July 3 2019 raft-up

July 1– It started off with a raft-up of two Hunters on a sunny afternoon in Liberty Bay. We anchored tight to the boundary lines and then watched as a bouy drug anchor, making it appear we were too close to the firecracker barge. Rick Giles called harbor patrol and was directed to the Poulsbo police. We were assured our anchoring spot was approved and we would not have to brake up the raft at a later date. We peacefully went to sleep. Then, in the middle of the night there was quite a bang/thud noise. 

July 2- It was discovered that one of Fre’Moment’s kayaks was missing from the deck of their boat. After careful scanning of the shoreline the nose of a kayak was spotted. An extreme low tide made it difficult to get real close and see if it was the runaway boat.

More Hunters joined the party: Vaya Con Dios, Salish Mermaid, Noname’ and Alibi. The rains set in and we hunkered down in our cabins. Copious cups of coffee were to be had aboard New Shoes. When the rains ceased we all popped our heads out like a bunch of prairie dogs. And then there were 4-legged crew to take to shore and do the Poulsbo-thing. (Sluy’s baked good, anyone). 

Once the tide was up and rains subsided the errant kayak was rescued. It was all mucky from it’s wild un-manned ride to the beach. 

July 3 - Coffee and warm corn bread muffins were served aboard Fre’Moment. We planned an impromptu dinner potluck for early evening. 

Disconnect and Pure Sterling arrived and joined the raft. We were up to 8 boats!

Late afternoon brought a parade of boats by our group. A roar went up when the Scotts and Ridenours motored by aboard Willy. 

Thanks Ann and Richard Giles for welcoming us into your cabin, opening your salon, and offering up your grill for the potluck .  It’s a beautiful thing to be all together on a Hunter! Those going north into the San Juans shared favorite routes and spots to explore. Others swapped boat stories and life experiences.  

The firework show began later than expected. (We learned the next morning that there had been a police matter in the waterfront park.) Our front row view of the fireworks was unimpeded. 

July 4– The raft-up began to break up by 8am and sailors headed out. 

Gina’s relatives, visiting from Arizona and staying aboard their boat, said it was a holiday to remember - being on sailboat, enjoying the Pacific NW, meeting HAPSters and watching fireworks on Liberty Bay!  Does it get any better? 

Des Moines Solstice 2019: Report

Our first weekend rendezvous of the season was well attended in Des Moines.  Members joining the festivities by boat were:

Tom & Debbie Jardine and Dog Chelan aboard Alibi

Tom & Kersten Hubbard  plus their Son Ryanand his Girlfriend Tayloraboard Tiburon

Court & Kim Krumvieda and Dog: Diamond aboardEagle’s Wings(new members)

John & Kerstin Hilton, accompanied by Jeannine Bramstedt aboard New Shoes

Jeff & Laura Condit aboard Noname’

Duane & Gina Rubash and Dog: Maggie aboard Salish Mermaid

Russ & Bonnie Opthof and Dog: Abby aboard Vaya Con Dios(new members)

Pierre & Terry Michel and Dog(s) Rex and Cruz aboard Wild Duck

Mike & Ruth Murray and Grand Dog: Twilight aboard Wings of Gold

Members joining the festivities by land were:

Brian & Mary Scott

Ben & Emmelie Stewart

Carol Jones accompanied by Chris and Sonny Jones

Ray & Debra Valpey and Dog: Clover

Buzz & Tish Greenman

Jim & Vicki Carey

Friday’s Meet and Greet began about 1600 hours in the activity shelter.  Conversations were buzzing as members snacked on a variety of hors d’ oeuvres and beverages. Visiting was such fun that no one wanted to leave for dinner so a large order for Chinese food to go was placed.  Pot Luck to go, you might say, as members passed around their orders for everyone to try.

In a heartfelt moment, Jeannine Bramstedt was presented with a certificate of lifetime membership for the service to HAPS that she and husband, Billperformed over many, many years.  Jeannine brought a photo board that shared with us many of the activities Bill was involved in.  A few stories were shared, and Mike Murrayreminded us that the Bramstedt’s boat, J. Michellehad the notable distinction of being one of the few boats ever struck by a deer.  As a trailerable vessel the J. Michelle is exposed to risks most of our fleet is not.  As many of you know Bill passed away this year in March and will be greatly missed.

The evening was capped off with a showing of the classic seafaring film, Captain Ron.  “If anything’s gonna happen, it’s gonna happen out there…”

Saturday began in the activity shelter with coffee and a continental breakfast.  The shoppers in the crowd made a beeline for the Des Moines Farmer’s Market held in the parking lot above the marina. Lots of beautiful fresh fruit, jewelry, and clothing were on display, and plenty of full shopping bags made their way back to the boats.  

Meanwhile Gina Rubashinspired the model builders in the crowd to paint and assemble little sailboats from the Dollar Store. The creativity was marvelous! No paint by the numbers in this crowd.  The painting and conversation went on for hours.

Some members ventured out in the afternoon for a several mile walk to explore the old church camp grounds that are now known as Beach Park.

While we were blessed with favorable weather, the only sails hoisted were for maintenance purposes in the marina.  Nonamé was having some issues with her main sail being difficult to unfurl, so a number of the technically inclined gathered to problem solve and grease the furling mechanism.

Saturday night’s dinner was a potluck.  The sheer number of crock pots filled with tasty entries was impressive.  And let’s not forget dessert!

Sunday morning was a bit overcast and cold, so we were slow to rise and shine. Continental breakfast was again served, and we began to say our good byes before an early departure to catch a favorable tide.

A great weekend was had by all, and a big thank you is in order to hosts, Duane and Gina Rubash.

Chart Chat Summary 2019

It was a chilly, but thankfully snow-free afternoon meeting in the back room of the Magnolia branch of the Seattle Public Library. 

Twenty-three HAPSters gathered for the first meeting of 2019, more than ready to talk about cruising destinations and plans ahead. The record for furthest travelled went to Dave and Susie Garland, who were delayed for a day in Ellensburg by *snow* Apparently, some beer was required to deal with the time lapse.

Mike Murray began with a moving tribute to Mike Mariano, and Stuart read The Unknown Shore, a poem by Elizabeth Clark Hardy, in Mike Mariano’s honor. Kerstin Hilton will gather donations from HAPS members and put them into gifts from HAPS to Childhavenand Treehouse, in Mike’s memory. 

John Hilton then launched us into the meat of the meeting. The results can be found along with the annual rendezvous and meetme@ scheduleon the HAPS website. Here are some highlights:

·     Ray and Deb Valpey volunteered to work with Rick and Ann Giles as hosts on the South Sound Redux Cruise (18-23 August)

·     Rick and Ann Giles reiterated their desire to head to the San Juans after the 2-4 July Poulsbo meet me@, for 2 weeks, in the company of however many Hapsters care to join them.

·     The Annual Meeting is now set for Brownsville, on 18-20 October.

After the schedule had been set, here was some discussion about meetme@ communication. At least one person was not interested in interacting on Facebook at all, and alternative ways of communicating were discussed.

The general conclusion was that people who are initiating meetme@gatherings with advance notice (e.g., one week or more) can let HAPS Comms know about the event, and Comms will get out an eblast to that effect, with the contact information of the initiator(s). Anything with less advance notice should be put onto the HAPS Facebook site by the initiators.

Duane Rubash then presented the Membership Report and the Treasurer’s Report. We have 34 boats as members, including four new members for 2019:

·     Alibi, Hunter 35.5, Tom & Debbie Jardine

·     Endless, Hunter 375, Chip & Marianne Handewith

·     Nonamé, Hunter 340, Jeff & Laura Condit

·     Wild Duck, Hunter 41DS, Pierre & Terry Michel

The membership roster on the website is up to date. We also have one prospective member, five who have not yet renewed, and five who have told us that they are not renewing.

The Treasurer’s Report was delivered. A copy has been sent to the members under separate cover.

Thanks to John and Kerstin Hilton for arranging the meeting and providing the refreshments.

Race Your Hunter 2018

21-23 September, 2018

What a difference from last year.  In 2017 the water was like glass; this year we had 25+ knots.  But more on that later.

As usual Tom and Kersten Hubbard and Duane Rubash and Gina Rubatino Rubash went all out to make this rendezvous a smashing success.  Friday night was delicious appetizers followed by some folks walking into town and others eating take out in the really nice shelter at the head of the dock.

Arrived by Boat

• Jim DePretto & Barb Deaton of Fairview.  They also had some friends & family that happened to live near the marina that was able to join the festivities and crew.

• John Hilton & his friend Rich of New Shoes

• Michael & Ruth Murray of Wings of Gold

• Bob and Kris Ridenour of Wanda Mae

Arrived by Car or foot :)

• Ray & Debra Valpey of Sloe Tango joined us all three days. Ray crewed on Tiburon

• Buzz & Tish Greenman of Prime Meridian joined us for Friday night

• Larry & Sue Tughan of Beverly Jane joined us for Saturday

• Bill & Jeannine Bramstedt of J Michelle joined us for Saturday.  Bill crewed on Tiburon 

• Ben and Emmilie Stewart of Yikes II joined us for Friday and Saturday

• Carol Jones of Brigadoon joined us for Friday

Including some drive ins and guests of Fairview I counted 31 folks. 

Ruth and I were almost the last ones to arrive by boat at 5pm on Friday. Wings of Gold  departed Bremerton Yacht Club and motor sailed through Rich passage facing a 3kt flood current but had a very pleasant sail the rest of the way to Des Moines.  Mostly bright sunshine and steady south west winds let us average about 4-5 kts under jib alone.  Have to love days like that. 

The very last arrival was our intrepid Fleet Captain John Hilton and his friend Rich docking at 11pm Friday.  Duane told John that conditions would be much more favorable Friday night than facing strong southerly winds Saturday.  John chuckled when he told me that Duane was watching his every move on AIS, including telling him not to transit Colvos Passage but instead keep Vashon Island to starboard.  Things can get confusing at night.

After a continental breakfast Saturday and the pre -ace briefing four boats ventured into the tempest.  Salish Mermaid crewed by Duane and Mike, Fairview by Jim and Barb, New Shoes by John and Rich, and Tiburon by Tom and Ray.  Once on the starting line John reversed the course which was fine but Fairview did not get the memo.  Sooo three boats headed south and Fairview headed north in accordance with the original briefing held but 10 minutes prior.  Anyway we got him headed south and the race proceeded apace.  Salish Mermaid was in third place catching Tiburon when our jib clew blew out with a bang.  Under main alone our pointing ability was nil as was our speed over the ground, 1.3-1.6 kts.  Gamely we carried on losing ground but upon turning downwind we saw 5.5 -6 kts.  This was fine until we rounded the downwind mark and once again clawed our way to windward at almost 2 kts.  My hat is off to Skipper Duane who never got flustered but took everything in stride.

The winner was New Shoes  ( he who reversed the course at the starting line) followed by honorary second place Fairview whom you remember as the boat that did not get the course change memo.  Third was Tiburon and fourth Salish Mermaid.  When still underway John asked if anyone wanted a second race.   Hmmm. No.

The remainder of the day was spent socializing, perusing the farmer's market, and preparing the chilis for the evening chili cook off.  First place went to Kris Ridenour in the chili with meat cook off.  First place in the meatless chili went to Deb Valpey (it also was the only meatless entry).    Janine Bramstedt delighted us all (and won a new category, Best Dessert) with a pie made from apples in her yard.  Yum Yum.

And again Tom went out of his way to design winners certificates.  Thanks much.

Fairview departed very early Sunday and Wings of Gold left at 0910.  On a maintenance inspection note back at BYC, since I had run at 2900 rpm for almost three hours I thought I would check the engine dipstick.  That was fine but I noticed a bolt in the bilge.  Hmmm.  Upon a closer look I noted that there was only one bolt of four left in my propeller shaft transmission coupling.  And the bolt in the bilge fit perfectly.  A quick trip to Tacoma Screw Monday morning produced the right fasteners which I immediately installed.  Speaking with Bob Ridenour (who used to commission Hunters) he said that there was a time when Hunter Marine had some issues with that.  At any rate my coupling will now get a look each time prior to getting underway.

Tom, Kersten, Duane and Gina thank you again for a terrific time.  We look forward to next year.  You folks really go all out and it is truly appreciated.

Cheers,

Mike and Ruth Murray