<div dir="ltr"><span id="gmail-docs-internal-guid-72c0d3fc-7fff-5d6d-f0d6-80ebfcb803e0" style=""><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Washington Yacht Club Sailing Community,</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">It is with a heavy heart that we are writing to inform you that last week, we lost two beloved members of our community, Tom Schaefer and Evan Abramson, in a tragic boating accident in Mexico. Tom and Evan contributed enormously to the organization and to our community through decades of close involvement, and their warm presence will be sincerely missed.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Tom joined the WYC in 2000, and many of you will know him from being the organizer of our Snooze n Cruise events since 2012. While Tom originally gravitated towards sailing dinghies, often choosing to skipper the club’s 470 with a club member hiked out on the trapeze, in recent years his interest in sailing keelboats grew, and you would often find Tom taking club members and prospective club members out on Talaria III.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Evan was similarly a constant presence at the waterfront, serving as a WYC Chief for many years. Many of you would recognize Evan as the skipper of Frenesi for most of our recent Snooze n Cruise events, similarly mentoring new student sailors and putting his time, experience, and calm demeanor into creating positive experiences for those around him. Evan was fond of sailing Lasers, and he was a frequent Duck Dodge participant.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Tom and Evan both had strong conviction about what they wanted out of life, and they weren’t afraid to go after it. They were close friends for many years and particularly enjoyed scuba diving together, making trips to Isla Mujeres almost every year. As expressed by a fellow club member, some sort of relief might be felt in knowing that the two of them were together last in their favorite spot in the world, surrounded by the serenity of the vast open ocean and the gentle dazzling array of fish that they loved seeing.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The club is working on several ways to memorialize and celebrate the lives of Tom and Evan, and we will keep the club membership informed about such efforts.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Tom’s partner has asked for memories and photos of Tom to be shared at </span><a href="https://www.tomschaefermemorial.com/" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">https://www.tomschaefermemorial.com/</span></a><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">. Please also share any photos that you have of Tom and Evan to this </span><a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1aeglwfZGdLztn3_PAeA02ghoF7ppZ9cB" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Google Drive folder</span></a><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">. You may also wish to join the </span><a href="https://mailman13.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/wyc" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">WYC Chat mailing list</span></a><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> and share your memories there.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">We are unified in our sadness over the loss of these wonderful members of our community, and our thoughts are with all of Tom and Evan’s friends and family, and the many others whose lives they have touched.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Warm regards,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Anthony, Sam, William, Salt, and Dylan</span></p></span><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>---<br clear="all"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div>Anthony Au and Sam Lindsay<br>Co-Commodores<br></div><div>Washington Yacht Club</div><div><a href="mailto:commodore@washingtonyachtclub.org" target="_blank">commodore@washingtonyachtclub.org</a></div><div><br></div><div>Support us through <a href="https://bit.ly/366G2zy" target="_blank">AmazonSmile</a><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>