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* -,&*, PAGE 28, WIIITY FREE PRESS, WEDNEW 1AY, MAY 6,1992 Canada is blessed with mon of vision. lai 1967 even cf those mon of vision, a sailors froei adjacent conimunity, discusaed the. formation of a noew yacht club on the. shores of Whltby harbour. <Hlstorically, Whitby harbour, on. cf the. few natural barbours on the Great Lakes, had been a key factor ithe, maritime tradé of thei. province of Ontario. Produce, cropa- and manu- factur.d goods wero iiamper.d b the. lack 0f roadoi and specily by the. difficulty 0f traversing te Rouge River valley and Highiland Creek valley. .These, valleys impaired tii. free flow of traffic and goods to and from tiie Toronto area, and goods iiad to be transported by ofh&ptothe major trading centres tO aro and New York State. The dedine o shipping was brougiit on by tii. railways and by tii. more provalent use of motor vehicles, and this r.sulted ithe, decreauing use oft Whitby harbour., .Recreational sailing becamne a factor i 1932 wiien a group of Whitby citizens formed a yacht club on the, east aide of tii, barbour. However, by the- end 0f. World War E!, the. club no longer elsted. .The. seven mon of vision were led by Mel Gor.ski, a co-owner of a construction and development company ini the town. What tiiey saw was a harbour dominated by bulrush swamps at tii. southwest corner etftth. harbour, scattered derelict barges on ithe sand shoals in tii. bay and McNamara Dry Dock and Dtclgng Company ,yrds on the. eat shiore of the by. They came to tii. conclusion that despite its bleak appearance, tiier. was tii. potentia for wiiat bas proved to b.e e ftthe finest sailing iiarbours in al of Canada. Th.& saw a fine beach on tii. LakeOntaiosidae ofan isthmus of land between tiie lake and the, bay. On tiie otiier side was a well- protected harbour witiithe. potential of very easy access to and from the bay by awide, well- marked existing harbour entranice. On tiie soutiiwest corner was an irregular- sandy bottomn that was home to two abandoned barges. Wiien thes., were pu togetiier end to end agai"nst ti iioroine. they becamne ti foundation'oet our present "gai dock. Tii. existing privat. road ti tiie Ontario Hospital (noiwWiiitb, Psycbiatrie HospitW) woult provde a accesa totheébeaci -,(owiâleï IrquisBeach) anc the. club property. The Ontaric Hospital was alosmen as- sourceof power and water (but il i. doubtful if ti.hoshp*ts adiistration, were aware 0 ti tact at the, time). Initial inquiies to the. Towr O hty idicted the. properf3 was within the. town limits bui that the. water lots and ti adjoining land were tii. property et the. federal govenment. Inquiries te Ottawa indicatec that the. adjoining lands iiad beer transterr.d te the town.- The Ontario goverrnment indicated tiiey did not own the adjaceni lands. In a sens. of frustration, the 'Group et.Seven 1Sailors,' after iiaving a survey made of the lande they wanted, mov.d on the pop.rty te build what i. now tiie Why Yacht Club., Their assumption was that, if someone' tried te, rernove themn from the property and could prove tiiey bad the rigiit te, do -so, at least tiie club would know with whom to deal. (Years later it was learned that, someone bad gooted, 'and while ail etiier harbours in Canada bad been turned over te tii. local municipality, Whitby harbour was missed.) A survy determined the lot limes, a fence was er.cted, a building. -that was under demolition uptown strangely reappeard on tii. property te, become th. first clubhouse. Dredigwsunewyad a yactcu astre.The cher a sudo o.14, 1967. It was net long-betore people wer, taking notice of tii. littl. club on th. bay. The 'basin'! was soon tul ef keel boats and the, need for more docks was apparent. By 1973, over 90 boats and over 100 senior members confrmed tii. need for the. club te formalize its lease arrangements on tii, extensive property it was Lt to )Y Id Id io a t ai It ie y PUEPÂRATIONS for. boating season were made at the Whitby Yacht Club, on-,Saturday and Sunday as al boats were lifted into the water. Photo. by Peter Tomblin, Whltby Free Pýrou managing. A 'quit dlaim' was obtained from the federal and provincial governments and was interpreted as a windtall te tii, tewn. A 25-year léase on the, ground lots was signed providing that a new clubhouse ne erected on tii, property, and providing tiie club would pay taxes. The new clubiiouse was opened on Jan. 1, 1974 (after a warmn-up the nigiit before) witii commodore Jack Blucher and incoming commodore Harry 'Tanker' Jones offlcating. 1High water in the, .arly 19709 was causing serieus siiore erosion and had to, be dealt witii. The designing and building et docks was ongoing, and the. organizing of active racing and cruising prgrmswero al factors' i m.lding the membershipite a cohesive club. Throughout' the sailing seaseR, the. racing, fleet was'eut .veryWedn.sday evening and tii. digyracers were eut on Thursday evcsnings. The, cruising fleet engaged.in races of a novelty nature and in short croises. .Throughout the, winter season, Wednesday night 'bas been 'Wintei Sail Nigiit with, sailing-oriented programs and discussions. Fnday .vening bas, been 'Hospita]ity Night'. and members can alwaysdepend-on friendly inembers te, spend Borne tim. with -- atinx.trelax and socializ. over a free buffet snack, and toer.ajy a fniendly gam.e o darts. By 1977, tii. clubiiouse bad been built and paid for, memibersbip numbered some 275 families and seme 300 steel floatixig docks bad been built by club labour. The club then embarked on a major prqject ef building some 2,200. feet 0f siioreline protection as well a an enlargement ot its parking area te accommodate oaver 500 cars. Before the. shiore poeto was comploted, the cubwu stnzck by a major storm (et 24 19»77) that destroyed many dcsand damgg.d, a good am..ofhnm~np.hm prolong.d iieavy east wind. Tank. tests conducted' on behait eoftii. club by Queen's University indicated that a groyne at the eaat' end etftii. club property would eliminate the surge problem completely. The groyne was quickly built sud now ail club boats are docked in se,, tran quil waters. From the upper decks of tii. clubhouse, sailors can view water on three aides, nearly 12 acres et groundesud 13 cres of waterlot belonging te the Whitby Yacht Club. They can speculate on the results ot a- race around tii, buoys, identity - yachts as they enter tiie harbour and watci boats heading for the, Whitby municipal marina fatrtfiir up tiie bay. They can a"s observe the, nearly 300 vossels ti.d up te tiie club'. floating docksý, the juni*or clubhouse, worksiiops mastahedi and generally watch ii tl[.activities on shore. Prom tiie lake, ffccess te blue waters i the boy is. quick and eas: awide, .de -bairbour chnel i. ainain b the. >Departmont' e of nspry.In Prfatmlion dfor tii. lParo being developed by thi. Town of Wbiýy, he natual,* f tV Additional land and,Àa new acces. road through thie Proe parklands i has' boun recengty neoa4 faher ohnigthé. clubpnrpeýrv (wlhin ,turn Winl enhance the proposed parkland). An active racingpr' rmbas always been the hfMar-k'of the club. This was 'highilighted in, 19:73 when the club hoeted the TiiunderbMrd Worlds, won by <'Tanloer' Jones. Members, bave, won many trophies i theLYRC, CYRA and other racing organizations around the lake as well as some ocean races such as the Bermuda On. Two. Racers have. joined the even more, active cruising.,sailors in siiowing the' distinctive club b urgee, not only aroundý Lake Ontario, but throughout 'the Great .Lakes> the St. lawrence River, the east coast of Canada and U.S.A. Twelve club bootâ bave saie 20 recorded trips toý Bermuda. One WYC boat rocently - c irum- naviga±ed the .Altantic Ocean in an 18-month croise. Whiatby i. very. much,'a sailing club. The world will get to ýknow the. Town of Whitby b the. good reputation of..the. club and,;its members. With its spacious clubhouse and grounda, and with. new.docks and facilitieë, -ther'i always' romr for visi-ting a-lors. 1Members 'of. clubs with reciprocal privileges- are warjnly encourage to stay for a night or weekend- when crui'sing, down the, lake during sailing season.- But> why wait till then?, There is _a warm welcome at'any -time for sailors, particularly during the social functions- --' Wednesdy Night Safi programs, F riday evenings or Saturday or Sunday afternoonE. In 25 year> -the.Whitb acht Club bas become :a -major yacht club i.Canada. With- nearly a NuI mombership, an active junior =r a, Papy Young-,memberis frm ayoung and growing community ýand with good, support and co-operation frum tii. Towin of Whitby it willcontinue to m . a ul>stanta contri- bution -tote*.quality. of lite- in Durham R.egion and to th. saSiling cmuiyarcund Lake Ontaria.