Events, Events......FUN, FUN
Be sure to participate in all that’s going on at WRYC this summer. It is YOUR Club with lots of great events planned so don’t be left out of the FUN!
Summer Kick Off Party June 11 beginning at 5:30 PM
4th of July Celebration July 3rd beginning at 6:00 PM
From the Helm
Semper Parartus is the US Coast Guard motto that translates as Always Ready. A good idea for anyone going to sea or out on the Bay. Two weeks ago, Joe Morgan and I set out to sail on one of the club’s keel boats, Tranquility Bay. She is a very nice Island 30’ Bahamas. Joe had her moved from the boat yard at Severn River Marina and tied up at the marina’s inner pier. He texted me to get a battery jump box. Not a good sign. Short story long, it took us several attempts and a change of battery but we slipped the moorings about an hour and a half later into what looked like a nice day but promised gusts to 29. By the time we passed the mouth of Severn, about when I asked Joe about turning into the wind with 4 foot seas abeam, the weather turned sporty. We had all the safety equipment, redundant radios, foul weather gear and food. Joe is an excellent teacher and calm under sail. If you’re interested in learning to sail or getting better at sailing the keel boats, Joe, Jim Garrett, Scott Titus and Mike Mastracci run a great adult sailing program.
Semper Paratus is a good idea for the club. We have a wonderful facility but like all things near the water, the club requires constant maintenance. We had a good turnout for the work day in April and we look forward to showing off the club at Flag Raising on May 7. However, like the USCG, we have to be always ready to work on the club to maintain the pier, the bulkhead, ramp, club house, bath house, apartment, boats and sail loft. We need your hands and hearts to help and we need your money. The three big items are annually replacing sections of the pier, renovating the tennis court and the shoring up the bulkhead by the ramp. The pier is on budget and proceeding very nicely. Thank you Gary Hermanson, buildings and grounds. The tennis court will only work through a private fund raising operation similar to what Jim Garrett did for the keel boats. Jane Wilson and Pam Marthinson agreed to head up this committee. Please take their calls and give generously. The bulkhead will require careful budgeting. We may find it more expedient to borrow money for these projects but we should look to the membership before we look to a bank. We had debt in the past and managed it quite well. Outside of dues, apartment rental and club rental, we have very little additional income. Junior Sailing pays for itself but we do not end up with a surplus that can handle these capital projects.
Autumn Taylor is working on some extra projects for activities for everyone to enjoy at the Club. Look for emails in the near future for events.
March 26, 2022 Work Day
According to the Beaufort Wind scale at 22-27 knots of wind speed, large tree branches move, telephone wires begin to “whistle”, umbrellas are difficult to keep under control, larger waves form, whitecaps are prevalent as is spray. It was blowing hard straight out the west at the Club on Saturday March 26 but we got a lot of work completed.
Fleet Captain Jim Garrett mustered a hearty crew to clean out, inventory and repair the many spars, bits and pieces in the sail loft and in the boat yard. David Waldman and Erich “Mouse” Marse dove in head first sorting and marking equipment. Full sets of equipment for each boat are now in the sail loft and spare parts are in the Junior Sailing Office. New members Alyssa Adams and Jeanne Brooks, along with Beve Hermanson, Bill Brown and Dave Brown arrived early, stayed late and were a big help in the sail loft. Joe Morgan, Scott Titus, Mike Mastracci and Steve Humphrey made repairs to boats.
From the helm in the kitchen, Jane Smith got the team moving with Gerilynn Marse, Pam Marthinson and Jane Wilson cleaning and polishing the trophies, cases, kitchen cabinets and under counter cabinets and sorting all the chaffing dishes and pots and pans. Talk about shipshape! We kept Kirby Smith on the run fetching supplies. Gary Cuccia single handedly cleaned the grills and ceiling fans. Ian Palmer tackled the screened porch, shelves, tables, chairs and floors. Gary had such a good time, he helped in the boat yard. Matt Marthinson braved the gale winds, took to the roof and cleaned off all the tree and leaf debris with the help of Joe Morgan’s leaf blower, cleaned up the grounds and helped in the sail loft.
Now hear this. Good news from the helm. We will have more workdays.
Fair Winds and following seas.
John A. Singleton
Commodore
john@gibsonsingleton.com
"May"be its time to get back on the water!
Ok not my most clever play on words but you get the idea. Both the air and water temps are rising and we’re ready to start launching some boats. We haven’t announced an official start to the season, but I believe we’re looking at May 14th/15th to start getting boats in the water. As I reported last month, we had a very successful workday, and the fleet is in good shape. Thanks to Joe Morgan, John Singleton for putting TB back on her mooring and David Waldman for getting Wagtail positioned back on hers.
We also have new inflatable dinghy’s that will accompany both Keel boats as tenders. There are few items to address with Wagtail before she can do an overnight, but the new Keelboat TB is ready. We are still working out details on a checkout procedure and release forms, but if you want to get checked out, please get with me or Joe Morgan and we’ll make arrangements. For those that want to do a day sail we can accommodate up to 4 on Wagtail and up to 6 on TB. If you're not comfortable skippering there are several qualified members who can assist and again, get with me or Joe to make arrangements.
I will be working on several of the details on Albacore sailing and adult sailing classes this week and will get something out to the sailing community soon. Thanks, and I look forward to a robust sailing season at Ware River. Hope to see you on the water soon!
Respectfully, Jim Garrett , Fleet Cap’n.
Seaworthy Social Summer--Incoming!
Warmer weather means WRYC is gearing up for sailing season, along with…SOCIALS! Our next scheduled social is Flag Raising/Derby Day (two for one!) on Saturday, May 7th, hosted by our own Bill and Layne! The day will commemorate the start of the sailing season, a chance to meet your Board, and converse with some delicious food. Please get those RSVP’s in now at wareriveryc@gmail.com!
Mark your calendars for our next scheduled social. The Summer Kick-Off Social, hosted by the WRYC Sailing Ladies, will be held on Sunday, June 12th! As always, we are looking for volunteers for all our social events—we can always use a helping hand in set-up, kitchen prep, and clean-up! Email bariautumn@gmail.com or wareriveryc@gmail.com to volunteer.
Ahoy New Members
It was a busy month for membership as we welcomed 4 new families to WRYC.
Perry Hammond and fiancé, Sara Prysi of Norfolk.
Mark Holthaus of Gloucester.
John & Linda O’Keeffe of Williamsburg.
Brian & Christina Beach and their three children: Kaleb, Kameron and Karter of Ware Neck.
Members Classifieds
There is a new section to the Members Area of the website. You can now share ideas, kudos or water related items you wish to sell or are looking for. Contact Harry Taylor, hjtaylor3@gmail.com, if you have questions when completing the form for your post.
Jr. Sailing Camp Openings
We have a few open spots in the WRYC 2022 Jr Sailing Camp Session 3, July 25-28 & August 1-4, 2022. Please have anyone you know interested in attending, contact me at wareriveryc@gmail.com.
Layne Brown, WRYC Manager
From the Commodore
Careen is a nautical term that means to run a ship aground, preferably on a sandy beach, let it roll to one side and scrub the hull. A good word to learn before the annual Yacht Club work day.
We held our first Board meeting on March 8, 2022. It was very productive and I enjoyed catching up on Club business. We have sufficient funds to maintain our status quo but we need additional funds to support our major projects of pier replacement, tennis court repairs, and some basic remodeling. The keelboat fund raising project run by Jim G. has been very successful and is on track to pay for itself. The tennis court fund raising program is commencing and has a long way to go, but this is your club and you own these assets so when asked, please support the project. When completed the court will have regulation tennis and pickle ball lines. The estimated project cost is $25,000. We need everyone’s participation to make this long-needed repair a reality.
The rental apartment is undergoing some minor repairs and should be ready to rent this month. Gary H., in addition to his many duties as head of buildings and grounds, is supervising the pier replacement project. A less elegant project in need of attention is the bulkhead adjacent to the boat ramp. Although the bank is holding for now, a severe storm could spell trouble. The Board will keep thinking of ways to make the bulkhead last a bit longer or fund the replacement. Magical thinking will not do it alone. We estimate a need to replace about 75 linear feet of armor stone. Jon L. continues to monitor our water treatment and well compliance.
On the income side, we have 12 rentals on the books for 2022. The Club is a great location for parties of every variety. Now is the time to capitalize on our great location and make some improvements to the clubhouse. Here are a few examples: clean the freezer, improve the lighting, paint the kitchen, strip and polish the floor, align all the pictures and plaques on the walls, remove the old baseboard heating units, repair or replace the outdoor speakers and replace the carpeting. If you want to be on a renovation committee, please let Layne know.
Club merchandise like hats, bumper stickers, T-shirts, burgees and camp chairs are great to have and good advertisement for the club. We are working on some new designs and articles for sale.
Flag Raising in May will be a great event with the Kentucky Derby in the background. Most importantly, we hope to have all the club boats, in the water and ready for action.
Fair winds and following seas.
John A. Singleton, Commodore
john@gibsonsingleton.com