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

contributions to all aspects of Clearwater’s civic and social life until his death in 1979. Among other things, he served as a trustee of the first YMCA; was an organizer and the first scout master of the first Boy Scout troop; was the first president of the Clearwater Rotary Club; was a charter member of the Chamber of Commerce; served on the Morton Plant Hospital Board of Directors (and as its treasurer for many years); and helped to found the Clearwater Public Library. In all of these endeavors, Bayly served with unflagging energy, optimism, and creative vision. According to his granddaughter Sandy Jamieson (whose husband Harry is currently a CYC trustee), he never met a problem that got him down. He saw every stumbling block as a challenge to be tackled with gusto and he seemed endlessly able to pull creative solutions out of his hat. CYC was the beneficiary of his talents for many, many years. He served as commodore from 1933 to 1940. Under his leadership, the club acquired its first location on Clearwater Beach and negotiated a lease with the city for a site on Mandalay Avenue; moved an old house from Safety Harbor to the Mandalay site and renovated it for use as a clubhouse (known as the “Little Clubhouse”); negotiated with the city to purchase the vacant “Old Pavilion,” cut the top floor off of the storm damaged lower floor and moved it across the street to the Mandalay site; and turned this piece of a building into the beautiful, much loved, and still missed, “Mandalay Clubhouse”—home to CYC until 1972. Bayly was also instrumental in saving the club after it lost that clubhouse and its lease with the city, and in acquiring the property and clubhouse which has become its permanent home. In the 1930s, Bayly and his troops started CYC’s world famous Snipe fleet and organized and held the first of the International Snipe Midwinters Regattas which CYC still hosts today. In 1937, CYC showed its appreciation for Bayly’s stellar contributions in a very special way. Commodore Bayly, who had been very ill for over a year, was hauled out of his sickbed to attend to a supposed emergency at the club. When he arrived, he found the club full of his friends who had gathered to present him with the gift of Snipe 508 . Guy Roberts had been building this particular Snipe in the “Snipe shed” on the club property for some time. While recovering from his illness, Bayly enjoyed going down

to the club to watch Roberts work. According to his granddaughter, at one point he said rather wistfully, that if he were to have a boat, he would want one just like the one Roberts was building. So, calls went out and the membership chipped in to buy Snipe 508 for the commodore who had done so much for the club. In 1942, after someone else finally took on the challenges of being commodore, the club again expressed its gratitude by awarding Past Commodore (PC) Bayly a well-deserved lifetime membership. In 2009, Commodore Barrie Gustard gave Bayly the additional posthumous honor of being the club’s first Distinguished Member. This book is dedicated to this truly outstanding citizen of Clearwater Yacht Club and the community: Taver Bayly—Mr. Clearwater and Mr. CYC.

Commodore Taver Bayly with his new boat— Snipe 508 . Photo by Burgert Bros. Tampa (#40259) ; courtesy of the Jamieson/Cornett/ Bayly family.

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