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Genesis
The Port of Buffalo grew at a fantastic rate after the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825. Warehouses appeared overnight; shipyards sprang up on all sides; Lake Erie traffic became tremendous. Buffalo business was transfused with new faces: Enterprising men who, sensing the future, appeared overnight. Many newcomers arrived from the eastern seaboard by way of New York. As they came, they brought new customs, modes of living, and the latest in sports and styles -- including the sport of yachting.
It was natural that some active and intelligent yachtsmen in the area should follow the lead of the New York Yacht Club (founded in 1844) and their neighbors in Toronto who founded the Royal Canadian Yacht Club in 1852.
Thus the Buffalo Yacht Club was started in 1860 at the western terminus of the Erie Canal. The Club’s first regatta was run August 22, 1860, and in the first class, Commodore John Newkirk’s sloop Uncle Sam won, followed by James Booth’s sloop Young Republic. Charles Beck’s Banner won first place in the second class ahead of Alfred Johns’ Young America. No mention is made of the number and sizes of the yachts owned by the members, but some of the members owned more than one yacht as is evident from the fact that on motion of Mr. Beck it was decided that no member could enter more than one yacht in the regatta.
AN ANCHORAGE
One of the problems of the newly organized Club was to select a permanent anchorage. Shelter was, of course, a prime factor. Buffalo’s Erie Basin was the obvious spot, but here they were confronted with the question of their neighbors.
Buffalo’s waterfront was the haunt of tough canalers and lake sailors. Permission was secured to use the facilities of the Union Elevator property in the lee of the Erie Basin breakwall which enjoyed a fulltime watchman and furnished a reasonable amount of protection from vandalism. On this site in 1861, the members constructed their first small dock and raised the mast and gaff that flew the Club Burgee.There is a peculiar absence of data for the next several years—the Civil War consumed the members’ energy and attention—and the BYC must have functioned periodically at best.But a nucleus of members held together, and before long they were again making records of races, meetings and plans for a real clubhouse.
CLUBHOUSE ONE
The first Clubhouse was built in 1864 on the Erie Basin breakwall—presently the site of the Erie Basin Marina. The building was on piles with the porch on what, at that time, was the outer breakwall—no doubt one of the breeziest locations on the waterfront. Boats were moored behind the breakwall which was flanked by piers running at right angles to the wall. Races were sailed on the lake and river in full view of observers sitting on the big front porch, fully protected from storm and rain.
During daylight, the members got to the Clubhouse by walking through Canal Street. At night, this might have been a hazardous journey, so upon arriving at the waterfront the members would call out, “Hey Bill!” This would produce Bill Swisher who lived in a houseboat moored in the lee of the breakwall. He would scull over in a square ended punt and ferry the member to the Clubhouse—in the very early days for a fee of one cent, later five cents. Swisher reportedly lived to a very great age and during most of his life acted as ferryman for this trip.
SUBSEQUENT CLUBHOUSES
The first Clubhouse was somehow destroyed during the fall. And because of the lawlessness of the area and the increase of harbor traffic at this time, it was decided to change the location of the Club. A new site was chosen adjacent to the car ferry landing on the Bird Island breakwall approximately at the foot of what would be Vermont Street if extended to the water—about where the navigational light tower is now, north of the present clubhouse.
On August 7, 1878, fire destroyed the Clubhouse completely. With the fire went all records, gear and some spirit.
Under the leadership of John S. Provoost in 1879, membership grew from about 24 to 75. Regattas were sailed among the members, and both the Cleveland and Toledo Yacht Clubs were invited to participate in a Grand Union Regatta. The Squadron consisted of fifteen yachts, each owned by or leased to a member or members. Most of the yachts had two or more members listed as “owners or lessees.”
On April 4, 1880 it was decided to incorporate the Club and issue stock for a new clubhouse. In short order plans and specifications were drawn and contractors were on the job. The third clubhouse was constructed on the Erie Basin breakwall at the site of the original clubhouse. It opened in August 1880 with a rousing good party. With a brand new building, a fleet of 16 yachts, and a membership of 75, the Club seemed to be bowling along on the high tide of prosperity.
Within the next few years, however, the Club underwent hard times and dissention, eventually seeing its clubhouse towed away by the sherrif for non-payment of debts.
A FOURTH CLUBHOUSE
The upturn was marked in 1886 with the election of Harry D. Williams as Commodore.
Many races were reported held during the summer, the most successful of these on the Fourth of July. Yachtsmen from various clubs on Lake Erie participated, and a large banquet celebrated the event in the Tifft House that evening.
A building committee was appointed in 1887, and plans for Clubhouse Four were drawn up for construction. A site had been obtained from the State of New York at the foot of Porter Avenue, and consisted of the lands under water from the north line of Porter Avenue to the south line of Connecticut Street extended. The foundation for the clubhouse would consist of wooden piles driven some distance from the shoreline and connected by a long dock. The new Clubhouse was opened in the spring of 1888, with Harry D. Williams again leading the Club.
The Club now boasted 127 members, its fleet consisting of two cabin sloops, one open schooner, three open sloops, three cabin cutters, one cabin schooner, one open yawl, two naphtha launches, one steam launch and some unclassified types which made a total of 20 boats in all.
On the night of January 9, 1889, Buffalo experienced one of the worst gales which ever swept over Lake Erie. The water rose ten feet above normal and the waves were mountainous.The morning of January 10th presented a bleak picture to those who struggled down to the beach against the still howling gale. The first floor of the new clubhouse and all four walls of the second floor had been entirely swept away, leaving nothing but a skeleton standing on the piles. Nothing was saved from the wreck; most of it went down the river and over Niagara Falls—furniture, the contents of lockers, spars, sails, gear.
The members tried vainly to obtain a site on shore, but upon failing decided to rebuild the clubhouse on its old foundations. This decision was based on the word of the “oldest inhabitant” that such a storm could not possibly happen again.
But it did, just a year and four days later. On January 13th, 1890, another blow exceeding in violence, if possible, that of the year before tore out the entire lower structure of the clubhouse a second time!
In 1891 Frank B. Hower was elected Commodore. Hower went to work restoring the Club’s finances to a firm footing. The elements treated the BYC kindly in 1891 and inflicted no damage whatever on the clubhouse that winter. Optimism returned, and a janitor was installed in charge of the house—a luxury heretofore not indulged in. Following a successful season with many regattas sailed, Commodore Hower was reelected for 1892.
A FINAL CLUBHOUSE
In 1892 there was a noticeable shift away from participation in regattas in favor of a growing feminine influence within the Club. Accent was on short cruises and spins around the harbor and down the river with the ladies usually present. “Ladies Day” became a regular feature instead of an occasional special one. And the old, patched clubhouse began to appear inadequate for the gala social events coming into vogue.
At the annual meeting of 1893 a committee was established to formulate plans for a new clubhouse. Architect H. L. Campbell proceeded to draw plans for a clubhouse which would feature shower baths, ladies’ rooms, lounges, billiard room, manager’s office, cafe, a large dance floor, locker room and sail loft with an estimated cost of $10,000. The building which emerged—Clubhouse Five—is the same building we now occupy, albeit modified following the 1951 fire.
The site of the new clubhouse was east of the old clubhouse and in what is now the southeast corner of the basin. The clubhouse was set on piles in the same manner as the earlier clubhouses. The City of Buffalo agreed to build a new pier at the foot of Porter Avenue to which the Club would have access, and thus save them the expense of building one.
Buffalo Yacht Club’s new clubhouse made an impressive addition to the waterfront, and the Council and Parks Commissioners were delighted with such a magnificent structure. So pleased were they that they promised a great deal of assistance and assured the Club that no other buildings would be erected near the Club to spoil its location.
The “Gay Nineties” were in full swing and interest in yachting had developed to an extent hitherto unknown in the world. There were 24 yachts in the fleet, together with two naphtha launches and two steam yachts.
THE “Z” CRUISE OF THE CLUBHOUSE
Members were greatly surprised when the clubhouse was moved, because instead of being moved along the shore it was set due east, almost to the railroad tracks. This had a very depressing effect on the membership, since yachtsmen felt their clubhouse must be at the water’s edge at least.
After much negotiation, the City finally drove pilings in front of the wall at about the location of the present bridge to the outer wall of the basin. The clubhouse then set its course northwest and moved to this location.
Meanwhile, the City Council in going over its records had found that it was obligated to the BYC for the relinquishment of the State grant to the City, in addition to the several verbal agreements previously made.
In 1923, the Club secured a 30-year lease from the City for the present grounds. The lease further provided for the construction by the City of the docks, bridge, and marine railway. Our present facilities are thus the result of the Club’s having released to the City its New York State grant. It was at this time that the Club, in completion of its last leg of its “Z” course, came to rest in its present location. The final move came, quite obviously, as the result of the building of the present docks.
THE STORY OF THE FOOT OF PORTER AVENUE
The Club enjoyed a perpetual grant from the State of New York for “riparian rights” to occupy the offshore lands from Porter Avenue on the south to an extension of Connecticut Street on the north. Perpetuity is a long time and to the members this meant that as long as they could withstand the storms of Lake Erie they would have a satisfactory location for the clubhouse.
There came a time, however, when a typhoid epidemic broke loose in Buffalo with destructive force. To decrease the typhoid danger, the City decided to move its water intake from the Niagara River at the foot of Massachusetts Street to a site nearer the mouth of the Niagara River. They decided to locate the new pumping station just south of Porter Avenue in the area that is now LaSalle Park but at that time was a low, sandy bathing beach. In order to build the pumping station, Porter Avenue would be extended to the channel line, a wall built south along the channel line, and the area behind the wall filled in.
In the course of construction the location of the BYC was found to be at a “decided disadvantage to the City.” The Club was asked to move. Standing on its rights, it refused to move since it had undergone considerable expense in constructing its foundations and had the assurances from the City that it would not be molested. In attempting to force the issue the City found that it was occupying New York State lands and that the Naval Militia had a riparian grant extending northward to the line of Jersey Street.
The State of New York upheld the Club in its stand. At a 1909 meeting in Albany attended by the Lieutenant Governor, the Mayor of Buffalo, the Attorney General and the State Comptroller, it was decided that the State would not give a clear title to the City unless the City itself would move the Yacht Club to another site and provide equal foundations and facilities. The Yacht Club, in a generous and cooperative spirit, agreed to these conditions and, in addition, agreed to give the greater portion of its riparian rights on the north end toward Connecticut Street to the Naval Militia. The City, in turn, agreed to lease a portion of the land on shore to the Yacht Club at a nominal rent and to provide access to the clubhouse.
Everybody came home from Albany satisfied with the agreement. The City for its part proceeded to appropriate funds to carry out its part of the bargain. A resolution for the appropriation was duly passed by the lower house of the Common Council, but the upper house repudiated the verbal agreement, declaring it illegal, and refused to appropriate the necessary money to accomplish the task.
The work on the Colonel Ward Pumping Station was well under way and dredges were moved to such close proximity of the clubhouse as to endanger its foundations. The members became so agitated and concerned that several of them took it upon themselves to stand guard over the BYC property and even warned the captains of the dredges against damaging the clubhouse.
PURCHASE OF BUFFALO PROPERTY
For fifty years the existence of the lease at the Foot of Porter Avenue was a perennial source of concern. Although the Club acquired a fine facility it had no collateral value when it tried to mortgage the clubhouse to make capital improvements. Since the clubhouse was on City land the clubhouse was deemed unmortgageable, and the Club had to face the reality that all improvements would have to come from membership dues, assessments and private loans.
In 1950, with three years remaining on the original lease, Commodore George Miller renegotiated the lease for another thirty years—running up to 1983. The ideal solution would, of course, be to purchase the property, but the land had been dedicated for park purposes and could not be conveyed without specific legislation from the State of New York.
Finally in 1973 the Legislature in Albany authorized “the City of Buffalo, Erie County, to discontinue the use of certain lands therein acquired, reserved or designated by the city for municipal and park purposes and to sell and convey such lands to the Buffalo Yacht Club” and Commodore A.D. Palmer proceeded to complete the details with the City of Buffalo for purchase of the property.
Considerable maneuvering with the City occupied the next five years, and in 1978 under Commodore William Roche, the general membership agreed to changes in our Constitution that had previously precluded women from membership. They also approved at that time a memorandum of understanding with the City of Buffalo pertaining to the constitutionality of the Club’s membership policies. Passage of these two items paved the way for the City of Buffalo to finally sell the previously dedicated park land to the BYC. On April 26, 1978, Mayor James D. Griffin signed the documents selling the property to the Buffalo Yacht Club for $49,500. The 118-year old Club at last owned the land beneath its clubhouse!
The Fire of 1951
On Tuesday evening, November 13, 1951 the clubhouse was devastated by a major fire. Two dinner meetings were going on with about 200 guests when the fire broke out, assumed to have been started by careless smoking. All of the guests and employees were able to evacuate to safety, but over forty fire fighters and reservists from next door were injured fighting the blaze. When the fire was extinguished the top floor was gone. Club members, led by Mike Belinson, rebuilt the clubhouse the following spring to its present general appearance. The third deck ballroom was now the attic and the wide second deck veranda had been incorporated into the dining room which now occupied most of the second deck. The title of “Ship’s Husband” was created for Mike Belinson, and a tradition of Fire Nite Stag parties was started to comemmorate the recovery and the cameraderie it inspired.
Mary Openbottom
The idea of a Club bar in the shape of a boat originated with P/C Dan Kraft in early 1953 when he purchased a popular plywood cruiser hull made by Richardson Boat Company. The bottom half of the hull was cut away and the sides braced into the semblance of a boat in the bar room. Harry Smith, a regular bar and Club patron, personally engaged the services of an expert cabinetmaker and boat builder who worked on the bar for several months, crafting the teak decks, rails, under-bar cabinets and the Pilot House back bar. This work was all donated by Harry Smith, and several other parts were likewise donated by interested members. The bar was christened on October 10, 1953 by Vice-Commodore "Shorty" Holzworth and given the informal name of "Mary Openbottom".
The Sailor's Tables
According to P/C Charlie Obersheimer, his first recollections of the “Sailors’ Table” go back to when the House Committee reestablished dining room facilities in 1939. The stout 4’ x 12’ planked pine table had been discovered in the loft and carried down to the dining room. There had been no regular dining room service at least as far back as 1926 when P/C Obersheimer had become a member, although there had been several parties each year with food provided by outside caterers.
The original purpose for having the Sailors’ Table in the dining room was to provide a place for sailors and boatmen in sailing clothes to have dinner or luncheon without mingling with members who preferred dinner in a more formal manner.
There were many initials and dates carved into this table when it was restored to service, and a few of the initials could be recognized by the oldest members at that time.
The Sailors’ Table purpose has remained essential the same over the years, with the added function of being a place where a member or members could dine without reservations or preplanned parties. In a 1953 Binnacle one member was reported to have said, “If you want to get insulted . . . and by you best friends . . . sit at the sailors’ table.”
By 1974 the Sailors’ Table was enjoying such popularity – from increased luncheon activity and Friday night fish fries in particular – that is was always being “extended’ with several smaller tables. Why not, a member suggested, add a second Sailor’s Table to the original?
It was decided that a new table should be build and paid for by member contributions, the contributors each receiving a square foot of surface in which they could carve their own initials. The table was quickly subscribed.
The new 4’ x 12’ table, constructed by Connie Galus, made its appearance in 1974. Its hard birch surface, however, made it necessary to change the plan for adornment. After a prolonged delay in which other projects got priority, the table contributors were asked to present their inscriptions on paper instead of being allowed to “do their own thing” with a pocket knife. And finally in January and February 1976, John Hill and Jerry Stange layed out and routed the table.
When the engraved table appeared that spring, the immediate response for the “regulars” who hadn’t got in on the first table was that something had to be done now to the old Sailors’ Table to give them a square foot of identity. Always anxious for more contributions, a plan was developed by Jim Rhoads to resurface he old table and sell foot squares for engraving. This was subscribed as quickly as was the other table, but this time the press of other projects delayed the actual completion and engraving to the spring of 1979, when the routing of names was done by Jerry Stange.
It is interesting to look at the underside of the old table, where the old initials of bygone members still reside. During the tables, restoration, the least-historical side was bared to make room for the new engravings.
Point Abino
In 1902, Allan Holloway offered the Buffalo Yacht Club a beautiful piece of property at Point Abino, Ontario, Canada for the sum of $400 to pay off a mortgage on the property. For his generous gift, Mr. Holloway was elected to Life Membership in the Club.
The Point was void of houses except for the old Holloway house buried among the trees and a pier which extended out into the Bay from which Holloway shipped sand to Buffalo under the name of The Point Abino Sand Company. Another pier existed on the West Shore and was more often used for shipping as the sand there was more pure and more readily accessible.
The property offered the Buffalo Yacht Club was located on the side of a hill overgrown with trees and shrubs, and had a mule cart path running through it parallel to the water. South of the property on this road was the Holloway Chapel built in 1894. The pier on the south side of this property had a dummy railroad which was used to carry sand to be transferred to barges. A detached crib located south of the range light beyond the channel entrance was used to moor empty and loaded barges. When enough barges were filled they were hauled to Buffalo. The only access to the Canadian shore from Buffalo in those days was by water. There was no Peace Bridge, no need for roads.
Upon receiving the property a 50 x 40 foot frame clubhouse was constructed. The first floor consisted of a lounge, dining room, and kitchen, together with a caretaker’s quarters. The second floor was laid out for a dormitory. A veranda ran completely across one side. A windmill erected beside the house solved the problem of a water supply.
For the 1903 season a steward was engaged to take care of the sailors’ needs at the Point. The 1904 season opened with caretakers in charge, and by August the facilities could not accommodate the throngs of people wanting to stay overnight. With twenty to thirty people sleeping over, many had to sleep on the floor.
The need for a means to transport non-boat-owning members to the Point was addressed in the spring of 1905 by having a 54 foot long power yacht built at a cost $4000.00.
The Vayu, powered by a 60 horsepower engine was capable of driving 12 miles per hour. She could seat thirty people and was covered with a sun awning suspended on a pipe framework.
A 180-foot barge was sunk in front of the house for use as a landing spot for the Vayu.
Engine problems plagued the Vayu from the time it arrived in Buffalo in 1905 and within a year the Board of Directors suggested looking for a buyer for this power craft. The boat was sold in 1907 at a loss.
In August 1906 King Edward VII issued a special grant permitting the BYC to hold this property and gave the club riparian rights to a depth of six feet.
CREATION OF A BASIN
Harvey Holzworth, whose family summer home is two houses north of the BYC property, remembers Bob Heussler building the first docking facilities he saw at Point Abino in about 1935, about 60 - 100 feet of wooden section walkway dock over the cribs and the big cement blocks which remained from the old Point Abino Sand Company pier. According to the records, previous docks were built in 1924 and 1927.
The first channel was dredged by the short-lived Point Abino Yacht Club which pointed the way to future developments. It was dredged out into the lake from the drainage ditch alongside the Abino Hills Road. The Township had kept this dug out into the lake about 150 feet to keep the water draining, and the drag line would always throw the sand and muck to the south side, creating a filled in area to the eventual advantage of the BYC.
In 1938, Rear Commodore Charlie Obersheimer extended this channel out into the lake approximately another 500 to 700 feet, throwing all the sand and muck to the north side of the channel, and creating the semblance of a 30 foot by 80 foot basin. The original channel extended along the north bank of what is today "Monkey Island", and the channel was re-dug approximately every three years by "Old Man" Storm, who dug all the original channels in front of the summer homes along Point Abino Road. Mike, his son, was his helper and later took over the business his dad started.
In 1948 a wooden dock was added, but otherwise there was little change to the Club's Point Abino waterfront.
About 1960 it became apparent that more mooring space and docks would be needed, and talk centered on how nice it would be it we had a nice long, deep, permanent channel, one deep enough so that the keel sailboats could come in to moor ashore. A channel would have to be dredged to the north of the dock line, with the cribs protecting the channel from the seas coming in from the south. The ice and storms over the years had moved many of the big cement blocks, which used to sit on top of the Sand Company cribs into the line of the proposed channel. In 1961 Harvey Holzworth commandeered a bulldozer, a large railroad winch and his amphibious DUKW (World War II surplus) to drag these blocks out of the channel and in between the cribs. At the same time Commodore Fred Obersheimer located a quarry where the Club could trade sand for stone, and six hundred feet of stone pier were completed, the beginning of the berm as we know it today.
The dock for the 1961 summer season was constructed on pilings and formed a slip with the new berm to the south. Boats had to enter through the regular Abino channel (north) and then proceed into the new basin which dead-ended to the east. Since the berm offered the only walkway to the shore facilities, the first boat in was in the best position, and although the last boat to tie up was much closer to shore (which to him was made inaccessible by a stretch of water 12 feet wide), "the long,long walk" became part of Abino parlance of those late arriving skippers and their crews who had to make the trek to the shore facilities. However, water was piped to the docks and plug-in shore current was installed for use on the near docks.
Then, late in the fall of 1962, there was a good three days blow of strong northeast winds which held the water up the lake, and with the seasonal water level already low it resulted in the waterline receding out approximately to the end of our present berm, leaving mostly bare land out that far. When Harvey saw these rare conditions, he recognized a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity had presented itself for digging the new channel out into the lake. He quickly line up Mike Storm to get his dragline ready, and called Vice Commodore John Dooley to tell him that it was now or never. John gave him the go-ahead before the end of the day, and Mike Storm arrived with his dragline at the crack of dawn with the winds still holding strong northeast. Since Mike had dredged all the other channels, he knew where the soft spots were, and could feel the bottom as he moved the dragline far out into the lake. When he was several hundred feet beyond the present end of the berm in approximately four feet of water and with the water about an inch over the floor of the dragline's cab, he started digging. Mike had to dredge and throw enough dirt back to build an island that he could climb up onto and out of the water before the wind let up and the lake started to rise. He swung the dragline bucket every 30 seconds all day long, non-stop, until dusk. The wind was letting up and the water starting to rise. He turned on the flood lights of his machine and said, "I better get up on top of that island." He just made it in time. It was like an act of God, mother nature, and the fast moving of all concerned that enabled the critical phase of digging a new and permanent channel for the Point Abino Station -- and at such a low cost (Approximately $7000) and so far out into the lake!
The island with the dragline on top was far out beyond the end of the present berm, and as Mike kept digging, the island grew larger and higher, eventually reaching about 12 feet above the water.
After several weeks of dredging, there was a good freeze and the tall island of dirt froze to concrete hardness, requiring the use of dynamite to loosen it up. At this stage the island of dirt was about opposite the berm. It was at this stage that a second dragline started dredging along the berm, and three huge dump trucks, normally used in a rock quarry, were brought in to move the dirt ashore.
It was late December going into January, and the final phases of digging the new channel were moving full blast. Mother nature again lent a big helping hand by keeping the ground frozen hard. All the land from close to the road out to as far as the sand beach and north to the built-up land from the dredgings along the drainage ditch, was all muck, quicksand and cattails. With the three big dump trucks, two draglines, bulldozer and DUKW in operation, the swamp and cattail area was completely filled in. It was a sight to see -- all seven machines working at once -- but there was nobody there to see it.
Among the first boats to use the new facilities were a dozen deep draft cruising sailboats — the "Deeper than Five" group — whose owners paid for additional dredging and construction of docks along the berm for deep-draft sailboats in exchange for slip rental fees for for several years.
By 1965 there were 32 requests for permanent berths in the Abino basin, and by 1966 the number was up to 47. The channel was widened and fifteen finger slips were built to accommodate cruisers. The docking area along the berm was lengthened to accommodate 18 auxiliaries. Removable dock sections were constructed and used as stand-offs along the berm to keep the auxiliaries afloat in their slips. More rock was added to the berm. The wooden dock on the north was extended and a 'T' was added that could be used by small sailboats.
In the later 1960s about two feets of stone was added to the berm for elevation, and the one-design sailing area was completely redesigned with the development of a turnaround and a dry sailing trailer park for the forty one-design boats. A new hoist was obtained and installed.
Dredging continued annually through the late 60s and early 70s, and instead of hauling the dredged material away it was used to elevate the strip of land east of the road. The hope was to protect the property during flood conditions. The south shore end of the basin was dredged and squared off to facilitate the installation of more finger slips.
The need for a permanent solid berm was dramatized by another sudden storm. A bond drive for this purpose was started in 1970 and soon was pledged to $51,000.
Phase I of the Master Plan for development of the basin was started in 1972. Two hundred sixty feet of sheet piling were purchased and installed at a cost of $30,000, with a turnaround added at the end of the berm. The contractor was Buck Wamsley from Port Dover, builder of much of Port Dover's riverfront and known by many Club members.
The bonds sold in 1970 to install sheet piling on the berm were retired in 1975. Large stones were applied in an effort to minimize the annual winter erosion of the berm. The north dock and hoist area received some sprucing up and a crushed stone ramp was run to the hoist. Some dredging was done along the north dock to facilitate shallow draft cruisers. The north channel was cleared of reeds to allow easier access to the hoist by one-design boats, especially the Highlanders, which fleet was peaking out.
In January of 1977 the membership approved a $68,000 bond issue to continue the sheetpiling of the berm. By May, $61,500 in bonds had been sold and a St. Catherines firm started trenching and driving new sheetpiling from the 1972 cut-off to just short of the shore head, a distance of 500 feet. After capping the piling, it was tied back by steel rods to concrete "dead men" sunk into the berm. Heavy rock was added to the weather side of the berm to help resist erosion, and the berm was then resurfaced. Whereas the earlier sheetpiling had been financed by the sale of sand, the new bonds were to be repaid by a member assessment over the following ten years. (They were retired, however, in only eight years.)
In 1979 the Club was cited for dredging without authorization as the dock pilings were being "jetted" in place for the upcoming season. "The perch were spawning in the basin," we were told. This unexpected event led to a "Catch-22" predicament: under an amendment to the Fisheries Act formulated in 1977 and put on the books in 1978, no one would be allowed to disturb the fish habitat without permission. For a period of a month thereafter no representative of Fisheries in Environment Canada in Ottawa, nor of the Ministry of Natural Resources in Toronto or Fonthill, would accept the responsibility for issuing such permission. Each declared that it was the other's domain. Finally, through the good offices of Earle Blackadder, our Canadian barrister, the signature of a somewhat-removed official was obtained, allowing us to continue the preparation of the basin. The BYC must have been the first body cited under this amendment since to that point no other party had ever been granted permission to dredge. Since that time it has always been necessary to plan dredging and dock installation well in advance so permission could be appropriately obtained.
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