May 2007 Official Publication of Alamitos Bay Yacht Club easter Volume 80 • Number 5 brunch Ronda Nuzum photos he Easter Bunny arrived just in time to greet the very excited ABYC children at the annual Easter Brunch. Fortu- nately, Eric Conn and Merle Asper were there well before the popular rabbit and hid eggs all around the Yacht club Tgrounds. The kids, dressed in their Easter finest, also had the opportunity to have their pictures taken with the bunny and received a bag of Easter goodies. Meanwhile, up on the second deck, an elegantly displayed Eas- ter brunch offered so many choices that many diners had to come back for a second plate. Jesus and Kelly and the rest of the staff out did themselves with both traditional and Mexican brunch favorites. Many com- pliments were heard as to the quality and variety of the food. According to George and Bob Anderson, who were serving pan- cakes, the chocolate chip variety was extremely popular. Dan DeLave and Eileen who served Jesus’ Mexican spe- cialties said they had a hard time keeping up with the de- mand. Mean- while, in the Stacy Conn’s creative table setting kitchen John Massy and Sue McDannel were amazed at how popular the freshly cooked crispy bacon was with members and guests. Jim Bateman and Bill McDannel poured champagne and mixed mimosas to the delight of the holiday crowd. Also filling in wherever help was needed were Diane Bateman, Carol and Glen Selvin and Nicole and Steve Moffett. Chris Ericksen did his usual masterful job as maitre‘d and Kim Atwood, who was sworn to secrecy as to E. Bunny’s identity, was his (or her) able assistant. All this didn’t just happen without tremendous planning and organization, however. Stacy Conn, Easter Brunch Chairman, spent countless hours making sure all of the details were in place for a beautiful, enjoyable event. Helping her set up and prepare Easter festivities were Diane Bateman, Elaine Wood, George Anderson, Lori When the bunny hid eggs too high for the little ones to reach, Vanskyhock, Jim Bateman and Sue McDannel. This was certainly a Spencer Clinton and Gavin Nuzum used teamwork to retrieve the eggs. (Spencer is the “climber”.) memorable event. Sue McDannel See more Easter photos on our website at aby.org, taken by Rob Rice inside Commodore’s Comments .................................. 2 Manager’s Corner ............................................... 2 save the date Vice Commodore’s View .................................... 3 Opening Day ..................................................May 5 Rear Commodore’s Notes ................................. 3 Mother’s Day ................................................May 13 Fleet Captain’s Report ........................................ 4 Club ABYC - Flight 6875 ..............................May 18 From the Pages of History.................................. 4 Club ABYC - Silent Partner (Brad, Jr Dir) ....May 25 Junior Sailing ....................................................... 6 Memorial Day Regatta ......................... May 26 - 27 Membership ........................................................ 6 Men’s Day Regatta....................................... June 3 OCR/Youth Multihull ...............................Insert + 9 General Membership .................................. June15 Hails from the Fleets .................................... 10-11 Long Beach Race Week....................... June 22-24 sou’wester • may 2007 • page 1 commodore’scomments pril was the halfway point in our year and at our last board meeting I asked everyone to take a bearing on where they stood against their budgets and project plans for the year. We had a A good first half. Financially we are doing a bit better than plan. We have enjoyed good atten- dance at our sailing and social events and we’ve made good progress on some of our capital projects. The quality of food has improved and the club is just cleaner. This is pretty basic stuff but pretty darn important stuff. Our push is to carry the momentum forward through the second half. We have been forging a good solid relationship with our Club Manager Kelly Whitlow, his staff and our volunteers. Our members are more involved in our events and programs than they have been in years. We’re also seeing a broader group of members getting involved. These are signs of a healthy organization and bode well for our future. I strongly encourage you to join in. We’ve got several projects underway such as the new bay barge, the sabot racks, the sabot dollies and a multitude of other tasks where member involvement would really make a difference – both financially and in the quality of work. We have a wealth of talent in our members that we can tap. Call me if you want to get involved and I’ll put you to work. Better yet, come down to the club and play. Bring your friends and neighbor down to go for a sail and enjoy our now famous Bay Burgers on the patio or for one of our entertainment filled Friday happy hours. We start serving dinners on Wednesdays and Thursdays so now you have three evenings every week when you can come down and enjoy the sunset and a little al fresco dining. I’d like to congratulate our member Mike Ludt for being awarded the Association of San Pedro Bay Yacht Club’s Yachtsman of the Year for his great service to our sailing community. In particular Mike has been instrumental in upgrading the program to keep our common racing marks in the harbor well maintained and properly positioned. Thanks Mike, and congratu- lations for this well deserved honor. Good sailing, Jim Bateman manager’scorner unny thing about this slow period here at the club, it looks and feels oddly familiar, very reminiscent of a busy period. I’m beginning to think the slow period was on a Thursday, F sometime in February….but I don’t remember. Well…I survived my first ABYC Easter brunch, and a BIG note of thanks to Stacy Conn and Chris Ericksen. There were several others who pitched in to make the event run smoothly, but Stacy and Chris really were key players. Stacy’s attention to detail and her flair for design set the tone for a wonderful afternoon for members, family and friends. Thanks again Stacy. Chris, your ability to “gently” coax people from their tables once they finished their meal kept the pace of the brunch right on schedule. And of course a BIG thank you to all the ABYC staff, who once again answered the call, and performed whatever duty necessary to insure a memorable experience for all attendee’s. We no sooner caught our breath from Easter, and a little clinic called CISA hit the club like Spring Break in Fort Lauderdale. Young sailors from all over the country converged on the club for four days of intense sailing instruction. The introduction of the instructors was, to say the least, impressive. Several Olympic medal winners….Sailor Of the Year recipients, and major players recognized as the best instructors in the nation. The days were filled with lectures, on-the-water drills, break out sessions and great interaction amongst the best young sailors in the nation. And then they ate. When they weren’t eating, they were sailing…thinking about eating. I asked one young sailor what his favorite food was, he said “more”. I quickly got the picture. This group put away more food than ANY of the previous groups combined. The CISA group was courteous, respectful of our club and full of energy. They were an absolute pleasure to work with, and I look forward to their return. I’m receiving very nice reviews on the recent change in the Galley food service. We will continue to upgrade the quality and selection of Galley food, an as always, I welcome your suggestion and input. Look forward to seeing you all here at the club, and experiencing my first Opening Day. Then we start getting busy again (: Kelly Whitlow sou’wester • may 2007 • page 2 vice commodore’sview he yard continues to be in a constant state of flux, but between John Perone, Lisa LeBold, and myself, we’ve made great strides in getting members off of the waiting list and into the yard T as they so deserve. Kelly and staff have done a great job in keeping the east yard clear, and we’ve had success in creating a sort of “big boat row” in the back of the east yard. I’ve had inquiries from people with boats such as the new Columbia 30, Olson 30’s, and the gorgeous red B 25 that’s in the yard, looking for a place to keep their boats. While smaller boats such as the Cal 20 have the entire yard to move into, larger boats including our growing Etchells fleet have only limited space, so the east yard has worked out splendidly for them. I was also the Board liason for the recent Easter Brunch, and can’t thank Stacy Conn enough for putting on an event that is truly first class. I’m really going to miss her next year. Stacy, along with Chris Ericksen as the matre de, our many servers and table turners, and all of the ABYC staff made this an event that truly looks easy. It was very nice to see members and their families choosing Alamitos Bay Yacht Club as the place they’d like to dine for Easter, vs. fighting the crowds at more traditional restaurants. So many events are coming up, and the summer sailing season is squarely upon us. Our grounds and facilities have been cleaned up, fixed up, and improved over the winter months, and you can be sure that your club and all its inner workings are ready for the season ahead. Glenn Selvin rear commodore’snotes ere we are and it is May! Wet Wednesdays are starting up and the summer sailing season H begins! Yeeeeeee Haw! (Is that over the top? Membership: Find those extra special people that you think would make great members and bring them in.