Commodore’s Corner – February 2022

The holidays are behind us and I for one am ready for good weather and a new boating season!  What do you all have planned for this year‘s season? Carole and I will sneak out in good weather windows as they allow but May really starts the beginning of our cruising. We’ll spend several weeks in the San Juan‘s fishing and shrimping and then head north later in the summer.  Share your thoughts and plans for your summer cruising in Trip Reports in the Forum section of our website. I look forward to hearing from you about your boating plans.

RENDEZVOUS NEWS – YES THERE WILL BE A 2022 RENDEZVOUS!
Your Board Members held a meeting on January 26th to discuss the 2022 budget and, more importantly, our plans for the 2022 Rendezvous. As you know, we have had to cancel the past two years rendezvous in Sidney due to Covid restrictions, and border closures, etc. The uncertainty of border closures and entry requirements into Canada (and returning to the US) are still difficult to assess, and not stable.  We worked through the logistics of US members having to test within 72 hours before entering Canada to comply with the current regulations. Given the distance, lack of testing sites reasonably close to the border and the potential for weather delays that many of us may experience, we unanimously agreed that Sidney is not a viable location for this year.  The good news in all this is that we will hold a rendezvous in 2022 at Cap Sante Marina in Anacortes June 2 – 4. I know that many of you were looking forward to going to Sidney as we were. The amount of planning necessary to put on a Vous like this requires that we start planning now and there are still too many variables and unknowns for us to feel that it would be successful in Sidney.
News and information regarding the events will be forthcoming as our planning moves forward. Stay tuned for news!

MINI-VOUS
Because of the success of last year’s Mini-Vous, we have decided to sponsor up to three events over the 2022 year. We still want to hold one in Canada and the other two to be determined somewhere in Puget Sound.  If you are interested in helping to organize and plan one of these, please contact me or one of the board members, and we can help get it started. To further encourage Mini-Vous, we have dedicated PANNTOA funds from this year‘s budget to support them.

FACTORY ZOOM MEETING
Member Angelo Muzzin has organized a ZOOM meeting with Dave Allen of the Nordic Tug factory on March 2 at 7:00 pm.  Dave will discuss the goings-on in the very busy factory, provide a virtual tour, and answer questions.  After several quiet years, the factory is buzzing with boat building activity, so this should be an interesting presentation.  Details on connecting to the ZOOM meeting to follow.

Carole and I look forward to seeing you out on the water this year.   Safe and happy boating!

Gary White
Commodore Panntoa