Here are some of my observations as dockmaster:

• Visitors were from 28 different Yacht clubs.
• 66% of visitors were signed in during the week.
• Some visitors were looking for transportation and we were able to give them Sue Roberts number (local Uber) which will be included in our future visitor guide.
• Many visitors joined us on the T-Dock for happy hour and coffee on the weekend for those that were here.
• Many were repeat visitors.
• Several made us their destination port.
• Only one boater questioned the first night $20 cost.
• Several visitors stopped here due to recommendations from their fellow boaters.

All in all, it has been a successful season and hopefully a sign of getting back to normal after the high water, low water, and covid years.

Saturday, Sept. 14^th is scheduled for teardown and rebuilding of 5 finger docks.  In addition, we are going to clean up the area around the Youth Sailing shed and the dock maintenance shed.  If you have any items there, you may want to get them before the 14^th as anything not claimed is going to be discarded.  The work will start at 9:00 am with finger 0/1.  The plan is to tear down the decking and lower fender boards from the 5 fingers.  Cut and marshal new decking and materials to the fingers.  We have hired the same contractor to build the new fingers after the teardowns are completed.  Please let me know if you plan on being here for this important project.  There are jobs for all skill levels and physical capabilities.

As we are now getting to the end of boating season, please check your boat, especially if it hasn’t been used for a while, to see if the lowering water level has affected the way it is secured to the dock.  Fenders may no longer be aligned with fender boards or the dock.  Lines may be tighter than the last time you checked.

• We had great turnout with registration – the second session was completely full and the first session more than half full. Keep on spreading the word!
• We had the opportunity to send OOYC sailors to a regatta hosted at Olcott Yacht Club. Even though our racers did so much hard work to prepare, they were initially apprehensive about how they would do. It was the first regatta for all of them. However, all their practice paid off as they swept up the regatta, taking the top 6 places ahead of Olcott’s team. More importantly, they had a great time, got to experience traveling to another club, meeting the other team, and how a competitive regatta works. Congrats guys! Can’t wait to see what you’ll do next year!
• We had a ton of fun together – on a day with bad weather, we took the first session to Nova trampoline park, we got to swim in Rich DeValk’s beautiful pool (a favorite of the program for many of the kids), we had some beach days, Pirate Day with scavenger hunt, plenty of land games (Spud every day) and of course, the sailing. One of their favorite activities on the water is capsizing, which they got to practice a lot.
• Sailing!!!! What this is all about – we worked on many things, with the instructors tailoring to different experience levels. Some of the things they taught include: race tactics, boat/speed control, maneuvering, sailing in light wind, upwind sailing, identifying wind direction, helming, points of sail, sailing backward, rigging, right of way rules, and more.

Running the program was a learning experience for me. A big thank you to all the support from several club members, as I wouldn’t have been able to lead the program without their help. Including, but not limited to:

Kim Hofmann - handled all of the program’s administration while hosting an army of youth sailors in her home AND always being there to answer questions …. Kim you are a superwoman!

John Zimmerman – for handling many things from last year, helping get boats in and out of the water, taking care of the safety boat winterization, loaning us equipment, handling payroll, volunteering to host the youth sailors on his sailboat for a day each session.

Larry Beneway, the Thumans, Larry Travis, for handling boats in and out of the water plus all the ways that you supported the program (frantic texts from me about broken dock boards and flooding in the pool room).

Bob and Mary Lu Hodgins – for doing much-needed repairs on the safety boats, hosting the youth sailors on their sailboat for a day, hosting my kids at their home for the entire month of July, and generally being available for whatever was needed.

John and Karen Brown – for the use of your power boat. Thank you so much.

Rich DeValk – for the use of your pool and other ways in which you support the program.

And a big thank you to everyone else who offered help, who stopped me to ask how it was going, shared encouragement, and all the members graciously sharing the docks, driveway and club space with all the kids.

This program depends on teamwork from several members and it’s clear that the club is invested in the future of youth sailing. Continuing this team effort is paramount to maintaining a program that is safe, fun, educational, and has the potential to grow and add value to the club as a whole. I look forward to what comes next!

As we wrap up the 2024 season, we will begin to reduce our bar and food inventory. We may not have every choice available, thank you for understanding.

Please consider attending the important meeting on September 7^th. This will be an opportunity for the members to share their ideas that can make the club better, we look forward to seeing you there.

Jeff 

The website has been a bigger challenge.  If you have been on the site lately, you have seen many of the changes, which are designed to make the site easier to navigate and more engaging.  But there are additional changes that I have made to individual pages that have not yet been made active, so there is a mix of old and new.  Keep checking -- I’ll get there eventually.

My thanks to those who sent me photos for the website.  I continue to look for photos to enhance the vibrancy of the site.  I will make time regularly to update photos and information on the site, so please do send me your current photos.  As the season wears down, there will be fewer opportunities, but even into the fall we can present a picture of a lively, attractive, congenial club through our website.

Trish 

MarketingDirector@OOYC.org

There was a period after college I didn’t participate in sailing much, then in the late 1980’s I started crewing with Wilson and Harry Maines on their J35, “White Ice”. Their interest in racing was winding down as my interest was increasing. This inspired me to buy an Olson 30, Thumper, which I actively raced at OOYC. I sailed all through the 1990’s racing all over the lake and crewing on friend’s boats on a few Mackinac races both from Port Huron and Chicago. During this period, I was active in a number of the officer posts at OOYC including a couple years of fleet captain, rear commodore and commodore. I did resign as a member in the early 2000’s as I was having health issues and sold Thumper.

Please, I am asking all members, both full and social, to come and help your board make critical decisions. 

I think the club is at a crossroads and our future depends on us making choices that the majority of members support so the club can continue to thrive.

We will gather at 5 pm, hot dogs and burgers, beer, wine and soda will be provided by the club. Please bring a dish to pass. We will eat and then convene the meeting. 

If you don’t foresee yourself on the board there are many opportunities to serve the club helping out, whatever level of membership you are. Any of our current board of directors will be happy to answer any questions you have or put you in contact with someone who can.

The success of our club depends on the help, support and involvement of our members. 

Johnz11540@gmail.com