SEPTEMBER 2009

COMMODORE’S MESSAGE

The boating season is starting to wind down although the weather has been terrific the last few weeks. Hopefully most of us diehards will take every opportunity we have to get off the dock or mooring to enjoy the impending fall weather.
As you know, AYC assisted with a small press conference in mid-August organized by Maine’s DEP and attended by New England EPA, Maine Healthy Beaches, Kennebunk River Commission, and several other local groups interested in keeping our local rivers and coastal areas clean. The combined coast line of Wells, Kennebunk and Kennebunkport is now officially designated a “No Discharge Zone” and there is a free public pump-out station in the Kennebunk River. The location of the pump-out station may not be ideal for AYC but it is a great service and comes at no cost to boat owners. In addition the EPA awarded Maine Healthy Beaches a $265,000 grant to help continue its water monitoring and other clean-up activities. Overall, this was a great event and bodes well for the long term health of our surrounding ocean waters.
The Ropewalk and docks are already quieting down from summer’s activity. Please take the time to continue to enjoy our great club and waterfront. The fall is frequently some of the nicest time of the year.

Bob Scribner
Commodore

WATERFRONT

This summer was not the best for waterfront activity. We had a slow start with many boats not making it in the water until late in the season, with a few not even making it to their slips. I know I have spent more time bailing our boat than using it this summer.
Our waterfront committee met in the spring to align boats into the best fit for the available slips. I plan to call another meeting to review how the boats fit, and to try and plan ahead for any upcoming vacancies, and discuss dock upgrades. Input from membership is always welcome.
A reminder: please notify the waterfront committee as early as possible if you will not be returning to your slip. We do also have an upgrade request list; if you are planning to change vessels, you should notify us before doing so. All members struggle with the current and tides. The committee does its best to try and accommodate the membership, however, we have to work around the river location and slips we have.
Thank you to our stewards, Lindsey and Conner for their efforts this summer. Lindsey is staying through the end of the season, Conner left earlier to attend orientation and college in Colorado. Good luck to both in their college studies.

A few waterfront reminders:
• All dinghies and inflatables need to have member’s name visible on the boat
• Kayaks - please sign out and enjoy (members are responsible for putting kayaks & equipment away)

Amy Bath
Vice Commodore
Waterfront

WAYS AND MEANS

We have covered a lot of ground, socially speaking, since writing the last Lubber’s Log in early May. I’m pleased to report that in spite of a lot of lousy weather through July, AYC members continued to bring a great attitude (ie. fun) to all of our social events and, in general, attendance has been consistent with recent history. Some up a bit, some down a bit, but you would not know we are in a recession based upon AYC attendance.
In the last Lubber’s Log we mentioned a planned new social event and changes to a couple of established ones. Here’s a brief update on how things turned out.

Family Bingo. First, Hannah and Gail Preble did a great job of planning and running the bingo. They experimented with the timing (Friday evening vs. Sunday), added a desert pot luck, and even threw in assorted door prizes to attract a crowd. In total, a dozen people attended and had a great time. But this is very marginal in terms of numbers to keep bingo on the calendar. Suggestions for another attempt are to start earlier (7PM) and try a mid week night. Ways & Means will consider.
July 4th BBQ. As discussed previously, AYC did not have a function on July 4 and instead left the club open and available to members and their guests to enjoy on their own. Thoughts of having AYC provide some “setup” accommodations proved not practical. Overall, this appears to have been a good approach to the use of the Ropewalk on July 4 and it is expected that Ways & Means will recommend we continue with the practice of not having a formal function.
Caribbean Island Mid-Summer Pot Luck. This new event was held on Saturday, July 25, and was a huge success! Thanks to Heather and Tim Bruhl, and a small cast of helpers, the Ropewalk really looked and felt like Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville. While I didn’t see many margaritas, the white wine and Corona beer were very popular. Guests were welcomed and the party ended up with over 85 people. The pot luck was a giant hit and featured a lot of great calypso friendly dishes. Rumor has it that this event may be back next year.
Attend the annual meeting on September 20 for a more complete Ways & Means report!

Kavin Moody
Ways & Means

FROM THE HOUSE

Things are fairly quiet in the house at the moment. The House Committee is continuing to look into kitchen needs and other “house amenities”. Hopefully next year will see some new lightweight folding tables and new shiny silverware, among other improvements. Many thanks to those members who have taken dish towels home for laundering!
ATTENTION: Please make sure the freezer drawer is completely shut after opening. We have had several instances recently when it has not been closed completely, moisture occurs and then freezes, and the drawer can then not be reopened until the freezer has been thawed!
House Wish List: New dish towels, set of dessert plates and set of small bowls, several sets of tools for cracking into lobsters! It would be greatly appreciated if any members were willing to donate any of the above items! : )

Gail Preble
House Committee

OF NOTE
The fine August weather found some AYC cruisers together on the coast of Maine, happy they hadn’t decided to cruise in June or July.
Dawn Patrol (Hatches), Night Music (Donovans), Kanaloa (Tullers), and Seabiscuit (Husseys) sailed together and told many AYC stories, as well as creating some new ones to share, at ports such as Sebasco, Christmas Cove, Tenant’s Harbor, Dix Island, and Rockland.

JUNIOR SAILING

Regardless of the miserable weather during June and early July, the Junior Sailing program has enjoyed one of its best attended seasons of late. Every beginner and intermediate class has been filled to the maximum due in no small part to our local journalists who have shown considerable interest in the program and have generously interviewed the sailing staff and attended a class to learn what a sailing program is all about. I hope many of you have seen the local articles and pictures published by the York County Coast Star and the Kennebunk Post. If not, you can probably still find the YCCS article and pictures online. Overall, it has been a terrific sailing season for our youngest sailors and we look forward to have many of them back next season for new learnings on the water.

Claire Julian
Bob Scribner
Junior Sailing

ADULTSAILING

The adult sailing program added a new program, casual adult sailing, aimed at getting more members out on the water in boats. Sailboat owners Charlie Barker, Peter Hatch, Cynthia and Mark Paquette, Jack Jensen and Robert Scribner graciously agreed to take members out with them for an evening sail. Some of the participants just wanted to get out on a sailboat, while others wanted to learn more or sharpen their skills at the helm. We had two perfect nights out on the water. Most of the members settled in back at the club for dinner. Many thanks to those skippers for sharing their boats. The 420 races struggled with some uncooperative weather. The first race was cancelled due to thunder and lightning. The next was a real drifter, but once again the AYC members made a great evening out of it anyway. We have one scheduled 420 race night remaining. Let’s hope for clear skies and a good wind!

Anne Gould
Adult Sailing Committee

FOUNDERS’ DAY RACE

The Founders’ Day Race, a race for all members to have the opportunity to experience a short sailboat race, was held Saturday, July 25. This year’s race was postponed due to weather and the following weekend brought blue skies, four boats, and 12 members ready for fun. Commodore Scribner aboard Clairann was committee boat at the bell, and a red buoy was set 3 miles south as the windward mark, then to Cape Porpoise bell and home, making for a 10 mile race. The weather was perfect: flat seas, clear, warm and 10-15 knots of wind. Not only was this a fun race, but it turned into see-manship as it was very difficult to find the windward buoy which in the club house looked large, but not so at 3 miles off. Bob Badger on the helm of Kanaloa showed his skill with Mark and Debbie Tuller as crew, and finished first. Blu, with Jack and Ann Marie Somers and Rob Egan came in at a close second. With matching handicaps, Kevin Cain on Mariko with Durward Parkinson as crew and Charlie Barker on Barcarollo with Abe Landau and friends did not finish. An awards ceremony and festivities followed. It was a nice day on the water, and good stories were shared of times past and traditions.

Deborah Tuller
Founders’ Day Race Committee

BOON ISLAND RACE

The 2009 Boon Island Race was held on Saturday, June 27, 2009. The skippers of nine race boats gathered at the Arundel Yacht Club at 9 AM and contemplated a dismal weather forecast of fog, showers and thunderstorms with light to variable winds. This kind of forecast seems recently to have become routine for a Boon Island Race.
However, not to be discouraged by a lousy forecast, all nine skippers agreed to go ahead with the race, albeit with a slightly shorter course of 18 miles round trip as opposed to the 26 mile trek to Boon Island and back.
A later than usual noon start was agreed to, necessitated by a low tide in the river at 9:30 AM. Commodore Bob Scribner provided the Committee starting boat, ably assisted by Doug Leonard and Dave James. The start was a picture post card event with all nine boats crossing the starting line within a matter of seconds of each other.
And, as often happens around here, the weather forecast was wrong. The sun came out, the winds kicked up to 14-16 knots and the rains never came. The boats reported one of the best races in recent years.

Race results were as follows:

1st Place: Fera, skippered by Rob Benson with a corrected time of 2 hrs 5 min, 38 sec.

2nd Place: Kanaloa, skippered by Mark Tuller with a corrected time of 2 hrs, 12 min, 19 sec.

3rd Place: Shadow, skippered by Bob Steeves with a corrected time of 2 hrs, 16 min, 35 sec.

4th Place: Blu, skippered by Jack Somers with a corrected time of 2 hrs, 19 min, 3 sec.

5th Place: Capella, skippered by David Millet with a corrected time of 2 hrs, 23 min, 42 sec.

6th Place: Mariko, skippered by Kevin Cain with a corrected time of 2 hrs, 29 min, 24 sec.

7th Place: Dawn Patrol, skippered by Peter Hatch with a corrected time of 2 hrs, 33 min, 51 sec.

8th Place: Barcarolle, skippered by Charlie Barker with a corrected time of 2 hrs, 36 min, 31 sec.

9th Place: Tessie, skippered by John Bailey with a corrected time of 2 hrs, 39 min, 5 sec.

Following the race, there was an awards ceremony after which all of the participants enjoyed food and drink provided by Kim Chilton and Susan Benson of the Ways & Means Committee. All agreed that this was one of the better Boon Island races in a long time. There was a strong sentiment that the AYC ought to sponsor more similar events.

My thanks to all of the skippers & crew who participated in the race and to all of the others who provided their support.

Dave James
Boon Island Race Committee

Any news or comments you’d like to see in future newsletters?
Please contact me at 967-4448 or jennecrow@roadrunner.com.

Jenne James, Editor

For further Club information, schedules, applications, contacts, and this newsletter, please visit www.arundelyachtclub.org

May 2009 Lubber's Log
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