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Cat TalesFebruary 1999 |
Bill Weeks, Commodore
Where are we going? Where are
we going as a club? I ponder this question as I try to compose my thoughts for
the newsletter. We had our annual cruise planning meeting last Friday night and
I personally considered it a success. We laid out the schedule for the next
year, meeting dates, traditional activities, and some new items. We have a date
for the Flag Raising Brunch, Saturday, April 17th. I had planned to hold the
event at Bobby D's in Deale. When I went to the restaurant Saturday morning, a
big Closed sign hung in the window, "What Now". A little further investigation
revealed that it had indeed closed, however, it was scheduled to reopen under a
new name, sometime in April, date unsure. If not Bobby D's, then where? I
considered the remaining restaurants in Deale and rejected them all. I then
considered the "Topsider Inn" in Galesville, and I hurried up there to make
arrangements. For those of you who are not familiar with the Topsider, it is a
quaint, old restaurant, with reasonably good food. They have a nice meeting
room in the back and will host the club. The next question, how many will
attend, and this brings me to my original thought. With a group of 20, the
Topsider will provide a special menu. If we have 30, then they can provide a
buffet. How many will attend?
Our club has been stable for the last few
years, about 25 yachts and crews each year. A few leave, a few arrive, but
basically about 25 yachts. Our core membership has been in the club for many
years. The friendships developed inside this core will last forever. As new
crews join, they are made welcome and enjoy the benefits of our
club.
Joan Savage, our treasurer, presented the finances of the club.
The bottom line is . . . to maintain our level of activities, we need 35 to 40
yachts. We need to expand our membership. I can just hear the comments now, "Oh
no, we have heard this before." I am going to try and expand the membership. I
have a few thoughts, I have contacted Clipper Bay Yacht Brokerage in Herrington
Harbour Marina and they are willing to buy membership in our club when they
sell a used Catalina 27, 30, 32, 34, or 36. They move about 12 to 15 Catalina's
a year. I will post some invitations at various Marina's in the area, Maybe we
can improve the membership. I am also very receptive to any ideas some of you
may have.
This is enough for now, more later. Please mark, Saturday,
April 17th on your calendars for the Flag Raising Brunch, at the Topsider Inn,
in Galesville, 11:00 AM. I will have more to say on the membership subject next
month.
Good Sailing, or maybe just dreaming of it.
Pete Denholm, Scimitar
The February
meeting is going to be at a different location, not at the Fleet Reserve Club
in Annapolis. The meeting will be at the Potomac Landing Marina, 1 Marine
Drive, Alexandria (off GW Parkway between National Airport and Old Town
Alexandria). We will meet for the social in the bar area at 6:00 PM, then
dinner will be in the main dinning room (6:30-8:00 PM). After dinner, we will
move to the After Deck Cafe for the meeting and speaker. The After Deck Cafe is
closed in the evenings during the winter, but will be available to us. We will
have it all to ourselves, at NO CHARGE!
The speaker is from the Boat/US
Speakers Bureau. His name is Andrew Bass and he will speak on Marine Weather.
Mr. Bass has been the Fleet Navigator for the Annapolis Naval Academy for the
past 19 years. As such, he is in charge of special marine forecasting for the
Naval Academy. He is an Institute of Navigation Fellow and was involved with
the development of GPS. He also assisted with the rewrite of American Practical
Navigator (Bowditch). This should prove to be an entertaining as well as
informative meeting. I ask all members to make a special effort to attend.