The bar and buoy are in at the club - just need the boats now

VALOIS, New York, USA - The bar was reinstalled, shade structure put up and assorted accessories installed over the weekend, marking the beginning of the 2012 boating season at the Valois Point Yacht Club.

Except for two rowboats, the VPYC is little short on watercraft, with the Spirit of Louise in Horseheads on its trailer and both sailboats (The Red Rocket and The Crimson Tide) parked on their trailers at Fitches cottage, a scant 300 yards away.

They need a little cleaning before they will be ready to launch.

But sometime in the next few days, at least the Spirit of Louise is likely to be launched and put in the boat lift alongside the club dock.

Admiral Fox at the VPYC bar Sunday

The day was not without boating, however.

We had just gotten the shade structure up and bolted into place - and were wondering why we hadn't hauled a single bottle of beer down the hill - when Roger and Nancy Beardslee showed up with the boat.

Aboard Roger and Nancy Beardlee's boat - May 20, 2012

We ended up taking an anniversary cruise up past Lodi Point before returning to the VPYC.

The temperature was perfect - low 80s and Roger's boat ran perfectly up and down the shoreline.

A great first VPYC day.

The mooring ball is in - the bar comes next

VALOIS, New York, USA - The mooring ball for the Crimson Tide sailboat (or other visiting vessels) is in place off the end of the Valois Point Yacht Club after a hour's worth of salty language Friday. My salty language.

The cable out to the chain that holds the mooring buoy was right on the ground where I left it last fall, so rowing out with it was a breeze (except for algae slime on it).

It was a breeze until I was about 25 feet from the spot where I knew the chain was.

Crimson Tide on the mooring last fall

The cable suddenly didn't want to be pulled up. Stuck tight as a tick. (However tight that is...)

!!!!!!!!Santa Crappo!!!!!!!!!

Peering over the side of the boat, I saw that the cable ran underneath a sunken log of about 10 inches in diameter that must have drifted over the cable during the winter.

But just as I was about to give up, I remembered my 9th grade science class from high school and working at Lakewood Beach in Lakewood NY, where we would move around a 55-gallon drum of concrete under the water as an anchor for a raft.

With another half hour of pulling, I finally got the chain aboard and the mooring ball is secure.

And I almost have gotten all those *%&*&*%^ tiny wire slivers out of my fingers that poked through my gloves.

New web page template - anybody notice?

VALOIS POINT, Town of Hector, Hector, NY - Website updates and redesign are the stuff of rainy days. And cold days, too. And kee-rist we have had the cold.

So after reviewing the website for the Valois Point Yacht Club, it seemed fitting to make some changes to make it easier to read and look a little more, well, sporty. (The sun was out this morning and it warmed up to 60 degrees! Gawd!)

With the weather being so on-again, off-again, the staff of the VPYC hasn't had a chance to check to docks and reset the mooring ball yet. That should happen later this week, after the pathway to the lake is cleared of any landslides that are blocking things.

In the meantime, here's a couple of boating photos to gawk at until we start having VPYC photos to post.

Summer 2012 - already time to think about boating

VALOIS, Hector township, New York - With a winter that has been almost devoid of snow, already thoughts are turning to boats and reopening the Valois Point Yacht Club.

Last summer the club added a buoy for larger boats to tie up to the south of the VPYC dock and this summer will add another buoy, but to the north.

Some advances in solar technology also are pointing to a lighted pathway from the dock up the cottage.

That remains under study.

In the meantime, provided we don't get hit with a blizzards, the VPYC will be ready to rock sometime in May. Sometime depending on how cold it is, of course.

Here's a few photos from last season:













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Open-shut case, time to close the VPYC for 2011

VALOIS POINT, New York, USA - The VPYC had a busy season, after getting off to a very slow start.

Too busy to even post anything on this blog.

Lo siento, amigos.

A number of new members join (by showing up in their boats) including Joseph Campbell and Yvonne Taylor, amigos and Seneca Lake sailors. And continuing members Eric and Tina Hazlitt were frequent visitors, too.

Jennifer tests out Crimson Tide

We also added a sailboat boat to the club fleet - a 17-foot Siren named Panacea, which will be rechristened in the spring with the official name of Crimson Tide. The idea for the name came from co-owner Jennifer Marshall of Tucson, Arizona (and a Seneca Lake/Hector native) who comes to Seneca Lake each summer on vacation.

She is also half-owner of the Red Rocket sailboat, which saw limited duty this summer, once the new boat was added to the flotilla.

The club also put out a mooring (for Panacea/Crimson Tide) and after much ado, procured a yacht club sign, too. The mooring held the boat secure through a windstorm that torn down trees and branches all over Valois Point.

Perhaps next year a second mooring - for large boats - will be put in, too, when the club reopens are the spring thaw.

Here are some photos from this season:

Yvonne (Bonnie) Taylor on the VPYC dock

Red Rocket heads out for first 2011 sail

VPYC sign

Busy day on the VPYC docks

Crimson Tide on the new mooring at the VPYC
  

Getting VPYC docks ready for summer

VALOIS, New York, USA - The high waters of Seneca Lake are not going to stand in the way of the grand reopening of the Valois Point Yacht Club in Hector Township.

Friday, the shade structure was reinstalled and - provided the weather stays clear next week, the bar and boats will be ready for action.

First phase of reopening the VPYC

Valois Point Yacht Club to reopen its docks in May, 2011

VALOIS, New York, USA - The Valois Point Yacht Club began operation this summer and closed just before Labor Day...