A full slate of activities are planned for the year
To the Expositor:
When I watched the Game of Thrones last year and I heard “Winter is Coming” I had no idea that it would take so long to go. We can now turn our thoughts to what every man and woman thinks about at this time of year: boats, and the Little Current Yacht Club (LCYC) is ready. The season starts with the first social event of the year, The Launch Party. It will be held again at the Anchor Inn, Saturday, June 2 at 6 pm. This is a great opportunity to meet some members and see what the LCYC is all about. Dress casual as most the folks will be coming from the boat yard, black tie not required.
The most important thing the LCYC does during the year is the Youth Sailing Program, last year was the rebirth of the program after a year off and it was a great success. Forty-five students went through the program last year and they are expecting more participants this year. Our homegrown instructor, Bryce Mastelko, has two years’ experience under his keel and has new ideas for this year’s students. Tracey Chapman will once again run the program so questions can be directed to her.
The next event will be the June weekend of races on June 23 and 24 the first race is the Cooper Cup a race sponsored by Dr. Cooper which actually pre-dates the LCYC and is the longest running race we know about. It is only fitting that the second race of the weekend is The Loco Beanz Coffee Cup, one of the newer race sponsors. These races are fun events with a party following each race. Don’t be shy about joining in and racing your own boat. These races, while competitive, are easy for the novice sailor to participate in, or if you don’t have a boat but would like to crew, all you have to do is show up at the skippers’ meeting the morning of the race and you have a good chance of being invited aboard.
High on the list of important events will be starting on July first when our own Roy Eaton, the Voice of the North Channel, will start broadcasting the Cruisers’ Net. Every morning at 9AM you can hear him on VHF channel 71 arranging weddings, helping boaters in distress, finding lost boaters and dogs or just passing along a bit of news and Little Current happenings.
The next big event on the calendar is the “North Channel Race Week” which has replaced the MacMan Race. Instead of one long race there are now five races across the North Channel, the first one starting July 23 off of St. Joseph Island. The races then hopscotch across the North Channel stopping at Blind River, Thessalon, North Channel Yacht Club, Gore Bay and ending in Little Current. Each race is followed by a party at that night’s location. This series is a more fun regatta style racing rather than one long distance race. You can sign up to do all the races or just one, the last race goes from Gore Bay to Little Current. New this year will be a send-off event which will start on Saturday morning, July 28 and go to the Louisa Islands for a “goodbye to the racers” island party. However you want to get there is great, power boat, sailboat, canoe or kayak, just bring a smile.
We’ll also be organizing a Get Out on the Water Day on August 11 at Low Island Park to encourage everyone on Manitoulin to try sailing, paddle-boarding, canoeing or kayaking for a fun day that promotes safety on the water.
The last big event of the year will be the September Race Weekend, September 8 and 9, featuring the Anchor Inn/Labatt race and another newer sponsor the Manitoulin Brewing Co. These have been great events in the past and even if it’s a little cool our sponsors have the refreshments to warm our tummies. Everybody is welcome to enter the races, you do not have to be an LCYC member but LCYC is looking for new members and to get a flavor of what they are about you are invited to join in any of these activities. Goodbye Winter; welcome back Summer.
Dave Naples, past sommodore
Little Current Yacht Club
