Catching Up ...

Very often people ask me, “Is this a busy time of the year for you?” For those that really know me, they know the answer is “yes” regardless of the time of the year. I love this job and I love staying busy. July is no different so I thought I would pause for a few minutes and catch you up on a number of things that are happening at the NMTA right now.

Boatyard Appeal – Our appeal before the Pollution Control Hearings Board starts on July 10. Thanks to all of you who contributed to our Legal Defense Fund. My hope is that the Board affirms that the new NPDES permit is valid, while making some adjustments in response to the 10 points we raised in our appeal. In my opinion, the new permit is sufficiently stringent and will lead to cleaner and better run boatyards throughout the state.

2007 Seattle Boat Show – The dates have now been set for the 2007 Seattle Boat Show at Qwest Field Event Center. We will have a ten day show opening on Thursday, January 25 and ending on Saturday, February 3. The closing hours of the show have been made more consistent with an 8:00 PM close every night except a 6:00 PM close on the one Sunday. I don’t think there is any combination of show hours and days that will ever get unanimous support from every single exhibitor, but I feel these decisions were the result of a good process involving the Boat Show Committee, the Board of Trustees with input from dealers and exhibitors of all sizes.

Fun on the Foss – We held our first Fun on the Foss event last month in Tacoma at Dock Street Marina. I am really excited about the success of the event. It appears we were able to “pick-up” the Boatstock formula and replicate it in a new location. Boatstock has grown each year, almost doubling in size each year. Our first Fun on the Foss event drew more attendees that our 2nd Boatstock in 2004 with over 400 boat rides given to almost 1,400 people over the two days of the Father’s Day weekend. I suspect that we have created a new annual event in Tacoma that will help us Grow Boating in the South Sound every June. I also suspect that we could replicate the formula again in another location, maybe in North Puget Sound.

Membership Renewals – Just a reminder that 2006-07 NMTA membership dues were due on June 30th just as they have been for many years. There has always been a grace period, but when the membership approved the changes to the bylaws earlier in the year, they moved the final deadline up two weeks. So please be aware that members must renew by July 15 in order to avoid a list of penalties that are worth avoiding. Our goal is to renew 100% of our 901 members, so if you have not renewed please do so today.

Join a Committee – Our new fiscal year starts this month so the Board has appointed the committee chairs for 2006-2007. On page 2 of the newsletter, you will find a list of the committees, the new committee chairs and the person on staff who works with each committee. I encourage each of you to attend at least one committee meeting when we get started again in the fall. You will find that you can make a difference by serving on a committee and you will find that volunteering is personally satisfying and fulfilling.

Board Members Retiring and Joining – Three Board Members finished their terms last month including Larry Carpenter (Master Marine), Pat Jutte (Adventure Yachts) and Jeff Lindhout (Sea Sport Boats). I want to thank all three of them for volunteering their time and talents to help us grow and improve the association. I also want to welcome two new board members and one who was reelected in June. The new board members are Neil McCurdy (Grand Banks Yachts) and Jerry Todd (Sonship Yacht Sales), while Patrick Baker (Boater’s World) was reelected to the board and will serve as the Secretary/Treasurer for 2006-07.

I hope everyone meets their business goals for their own year and also enjoys a great summer out on the water. If you get a chance, come see us July 22-23 for the 4th Annual Boatstock at Coulon Park in Renton, or even better come on Saturday, July 22 for the Bakes Northwest Wakeboard Invitational. It should be a great weekend for boating!

With warm regards,

Michael Campbell
President
michael@nmta.net