A great beginning
We recently held our annual club opening/Flag raising event and I couldn’t be more happy to have seen so many members at the club after such an extended absence. The food and fellowship were a much needed respite from a challenging year. Now that our sailing and social season is upon us I look forward to seeing more of you more often and spending time on the River with new members and old friends. Please be on the look out for the event calendar and how you can best put your skill set to use in the furtherance of making this a season to remember.
Here’s to a safe and fun filled summer at the WRYC!!!
Jonathan Matthews
Commodore
Fleet workday fun !
If you’ve managed to get down to the Club in the last month you may have noticed more boats by the ramp area ! Cleaned, rigged and ready to go. Thanks to a good showing from our members for our May workday we have the loft cleaned and organized, 6 out of 7 dollies ready for our Jr. Sailing Program and the Club Skiffs are serviced and ready for use. Our keel boat, Wagtail, is also getting a tune up and is over at Severn River waiting for a bottom job and a few other essential repairs. Also, be on the lookout for potentially another workday in June to get Wags ready for summer.
I can’t go without mentioning our Albacore series and despite a slow start we are seeing an increase in interest, especially from our newest members. We started sailing May 29th and will be at it every Sunday thru October. As I’ve mentioned before, we still have spots for both skippers and crew. In addition, we have several new members who’ve expressed interest in adult sailing instruction and fortunately Joe Morgan has agreed to step up and assist. Instruction can be on Albacore’s or our Keel boat and would typically occur on Saturdays. You can contact the Club, me, or reach out directly to Joe for scheduling.
We’ve also had more interest by members in using our permanent moorings and should have 2 member owned keel boats anchored in front of the club in the next month or so. I have 2 more to install so If there are any certified divers in the club interested in helping me with installing these screw anchors, please let me know.
Lastly, our head of B&G Gary Hermanson, has done a great job numbering the boat storage area and I will be reaching out to each of you that has a boat stored, to complete a boat storage form so the Club has a record of each vessel stored on Club property. Please contact me or Layne Brown to obtain the form if you haven’t already done so.
I hope to see you at the Club soon,
Jim Garrett Fleet Captain
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.