Commodore’s Update
Summer 2022
Aloha NYC Members,
As 2022 is rapidly coming to a close, I felt it was important to update our membership with a State of the Union message of sorts.
On the good news side, I am happy to report that we have increased our membership significantly the past two years; mahalo to Bev Burroughs and her efforts pitching the benefits of joining the best Yacht Club on the Garden Island! Many of our new members reside on the mainland enjoying the reciprocal benefits that come along with NYC membership. One comment on reciprocity: when visiting another yacht club, it is advised to enter with authority, sign the visitors register and go about finding the bar. Stopping to have a conversation will possibly raise more issues related to our club status. Also, our new credit card style printer has helped to make us look more official! We are also initiating a campaign to contact clubs of particular interest – please let me know if you have a local club you intend to visit and I will send a letter to them.
Other news is that our treasury is in good shape, with more than $36,000 in reserves. Dick Olsen continues to do a fine job of recording our income and expenses, reporting timely each month at our Board of Director meetings. Our meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at 5:30 via Zoom. If you are interested in sitting in, just let Dick know and he will add you to the invite list.
More good news is that we have identified a parcel of land within the Nawiliwili Small Boat Harbor and thanks to long time NYC member John Underwood, we also have a building design. The NYC board feels this design will accommodate the club’s current and future needs and will be affordable (within reason). The design incorporates two 40-foot high-volume containers with a deck between and a stylish roof above, all in a 2,500 square footprint. We have preliminary approval to move forward from DOBOR Kauai and DOBOR Oahu. We are now waiting for our revocable permit and long-term land lease applications to be approved. The hiccup here is the State of Hawaii requirement to provide an Environmental Study. We are attacking this roadblock from two angles: first, we have engaged an Environmental Consulting Firm on Oahu (Scott Ezer with Helber Hastert & Fee) to provide a written defense of our position that we should be exempt from this requirement. Fortunately, I was able to locate a firm that is providing this service pro-bono. The downside is it is taking a bit longer than if we had offered to pay the large fees associated with this sort of effort. I expect to approve the letter this coming week. Secondly, we have engaged Dave Gerow, a local Kauai based environmental consultant (and NYC Member) to complete a Phase 1 study to include soil sampling and an opinion related to our proposed site to also provide to the State of Hawaii. This portion of the effort is expected to be complete in the October timeframe. Once we have cleared these hurdles, our lease request needs to go to public auction and then to DLNR for approval. We are looking at some time in 2023 to start the build of our new home.
Many of you have seen our new NawiliwiliYachtClub.org website. With this new site we now have one database where all our members are identified. We are slowly adding racing information, club news and event calendar sections. As we approach the end of 2022, all our members will receive automated renewal notices and will be able to pay online using a credit card or PayPal. This will greatly assist us with renewals and updating our financials in a timely manner. If you haven’t logged in and updated your information, now would be a good time to do so. Your login information was sent to you, but it is easy to send it again if need be – reach out to our Membership Chair Bev Burroughs. Her contact information is on the website.
My last, but not least, bit of good news is that a subset of the NYC board of directors have founded the Kauai Maritime Foundation (KMF) as a newly organized IRS sanctioned 501(c)(3) charitable organization. With this entity we can solicit new funding in the form of charitable and tax-deductible donations. These funds will be used to help build and maintain the proposed shared facility (NYC and KMF) as well as allow the organizations to co-sponsor our community events. Historically these events have been operated by NYC, but now there will be additional resources that can be applied to smooth out the effort as well as provide a greater benefit to the community. Please visit www.KauaiMaritime.org to better understand our mission and to make your donations. There is a one-time donation option and there is a monthly gifting option – please give what you can. If you have a particular donation idea that does not fit into the website form, please do not hesitate to contact me personally. We can also accept legacy giving as part of trust or will bequests.
Finally, Mahalo for taking the time to read this update. And, Mahalo for trusting me to serve as your Commodore these past two years – it has been interesting to say the least, particularly as we have had to deal with COVID protocols, keeping an active racing calendar, losing our lease, losing our temporary club house, dealing with DOBOR, creating a non-profit organization . . and all the rest! I will not be continuing in my current position after this term, but I will continue to lead our charge with the State of Hawaii to provide continuity with the lease negotiations. I am the founding President of the Kauai Maritime Foundation, and I will continue in that role for the foreseeable future. If you are interested in serving our club as a board member, participating in launching the Kauai Maritime Foundation or in any other capacity, please let me know.
As always, please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions, comments, or concerns.
And a BIG MAHALO to the 2022 NYC Board of Directors who have all assisted in a major way this year.
Jeff Jakus
Jeff@wowsd.com
(619) 972-0677