08/16 - 08/18 - Bellingham 2019

[Catman]

Alright, team, so far we have 10 boats set for Bellingham just three weekends from now. That's a good number, and if anyone else wants to saddle up for the event of the decade, jump in.
Al and Karen, whom some of you haven't met, didn't sign up but are arriving in their 22' Cruiser named Life of Riley. They drove to Tennessee last month to collect it, and keep the boat near Squalicum Harbor.
Several of us are taking the following week off, and plan to splash northward into the Gulf Islands and beyond if the wind cooperates. I can't wait!

[Da Nag]

Awww...you're such a cute cheerleader, my feline friend.

Come on folks - join the party, fill up that signup sheet. Don't make me resort to Facebook posts again.

[DougR]

Melissa and Doug here!

We just adopted Luna C from Chris & Janet and have her in the Squalicum marina now. We’ll be joining in for the festivities and are excited about the NMI tour on the 17th.

Looking forward to meeting you all! Cheers!

[Knipet]

[johnd]

"NMI Factory Tour confirmed for Saturday (8/17) at 10AM."

We are planning to drive down and walk the dock looking at the C-Dory's
(we only launch on weekdays)

and would love to go on the factory tour sat. we would be driving to the tour.
Where is the tour located?
Do we need to sign up for it?

Thanks, johnd

[Knipet]

I know a guy with a multi passenger minivan that is quite reasonable in his prices (about like Uber) that we use often to make our Costco runs. I'm sure he would like to run a group of us over to NMI, and wherever else people want to go. PM me for his contact info.

[jer2]

Additional info on vendor advice and source for props:

While many 'on-line' and 'brick and mortar' marine supply sources sell props, I've found that a reliable and competitive source for excellent prop advice is:
Henry H. Smith and Co, 1880 Fruit Rd., Algonac, Michigan 48001, 1-800-338-8900. They are recommended by West Maine for prop reconditioning, repairs, prop advise, prop use guidelines, specs, etc. They have a 100% Customer Satisfaction Guarantee, etc, and ship anywhere in the US. They have been in business for over 100yrs in the Great Lakes area.
I found myself getting easily confused as to props, reconditioning, replacement by the retailers and got quickly 'educated' by the folks at Smith's! Many factors involved as cited above and some good insight into "physics', functional and location uses, personal 'speed' habits too....

John Roark
CD-16C

[Aurelia]

Enjoy it Cbrats! We will be out of the country roaming Iceland by 4x4 truck/camper and will unfortunately miss you.

Greg

[Catman]

Hey, Bellinghamsters.

I called today to confirm we have about 10 boats motoring on in on the 16th, and they'll have a designated space for us reserved on P-Dock. Let me add that there'll be room for more boats if some folks have a touch of FOMO or decide late that they too would like to be a part of this magnificent event. P-Dock is the same one we've used in past years, and rookies, it's easy and will be evident once you're a little bit inside the harbor. The office closes at 5 p.m., but that won't be an impediment to mobility or fee payment. They gave me the gate code but asked that I abstain from announcing it on the worldly web. PM me for that.

Melissa and Doug, good to know you'll be there.
Steve, you did say you work part time with Dan at his Orcas bike shop, yes? I biked there on 6/26 to say hi to him and we talked bikes for 45 minutes. Love that island time mentality...
Johnd, happy to hear you're going to drop by, too. No sign-up needed for the NMI shop tour. I spoke with Factory Mark today and he said they could transport some of us to the shop in Fairhaven if needed. Let's talk about transportation and I'll pass that along to Mark.
Lastly, Greg, have fun in Iceland! We'll miss you and you family this year.

[bmcminn]

Hello. I've got my fingers crossed that I'll be there in an as-yet-unnamed 1993 16' Cruiser. Not sure if I'll be keeping it at the marina those nights or in our driveway... I'm not even sure how to operate one of these things or what the true seaworthiness of this vessel is.

Should be a blast.

And thanks again for the info the past few weeks. My family thinks this is hilarious.

Also we'd be glad to help with transportation or whatever if anyone needs.

[Catman]

bmcminn, thanks for jumping on and offering to chauffer these fine attendees. We'll soon know more about transportation needs.
By the way, I've heard really good things about that 16' C-Dory, but gosh, that's a pretty small boat for such big water out there. Better be careful.

Speaking of turnout, did anyone happen to see the documentary about Woodstock last night on PBS? Safe to say hosting it was a little more involved than a Brat rendezvous. Frantic to locate a site after the initial one fell through, they had about three months to put that gig together. I hear people texted and word spread quickly.

[TyBoo]

I missed the Woodstock show - both the real one and the TV one last night. I turned on the TV just as it was ending. You are right about the texting but it was not quick at all. Those old rotary phones took some time to compose txt msgs.

I tried to make it all work for us to join you up there for B’ham but obviously I didn’t try hard enough because there is too much going on down here.

Too bad, I even have the boat on the trailer right now. Had to bring it home to clean it up for a boat parade next Saturday. The granddaughter of my late best friend for whom the boat is named is the county’s Outstanding Teen this year so I offered to take her on the boat for the boat parade and in the black convertible for the land parade. Still not for certain but will put up some pics if it all happens.

Have fun and a safe CBGT. I’ll be down here invaded by family for the next couple weeks.

[cgypsy]

I signed up for this event, but I am still not sure if I will be able to go - I know it is hard to plan when people say maybe, but that is all I know at the moment.

It sounds like it would be a lot of fun and I would be interested in going on the cruise afterward.

[Catman]

Mike, thanks for the trying to make the trek to Bellingham. There's always next year. But gosh, the reason you can't is a pretty special one. Tyler's granddaughter is your county's Outstanding Teen? What an honor. I'm guessing she was chosen over hundreds or thousands of other teens. That's just fantastic, and he would have been so proud. My parents would have fainted in disbelief.

Gypsy, with all the moving parts in our lives it's sure understandable if you can't make it. Keep in touch. I believe several of us are headed up your way Sunday the 18th.

Also, I wanted to gauge our inclination for a Saturday potluck. In past years at Bellingham we've done both the dock potluck or Anthony's, as well as festival eating--whatever folks desired. It depended on participation. It's evident I'm pretty lousy at food organization--single guy, what do you expect--but I can cheerlead the group's choice pretty good. I like the idea of an extended happy hour with nibble-ables and conversation.

[cgypsy]