Charter Member Gulf Yachting Association
April 2015
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Commodore’s Report
Vice Commodore’s
Report
Bay Gales
MBSS note
MBSS President’s letter
News from the Kitchen
Manager’s Notes
Commodore
Steve Zito
Vice Commodore
Brad Broadus
Rear Commodore
Mike LaSarge
Treasurer
Hank Schwarz
Corresponding
Secretary
Bill Haffner
Recording Secretary
Randy Wendt
Board Members
John Ballard
Eugene LeVert
Josh Murray
Ellis Ollinger
Greg Reed
Mike Reid
Mobile Yacht Club
Established 1847
Mobile, AL
Commodore’s Report
Looks like March lived up to its reputation for showers but still left us with a cool snap as
the month closed out. April looks to be a little drier early in the month and getting into the
80’s during the days. That means time to part from the docks.
This month will bring the Dauphin Island Race on April 25th hosted by Fairhope Yacht
Club. The Warm Up Race is the weekend before. We hope MYC has a good showing
and brings home much of the hardware as usual. To find out the details, schedules and
registration information, visit http://fairhopeyachtclub.com/2015-dauphin-island-race/. It
comes back around to MYC next year so we’ll start planning early as we did just a couple
of years ago. If we can get some better weather on Thursday nights, our TNFR become a
good warm up, not to mention the after party at the Club.
Our Club has been approached through the Bay Gales by The Boys and Girls Clubs of
South Alabama (a 501(c)(3) nonprofit) for our support of their Summer Enrichment Program
for kids along Dauphin Island Parkway. Most of us are able, as parents and grandparents,
are able to afford special events for our children and grandchildren. However, not all
children are so fortunate. Many of the children living in our Dauphin Island Parkway
neighborhoods have a small radius from which they have hardly, if at all, ventured out.
Mrs. Mary Zoghby, Executive Director, addressed our recent Board meeting and asked for
our support for their program at Guilliard Elementary this summer. This program served over
100 kids along Dauphin Island Parkway last summer by providing field trips (Battleship, Sea
Lab, etc.) and educational programs at the school. This was successful and measurably
showed improvements in reading, math, socialization and other character building skills.
We will be working with the Bay Gales to arrive at a special fund raising function to occur
within the next two months which can result in a donation to the program. It is currently
being planned and if you have ideas or would like work with the Bay Gales, please
contact Valerie Creekmore, President, soon. Look for more information coming soon.
Your participation and generosity are greatly appreciated and will go a long way.
Our Bar and Galley continue to strive to find just the right menu, pricing and service we
need to keep, increase or even regain your business. We are making a pretty significant
change which will be addressed by your Vice Commodore and House Committee
Chairman Brad Broadus later in this issue of Scuttlebutt. You should find that responsive to
many of your comments.
Keep up with us Facebook for specials and events. That’s the quickest and least expensive
way to get the word out.
On behalf of the Board of Governors and Members of MYC, we offer our prayers and
condolences to Members Jack and Terri Baylor for the recent loss of their son Sam.
See you at soon the Club and on the water,
Steve Zito, Commodore
Official Web Site: www.mobileyachtclub.org
Page 2
Vice Commodore’s Report
Spring is here at last! I’m looking forward to enjoying some nice weather
and plenty of sailing!
Your Flag Officers, Board of Directors and House Committee are working
hard to implement suggestions provided by MYC members. The House
Committee is soliciting quotations for infrastructure improvements and work
is continuing on the Club IT systems.
The Board of Directors has voted to change the Bar & Galley automatic
gratuity policy as follows:
• There will no longer be an automatic 15% gratuity added to your
B&G charges except as noted below.
• Members are strongly encouraged to sign their ticket before leaving the Club. This will provide an opportunity for you to enter your
tip amount on your ticket before signing it. We encourage you to
reward the Servers appropriately based on the level of service provided. Cash tips are acceptable.
• In the event that a Member does not sign their ticket prior to leaving
the Club, a 15% gratuity will be added to that ticket.
• These changes will take effect on May 1, 2015.
The Board feels that these changes will provide incentive for the Servers
and will reduce the number of Member complaints about their charges.
It is difficult for the Manager and Bookkeeper to resolve Member charge
issues that occurred several weeks in the past. Many of these issues can be
avoided by reviewing and signing your ticket on the day of service.
The Board of Directors appreciates your cooperation in helping us
implement upgrades and changes to our facilities and services. I hope to
see you at the Club and on the water soon!
Fair Winds and Smooth Sailing,
Brad Broadus
Vice Commodore
BAY GALES NEWS
Mobile Bay Sailing
School
The Mobile Bay Sailing School will
be offering more activities than
ever for youth, adults, and even
families. The school will now offer
a Discover Sailing program that
will give families the opportunity to
experience sailing together. The
program will provide up to four
family members a 2½ hour sail
with a certified sailing instructor on
board. The activity is open to children ages 5 and up with at least
one adult family member on the
boat. This experience is tailored to
you. Your family can sit back, relax, and enjoy or be hands on and
learn. The cost is $150.
Another exciting program the sailing school will offer this summer
is a STEM (Science, Technology,
Engineering, and Mathematics)
camp. This is the US Sailing REACH
program that teaches STEM
through sailing. Participants will
be engaged in hands-on learning
challenging them to reach higher
academically. This one-week
camp will explore buoyancy,
simple machines, measuring wind
and more. Campers will individually design, build, and race a model
sailboat. The camp is for rising 4th6th graders. Registration is available online through the Mobile
Bay Sailing School website www.
mobilebaysailingschool.com.
Our next luncheon meeting will be on April 10th at 12:30 at
MYC. We will be discussing a community fundraising event for
field trips for the boys and girls clubs which the Bay Gales would
like to sponsor.
Ann was at the MYC board meeting and presented this idea
for us, which was favorably received by Brad Broadus and the
board. Please come to the meeting to help us plan this event.
Valerie, President
M
Page 3
A message from the Mobile Bay Sailing
School President
April is finally here, we are all getting
our boats cleaned up and ready for the
season. Our Sailing School will also be
out there taking an inventory of our gear,
cleaning up our boats and finalizing our
plans for this summer’s sailing school
program. If you are interested in helping
out please give me a call and I will let you
know when we plan to have our clean up
sessions.
Last month we announced our 2015
sailing school program schedule and I’m
happy to announce that we are ready to
receive applications for classes. You will
find paper applications in the club and
starting this year you be able to apply and
make payment on line with our new on line
registration. You can either “e” register or
print out a paper application by going to
the MBSS web site. I’d like to also clarify
our plans for the special optimist sailing
school sessions. In last month’s news letter,
our schedule shows the opti sessions as
one half day sessions running Monday
through Friday mornings. This is in error;
we are actually offering both morning and
afternoon half day opti class sessions.
The Sailing School Board has selected
its instructors for this year’s sailing school.
Our head instructor for the 2015 season is
Savannah Vereen and Assistant Instructors
are Thomas Boudreaux, Lennard Luiten,
Matthew Godbold, and Maitland Thull.
These folks are well seasoned and will do
a great job teaching our young sailors this
year.
We are still in search of replacement
420’s and additional optimist sailboats
to update our aging fleet. If you know of
an organization with newer boats that
is updating its fleet and has boats for sale
please send me a note at spauldrs58@gmail.
com or call me at (251) 634-1442. Of course
we will need funds to purchase replacement
boats. If you would like to make a tax
deductable financial donation to the MBSS
to help us with our boat replacement drive,
please notify me or let Hank know and we
will be happy to receive your donation.
Lastly the MBSS has received donated boats
and over the years purchased boats that we
are now selling to raise funds for the School.
For a list of boats for sale, please see Hank
Schwarz or send me an email and we will be
happy to provide you with information and
meet you at the club to show you the boats.
As always I really appreciate the help
from you with our program and look
forward to seeing you around the club or on
the water.
Rick Spaulding
Manager’s Notes
March Madness is over and April has welcomed spring!
Thursday Night Fun Races are in full swing; join us for beer and
wine specials every Thursday night.
Thank you to everyone who joined us for the Fairhope Brewing
Company beer tasting March 12th and the wine dinner March
19th. We hope to continue to have events such as these, and
need your support.
Remember we offer full dining service on our deck. Join us for
lunch or dinner and enjoy the view. The pool is now open.
The water is a bit chilly, but some brave members have already
taken a dip. Please remember to clean up anything you bring
into the pool area.
The Club will be CLOSED Sunday, April 5th, Easter Sunday.
Welcome New Members: David Chaffe (Active), Chad Foster
(Active).
Check back with us for more details on the Memorial Day BBQ!
See you in the Galley!
Suzannah Weeks
General Manager General Manager
News from the kitchen
If you have not been to Sunday
lunch in a while, please come
check out our new omelet station
and bottomless mimosa for $5.
April Menu
April 12th -
Fried chicken,
macaroni and cheese,
squash casserole, fried
okra, baked beans
April 19th – Salisbury steak, green
beans,
rice, corn bread
April 26th – Lemon poppy seed
chicken, sautéed carrots,
roasted new potatoes
PRESORTED
STANDARD
US POSTAGE PAID
MOBILE, AL
PERMIT #1266
MOBILE YACHT CLUB
4925 Marina Drive N.
Mobile, Alabama 36605
Page 4
MBSS 2015 Class Schedule
Class 1: June 8 – June 12
Class 2: June 15 – June 19
Class 3: June 22 – June 26 Special Opti class (1/2 day sessions)
Break: June 29 – July 3 Fourth of July Holiday week, no classes
Class 4: July 6 – July 10
Class 5: July 13 – July 17
Class 6: July 20 – July 24
Class 7: July 27 – July 31
Notes:
1. With the exception of the special Opti classes, all classes
are full day
2. Special Opti classes are held as half day classes, morning
only over a five day week
3. Full day class schedule is 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
4. Half day class schedule is 9:00 AM – 12:30 PM
5. Student age limits – Special Opti class: 7, 8, and 9 year olds,
all other classes ages 8 10 to 18 years
6. Students may arrive as early as 8:30 AM
7. Parents must pick up students no later than 5:30 PM
8. Preferred class size is 16 to 18 students, Opti class size is
10 students maximum
REPAIR SERVICE
DRAIN CLEANING
DEMOLITION
MEDICAL GAS
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