Your Shilshole Liveaboard Association is encouraging everyone to decorate their boats with lights this holiday season! With the dark evenings upon us, why not get your lights up early and spread a little cheer!
The Argosy Christmas Ships will be at Shilshole on Thurs, Dec 11th. There will be 2 sailings: 5pm and 8pm with a bonfire at Golden Gardens at 8:20pm.
Your Shilshole Liveaboard Assoc. wishes you all a very safe, joyous and thankful day! With the challenges and stress we all face in different ways, this is a perfect time to reflect on how lucky we are to have each other, and our incredible liveaboard lifestyle!
We’re getting festive on the water this year! Join the Shilshole Bay Marina Liveaboard Association on Saturday, December 7th for a holiday-themed Dinghy Parade.
If the weather doesn’t cooperate, we’ll roll with a backup date of December 14th.
Meeting spot: TBD We’re still locking in the launch point, so keep an eye on this page for updates.
Bring your dinghy decked out in your best holiday decorations—lights, garlands, whatever makes it sparkle. Let’s make the bay glow!
We all have our favorite charting sources but it’s good to have other options, in case your batteries die, you drop your phone overboard, or GPS goes out!
Paper charts are the tried-and-true way and everyone should have a basic understanding of how to use them. Even the chart booklets still give you a usable view of your area. NOAA stopped producing paper (RASTER) charts in 2020 and will only update their ENC charts. It’s still a good idea to hang onto those old paper charts/booklets.
Chartplotters have been out for many years and boaters have their favorites (or are stuck with what came with their boat). Those have the ability to update charts from their respective proprietary sites. There are Apps, (such as Navionics) that boaters use on their phone or tablets. Cruising Guides, such was Waggoner, also offer local details.
For planning (and realtime charting with GPS), OpenCPN is a well-known and widely used free program that has an App or can be downloaded onto your pc/laptop. It is opensource, easily customized to your needs and the charts can be downloaded from NOAA for free. Example pasted below…
The dark wet days of winter are a perfect time to plan next season’s cruise!
Secure your halyards away from your mast to prevent slapping in the wind.
Remove flags
Put out extra dock lines and fenders.
Secure tarps, sail covers and roller furling.
Securely stow: gear on your boat, steps, items behind your dock box, and bail your dinghy!
Make sure your power cord has slack in it and that it is not hanging in the water!
Water lines may freeze or be shut off…take appropriate action (top off tanks, disconnect hoses, etc.)
Contact the Marina staff right away if you see anything of concern (ie: loose sails, frayed dock lines, continuous bilge pump running and any diesel/oil spills).
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