We completed the application process and joined just in time for their new member reception in October. In this photo, Joe (head of their Jr. Sailing Program) is next to me and Jess (in charge of new members) is next to Vicky.
We soon ran into Dan and Carol who are neighbors at our condo complex... Dan is actually the architect who designed our condos.
Of course in October, the season had essentially ended. Our first real event was the Commodore's Dinner Dance in November which was a great chance for Vicky and I to get gussied up and have a nice night out. (We also shared our first dance there.)
The yacht club is a mostly volunteer organization. There are only a couple of staff members (janitor, bartenders, etc.) All members are expected to pitch in and help run the place. The first work day I could make was the December dock work party. The goal was to pull out the last of the floating dock sections (kept in the water to allow the crews to do the other work getting ready for winter), and get it ready for Olsen's to store it. The day for this party was the same day that the first "blizzard of the century" for this winter was starting to blow in. We had temperatures in the mid-20s with 15 mph winds. I've never been so cold. (I "complained" to Jess later that this activity was NOT in the brochures they handed us over the summer.)
Later in December, we had an Employee Appreciation Night which sort of doubled for our Christmas event (our real Christmas event took place during another blizzard). By this point I was already offering my photography skills. The place is really decked out for the holidays, so the photos came out well.
Right after the New Year, they had a "Beer Tasting" event where they the folks from Kane brewery (down in Ocean, I think) to come in and demo some of their brews. Two of our members made the meal, and while I didn't bring my camera, I regretted not bringing it. They made the most incredible pork osso buco I've ever had.
The new employees spent January and February planning our New Member Event. We had to find a speaker and I remembered that John Olsen (owner of the boat yard next to our condos) had given a historical talk about his father's boat building business (they made hand-crafted wood boats). He agreed, and we cooked up some chili and hosted a really nice event.
It was just a nice enough day that several members couldn't resist going out on the upper deck to enjoy being by the water.
Our March activity was the "Anchorage Initiation Meeting" where we got to hear some of the officers explain how the launch operations work and what is required in terms of "ground tackle" to be allowed to tie your boat at the KYC mooring field. At the end of the meeting, Sherry worked with John Olsen to figure out where all of us new folks would be located. This happened just after we made the purchase of the new Catalina so found us a nice spot where it would still float at low tide.... we'll be "parked" about halfway out right in front of our condo.
Now everyone is waiting for the weather to break so we can get started and get set up for the summer. Just this past weekend I helped a little at the first "Dock Work Party" of the year. Here our goal was to get a boat in the water and tow one of the floating docks back into place so other things can get moving. What really happened is we put the boat in the water and then started fighting with the engine for a couple of hours. I'm glad I'm not the only one who that happens to...
All in all, it's been a great experience. The folks at KYC are incredibly friendly; I'm sure I'll learn lots from them and hopefully I can contribute something as well.
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