The front entrance is now open and boy what a difference.  The biggest thing I have noticed is that the draft in the main hallway has disappeared.  Much more comfortable.  Left to be done are the paving stones and the painting of the columns.  Now I am going to kill the rumor that the columns are going to be painted yellow, they are going to be painted blue to match the dark blue club colour.

The floors have been sanded and sealed on Monday.  A by-product of this is a lot of dust.  I plan on Saturday to get some serious dusting done.  This will be a great chance to get some work hours in in a nice warm environment.  I have set up this job in Job Jar.  If you plan on coming down let me know at vcmember@abyc.on.ca

We are still looking to fill Mike Robertson's position, head of the Property Department.  Basically it is looking after the physical plant of the Clubhouse and the Junior Sailing School.  If you have any interest in this please let me know.  We do have one major job to get done this year, doing a remodel of the washrooms in the Junior Sailing School.  If anyone has any ideas or would like to work on this project let me know.

Last Friday I joined a few members for dinner on Friday night.  The food was fabulous.  On the menu were Surf & Turf, Salmon and Duck.  Everyone that I spoke to raved about it.  Make a reservation and come down one Friday soon.  Paul and his crew in the kitchen have really turned it up a notch.   

Speaking of which, below is a letter we received from a member about the Valentine's Day dinner.  Thanks Dan and Hazel, the staff really appreciated your recognition.

Hi Mike,

Hazel and I wanted to let you know that last night night's Valentine dinner and dance was fabulous.

The decorations were lovely with great attention to detail adding to the overall ambiance which was upbeat and very friendly.

The food was great (we both had the seafood salad and lobster pasta).  The lobster pieces were cooked nicely (tender and juicy).  The plates were warm too!

The staff was very attentive and pleasant.  They checked back with us after serving to make sure that all was alright.

We brought our own wine and Cheryl went out of her way to get it properly decanted.

The music was upbeat and enjoyable.  We had great fun dancing to the band.

Let all the staff know how much we appreciated their efforts.

Cheers,

Hazel and Dan

LYRA Dinner Fast Approaching

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The LYRA fundraising dinner is only 17 days away- Saturday March 29th. This will be a fun filled evening, lead off by World renowned Ontario Boat Designer, Steve Killing, a member of the New Zealand America's Cup Team.  

Steve will talk about how New Zealand went from a lead of 7-1 to eventually losing to the USA Team 8-7. This will prove to be an enlightening as well as entertaining presentation.

But this is only the beginning.  We will also hold a 50/50 Raffle where one lucky winner will walk away several dollars richer.

The last highlight of this Gala Evening are our 2 Auctions. A silent auction as well as a live auction.

Just to whet your palate a bit for the auction, the auction items include; 

• Team New Zealand Shirt signed by Dean Barker 
• Prepared Dinners by Michelle Wolfson, our highly acclaimed Chef/Member.
• A Large Gift Basket from UK Sailmakers
• Wine donated by Brian Meret
• A behind the Scenes Tour for 4 of CTV, hosted by ABYC Member Bill Hutchinson
• A reserved parking space at ABYC
• Raptors Tickets- donated by Roger Van Vlack
• A Sail with lunch and drinks with Mike Hren and Suse Bosley on Tiu'sday

There will be several other auction items!

Please purchase your tickets soon by calling the ABYC Office at 416-698-4498 ext. 221.  Tickets are only $65 each with $25 going towards the LYRA Regatta budget.

This past weekend, Quinten Beelik, one of the members of the ABYC Junior Race Team, was in Florida to compete at the USODA Optimist Sunshine State Championships.  In April, Quinten is heading to the Optimist South American Championships, as part of team Canada, so it was a chance to get in a bit of practise.    

Quinten (left) shares a coach with a team from Seattle YC

The weather and wind were perfect and Quinten was excited to see dolphins, a turtle and flying fish, while sailing.  During his final race, he got black-flagged; a first for Quinten, so he had to sit out the race.  His final result after 7 races, was 107 out of 188 competitors. 

For more information on our team, please like us on Facebook:

www.facebook.com/ABYCJuniorRaceTeam

In other ABYC Junior Race Team news, former coach Sarah Douglas has been identified as an athlete for the Canadian Sailing Team and Quest for Gold Ontario Sailing Team, with the goal of competing at the next Olympics!