- WEEK
OF MAY 2, 2004
COMMODORES REPORT
The cherries, pears, and dogwoods
are now in full bloom. Our mooring field is starting to
show signs of Spring life as well, with an ever increasing
number of buoys appearing daily with the inevitable boats
following not far behind. So much has happened since my
last "April fool's" edition I don't know where to
begin. Speaking of which, I had several of you fooled,
hook, line, and proverbial sinker! I wish you were the
same folks reviewing my grant applications!
The early Spring night sky has
been been nothing short of spectacular with all four planets;
Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and Saturn all visible at once. I
hope some of you had the opportunity to observe this
phenomena. Imagine sailors having to rely solely on
celestial navigation? Recently my wife surprised me with
a copy of "Master and Commander" the recent
Hollywood nautical adventure was released and we had the
chance to watch it on a blustery day in late April. It
portrays a very realistic portrait of what life must have been
aboard a 18th century tall ship. It was not an easy life
and needless to say there was no workmen's compensation back
then. Our modern day sailing with its high tech gear
certainly makes our cruises much more enjoyable. See it
and contrast it with what you're sailing experience is now.
We are now in the frantic pace
leading up to our annual red-letter day: Commissioning.
Marc Mandel is in the final stages of preparing this years
edition of our yearbook which will be handed out on this day.
It contains a great deal of information aimed at helping you
to keep track of club events and important contact
information. Some of you may have noticed that we have
taken down the old "Gazebo" which covered the stairs
to the lower level from the pool deck. The new structure
to be completed by the end of this month will be a
welcome addition and will physically tie into the existing
club house thus creating a permanent covered area.
Our fleet continues to grow in
size and numbers. Rob Ehrlich just took delivery on a
beautiful J-105; "Pirates Booty Call'. I hope to
have the chance to sail with him on Wednesday night racing,
which begins imminently on May 19. Peter Smorto also is
the proud owner of a beautiful and brand new Camano 31.
Its a wonderful vessel and e generously agreed to lend it for
use in the blessing of the fleet and the US multi-hull junior
national champs, both in June. I heard rumors of some
more boats being purchased etc. and will pass on that
information as it comes in. We are also experiencing a
great influx of new members. As of this writing we have
thirteen new members plus two returning from deferment making
a total of fifiteen new members so far and we have not even
gotten into our prime season yet. This is being
orchestrated by our freshman governor Richard Cuneo, who did
all the hard work.
It is with mixed emotions that I
greeted the news of the relocation of our past commodore Henry
Hollman. He and his lovely wife, Marguerite, will be
moving to the Chesapeake Bay area to be closer to their
family. Henry has been both a great inspiration and
model for me, always encouraging me and freely sharing his
wisdom. He also served as a de facto ambassador for our
club, and is responsible for sponsoring many new members.
I wish him all the best but will sorely miss his presence at
the club. It is a fitting tribute that the club now
resides on the newly renamed "Henry Hollman Blvd".
The weather of late has been
highly conducive to late afternoon daydreams of sailing on the
sound. If I listen hard enough I can almost hear the
gentle clanging of halyards against the spars in a sun
drenched gentle Southerly breeze. That daydream will be
reality in about a month from now and I can't wait. Hope
to see you all in the near future enjoying the water!.
SCYC WEBSITE HAS MOVED!
Our previous website address was
originally housed as subdirectory of the ALIR website.
Thanks to the hard work of webmeister Wayne Smith, the club
has spawned its own independent website. The new address
is now seacliffyc.org. You will be able to directly
email me with questions through the site. Please be sure
to check it out. Thanks Wayne for all your hard work!
CINCO DE MAYO COMES TO SCYC
The Mexican holiday "The
Fifth of May", fall this year on a Wednesday night,
actually today. This perfectly coincides with our
regular Wednesday night schedule to allow us to take part in
this un-official start of Summer. Chef Ron is preparing
a special Mexican smorgasbord so come on down and enjoy.
The party starts at six tonight.
SCYC TO RUN THIS YEARS BLESSING
OF THE FLEET
This year it is our yacht club's
turn to organize and conduct the annual marine parade and
blessing of the fleet. This will take place on Sunday,
June 6 starting with parade formation/ rendezvous on the North
side of the breakwater at 4:30PM. Power or sailboats are
all welcome. Monitor VHF channel 68 starting at 4:00PM
for special announcements. The rain date is June 13th. This
event has been organized [along with commissioning] by our
outstanding fleet captain Jonathan Waechter. He does
this in his spare time between running the ships store and
myriad of other things for our club. This year he is
also responsible for expanding our reciprocal privileges with
other clubs. This allows our cruising division to have a
wider array of possible dockage sites and access to amenities.
Thanks Jon for all your tireless work.
NEW COMMITTEE HEADS ARE IN FULL
SWING
We have number of new committee
heads who have really been active in pursuing selfless
excellence for all members to enjoy. Our new off shore
chair is Patrick Mulligan who brings his marketing expertise
to bear on the nuances of the all important off shore
operations. He has even defined a mission statement for
his committee! The junior sailing program will be headed up by
Bob Leich and Karen Doherty. The new committee has
already made a tremendous effort to provide an even better
product in the management of our sailing program with an eye
on tight organizational efficiency. The Ideal-18 program
is similarly energized by the highly able and energetic John
Haley and Jim Arnemann. The pool is now being run by
Bruce Treiber who is also doing double duty as our insurance
chair. John Rogers has been performing a yeoman's job as
our finance chair. Both Gwynne Lennon and Jean Betzios
have united forces to help Deborah Gaddis with the swim
team. Along with these individuals who have
contributed time and sweat into their committees a number of
other members have also joined them to help man the committees
[at least 3 people per comm.]. This kind of membership
participation is great to see and should serve us well for us
going forward by providing continuity and camaraderie for us
all.
TURNER FAMILY WELCOMES HEIR TO
DYNASTY
Claude Earl Turner, first, second,
and third welcome the arrival of Claude Earl Turner the
fourth! Congratulations to Claude and Alison! The
strapping scion was born February 24, at 9:03 AM. He
weighed 9lbs 3oz and measured a total of 21 inches.
Claude was so overcome with joy he has personally pledged to
finance the purchase of a ice machine to turn out frosty pina
colada's and margaritas in copious quantities all season.
Of course they will come out of the machine "virgin"
for all the kids to have slurppees. Thanks Claude for
your generous donation!
ESPN CLASSIC EXAMINES 25 YEARS
OF SAILING HISTORY
Presented by Rolex on May 19 @ 9PM
the one hour program will celebrate 25 years of history in the
sport. Gary Jobson is both producer and host. The
show will emphasize the technological advances hte sport has
seen in the last quarter century. Check your listings
for the ESPN classic channel.
NEW LOCAL TOW/SALVAGE SERVICE
IN OUR HARBOR
For those of you fans of Sea-Tow
there is a new player in town. The newest entry into the
"marine assistance" insurance business is Nautical
Assist, and they located operationally right in our harbor.
I guess their real advantage is proximity with 24 hr. service.
If interested check them out at 1.866.262.8435 or at their
website www.NauticalAssist.com
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Wed. May 5; Cinco de Mayo Mexican Fiesta starting @6PM
w/ 1/2 price Corona's
Sun. May 9; Mothers Day Brunch 11-3
Sat. May 15; Commissioning Day
Sun. June 6; Blessing of the fleet
Restaurant Operations:
Sea Grille; Sundays 12-8
Lunch; Fridays 12-3
Pasta Night [$9.95!] Weds; 6PM
A la carte dinners every
Friday; 6PM
Launch Hours:
Currently: Sat./Sun.; 8-6PM, Mon.-Fri. 8-4PM [on call]
Starting 5/15: Mon.,Tues., Thurs.; 8-9PM; Wed.,
Fri., Sat.; 8-11PM, Sun.; 8-10PM
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