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Here are some final notes on Saturday's Opening Day Parade, for those of you who are participating....or thinking about bringing a boat. (We ordered 25 sets of parade numbers, and it appears we currently have about 17-18 boats signed up, so it's not too late to change your mind and join in the fun. If you want to participate but hadn't previously said so, please give Marty a call to confirm at 360-301-6737.)
SCHEDULE -
Our fleet will rendezvous at South Lake Union Park (northwest corner, tied to the floats) Saturday morning, getting there by not later than 11:30 a.m....but ideally between 10:30 and 11 a.m. We'll depart South Lake Union by about 12:30-12:45 p.m., heading for the parade staging area in Portage Bay. Our group of parade boats--the Spirit class--will be the 20th to start parading, and at this point we're guessing that we'll enter the actual parade route at about 2 p.m.
SKIPPERS' MEETING -
Let's get everyone together at about 11:45 for a brief skippers' meeting, to go over final parade details, timing, parade order of our boats, how to impress the judges, etc.
PARADE THEME -
As you know by now, the theme is "Out of This World." We have prepared 50 alien masks, which will be distributed before or during the skippers' meeting. Feel free to wear any other "Out of This World" costumes you can come up with, but we should be covered...at least for 50 people. (You can wear a hat atop the particular alien masks we've produced, and unless you have an "alien hat" of some sort, we'd suggest a nautical hat...so that we're "alien sailors." Wool stocking caps wouldn't be bad, either, since they'll hide at least some of your hair and bring a better focus to the mask itself.
LAUNCH RAMPS -
As previously discussed, the best launch ramps are 14th Northwest in Ballard, on the north shore of the Lake Washington Ship Canal just east of the Ballard Bridge; Northeast Northlake Way (north of Gasworks Park, halfway between Gasworks and Ivar's); Magnuson Park (Sand Point); or Coulon Beach Park in Renton. If you're launching on Lake Washington, please remember that you MUST get your boat through the Montlake Cut westbound before 9:30 a.m., since parade officials will close the Cut to all marine traffic promptly at 9:40 a.m. (If you miss getting through the Cut, you miss the parade.)
FOOD -
Please bring your own sack lunches or picnic items; most of us will eat lunch aboard our boats or at the rendezvous point shortly before heading for the Portage Bay staging area.
RESTROOMS -
There are restrooms at South Lake Union Park, but once we head for Portage Bay we'll be without shore-based facilities. Bring a pee cup and maybe an emergency bucket or porta-potty, with blanket for privacy if you're in a runabout. Some of the cruisers in our fleet have marine heads or porta-potties, and you may be able to sweet talk skippers into using their facilities, but please be prepared for about three hours without facilities--from the time we leave for Portage Bay, until the parade's over and you're able to reach shore again.
COMMUNICATIONS -
The parade director will be on Channel 68, if you'd like to monitor his communications once we reach Portage Bay. Our club will use Channel 69, as usual, for boat-to-boat communications. Might be good to bring a cell phone, too, and share numbers at the rendezvous point.
OFFICIAL PARADE INSTRUCTIONS -
Here's some copy from the Seattle Yacht Club's website, with general parade instructions:
Skipper should monitor and be alert for instructions from the Parade Director over VHF Ch. 68, or the public address system aboard the PORTAGE BAY. The Parade Director's official vessel is the PORTAGE BAY. It will be anchored at the West entrance to Montlake Cut, just north of SYC Dock 4.
Seattle Yacht Club Parade Marshals will patrol Portage Bay and the parade route. Each skipper will immediately follow all instructions from the Parade Marshals and law enforcement officers. The Parade Director has the authority to use official action if any skipper fails to follow the instructions of the Parade Marshals.
The Southeast end of Portage Bay and the parade route (Montlake Cut) will be closed to all but official parade boats from 9:40 a.m. until approximately 3:30 p.m. Boats wishing to transit the operation area may do so until 9:40 a.m. This means that you will not be allowed to transit Montlake Cut to Webster Point in either direction between 9:40 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
At 9:40 a.m. the Parade Director will halt all traffic in Portage Bay between the University Bridge and Webster Point. No entry to, or exiting from, the North log boom will be allowed between 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m., as crew races will be in progress. If you are participating in the parade and coming from Lake Washington, you must be completely through Montlake Cut and into Portage Bay prior to 9:40 a.m. If you do not make it, you will not be allowed to participate in the parade.
The parade will start on orders from the Parade Director. The lead boats may include vessels from the United States Coast Guard, United States Navy, King County Sheriff and Seattle Police Department.
Thereafter the parade will continue alphabetically by class, i.e. Class A, Class B, Class C, etc. Vessels are not required to transit by number within their class, i.e. B 06 may transit before B 04. Skippers must continue to monitor VHF Ch. 68 at all times for directions from the Parade Director on staging, spacing, special maneuvers and other information relevant to the parade. Be ready, but do not move to the area near the entrance to the cut until the Parade Director calls your group. (Note: NWCBC is in Group T, the 20th group to go through the parade route, so we're close to the end of the parade.
Steer a straight course, with the bow going in a forward direction. (NOTE: This is important; our fleet was disqualified in previous years when members turned in circles during the parade. You have to go straight ahead over the entire parade route, not just until you pass the judges' boats.) Keep parade tight, one to two boat lengths between boats. Maintain not less than five knots and NO turns off course until clear of Webster Point. Special maneuvering will be allowed only for the Wilson Seamanship Fleet or as granted by the Parade Director. If you wish to obtain permission for special maneuvering, please contact the Parade Director well before Opening Day to discuss your plans. Obey the instructions of the Parade Director and the official marshal patrol boats.
The last boat in the parade, the City of Seattle Fire Boat, will enter the east end of the Montlake Cut at approximately 2:30 p.m., transit to the East end of the parade route, turn, and transit back to Portage Bay. No vessels will be allowed though the cut until after the Seattle Fire Boat has transited back West through the Montlake Cut.
After the parade ends, boats will be allowed to travel the cut East to West only for approximately 1/2 to 1 hour, then will change to both directions. The Seattle Police Harbor Patrol will be running the traffic control, please stay on the right side of the cut in your travel direction. The Montlake Bridge will be opening only on the 1/2 and full hour for sailboats and larger vessels.
Each skipper will execute a Right Hand Salute upon arriving at the first reviewing boat (Old Man IV, Admiral of the Day) holding salute until past the third review boat (SYC Commodore).
The judges' vessel will be anchored in the reviewing line, just past the the Old Man Four and will be clearly identified.
End of instructions.
Hope to see a lot of members tomorrow morning at South Lake Union Park. And remember that Jay and Tara, aboard the biggest cruiser in our fleet, TABU, have once again warmly invited members without boats to come along for a ride aboard their boat. (And it has bathroom facilities!)
Any questions? Please give me a buzz....(360) 301-6737.
- Marty
SCHEDULE -
Our fleet will rendezvous at South Lake Union Park (northwest corner, tied to the floats) Saturday morning, getting there by not later than 11:30 a.m....but ideally between 10:30 and 11 a.m. We'll depart South Lake Union by about 12:30-12:45 p.m., heading for the parade staging area in Portage Bay. Our group of parade boats--the Spirit class--will be the 20th to start parading, and at this point we're guessing that we'll enter the actual parade route at about 2 p.m.
SKIPPERS' MEETING -
Let's get everyone together at about 11:45 for a brief skippers' meeting, to go over final parade details, timing, parade order of our boats, how to impress the judges, etc.
PARADE THEME -
As you know by now, the theme is "Out of This World." We have prepared 50 alien masks, which will be distributed before or during the skippers' meeting. Feel free to wear any other "Out of This World" costumes you can come up with, but we should be covered...at least for 50 people. (You can wear a hat atop the particular alien masks we've produced, and unless you have an "alien hat" of some sort, we'd suggest a nautical hat...so that we're "alien sailors." Wool stocking caps wouldn't be bad, either, since they'll hide at least some of your hair and bring a better focus to the mask itself.
LAUNCH RAMPS -
As previously discussed, the best launch ramps are 14th Northwest in Ballard, on the north shore of the Lake Washington Ship Canal just east of the Ballard Bridge; Northeast Northlake Way (north of Gasworks Park, halfway between Gasworks and Ivar's); Magnuson Park (Sand Point); or Coulon Beach Park in Renton. If you're launching on Lake Washington, please remember that you MUST get your boat through the Montlake Cut westbound before 9:30 a.m., since parade officials will close the Cut to all marine traffic promptly at 9:40 a.m. (If you miss getting through the Cut, you miss the parade.)
FOOD -
Please bring your own sack lunches or picnic items; most of us will eat lunch aboard our boats or at the rendezvous point shortly before heading for the Portage Bay staging area.
RESTROOMS -
There are restrooms at South Lake Union Park, but once we head for Portage Bay we'll be without shore-based facilities. Bring a pee cup and maybe an emergency bucket or porta-potty, with blanket for privacy if you're in a runabout. Some of the cruisers in our fleet have marine heads or porta-potties, and you may be able to sweet talk skippers into using their facilities, but please be prepared for about three hours without facilities--from the time we leave for Portage Bay, until the parade's over and you're able to reach shore again.
COMMUNICATIONS -
The parade director will be on Channel 68, if you'd like to monitor his communications once we reach Portage Bay. Our club will use Channel 69, as usual, for boat-to-boat communications. Might be good to bring a cell phone, too, and share numbers at the rendezvous point.
OFFICIAL PARADE INSTRUCTIONS -
Here's some copy from the Seattle Yacht Club's website, with general parade instructions:
Skipper should monitor and be alert for instructions from the Parade Director over VHF Ch. 68, or the public address system aboard the PORTAGE BAY. The Parade Director's official vessel is the PORTAGE BAY. It will be anchored at the West entrance to Montlake Cut, just north of SYC Dock 4.
Seattle Yacht Club Parade Marshals will patrol Portage Bay and the parade route. Each skipper will immediately follow all instructions from the Parade Marshals and law enforcement officers. The Parade Director has the authority to use official action if any skipper fails to follow the instructions of the Parade Marshals.
The Southeast end of Portage Bay and the parade route (Montlake Cut) will be closed to all but official parade boats from 9:40 a.m. until approximately 3:30 p.m. Boats wishing to transit the operation area may do so until 9:40 a.m. This means that you will not be allowed to transit Montlake Cut to Webster Point in either direction between 9:40 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
At 9:40 a.m. the Parade Director will halt all traffic in Portage Bay between the University Bridge and Webster Point. No entry to, or exiting from, the North log boom will be allowed between 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m., as crew races will be in progress. If you are participating in the parade and coming from Lake Washington, you must be completely through Montlake Cut and into Portage Bay prior to 9:40 a.m. If you do not make it, you will not be allowed to participate in the parade.
The parade will start on orders from the Parade Director. The lead boats may include vessels from the United States Coast Guard, United States Navy, King County Sheriff and Seattle Police Department.
Thereafter the parade will continue alphabetically by class, i.e. Class A, Class B, Class C, etc. Vessels are not required to transit by number within their class, i.e. B 06 may transit before B 04. Skippers must continue to monitor VHF Ch. 68 at all times for directions from the Parade Director on staging, spacing, special maneuvers and other information relevant to the parade. Be ready, but do not move to the area near the entrance to the cut until the Parade Director calls your group. (Note: NWCBC is in Group T, the 20th group to go through the parade route, so we're close to the end of the parade.
Steer a straight course, with the bow going in a forward direction. (NOTE: This is important; our fleet was disqualified in previous years when members turned in circles during the parade. You have to go straight ahead over the entire parade route, not just until you pass the judges' boats.) Keep parade tight, one to two boat lengths between boats. Maintain not less than five knots and NO turns off course until clear of Webster Point. Special maneuvering will be allowed only for the Wilson Seamanship Fleet or as granted by the Parade Director. If you wish to obtain permission for special maneuvering, please contact the Parade Director well before Opening Day to discuss your plans. Obey the instructions of the Parade Director and the official marshal patrol boats.
The last boat in the parade, the City of Seattle Fire Boat, will enter the east end of the Montlake Cut at approximately 2:30 p.m., transit to the East end of the parade route, turn, and transit back to Portage Bay. No vessels will be allowed though the cut until after the Seattle Fire Boat has transited back West through the Montlake Cut.
After the parade ends, boats will be allowed to travel the cut East to West only for approximately 1/2 to 1 hour, then will change to both directions. The Seattle Police Harbor Patrol will be running the traffic control, please stay on the right side of the cut in your travel direction. The Montlake Bridge will be opening only on the 1/2 and full hour for sailboats and larger vessels.
Each skipper will execute a Right Hand Salute upon arriving at the first reviewing boat (Old Man IV, Admiral of the Day) holding salute until past the third review boat (SYC Commodore).
The judges' vessel will be anchored in the reviewing line, just past the the Old Man Four and will be clearly identified.
End of instructions.
Hope to see a lot of members tomorrow morning at South Lake Union Park. And remember that Jay and Tara, aboard the biggest cruiser in our fleet, TABU, have once again warmly invited members without boats to come along for a ride aboard their boat. (And it has bathroom facilities!)
Any questions? Please give me a buzz....(360) 301-6737.
- Marty
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