Bellingham Yacht Club

We are now back in Thailand and have landed in the Phi Phi islands. We’ve been doing a lot of scuba diving in the past week, and I’m working on my Rescue Diver certification. Our classes are winding down because in the beginning of December we’re entering the King’s Cup, which is the biggest Yacht Race in Thailand. It’s five days of racing, and it’s 25 miles each day. Hopefully there’s wind. We’ll be in the classics division. I’ve decided to extend my trip until the 24th of December. I’m going to stay in Phuket with a few other shipmates and a couple of the staff to charter a boat and do a practical course on a smaller boat. This will be a good chance for me to learn things like docking, anchoring, and manuevering a boat bigger than a laser. We only have 16 days left on the boat, and I’m really sad it’s coming to an end so quickly. I’ve learned so much in the past 2 1/2 months about navigating, weather and charts. Although my trip has been extended, it won’t be too long until I’m home again.

-Ashley

• Thursday, November 16, 2006 Board - Steve Ross drsteveross@comcast.net - Captain of Watch: Steve Hansen steve.hanson@comcast.net
• Friday, November 17, 2006 F@5 - Meredith Ross meredithross47@hotmail.com &
  Pete/Jamie Foti westcoastmarine@comcast.net
• Saturday, November 18, 2006 - Steve/Hope Hanson steve.hanson@comcast.net
• Thursday, November 23, 2006 Thanksgiving Day - closed - Captain of Watch: Michele Hurst micheleh@spie.org
• Friday, November 24, 2006 - Roger Schjelderup toptobottom2@qwest.net &
  Cheryl Myers camgramm@sbcglobal.net
• Saturday, November 25, 2006 – Michele Hurst micheleh@spie.org &
  Neil Bennett neil@osc-voc.com
• Thursday, November 30, 2006 – John/Teresa VanHaalen vhaalen@comcast.net - Captain of Watch: Terry Robertson joule@zeninternet.com
• Friday, December 01, 2006 F@5 - Bob/Darlene Wagner bobndarlene@yahoo.com &
  Craig Cooper alaska_coop@yahoo.com
• Saturday, December 02, 2006 Lighted Boat Parade HIRED
• Thursday, December 07, 2006 – Robert Snowball – Captain of Watch: Bob Snowball b.snowball@comcast.net
• Friday, December 08, 2006 – Jon Seestrom Jon.Seestrom@wecu.com &
  Ron Erickson ronerickson@comcast.net
• Saturday, December 09, 2006 – Jack Delay jdelay@island-reflections.com
• Thursday, December 14, 2006 - Dick Grimshaw r.grimshaw@comcast.net - Captain of Watch: Dick Grimshaw r.grimshaw@comcast.net
• Friday, December 15, 2006 F@5 Mike Poulos byclaserfleet@yahoo.com &
  Dave/Missy Steffen dmsteff@aol.com
• Saturday, December 16, 2006 Paul Beich pbeich@aol.com &
  Alex Marr marra@asme.org
• Thursday, December 21, 2006 Board - Joe/Judy Coons joejudyc@comcast.net - Captain of Watch: Ray Poorman rpoorman@cssnw.com
• Friday, December 22, 2006 Ray Poorman rpoorman@cssnw.com &
  Sally Poorman mermaid@zeninternet.com
• Saturday, December 23, 2006 Joe Bartlett jamocajoe@hotmail.com &
  Dawn Durand dawn@dawndurand.com
• Thursday, December 28, 2006 - Harry Shropshire hshropshire592@aol.com - Captain of Watch: Geoff Chamness geoff@performance-yachts.com
• Friday, December 29, 2006 “Blue Moon” F@5 - Garry Brock gov@msn.com &
  Sandy Brock sandy.brock@hotmail.com
• Saturday, December 30, 2006 Geoff Chamness geoff@performance-yachts.com

We pulled into Pulau Langkawi yesterday afternoon and just off our port bow were six lasers sailing along. I got a little lump in my throat at the sight of them, and it makes me miss small boat sailing. As we go further north we’re running into more and more wind, and it’s making the sailing much more exciting. A few days ago we were on a small island called Pulau Payar and we had 3 full days of scuba diving. We started off the first morning, in a small group of 4 divers and 2 snorkelers, at a place called Coral Gardens and it was beautiful. When we got back up to the surface and got into the dinghy we looked out and saw dolphins jumping. We headed out to them and decided we were going to swim with them. We got in the water and there were dolphins all around us, and when we went under water we could hear them. It was the coolest experience ever. Then we saw a different kind of fin poking up out of the water. It was much bigger and of course I automatically thought it was a shark. We all booked it back to the dinghy really fast and the fin kept getting closer and closer, and it didn’t go down into the water like the dolphin fins. It finally came right up next to the dinghy and we saw that it was a Sail Fish. I’ve never seen one before, but it was about 6 feet long. We were so excited and we got back in the water and swam with the dolphins for a bit longer before we had to head back to the boat. The rest of the day we had a wreck dive in the afternoon, which was cool and we finished with a night dive that night. I’m having the time of my life, and it’s going by so fast. I missed Round the County this weekend, but I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else right now. I’ll update again when I get to Phuket.

-Ashley

Mark your calendars, Saturday the 18th of November at 5:00pm the BYC will be hosting the 2006 Sailing Awards. Chili and Burgers will be available during the event and many awards will be presented! See you all on Saturday.