I'll be in downtown Seattle July 27-29 for a conference. Stephen's considering heading up on the 29th so he can be there for the weekend (30-31) if anyone in the area wants a battle. If we do put together a battle, where would you battle? And usually on a Saturday or Sunday? Is Swan Creek in Tacoma the usual place? I'm making the hotel arrangements in a couple of days. I believe I'm covered through Saturday morning in downtown Seattle as part of the conference. If the battle is in Tacoma, I imagine the lodging prices there are a tad cheaper than downtown, and it'd make more sense to go down there for any extra nights we'll be in town. Hope to be able to meet some of you!
We haven't had much of what amounts to for us a formal discussion on the date yet. If we opt to have a battle I would anticipate either Tacoma or Cle Elum. Cle Elum is a strong possibility because it gets us away from bystanders a bit more, and in the summer months the Tacoma location tends to attract more folks, pets, etc. We typically battle Sundays, but if folk are amenable to it can do a Saturday.
Keri, we've opted to add a battle on Sunday the 31st. It will be at Swan Creek in Tacoma, either 10am or 11am start time (we're still discussing that part).
Sounds great, and thank you so much. I'll let Stephen know, and we'll be working on travel arrangements.
Hey everyone, we're making plans for where to stay on Saturday night, and how to get around. Is there any convenient transit, or should we plan on renting a car on Saturday and staying somewhere in Tacoma Saturday night? Any recommendations of where to stay in Tacoma? Stephen will be coming in earlier in the week and getting to downtown via lightrail, but I have lodging taken care of through Friday night, then we're both planning on leaving the area Sunday afternoon or evening after the battles. How long do your battles usually last?
All local 'mass' transit sucks (my opinion) and isnt something to rely on or desire to use. A car might be your best option. I'd tell you to stay near seatac or along the light-rail and actually offer you a ride as I live near the airport, but the car will be rather full of boat stuff Sunday, sorry. You might consider looking at whats in Fife for lodging options as well. It's right on the I-5 corridor and is an easy trip most places. We generally are at the pond until 3 or 4. We're very informal about the schedule, so while we assert that we start at 10 and will conduct N battles, we almost always start late and will conduct as many battles as we have operable ships and time.
We just booked the return tickets, and we're sticking around until Monday because it's a lot cheaper than leaving Sunday, so we won't need to leave the battle early. My next question is about spectators, how welcome they are, and when they should arrive. A former WWCC (big gun) member has moved up to Port Angeles and wants to come visit with us at the pond. I'm presuming a fellow battler shouldn't be a problem, as he knows his way around things (having been president, secretary, and probably several other positions in the club throughout the years). There are several people from a company for which I contract (it's their conference that I'm attending for three days) that have expressed a general interested in observing, think it might be an interesting activity, but have no background with the hobby other than the videos they've seen on YouTube and our site. How well is the site set up for this type of visitor? Is it OK to let them know details about the event in a private email and invite them to watch, or would you prefer to keep bystanders to a minimum?
Well, its a public venue, our website and mailing list is likewise public and we're generally happy to entertain visitors, answer their questions and often if we have a spare cargo ship set them up running it. The parking lot might get a bit full though, so if they could carpool that might be good. If they can bring their own safety glasses that would be good too, though we generally have some spares onhand. The capacity for visitors can really depend on what the gravel bars look like, I should be able to tell you better after this Sunday. I will warn you though that we can have long waits between sorties and often don't actually get the first battle going at the scheduled time, so some visitors can find it a bit... dull, if they're not into walking around looking at the ships and asking questions.
Keri, emailed you about this and there's a general announcement post in our subforum as well, but it looks like we'll be having a Fun-Run up at Bellevue on the 30th, you and Stephen would be welcome to attend and feel free to pass it along to any of your interested folk. No combat but plenty of time to see ships sailing around, for new people to ask questions when captains aren't under the pressure of trying to get ships ready for combat.
Thanks Nick, I got the email. Will be emailing my people soon and letting them know about both events.
We just firmed up the hotel, and we'll be staying near the airport (within a mile or so) Friday night through Monday morning. Can anyone give us rides to either Bellevue or Tacoma and save us the cost of the rental car? We'll be near light rail, so we're happy to jump on that and go to a station near somebody. For car/space planning, we're bringing the South Carolina, which fits into a golf club case, and there would be the two of us that would need rides. Thanks so much!
contrary to earlier comments, now that I've freed myself from the yoke of a large co2 tank, I can offer you rides. (I'm a hop and a skip away from the airport and the International Blvd light rail station)
Thanks so much Nick! Not having to rent a car and deal with that is really helpful. I'll PM you later today with our information of where we're staying, phone, etc.
Stephen and I want to thank everyone for the great weekend we had! A big thanks to Nick for being taxi driver for us as well, and a thanks to everyone for turning out.
Thanks for coming out and joining us. It was great to be able to meet the two of you, and to be able to arrange a weekend of warships. You're welcome to re-join us any time.
