ALYC Commodore’s Corner Spring 2025
We're starting off to a great start for 2025! Seems like just yesterday we were enjoying the party during our Commodore’s Ball and soon we'll be celebrating our Opening Day Ceremony in May.
Monthly Socials
We have continued our monthly socials usually held on the second Saturday of each month. Mark your calendars, as the lively rendezvous offer an opportunity to forge new friendships and reconnect with fellow members, all while relishing the vibrant atmosphere on the patio.
New Member Orientation
We have re-scheduled the New Member Orientation sessions to be on the Saturday prior to the monthly social or prior to one of the ALYC General Meetings so our new members will have the opportunity to immediately get acquainted with our ALYC family. New members, please check the ALYC calendar to reserve a spot to learn more about the ALYC.
Dive and Snorkel
The Dive and Snorkel group has been active with some fascinating speakers, and they recently returned to Sau Bay, Fiji for their annual dive trip. Check the calendar on the website for more information and join us at a Dive meeting the last Wednesday of each month. Dive Chair, Isaac Carreon has done an outstanding job setting up informative speakers and organizing fun activities. If you want to learn how to dive Vice Commodore Wyatt Hoag and Isaac Carreon (DiveChair@ALYC.com) can get you pointed in the right direction.
Access to Club Boats
We have also continued to offer harbor cruises on Valor and skippered cruises on Liberty. Beginning very soon, we will also be offering skippered cruises on Patriot, our new Harbor 20, which will enable our members to become more familiar with this vessel and encourage members to become an approved skipper. We are hoping our members will enjoy cruising the harbor on Patriot and participating in the multiple racing events held in the Newport Harbor throughout the year. To learn more about becoming an approved skipper for Liberty (our Duffy) or Patriot (our Harbor 20), please use this link Club Boats Free Access.
Sailboat Racing
In May, sailboat racing season will start, and we are excited to see so many familiar faces continuing to enjoy the Sundowner’s races that are held each Monday night from May 5th to August 25th. Join us on the West patio after racing for awards and dinner. If you are interested in joining the race committee and helping us coordinate these events, please contact our Race Chair, Scott Barnes, at RaceChair@ALYC.com.
Cruise-outs
Our Fleet Captain, Walter White has been busy scheduling our cruise-outs. We look forward to another great turnout for the cruise-out in early April to Dana Point and look forward to another wonderful dinner at Dana West Yacht Club. In May, Walt will coordinate an enjoyable trip to Avalon for our members. As we set our sights on the horizon, Walt is also exploring a cruise to the scenic Emerald Bay or Twin Harbors. Please contact our Fleet Captain, Walt White to provide your input regarding cruise-out locations you would like to visit. We are also planning our annual cruise out to Long Beach Yacht Club in October. Check the ALYC calendar online and sign up for some events and come out and meet your fellow members.
Yacht Club Reciprocal Program & ALYC Ambassadors
We are in the process of adding additional information to our website regarding reciprocal yacht clubs and the pre-visit requirements of each club. Please see the member’s section of our website for current reciprocal yacht clubs https://alyc.com/Members-Area/Reciprocal-Yacht-Clubs and the following link regarding protocol, courtesies and Rules regarding your visit https://alyc.com/Members-Area/Visiting-Other-Yacht-Clubs.
We appreciate the opportunity to visit reciprocal yacht clubs and many of our reciprocal clubs consider our location one of the best places to visit in Newport Harbor. In order to enhance our hospitality for our visitors from other reciprocal clubs, our ALYC Ambassador's program, to welcome visitors to our club, launched on Daylight Savings Sunday. We aim to have one or two volunteers on-site every Saturday and Sunday to welcome our reciprocal guests. These individuals will be trained to serve as ALYC Ambassadors and serve for 4-hour shifts. Mickey Bennett, past Vice Commodore, is leading this project. He will be assisted by ALYC members RJ Green (Newport Harbor Elks Yacht Club), and Debra Osborne (Orange County Women’s Sailing Association). To learn more information and volunteer, please visit our sign-up page.
ALYC Committee Chairs and Other Volunteer Opportunities
The Yacht Club has been abuzz with a continuous flurry of activities, all made possible by the dedicated efforts of numerous volunteers. Our on-the-water experiences have been nothing short of memorable, with highlights ranging from harbor cruises catering to our members and esteemed veterans, to thoughtfully orchestrated adaptive sailing events that have left a lasting impact.
In order to provide our members with all of these experiences, it takes many hours of event planning and day-of-event volunteer support. We desperately need your help. I encourage all of you to volunteer for some upcoming events and meet your fellow members. We have a fun engaged group of members and I am eager to meet everyone as we support all the fun events for our members. Please see the following link and signup to support your club.
Volunteer Opportunities
ALYC Challenge Coins
We are implementing a new ALYC Challenge Coin program. The mission of the program will be to recognize individuals for their service to our club. The ALYC Challenge Coin will be issued understanding it is a coin of value and to be respected by its holder and ALYC members.
The ALYC Challenge Coin will be utilized to recognize ALYC Officers, Directors, Committee Chairs, volunteers, supporting members, and others who are providing services to the ALYC. The ALYC Challenge Coin program was developed by the Commodore and was initiated in January. To learn more please visit our Volunteer page.
ALYC Strategic Planning
As Commodore, I realize the importance of creating operational and budget plans to ensure our club will continue to provide many on-the-water activities and events for the enjoyment of our members while maintaining a sustainable operation and financially successful organization for the short-term and long-term. The ALYC Strategic Planning process was presented during our June 2024 General Membership Meeting, and we held our first planning meeting soon afterward. During our discussions we identified two primary matters that potentially impact our financial planning for 2025 and should be given high priority for determination of operational and budget proposals.
1. Club Activities & Event Planning – Recruiting Volunteer Chairs vs. Hiring Staff (Team Leader: Bruce Batcheller)
a. How can we recruit, retain & reward more Volunteer Leaders/Chairs to fill all the Committee Chair positions?
b. Appropriate awards/recognition for volunteer Board members, Committee Chair positions and event volunteers.
c. Pipelines for Board positions
d. Volunteer vs. paid positions (Operations Manager, Event Coordinator, Communications Coordinator, etc.)
e. Potential creation of tiered annual membership dues based upon number of annual volunteer hours, tenure of club membership, and age of members.
2. ALYC Vessels - Evaluate current fleet & potential additions or changes– projected maintenance expenses, life span & replacement timing/costs (Team Leaders: Tommy Wheeler & Mickey Bennett)
- Each Team's Leader will assemble a team of ALYC members to further discuss the subject area and send proposals for operational and budget consideration to the Commodore by 7-13-2024.
- The Commodore will distribute a summary of the proposals to the membership and invite members to join the next Strategic Planning Meeting on July 20th to discuss the proposals.
- The Team Leaders will present proposals to the ALYC Board for approval at the Board meeting on July 25, 2024.
Please contact the Team Leaders indicated above if you would like to participate in additional discussions and provide input to the preparation of operational and budget proposals.
We will continue discussions regarding the following subjects at future Strategic Planning meetings to be scheduled in late July or August.
-Evaluate youth sailing program (Start/Stop/Continue) (Lead: Berkely Green)
-Cruise-outs – More, Less, Where? (Lead: Walt White)
-Evaluate club’s sailboat racing program (Lead: Scott Barnes)
With your help, we will create operational and budget plans to ensure our club will continue to provide many on-the-water activities and events for the enjoyment of our members while maintaining a sustainable operation and financially successful organization.
In these vibrant waters, every day is an opportunity to sail into a new adventure, united by a shared love for the sea and a steadfast sense of community. With your help, the American Legion Yacht Club's legacy continues to be etched with every wave, every sail, and every heartfelt gathering.
Please feel free to contact me or your ALYC Board of Officers and Directors for more information regarding your ALYC. Hope to see you soon on the water or at one of our ALYC events. Have a great summer…
Very Respectfully,
David Campagnari
Your 2025 Commodore
commodore@alyc.com
