Harbor Lights

Jan 2026



Happy New Year!

Pay your 2026 Dues Now!

General Membership Meeting



January 13th @ 4:30

RazzIs Pizza

8523 Greenwood Ave N

Seattle, WA 98103

Commodore's Message

Rick Nolte, "Scoutabout"

Ahoy HHYC!

Golly! With the New Year now upon us, we also have a shiny new Commodore...me! I appreciate all of your support and hope your confidence in me is justified. I want to thank the bridge, board, and club officers for stepping up and helping make HHYC the vibrant, successful club we are. In fact, in 2026 we will celebrate our 50th year as a yacht club. That's a remarkable milestone, and to commemorate it several of our members contributed to some nifty anniversary logo designs; some examples of which are included below.

Suzy Hoffman has graciously agreed to serve as our Quartermaster again this year, and we will be working with her and others to provide some whizzy new HHYC booty adorned with these designs that we can proudly display as we meander about the Salish Sea. As I understand it, our vendor requires a minimum 24 items in an order; so expect some further communications and coordination on this soon. Yay!! New HHYC swag!

Our earlier entreaties to our club members to fill open volunteer positions on the bridge, board, and club officers was met with a great response; and we happily satisfied most of the vacancies. A sincere “Thank You" goes out to all the folks who stepped up. While we filled most positions, there remain 2 spots with vacancies: The Club Secretary, and The Health & Wellness Chair. We will be grateful for 2 talented and joyful folks to raise their hand to help. If a discussion may be helpful, I will be at your service.

Also, please join me in extending our deep appreciation to those whose terms in their roles as officers or Board members are ending with the New Year. While they may be stepping down, they will remain in our grateful hearts for their many contributions to our humble club. Without our volunteers, we wouldn’t exist.

HHYC is first and foremost a cruising club, and we have a robust cruising and activity schedule planned for 2026. While we have published our current aspirations, there has been some good suggestions and discussions about making it even better! I'll be meeting imminently with our cruise planning luminaries to review possibilities; and will publish any resulting updates very soon. Stay tuned!

The January events for HHYC include our Board meeting on January 6^th (which is a virtual Zoom event), and our in-person dinner meeting on January 13^th. We will again meet at Razzi's Pizzeria in Greenwood. I'll look forward to seeing many of you then, and in the meantime, safe cruising, and Happy New Year!

All the best!

Rick & Kim

HHYC 50^th Anniversary Logo examples follow: 

Vice Commodore's Message

Steve Rittereiser, "Dock Holiday"

Welcome to the New Year. I look forward to serving as the HHYC Vice Commodore along with the many volunteers who kindly give their time serving in positions the club has to offer. HHYC is unique because it offers the opportunity to be together, socialize and have a blast in some of the most beautiful places in the Northwest.

Wendy and I moved to Seattle from Ellensburg in 2011. After a few years we bought our first boat. We now understand the term “two-foot-itis” because in our search our boat grew to 38 feet! Unsure if we could operate such a large boat, we aptly named it “Dock Holiday.” Most people think of the gunslinging Doc. We assure you the name was because we could always have a party at the dock if we couldn’t operate the boat! With the help of Captain Linda Lewis, classes from the US Power Squadron and some trial and error we became boat enthusiasts and adventurers like all of you. We live in West Seattle and enjoy having our two boys’ families (including 3 grandchildren) living close to us. We have lifelong friendships because of HHYC.

Last year, we were inspired by Jeremy, Tiah and the Club’s vision of more continuous cruising and exploration of new destinations. Commodore Rick and Kim and the planning members have developed another unique and wonderful schedule of events throughout 2026. Cruising together as HHYC is our highlight each year.

The new year led me to consider HHYC boating resolutions for 2026.

·        Check out www.hhycseattle.com often for the latest club news.

·        Join all or part of the Commodore’s Cruise in July

·        Attend a membership meeting. It is like dinner with friends!

·        Pay your annual dues, $150 per couple.

·        Be nice to the Commodore. He told me he loves everyone!

Wendy and I look forward to seeing everyone during the 2026 boating season.