Jib satisfaction
Another day at the office for the Yaquina Bay Yacht Club
Story & photos by Gretchen Ammerman
Oregon Coast TODAY
The crew aboard the Alchemy positively quivered when there was talk of putting up something called a “spinnaker.” That, and many other terms new to me would mark the day I was taken for a sailing trip by members of the Yaquina Bay Yacht Club.
There were many things that made the trip around Yaquina Bay a memorable and enjoyable one, including good company and perfect weather.
But the best part was the fact that though I’d been on similar vessels, I’d never had a go at making one go. Today, finally, I would.
Our crew was Rachel Cotton, her husband, Ammon Bonham, and our captain, Greg Krutzikowsky.
Bonham spent most of the trip on the front of the boat, helping Krutzikowsky avoid the ubiquitous crab pot buoys that dotted the bay like freckles on the face of a redhead after a sunny day.
Cotton and I sat across from each other, taking turns “tacking,” an exercise that engaged the abs, the arms and the ability to quickly get an iPhone zipped into a floatation vest pocket after talking yet another set of photos of the Yaquina Bay Bridge, the sea lion-covered rocks or the crew members in front of the boat’s sun-brightened sails.
Cotton and Bonham joined the club last year after completing the adult sailing lesson series the club offers most years. The next set will be in the fall. The club also partners with Newport High School for student lessons, which will be starting in early March.
“We’ve been interested in learning to sail for a while mostly because we surf, and sailing is one of the ways to get to the best surf spots in the world,” Cotton said. “Thanks to the club, the lessons were accessible and affordable for us. We are both still working full-time and really appreciated that there were evening and weekend classes.”
Once the couple gained what Cotton called “basic competency,” they joined the club so that they could continue to practice with the small boats available to members.
“In the classes, you learn how to rig the boats and how to get in and out of the bay which can be tricky,” Cotton said. “Sailing is so hands-on and it can be scary, but the instructors were really great. We were just excited to take a class but I feel like we learned a lot in a short amount of time.”
The Yaquina Bay Yacht Club was founded in 1947 and is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. It is dedicated to promoting aquatic sports of all kinds, particularly yachting, and preserving the traditions of navigation and seamanship. After many years of temporary meeting venues, the current harbor-view clubhouse was constructed in 2004 using all-volunteer labor. A large floating structure was added recently through a partnership with the Oregon Boating Foundation for the Youth Sailing Program.
For club member and instructor Krutzikowsky, teaching sailing never gets old.
“Seeing kids, or anyone really, get that self-confidence when they start with nothing then after a while feel like, ‘oh, I can control this boat.’ it's pretty priceless.” he said. “With sailing, there is always more to learn. But you really have to do it, you can’t become a sailor by just reading about it or watching videos; you need to sail.”
He is particularly proud of the club’s youth programs. The club not only gives lessons, but has a team that competes in sailing, regionally and even nationally.
“The high school sailing team is a really cool thing that the yacht club does,” he said. “We are one of only three facilities in Oregon that offer high school sailing lessons. I would love to have more students but attracting them is not easy.”
If more kids knew about the experiences the kids have as part of the team, Krutzikowsky believes it would be much bigger.
“I’ve taken the kids up to Orcas Island for the district championships,” he said.
“We sail against the Willamette and Hood River Teams. We’ve also gone up to Port Angeles. They have fleet racing and also team racing. We will go to a regatta and there might be 200 kids there, it’s great.The kids that do it just love it.”
Club memberships include free use of kayaks, small sailboats and crab pots, entry into seasonal sailboat racing series, discounted entry fees for annual regattas, educational programs about boating and social events like potlucks and barbecues and a 50-percent discount on classes.
For more information, go to yaquinabayyachtclub.org.
Get pumped for this?
All jokes about poop decks aside, sometimes you just gotta go, and on a boat, options are often limited. Join an online overview of how we can all help keep boat-generated sewage out of our waterways while enjoying all that Oregon’s coastal and inland waterways have to offer on Wednesday, Feb. 16.
Oregon Sea Grant Clean Boating Program Coordinator Connie Sullivan will present options with pumpouts and porta-potty dump stations and show you where floating restrooms are throughout the state.
The presentation begins via Zoom at 5:30 pm. For more information, go to seagrant.oregonstate.edu/education.