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REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN FOR 48° NORTH CRUISING RALLY

JULY 23-28, 2023, ANACORTES → ISLANDS → ANACORTES

The 48° North Cruising Rally is back for another great year, running from July 23-28, 2023. Registration recently opened, so sign up and join the fun while there's still space available!

Our cruising rally, run in partnership with Ullman Sails, is all about summer fun in the exquisite cruising paradise of the Salish Sea. Relish the joys of PNW cruising in the company of some other wonderful people — out of it, you get happy memories, interpersonal connections, and often new cruising skills and confidence. Each year that we’ve done our rally, we hear not only that participants had a terrific time and made new friends, but that many participants’ comfort and self-assurance while cruising were off the charts after the rally.

This is a BYOB (bring your own boat) event, or you could look into chartering in the area. We move locations most days (with one or two layovers), so you get to experience some different parts of our cruising grounds. We encourage anchoring out, and often explore options for rafting up on the rally. And as rally organizers, we’re around to answer questions, suggest some fun activity options, and potentially provide assistance in a pinch. But it should be noted that the rally is not an expressly educational event.

Over the years, we’ve been fortunate to have the partnership, support, and expertise of the Ullman Sails team as a part of the crew. Owner of the West Coast Ullman Sails lofts and Vashon Island native, Chuck Skewes, will again co-lead this year’s rally.

TWO-DAY BOATING EDUCATION COURSE OFFERED AT OAK HARBOR YACHT CLUB, MARCH 18 & 25

For novice boaters wanting to learn more and needing to get their state boater education card, a two-day course is being held at Oak Harbor Yacht Club. Washington state law requires recreational boaters to complete a boating safety course and carry a Washington State Boater Education Card. Registration is open for a two-day skills and certification course on Saturdays March 18 and March 25, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The cost to register is $50, and an additional $30 for a partner sharing the course materials. Course instructor Jerry Liggett says that this is more than just a “pass-the-test, get-your-card” course. He says it’s the most comprehensive introductory course available, giving novice boaters the skills needed to enjoy the water and boat with confidence.

» deceptionpasssailandpowersquadron.com

In order to visit the kind of perfect PNW gunkholes we love, we will limit the rally to 15 boats for 2023. It sounds like border crossings have gotten a little easier this summer, so we hope to do some of our cruising in the Gulf Islands, but we will wait until the rally is a little closer to put out any information about our hopeful itinerary. There’s no bad option!

48° North Cruising Rally

When: Sunday July 23 – Friday July 28, 2023

Where: Anacortes → Islands → Anacortes

Cost: $299

Space Limit: 15 Boats

» www.48north.com/cruising-rally

U.S. COAST GUARD APPROVED FIRST AID AT SEA WORKSHOP IN PORT TOWNSEND ON MARCH

21, 2023

Washington Sea Grant, Washington State University Jefferson County, and the Port of Port Townsend are cosponsoring a Coast Guard-Approved First Aid at Sea workshop. Learn to effectively treat hypothermia, near drowning, and other incidents while on the water. The full range of topics covered includes: CPR, patient assessment, hypothermia and cold water response, near drowning, shock and trauma, burns and fractures, choking and patient immobilization, first aid kits.

When: Tuesday, March 21, 2023, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Where: Point Hudson Pavilion Building, 355 Hudson Street, Port Townsend, WA.

Fee: $100 ($50 for commercial fishermen)

Online pre-registration is required.

» bit.ly/wsg-first-aid-3-21-23

WA MARITIME HERITAGE AREA RECEIVES FUNDING FROM M.J. MURDOCK TRUST

The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust has granted $350,000 to advance the creation of the Maritime Washington National Heritage Area along the state’s shoreline. The funding is going to the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation, the coordinating entity for the heritage area.

Created by Congress in 2019, the Maritime Washington National Heritage Area aims to build partnerships to better tell the stories of Washington’s maritime heritage and support communities in maintaining and sharing their maritime resources. The heritage area, one of 62 in the nation and the only one focused on maritime heritage, spans Grays Harbor to the Canadian border. It includes 21 Tribes, 13 counties, 32 cities, and 33 port districts over 3,000 miles of shoreline.

» preservewa.org/programs/maritimenational-heritage-area/