One of the best things about boats is their ability to bring people together. Families, friends, co-workers, and new acquaintances en route to becoming old friends—few things can facilitate socializing like a boat.
This issue’s featured yacht club is especially focused on the social aspects of boating. The marina and clubhouse for Hidden Harbor Yacht Club aren’t merely well “hidden,” they’re nonexistent. Hidden Harbor members don’t seem to view the lack of moorage and real estate as any sort of disadvantage. In fact, it apparently frees up the club leaders and membership to concentrate on the fundamental reason people join a yacht club to start with, which is hanging out and cruising with friends. Without the expenses of physical property, Hidden Harbor must be one of the most affordable clubs to be found anywhere. Dues are just $150 per “couple” per year.
Folks who have been kicking around the Seattle waterfront for a while will remember the lakeside bar and restaurant, Franco’s Hidden Harbor. Stepping into the foyer of the Marina Mart Building at 1500 Westlake and then descending to the floor below was like traveling through time. After World War II, Seattle native John Franco and his father purchased the Marina Grill and renamed it Franco’s Hidden Harbor.
Even into the 1970s and ’80s, there was a noir atmosphere, along with fixtures and décor at Franco’s that affirmed it was established in the late 1940s. A postwar cocktail bar suspended somewhere between rough-and-tumble and affected sophistication; a totally unique and delightful place. The first organized boating events associated with Franco’s Hidden Harbor were probably the “sailgating” parties John Franco organized beginning in 1956.
Some of the boaters who frequented Franco’s formalized a yacht club in 1976 with the election of officers and the adoption of bylaws. Hidden Harbor met regularly at Franco’s, but a kitchen fire in the 1980s sent the restaurant into a sputtering spiral from which it never successfully recovered. Hidden Harbor currently meets at Razzi’s Italian Restaurant in Seattle, located about 86th and Greenwood.
Hidden Harbor is an active cruising club, welcoming people who enjoy boating and find that boating with friends can be even more fun than going solo.
The 2026 calendar for Hidden Harbor Yacht Club lists about a dozen organized boating events and cruises between February and November. There are, of course, events like general meetings and commodore’s balls, which are typically part of any organized yacht club. But ask any member of Hidden Harbor Yacht Club why they belong and expect an answer similar to, “it’s a way to go boating with friends.”
A probable majority of Hidden Harbor members also belong to other yacht clubs around the Salish Sea. Whatever it is that Hidden Harbor is doing to facilitate an active cruising schedule that concentrates on boating with friends, it’s done well enough that people active in other clubs are finding something uniquely appealing about it.
Hidden Harbor has more than enough fun to go around. They’re looking for additional members. A visit to the club website will answer some of the common questions and provide contacts through which interested parties can learn more about membership.
Yacht Club at a Glance
Note: Facts current at time of publication
- Club Address (Correspondence Only): 2226 Eastlake Ave. #1013, Seattle, WA 98102
- Founded:1976
- Membership: 80
- Emphasis: Cruising/Comradery
- Outstations: N/A
- Initiation fee: $75
- Dues: $150
- Onsite marina: N/A
- Commodore: Rick (and Kim) Nolte
- Vice C: Steve (and Wendy) Rittereiser
- Rear: Bart (and Brenda) Kooyman
Website & Inquiries: https://hhycseattle.com
