The weather is beautiful and the activities are endless; what more could we ask?

Well, the members of the Stripers, captained by Ron Blake and PC Marianne Reynolds came home crowing about their “blowout” victory in the tennis Calcutta.

But the Mackerels, captained by Paul Whitehead and Anne Hughes claim it was a last minute decision to change the value of the final event that turned the tide. At any rate all had fun and enjoyed the dinner and awards after the courtside ruckus.

The Shipyard Cup events were magnets to get folks out on the water. Attendees’ comings and goings kept the stewards busy, especially on Saturday and Sunday.

Big boats under sail are always a photo attraction and this was no exception. Speaking of big boats, the Louis Vuitton finals in San Francisco Harbor continued to be a big attraction on the Bar TV.

August 17 the finals begin with Italy’s Luna Rosa pitted against Emrites Team New Zealand. The bartenders will have the giant screen tune in about 4 p.m. each day. Then stand by for America’s defense of the Americas Cup starting on September 7.

You may have noticed the fun today (Thursday, Aug. 15) as the Junior Program (now in its final week of the season) celebrated its annual Pirates Day.

We have enjoyed record enrollments this year and congratulations are in order to Larry Rioux and his Tennis staff and to Sally Lloyd and the sailing staff for a spectacular year.

At their annual Awards banquet held last Sunday night, it was great to hear and remember the names of Past Commodore’s and others whose namesake awards have lasted through the years, Rudy Geiger, John West, James Bowden and Byron Atwood (who was present to see that award given.

Thanks to Margot Atwood who planned and executed the whole evening and who is the nuts and bolts manager of the junior program finances and scholarship program.

Looking into the future we have a Commodore’s Cup race Saturday and that day the Shelter Island Yacht club will pay us a visit. On Sunday night Bill Culina of the Botanical Gardens will present an illustrated talk entitled “Sugar, Sex and Poison” shocking secrets of plants caught on his camera. With that title the house will be full!

A new event is in the planning for August 25 when a gathering of very special automobiles! New, old fast, slow these cars will have a special interest to many of our members and following the display and visitation Chef George will offer a vehicular themed dinner. Jerry Maeben, Nick Mace, and Jim Newton are coordinating the event.

Speaking of the future, the annual Day Afloat event is turning back the hands of time and the concept is a waterfront treasure hunt where members will place objects or scenes on their docks and curious boaters will locate and identify them, reporting same at the end of the day for prizes and bragging rights 0900 to 1500 on the water and 1730 starts the cocktail hour and dinner.

Reservations for dinner a must. Mary Linda Rapelye is chairing the event and location of items posted and description should be called in or emailed to Sharma Schacknow.

The men’s sailing group has been extremely active on the water and with water related excursions.

The following is a report of a visit to the Iron Works by one of the men:

On Friday, Aug. 9, 23 members and guests of the Boothbay Harbor “Men's Sailing” group, traveled to Bath for a tour of the Maine Maritime Museum and Bath Iron Works.  

After box-lunches the team had a docent guided tour and narrated history of several buildings of the adjacent Percy & Small Shipyard, which constructed some of the largest wooden cargo-carrying schooners ever built in the U.S.

The highlight of the day was a trolley tour of BIW, where six of the U.S. Navy's most modern warships are currently under construction. The tour guide demonstrated the very efficient modular construction techniques being used by BIW, where sections of ships are separately built and then assembled. The first Stealth-design Navy destroyer is near completion.  Our group is indebted to Bob Vawter who arranged this delightful trip for us.

The annual Dinner dance is coming up on August 17 and it is billed as an Island Evening. Music will be by the Delta Knights Band and dinner will be by Chef George and his staff. Reservations as always a must as this will be a sold out event for sure.

Back to the mundane, we have the club’s annual meeting coming up on August 24 and the nominating committee report of future leadership positions will be posted a week previous which is this Saturday, Aug. 17.