Privileges of Yacht Club Membership
I-B Jack
docks and other facilities available for cruisers who are members of
"reciprocating" clubs. I am interested in YC membership for this reason
and I am wondering what the options are.
I am in SF Bay Area and do not want to pay through the teeth for
membership. I have no interest in the "nose in the air" social status.
I am wondering if there is a database that will cross reference the
different clubs/organizations of the(hopefully)world so that I can see
where there would be facilities available to me if I were to sign onto
such a club.
Thanks
Doug Dotson
that around here (Chesapeake Bay) many yacht clubs will allow
you transient privs even if you are not a member of another
club. Just call in advance and ask what their policy is. When you
show up, clean yourself up and dress and act nicely. I also asked
this question a few years back. I don't know that the reciprocity
is such a formal thing. Membership in the CBYCA (Chesapeake
Bay Yacht Club Association) seemed like a possible common
link and it may be on the bay but not at clubs outside the bay.
Indeed Annapolis Yacht Club was not listed as a member when
I checked the CBYCA website. I belong to a small yacht club
that has been existence for almost 50 years. Annual dues are
$6.00/yr. We have no clubhouse or marina. A year ago I
proposed that we join CBYCA in order to obtain reciprocity
with other clubs. On further investigation I discovered that
being a member of CBYCA didn't buy you much outside
the bay and their main activity is coordinating the various
Commodore's Balls, club princess pagents, and lobbying
various organizations with regard to legislation related to
boating on and preservation of the bay. Your commodore
is required to attend many functions at other clubs and be
dressed in whites, etc. We decided it was really not worth
it for our club.
A couple of years ago I was going to NYC on a business
trip. I contacted the NY Yacht Club to see if I could stop
by for a visit and tour since it is such a historic club. Their
reply was a terse NO!!! I would have to know a member
in order to arrange a visit. I did walk past their clubhouse
just to say I did. I was too scared to press the doorbell.
Got a dirty look from some woman inside when I looked
in. All yacht clubs are definitely not the same and
friendly to outsiders. I guess their noses need to kept
especially high to stand out amongst all those tall buildings.
Regards,
Doug Dotson
V/C Margate Yacht Club
Glenn Ashmore
things, they have a model room that will make your jaw drop. 150 odd fully
rigged yachts and over 1,200 half hulls and builders models.
It was originally a requirement that every member had to provide a model of
their yacht before they could race as part of a handicapping system. It
turned into a sort of contest with the well heeled members trying to out do
each other.
--
Glenn Ashmore
I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Peggie Hall
air" attitude. Most are informal friendly places. Cost of membership
depends upon how elaborate the facilities are, because it's the
membership that has to support it all.
Although some YC will accept cash and credit cards, many are signature
only...a visitor's charges are billed back to his home club and then
billed to him by his home club...so any YC that has reciprocity with
other clubs has to be able to demonstrate that it can pay the bill for
visiting members...it also has to have something of "like value" to
offer to members of other clubs who visit it, and YCs that offer
reciprocity with other clubs belong to various associations of clubs
with similar facilities (don't ask me to for the names of these
associations...I have no idea. I do know that country clubs and golf
clubs belong to similar associations, and there is some
cross-over--membership in a CC will let you have dinner in a YC and vice
versa). So you're not likely to find a "minimalist" YC with no
clubhouse, dining or docks that offers reciprocity with any other club.
My own YC will allow me to visit a lot of other clubs, but it won't get
me into the real stuffy ones like the NYYC. Nor are you likely to find
a database for any of the associations on the internet.
Your best bet for finding a club that suits you--or whether one exists
in your area--is to just call the ones in your area and ask what their
criteria for membership is, what the costs are, and what if anything
they offer in the way of reciprocity. Almost all require that members
sponsor new members, but that's not a problem...except for the type of
clubs you've already said you don't want to join, most are eager for new
members and will see that you meet everyone you need to know to become a
member. You might also write to some of the contributors of the articles
you've read (magazines will forward mail)..and ask them for suggestions.
As for YC clubs out of the country, I found that in the UK at least,
most welcome all "visiting yachtsmen" in addition to members of other
clubs.
Peggie
Phil Rhodes
Here in Seattle, the Seattle Yacht Club has great reciprocity
http://www.seattleyachtclub.org/sycRecipClubs.htm but regrettably my club
isn't one of them http://www.ttpyc.org as we don't have like facilities, in
fact, we don't have any facilities, except the ability to have fun.
Doug Dotson
I made the effort in advance to arrange a visit.
Doug
Bill Round
area there is a yacht club that is a non-profit organization that uses it's
resources to get inner city kids out onto the water teaching them there is
something to life other than gangs and graffiti. It is called the Low Tide
Yacht Club. I have seen them in action and they get my highest regards. Last
I heard someone had donated them the land to build a clubhouse and they were
busy raising money for that. Good on 'em.
There may be one like that in your area, if not, start one!
Regards
Bill Round
Schooner CAPER DREAMS
Lying New Bern, NC.
"I-B Jack" <srfe...@netscape.net> wrote in message
news:3B2E132...@netscape.net...
Don White
At the top of the list of course is the Boston Yacht Club.
Anyone doing the Marblehead-Halifax ocean race next month??
see http://www.rnsys.com
(note: the site seemed to hang up a bit just now as I checked it out)
Bob
cruising is not really very sound strategy, even though many clubs offer
reciprocity to some degree or another.
In Florida, for example, there is the Florida Council of Yacht Clubs. About
25 or 30 clubs belong and if you're a member of one, you automatically get
privileges at the others, including charging your bill to your home club.
In fact, some clubs don't accept cash and charging is the only way to get a
drink. All the clubs are required to maintain certain facilities, like food
most days a week, both lunch and dinner, a pool, docks, tennis courts, etc.
or some combination of these things.
This sort of thing is available in other parts of the country too, and if
you belong to such a club it can be nice. Not cheap though and certainly
not worth it just to get an inexpensive dock from time to time.
Other clubs maintain a book that lists your home yacht club facilities and
if they meet a certain standard, you can get in as a guest. If not, too
bad. In other words, you may not be able to enjoy the pool at a fancy yacht
club if your home club is nothing but sailing club that meets once a year in
a parking lot for a "bring your own beer" sea story telling session with
dues of $5/year.
Then there are clubs that welcome you just because you're on a boat.
Most yacht clubs do not have a "nose in the air" attitude; however, most of
them are indeed places where people gather to be in the company of similar
people, so if a particular club either requires a tie and jacket for dinner,
or if most members simply choose to dress that way, they are not likely to
welcome you to the dining table if you have no shirt or shoes and haven't
showered in recent memory.
And I've found that even very casual clubs expect a certain level of good
behavior and reasonable dress, even though not every member will act that
way all the time.
In short, if you're put off by yacht clubs at your home port, you are likely
to be put off by them when you're cruising. If you enjoy your home club,
you'll find similar clubs when you cruise and enjoy them too.
As far as I know, there is no true universal guide book to yacht club
facilities and reciprocal agreements, which is probably a good thing. Yacht
clubs are really for purposes other than cheap dockage. Think as
reciprocity as something that is SOMETIMES available as a bonus to the
enjoyment you get from belonging to your home port yacht club.
Give a club a try, you might like it.
Bob
"I-B Jack" <srfe...@netscape.net> wrote in message
news:3B2E132...@netscape.net...
Capt Lou
published by the Yachting Club of America. Their address is:
PO Box 1040
Marco Island, FL 33969 - 1040
Phone number is 813-642-4448
"Listen to 'Nautical Talk Radio' with Captain Lou every Sunday afternoon from 4
- 5 East Coast time on the web at www.959WATD.com or in Boston/
Gloucester/Plymouth/ Cape Cod/New Bedford and all points in between on radio
station WATD 95.9FM."
Jon Gauthier
This is our first year in Marblehead and our neighbor will be crewing in
the race.
When I lived in Rowayton, CT, I never bothered to see the start of the
Stamford Mayor's Cup (Stamford, CT to Block Island, I believe) - so I
plan on making up for lost time!
Mayday
> Get a copy of the REGISTER OF AMERICAN YACHT CLUBS. It is a reciprocity guide
I agree. It is by many clubs considered to be the "univeresal guide". I've had
several clubs pull it out to assure themselves my club membership (Coronado Yacht
Club) gave me privileges at their club. It would be harder to cruise the
California coast without reciprocity, and it has been fun drinking elsewhere.
There are several stories about the New York Yacht Club, including the San Diego
Yacht Club stopped granting them reciprocity after they snubbed Dennis Connor.
Rumor has it, he initailly lost the cup so he could win it back for San Diego.
I've heard many clubs on the east coast have stopped granting NYYC reciprocity
bedause they are assholes, making it hard for them to go on any extended group
cruises.
Mayday
--
Jim "Mayday" Mady
http://www.floatplan.com
http://members.aol.com/myescobedo
Rich Mechaber
concept of reciprocity had all but died off. Maybe others have had
different experiences.
Rich Mechaber
Armond Perretta
"Rich Mechaber" <lo...@tthatespamlc.net> wrote ...
> 10 years ago on an extended cruise along the East coast, I found the
> concept of reciprocity had all but died off. Maybe others have had
> different experiences.
It's alive and well, but perhaps it operates differently that in former
times. Nowadays one is much more likely to get privileges at a small and
usually more hospitable club than at some of the larger, more prestigious,
and more well known clubs. This may be for reasons of crowding or because
the club has had less than favorable experiences with extending privilege.
At the same time there are many well known clubs where "privilege" has
little meaning. You just pick up a mooring and pay for what you use. The
Beverly YC in Padanaram and Indian Harbor YC in Greenwich are examples. As
a practical matter most clubs will be more than happy to take your money for
a mooring, although they may not invite you into the dining room. The
mooring's just going to sit there in the dark anyway, but having to look at
you at dinner may be asking too much of some of the stuffier members.
Someone mentioned the NYYC, which is a special case. Of course this club
has no primary location on the water but instead maintains a number of
"stations" along the coast. Usually it's quite difficult to get privileges
at these stations, both for reasons of space and for reasons of snobbery, of
which the NYYC has a sufficient supply. In any case many people who are
strangers to the NYYC end up with a slightly uncomfortable feeling from the
experience, one they would never get at a smaller friendlier club.
--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://members.tripod.com/kerrydeare