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Thank you!

THANK YOU SO MUCH for helping make this year such a great success. All of us do this out of a labor of love and it is truly humbling to see it all come together and see so many of you go through great lengths to brave the flights, long car rides, ferries, and bring out such amazing projects to share with all of us. I couldn’t imagine a better family than you all, and just can’t wait to see you all at the next one!

Last Minute Info!

ToorCamp is only a week away, so here’s some last minute info to help you make the most out of this year’s event! We apologize in advance for the ridiculous amount of info in this email, hopefully you’ll be done reading it before you have to head out to camp!
ToorCamp Map Online!
We’ve finally posted our preliminary camp map! One thing to note is that when arriving to Doe Bay you will be directed to park either right next to the registration tent or in the lot just past registration.

NOTE: It is important that you DO NOT PARK ON THE MAIN ROAD. We will do our best to direct you to a safe place to park inside the resort. It’s highly encouraged for you to stop in town on your way to camp to help us deal with the flood of people checking in when the ferry arrives, and will help expedite the process when you do arrive.

Then you’ll want to immediately check in at the Registration Gate located right at the entrance to the Doe Bay Resort.

Check-In Process & Parking
Please make sure to bring your printed out tickets with 2D barcodes to speed along the check-in process. After checking in at the Registration Gate and receiving your badges, if you have booked a Cabin or Premium Campsite you’ll need to proceed down to the Doe Bay Main Office and check-in with the front desk. If you booked your cabin through a ToorCamp representative, the Registration staff will be able to provide you with your keys. Some Cabins and drive-in Premium Campsites will have a single dedicated parking spot that you’ll be able to use.NOTE: some cabins may have their adjacent spot reallocated for RV or camper trailer/van guests.

Otherwise since parking on-site is limited you will either be directed to an on-site parking spot or to a unloading area and then to off-site parking down the street. We’ll be operating a shuttle between the off-site parking and the resort all day Wednesday and Sunday. In and out from the off-site parking is highly discouraged so please decide with your group ahead of time which vehicles should be parked on-site and let the check-in staff know your preferences when you arrive. We’ll do our best to help make sure everyone is accommodated.

ToorCamp Kids!
We have a great program for kids and we’re excited to be offering a number of workshops and a small daycare for the younger ones so their parents can catch some of the talks. If you are bringing any little ones, you must at the very least buy a free ticket for them. If they’re interested in taking part in the workshops or daycare, please also make sure to sign them up so we can have an accurate count.
Workshops!
We have a number of great workshops lined up for you this year. Some of them require a fee, so make sure to bring cash if possible. Workshops can be attended on a first come first served basis. All workshops are up on the frab schedule.
Events
We have a number of events happening throughout the camp that are now posted up on the website. Contests! Parties! Projects! There’s plenty of fun to be had this year. If we happened to miss anything you have planned for your camp, please let us know so we can get it posted on our events page.
Telephone Service!
ShadyTel is back this year! They’ll again be providing their (sub)standard level of telephone service to whoever stumbles across some twisted pair running through the woods or is able to bribe a technician to run a line to their tent. Make sure to bring your best landline telephones, acoustic couplers, modems, BBS software, lineman’s handsets, vampire clips, captain crunch whistles, and other equipment that’s probably been gathering dust in your parent’s attic. Unfortunately, there will be no GSM service provided this year so no need to bring your unlocked phones.
Make a Ferry Reservation
Reservations can be made online Go to Save A Spot or by calling 1-888-808-7977. As a courtesy, Doe Bay will automatically send you a reminder to make your ferry reservation just prior to the release date for vehicle reservations. For more information, visit the WSFerries website or call (360) 376-2291 to speak with Doe Bay Front Desk. Also, it’s a good rule to plan to arrive an hour before your ferry leaves. There can be occasional traffic and if you arrive too late the ferry operators can may give away your reservation to someone on stand by.

NOTE: If you don’t have a ferry reservation at this point, the last 30% of the reservation pool will be released 2 days before sailing (this coming Monday June 18th) at 7:00am.

Book your Massage Today
Massages at the Doe Bay Resort can be booked online or through their front desk at (360) 376-2291.
The Doe Bay Cafe
Dinner reservations are recommended at the Doe Bay Café. No reservations are necessary for brunch unless your group is larger than 8. Please book online or call (360) 376-8059. Much of the produce used in their kitchen is source directly on site from the Doe Bay Garden. They also utilize local purveyors to provide only the freshest local, organic ingredients for the cafe including: Jones Family Farm, Buck Bay Shellfish and Maple Rock Farm. Views from the Cafe encompass Otter’s Cove and the islands across Rosario Strait.

Regular service hours are: Closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Open Thursday, 5-10pm for open mic, Friday-Monday brunch is served from 8am-2pm and dinner from 5-9pm. Check out their sample menu online.

Doe Bay Café Open-Mic and Fundraiser
Come enjoy this fun community event benefiting the Wolf Hollow. Be sure to bring musical instruments, for sharing song, as well as your favorite jokes, poems, stories and monologues to share with all. $1 for every meal sold goes to Wolf Hollow. No reservations accepted. Come early to get a great seat. There will be standing room available, as well.
The Doe Bay Spa and Soaking Tubs
The clothing-optional soaking tubs and soaking tubs and sauna are open daily from 8am-3pm and 4pm-10pm, with a closure from 3-4pm for cleaning and maintenance. We recommend you bring extra towels for spa use, otherwise you can borrow towels during open hours. The soaking tubs and sauna are the only clothing-optional area at the resort. We don’t recommend children under 6 in the spa area, and ask that children using the spa be potty-trained. Minors are to be in the presence of parents or guardians and use the spa during the family hours of 11am-6pm and are still clothing optional during this time. No children allowed after 6pm.

This area is the only clothing optional portion of Doe Bay. No drugs, alcohol, smoking, pets or glass containers are allowed.

Outdoor showers are a part of the Doe Bay spa experience and must be used each and every time before using the tubs or sauna. At least one towel per person is required, to sit on while using the sauna. They highly recommend you bring your own beach towel for use, however a limited supply of spa towels are available for loan through the front desk.

At the entrance to the spa they have created an enclosed and private garden area for meditation and contemplation, quiet reflection, sun bathing, reading and rest. All spa users must sign in EVERY time they enter or use the spa facilities. Failure to have deposited a sign in slip may result in loss of spa access.

Quiet Hours
Please respect the other guests, our staff and neighbors, by maintaining quiet hours between 10pm and 8am. No outdoor amplified music after 10pm.
Fire Safety
Doe Bay does not allow open flames of any kind on the property other than the community fire ring, the barbecue pit by the Guest Kitchen, and propane cook stoves. NO campfires, candles or incense are allowed at the cabins or campsites. There are fire extinguishers located on the outside of each cabin. In the summer, if there is no burn ban in effect on the island, a fire may be built in our fire pit (supply your own firewood), keeping in mind quiet hours,  10pm-8am.
Bathrooms and Showers
Many cabins have full bathrooms. For guests without in-cabin facilities, shower houses and bathrooms are available on both the lower and upper grounds. There is also a bathroom inside the Café. Additional port-a-lets will be provided around the grounds.
Guest Kitchen
Doe Bay’s modest guest kitchen is available to all guests without kitchens in their spaces. Basic utensils and cookware are provided. Label any food you keep in the fridge with your name and departure date or housekeeping may throw it out. Please keep this space enjoyable for all our guests by cleaning everything you use before you leave, including the grill(s).
Bringing Dogs
To minimize issues with Dogs, we have accepted applications for a number of dogs, but at this time we cannot accept any more. Please see ToorCamp’s Dog Policies for more information. If hosting your pet results in damage or the need for excessive cleaning in your cabin, you may be charged additional fees. As a comparable alternative, there is a kennel service on the island.
Other Things To Consider

  • Interested in kayaking? Book your 3-hour kayaking adventure with Shearwater Kayak Tours (360) 376-4699.
  • Book your whale watching adventure through Outer Island Excursions and receive a 10% discount as a Doe Bay guest.
  • Except for a community fire ring, backpacking stoves, and the woodstoves in some cabins, the resort is fire-free (this includes campfires, candles, lanterns, etc.).
  • Please leave your pets at home. It is too late to register and bring your pets. We’ve reached capacity  and are not allowing any more to register. As an alternative there is a kennel service on the island.
  • There are no in room phones or TVs provided at Doe Bay, but they do have free Wi-Fi.
  • In case of emergency, there is a red phone located in front of the store with instructions to call Doe Bay’s after-hours emergency line at (360) 376-5668.
  • There is no smoking inside any of the resort’s spaces and we ask that you remove wet or muddy shoes before entering the cabins.
  • For a complete listing of our resort policies, please visit our Resort Policies page.
  • Downstairs from the Doe Bay Cafe, their lounge and library is accessible 24 hours a day to guests. A good selection of books, information on the islands’ attractions, games, and puzzles make this a great place to start or end any day.
  • The outdoor deck is a wonderful spot to watch critters cavorting or to simply watch the world.
Anyway, we can’t wait until next week! As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Otherwise, we’ll see you next week!

Thanks!
-The ToorCamp Crew

Events Page Updated!

We have a bunch of great projects and events happening throughout the camp this year. We’ve updated our events page with some of them, but if you have any others you’d like to be spread to the masses, please get in contact with us so we can make sure to add it!

Can’t wait to see you all in less than 2 weeks!

Schedule Now Up!

We’ve finally published our conference schedule including all of our talks, workshops, and other events around the camp. If any changes or corrections need to be made that can’t be done through FRAB, please direct inquiries to david@toorcon.org. More info on the TeraHash and AWS sponsored parties, other music events, and kids activities will be published in the next couple weeks. We can’t wait to see you all in a few weeks!

Keynote & Preliminary Lineup Announced!

KEYNOTE: bunnie!
We’re proud to announce that Andrew “bunnie” Huang will be keynoting ToorCamp this year. bunnie is most known for hacking the Xbox in the early 2000’s, his more recent work reverse engineering microSD cards, and being a tireless advocate of open hardware through numerous projects including the NeTV, the Novena laptop project, and persistent anti-DMCA and free speech advocacy. Some of you may also know him by his “Name that Ware” competition he runs at bunniestudios.com or by his books “Hacking the Xbox: An Introduction to Reverse Engineering“, “Maker Pro: Essays on Making a Living as a Maker“, “The Essential Guide to Electronics in Shenzhen“, or is most recent title “The Hardware Hacker: Adventures in Making and Breaking Hardware“.

Oscilloscope Music!
If you haven’t heard of this before, you’re in for a treat. Jerobeam Fenderson has mastered the art of making electronic music that also displays mind-blowing visuals when connected to an oscilloscope in XY mode. We’re excited to have him at ToorCamp this year to perform and also give workshops on how to make your own musical performances with his custom software.

Preliminary Lineup!
We just accepted the first round of talks and workshops for ToorCamp. A more detailed lineup will be published on the website after the second round is reviewed on April 27th. If you haven’t submitted a talk yet, make sure to get it in before the April 27th deadline as speaking slots usually fill up quickly closer to the event. To submit a talk, please do so soon at our CFP page.

ToorCamp 2018 Call For Participation!

ToorCamp is coming up soon this year and it’s time to think about how you can participate! The CFP is now open and accepting talk and workshop submissions, we’re also accepting art grant proposals, and submissions for any special events or live performances throughout the event.

Also, if you’re planning on camping with a group, don’t forget to complete the campsite sign-up form so we can make sure you get all of the resources your group needs!