Mustang Sally Tuesday 7/29/25
Note: This Tuesday Piper Dunlap will oversee the servicing of two winches on Mustang Sally, starting ~5:00 p.m. Join in if you can. The plan is to take a short sail afterwards.
Mustang Sally Sails…..
The Mustang Sally Program (TM) is up and running! Mustang Sally is a Thunderbird sailboat that was donated to PTSA, and with a lot of work and donations from volunteers, has been spruced up and made safe and ready to sail. Our goal is to get her out sailing as much as possible in 2026. If you would like more information or would like to be notified when the program begins please fill out the form below. Ride Sally, Ride!
2025 CMR Pursuit Race Start Times
"Committee" awaits you.... Forecast is for glorius sun and light winds tomorrow. Your CMR start time can be found at the link below. CMR2025PursuitStartsfri I would embed the .pdf if I knew how. See you on the water. First start is at noon. Sir Isaac is the scratch boat at 12:36:36. Roland
Laser Simulator at PTSA Clubhouse!
The PTSA Monday Dinghy Program is off to a great and enthusiastic start. The PTSA Lasers have been out on the water on Mondays in May and this was supplemented by an on shore training evening at the Clubhouse this past Monday. Paul Denison, co-leader of the dinghy series, fashioned a Laser simulator from his repurposed Timberframe home construction business "scrap-pile." He lead more than a dozen participants through the intricacies of tacking and jibing a Laser: proper positioning in the boat, how to transfer weight from one side to the other, how to handle the tiller and sheet. [...]
PTSA Fleet Blessed with Perfect Conditions for Smith-Minor Islands Race
Seven boats showed up at City Dock, 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 13, 2024, for the first distance race of the season. A strong ebb, 10 knot Northwesterly breeze, and a cloudless sky made for a very pleasant port tack all the way to Smith Island and a glorious spinnaker run back to Port Townsend. To round out perfection, the notorious (“washing machine”) turbulence north of the Point Wilson lighted Buoy #6 to Partridge Bank was barely present. The J120 speedster Magdalena (Greg and Leslie Barron) took line honors, completing the course in four hours twenty-five minutes. [...]
Cruising on a Mini-Platform, on a Big Ocean, With an Open Heart
PTSA member for life, Josh Wheeler, is currently cruising in the Sea of Cortez on his Pacific Seacraft Flicka 20. He is headed for Chile, and from there who knows? You can follow his adventures--and support him in his quest if you wish--at his blog "Sailing with Josh." Josh recently wrote about his experience racing Thunderbirds in Port Townsend Bay, reflecting on how it has made him a better sailor and cruiser. "Sailing the windward/leeward buoy races on the foredeck of Corvo with the Port Townsend Sailing Association One-Design Thunderbird Fleet on Wednesday evenings in Port Townsend Bay has made [...]
Final PTSA Nightcap Race will Start off City Dock
City Dock Start.... The Race Committee Boat is not available for this Saturday. Davids Burrows and Wilkinson will start the final Nightcap race [TOMMORROW OCT 28, 13h00] from the City Dock. Same routine as Friday night racing during the summer. Another great day of sailing in the sun on Port Townsend Bay. Come one, come all. PTSA
Laser Clinic this Weekend: Sunday October 29, 2023
Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, 14th September 2018:Master Standard rig class entries on Day 6 of the Laser Masters World Championships 2018 sponsored by DLR on Dublin Bay.Photograph: David Branigan/Oceansport Let's Make Port Townsend Bay look like this! PTSA (Port Townsend Sailing Association) have recently bought some basic lasers to get people out sailing in dinghies. This is for YOU! We are having a small gathering on Sunday to launch the lasers, and get people acquainted with rigging them. The goal is that in the future, members will be able to take them out independently. If you're interested [...]
NO RACING SA 9/23 DUE TO HIGH WINDS.
The RC has judged the conditions not safe for the committee boat. Racing will resume 9/30/23....
Ted Pike Start
Awaiting course instructions.... ...and they're off! Like particles attract each other...
PTSA Laser Fleet is Here
PTSA has acquired three Lasers. They are available for members to sail and we will be implementing a sail training program. Holly Kays and Piper Dunlap are heading up the planning. Stay tuned. The Lasers' current Port-designated space is next to the Port's oil response trailer on Coast Guard Island. We are on the lookout for a suitable dinghy dolly to launch the boats. Let us know of any leads.... Thanks to Jeff Brantley for locating the opportunity and making the deal. Thanks to John Lynes for coming out to cut the check. Cost was $2,000 paid from PTSA's budget. [...]
Small but Mighty PTSA Watmough Bay Weekend
The PTSA weekend overnight to Watmough Bay shaped up as a match race between the Alden 44 Puffin (Chris King accompanied by Matt, Xavier, and Helena Cooper ) and the 1930 39' Yawl Erin (Steve Chapin and Mike Kennedy). A 35' Wauqiez Pretorian Alente (Terry Spencer) joined a little later in the crossing from City Dock to Watmough Bay. The trio was accompanied by the motor cruiser Kailita (Bobbi and Roland Nikles, Jeff and Angela Brantley). David Burrows started the fleet at City Dock promptly at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. The wind was light, with high overcast and some fog. Helena Cooper [...]
Watmough Bay Overnight–This Weekend, July 22-23
This weekend is PTSA's overnight trip to Watmough Bay. Call it competitive cruising, or efficiently proficient sailing with a party thrown in! We start at 10:00 a.m. at City Dock. There will be no flag or horn. Just be there to see if you can find the most efficient route for the 20 mile crossing from Port Townsend to Watmough Bay. If you prefer, bring your power boat. Watmough Bay is located on the SE tip of Lopez Island. It is a dramatic setting: a protected Bay nestled between steep sided cliffs, an easily accessible pebble beach at the [...]
Portable Fire Extinguisher Event–May 19, 2023 at Clubhouse
What: Annual Fire Extinguisher Inspection Service Where: At the Clubhouse When: Friday, May 19th, 10:00 a.m. Cost: $10 for members Tarboo Fire Protection and Extinguisher Service will be at the Clubhouse on Friday, May 19th at 10:00 a.m. to perform an annual inspection on our two Clubhouse fire-extinguishers. As a service to PTSA members, Tarboo will also inspect and tag your fire extinguisher for a flat rate of $10.00 if you bring it by at that time. Normal “service call fee” of $29.95 is waived. If your unit requires internal inspection there is flat fee of $21.00. Come [...]
Water Quiz: What do you see?
Patterns like this sometimes appear on Port Townsend Bay. In this case, off the Fort Townsend mooring buoys. The wind has recently switched from SE to NW; tide is ebbing. What's happening in the calm "stream?" Leave your answer in the comments section and we'll update the post with your observations.
Clubhouse Improvements Astound Attendees for Wednesday’s Gathering
George and Anna Shaffer and Crew on their Hanse 30' There was an intimate meeting at the Clubhouse yesterday. George and Anna Shaffer regaled us with stories of Ketchikan, of 200 inches of rain a year, 100mph winds, and avoiding cruise ships with spinnaker wraps. They own the Hanse 30 down at D dock and they made a most generous donation to PTSA. Morgan Conrad from Andiamo Again, also a generous supporter, was there. John Lynes, Lucas Hurt and Roland Nikles joined in. We talked mark-roundings, chinese broaches, the August PTSA campout to Watmough Bay, and marveled at [...]
Stories of a Small Boat Cruise Across the Pacific Never get Old
It's been 10 years since Jim Heumann and Karen Sullivan returned from their trans-Pacific voyage from Port Townsend to New Zealand, but the trip is as fresh and exciting as a southerly storm buffeting the newly rebuilt north jetty at Point Hudson. Jim and Karen reprised their trip for an attentive crowd of 31 at the Clubhouse this evening. Just shy of 11,000 ocean miles travelled, and the roughest stretch of water Jim and Karen encountered was 100 miles off the Oregon coast, one week from home. Their Pacific Seacraft Dana 24 foot boat drifted 100 miles south while [...]
PTSA Focus on the Northwest Passage
The Arctic Ocean, a mostly ice covered circular sea, sits atop the world like a skullcap. Average sea temperature hovers around the freezing point for sea water (28.4 degrees Fahrenheit) and cold water flows along the sea floor southward generating ocean currents that serve as pistons for the planet’s climate engine. Five to ten miles aloft, polar vortex winds circle, periodically breaking out to bring a chill to populated North America, Europe, and Asia. For centuries European explorers and traders longed for and sought a passage through the sea-ice of the Arctic Ocean, looking for a northern passage from the [...]
Port Townsend High School Sailing Team Explores T-Birds with PTSA
Last Sunday an enthusiastic contingent of our Port Townsend High School Sailing Team ventured out on the water with PTSA to get an introduction to the Thunderbirds. Ocean, Noah, Holly, Fiona, Panya, Kai, Luca, Lhotse, Grace, and Zia, joined Roland Nikles on Falcon, John Lynes on Kuma San, Mark Blatter on Merlin, and Josh Wheeler on Corvo. It was a great day. Adventures were had, starting with a halyard mishap on Merlin followed by a mid-bay crew transfer. We learned that skills we use all the time in dinghys, but that many of us have never practiced on larger boats, [...]
The Inaugural PTSA Wooden Boat Buoy Run: No Wind No Glitch
The folkboat Chloe styling it, starting backwards with the tide! See Morgan Conrad's photos from the event. See Elizabeth Becker's photos. Wooden boats are dominant in Port Townsend. There’s the Wooden Boat School, the Wooden Boat Festival, and now a wooden boat buoy run. The inaugural Wooden Boat Buoy Run occurred on Sunday, October 16, 2022, on Port Townsend Bay. Jen Bates, of Varya, supported by the Port Townsend Sailing Association, spearheaded the event. All wooden sailboats were welcome, with twelve vessels and their crews showing up. The event was conceived as a run rather than a race [...]
Wooden Boat Buoy Run Sunday Oct. 16
Do you have a wooden boat? Come on out for the PTSA Wooden Boat Buoy Run on Sunday, October 16! The schedule is as follows: 10:00am - Skipper’s meeting at the head of A/B dock in Boat Haven Marina. Printed material with the start sequence and course information will be handed out to skippers and there will be time for questions. 12:00pm –Start for 25’ and under boats off city dock. You will have 10 minutes to cross the start line. 12:15pm – Start for larger boats off city dock. 4:00pm –Bring a snack and beverages to share and meet [...]
Currents Challenge Small Bush Point Fleet
Kuma San charging to 2022 Bush Point win Four boats showed up to start the 2022 edition of PTSA's Bush Point race. The course runs from City front to the mid-channel marker between Bush Point (on Whidbey Island) and the southern end of Marrowstone Island. It is the shortest of the four "distance races," a mere 14.9 miles. A sprint that would take an AC72 20 minutes to complete, barely affected by 4 knots of current. But for traditional boats--two Thunderbirds, a Robert Perry designed Bystedt 30, and a classic S&S yawl--the course presents old fashioned challenges [...]
PTSA MYSTERY BAY CAMPOUT: JULY 23-24
Join us, Saturday July 23, for a Mystery Bay overnight excursion. There will be an informal start off City Dock at 10:00 a.m, heading to I (buoy off Indian Point near Boat Haven entrance), to G (entrance to Kilisut harbor), and a procession through the channel to Mystery Bay. EVERYONE WELCOME! The tide will be flooding all day, so the passage through the channel to Mystery Bay should be easy. John Piskula reports that all of the channel markers have been reset recently. CAUTION: there are some tricky turns and shallow banks. He will await us in his dinghy and [...]
Watmough Bay No; Friday Night Racing Yes!
All who participated in last year’s Watmough Bay overnight distance race/outing came away saying “Wow, that was fun; and what a beautiful place.” Camp-fires on the beach, cocktails in the cockpit, camaraderie in a beautiful setting, like Catalina Island, “25 miles across the Sea,” if we add a tack or two. But, alas it’s more fun in summer than in Junuary…. the weather may be better than January, but not exactly what we expect of summer. The forecast for this weekend is more of the same: temperatures in the low 50’s, rain, clouds, no sun, and very light winds [...]
No Organized Racing Today, Friday April 8
The forecast for this evening is strong gusts of 24 knots building to 30 knots in Port Townsend Bay. The Friday night series will commence next week, Friday April 15--Tax Day! Come join us April 15 for a strong kick-off to this casual racing series.
Tales of the Salish Sea
Amber Hocking retrieving "the mark" from the clutches of the Salish Sea Remember that mysterious weather mark lost off Indian Point two weeks back? It’s been found! And it’s a most unusual story shrouded in three mysteries…. Back then, two weeks ago, I went to the PTSA locker, behind PT Rigging looking for a suitable weather mark. There in a milk crate, with a dead mouse nestled on top, was a neatly coiled 200’ line with ten feet of chain, and a few links of chain near the top to keep the line from floating too high in [...]
Frostbite Series January 29, 2022
Four Thunderbirds and the Spitsgatter Murrelet turned out for a cool but lovely sail. The Olympics were set in sharp relief draped with light. The wind at noon to 2;30 pm. was an oscillating breeze (7-12kn) from the SE. A starting line was set off the Boat Haven breakwater, and the course was Start-Green Buoy-Finish. Dorado and Falcon had a see-saw duel up the middle on the long windward beat, with Falcon coming out on top. Dorado gybed early after the mark and gained the upper hand on the run home. Angela and Jeff Brantley opted for the left corner [...]
Happy Thanksgiving
Photo: Gary Romjue We are thankful for our wooden boat tradition, our marine industry, all the masts clanging in the marina, seeing sails out on Port Townsend Bay. We are thankful for all who come out to play with the wind, the tides, the weather, the sea life, and other sailors too. We are thankful we get to sail all year round here in the PNW. We are thinking of you at a cozy anchorage, or in your kitchens at home, turkey in the oven, surrounded by family and friends. In this year of Covid. We are blessed. See you [...]
SEASON FINALE AND PIZZA PARTY ON A-DOCK!
Frostbiting last winter. The 2021 racing season on Port Townsend Bay will come to a glorious end this Saturday, October 30, 2021. The weather forecast algorithms predict glorious sun, winds of 7-14 knots from the NW and they promise the mountains will be out in their full glory. The Orcas, eagles, seals and gulls will be there to cheer us on. Calling all Port Townsend racers. Come one, come all! We'll put an exclamation point on a fine season of sailing. Come join us on A-dock, Thunderbird row, after the racing at 3:30 p.m. to tell tall tales, [...]