Member Guidelines
Welcome to the membership of the Washington Outboard Club. Listed below are a few of the things we feel members should be aware of. When you were accepted to Club membership you were provided a copy of the Club By-Laws and required to read them. We strongly encourage you to review them from time to time. A copy of the By-Laws is available for review at each Membership and Board Meeting and on our web site on our “Home” page. Meanwhile please familiarize yourself with the following items
Membership Meetings.
A General Membership meeting will be held the second Tuesday of each month at the West Sacramento VFW Hall, 905 Drever Street, West Sacramento at 7 p.m. All members, except disabled members, are required to obtain two meeting credits a year. Credits may be obtained by: attending a general membership meeting (one credit per meeting) or volunteering your help for a club function, such as a Port clean up, helping at one our dinners, the Derby or similar functions where you can assist the club. One credit will be given for donating blood (our account number is #5392, which is on your club ID card). Just bring in or mail your donation receipt to the Secretary. Don’t forget to sign in at each meeting. You must sign in to get credit. New members note: Once you have been voted into the Club at a General Membership Meeting and attended a Board Meeting to turn in your enrollment and volunteer forms, and paid your initiation fee and dues, you still must get two attendance credits. Your acceptance at the General Membership meeting and subsequent sign-up at the following Board meeting do not count. Our year is defined as the period between June 1st of this year through May 31st next year. At these meetings you may obtain additional stickers, a replacement sticker, a replacement gate key or membership card if you’ve lost yours between 6:15-6:45 by seeing the Secretary at the front of the hall.
You have been issued a key, a membership card and a sticker for your tow vehicle. As stated in the By-Laws, keys must not be loaned out or duplicated. Stickers must be affixed on the inside, lower left side of your windshield. Membership cards must be presented when another member asks to see it.
Executive Board Meetings. These are held on the third Tuesday of the month, also at the VFW Hall, at 6:00 p.m. in the side room. At these meetings you may obtain additional stickers, or replacement sticker, a replacement gate key or membership card if you’ve lost yours between 5:45-6 p.m. by seeing the Secretary.
Volunteering. Volunteers are the backbone of our Club, without them we would not exist. You may possess a skill or trade or just have the time that could make or break a Club need. Volunteering permits you to meet new people, make new friends and fishing buddies. The Club will recognize your efforts with attendance credits but, more importantly, you will feel good about having “made a difference”.
New Member Probationary Period. All new members will be on a one-year probation in which they will be required to volunteer for two W.O.C. club functions (at least one of them needs to be for Membership Meeting Hall Set-Up) IN ADDITION to the two required club functions as specified in SECTION 5 ©. Failure to volunteer for two club functions will result in termination of membership. The current Volunteer List is at the “Volunteers” tab.
Access to the Port. Take Harbor Blvd south and enter Port of West Sacramento where Harbor Blvd and Industrial Blvd intersect. There is a stoplight there and it is the MAIN entrance to the port. You will see the guard shack once you cross Industrial Blvd and enter the port. Stay to the RIGHT. Just in front of the guard shack and to the right is the entrance. It is a straight shot past the Wal-Mart trucks on the right and the upper parking lot that is used for parking our trailers during our derby. It is about 200 yards long once you come through the entrance by the guard shack until you hit the road that descends down to the parking lot and the entrance to our ramp. When you leave, there is a stop sign at the top of the entrance by the guard shack. You will have to turn left to go out to Industrial Blvd/Harbor Blvd but PAY ATTENTION TO ANY TRUCKS OR CARS LEAVING THE PORT as they may be hidden by the guard shack on your right.
Port of West Sacramento Boat Club Guidelines. Our use of the Port facility is restricted to the hours of 5:00 a.m. until 10 p.m. daily. No alcohol, firearms personal watercraft (e.g. jet skis, wave runners) are allowed. All members must carry identification (e.g. W.O.C. Membership Card and tow vehicle Window Sticker). Parking is allowed in designated areas only. All boaters must stay at least 100 ft. away from ships and berths at the Port per Department of Homeland Security regulations. The Port user guidelines are at file:///C:/Users/Guy/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/InetCache/IE/YSLNON4I/WOC%20Boat%20Club%20Guidelines%2011-2014.pdf
Other Clubs. You will discover there are three other clubs using our facility, they are: UCD Rowing Club, River City Rowing Club and the Lake Washington Sailing Club. You will find parking difficult at times, so please be patient and courteous at all times. When you enter our closed compound, you will have to use your key to enter. This lock is located inside a metal barrel to the right of the gate. Don’t forget to TAKE YOUR KEY OUT. We’ve had a quite a few members leave their key in the lock. Also, if you have problems with the lock, notify a club officer as soon as possible. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO LUBRICATE THE LOCK WITH ANYTHING. There will be times when there will not be any marked spaces available inside the gate and you will have to park outside, or in the upper parking lot, especially when the bite is on. As you enter, the left side is designated fire lane, no parking there please. Signs are posted.
Ramp and Boat Operation: No boats over 21 feet or 3500 pounds in weight are allowed to launch on our ramp. You will notice there are yellow lines on each side of the ramp. These signify the width of the ramp as it goes under water. At all times when launching or retrieving your boat, elevate your motor to avoid damage to the ramp, your prop and skeg. When launching at low tide, have your fishing partner watch to see your trailer wheels do not go past the warning pole or you may go over the end of our ramp or off the side of our ramp if you do not stay within the lines. Speed limit inside the basin is 5 mph. The basin is defined as from the locks at Jefferson Blvd. to Marker 86, just before the overhead power lines as you leave the basin and begin down the deep water ship channel. The only vessels allowed to exceed 5 mph are the Port tugboats, Sheriff’s patrol boats, California Fish and Wildlife, and the U.S. Coast Guard. Also, give right of way to sail boats and rowing boats, and give them a no wake courtesy. Occasionally you will see a rowing vessel with only one or two rowers. If they seem headed for you and are close, yell to let them know you are there and move your vessel to avoid collision. WHEN TRAVELING IN THE BASIN TOWARD THE LOCKS AT JEFFERSON BLVD USE AN IMAGINARY CENTERLINE. DO NOT GO CLOSER THAN 100 FEET TO SHIPS OR DOCKS.
Fishing Off the Docks. You are allowed to fish off the sailboat club dock (immediately to the left as you enter the compound) or off our dock. No cutting of bait, no trash on either dock. If a boater comes into the dock please move to allow them to dock. No fishing is permitted off the Rowing Club docks.
Change of Member Information. Whenever you have a change of address, telephone number, e-mail, new boat, new tow vehicle, need to replace your key, need a window sticker or want to transfer your membership, contact the Secretary immediately. We are tasked by the City of West Sacramento to provide them with a current list of members showing their addresses, vehicle license numbers and boat CF numbers. Do not wait until renewals.
Renewals. Renewals each year are in the month of June. Normally we have two evenings at the VFW hall and one Saturday morning at the ramp. You will be notified well in advance of the dates and times. If you are unable to make these renewals dates you must notify the Secretary. All members must renew during the designated dates and times or their membership will be terminated, unless they have a valid excuse such as an emergency.
Elections. Club officers and board members are elected in December.
Questions? If you have any questions don’t hesitate to call a Club Officer or Board Member.
Website is http://washingtonoutboardclub.org/info.html
From the Secretary, W.O.C.