The First Hundred Years: Clearwater Yacht Club, 1911-2011

Gardens Causeway” became known as the “bridge to nowhere.” The beach itself remained largely undeveloped—with just a few houses, a rickety dock, and a pavilion that would later play an important role in the history of CYC. In the midst of this gloom, a land developer from out of town is reported to have told Jimmy Davis he was thinking of starting a yacht club in Clearwater. The CYC crowd was not going to let an “outsider” start a club in their town when CYC was still on the books. “There was a lot of phoning and a meeting was set up in the Seven Gables Tea Room…It was at this meeting that one of the Club’s great benefactors, Donald Roebling, put in an appearance. The first meeting laid the groundwork for a second, larger meeting held at Dailey’s Cafeteria on November 3, 1928. It was on that date, that the Clearwater Yacht Club was permanently returned to active status; since that day, no matter how stormy the seas, the CYC burgee has been kept flying” (Ransom and Tracy, 1961: 6). With Davis as commodore, Brannen Casler as vice commodore, and Roebling as rear commodore, the club rented an old house on the bay in the area that is now Coachman Park. On October 4, 1929, the St. Petersburg Times carried the following article:

CLEARWATER – The Oesterle house, the first structure at the foot of the bluff north of the causeway approach, was chosen at last night’s meeting of the Clearwater Yacht Club as home for the organization. Committee chairman Kaesby, who was appointed to agree upon a clubhouse, stated that he had investigated several locations and the Oesterle house was by far the best thing he could find. The building formerly stood directly on the shore of Clearwater

Oesterle house on the bay near what is now Coachman Park. Home of Clearwater Yacht Club from 1929 to 1931. Courtesy of Mike Sanders.

harbor, but a dredge fill was made in front of it during the real estate excitement of a few years ago. Now the house stands several hundred feet from the water, but close enough, according to Mr. Kaesby, to make a fine place for a yacht club headquarters.

With financial backing from Roebling and lots of sweat equity from all of the members (including Roebling), the clubhouse on the bay was soon

Chapter 2: Boom, Bust, and Back Again 27