View from the Bridge, Commodore Mark Cetta
Well Memorial Day passed in a blink and July 4th is almost upon us. What a short time summer is. I hope you’re all taking advantage but I’ve got to say there are way too many boats in the parking lot. Contact the Marine Chairman, George Morstatt, at marine@hyc.org to schedule your launch. It’s time to get summer going!
My first letter of the season brought you a few thoughts on what we need to do to save sailing. Here’s what we’ve been doing at the club. I’m really proud of the job Rob Murphy and the Marketing/Membership Committee has done finding new members. They held numerous open houses, sent out mailings, and manned the club booth at the NY boat show. Thanks to their efforts along with that of our membership, we have 18 new members so far this season as follows:
Active-Family Members
- Edmund and Melanee Williams (Silverton 35 and Pearson 28)
- Richard and Lisa Clay (Island Packet29)
Active-Individual Members
- Fadi Dagher (J 24)
- Hermann Cardona (J 24)
Associate–Family Members
- Doug Smith and Ruth Dease-Smith
- Jodie Sadovsky and Phillis Maucieri
- Jon and Rosemarie Schenck
Individual-Associate Members
- Greg M. (a returning member you may know from several years ago)
- Mary Fridman
- Mike Rosado
- Bruce Burnett
- Victor Martinez
Social Members
- Ron Mangione
- Vince Cloud
- Maria Caruso
- Steven Baccarini
- Phyllis Amelio
I’m particularly pleased with the growth in our Social and Associate membership rolls. Many of the new Social Members are people who have been coming here for years. They’ve been here but under the radar. They’ve always wanted to support the club and now that we’ve asked them, they’ve stepped up and joined. I hope they become involved in all other aspects of the club. They are welcome.
The new Associates are a great group. Ian Katz, himself an Associate, has taken over our Club Boat Program and gotten them together as a group. They prepped the two J24’s, got them in the water on time and are sailing them. Ian and Dave Wilder have been taking them out and teaching them boat handling and basic race crewing. A few have signed up for the USCGX safe boating program. This is all great! As you recall, I talked about mentoring in my first ‘View’. Well this is mentoring in action and it’s building a strong foundation for the club’s future.
Learning experiences here at the club aren’t just for our newer members. Our affiliation with Sound Sailing Center is just about complete and here’s a list of what they’ll be offering you:
Basic Cruising http://soundsailingcenter.com/basic-cruising/
Advanced Cruising http://soundsailingcenter.com/advanced-cruising/
Bareboat http://soundsailingcenter.com/bareboat-2/
Ocean Sailing http://soundsailingcenter.com/ocean-sailing/
I hope all our members will take advantage of their courses. They’ll make you better sailors and keep you growing in the sport.
Speaking of growing, the Dyer program has been moving along. Now we’re into the second year and we’re getting some of the bugs straightened out. We have a new dock to relieve the congestion and race dates are scheduled. These dinghies are fun! They offer the opportunity to get to get back to the basics: wind, water, balance. I hope you’ll all take a turn – you’re likely to get addicted to them.
See you all on the water.
Mark Cetta
Commodore
Harlem Yacht Club 