HBYC - Past Events

This section contains articles on past club events that we feel will give you an idea of what we're about. Also, some of our members may want to reminisce about some fun times from the past. Enjoy - Webmaster

Christmas Party a Success - We had a great crowd of about 80 for our annual Christmas Dinner & Dance on the 9th. We had Happy Hour and a sit down dinner, followed by our annual awards and dancing. It was a good time for all. The awards presented were:

12/05/06 - General Meeting - 2007 Officers and Board are elected. Click here to see results> 2007 HBYC Officers & Directors . Guy also announced that the HBYC dues would be increased to $40 due to increases in our rent for the clubhouse and other increases in expense. This is the first increase in 7 years.

It may take an entire community to raise a child, but it only takes a few good HBYC members to raise some cane on Durney Key. Forty hardy souls made their way over treacherous waters to attend the second annual Treasure Hunt, and were rewarded with box lunches, grog, and some more or less lost treasure.

Booty was everywhere, and it seemed all one had to do was ask for it to be revealed. (Some was even revealed without anyone asking for it.) The day turned out crystal clear, with light winds to keep the love bugs at bay. The tides allowed all but one traveler to approach the key for a short dinghy ride, or wade, in to the festivities. Thanks to George Martin for his untiring

efforts to make sure everyone got to the beach without getting wet, even though that made for a fairly long trip to retrieve Sandity Seaker’s crew.

After lunch from Honey Baked Ham, teams were drawn for and the search began. Maps had to be deciphered and compass points had to be reckoned with, but the nine teams all came back with great chests.

After some grog, each team tried to outdo the others with jokes of a pirate nature, with the winner getting their pick of any other chest they wanted. Team Orange was the winner, but decided to “play the cards they were dealt” instead of taking a chance with some other chest. (This author would highly recommend the Club asking this team to tell their joke for the entire assemblage at the next meeting.)

After a short game of Swamp the Fleet, the group headed for home, or to Anclote Key for an overnight jaunt. All seemed to have a good time, and laughter was the most prominent sound the entire day. Evening brought the sound of vessels pulling at their anchors as the wind changed and the seas came up a bit, but everyone was present and accounted for the next morning, so all ended well.

Guy and Nancy Colson for being there for ‘anything’ that needed done, including hauling lunch, trash and tetrahedrons.

Tom and Jane Sperry for saving my ‘butt’ by finding the radio I lost, as well as hauling trash, etc.

Arrgh… here's a link to an album of great shots from the days festivities. Click the link and enjoy > Ye Old Sea Dog Treasure Hunt

On Saturday August 5th we held our second annual Fishing Tournament and Shrimp Boil. We had a pretty good turn out for the fishing tournament and a great turnout for the shrimp boil.

Prizes were awarded by Jim Swinehart who was again the Chairman of the Tournament. Proud grandparent editor’s note: Nate Himes and Noah Pikulski were repeat winners.

The shrimp boil was fantastic and all who came went away stuffed. Nancy Colson (Social Director) organized a great crew to cook and serve the spread. It was once again magnificent and for sure was the best $8.00 meal in the civilized world.

As Gene Michaux said, “Dude – it doesn’t get much better than this!” He even spotted a nice crab that he wanted to take to his “fattening up pen” for later consumption. However, Kasey & Morgan nixed the idea and the crab was returned to his watery home.

Check the Photo – Links Tab on the website for some great pictures of the day.

Once again, the weather gods smiled upon HBYC as the predicted storms never materialized and we had a wonderful day. The threat of foul weather scared off all but the

heartiest yachtsmen from participating in the offshore component of the day, however, and therefore picking up the cards via committee boats was cancelled and they were all chosen at the party.

Potluck dishes, brats, burgers and dogs were never ending, and there were a lot of full bellies by the end of the day. Jack and Brenda Kuhlmann demonstrated the capabilities of their frozen Margarita machine to the delight of most everyone, while the younger guests spent most of the day in the pool.

As luck would have it, however, the grand prize winner was a member of the Bayonet Point Yacht Club (shades of the infamous dinghy race this year). Between Bickley on the steel drums and talent provided by our own members in the persons of the Covers and Michauxs the day pretty well rounded out. If you missed it... well.... there is always next year!

HBYC Receives Certificate of Appreciation - Dateline 5/19/2006. On Wednesday the 17th our Commodore, Guy Colson, received a Certificate of Appreciation for our contributions and support for the Hudson Elementary School. Click here to see the certificate: Award

On Saturday December 10, 2005 we had our 20th Anniversary Christmas Dinner Dance. We used the occasion to award the first ever Hudson Beach Yacht Club Cruiser of the Year trophy.

The trophy was donated to the club by Richard Gearheart who is a former member who was dominant in club racing and cruising activities. The board of directors decided at the time it was donated that it would be great to have a trophy for the cruiser of the year as we were already awarding trophies for the top three racers of the year.

Our criterion was to recognize the member of the club who best personifies the spirit of what a cruising sailor means. Some of the attributes are: - the spirit of adventure; - passion for sailing; - strong spirit; and cruising activity during the year.

Based upon nominations considered and discussion by the Board of Directors of the above criteria it was unanimously decided that our first recipient should be Joy Henderson.

Joy Henderson joined HBYC when most are choosing to retire and learned to sail as crew for Richard Gearheart and others. She became quite a racer and crewed on a number of winning boats. She then went out and bought her own boat which she raced and cruised. Later, after she sold her boat she continued to cruise with others and crew in races, including with me on a race where we finished second. This spring she and her friend Ernie set off on a tremendous cruise to Puerto Rico on Ernie’s Beneteau 33. She and Ernie experienced many of the trials of mechanical breakdowns, wild weather as well as the sheer pleasure of making such a voyage. She said it was “The experience of a lifetime” and urged everyone to try a long cruise.

Please join with me in extending congratulations to our intrepid cruiser of the year for 2005 – Joy Henderson.

The wrap-up for the 2005 Racing Season culminated with the overall Club Championship trophies awarded at the Christmas Party. First Place for the season goes to John & Elizabeth Cover and “ Sunrise”, Second Place to Gene & Chris Michaux and “Lady in Red”. Third place was a bit of a sticky wicket – it was a tie. While there are suggested arbitrary means of tie-breaking (throwing out 25% of the races, bribery of the Race Director, etc.), both finishers really deserved the honor for their fine records in both their racing performance and perseverance. It’s a pleasure then, to have two third place awards…. Derek Bennett with “Foxy” and Bill Deinema with “Lagniappe”. Congratulations to all of you.

Hudson Beach Yacht Club celebrated the 20th Change of Watch on Jan 10, 2006 with a Potluck Dinner at Signal Cove club house in Hudson. The new Board for 2006 is Guy Colson - Commodore, Mike Reed - Vice Commodore, Karen Pryor - Yeoman, Mary Knowles - Purser, Bill Deinema - Cruise Director, Frank Lomozik - Finance Director, Tom Knowles - Public Relations Director, Gene Michaux - Race Director, Nancy Colson - Social Director, Mary Reed - Publications Director and Rob Musgrove - Membership Director.

Twenty years ago Hudson Beach sailors started what was to become the most active yacht club in the Tampa Bay Area. The Club started with just a few members and has grown to over 160 active members. HBYC's charter is to service the community and promote Boating Safety by planning events and activities on or around the water. The club enjoys sailing, power boating and socializing events with fun races, cruises, Dinghy races, Dinners, Dances and community service projects.

The December General Meeting was held on Tuesday the 6th. The election was held with each membership receiving one ballot per the club By-Laws. Don Himes, Cruise Director, reported on the November Land Cruise to Hooters [see below] and announced that the Hudson Beach Yacht Club - Cruiser of the Year trophy, donated by Richard Gearheart, will be awarded at the Christmas Dinner Dance on the 10th.

Guy Colson, Race Director, presented awards for the last two HBYC Fun Races and our first ever Predicted Log Race. Dave Ergle - the winner of the Predicted Log Race shared some interesting insight from the race and that it was one of the better learnning experiences he's had. Ray Garcia received a "First Race in HBYC" certificate for his entry of "Good Ship Lolipop" in the October Fun Race.

After the regular monthly business of the club, Tom Sperry announced that the results of the election were in and that in a very close race, Bill Deinema had won the race for Cruise Director. With that being concluded Tom asked for an acclimation vote for the balance of the officers and directors who were nominated without opposition. That being done the election of the 2006 Officers & Board was declaired official.

Commodore	Guy Colson
Vice Commodore	Mike Reed
Yoeman	Karen Pryor
Purser	Mary Knowles
Finance Director	Frank Lomozik
Membership	Robin Musgrove
Publications	Mary Reed
Cruise Director	Bill Deinema
Race Director	Gene Michaux
Public Relations	Tom Knowles
Social Director	Nancy Colson
Past Commodore	Tom Sperry

On Saturday the 5 th we had our Hooters Land Cruise. This was an event to share experiences from the cruises that members of the club had made during the year. Several folks brought photos as well as spoke to those in attendance.

Given that we were in competition with the Strictly Sail St. Petersburg boat show, we were pleased to have 34 folks show up for this first ever event. Everyone who came felt it was a great event and hopes we will continue it in the future. Next year we’ll be more mindful of the show.

I shared my two cruises [three if you count the Grand Canyon river raft trip], one to Everglades City with Bill Murray on Freedom and the other Terri and my Moorings charter trip to the British Virgin Islands . Joy Henderson shared her cruising experiences starting as crew and working up to a tremendous trip to Puerto Rico . She shared some of the trials of breakdowns as well as the sheer pleasure of the trip. She said it was “The experience of a lifetime” and urged everyone to try a long cruise.

Dave Ergle shared a very amusing tale of “anchor drift” and had us all in stitches over the event. Naturally, it wasn’t as funny when it actually was happening. Jane Sperry gave us her version of Dave’s story and had us in the aisles. Sandy Mooney shared her dream catamaran that she had found at the boat show on Friday. Jack’s ready to buy. “All we have to do is sell the house!” Sandy loves the boat but isn’t quite ready for that move.

Sandy also read us the lyrics to a song called “No, no, please don’t make me dock” and dedicated it to herself, Jack and Dave Ergle. All in all we had great food, great sharing, great photos of cruises and mostly a great time.

Safety Town is a miniature village that is used to teach safety to elementary school children. There are some 2000 safety towns around the world; one of the earliest and best is in Pasco County . It is located off Hwy 52 just west of the Suncoast Parkway . It has a number of buildings along its streets. There is a small replica of the county court house in Dade City, a sheriff’s office, a hospital, a bank, a church, a MacDonald’s, a Home Depot and others. One of the most used buildings is the Safety Town Marina that was built by the Hudson Beach Yacht Club with support by the Boat U.S. Foundation.

Commodore Ed Pastor obtained the grant in 1995 and the members of HBYC built the marina. It consists of a central open sided building with concrete seas on the sides. On the left is a drowning man next to a crashed personal water craft. On the right is a motor boat in the blue concrete sea.

The students don life vests to get into the boat and play driving or on the left side to throw flotation cushions to the drowning man. The object is to teach safety at sea and the importance of wearing life jackets. Other activities at Safety Town are to obey the two traffic lights, respond to a railroad crossing barrier, learn to use 911, safe boarding and leaving a school bus, and other safe practices.

In its ten years of operation 60,000 students have visited Safety Town . No one knows how many injuries and even deaths have been prevented by the practices learned at Safety Town , but it is certain that many kids have nagged their parents about life jackets being worn.

On October 8, 2005 Safety Town celebrated its tenth anniversary with about 70 people attending, 20 of whom were from HBYC. The program included a talk by the founder of the Safety Town system and current president of the international organization. Sheriff White spoke, and Corporal Randy Packard was honored for his efforts. With the assistance of county prisoners and community service personnel he built the buildings and poured the sidewalks.

Here is a photo of Randy and a helper building a sidewalk to the parking lot behind the Home Depot building. The corporal has, with the support of a great board of directors, built this wonderful facility with his own hands. He said that HBYC was the most supportive of all the organizations that provided facilities. Especially as evidenced by our turn out at the tenth anniversary celebration.

Prize	Winner’s Name
Most Fish Caught	Nate Himes & Noah Pikulski (Don & Terri Himes grandsons)
Cutest Fish	Kasey & Morgan Davis ( Ernie and Edna Schwabe’s granddaughters)
Total Inches Caught	Bill Kelly
Biggest Fish	Gordon “Chip” Winans (Laurel Nash’s son)