Taking on a new direction

LEWISPORTE -

What does Lewisporte have in common with Barbados?

In April their respective Yacht Clubs entered into a reciprocal club agreement that will allow members from both clubs to visit each other and avail of their hospitality.

The idea to form a reciprocal relationship with the Barbados Yacht Club came about after two members of the Lewisporte Yacht Club (from Gander, Dunley and Anne Peyton) visited Barbados. They had been e-mailing back and forth with then Lewisporte Yacht Club commodore Barry Woolfrey about their interest in joining the Barbados Yacht Club.

"Out of curiosity I looked on the Internet to see what the Barbados Yacht Club was all about and compare it to ours - I do that from time to time to see what other clubs are doing," said Mr. Woolfrey. "While on their site I saw this link: Reciprocal."

He was interested in what he read and inquired as to just what the reciprocal club agreement meant.

"They came back and basically said it means exactly what the word means - a two-way thing back and forth and their members would have access to our club and our members would have access to their club," said Mr. Woolfrey.

From there Mr. Woolfrey spoke with the manager of the Barbados Yacht Club to determine if it would be worthwhile to enter into such an agreement. He was asked to write a letter indicating the Lewisporte Yacht Club interest in the agreement. The matter was discussed with the Lewisporte Yacht Club executive and the Lewisporte Marina Administrative Authority (LMMA), with both groups indicating their support. In March he sent the letter, along with brochures from the local Yacht Club. The Barbados Club wrote back and conveyed their willingness to enter into the agreement as well.

From there the Lewisporte Yacht Club was asked to draft a formal letter to the Barbados Club management committee who faxed the final documents to be signed on April 20. Mr. Woolfrey was pleased to sign the agreement, his last act as commodore before the Yacht Club AGM and Alvin Gale taking on the role as commodore.

The agreement advises that members of the Lewisporte Yacht Club can visit the Barbados Club up to three months each year. Honourary membership will be for the first two weeks, followed by payment of a visiting membership fee after that.

"This was a combination of a lot of things coming together - two of our members being down there and wanting to join the club and we are always looking to promote the Lewisporte Yacht Club and Marina, so it all fell together," said Mr. Woolfrey. "I don't think it hurt us to be part of that reciprocal list - there are some pretty prestigious names there."

Included on the reciprocal membership list for the Barbados Yacht Club are a number of Ontario clubs including The Royal Canadian Yacht Club, The Royal Hamilton Yacht Club and The Ontario Club; The River Club from Florida; The Pacific Club from California; and clubs from the United Kingdom including the National Liberal Club of London, the Royal Southampton Yacht Club, The Naval Club, Royal Thames Yacht Club and the Halton Tennis Club.

Mr. Woolfrey sent along two copies of the Notre Dame Bay Cruising Guide with the final paperwork - one for the Barbados Club and another for a group within that Club called the Barbados Cruising Club.

"You never know what can come of that," said Mr. Woolfrey. "Barbados is a long ways away, but we've had a long history and it's nice to rejuvenate that history."

This is the first reciprocal club agreement the Lewisporte Yacht Club has entered into. Based on how this goes they may consider looking into other such agreements.

Mr. Woolfrey sees this agreement as a friendly way of promoting each others club. Closer to home, the Yacht Club has been extending that same courtesy to neighbouring communities in the province.

"We've been very friendly to up and coming clubs this past winter," he said. "We met with Springdale, Clarenville and Glovertown - they wanted to come and view our structure and ask how we obtained various funding, how we built the docks, the trials and errors of setting up a marina and so on. We were more than happy to accommodate them."

That sense of comradery comes from the realization that the more there is to offer recreational boaters the better it is for everyone involved in the boating and marina industry.

"One marina benefits others," said Mr. Woolfrey. "For example, if you only had one park in Newfoundland, that wouldn't be much fun. For boaters, if you know that you can leave here and go to Springdale or Clarenville, and there will be a place for you to tie up and you know what services to expect there, will that's great."

Mr. Gale said it's all about service and a busy marina translates into good things for a community.

Mr. Woolfrey agreed, noting that the Small Boat Federation estimates that for every boat in your dock there's roughly $5,000 plus spent in the community on necessities like fuel, groceries, repairs and maintenance.

"There's a whole host of things boaters need and it results in a lot of money changing hands," said Mr. Gale.

Mr. Woolfrey said all you have to do so see the impact boaters make on a local business is visit the grocery store on a weekend during the boating season and see how many boaters from the marina are picking up supplies. He noted that many businesses in town are also picking up on the impact boaters have on the local economy by promoting their products/services to boaters.

Come a long way

Mr. Gale, who was brought in as the commodore at the April 22 annual general meeting of the Lewisporte Yacht Club, says the Lewisporte Marina Facility has come a long way over the past 10 years especially.

He should know. Mr. Gale was also the first commodore of the Yacht Club in 1990. Twenty years ago there wasn't anything close to what resembles the Lewisporte Marina of present day. All they had was one fixed wharf and an old-fashioned rail track put together to haul up boats. There was a smaller repair shed that was much smaller than the one that exists today.

"We had some hard times I suppose you could call it, but it all worked out," he said.
The membership was also a different story back then.

"We started off with 10 members," Mr. Gale recalled. "We all had boats if you could call them that - some of them were punts. Now we have over 200 members."
The boats have changed to include yachts and sailboats with 167 berths filled and another 25 or more people on the waiting list.

Along with the growing boating community in Lewisporte eventually came the addition of the Canadian Coast Guard setting up an inshore rescue operation based out of the marina.

For the most part it was the volunteer work of Lewisporte Yacht Club members who helped bring the marina forward. So much so that it became necessary for there to be a change in the organizational structure at the Lewisporte Marina. That happened a few years ago with the Town of Lewisporte taking on a larger role in the management and development of the marina facility and then last year the LMMA was put in place to look after the marina.

This means the Lewisporte Yacht Club is free to concentrate on social aspects of the club.

"During those developing years social activities fell by the wayside because we were putting the biggest part of our energies into building instead of socializing," said Mr. Gale. "So we are hoping to have more social events taking place this summer."

The yacht club executive plans to meet next week to formalize some upcoming social activities that will "keep everyone happy."

In closing, Mr. Gale extended his appreciation to Mr. Woolfrey for his success as both commodore and chairperson of the LMMA over the past year. Mr. Woolfrey will continue to serve another year as the LMMA chairperson (two year terms).

"As the chairman of the LMMA he oversaw the transition from the yacht club to the LMMA," said Mr. Gale. "He did a marvelous job looking after both sides of the hat."