Ludington Yacht Club

Cocktails at the Club tomorrow (Friday April 28) starting about 5:00 p.m.

Meetings:  The May general membership meeting is Tuesday May 2 at 7:30 p.m.  A potluck  dinner will precede the meeting beginning at 6:30 p.m.  A Board of Directors meeting will follow the general membership meeting.

Who says you have to go to Kentucky to enjoy the Kentucky Derby.  The LYC will have their own Kentucky Derby party on Saturday May 6^th.  Please join us at 5:00 for a fun late afternoon of food and wagering.  Ladies, don’t forget to wear your fancy hat for the hat contest. 

Reservations are now being accepted by calling Sandy Gomez at 231-690-6224.  Please make your reservation by Wednesday, May 3^rd.

Questions, call Connie Robinson at 231 690-3165.

LYC Wine and Canvas Party Thursday May 11:  Come sip some wine with your friends and let your inner artist out to create a masterpiece.  Artist Greta will instruct you step by step (no experience needed) to create a finished beach scene that you will be proud to hang on your wall.  We will have appetizers and wine from 5:15-6:00 with the painting beginning at 6:00 until around 9:00.  The cost is $35.00 for the canvas, brushes, paint and apron.  Wine or drinks will be a small additional cost.  We have seating for only 35 people and because this kind of event is popular, it will fill up fast.  It is important that you register as soon as possible.

To register: Go to www.wineandcanvas.com  At the top of the link click on location then click on Grand Rapids.  The next link you will need to click on private events calendar and the calendar with events will pop up.  Scroll to May and you will see our event on May 11^th.  You then click on the date and register.  If this is confusing to you, please give me a call 231-690-3165 and I will help you out.

Hope to see you on May 11^th and promise you a fun night.

Connie Robinson   crobi@mceschools.com   231-690-3165

Swiss Steak dinner Saturday May 20 and Wing Ding Dango Saturday May 27.   Mark your calendars.  More info to follow.

Education:  Here is a “save the date” request from member Bill Walker.  The Pentwater Yacht Club is hosting a Rules Seminar on 5/27/2017.  It will be an all day seminar, with lunch provided, put on by Rules Official Allan Teske from Chicago.  Allan is very entertaining and keeps things lively.  For those of you who don’t know, the Racing Rules of Sailing is a book that is published by US Sailing every 4 years and contains all of the rules that will govern racing for the next four years.  The current book was recently issued and applies for 2017 to 2020.  Those who plan on participating in races should have a copy aboard, as in addition to rules regarding boats, it has information regarding race organization, starting, protests, penalties, flags and other signals and other stuff of interest.  Please see the attached flyer for more info.   Registration checks should be made to PYC.

Membership:  For those of you who had not heard, Joanne VanAmeyden passed away in February.  Her memorial is scheduled for Saturday May 27.  We continue to express the Club’s sympathies to Charlie.

Wow, what a difference a year makes!  Last year in April, waxing the floor and turning on the water wasn’t the main concern, our concern was that the entire club might be underwater and our driveway and seawall needed to be raised at least two feet just to save the land surrounding the entire club.  We are a volunteer club with limited financial means, however this posed no problem for the LYC.  Under the direction of the board along with many more members, including the flag officers, a plan was developed that was within our ability to pay.  Our club was fortunate enough to have club members that could do the technical work as well as the manual labor to complete the plan approved by the board and flag officers.  With over 80 members planning and working to raise the seawall and driveway, add black dirt and re-sod the entire land surrounding the club, it is hard to remember what it looked like just one year ago.

This year once again we are looking forward to a fun and exciting season.  Our committee chairs have been working hard to make sure that the club is ready, the docks are full and our membership reaches capacity.  Last year we had approximately 70% of our members volunteering to help from working on the docks to planning and preparing a social event.  Our goal is to include as many members as we can with clubhouse and boating activities.  If you want to volunteer, don’t hesitate to contact our committee chairs.

Thank you so much for all your support.   I look forward to making our club to be the best place to relax, have a drink with a friend and spend some time this summer.

Mike Robinson