Plans for the 2009 Season Are Well Underway

Another exciting season for AYC cruisers started with a January Land Cruise to Maryland’s Eastern Shore. On the water cruising begins early in May with the Icebreaker Cruise - the traditional opening of the season. It will be held at AYC and surrounding docks the second weekend in May, beginning on Friday, May 8 and continuing through Sunday, May 10, which is Mother’s Day. Plan to have your boat commissioned early, all polished up, and bring it to the club for the weekend.

There will be two “big tent” events, the Newcomers’ Cruise in June and the Fall Rendezvous in September. The Fourth of July is on a Saturday this year with a planned cruise to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor to enjoy the weekend festivities and fireworks. There will be a second weekend at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor when the Orioles will be playing at Camden Yards, as well as several other weekend cruises. The full season schedule is posted on the AYC website under the drop down menus at Cruising and Schedule.

Off the water activities continue at the clubhouse with our informal Cruise Corners the second and fourth Fridays of each month, as well as occasional special events and land cruises to nearby tourist destinations. For the remainder of this winter season, we will join the regular AYC happy hour on the second deck on the second Friday and have a buffet dinner in the Skipjack on the fourth Friday. Once again, check the AYC website for late changes.

Our annual seminar Cruising AYC Style will be held in the Skipjack on April 15. Spend a couple of hours with the cruisers and learn what we do, as well as discuss the rendezvous plans for the coming season. All are welcome.

Join One of the Friendliest Groups Around

All members of AYC are cordially invited to join us at Cruising Fleet events. With 1600 regular members, many of whom are relatively new to AYC, we are to some degree a club of strangers. The Cruising Fleet takes great pride in welcoming everyone and helps with meeting fellow club members. If you are new to AYC or have been a member for several years but have not met very many others, contact any member of the Cruise Committee or anyone you see wearing a Cruising Fleet nametag at one of our Cruise Corners and you will become an instant member of the Cruising Fleet.

We are roughly one third sailors and two thirds power boaters. And most of our powerboat owners are former competitive and cruising sailors who have “gone over to the dark side.” Our cruises are planned around a comfortable daily stage length for sailors. Please join us.

The Cruising Fleet publishes CruiseGrams via the Internet and maintains its own email list. Please notify tomcorboy@aol.com if you would like to be added to the list. And, to keep the CruiseGrams coming, let him know when you make an email address change - the list is not automatically updated when you make a change with AYC.