a way that made me thinkthat docking could be difficult and ournight might be a little bumpy.

We pulled up the trusty iPad and didsome quick navigation calculations. If thecurrent in Colvos Passage wasn’t toostrong, we could make Gig Harbor with atleast 30 minutes of daylight to spare. Andif we got lucky, we could stay for free atthe public dock. So we pointed the nosedown Colvos Passage and followed our jibto Gig Harbor.

I was just a little nervous about GigHarbor. We have visited in the summerand found it to be quite crowded. It ispossible to pull in there and have no roomfor anchoring and no room at the dock.But I had never been there on a Monday inthe winter. Duh! There was only oneother boat at the public dock. I walked the

stern up to the dock like a pro and we tiedoff for the night. This would be our firstnight on the battery, and it seemed like anice place to try it out. If the batteries godead here, I can walk to a service station.

It is a rare event to be the only boat onthe public dock in Gig Harbor. This wouldnever happen in the summer.

I checked the charts that evening andcalculated that we had traveled 55 nauticalmiles that day. We used to think that 20miles was a long haul in the West WightPotter. We almost tripled that distancetoday.

We have developed a tradition in ourfamily. We like to end every sailingvacation by motoring head-on into a ragingrain storm. Dee Ann goes below and startscleaning while I take the helm like a truegentleman. But this time she started hercleaning routine a little sooner, before wereached Boston Harbor. “We have abigger boat now. And it’s faster. I have tostart earlier.”

Budd Inlet satisfied our traditional needfor a rain shower. I was relieved to seethat the wind was not having much of aneffect inside the breakwater at Swantown.We had tentatively reserved slip B-25, butthis was our first approach from the waterand we weren’t sure of the landmarks.Nancy told us to just put the boat in thereand then come look her up. Lucky for uswe made it in before the office closed. We

hadn’t made plans for what to do if wedidn’t have a gate key!

One more call to the kids and we had aride home. We paid for the ride with adinner on the boat.

Greg Horne and Custom Yacht Saleswere absolutely fabulous to deal withduring the entire process of buying theboat. I would absolutely use him again, ifI wasn’t done buying sailboats. We didn’tpick a yacht broker because we like him.We picked a broker because he had theboat we wanted. We got real lucky anddiscovered that he not only had theinventory we wanted, he was a great guyto do business with. Greg was in a uniqueposition with this sale because thebrokerage owned the boat. So we weren’tjust dealing with the brokers. We weredealing with the sellers.

I have equal high regard for KenRorison. He is a highly skilled yachtsurveyor and the perfect person to have inyour corner for a purchase such as this.Ken supervised the repairs and signed offon the glass work before the paint went on.Thanks to his insistence, I now have a hullthat is in better-than-new condition.

By the way, the happiest day in aboater’s life is not the day he buys his newboat. It is the day he gets it home and tiesthat last cleat hitch on the home port dock.

Home!Jim Laesen

Ship-to-Shore January 2016

SSSS Sailors are AWESOME!It is hard to believe that it has been 9 years already of the SSSS

December Thurston County Food Bank Fundraiser. Each andevery year SSSS sailors do not disappoint, and raise more moneythan the previous year and donate copious amount of food to theFood Bank. This year we gathered 400 pounds of food. Also thisyear we set another new record in money raised by the DecoratedWine Bottle Auction and your generous donations. When the tallywas complete, I couldn’t believe my eyes. The total you gave was$11,250!!! More than double our previous record set just last year.You should be proud that you helped make the holiday seasonbetter for many families, by showing the compassion to donateyou the time decorate a wine bottle, or have the winning bid on awine bottle, or giving that donation of food or money. SouthSound Sailors are truly awesome.

Hoping your holidayseason is joyous and thatthe new year brings allthat you hope.

Don Waterhouse,McSwoosh

The Ship-to-Shore is published monthly, except July and August,by the South Sound Sailing Society, PO. Box 1102, Olympia WA 98507.

Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the policies of SSSS. Mention ofproducts or trade names shall not constitute an endorsement by the S-t-S or

SSSS of their use.If you are having a problem receiving the Ship-to-Shore, would like to submita letter, article, or photo, run an advertisement, or have other questions or

concerns contact the Editor : Steve Worcester2425 Otis Olympia WA 98501 (360) 352-9283 e-mail: sts@ssssclub.com

Deadline for submissions is the second Tuesday of the month.2015-16 SSSS Board Members

phone numbers are local, area code 360, if no area code shownCommodore Ralph Cumberland (303) 808-7998Vice-Commodore Mary Cambell (360) 491-8990Secretary Mike Buffo (206) 550-6488Treasurer Peter Wyeth (360) 915-8795Member-at-Large Micki McNaughton (360) 790-6294Race Chair Kyle Reese-Cassal (360) 359-1271Cruise Chairs Marvin Young (360) 584-2751Past Commodore Webb Sprague (360) 878-5334

PHRF Handicapper Rafe Beswick (360) 888-9844D Class Handicapper Richard Bigley (360) 357-6139

The PHRF Sailing Instructions are hereAmended as follows:

Replace SI 7.1 Starting with:“Races will be started in accordance with Racing Rule 26 withclass starting sequence in accordance with race instructions andas summarized in the following table. The starts will be indicatedwith class flags and may be announced over VHF 72 for thoseraces where radios are required”

12.1 Communications To the end of the first sentence add:“except to acknowledge a notice of withdrawal or in response toan emergency call”

Add a 22.4 to read as follows:“When required to have a VHF radio aboard, competitors arerequired to monitor Channel 72 whilst racing and ideally dualmonitor VHF Channel 72 and 16 if scanning is available.”

The beautiful “Vanna” Black and “Vanna” Walker show the crowd whatthey could win at the December Meeting Photo: Marvin Young

who wants to say: The December SSSS wine auctionbrought in an astounding $11,000 with the top bottlesnetting the following proceeds:  Eiffel Tower - $475,

Jim Findley's Gingerbread Mansion - $450,the Wolfhaven box and the driftwood mermaid - $375

each, the Beachcomber Sands - $325and the Cabernet Cabriolet - $300.

Other photos by Vicky SheldonPhotos of all the bottles, by Vicky, are on line