America's Boating Club of Bremerton

Here's what you get if you don't change out risers every 7 years.
Salt water intrusion and head works.

The change of watch (COW) to start the Bremerton squadrons' 73rd year occurred last night, April 22nd 2024, at the BYC ballroom. Cdr Bob Allen, S, was honored (but not present due to health reasons) and became our Commander for the 5th time. His wife Karen accepted a plaque from D/Lt/C* Dave Mcbride, AP-CN, for Bob's service over the years in his absence. The cake was delicious (as well as the BBQ)!

Need your Washington State Boater Education Card?
We are hosting an approved boater education course, 4-day online course via Zoom from April 30 through May 21. The course is $62 per person.
Check out https://www.usps.org/cgi-bin-nat/eddept/800/getregformx.cgi?C-19543 for more details as well as registration /inquiry submission.
What is Washington State Boater Education Card?: https://boat.wa.gov/boating-information-portal/boaters-card/

~ Wishing You and Your Family Wonderful Holidays from ABC Bremerton ~
Despite the surprise snowfall on December 9th, the Annual Christmas Brunch had an excellent turnout. We all had a great time discussing the past year, plans for the coming year, and just chatting with great people is always fun.
A special Thank You to members who generously donated non-perishable items for the South Kitsap Helpline.

Crab! Crab! Crab! Members of the Bremerton Squadron attended the Annual Crab Feed Dinner hosted by ABC Bellevue at the Meydenbauer Bay Yacht Club.
We had a great time, gorging on beautiful gigantic Dungeness crabs (Look at the size!) and visiting with wonderful people from other District 16 and 32 squadrons.
The downside is that eating crab requires concentration and makes me quiet. I'm sorry for being antisocial; There was important work at hand 🦀

Tuuli and 5 additional BSPS instructors presented safety and boat handling training for First Mates on October 21, 2023.
A 2-hour classroom seminar was given at Poulsbo Yacht Club to the 28 attendees; followed by Vessel Safety Checks and On-The-Water training in Liberty Bay aboard 5 different boats.
Thank you to all the attendees and instructors. It was a great event!

District 16 ~ End of Season Cruise ~ Sep. 28 - Oct. 13

The trip from John Wayne Marina and Lopex Island meant crossing the Strait of Juan De Fuca. The wind was low, the water smooth, the fog was so thick visibility might have been ¼ mile. This trip required the use of radar, chart plotter, AIS, and fog horn. We were in the fog for 4 hours.

Day 1 Kingston Marina, we met at a local diner for dinner.
Day 2 Port of South Whidbey
Day 3 Port Ludlow Marina
Day 4 Boat Haven, Port Townsend
Day 5-6 John Wayne Marina, Sequim Bay,
Day 7-8 Lopez Island Resort
Day 9-10 Friday Harbor, D16 Fall Conference
Day 11-12 Return trip, Port Ludlow Marina
Day 13 Home, Port of Poulsbo

-Dave

Enjoying the weekend at the Port Ludlow Marina with a few of our members!

Although the Brownsville rendezvous was officially called off, the four boats that did show up this weekend made it a success. The rain and wind came and stayed but we found that we could still have a decent time.
We had new boaters show up (some taking their longest trip to date), Vessel Safety Checks were completed, Boat talk was off the hook and the new Boat dogs had an awesome time both on and off the boat.
Feedback from those new to this say lots of lessons learned were gained and rendezvous/overnighting preparedness would be a great discussion topic at a general meeting. Those that have done this many times before say the lesson learned was to take pictures at every rendezvous and never seen it this wet or windy in the 7 years we have been coming to this rendezvous...
Next club rendezvous coming up is at Port Ludlow from June 16 to 18.

At the end of February, we had the annual "Spaghetti and Meatball Feast" to celebrate the foundation of our club in 1952.
There was a great guest speaker giving presentation on boat insurance followed by delicious meal. We were joined by members of the squadron in Bellevue.
But why Spaghetti?

(These photos are courtesy of district 16 photographer)

America's Boating Channel has been providing boating safety and boater education video series since 2016. It will scale up and go on Smart TV in April.
https://youtu.be/7k3pG9SJuBo

SMART TV LAUNCH Breaking News -- From the USPS-ABC Annual Meeting in Orlando, FL -- Don't miss the red carpet gala media event on Sunday April 16 at the International Boati...

New Member Orientation was held last weekend. The programs provided by the ABC of Bremerton as well as its purpose and history were well presented. Many good questions were actively asked and answered. New members were happy with this good opportunity to rocket start :)

We welcome squadron member Yukie Huebner as admin to the ABC Bremerton FB page! Thanks for your support, Yukie!

New Member orientation will be at 1100 Sunday 2/26/23 and held at the Port of Poulsbo's floating building for 7 people currently signed up. If you are interested in boating and/or boating education consider joining ABC of Bremerton (aka. Bremerton Sail and Power Squadron) and contact me at [email protected]!

If you're in need of your Washington State Boater's Card, you're in luck!
America's Boating Club of Bremerton is hosting an online course via Zoom on February 18 & 19, with registration closing on February 8. The course costs $72 per person, with a second family member receiving 50% off, if they share a book.

To register, check out https://www.usps.org/cgi.../eddept/800/getregformx.cgi.... For more information, you can also call (360) 228-6003 or email [email protected].

Thanks for sharing Port of Bremerton!

About – America's Boating Club® of Bremerton About America's Boating Club of Bremerton Putting out fenders.America’s Boating Club of Bremerton (aka Bremerton Sail and Power Squadron) is part of the America’s Boating Club, a non-profit boating organization dedicated to helping people enjoy boating activities safely. Our membership includes ...

Tuuli Messer-Bookman poses with the owner of a pair of blow up kayaks after doing VSCs (Vessel Safety Checks) on them!

Don't forget we are doing VSE (Vessel Safety Examinations) at the Manchester boat launch from 0900-1500 this Saturday, 7/9/22!

On April 25, 2022 ABC of Bremerton had their annual COW (Change of Watch) and below are your new bridge. From L to R: Commander Rick Hurst (Previously Admin Officer 2 years), Executive Officer Bob Allen (3rd year), Education Officer Gary Wade (Previously Cmdr 2 years), Secretary Ken Nelson (3rd year), Treasurer Susan Hurst (3rd year), and Admin Officer Kim Stirling.

Have you taken the Washington State Parks Safe Boating Pledge? National Safe Boating Week is May 21-27, 2022 this year and they as well as I ask you to make the pledge. Link to the pledge: https://www.parks.wa.gov/1244/Boat-Safe-Pledge then scroll down!

We are gearing up for our next event at Viking Fest! We’ll be handing out material for and will be doing FREE vessel safety checks! Be sure to stop by our booth or check out our website at www.abcbremerton.org to reserve your spot for a safety check. ☀️ 🛥 🌊

Education moment and doing vessel safety checks.

I am SO excited about all of the upcoming activities ABC has planned!

Have you heard?

Article reposted with permission, authored by Moulton Avery

A Cautionary Note
After looking over some of the recent posts on PNW paddling groups, I thought it would be a good idea to share some general principles about cold water safety. Sort of a reality-check antidote to all the Kumbaya "Winter is a great time to paddle" articles that lure thoroughly unprepared paddlers out on the water in the off-season.
At a bare minimum, if you value your life and you're paddling in the PNW at this time of year, you should be wearing a well-secured PFD and either a wetsuit or drysuit that provides enough insulation for the water temperature. Simply "wearing" a wetsuit or drysuit is not enough. You need to be absolutely certain that your gear and techniques are equal to the conditions.
You should also be wearing neo gloves to protect your hands. Why? Because they can become numb and useless very quickly at this time of year - even if you're wearing a drysuit with plenty of insulation underneath it.
This is survival gear, so you should be intimately familiar with how it works. How? By field-testing and swim-testing. You should also be very proficient at cold-water rescues in case you wind up in the water. This requires sufficient cold-water practice so that you know, from direct personal experience, that you can do them quickly and smoothly. Also, paddling on ice-cold water is extraordinarily dangerous. There is zero margin for error when you're "icebreaking".
I'm very serious when I say that you have absolutely no business paddling in the PNW at this time of year unless you meet the above criteria. Why? Because no matter how "experienced" you think you are, if you're unprepared, a capsize is going to be a very big and unpleasant deal that may well require an emergency response.
Besides your own frightening experience, when EMS or SAR arrives and see's how unprepared you were, kayaking gets a bad name and this in turn invites government regulation.
BTW - If you haven't spent at least 5-10 minutes in the water with your gear on, you really have no idea whether it's sufficient or not. And if you're paddling on 35-50F water and haven't done rescues at those temps, you have no idea what it's like and no idea how much more difficult it can be.
Here's a video that explains cold shock, swimming failure, and incapacitation: https://vimeo.com/529139413.
Here's an article that covers cold water gear: https://docs.google.com/document/d/12-pr4IRI5UAaNMpgMNZ3ecmBe240iAQ3zl6WgyfkAyg/edit?usp=sharing
Here's another video that discusses field-testing and rescue practice: https://vimeo.com/653267238
For additional information, please visit our web site: www.coldwatersafety.org.
Be safe and have fun!

National Center for Cold Water Safety

Summertime will be here before you know it. Keep yourself and your loved ones safe by having the knowledge you need. Follow our page for timely updates and class information.

America's Boating Club® of Bremerton – Boating Safety, Education, Training and Fun Our Mission is to Promote Boating Safety and Enjoyment on the Western Puget Sound by • Improving the safety consciousness of the boaters and potential boaters of the communities served by the America’s Boating Club of Bremerton. • Increasing the public awareness of the purpose of the America.....