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Commodore's
Message
Rick Nolte,
"Scoutabout"
Ahoy HHYC!
This year’s cruising season is off to a truly stellar start, with our Kingston cruise now on the books, the Bremerton Bridge Blast imminent, and a wonderful plan for this years Commodor Cruise. There is still one space left (as of 6/4/26) at Bremerton; so, if you want to join in on the fun, frivolity, and light raillery the time is now! Associated details are on the HHYC web page; and if further info may be useful, you can reach out to me, or our ever-so-joyful Fleet Captain Terry Fantz.
Traditionally, with the advent of every cruising season, much of our focus and conversation turns to marine toilets, holding tanks, and the sundry mechanical and electrical systems involved with keeping these critically important systems in tip-top working order. In the case of Kim and I, after several years of annual Vacuflush failures (always at the most inopportune time possible) we decided to abandon Scoutabout’s legacy toilet solution in favor of a modern and whizzy (pun intended) macerator system.
No longer are we subject to sundry duckbill-valve, baffle seal, and/or other failures. Indeed, our shiny toilet system literally blends liquids, solids, and most anything else into a disgusting slurry that flows gracefully into our holding tank. After 4 years of challenging the apparatus with gut-busting burritos, 20-ounce rib-eyes, and voluminous fiber-rich provisions, it continues to operate flawlessly. Kudos to Dometic!
The better our marine toilet systems work, the quicker the holding tanks fill up. As we all know, dumping our effluent into the waters of the USA is strictly verboten. With the arrival of summer, our cheerful friends at RBAW have good news! The free summer mobile pump-out service has been renewed and expanded this year. This is a free mobile pump-out service, which operates Saturdays, Sundays, Holidays, and busy Fridays in and around the west Puget Sound. Centers of operation include Poulsbo, Eagle Harbor, Blake Island, Illahee State Park, and Fort Ward. You can schedule online at NWMobilePumpout.com, or by calling 253-225-7660. Now, lets see if we can fix the pump-out situation north of the border with our dear Canadian friends.
I’ve always been interested in the often-unique boating nomenclature, such as “galley” instead of “kitchen,” or “starboard” instead of “right,” as well as many others. As related to bathrooms, or “heads” I used to prefer to call it the “John.” Recently, in keeping with a healthy lifestyle and attitude, I started calling the toilet “Jim” instead of “John”. I think it sounds much better when I say I go the Jim every morning.
Our next in-person dinner meeting is coming up rapidly, Tuesday, June 9th; and will be convened at our traditional Razzi’s Pizzeria in Greenwood. We’ll have discussions on usual club business, another fun and exciting trivia contest (with prizes!), swag, updates on the coming cruising season… and the 2026 Commodore Ball! Yay! This year’s ball will again be held at the excellent Hotel Murano in Tacoma, on Friday, October 30th. We have reserved rooms at a discount and are looking forward to a strong turnout. More info will be forthcoming from Tiah, Jeremy, and other loving people. It’s going to be a blast, so put it on your calendars!
Kim and I look forward to spending time with our HHYC family as the 2026 cruising season progresses, and wish all our families calm seas, good health, and hearty appetites for fun!
Cheers,
Rick & Kim
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