Book It NOW!

I am happy to report that with normalcy beginning to return WRYC has increased the rental numbers for the remainder of 2021. In April we had a total of 15 rentals for 2021. As of June 1 we have 23 rentals total for the 2021 calendar year. Keep spreading the word of “The Jewel on the Ware”. Happy Summer!

Layne Brown, WRYC Manager

Welcome Aboard Ian and Katie!

A very warm welcome to our newest members, Ian and Katie. Ian races Lasers, has served on numerous race committees, was the fleet captain of his college sailing team and is a Level 1 US Sailing certified instructor. I think it’s fair to say with that resume, his talents will be utilized!!! Ian and Katie came to the Flag Raising Social and it was so nice to see them already getting involved in club activities.

Virginia Master Naturalists Training

On April 24, 2021 WRYC supported the Middle Peninsula Chapter of Virginia Master Naturalists by allowing them use of your outdoor property for their Etymology, marsh, and water quality training. They shared with me that our property turned out to be an ideal spot for the educational goals of their training. Below are a couple of photos taken during their training session.

Happy Days are Here Again!

Warm weather is finally here and with the abundant sunshine comes gatherings and events at the WRYC. I am encouraged with the news of the Club hosting this year’s Albacore Nationals that not only are things starting to return to “normal” in general, but that our sailing and event season has begun. Regattas are large undertakings with many moving parts and to reiterate the sentiments of our Fleet Captain, I would like to see a robust showing from the membership to ensure the event goes smoothly. It would be great if the WRYC was consistently considered as an option for holding these types of events. Additionally, please consider this an amazing opportunity to bring the family down to the river if only to watch the boats and enjoy time spent outdoors. Lastly, we are planning our annual Flag Raising event and details will soon be sent out. As always, I look forward to seeing you all down at the WRYC.  

 Jonathan Matthews 
Commodore

Spring is here, sailing is near!

Ok maybe that’s a bit “hokie” but I’m just glad we’re ready to get on the water this month. I guess the first newsworthy item to share is, we are ready to start the Albacore Sunday Series and are planning on a couple of general information and rigging/cleaning weekends starting the 15/16th. I’ll be sending out a notice (if I haven’t already by this printing) on what we’ll be doing. That will also be a work day for anything Fleet related as well.

The other big news item is we’ve published the registration for this years Albacore Nationals which will be held July 10th and 11th at Ware River. Details will be in the Club website sailing link along with registration, NOR and SI’s. As I mentioned before, we need to make a good showing and are looking for skippers/crew. In addition, these events don’t just happen on their own, we rely on our members to make them happen. Please don’t wait to be asked to participate. We have needs for social, grounds, signage, and race committee support so please reach out to me or any other board member with where you’d like to get plugged in. Shout out to Joel Morgan for getting the registration on the website and Joe Morgan and Layne Brown for their organizational skills.

Next, we have been approached by several members about using the club moorings to tie up their boats for the season and the board has decided to offer them on a first come first serve basis. If you have interest in using a club mooring for more than a week please let me know and I’ll get you a mooring agreement you will need to complete. We should have up to 3 mooring balls available by mid June. Once we see how much interest there is we’ll make changes as needed.

Lastly, it looks like all our Junior sailing classes are FULL for 2021 with over 50 kids signed up. ! Outstanding job to the JS. committee.

Calm seas,

Jim Garrett
Fleet

BYLAWS CHANGE - Ancient Mariner Status

THE BOARD HAS TAKEN A LOOK AT THE CURRENT WORDING OF THE ANCIENT MARINER STATUS.

THIS WORDING IS AS FOLLOWS: MEMBERS WHO ARE 70 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER AND HAVE BEEN MEMBERS FOR 30 CONSECUTIVE YEARS. THESE MEMBERS PAY 1/2 OF THE ANNUAL DUES.

THE NEW PROPOSAL IS AS FOLLOWS: MEMBERS WHO WITH COMBINING THEIR AGE AND NUMBER OF CONSECUTIVE MEMBERSHIP YEARS ADD UP TO 95, WOULD QUALIFY AS “ANCIENT MARINERS”. THEIR DUES WOULD BE 1/2 OF THE ANNUAL DUES!

Hopefully we will be able to conduct this one piece of business at our Flag Raising and vote on the change. We will be going thru the roster to determine who will be coming into this category. If you have already paid your dues for this year and you qualify, you will be getting a refund! Thank you for your attention in his matter.

The Home Stretch

Spring has sprung at the Ware River Yacht Club, and our much anticipated sailing season gets closer with each passing day! I am eagerly awaiting gathering and taking full advantage of our beautiful grounds and waterways.  

Jonathan Matthews 
Commodore 

An active month for the Club's Keel Boats........

………but not in the way you might think. We ended up doing a little sailing this month but only as part of the rescue efforts of our Irwin 25, Gabrielle ! If you visited the Club later in March you may have noticed only one keel boat on its mooring. At some point in early March during one our WNW blows, “Gabby” somehow managed to break from the mooring field and drifted out to the Mobjack Bay. Thanks to Scott Titus for notifying the USCG along with some local waterman and the Va. Marine Police who helped find her and tied her to a piling in Brown’s Bay. A big thanks Jay McGlohn and John Singleton for the use of their boats along with Bill Brown, as part of our search party to locate her, and for John S. and Clayton James’ help in getting her back to Holiday Marina. Amazingly she was unharmed and everything that should be working, still was. She is for sale and you can contact me for details. All’s well that ends well I guess.

The better news is that we did sell our Catalina 27 Snagglepuss and will be using those funds to get some much needed repair done to our Paceship 26, Wagtail (we’ve already put a solar panel on-board to keep the batteries charged) As the weather heats up I am also anticipating our interest in getting back on the water will as well. We have several events already planned besides our Sunday Albacore series, which include hosting the Albacore Class Nationals this summer in July ! This will require lots of member support and participation so if you aren’t sailing, PLEASE consider joining a committee. We want this event to be memorable, but we can’t do it without YOU. Look for details of the event in a separate correspondence or reach out to me or Joe Morgan ………more to come!

As we prepare for this years Jr. Sailing program we’re getting our skiff’s serviced and ready, adding a 3rd Club motor boat to the fleet, and our Walker Bay dinghy has a new set of oars. And finally, with the help of Scott Titus, I plan to re-set the mooring we lost and will most likely add a 5th mooring to the mooring field. The fun never ends !!

See you on the water.

Jim Garrett - Fleet Captain