Is your college sailing career over and you are looking for a boat to capture the thrill again? Are you tired of sitting on the rail of someone else's keelboat wishing you were on something that really sails like a dinghy? Do you want a high performance boat that doesn't make you swim every time you sneeze? Pacific NW 505's invites SWSA to come check out what they are all about at our September meeting.

Saturday, September 24th Seattle Singles' Annual Race Regatta is conducted as a charitable fundraising event. All net proceeds and food donations go to NORTHWEST HARVEST.2005 marks our 13th year for the event. For SPONSORSHIP Opportunities Contact mariecapogna@SSYC.com For Race Entry Registration visitwww.ssyc.com 4 Classes Start and Finish at Shilshole First Start at 10:30 15NM Course Post Race Party and Dance Party starts at 6:00 pm at the Shilshole Bay Beach Club, south of Shilshole Marina Three Trophies per Class Handicaps Assigned for those without PHRF Rating Entry Deadline: Must be received by Sept 17 for boats with PHRF Ratings, Sept 15 for boats required a rating. Pick up Entry Form at West Marine or Fisheries. $25 per boat plus 1 pound of food per foot boat length (Drop-off at S Dock). All proceeds to NW Harvest.

• All Proceeds to NW Harvest
• Dancing to a Live Band
• No Host Bar
• Dinner Available
• Awards
• Prizes (Haul Outs, Etc.)
• Auction

This fall there are several opportunities to get out and race and help others.   I would like to encourage you to come out or crew for the Shilshole Bay YC event.  September 10th, Shilshole Bay Yacht Club is hosting the Trans-Puget Regatta with proceeds to benefit the Footloose Sailing Association.  Footloose is a sailing club for sailors with disabilities and they maintain several boats designed to enable disabled sailors to sail and race.  Disabled sailors have some very specific needs to be assured of a safe and rewarding experience, and the Trans Puget regatta proceeds help them to maintain their boats and people hoists. Upcoming September Events:

• 3-4: PITCH (Bellingham YC)
• 10: Trans Puget (Shilshole Bay YC)
• 17-18: Star & Bar (Seattle YC)

SWSA, Chesapeake Bay, MD Sailing (docking?) in the Chesapeake Bay So how securely moored is ?securely moored?. With your 44ft boat vessel moored well forward in the 50ft slip, finger piers on both sides. Bow and stern lines cross tied to hold the vessel well clear of the dock and spring lines to keep position for and aft. No ?named storms? in the area and the occasional thunder storms usually limited to short bursts of wind less then 50kn. What could possibly happen. As I stood on the end of the finger pier just to my SW, my neighbor approached, missed and backed away for another attempt only to tangle his vessels rigging in anchors on the vessel directly across from Cayenne. Freeing up and making another approach he again missed his slip and this time, hitting Cayenne with his anchor. Backing away again, he proceeded to the turning basin and in the process of executing a 180 for another attempt, he rammed a vessel 5 slips from me, punching a hole in the stern. Once free, he again attempted to make his slip and again lined up on Cayenne and again rammed into her stern. As Inner Voice swing into the wind, I was able to grab a bow line stowed on the pulpit and cleat him off, preventing him from continuing his assault on the vessels in the marina. Astonished and appalled, those of us on the dock could do little but watch. When you thing you are secure and safely moored, something like happens. Accidents do not happen, they are caused. The owner and his wife, after the croud on the dock warped him into his slip, finished setting mooring lines, and left the area without attempting to contact the owners of the boats he had hit or contacting the Harbor Police. No one was hurt but only because of agility of those involved in fending off. Cayenne has cosmetic damage and is sailable in the mean time while estimates are being written and insurance Co.?s react. What a helpless feeling to watch someone ram your boat and then continue to ram boats with no end in sight. Inner Voice is a 46ft Oyster, a well founded vessel, rated ?any ocean?. Brian, sailordude@brigup.com

My days in Guatemala were filled with sunshine, rain, sea stories and gossip about old sailing buddies. Whenever, the power went out, everyone came out of their boats and to the Ranchito or the bar to cool off.  I think those power outages were a good thing, otherwise everybody would just hide in their air conditioned caves all day.   , That's how I got to know Cynthia. We set up her yahoo mail and  I showed her how to use chat and design her avatar.  Its the cyber equivalent to paper dolls, where you can change hairstyles, outfits and accessories.  We did that for hours in the Ranchito.  Saturday I went sailing.  Friends took me along on a 42 foot catamaran up to lake Izabel.  Just enough wind to push us around the lake as a million colored butterflies migrated across our stern.  Picked up a pizza in Rio Dulce, ate it on the boat sailing Back to the marina in time for happy hour and another Licuado. I sat up late many evenings in the Ranchito with my laptop, trying to publish Gybe Talk, but the signal kept dropping out as it rained every evening.  sometimes, i would just have to sit there listening to the fat rain hitting palm leaves and the sound of monkeys and parrots, waiting.  waiting. for the internet to come back on.  The armed guard at night  watched over me.  His name was Julio and he promised me if any snakes came up he would shoot them for me.  I watched wet frogs plop around in the black rain and waited. The ride back to Guatemala city was uneventful, a good air conditioned bus with movies, made no stops.  Looking out the window, I thought about sailing and the cruising life. I had seen a seventy year old man trying to lift a heavy gerry can onto a rickety dock in sweltering heat and counted my blessings.  Nope some things never change, and I realized ?you can never go back.? I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to Cynthia, but I hope to see her on my yahoo friends list as long as she is in a marina, Cynthia wants to be a writer someday and i bet she will write wonderful stories about Sailing the Caribbean. Captain Pepper Warren

• Sep 1st Go Sailing with Jack Lanham
• Sep 8th Go Sailing with Jack Lanham
• Sep 12th Sep Meeting @ Dinghy Dock at Shilshole
• Sep 14th SailFest begins ? Media Pro-Am Race
• Sep 18th SailFest Panel "Through the Canvas Ceiling"
• Sep 24th NW Harvest Benefit Regatta
• Oct 3rd Monthly Meeting @ Pacific Maritime
• Nov 7th Monthly Meeting @ CYC ? Speaker is
• Dec 5th Monthly Meeting @ CYC ? Christmas Party