Opening Day - We Won an Award (!)

[Marty Loken (Norseboater)]

After three years of trying, we're just barely starting to "break in" with the Seattle Yacht Club's Opening Day Parade judges. They disqualified us from judging the first two years for spinning donuts before we got to the end of the parade route, but this year we maintained a semi-straight line, had some folks in our fleet with great costumes, and were rewarded with a Third Place trophy in our class.

(Maybe next year we can pick another category to enter, since the Amphicars--in our group--win First Place every year...simply for being cute little Amphicars.)

Anyhow, lousy weather reduced the size of our fleet somewhat, but not the enthusiasm or amount of fun had by all. Thanks to Chuck for picking up our boat numbers on Thursday; to Jay and Tara Giese for generously feeding everyone aboard their big Chris-Craft, Tabu, and to everyone who braved the clammy weather yesterday.

We ran our recently-acquired 27-foot, 1959 Luhrs down from Marrowstone on Friday, and just got back to Mystery Bay this afternoon (Sunday). Aboard for the parade were my son, Darren; his girlfriend Sam; Sam's daughter Carly and Carly's good buddy Rachel. The two teen-agers seemed to have a ball, and celebrated after the parade by jumping into Union Bay....brrrrr!

Below, and in a series of additional postings, are some photos we shot before, during and after the "Wild Wild West" parade.

- Marty

[Marty Loken (Norseboater)]

Opening Day: Some Of Our Fleet....

Here are some random shots of the NWCBC fleet that participated in the Opening Day Parade...

- Marty

[Marty Loken (Norseboater)]

More Parade Photos...

Here are some more shots of members and their boats, including some of the crew aboard our boat--Sam, her daughter Carly and Carly's friend Rachel, dancing on the stern and even going for a swim (!) in the rain.'

Great fun, regardless of the weather....

- Marty

[Nomad55]

Congratulation you guys!!!! We had trouble starting the engine at the launch and missed the cut by 2 blankty blankty minutes but we had a great time exploring the lake. We were with youl all in spirit and already planning for next year. We hung around to view the parade and ya all looked great coming through. We later caught up with Greg James and Rick Love. Mary was a real trooper as she had bruised her rib earlier in the week so every hard wave we hit I could see her wince but chose to stay till the end.It was just nice to get the boat wet and yes we got a little wet from the rain but still managed to have a great time.

[Yardman]

Way to go, I always wanted to belong to an award winning group! I'm bummed we were unable to attend. We are doing a remodel on our house and had to meet with the contractors on Sat.am. Gotta catch them when we can! Looks like everyone had a good time, We hope to make the next meet. - Ross

[FINS]

Congratulations! It was a soggy day, but as usual, we had a great time! Cole and I brought our Tollycraft and went with the ACBS group this year. My captain for the Playmaster was scared off by the rain and pulled a "no show". Sorry about that, I would have like to see it out there with you all!

Cole was a little less than impressed with the rain and thinks we need to start on the Tolly cruiser or wait for Marty to find a new Lust-Craft next week and buy his . Prior to the parade was very soggy, but the parade itself and following festivities at the UW Crewhouse were great. We pulled out at Sandpoint with Melanie, Mary, and the Davies about 4:00 and were in t-shirts it was so nice. By the time we hit Renton on the way home, the sky opened (literally) and flooded us. I used the shop vac when I got home and sucked 12 gallons of water out of the boat (it was dry when we left the boat launch!) We had a great day overall and look forward to seeing old friends and meeting some new ones at the upcoming events!

PS. How can you compete with the Amphicars, especially one pulling a trailer on the water! We will have to be really creative next year!

Yippie Kay Yay!

[Captain Jack]

This should raise (or lower!) a few eyes...

PS. How can you compete with the Amphicars, especially one pulling a trailer on the water! We will have to be really creative next year!

Right!

Time to get to work on that classic powered submarine I always wanted to build...

The Cap'n

Looks like fun was had by all. The weather here in Kent clear around parade time and I was thinking how lucky everyone was to get a slight break.. hope you got that break while on the water...



Fins, what does ACBS stand for?

[FINS]

Ken, it is the Antique and Classic Boat Society. Started out mainly as a wood boat club geared toward Chris Craft, Hacker, Garwood, and other wood boats mainly from the 20's to '40's. It has grown now to include all makes and models including glass boats. At the National club level, the ACBS has had a bad rap for being a little snobbish towards "alternate" materials. Kind of like the reception you would get bringing a street rodded Deusenberg to Pebble Beach. Locally (the Northwest, Eastern WA./Idaho, and Portland area groups specifically) are really open to the glass and aluminum boats. I just happen to love them all. I really started lusting after a wood boat, but at the time, could only afford a quirky "finned" glass boat. Now my collection includes glass and wood. I just like to be on the water, and love playing with the older boats. They all offer something a little different. I REALLY like how this club gets out and uses the boats and has kind of a grass roots feel to it. The ACBS is a little more structured, but you will find most of the guys (and gals) just like to use the boats as well!

[Tim_Mattson]

Added a Boat while Parading!

I thought the day was great despite the low numbers of boats,the sun came out and we even got a little sunburn.
Having a warm Cinnamin Roll while on Tabu made my daughter Helen`s day.
Simply mentioned "warm food over there on Tabu" to Gordon and the next time I turned around ,he was side-tied and riding along on the Flybridge in style.

I came home to find a set of oars in the driveway.....wife could smell another boat and after a short tour of my side yard,she found a 6` Dinghy my buddy scored at an Estate Sale.
Looks like a Glasply,Uniflite or other local builder as the grey inside with normal splatter paint sure looks common.
Has the usual minor damage so I`m using it to fill in my days while the rain keeps coming.
I think I was talking about "No More Boats" while the little dink was being plopped in my yard.
I also found my Fuel tank vent has been letting rainwater into my main fuel tank so I spent Sunday filling Lawn equipment with filtered fuel.
Sure wasn`t many people on the Beaches this year,glad the enthusiastic logboom made up for the quiet Cut.
Hope to upload my pics later tonite......got some good shots under the bridge while we were trying to maintain our formation.
Tim M

Tara's opening day pics. from Tabu

Looks like a good time was had by all including Jay's Grandmother and Mother. I see Gordon figured out where the food was coming from!
It took a while to upload these pictures but the strangest thing was
(And I swear this is true!) I had to try three times to get the picture of Gordon's boat to upload.