Feb - Portland Yacht Club

thePORTLAND YACHT CLUB MONTHLYFebruary 2007Vol. 57 No. 2Commodore’s Ball 2007

PAGE 2 | The Portlight | 2.07COMMODORE’S COMMENTS99 Years & Counting!New Years wasrung in at PYCwith resounding cheersboth at the ClubhouseGala Event and at theOutstation’s more casualgathering of hardy PYCboaters!The New Year’s Eve Committee did a bangupjob of creating an exceptional event –thanks to all who participated. Happy NewYear!the PORTLIGHTpublished monthly by thePORTLAND YACHT CLUB1241 NE Marine DrivePortland, Oregon 97211P: 503.285.1922 | F: 503.283.4960Email: office@portlandyc.comEDITORSJim and Debbie ButlerPHOTOGRAPHERSFrank TillmanOFFICERS AND TRUSTEESCommodoreVice CommodoreSecretary/TreasurerRear CommodoreTrustee Year 2Trustee Year 2Trustee Year 2Trustee Year 1Trustee Year 2Heather Adams (power)Berkeley Smith (sail)Jerry Miller (power)Doug Foster (sail)Nick Johnson (sail)Nancy Kirk (sail)Eric Gazow (power)Wylie Grabish (sail)Mike Stansell (power)As I write this article in early January, wejust experienced our First “Second ThursdayLunch”. It was a huge success ~ evenwith snow on the ground and freezingtemps! The bar was open and we served upsome 68 lunches! Thanks to all the Helperson board. Many requested that we keepthis going as it’s a great venue to come outduring the week and a great time to bringclients and potential new members to theClub. The next scheduled Second ThursdayLunch is on February 8. The sceneryis great and the company is exceptional!We would all like to express our appreciationto the staff at PYC for their effortsnot only at the events, but also for the dayto day duties they perform which help tomake our Club a great place to be. ThankYou All!We’re looking forward to the Commodore’sBall, Happy Hours, two Cookoutscoming up in January and one on February9 with music. The Crab Feed is on February10. This annual event is a sellout, so ifyou have not made your reservations, youshould do so immediately. Jim & SandyHansen and Mike & Tammy House andtheir Crew of Crabby Specialists always doa fabulous job, making this event one ofthe most popular events of the year. March3 marks the Casino Night, run by RustyKuhn and his Merry Band of N “Rowers”.Knowing these funsters, you won’t want tomiss this event!Speaking of fun, there’s always a need forvolunteers so choose an activity, call theChair, and get involved!The Open House for prospective NewMembers is coming up on 2/18. If youknow anyone who would be interested inbecoming a member of PYC, please invitethem to this function. Our MembershipChair, Bob Bishop, has done a great jobonce again of organizing & coordinatingthe PYC booth at the Portland Boat Showin an ongoing effort to attract new membersto PYC – keep ‘em coming Bob!Special thanks to Frank Tillman for theDVD highlighting PYC events and to JohnLaDoux for loaning the Plasma Screen, andto the many PYC Members who mannedthe booth during the Boat Show – thankyou all.We’re continuing the New Member incentiveprogram – to be in effect all year.Just sponsor a new Boat Owning or ActiveMember and you’ll receive the following:One Month’s FREE Dues, 10 Drink Ticketsand $20 Club Store Credit. It’s a greatdeal!There’s an Outstation Clean-Up PartyMarch 10 ~ call either Roger Jorgensen orDale Richards to sign up and bring yourequipment for a major day of cleaning.The next PYC cruise is the St. Patty’s DayCruise, March 16. We’ll have the secondannual sock burning ritual there, organizedby our pyrotechnic in charge, Rear CommodoreDoug Foster. Your Cruising Committeeis well into the planning stages forthe upcoming cruising season and theypublished a full cruise schedule in the JanuaryPortlight so that you can begin markingyour calendars for the upcoming cruises.We’re anticipating to some potentiallyrough weather. The moorage is very susceptibleto high water, strong currents & windsthis time of year. Please check your mooringlines, fenders, and boathouse chains. Ifyou have any concerns or are just not sure,ask for advice. Your Safety Committee isready and willing. There are two upcomingeducation sessions in February so takeadvantage of these opportunities to learn.The first Friday Night Happy Hour withMusic rung in the New Year with a huge successand created an atmosphere of warmthand celebration - it was well received (andthe bar was very busy). Be sure to put it onyour calendar to attend the evening of Feb9, for Happy Hour and live music at PYC.The Commodore’s Ball was a great eventwith over 170 in attendance ~ the EntertainmentCommittee did a super jobpreparing the meal and decorations, BobSudlow conducted the ceremonies and althoughtraditional had some fun mixedin, and the Grand March with the help ofHarry Braunstein and the Band, Ron Reudiand the Hurricanes, completed the evening.Thanks again to Doug Foster and DianeBurns for a terrific year in 2006 - and wehope you’ll all enjoy the festivities plannedfor 2007!All the Committees are hard at work makingplans for the upcoming events to assurethat you have a fun year ahead ~ so sign up& attend because we’re all looking forwardto 99 Years & Counting with you!Heather Adams,Commodore

PAGE 5 | The Portlight | 2.07BATTERY BASICSBatteries are really the heart of a vessel,supplying life giving voltage tovirtually every system. Losing battery powerwill instantly remove the pleasure from pleasureboating. So often battery lives are shorteneddue to lack of attention, overcharging and cyclingtoo deep.Basically there are three common marine batterytypes: flooded cell, absorbed glass mat(AGM) and gel cell. All of these battery typesrequire attention in the form of removing anyacid, dirt and grease from the battery casingwhich can conduct current between the batteryvoltage, and keeping the terminals clean.If the terminals show signs of corrosion, thebattery cables need to be removed. Before thisis done, the battery charger and the batteryswitches need to be turned off. Allow a fewminutes for any gasses to dissipate. Anothergood precaution is to cover one terminal whileremoving the other with a non-conductive materialso that you cannot short between the terminalswith your wrench. Remove the cablesfrom the terminals and clean the terminal andcable ends. With a solution of baking soda andwater, clean the battery then rinse with waterand dry. Be sure not to get any soap or bakingsoda inside of the battery. Assemble the cleanedbattery cables to the cleaned battery terminalsand secure, then coat the terminals with terminalprotection spray.Flooded batteries will need the added attentionof monitoring and filling the cells with distilledwater. Be sure to never allow the level of theelectrolyte to get low enough to expose theplates and not higher than about 3/8 inch fromthe battery top. The flooded batteries requiremore maintenance, but they can be chargedmore quickly at higher amperage than AGMor gel cell batteries and are generally more economical,so there is a trade off.Overcharging is, in my opinion, the greatestbattery killer. It is often associated with an oldstyle ferrous resonance charger that doesn’t havethe capacity when left on to stop charging. Afterthe batteries are fully charged they begin gassingand depleting the electrolyte level, exposingthe plates. Once exposed, the plates quicklysulfate. When the battery is then re-filled, thesurface area of the plate exposed to the electrolytebecomes reduced, diminishing the battery’scapacity.Another problem is cycling the batteries toodeep. Batteries live longer if they are cycleddown to no more than 50% capacity. A flooded12-volt battery fully charges should be at a voltagebetween 13-13.2 volts. A 50% charge willbe a little below 12 volts. These voltages need tobe measured with no load and no charge beingapplied. Keeping your batteries in the top halfof capacity will add length of life.Regardless of which type of battery you select,it is important that all of your batteries are ofthe same type: flooded, AGM or gel cell. Eachhas different charging characteristics and willnot work well when combined. Also, unlessall of the batteries in a battery bank are almostbrand new, if one battery in the battery bankgoes bad, change them all. If old batteries areleft with new ones, not only will you have dependabilityconcerns with the remaining oldbatteries but the old batteries will diminish thecapacity of the new one.In recent years, marine battery chargers havemade significant advances in terms of their abilityto assess a battery’s state of charge and applyingthe appropriate amperage to charge thebattery quickly. More importantly, stop chargingwhen the battery is fully charged. If youstill have an old ferrous resonance charger, anupgrade to a “smart charger” with a microprocessormay be in order.Following these suggestions will keep the heartof your vessel beating stronger for a healthierlife.Paul WilsonFebruary 10, 2006Bar 5:30 • Dinner 6:30 • Dress CasualMenuCrab, Oyster Shooters, Salad, French Bread, Beer/Pop,Dessert. (Halibut available for non-crab eaters)$27.50 per Person, Children ½ price.Reservations by the 8th – Limit of 8 People per member. Attendance limited to 390.24-hour reservation line 503.735.0632 or online at www.portlandyc.com* No Saturday Lunch *Committee Chairs: Jim & Sandi Hansen, Mike & Tammy House

PAGE 6 | The Portlight | 2.07PYC BRINGS IN THE NEW YEARPYCOUTSTATION

PAGE 7 | The Portlight | 2.07ORNAMENT EXCHANGEOPEN HOUSE

PAGE 8 | The Portlight | 2.07DREAM COME TRUEWe hope to launch our new boat,the “Dream Come True II” byMarch. (Yes, 2007).“Dream Come True II” is a 48 ft. customboat, designed by Jan and myself. We havesupervised the construction since its beginningin 1999.It’s been 7-1/2 years now – more time thanwe anticipated. Many thought we werefoolish to build our own boat. I admit to afew stressful times, but we remain committedto each other and to our dream.Why did we decide to build our own boat?It’s a lot of reasons. I suppose I have alwayshad the dream to build boats, maybe eversince I was a kid.Everybody has dreams to build things whenthey are kids.I built my first watercraft, a raft, when Iwas about 9, after a flood in Eugene nearlyfloated our home away. It didn’t floodagain, so my raft just sat idle – a dream.My first real boat ride was on the WillametteRiver in about 1946, with my Dadin a plywood river boat that he built. Wesaw salmon migrating upriver for spawning.Dad was rowing silently – no motor– no noise – we were alone on the river. Iwill remember it forever.I often fished with my Dad from boats. Ilearned how to row and to run an outboardmotor. We went over the bar in a “big boatwith an inboard engine.” It was 27 ft. long– “big” in the 50’s.In 1956 I bought a 13 ft. inboard runaboutwith a close friend. It was a homebuilt plywood boat with a Ford FlatheadV-8 engine. The bottom was rotten andthe engine wouldn’t run, but the price wasright. It had a straight shaft to the propeller.When you started the engine the boatstarted moving. No neutral – no reverse.However the boat had style! It was a veebottom with tumblehome, a forward slopingtransom, and a curved windshield. Wereplaced the plywood bottom and coveredit with an amazing new material - fiberglass.I traded a shotgun for a working V-8engine and had an engine guy soup it up.185 HP in a 13 ft. boat! Wow – style andspeed - 55 MPH at full throttle.We were the fastest boat on Cottage GroveLake in 1956. Of course there were onlythree other boats. One was a Chris with a 4cylinder engine, one was a wood kit with a6 cylinder, and the third was a homemadeboat made with another amazing material,aluminum. They were owned by prominentbusiness leaders; sawmillers and loggersin the area. We all became friends asall boaters do. We waterskied all summer.Our boat could pull 4 skiers at one time.The summer of ’56 was filled with boating– we were in boat heaven.Owning a boat, however, became a cashproblem for us after that summer, and bothmy friend and myself had to go on withour lives. We sold our boat a year later butmy dream was to have another boat. I eventhought about building boats and considereda job at a boatbuilder in California,but college was deemed more important– then married life – children – responsibilities– and only the dream of anotherboat remained.In the 60’s I heard about boats for charterin Seattle. My experience with an inboardski boat was enough to charter a real yachtin those days, and so I reserved an attractive27 ft. Fairliner. We cruised into Canada,crossed the straight of Georgia, up the JervisInlet. We saw dolphins, log booms anda yacht with a helicopter reportedly ownedby John Wayne. We spent the night nearMalibu in a logging camp – had dinner inthe cookhouse with the loggers and playedPinochle late into the night.I was so taken with “cruising” that over thenext years I chartered and cruised the SanJuans and Canada as often as I could afford.Jan and I were married May 1st, 1988. Sheshared my dream to have our own boat.We bought a 32 ft. Bayliner in 1989 andnamed it the “Dream Come True”. Wejoined the Portland Yacht Club and metmany friends that have become lifelongfriendships. Our Dream Come True hasopened new worlds to us.In 1998 we started talking about buildinga new boat.Jan thought it was a great idea, and weundertook the design of our new DreamCome True. I designed the lines – the runninggear, and Jan created the floor planand did all the interior design.The initial design stages were relativelyeasy. We simply wanted a larger boat witha walk-around bed, twin helm seats, an upgalley, and flotation in case of swamping.No big deal. Then the work began.We built the hull using that amazing material,aluminum, the cabin superstructurefrom that amazing material, fiberglass, andused wood throughout the interior. Theactual construction is a story by itself.It’s about finished now, and as we said inopening, we are hopeful of launching byMarch, with final outfitting taking thenext couple of months. Hopefully, by ouranniversary, May 1st 2007, we can showit to those of you interested in seeing our“Dream Come True II”.LeRoy Cothrell

PAGE 9 | The Portlight | 2.07

PAGE 10 | The Portlight | 2.07PORTLAND BOAT SHOWThe reception the Portland YachtClub received this year at thePortland Boat Show has been well received.The Board of Trustees suggested a new locationso that the Club could better displayits history in preparation of the 100th YearCelebration in 2008.The booth consisted of 42” plasma TV displayingclub activities from the past year,the new Club brochure and other recruitmenttools. The display board by NancyKirk portrayed our early history. Greatthanks to photographer Frank Tillman forproviding a two-hour slide show. Also,Steve Callihan prepared a slide show of ourearly history in anticipation of our centennialcelebration next year. The slide showbrought in a lot of interested couples andfamilies. Add to that the outgoing personalitiesof our member volunteers extollingthe virtues of club membership, we nowhave a new data base of interested prospectivemembers.Speaking of volunteers, we had 40 timeslots to fill. With a little duplication,our members turned out enthusiastically.Along with our new Commodore, severalmembers of the Board of Trustees volunteered.In addition, there were several newCRUISING IN THE NEW YEARThe New Year’s cruise to the Outstationfor the annual lobsterfeed was a great time for everyone, exceptmaybe for those big Maine lobsters! Yummy!Many of us opted for the more casualway to ring in the New Year by watchingour feast boil and toasting to good friendsand company. The lobster feed has becomequite a popular tradition and could nothave been possible if not for Dale Richardsand all of his hard work and time spent onthis event that officially did not happen!Its Cruising season again! Dust off thosecobwebs and fill those tanks, cuz’ we’rekicking off a great year of boating startingwith our St. Patrick’s day cruise to theOutstation March 16, 17 & 18th. So markmembers who offered their time. Then,there were the dedicated members who,when asked, offered their participation.All in all, it was a tremendous Club activity.It remains to be seen how many of the prospectsbecome members. To further enticetheir membership, there will be an OpenHouse for prospects and their Sponsors onSunday, February 18th at the Clubhouse.Then, a flotilla of member boats will hostthe soon-to-be members to the Outstationto show off our favorite cruising destinationon Sunday, March 11th.In summary, the Boat Show was a success.The members and staff who assisted in thepresentation of our Club are to be heartilythanked for their time and efforts. As afollow-up to the show, when you see a prospectivemember, welcome them aboard.your calendars and don’t forget to wearyour green! The Cruise Committee is seekingvolunteers for any upcoming cruises, soif you’re willing to share a little bit of yourtime helping out, please don’t be shy and letus know. We all know it’s a lot of work toprepare for any cruise, so any help given ismuch appreciated! Your 2007 Cruise Committeeis: Ken & Pam Emmons (Sea Ya),Dennis & Carrie Vaughn (Five O’clockSomewhere), & Vince & Debbie Sweeney(Bigger Me Boat).See you all in March!The Vaughn’sHelp PYCDOUBLE THE FLEETFor Opening Day 2007We’re going for 85 to 90 memberboats in this year’sOpening Day Parade.• Opening Day is May 5, 2007• Skippering your boat in the parade is notdifficult• Opening Day veterans will be ready tohelp you• Remember, our goal is 100 boats in 2008,our Centennial Year, so now’s the time toget involved!VOLUNTEERSNEEDEDThere is a need for volunteer helpin our PYC office, during the week,for 2 - 4 hr shifts.You will be helping with year-endwrap up, filing and creating newfiles, answering phones, and havingfun.Julie could really use the help tocatch up ~ any time you have willbe greatly appreciated. Thank You!

PAGE 11 | The Portlight | 2.07COMING EVENTSSunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday SaturdayFEBRUARYSeattle Boat Show1 2 3Seattle Boat ShowHappy HourSeattle Boat ShowLunch4 5 6 7 8 9 10Seattle Boat ShowMen’s GolfSecond ThursdayLunchHappy Hour w/MusicPortlight DeadlineCrab FeedNo Lunch11 12 13 Valentine’s Day 14 15 16 17Men’s GolfBridge ClubHappy HourEducation SessionLunch18 President’s Day 19 20 21 22 23 24Open Housefor ProspectiveMembersBoard MeetingMen’s Golf25 26 27 28Men’s GolfHappy HourCookout & MovieJANUARY 2007S M T W T F S1 2 3 4 5 67 8 9 10 11 12 1314 15 16 17 18 19 2021 22 23 24 25 26 2728 29 30 31Education SessionLunchMARCH 2007S M T W T F S1 2 34 5 6 7 8 9 1011 12 13 14 15 16 1718 19 20 21 22 23 2425 26 27 28 29 30 31Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday SaturdayFEBRUARY 2007S M T W T F S1 2 34 5 6 7 8 9 1011 12 13 14 15 16 1718 19 20 21 22 23 2425 26 27 28Day Cruise toOutstation forPerspective MembersAPRIL 2007S M T W T F S1 2 3 4 5 6 78 9 10 11 12 13 141516 17 18 19 20 2122 23 24 25 26 27 2829 30MARCH1 2 3Casino NightLunch4 5 6 7 8 9 10Men’s GolfEducation SessionOutstation SpringCleaning PartyLunch11 12 13 14 15 16 St. Patrick’s 17Men’s GolfSecond ThursdayLunchWinter MeetingBridge ClubHappy HourPortlight DeadlineHappy Hour w/MusicCookoutSt. Patrick’sOutstation CruiseHappy HourSt. Patrick’sOutstation CruiseLunch18 19 20 21 22 23 24DaySt. Patrick’sOutstation CruiseBoard MeetingMen’s GolfHappy Hour25 26 27 28 29 30 31LunchMen’s GolfHappy HourCookout & MovieLunch

MORE OPEN HOUSE...PYC CHRISTMAS LIGHT JUDGING2006 had a record number of Portland Yacht Club Boats42 entries!!Three Rows this year decorated virtually the whole lengthof their handrail so we created a Best Decorated HandrailAwardSeveral Rows had many entrants so we created aBest Overall Decorated Row AwardROWABCDEFGHIJKLMNRow WinnerBest Handrailand Don PetersonBest Overall RowN RowN1 - Dennis VaughnN6 - Rob PetersonN102 - Vincent SweeneyN 107 - Dano ToristojaN110 - Steve PearsonN112 - Brian HedgesN113 - Gary ErdahlAll Winners Listed Above, Pick Up Your Awards at the Office“What other luxury dealerships try to be”Special Discounts toPortland Yacht Club Members!633 NE Twelfth Avenue, Portland • Mon-Fri 8-7, Sat 9-6, Sun 11-61-877-802-0091 www.vicalfonso.com anders@andersprinting.com www.andersprinting.com 503.232.5842Printed on 100% post consumer paper.