Whooee, busy times, and big happenings, around the Club these days! As I
write this article, it appears that we will be having about 50 visiting
boats, plus 2 RVs and about 20 visiting cars arriving for the Heavy
Weather weekend. Four visiting Grand-XIV Yacht Clubs are bringing a
Skit, plus our own Skit is being Directed and produced by Kevin McStay.
If you happen to miss this one, try to get access to a DVD recording and
watch it, because this promises to be one humungous Wing Ding.
There are a couple of other pending events that are worthy of mention.
If you have youngsters, under age 20, who may be operating your PWC or a
dingy with over 15 HP, the operator will be required to have a Washington
State Boater Education Card in their possession in order to legally
operate the vessel. The Coast Guard, or other Maritime Police agencies,
will be listing the Registered OWNER of the vessel in the citation. The
issue of liability imposed upon an owner who allows an operator, without
the proper training and documentation, to operate the vehicle is a bit
scary. The Power Squadron's Education Officer reports that "Canada
requires boat owners to have a Boat Operators Card, and if you visit
there, the Washington Card will help establish your boating proficiency
if you are boarded". BYC Members, and families, will now have a special
opportunity to obtain their card. The Bremerton Power Squadron is
proposing to offer the 8 hour class that will qualify attendees to
receive the Washington State Boater Education Card upon completion of the
course. The proposed classes will be offered at the BYC Clubhouse on
each of the four Tuesday evenings in March, at a "special price" of only
$20 for the entire Family. Watch for details of this offer to be posted,
upon approval.
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Proposed Revision of BYC's Management Structure:
There is a proposal to revise the management structure of the Club now
underway. If this proposed revision, now being mailed to Members, is
approved by the Membership, it will have a major impact on the Nomination
and Election processes that will occur in April and May. The many and
varied responsibilities for operating the Club would be SPLIT between the
Bridge Officers and the Executive Committee. The Business Management Side
of BYC would be handled by a "NEW" Executive Committee, to be increased
from six elected members to nine elected members. The new EC would have
three Committee Chair Persons that, on the Business Management Side,
would have the same three year progressive "Management Duties" now held
by the Bridge Officers, but would not be burdened with all the "Social
Duties". The Bridge Officers would continue to have the same
responsibilities for the Social Management Side of BYC that they now
have, but would not be burdened with all the "Management Duties".
What would the revised structure of BYC mean? It would significantly
reduce the truly "daunting" responsibilities currently faced by potential
Bridge Officers. The new structure would thereby provide some
significant opportunities for either party in our "new" Family
Memberships to offer their services as a Bridge Officer, or as an
Executive Committee Member that will now have defined job descriptions in
either the Budget or the Planning operations. All EC Members shall have
a three year progression program that allows them to develop and enhance
their skill levels in a structured and highly supportive manner.
Assuming the Membership approves the proposed revisions, the Nominating
Committee will very soon be seeking candidates for five positions on the
Executive Committee, and one position as Rear Commodore. These new
positions will offer some great opportunities to serve your fellow Club
Members, with much reduced responsibilities and demands on your time. If
you are selected to be approached, I urge you to listen carefully, ask
lots of questions, and look deep into your heart before you respond. You
have some great opportunities to define the future leadership of
Bremerton Yacht Club.
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Lest I be guilty of shirking my Social Duties and Responsibilities, I
will take a moment and look forward to some upcoming BYC events. One of
those really great and "famous" BYC Breakfasts will be served on March
9th by our wonderful Skipperettes, so mark your calendars and don't miss
this one. The following Friday through Sunday (March 14-16) will be the
"First of the Year" Club Cruise to Poulsbo to help celebrate St Patrick's
Day. Break out your everything GREEN (yep, maybe even Green Beer) and
join this fun event and help welcome in some Spring weather (We Hope,
Hope, Hope). Should be good weather though, because the BYC Children's
Easter Party is the following Saturday the 22nd. It is not allowed to
rain on all those cute little kids hunting for Easter Eggs.
My heartfelt "Thank You" goes out to so many of our BYC Members who
devoted their time and effort towards making this Heavy Weather weekend
one of the events that so much of the Puget Sound Yachting Community
eagerly looks forward to each year. I also want to thank the entire BYC
Membership for their tolerance and patience in allowing their fellow
boaters to "Invade" our quiet bit of Heaven for three days. They will
all agree that there are no finer hosts anywhere than Bremerton Yacht
Club.
As always, I remain your Humble Servant,
Mike Dunn
Vice Commodore
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