FIFTH Annual Halloween Non-Event at Port Madison!
Can you believe it's been five years?!?!

October 27 & 28

What's a Non-Event you say?  By popular demand, this is an informal, unbudgeted, no committee, bring-your-own-everything event.  You bring your own plates, napkins, cups, silverware, decorations, libations, pumpkins, candy, goblins…we pack it all in, haul it all out and have a brilliant time in the process!  This event surpasses itself every year because EVERYONE throws in their energies and creative talents.

 Schedule of the weekend looks roughly like this… 

Friday, Oct. 26 –         Greenbox for the early arrivals
Saturday, Oct. 27 –    Games and puzzles in the clubhouse
Pumpkin carving on the dock
Potluck dinner (A-J main dish, K-T side dish, U-Z dessert)
With all the candy, we can go light on dessert!
Haunted House/Lawn/Dock (tbd)
Trick-or-treating from boat to boat after sunset!
Sunday, Oct. 28 -        Potluck breakfast  (coffee supplies will be provided)
Please do the cooking on your boat so nobody has to spend Sunday cleaning bacon grease off the grill – thanks!

 Dress up!!  You, kids, boats, the dog…it's your chance to be a kid again.  (Or for some of us, to continue being a kid without anyone looking at you funny…)

We need YOUR help to make sure that everyone that might want to come hears about the event. 

Bring along a pumpkin for carving, your family's favorite board game or puzzle, and your favourite potluck dishes for dinner and breakfast.  Don't forget candy for the trick or treaters!  Organizers will provide little prezzies and glow necklaces for the kids.  If you have room on board for an extra pumpkin or two, I'm sure it will be put to good use. 

We've already got the Haunted House gear and a great plan in place for this year.  Just join in the fun if you want to help set it up. 

Any questions?  You know where to find me! ;) 

Ann Ferguson and The Sláinte Crew

Reminder - Be Aware Of Muskrats!

Water rushes off as a member's boat was floated a couple of years ago

For hundreds of years, muskrats have been sinking boats. Here at our Portage Bay docks we have had numerous sinkings and near-sinkings over the years caused by muskrats. Just in the last six years at least three of our large yachts have sunk, and several others have sustained some less serious damage from these pesky critters. A 39' Bayliner was the most recent victim.

The exhaust lines on most boats have sections that are below the waterline. Muskrats like to swim/crawl into the exhaust lines, then sometimes they will chew through fiberglass or rubber hoses and there goes your boat down. If you have some fairly watertight bulkheads such as most Tollycrafts and Uniflites, and at least one 2,000 plus GPH bilge pump for every ten feet of boat length, that will help. So would bilge alarms.

How do you know if you have muskrats? Frequent inspections of the below decks area is a first step. Then check at the stern for milfoil or clamshells. Or start your engines and watch what comes out of the exhaust. But these tests are not always reliable.

For many years most SYC skippers have either installed flappers at the exhaust ends, or installed wire screens or rods. The flappers seem to work, but the wire or rods solution is certain to be 100% effective. If you install screens or rods, be sure to start your engines first to blow out any lurking muskrats.

Check with your yacht insurance agent to learn whether you have coverage from damage or sinking because of the critters. In any event, have a good muskrat ramble.

-Submitted by Bob Ovens

Oktoberfest!

Join us for a terrific evening as we acknowledge those who worked so hard to make 2007 a great year for SYC powerboaters!

We're talking about event chairs, volunteers, exemplary predicted log competitors, great men and women of the sea, Wilson Trophy winners, those who want to be in the spotlight and some who work behind the scenes. And, of course, those who may have mastered the high seas, yet through some unexpected turn of events...had a red-face moment that the boating public somehow knows about.

Be sure to turn in your 8-Ball Nominees for this auspicious event.

Reserve your spot today! (206) 325-1000