Tomahawk Bay Yacht Club

TBYC'S ANNUAL MEETING WILL BE HELD JANUARY 15TH 6 PM AT THE NEW MARRIOTT COURTYARD HOTEL, NORTH PORTLAND HARBOR, PORTLAND.  It's on Marine Drive near I-5 (east side).  Dinner is create your own sandwich and soup buffet for $8.95 per person.  RSVP, the Spaldings at 503-283-4276 or e-mail GWSpalding@juno.com.
Hope to see you all there!!
 
 

NOTICE REGARDING THE CLUB ADDRESS

The US post office notified all post office box holders, some time ago, that "PO BOX" or "#" would no longer be the acceptable form for mail delivery. You now MUST put PMB (stands for 'personal mail box') and then the number. So the club's number is now written as, "PMB 129":

TBYC
PMB 129
11919 N. Jantzen Ave.
Portland, OR  97217
 
 

MEMBERSHIP 2000

It's time to send in your dues and update your roster information for the club year 2000.
As of 2/15/00 the dues will be increased to $30.00. For those who are quick, you can still take advantage of the former $20.00 rate. A bargain either way. We are asking that you remit your membership dues by the end of January, consider this notice your 'bill'.
With prompt remittance of dues we can get the membership roster out in a timely fashion, not have to guess to whom we should continue to send the newsletter, and we'll know how much money we actually owe to the Columbia River Yachting Association (it's based on a club's number of members).

Please update us on any changes in your name, address, phone number, boat name, boat moorage, or email address. Send your check and any roster information changes to:
TBYC, PMB 129, 11919 N. Jantzen Ave., Portland, OR 97217.
 
 

CLUB OFFICERS 2000

Thanks to the efforts of the nominating committee there was a nice roster of  individuals willing to have their names placed in nomination for each of the club offices.  Nominations were also invited from the floor to ensure that everyone had an opportunity to run.

Your officers for the coming year are (drum roll. please):
Commodore - Rick Bradey
Fleet Captain - Gordon Spalding
Vice Commodore of Power - Allen Buntjer
Vice Commodore of Sail - Jim Sulak
Secretary - Lorraine Creek
Treasurer - Bill Chapin

The appointed officers are:
Historian - Cindy Olson
Publicists - Sarah DuVal and Cheryl Spalding
Assistant CRYA representative - Carl Taylor

You will have the opportunity to congratulate and lend your support to the new officers at TBYC's annual meeting January 15th at 6:00 pm at the new Marriott Courtyard which is located across the North Portland Harbor on Marine Drive. In the next newsletter we plan to feature a brief bio on each of the officers.
 
 

WEB SITE

The club is pleased to announce we now have a web site. We also have a Web Master. Thanks to the talents and generosity of member John Hoefer our web site is up and ready for you to peruse, use, and communicate with.
Our web address is, http://www.Top-Golf.com/TBYC - add it to your bookmarks or make it a link. John asks you to remember that, "TBYC" is case sensitive and must be capitalized.

The web site is free for the club. After a great deal of discussion (three meetings and many emails running) it was decided not to buy the name. This also saves the expense of finding a host site. We're going to see how the current site and address work (since free is a very good price indeed.) If, in the future, the club finds that it needs to make changes in address or location, it will remain an option.

The club is so fortunate to have members of varied talents who are willing to extend themselves. Thanks to everyone who worked on making the web site a reality, and a special thanks to John for the web page construction and his generous offer to take on the task of Web Master.
 
 

OCTOBER 1999 CRUISE, BEACON ROCK "ALIAS" CAMAS/WASHOUGAL

If you missed the Beacon Rock cruise you missed the highlight cruise of the year in these eyes.  Braving the blustery weather (more like a downpour), and a radio notice from Dock Holiday that the docks at Beacon Rock were in the parking lot of the park and not in the water as we all thought they were.  Plans were changed to have our cruise at the Camas/Washougal public docks.  Thank you TBYC members who convinced Camas/Washougal to let us be there even though the annual Bass tournament was going on at the same time.  For those who braved the weather and showed up Friday, dinner was at the Vancouver Yacht Club.  Dave and Lorraine Creek (prospective new members) provided ferry service from the public dock to the yacht club on their pontoon boat.  Additionally, Kim & Lisa on Ruby (also prospective new members) joined us, a fun time was had by all.  With the cruise theme being Southwestern we were hoping for good weather, you all know, like hot and sunny.  Asking a lot for the Pacific Northwest, but we can always hope!  Low and behold Saturday dawned a somewhat bright day. Just like a bunch of ants everyone went about setting up the dock decorations which included wooden cutout cacti, a trading post, cantina and cook shack.  Dock decorations were designed and made by John V. (Full Sail), transported by the many who braved the weather to enjoy real mexican food and atmosphere!! Megan Taylor and a guest from Jon Bake's boat manned the trading post.  They sold items with the TBYC logo and sold tickets to the raffle.  As Linda V. and Cindy Bake in the Cantina were serving margaritas, appetizers provided by those who attended were being devoured.  Chef's John (V.Dawg) and Linda Villaneuva, with many helpers cooked and served a wonderful meal.  Chef John served his chicken fajitas (a secret recipe, I am told), along with Linda V.'s red beans and rice and other Southwestern related foods.  Dessert provided by those members attending topped off the dinner.  No one went away hungary.  Thank you John and Linda Villaneuva (Full Sail) for the decorations, food and being wonderful people.
 
 

THE LONE SAILOR
REPORTING ON THE RIVERPLACE CRUISE
AND SENDING A TIMELY BRIDGE REMINDER

Well, I was there! Riverplace was visited by Multnomah Channel Yacht Club but not TBYC! (except for one, me) Newport Bay knew nothing of the TBYC reservation. But it was only me so they gave me special treatment. Saturday market was good, very crowded! I had quite the time. A, "to anonymously be known as 'family of friends'" visited me on Saturday night.

On the way back the 'family of friend's' two boys were crewing for me and, as we made our way downstream thru the many bridges, we had a harrowing experience. We called Hawthorn bridge and the bridge tender opened it. We went thru Morrison and Burnside with inches to clear!  Steel bridge was up, so, no sweat, we started thru. All of a sudden, and without any warning horn, the bridge started lowering!

Oh @#&*! I hammered  reverse and dragged the antenna on the closing bridge span. We barely escaped a colossal mess! The bridge tender called and said he couldn't see through the floorboards, and said we should have called him! (the bridge was up) We returned to Tomahawk without further incident.

Moral to the story, call even if the bridge is up and ask them to hold their lift, because they just might not be paying attention. This would not have been a happy cruise ending if we had not spotted the bridge lowering (thanks to 'a keen eyed young crew member').  We could have been killed and the boat lost. The river, highway and railroad would have been closed down. The repercussions would have gone on and on.

Editors note: Thanks for the safety reminder and for the cruise information.
THE LONE SAILOR made us promise not to print his name.  So, if you guess who it is ... don't let on, okay?  ;-)
 
 
 

YET ANOTHER ANONYMOUS MEMBER SHARES

When heading below
One thing I have found,
Engage the auto pilot
Lest you go aground.
 
 

CHRISTMAS PARTY 1999

This year's Christmas party was held at the floating  home of Jon and Cindy Bake. What a warm and inviting setting. Our host and hostess even had their outdoor fireplace on the deck stoked up for those who wished to enjoy some of the lovely evening out there.

Dinner, as always, was a yummy collection of pot luck and club supplied dishes. No one went away hungry and that's for sure. The only pity was that folks didn't have some spare storage area in their tummies for even more of the tempting desserts.

Having the membership bring items to contribute to the raffle table was another successful venture. The assortment becomes much more varied and interesting this way. The club donated a dandy pair of binoculars, a cabin lantern, and an ever-popular-on-cruises roll-up table. We had some extremely happy prize winners. TBYC sold $229.00 worth of raffle tickets. It looks like we just might have a little bit of surplus money at the end of the year to donate to charity thanks to the membership who so generously bought raffle tickets.

The white elephant gift exchange selection was even more varied than the raffle prizes. We saw some new items (new to the gift exchange that is.)  Some items that would be, no doubt, rapidly devoured by their lucky recipients. And some returning items .. perhaps most notably the glass head.  One of these years someone is going to find a really creative use for that old friend, the glass head. We'll miss her ... uh, him ... err, whomever.

Several nice items were donated for the toy and joy project of the fire department. The children of Portland thank you.

The Christmas party is also a business meeting. The business meeting at which the membership nominates and elect the officers for the coming year. We have a great line-up of officers for the year 2000. Some whose ink was barely dry on their membership form and some who were charter officers when the club began. This delightful blend of the old and the new is sure result in a great new year.
 
 
 

CRUISERS UPDATE
(keep them cards and letters comin' cruisers  :-)
 

Tom and Sue Stose on X Ta Sea send greetings!

We are having a ball here in Chula Vista. Sue found a job here at the marina, so isn't having quite as much fun as everyone else but seems to enjoy working there. Keep this under your hat, we wouldn't want everyone knowing, It is paradise here! The Sun shines all day everyday, except yesterday, when a "big" storm blew through and it drizzled for a half hour. It is sunny again today. Regarding the "Baja Bounders" from Oregon, Horst and Bea on Seadater, Monte and Barbara on Reprise, Will and JoAnn on Tica, Richard and Anita on Moonshadow, Brent and Molly on Albion, all from 'G' row at Tomahawk Bay, will be heading South soon along with Chris and Kim on Jasmine Isle from Castleman's Cove. They will be joining up with Ray and Ann on Sun Star and Pat and Susan on Perpetua, both boats belong to the Sauvie Island Yacht Club, as do we and most of the other boats named here. Soon all that will be left here, drying out our webbed feet, will be Earl and Donna on Whisper, Brian and Laurie on Exodus, Marcia on C'est Moi, and Sue and I on X ta sea.
Tom and Sue Stose
tsxtasea@msn.com
 
 

Molly and Brent Forsberg keeping us up to date ...

>From San Diego....at times the Chula Vista Yacht Club here should be more likely called....Tomahawk Bay Yacht Club, Annex South.  More often than not there are more of us from Portland than the local club members.
Can't say enough about the hospitality we have received here.  They have really opened their club to us.  TBYC members who have been here:  Tom and Sue--X Ta Sea, Earl and Donna--Whisper, Fred and Kathy--True Companion, Richard and Anita--Moonshadow, Brent and Molly--Albion, Will and Joann--Tica, Brian and Laurie--Exodus, Monty and Barb on Reprise. Commodore Jon is due to arrive here tomorrow and has been warned that he should be bringing a burgee to exchange with the club here.

Those of us who are heading on to Mexico have been going crazy doing the paperwork dance getting Mexican fishing licenses, Mexican ham licenses, Mexican liability insurance and tourist visas.  We have made countless trips to Costco, Downwind Marine, West Marine, the local grocery outlets. The local economy is doing quite well. I think most of us are finally leaving just to get out of town and quit spending money.

Tomorrow, 11/17 is our planned departure date.  Five boats will be leaving from California Yacht Marina.  We will spend tomorrow night anchored out at the Coronado Islands and then go to Ensenada to check into customs. From there, we have different time lines and will do some harbor hoping down the coast at various speeds, but all plan to be in warmer climates by the holidays.

We have all been in touch via e-mail along the way, but we don't know how often the opportunity will arise to send messages along the way.  Will try to keep the club informed of our adventures as the cyber cafes allow.

All for now, thanks for the interest in our journey.

Molly
 
 

... and here is the Forsbergs SECOND update:

We arrived in Cabo San Lucas about 1 pm on Monday, December 13 (800 miles in 26 days).  Life in Cabo is certainly a vast contrast to that which we have encountered all the way down the Baja coast.   We thoroughly have enjoyed our leisurely travel along the coastline as it allowed us time to see and visit some of the fishing camps, villages and small towns along the way.   We are learning to speak the language by necessity as until we arrived here in Cabo, the only English spoken was with fellow cruisers.  But, everywhere we have been greeted by friendly smiles and welcoming attitudes.  We have eaten lobster until we have grown tired of it.  It can be had for little or nothing, usually a couple cans of beer or a few pesos.  We did a little fishing and caught one bonito and a yellow tail.  The yellow tail was great eating and eased the pain a bit of what it cost for the fishing licenses we were required to have whether or not we intended to fish.

We have had the company of other boaters all the way.  Joann and Will on Tica have been with us since San Diego, and the second night out of Ensenada we were joined by Alan and Jan on Cyrene from San Francisco.  We have also met many other boaters at various anchorages and then met up with some of them again later along the way. We celebrated Thanksgiving in Bahia de San Quintin.  Will and Joann joined us for dinner, complete with turkey, dressing, potatoes, fresh baked bread and pumpkin pie.  In Turtle Bay, we rested, refueled after several searches, found the bakery and made more than one visit to it!  At Bahia de Santa Maria, we made our first dinghy surf landing--successfully!  Whew!  We motored into the lagoon and explored our way to the end passing the fishing camps and small villages along the way.  In Magdalena Bay, sixteen of us contracted with the local Port Captain to take us across the bay to the town of San Carlos.  What a ride we had in the fishing pangas...just had to hold on tight!!  San Carlos is a town of about 5,000 people with fairly well provisioned grocery stores and supplies, but more importantly, an ice cream shop and telephones!  We all enjoyed the ice cream and were able to make a phone call home to tell our families we were okay.

The final passage from Madglanena Bay to Cabo (the third of only three overnighters down the coast) was the only one we have encountered any bad weather.  But, it was nothing to compare with what we had earlier around the capes from Oregon to California so we did just fine.  We are happy to have gotten here and are making decisions as to where to go from here and when.  We may spend Christmas here and then go on across the sea to Maztalan for New Years and then again we may do something else.   We're on cruising time.

By the way, did I mention, it's about 85 degrees and the water temp is about the finally warm enough for swimming!  All for now, will be in touch as the facilities allow.

Brent and Molly
=======================
Aboard "Albion"
forsberg@teleport.com
503-704-8544 (cell voice mail)
619-427-1824 (San Diego local)
 
 

Newsletter Archives:
TBYC  Newsletter 11/99
TBYC Newsletter 01/00