The prestigious and highly coveted cups await the victors.

The past weekends regatta was a fun event although the wind was very light to say the least.

IHOP customers do not generally appear as happy as these POYC sailors do when they woke up to the smell of coffee and sausage on the grill.

Pancake breakfast and Pork BBQ dinners were a huge reward for all entrants in this year’s cup. Carol K. and Doug R. commanded the spatula and heard the approving remarks of many hungry pirates.

The commander and crew of Zephyr during one of the highlights of the race in which there was a boat near the photographer.

As for the light air racing, I was so far behind that without binoculars I couldn’t really tell what was going on. I did see Connie P. for a while as she and Zephyr were hoping for just such. The race committee mercifully ended the last race as I waddled around within 30 yards of the last buoy for half an hour or so.

The winning skippers of the 2014 Huddleston Cup from left to right: Dale Sturm, Bill Klarer, Carol Kersting, Barry Sanders, Gary Reimer and Kevin Klarer.

The results for the regatta were as follows:

• C. Kersting 1st Cruiser
• B. Klarer 1st Dinghies
• K. Klarer 2nd Cruisers
• B. Sanders 2nd Dinghies
• G. Reimer 3rd Cruisers
• D. Sturm 3rd Dinghies

POYC thanks all participants for coming out and especially Bill Miller and the race committee, and social chair, Carol Kersting, for the spectacular grubs.

Don’t miss the next event, The Jolly Roger and Low Country Boil on June 14th. Let the wind blow!

School is in session

Rob W. and Lee H. have their hands full with a whopping 14 students this time around! Welcome the students to the club if you see them.

Spring has filled the tub and it’s time to get out there and take advantage of the beauty that nature provides us!  Steve Tabor’s already set the record for consecutive days aboard and it will be tough to catch up with him.

Sailing School will commence this coming Saturday, May 3.  The following Saturday, May 10 will host the second Sailing School session and the 2014 Commissioning of the Fleet. The ceremony begins at noon. The monthly meeting will close the day. Saturday, May 17 will be the third Sailing School session and The Tune-Up Regatta.  It’s a good time to come out and learn some more about racing if you are curious.

We will then have our first regatta of the season, The Huddleston Cup, on May 24-25. As the last day of the Sailing School is on the 24th, it might be a good opportunity to pick up some crew from the school and get them hooked on the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat.

The lake is currently about 2.5 feet below summer pool and there is a lot of flotsam around the ramp and elsewhere in the lake, so keep an eye out and do what you can to help us clear it out. It tends to washout during the day and return overnight.

The head is functional and water flowing under control thanks to the effort of our Hardmaster Doug Roberts, who spent the better part of 4 days replacing burst pipes as a result of our unforgiving winter. The fancy new cross-linked polyethylene pipes should be more forgiving if winter is not. Doug also put the finishing touch to the committee boat last weekend so as soon as we can get some air into the tires it should be ready for action.

There are still a few things left on the to-do list from the work-party. Look at the list on the board in the pavillion and see if there is something you will do. Volunteers are still (and will always be) needed for race committee and cooking at several of our monthly meetings.

We have signed the club up at meetup.org in an effort to reach like-minded outdoor enthusiasts and help them find their way into boat life.  If you are tech savvy and like utilizing the wonders that the internet have made possible, please join the group and use it to communicate with other “could be sailors.”

It’s going to be a busy month ahead.
See you at the lake!

It’s been a such a long, cold winter that former POYC commodore Karen McNulty found the time and creative energy to turn a drawer full of regatta T-shirts into a means of warmth.  There’s a lot memories in that to wrap up in!

And since it’s made of T-Shirts is probably just right for cool summer nights.

Now we know what Karen’s been up to lately!       photo submitted by Mary Higgins

But don’t give up on your T-Shirts, Warm weather will arrive…  Right? Tell me I’m right.

R. Hatcher

As this year will close on a long cold night, may the anticipation of greater journeys warm your hearts!

Winter Sailing XVI by James Patterson

O CAPTAIN! my Captain! our fearful trip is done;
The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won;
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills;
For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding;
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head;
It is some dream that on the deck,
You’ve fallen cold and dead.
My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;
The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;
From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won;
Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!
But I, with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

Walt Whitman (from Leaves of Grass, 1867 edition, first published in Saturday Press, New York, 1865)

As the sun sets on the 2013 summer sailing season, it also marks the beginning of the fall season.

The coming weekend, Sept. 7th and 8th, promises to be a reprieve from the recent spell of dogged days that have been upon us, and, as luck would have it, also happens to be an event-filled weekend at the club. We’re encouraging as many POYC members as possible to come out for an “all hands on deck” opportunity to support the club and have a sail of a good time!

This weekend, WKU’s ORAC (Outdoor Recreation Adventure Center) will be at the club for a two-day clinic on sailing. First up is Saturday, and the ORAC members will be spending the entire day with us. We’ve promised to share with these young, new adventurers what BOAT LIFE is all about. We need sailors and boats to take the WKU students out and show ’em the ropes! If you’ve been waiting for an excuse to get out and sail this season, this is it — come on out and help instill the love of sailing into the upcoming generation. Arrive any time between 9:00 a.m. til dusk.

The ORAC visit continues on Sunday with the Poor Cay Regatta. The skippers’ meeting is at at 10:00 a.m. followed by the race. We’d love to have a big turnout for the regatta. And if you are in need of crew, don’t worry — the WKU students will be on-hand looking for boats to hop on board!  If you aren’t planning on racing, put up sail as a spectator. Sunday afternoon, after the race, we will have a cookout and get together. Barry Sanders will be making a batch of his famous hot and jerk wings.

If you haven’t been out to the club this summer, come out and see your boat. She misses you and so do we! There are only a few weeks left in this season. Let’s see if we can turn this into a year that we will remember for sailing. While the Port Oliver Yacht Club may be a great place to store your boat, it’s an even better place to get together with other sailors who are eager to share their experiences with you, but are also eager to learn about yours. Without member involvement, the spirit of the club declines and our future is put at risk. Take full advantage of your membership — make another tack before the season is out.

See you on the lake!

The monthly club meeting has been postponed until August 23rd at 6pm.!  We look forward to seeing you there!

Thursday, July 04, 2012 Regatta, Yankee Doodle Regatta & BBQ

Saturday, July 06, 2013 Regatta,  Barren Blackbeards Cursed Regatta (figure 8) And we sail and we sail and we never see land, just the rum in the bottle and a pipe in my hand…” ARRGH !