Spring letter from our Commodore, Melissa Grudin.

Greetings! We were busy on the water this past weekend celebrating three awesome occasions. 

​First, our Sadie Hawkins race on 4/24 had 22 boats registered! A personal best for IYC! The weather was great! The racers were enthused!  Women only at the helm. Gift bags were sent out earlier and many of us were wearing the Sadie Hawkins IYC 2021 buff proudly! Thank you Ros for creating, purchasing, and mailing those out. Our award ceremony is Monday, May 3 @ 7pm PT - register now to attend.

Later that afternoon, Island Girl 2, our blue hulled Santana 22, was christened. With great fanfare, and a split of champagne that finally broke against her bow, her sails were raised and she was skimming the water looking lean and graceful, ready for the sailing season. This was truly a labor of love. John C, Nathan D and Eric K spearheaded the completion of her renovations. She is now ready for our Small Boat Program. More information will be shared in our June meetup.

Finally, we headed out, on a misty Sunday morning for Opening Day on the Bay. Eric’s Catalina 36, Amanda, was decorated as a Polynesian Goddess, grass skirt and flowers around her hull, coconuts flying on the mast and a lai flying from her bow. The visibility during our motoring to St. Francis Yacht Club was pristine. Even before we hit the end of the estuary, we could see both towers of the Golden Gate Bridge. As we neared the GGB, the weather changed. The fog came in along with the rain, the temperature chilled and the waters became choppy. We lost one coconut to the winds, Boats were a bit disorganized, but we followed Matthew Turner and showed our bright colors! The classic boats were out, the boats displaying their flags were out but we were the only decorated boat on display! We will hear the results shortly! You can see photo and video from the event here.

In conclusion, we’re having an amazing time holding and attending events.  Island Nights Race Series are under way. We’ve got two marine  first aid sessions scheduled for May 17 and May 24 ($15 IYC members, $20 non-members - on sale soon). The 2nd Annual Estuary Extravaganza is scheduled for 8/1. Women’s Sailing Seminar is scheduled for Oct. 8-10.

We appreciate the faith you have in Island Yacht Club. This past  year has not been easy on any of us, but we’ve kept our goal alive, rebuilding the club with your help!

Keep showing up! Keep volunteering! 
We’re excited to keep the momentum going!
See you Monday night at our meetup!

Melissa Grudin
Commodore, Island Yacht Club