Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
G<br />
Jean's turn<br />
Atlanta Yacht <strong>Club</strong><br />
A Profile<br />
John and Jean Chsinall<br />
Many of you will know that Jean and I<br />
spend quite a bit of time each year in the<br />
States. We have a daughter, Claire and<br />
family who live in Acworth which is a<br />
suburb of Atlanta to the north west of<br />
the city.<br />
A few miles from where Claire lives is<br />
Lake Allatoona; an area of about 1110<br />
square miles of water that was flooded<br />
back in the late 1940’s for flood control,<br />
water supply and power generation. It<br />
provides all sorts of recreational activities<br />
including walking, camping, picnicking,<br />
fishing and boating.<br />
We have visited the lake many times and<br />
always bemoaned the fact that we never<br />
saw any sails so last year I did an Internet<br />
search for sailing on the lake and came<br />
up with Atlanta Yacht <strong>Club</strong>. Even better<br />
it was situated only about 20 minutes<br />
drive from Claire.<br />
I e-mailed the Commodore and received<br />
a very warm response saying drop in<br />
and say “Hello” next time you are over.<br />
And so last February we called in on a<br />
weekday to have a look. We were very<br />
fortunate in that we met a couple of<br />
members who just happened to be there<br />
including Craig Mclean. They couldn’t<br />
have been more helpful and Craig gave<br />
me his contact details saying get in touch<br />
the next time we were over.<br />
We visited Claire again in late May<br />
and were staying 6 weeks this time so<br />
I contacted Craig and got a reply that<br />
said they would have us in a boat before<br />
we were off the airplane! It nearly came<br />
true in that shortly after we arrived they<br />
were holding a Thistle Fleet Regatta and<br />
some one very kindly offered us a boat so<br />
that we could compete. We declined on<br />
the basis of jet lag and being nervous at<br />
sailing an unfamiliar class.<br />
Atlanta Yacht <strong>Club</strong> is situated on a<br />
scenic point of land on Lake Allatoona<br />
between two quiet coves. The clubhouse,<br />
with a wide deck overlooking the lake,<br />
is spacious and attractive but informal,<br />
a place where sailors can comfortably<br />
mingle in their casual clothes and wet<br />
shoes. They have an open fireplace,<br />
two bathrooms with showers, two large<br />
rooms for dining and parties, a bar area<br />
and a full kitchen. Like us they do not<br />
have paid staff. They serve meals and<br />
drinks for special events, most of which<br />
are “staffed” by member volunteers.<br />
Downstairs in the clubhouse is the Junior<br />
Training Room, where sailing classes are<br />
taught. The <strong>Club</strong> owns a small fleet of<br />
Sunfish and (newly acquired!) a fleet of<br />
Optimist Dinghies for its training classes.<br />
Other than these and a small number of<br />
utility craft for running races, all other<br />
boats are member-owned.<br />
There is generous parking for members’<br />
boats, most of which are parked on<br />
trailers when not in use. Two boat ramps<br />
lead to the lake, where boats can be<br />
launched and temporarily tied on one<br />
of three <strong>Club</strong> docks. (The club offers<br />
no overnight docking or moorings for<br />
either sailboats or power boats, though<br />
A<br />
On site cabins<br />
G<br />
Oppy lunchtime<br />
a small number of private docks offer<br />
limited dockage for their owners.) By<br />
the water’s edge are benches and several<br />
covered pavilions where spectators<br />
get comfortable and sailors hang out<br />
between races.<br />
If you are looking for tennis courts or a<br />
pool, you won’t find them at AYC. They<br />
are all about sailing! But they do have<br />
a groomed, sandy swimming beach,<br />
an enclosed play yard for children, a<br />
barbecue pavilion with picnic tables<br />
and an open grill, and a camping area<br />
near the beach. The facilities, clean and<br />
well-maintained by the dockmaster and<br />
groundskeeper, are purposely kept lowkey<br />
so that families can get away from<br />
the busy lives they lead all week and find<br />
a fun, safe and fresh-air place to play at<br />
AYC.<br />
The site is very large and is lightly<br />
wooded over much of its area. In the<br />
tress are a large number of substantial<br />
cabins where members can come for<br />
weekends or longer throughout the<br />
season to enjoy the club facilities.<br />
The <strong>Club</strong> sails three main classes of<br />
dinghy; the Snipe, the Thistle and the Y<br />
Flyer. (We chatted about other classes<br />
but they were fairly conservative and<br />
wanted to keep their preferred fleets.<br />
They knew little about asymmetrics and<br />
there wasn’t one to be seen.)<br />
<strong>Sailing</strong> takes place all year round but<br />
mainly through the summer. The best<br />
winds are early summer. July and August<br />
are very hot and humid. “The air hangs<br />
like liquid lead” was how Commodore<br />
Buzz Bezure described it. “We wait for<br />
the thunderstorms to come through and<br />
then go and have fun whilst we can in<br />
A<strong>float</strong> Autumn/Winter 2009<br />
13
Change language