Ahoy, WYC! Fall has arrived and the temperature has dropped to the low 90s. We can now enjoy some of the best boating weather of the year as the wind returns to the bay and the temperatures remain mild.
WYC has a busy fall calendar including the years premiere event, the Fifth Annual WYC Charity Regatta. Visit the online calendar often so you do not miss any upcoming events.
On The Horizon: The Month Ahead
Upcoming events: Watch for and respond to evites. .
- Lakewood Yacht Club Overnight Party: Friday September 21st- Sunday September 23rd
- October Happy Hour at the Railean Distillery: Friday October 5th 6:30 PM- 9:00 PM Pavilion B
- October WYC Board Meeting: Saturday October 13th 9:00 AM- 10:00 AM
- WYC Charity Regatta: Saturday October 20th 12:00 PM- 8:00 PM
- November Happy Hour : Friday November 2nd 6:30 PM- 9:00 PM
- Annual Chili Cookoff: Saturday November 10th 6:00 PM- 10:00 PM
Remember to check the calendar on the web site for more information on all scheduled events! https://www.waterfordyc.com/event-calendar/.
Commodore’s Message:
September 2018
Commodores Message
I’m proud to announce 2018 continues to be another successful year for Waterford Yacht Club. During the year we’ve been fortunate to see many familiar faces, while also introducing a host of new members. Much effort and time has been devoted by WYC board and members to enhance the social and racing community of our club. As summer comes to a close, it’s a great time to reflect on the year’s numerous activities hosted by the Waterford Yacht Club as well as prepare for upcoming events:
Previous 2018 Events
• Ongoing Peanut Regatta Series conducted weekly by our race committee
• True North Marine educational tour
• 2018 WYC Commodore’s Ball at Opus Ocean Grille
• Monthly marina Happy Hours
• Wine & Cheese New Member Drive
• First Aid on the Water educational seminar
• WYC 2018 Freeport Regatta
• “Bling and Baseball” Party
• Complimentary USGC Auxiliary Vessel Safety Check
• WYC Gumbo Cook-Off
• Redfish Island Raft-Up
• 3rd Annual Pinewood Sailing Regatta
• South Coast Sailing Charter BVI Chartering educational seminar
• Waterford Marina “Dive In” Movie evening
• Anchoring Clinic
Upcoming Events
• WYC Birthday Bash
• Lakewood Yacht Club Reciprocal Weekend
• Railean Distillery Tour and Happy Hour
• Sailing Angels Charity Regatta
• Lakewood Yacht Club Harvest Moon Regatta
• WYC Annual Chili Cook-off
• Holiday Dessert and Boat Lighting Contest
• Kemah Christmas Boat Parade
Remember to periodically check the on-line calendar for newly added activities and events. Let’s make the last part of the year even more exciting and entertaining than the first!
Mike Pantoja – WYC 2018 Commodore
Happy Hour at the Railean Distillery:
WYC’s monthly happy hour moves to Railean’s Distillery on Friday, October 5th.
Put on your eye patch, bring your swagger and enjoy some lively company and spirits at the Buccaneers Bar.
Wear your BEST PIRATE GARB! There will be a costume contest!! The best dressed pirate will take home the booty!
Raileans is open to the public every Friday from 3-9pm. This is a 21 and over facility.
They have great drink specials and will be making one just for us,The Waterford Woo Hoo !!
Raileans is offering a special TOUR just for us starting at 7pm for only $5! This is an excellent tour of their facility and learn how they make their rum in house!
We’ll have some bar snacks/food for those needing to fill their pirate bellies!
Anyone who would like to have dinner after our visit to Raileans a group will be going to Top Water Grill!
Railean Distillery Address:
341 5th Street
San Leon, Texas 77539.
Work like a Captain and Party like a Pirate!
Fifth Annual WYC Charity Regatta Benefitting the Sailing Angels:
The Fifth Annual Regatta Charity Event hosted by the Waterford Yacht Club benefiting the Sailing Angels Foundation provides an exciting opportunity for Galveston Bay sailors to enjoy an afternoon of fun, competitive sailboat racing, and an evening event featuring dinner, music and awards with all proceeds going to the Sailing Angels Foundation.
The regatta will be held on Saturday, October 20th , in Galveston Bay and the after-race event will be held at Sundance Grill II. Cost for the regatta is $110 per sailboat and dinner/event tickets are $25 per person . All proceeds go to the Sailing Angels Foundation. The race entry fee is tax deductible. Race registrants receive one dinner ticket and additional dinner tickets can be purchased for $25.00 via Waterfordyc.com. The evening event will feature dinner, music, awards, and a silent auction supporting Sailing Angels Foundation. The skippers meeting will be held Friday, October 12th at 7 PM at Sundance Grill II. A Skipper’s Bag filled with great items geared toward boaters will be handed out at this meeting to skippers registered by the Octoer 11th deadline. Entrants registered by October 11th can expect to receive a high quality skippers shirt and a nice bag of practical items including a visor, multi-bit screwdriver, high tech fiber towel and assorted trinkets.
Racing will be on an approximately 9.62 nautical mile course in Galveston Bay, outside of the Kemah channel bounded by Redfish Island, the Houston Ship Channel and Red Bluff Point. There will be both a Non-Spin and a Spinnaker Class. This event is open to area yacht clubs, sailing clubs and sailors. The PHRF system will be used for the Pursuit Type Race. All boats will have a unique start time based on their PHRF rating set at the Skippers meeting 7:00 PM on Friday, October 12th. If you do not have a PHRF rating one will be assigned to you by WYC Race committee. Race instruction will be provided at the Skippers Meeting.
Online registration and further race details are available at the WYC website or http://www.regattanetwork.com/event/17097#_home.
Registration for the Regatta – Two options:
1) Online: WYC will leverage Regatta Network (Link to Regatta Network) to manage online registration as well as registrant tracking and race management. Please note that if you opt to register online, there is no need to manually fill out the registration form below.
2) Manual: Registration:
a. Download and complete the Registration Form & Waiver Form
b. If paying by cash/check please either mail to: Waterford Yacht Club 2951 Mariners Dr PO Box 130-204 Kemah, TX 77573 or by contact Rafael Brom, Fleet Captain – 713-412-4288 – fleetcaptain@waterfordyc.com.
c. Be sure to review and sign the Waiver Form as the Skipper.
d. Bring Waiver Form to the Skipper’s Meeting along with any PHRF rating information deemed necessary.
Regardless of registration method, you will need to download and sign the Waiver which can be downloaded below or from the online registration site.
Entrants can expect to receive a high quality skippers shirt and a nice bag of practical items including a visor, multi-bit screwdriver, high tech fiber towel and assorted trinkets.
Race Instructions will be provided at Skipper’s Meeting on Friday October 12th, 2018.
Sailing Angels Foundation
The Sailing Angels Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization, based in the Greater Houston area. Sailing angels provides boating trips free of charge and relies on volunteers who donate their time and their boats and is financed by charitable donations. As an opportunity for education and recreational therapy, they introduce the joy of sailing to special children with cognitive, physical or emotional needs or chronic illnesses. Also invited are wounded warriors and military veterans. The family unit is also encouraged to come. The special participants are encouraged to work on the boat to the best of their abilities.
The benefits of sailing as a recreational therapy go beyond balance, coordination, and relaxation. There is a lot of teamwork, communication, and social interaction involved in sailing. Captain Dave McCabe, the founder of Sailing Angels, reports that once the children get to work on the boat, steer the boat, raise the sails, tie the knots, to get really involved, they walk away with a tremendous feeling of self-esteem. One family reports: I have never, ever seen my boys so relaxed and focused. Especially my younger son, Noah. He was so focused and thrilled about sailing that boat! And, to see my older son, Cameron to not be consumed with anxiety was also extraordinary! I cried tears of joy with my husband when I told him about our day. Thank you again, for providing such a wonderful day of sailing!! The military personnel and veterans in Project Victory’s brain injury rehabilitation program are benefiting from sailing excursions. Christine Wiegman said, “The experience of sailing helps our clients practice relaxation strategies that decrease their stress response and anxiety. The rhythmical movement of the boat and reduced noise create a calm environment that is difficult to replicate to an activity filled rehabilitation center. The sensory stimuli created by a boat as it moves through the waves and changes course with the wind also helps mediate balance deficits often experienced by individuals who have sustained a brain injury. When our clients ambulate around the boat, hoist a sail, or take the helm, they’re integrating their visual field with their physical environment to remain balanced.”
All this charitable ‘work’ is accomplished by their tremendous team of volunteers and yacht owners: our “Sailing Angels” who donate their Time, Talent and Treasure to create this special experience. This non-profit foundation performs their charitable mission while (impressively) holding their administrative overhead to less than 4%. Since beginning the charitable nautical service in late 2007, as of sometime in June, they will have hosted 10,000 participants. All of this could not have been accomplished without the stellar support from so many volunteers, yacht owners, and the financial support from individual donors & institutions as well as the special needs community which they lovingly serve.
Welcome Aboard!
Please be on the lookout for the following new members and welcome them to the club!
Name Boat Name / Location
Tim and Angela Meredith S/V Perfect Match / Pier 14 Slip 9
Will and Valerie Wahrmund S/V Hot Temper II / Pier 10 Slip 9
Visit the website URL: http://www.waterfordyc.com for information on joining or renewing your membership.
Under the Keel: Scuttlebutt and Rumor
WYC Birthday Bash
A celebratory crowd gathered at Sundance Grill II on Saturday, September 15th, to celebrate WYC’s 19th Birthday. In honor of 19 years, drinks were poured and games were afoot. Sundance Grill provided a buffet dinner followed by the traditional birthday cake. We can’t wait to see what the next year brings as our club nears the legal age of 21.
Pool Party Movie night
The marina pool was taken over by sharks and revelers on the night of August 11th as the bravest of souls chose to watch the movie Jaws poolside at a marina. Dinner was catered by Sundance Grill and the bar saw brisk business as everyone enjoyed a break in the rainy weather and the company of fellow boaters. Jaws was shown on a large screen poolside and the sound system challenges did not dim the enjoyment of the movie. We all knew what was coming when the boat headed to open water! Hopefully, this event will become a regular on the WYC Calendar.
Tell us about your recent travels or how your boat got it’s name.
Send an email to newsletter@waterfordyc.com
We’ll see you beyond Marker 2!