Yacht Clubs Celebrate New Boating Season with Baseball & Daffodils

As spring approaches, local yachting groups are planning for a resurgence of interest as well as the return of yacht club events, such as a celebration of daffodils in Tacoma and Opening Day of 2023 boating season in Seattle.

In Tacoma, yellow will be the color for April, as the Tacoma Yacht Club (TYC) celebrates the return of spring with its 71st Annual Daffodil Marine Festival & Parade (April 13-16). With the theme of “87 Years Around the Sound,” TYC will welcome attendees with one free beer and appetizers at the club’s deck on the afternoon of Friday, April 14. The next day, festivities kick off with the Token Parade on Saturday afternoon, followed by a “Jeopardy”-style trivia contest and a dinner buffet with live music.

On Sunday, April 16, the festival closes with the much-anticipated Decorated Boat Parade along the Tacoma waterfront. Information on registration fees, deadlines, and event schedules can be found at: tacomayachtclub.org/daffodil

The following month, the Seattle Yacht Club (SYC) will host its much beloved annual party for the start of the 2023 boating season on Saturday, May 6. This year, SYC will lead off with a baseball-themed “Game On!” series of events for Opening Day 2023.

The first main Opening Day activity will be a Rowing Regatta and the Windermere Cup competition. At noon, the Opening Day Parade will begin, with dozens of powerboats and sailboats sailing past the log boom and through the Ship Canal to salute SYC Admiral Lance Rummel, Admiralette Nicole Wilkin, and Vice Admiral David Sanford.

At the end of the parade, a trophy presentation will take place on SYC’s lawn to reward the boaters in the parade for various superlatives, such as best youth-sponsored vessel, best dressed, and best themed boat. For more details on Opening Day events, visit: seattleyachtclub.org.

Meanwhile, in December of last year, the Duwamish Yacht Club (DYC) signed a new and successive 30-year lease for its gated and secured marina on the Duwamish Waterway five and a half miles south of Elliott Bay. DYC, a membership-based organization, offers covered and uncovered boat slips, measuring between 35 and 50 feet in length, to its 110 members.

The new lease will allow the club to continue providing freshwater moorage and easy access to Puget Sound without the need for passage through the Chittenden Locks. DYC also features some limited slip space for live-aboard members, pump-out docks, a clubhouse, restrooms, showers, and a laundromat.

Future plans for the DYC under its new lease include the restoration and dredging of its moorage basin, plus an updated financial structure to create a reserve account with membership dues to pay for future maintenance. For more information on DYC, go to: duwamishyachtclub.com