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

Cochran on the bow. Clearly, nothing seemed to keep this club from competitive sailing. By the time of the club’s sixty-sixth anniversary, Gamblin and Gamblin (1976: 26) reported that ”…our new building is on its raised foundation, being gutted for remodeling. Contracts have been or are about to be let for completion of the Club House, grounds, showers, and the multitude of finishing touches… the club is hosting the (Snipe) Midwinter Regatta… sponsoring an Olympic effort; our burgee is being carried in Nassau aboard a member’s entry in the Southeastern Ocean Racing Conference; seven or more members are racing in the Windjammers Spring

Chapter 4: CYC’s Darkest Hour and the Great Recovery 47 Since setting sail in 1911, the Clearwater Yacht Club has had many “ports of call.” One might say, in fact, she has led a rather vagabond life. In her first century, CYC has had seven “official” homes including: 1. the top story of the pavilion at the end of the public pier (end of WWI to 1920); 2. the ballroom of Lester Dicus’ Sunset Point Hotel (early 1920s); 3. the Oesterle House on the mainland (1929–1932); 4. the “Little Clubhouse” on the Mandalay Avenue site (1932–1935); 5. the Mandalay Clubhouse (1935–1973); 6. the “Downtown Station” (1973–1976); and 7. the current clubhouse at 830 South Bayway Avenue (1976–present). The current site is the only ground that has ever been owned by the club. At each of her “ports of call,” the club has been lovingly tended by dedicated members who pitched in with money and labor to make each place a special home in which members and guests could pursue the club’s mission of supporting competitive sailing and enjoying fun-filled entertainment of all kinds—on and off the water. Over the years, members of the club’s House and Grounds Committee and the CYC Gulls have been especially dedicated to “sprucing up the place.” Collectively they have spent thousands of hours painting, plumbing, wiring, remodeling, and redecorating. Ann Cornett was once heard to say of the Gulls remodeling efforts, “It seems like we’re always redoing ladies’ rooms.” Each year, the club shuts down for a week or so during the summer and members and staff join forces to “spruce up the place.” Series; and the (CYC) Gulls have been formed.” The new building was officially dedicated with cannon fire and festivities on Sunday, September 18, 1977. The unsinkable Clearwater Yacht Club was, once again, on its way on Bayway—its home until the present day (CYC Gulls Archives).

Invitation to the dedication of the new clubhouse (1977). Courtesy of Heritage Village Archives and Library.