Club puts more hands on deck

For Dan Mathews, one of the perks of being a member of the Neptune Sailing Club is being able to sign out a boat and gaze at Mount Rainier at sunset when it resembles a "strawberry ice-cream cone."

Mathews loved to sail in high school and college, but then got busy working overseas and starting a family. When his two children were older and he had more free time, a sign for the club near the Kirkland public dock caught his eye.

"I couldn't afford the kind of boat that I race," said Mathews, 47, who is on the club's board. "Sailing isn't just the purchase price of a boat, it's entrance fees for races and moorage fees that can get quite expensive."

The Neptune Sailing Club is one of the few nonprofit groups of its kind in the area. With private yacht-club fees and dues costing thousands of dollars, Neptune's $675 initiation fee and monthly dues of $45 are a bargain by comparison, members say. Most members pay dues yearly at a discounted price of $440, said club President Keith Krumm.

The club owns two Catalina 22s for family outings and two J-22s for racing and spinnaker sailing. Members get unlimited use of the boats as long as they check in every three hours to see if someone else is waiting for a boat.

Group members recently got together to prepare the four boats for Saturday's celebration of Opening Day of boating season. There was even time for a quick sail on Lake Washington as Mathews and board member Philippe Lindheimer tacked and jibed, ducking under the boom.

Founded in the late 1960s, the club is made up almost entirely of families. Members can sign out the boats on a first-come, first-served basis from the small marina behind Anthony's Home Port in downtown Kirkland.

In the evenings, they can participate in the competitive races on Wednesdays and Fridays during the summer.

"After the races, we always get together," Mathews said. "There's a social aspect of sailing that's almost as big as racing itself."

The club also offers basic sailing lessons at no cost and hosts seasonal get-togethers and work parties.

Club president Krumm, an engineering manager at Boeing, heard about the club from his sister-in-law, who was a member.

"My sister-in-law is a single mother, and if the costs were much more, she wouldn't have been able to afford it," Krumm said. "We come from all income brackets. There's a lot of diversity nearby."

The membership cap of 85 families is meant to keep the boats available. In previous years there was always a waiting list, but because one of the club's signs was knocked down during a nearby construction project recently, there has been less interest than usual. The club has nine open memberships.

Board member John Pruitt, a member for 24 years, said the club is of value to the community.

"It's so affordable, people never drop out," Pruitt said.

Lisa Chiu 206-464-3347 or lchiu@seattletimes.com