THE UNOFFICIAL PAGE FOR THE
WE ARE SAD TO REPORT THAT ON JULY 29, 1999 OUR BOAT, MARDI GRAS, SANK AND IS A TOTAL LOSS!
HISTORY OF CLUB
by Dr John Bunting and Richard E Meden
In the 1920's and 30's the last remnants of the
lumbering industry, the sawmills, lumber docks and
holding ponds, were disappearing from the waterfront
and riversides of Alpena. Fletcher's steam yacht
"Winyah" was seeing its last days and Harry
Fletcher's 12 Meter sloop, "Iris", and Phil
Fletcher's 8 Meter sloop were based at the
Fletcher-Gilchrist Docks on the river and were annual competitors in the Mackinac Races. The only other pleasure boating was a group of semi-one design sailing enthusiasts, mostly with home built boats. The sport fishing group consisted of a few Spicer built flat bottom boats, some of which had the tempermental outboards of that time.
In the 1930's the sailing enthusiasts formed the
Alpena Boat Club as an indentifiable entity when in
competition at Tawas, Bay City, Port Austin and Port
Huron. To compete, many of the boats were trailered
by auto over early gravel roads. Such small craft
were moored and stored at the Fletcher-Gilchrist
Docks, where the old dog-leg hoist still stands as a
momento.
During World War II many of the boats
disintegrated due to age, neglect or rot. During the
mid 50's the "Windjammer Fleet" of over 20 K-Class
Catboats was formed to provide racing competition for many years.The Club now has a very active PHRF Fleet with scheduled races.
Toward the end of the war it was decided to form
the Alpena Yacht Club with more emphasis on power
boats, Phil Fletcher's 47 foot ChrisCraft
"Constallation" was the flagship.
RESULTS OF THE 1998 "VENETIAN NIGHT BOAT PARADE"
1ST PLACE - "CROW'S NEST" Ann & A.B. Crow AYC entry
2ND PLACE - "TAURUS" Doug & Judy Pugh AYC entry
3RD PLACE - "ZEPHER" Don & Joanne Bryngelson AYC entry
1998 VENETIAN NIGHT!
We are now in the process of signing up boats and owners for the 2000 Venetian Parade! If you would like to participate in the June 10, 2000 event contact Russ or Nancy Marshall 517-356-4934 or write 108 Channel Rd. #2, Alpena, MI 49707 or email MardiGras@webtv.net Please let us know by May 1, 2000.
One of our "Older Members"
Send E-Mail to: MardiGras@webtv.net
This page created using the webpage creation facilities of Webspawner.
Copyright © 2000 . All Rights Reserved