Membership Corner
Hello WRC Members. Welcome to Spring!
As you know, once again, WRYC will be an active participant in the Gloucester Daffodil Festival on April 5-6. We will have a booth and will be towing a bright yellow Albacore down Main Street! This is a great opportunity to represent our club to the community.Thank you to the members who have volunteered to take a shift in the booth to speak with prospective new members about our club, and perhaps sell a t-shirt or two! And thank you, as well, to members of our Junior Sailing program who will be walking in the parade with our boat and conducting a knot tying demonstration at the booth!
We are excited to have several new members to the club this year. All have expressed interest in learning to sail, playing pickleball and attending socials. We look forward to their active involvement in the club. Please join me in welcoming them!
Sarah and Joe Andrews, and their children James, Morgan and Gus
John and Monique Donner
Jason and Joann Holaday
Ty and Joanne Hughes, and daughter Megan
Andrea and William Lagergren, and their four children Samuel, Carolina, Bernard and Rose
Adam and Meghan Taylor, and daughters Ella and Claire
We hope many of you will join us at the Flag Raising / Bob James Memorial Regatta on May 3rd, as we kick off the 2025 sailing season. This a great event to bring friends who might have an interest in joining.
Thank you again to all of you for your volunteering and contributions to the club. I look forward to seeing you at an upcoming event!
Ray Mazzocco
Membership Chair
The Social Calendar
Just a quick note from your Social Committee to let you know that everything is coming together for our 2025 Flag Raising on Saturday, May 3rd! We're really looking forward to a fun afternoon celebrating our wonderful club, all of you fantastic members, and the official start of what promises to be a fantastic sailing season.
But the fun doesn't stop there! We're thrilled to announce that we'll be sponsoring a series of informal Summer Happy Hours. Picture this: relaxing late afternoons with music, nibbles, and drinks as the sun sets on the Ware. Keep an eye out for more details!
Mark your calendars for the next big get-together: our annual July 4th social, which will be happening the weekend of the 4th/5th. We'll let you know the exact date soon, so stay tuned!
Your support of the WRYC is truly appreciated. We're always looking for volunteers to help with activities or even host a social event. It's a great way to get involved and connect with fellow members.
Finally, show your WRYC pride! We have some fantastic new merchandise available: stylish baseball caps in two colors and burgee stickers. They'll be on sale at the Flag Raising, so be sure to check them out.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at socials@wryc.org.
Josh James WRYC Social Chair
New Playground Equipment
New Playground
The Board of Directors is currently considering installing a playground and swing set. This will
greatly improve our attractiveness for families with children of both club members and rental
parties. The challenges are the costs, and to hold down the cost, we are looking to install the
equipment utilizing volunteers. We need the commitment of 8-12 volunteers to insure our
ability to install the playground.
The playground under consideration is commercial grade with the ability to handle a number
of children. There will be an 11’ x 22’ play structure plus a swing set with 2 toddler swings and
2 child swings. We are planning to install non-toxic virgin rubber mulch with a 20 year
performance warranty to provide the utmost in safety and ease of maintenance.
If you are willing to commit to assisting with the installation, please send an email to Steve
Humphrey at steve@shumphrey.us We are also looking for fill and equipment to level the
area where the playground will go, also equipment to dig the holes.
If you want to make a donation toward the playground just note “Playground” on your check or
payment.
Sea Scouts!
The Ware River Yacht Club is proud to charter a local Ship of the Sea Scouts. If you know of anyone that might be interested, please see the contact information at the bottom of the flyer. Adults are welcome to assist!
WRYC 2025 Calendar of Events
March 29 Spring Work Day (You may select a task & complete on another date)
May 3 Flag Raising / Bob James Memorial Regatta
June 23-26 Junior Sailing Session 1 Week 1
June 30-July 3 Junior Sailing Session 1 Week 2
July 3 Junior Sailing Banquet
July 4/5 Independence Day Social (Host choice)
July 7-10 Junior Sailing Session 2 Week 1
July 14-17 Junior Sailing Session 2 Week 2
July 17 Junior Sailing Banquet
July 21-24 Junior Sailing Session 3 Week 1
July 28-31 Junior Sailing Session 3 Week 2
July 31 Junior Sailing Banquet
August 1/2 61st Governor’s Cup & Junior Regattas & Awards
August 30/31 Labor Day Social (Host choice)
TBD Anchor On The Ware
October 11 Oktoberfest / Harry Sindle Memorial Mobjack Bay Regatta
November 8 Oyster Roast
December 6/7 Christmas / Holiday Social (Host choice)
From the Helm…
I hope everyone made it through the days of snow with no issues. With the melting snow comes Spring, and the club is preparing for an eventful 2025. If you have been to the club lately, you might have noticed the work on the shore. This work will be completed in plenty of time for the warmer weather.
Excitingly, the club is now utilizing emails that are easy to remember. The main club email is still wareriveryc@gmail.com, however, if you wish to contact someone directly, you can do so by using the following addresses:
Commodore: commodore@wryc.org
Vice-Commodore: vice@wryc.org
Board: board@wryc.org
Socials: socials@wryc.org
Membership: membership@wryc.org
No matter who is in office, the email address will remain the same. We hope everyone will find this as easy to use as we have.
As always, please take advantage of the warmer weather to use the club!
Fleet Scuttlebutt
Greetings fellow sailors and all club members! I assume many of you are looking forward as I am to the return of spring. As noted elsewhere, Saturday, March 29 is our Spring Work Day, and we will be coordinating with Buildings & Grounds and Sailing Camp organizers to make the most of the activities that day. Regardless of the weather, there will be some organizing and inventory-taking in the sail loft – that will provide an opportunity to get re-acquainted with (or introduced to) the sails and equipment. If the weather cooperates, we will also spend time conditioning some of the boats (Albacores in particular) in anticipation of warmer weather. Please plan to join us that day! Email me at sailing@wryc.org or jdudley5@triad.rr.com, or call me at (704) 363-0483 if you have any questions.
We’re planning some further dates (April 7 – 9 and April 18 – 21) for seasonal maintenance on Tranquility Base, our keelboat, as well as follow-up work on dinghies if needed. Please stay tuned for updates.
A pre-season note about safety: Sailing, indeed all boating, can be made quite safe, which further contributes to the enjoyment of the activity. However, we must remain aware that there are inherent risks while we’re aboard. There is a balance to be struck between staying safe and enjoying the water, and I welcome everyone’s input to assure both aims are achieved. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions about how we might improve safety while on or near the water, please let us know! We want all members and guests to enjoy our equipment and facilities in comfort and safety.
Thank you, and I look forward to seeing you on or near the water.
-John Dudley, Fleet Captain
CLEAN UP DAY-Building & Grounds
Join me on March 29th at 9:00 for the Annual Spring Building and Grounds work day. Weather permitting we will be working outside, trimming, mulching, etc. and cleaning up the tennis/pickleball courts. We also have a list of inside tasks so if working outside is not your thing there are still ways to participate. Depending on participation there are many other items we could tackle all towards maintaining and improving the building and grounds around the club.
We should be finished around 1:00 and if you sign up prior to March 26, lunch will be provided by Nuttall’s!
Signup is easy, just send me an email at jwoodward214@gmail.com or call me at 804-314-0832.
Thanks and looking forward to seeing you on March 29th at 9:00 or later. Please consider participating even if you can only give an hour or two. You may also choose your own date and complete a task (please contact me for a task).