50th scheduleWe are almost halfway through the sailing season.  The Spring Series is wrapping up.  We’ve conducted two great regattas.  The social events are well underway.  There are a lot of exciting things happening at the club. New and Ongoing social events: Our 50th Anniversary celebration is coming up quickly.  Vickie Greenough, Nick Mates and their planning committee have been hard at work planning a full week of events for you.  It should be a great event!  Be on the lookout for email blasts and FaceBook postings on the event – not to mention all the placards posted around the club. Check out Nick’s full write up at the end of the Commodore article. Nan Schulze has organized several of the ladies into a Ladies Sailing Association.  They have already adopted and upgraded the various flower beds around the club and have held a couple of social events.  This a growing group within the club.  They are organized.  They are involved.  And they have a plan.  Check it out by contacting Nan. Ballroom dancing in the upper shelter continues on Thursday evenings.  This is a great event with about 15-20 members attending.  I dropped in towards the end of the session last week .  Everyone was having a great time.  This could be a regular club event.  If this keeps up, we may need a bigger dance floor at the Final Bash. Rich Fox has organized a Remote Control Sailboat fleet within ECSC.  The group sails the DragonForce 65 RC boat.  The group meets every Monday at 7:00 pm at the race shed.  Members without boats are encouraged to attend and sail a “loaner boat.”  The DF65 costs about $250 and takes about 4 hours to build.  It’s very affordable and very easy to rig and control. The July 4th Pig Roast is coming up on July 4th (Duh!).  This is a very popular event.  I hope you can come out for a great meal, then take your boat out on the water to watch the downtown fireworks. Dry-dock Storage Ki Hickok has assigned dry slip spaces to everyone.  Now, we have to get the boats moved around.  This will be a multi-year project as we have a lot of boats to move.  Please be patient and work with Ki when he contacts you about moving your boat.  We are impacted a bit by the empty trailers stored in the lower lots.  See “Trailers, Trailers, Trailers” below. Dock Captains I am still looking for people to step forward as “Dock Captains.”  If you are interested, please contact me.  Here’s a chance to earn the respect and admiration of your fellow club members.  Plus, you have the opportunity to say: “Well, I can remember when I was a Dock Captain back in ’19…”   Or some such nonsense.  Anyway, contact me if you are interested.  If nothing else, we need someone to let us know about dock boards to be replaced. Boat Stickers Now for a little housekeeping.  We took a stroll around the club and found over 40 boats still without current club stickers.  That is 20% of our members!  This is becoming a problem.  The purpose of the sticker is two-fold. It lets us know at a glance that the boat is owned by a current member. It forces members to visit their boats at least once a year to assess its condition. When we see a boat with out of date stickers, it tells us the boat is slipping into decay and may soon be abandoned.  A boat with stickers two or three years old is considered abandoned, or at the very least, extremely neglected. Our General Rules require all boats to have a current club sticker by June 1 or 30 days after joining the club.  If you haven’t done so, please come out to the club to put your sticker on your boat.  Otherwise, expect a call from the Harbormaster asking what you want to do about your neglected or abandoned boat.  In the future, we may start assessing fines for boats without current stickers in order to correct the problem. Trailers, Trailers, Trailers We also have a lot of empty trailers around the club.  The club is nearing capacity and we need to aggressively manage our limited parking spaces for dry slip boats and car parking.  If your trailer is sitting in a dry slip assigned to someone else, then it will be moved to the upper lot to open up that slip. If you need to work on your trailer or your boat, then contact the Harbormaster so we can get you an open spot in the maintenance area.  Of course, if you have a dry slip, you can work on your boat there. Sail on, Geoff   ECSC 50th Anniversary Week There’s Something for Everyone Please join us in celebrating our Sailing Club! It all starts on Tuesday, July 16th at 7:00 P.M. with Beethoven on the Beach Wednesday the 17th is the first race of the Summer Series begins at 6:50 P.M. and, and is also part of the 50th Anniversary Celebration. We will have post race special acoustic music by Chris Gordon of T and G productions (you know the DJ for Mayor’s Cup)! Friday, July 19th Food Truck and RC Sailboat Racing (Radio Controlled Sailing) Regatta starting at 6:00 P.M. in the cove Saturday, July 20th is the BIG day! 10:00 A.M Little Pirates Beach Party (ages 3-12) this event is expected to be a blast for the kids. Fun activities for every age group and the day include snacks, drinks and treats. Plan to bring your kids or grandkids and enjoy our fabulous facility (lower shelter area). 12:00 Noon ECSC Regatta Competitor’s meeting at 10:30 A.M. Pursuit style racing. We’ll be handing out fabulous awards just before the Beach Party (around 5:00 P.M.) Pre-register by July 16th (for t-shirts, or polo shirts and dinners). 5:00 P.M. The annual Beach Party. A great band, great food and really fun people.  Make sure that you R.S.V.P. by July 16th nrmates@gmail.com We don’t want to run out of food!  Sunday, July 21st ECSC Brunch Please bring a covered dish and enjoy our sailing club with friends and family. Sunday, July 21st Race 1 of the Summer Honor Series 3:00 P.M.   Any questions please contact Nick Mates or Bob Hickok.