Warm weather greetings from Buildings and Grounds.  It has been a busy spring.  Here’s the work that’s been going on at the club…

Clubhouse Shower. Gregg and Gary cut joints in the concrete floors of both shower areas to help prevent water from pooling and will help channel it to the floor drains. They also fixed water line leaks and repaired the hot water valves in the showers.  Jeff Brinkmeyer installed new ADA compatible thresholds at the edges of the showers which should help keep the water in the shower to start with.  Of course everyone should take care to clean up after themselves and leave showers, toilets and sink areas better than you found them.

Clubhouse Kitchen. We have MORE POWER!  There are 4 new 20 amp circuits in the kitchen all GFCI.  One at either end of the east wall, these were put there so we can plug the two big coffee pots in and not blow breakers. The reset for these is on the outlet so check at the outlet if they pop before going to the back room.  Also, please plug high load appliances like multiple coffee pots, heaters, etc. into the new outlets and not into the power strip.

There are also two new outlets in the ceiling above the island, they are GFCI but at the breaker box not in the ceiling. That means we can run both roasters on the island or we can run two pancake griddles for sure, and likely, all four griddles.  No more extension cords under the sink, YEA!  If the cords for any of these appliances are not long enough to reach the ceiling, we can get some HD drop cords.  We’ll wait to hear from the Kitchen Kittens!

The ice machine is at the club but the weather has prevented painting and hooking it up.  We should have it working before Memorial Day. We’ll get back to you on use policy once this new toy is operational.

Beach.  PYC now has full authority over our beach!  Thank you Ron Finney and all the others that worked with the Corps of Engineers to finally get this done.  We also have removed Rock & Sand so the beach is truly a great place again and will get better as the water continues to rise.  How deep is the sand Lee?  We will soon be bringing in more gravel to restore the road and the parking pad at the top of the beach drive.  Everyone should take a stroll down and prepare to have fun.  Of course bring your beach sailboats and also your flip-flops, beach chairs and cerveza……remember the words of a wise commodore who once said to always give back to the Lake.

Landscape.  Shade is on the way!  Thanks to all that helped out during work day and to Gina for keeping up with the ongoing watering.  There are new trees and landscaping around the clubhouse and with a little time, care and watering they will replace the pine trees which we will continue to lose due to pine beetles.  We also planted shrubs, created new rock lined planting beds with mulch and spread 200 lbs of grass seed which should help to stabilize some of the erosion around the clubhouse and deal with some of the bare spots.  Besides that it looks good!

Camping Area. Please take care of it and tread lightly.  Last year’s drought was hard on what little grass we had.  Limit driving and parking on the grass as much as possible.  We have a generous amount of graveled parking on property that should be utilized.  We are discussing plans for how we might expand camping areas and also gravel some of the worst spots.  Please also note that ground fires are not allowed in the campground.  They are a safety hazard and a maintenance problem.

First Aid Kits & Defibrillators.  Last but not least all the first aid kits have been restocked with bandages and supplies again. Help us keep them stocked all year by letting us know when we are running low.  Also the defibrillators are getting their annual checkup and soon will be back in their handy locations.  Thank you Ruth and Gary.

That’s all for now.  Remember as PYC members we are all responsible for helping to maintain and care for your facilities. Please share any ideas you might have for improving PYC Buildings and Grounds.  They are always welcome.

Yours in Sailing,

Chris Ross and Ricardo Oben
cdross@hntb.com and richard@northracecars.com
The B and G Boys

Ed Hockenberg, Vice Commodore

Our 30′ Catalina “Priorities” made her triumphant return to PYC on Sunday the 28th…an absolute beautiful sail from her temporary berth at Rock Creek to her rightful home on Rodeo Dock with no hazards encountered along the way.

I’m happy to report there are several other boats (one larger with a deeper draft of 6′) in the marina now with no reports yet from others of running aground or into low water hazards at this stage.

It’s great to be back at PYC and anxiously awaiting the arrival of other members.

Ed Hockenberg, Vice Commodore

Opening day at the club signals the official start of spring for the Hockenbergs and we were thrilled to reunite with our lake family after a long, cold winter.

I’m constantly reminded how fortunate we are to have such a tight-knit group of individuals with diverse and varied backgrounds that donate their time and expertise to keep the club functioning and looking ship-shape.

A special thanks to new members Jeff and Martha for volunteering their talents to assist with the waterline repairs and the men on the work boat that corralled our wayward breakwater dock.   Thank you to Chris Ross for organizing the landscaping efforts and to Neal Barkley for use of his tractor and log-splitter.  The list of accolades is endless and we are grateful for everyone’s contribution.

The recent rains have raised the lake level by over one foot in the past 48 hours and we remain confident the harbor will be bustling with sailboats very soon!

Open day (yesterday) was a great success. More than 50 members showed up, the clubhouse, grounds, and harbor were spruced up, we ate lunch together, and the club was back to feeling like “the club.”

Following lunch, the board met in the kitchen and we discussed options for the upcoming year. As you can see from the brief report posted by Doug McCall, Assistant Treasurer, we have deposits for 100/150 slips and we’ve collected more than $47,000 in dues. We also made decisions regarding dues payments that will be announced in an upcoming article by our Commodore, Mij Frierson.

PYC was founded more than 40 years ago and over the years we’ve had some real challenges: storms, floods, fire, droughts, recession, and more. And none so far have dealt us anywhere near a fatal blow.

So here we are, in 2013, and we’ve just been through one of our history’s worst droughts. At the end of last season all members were asked to remove their boats from the harbor to prevent damage to boats and docks. But, as it always does, the water is coming back and so is the great spirit of our club.

Thanks to our Yearbook Editor, Bill Buckheit, we have some great pictures that capture yesterday’s events. Thanks Bill…