The PYC was weaved into the fabric of my life and the lives of my three siblings, starting at a very early age. Our grandmother, Hazel Sayers Loy, grew up in Pentwater as part of a large family. After she graduated from Pentwater High School and moved to Chicago in the early 1920s, she returned to the village regularly to visit friends and family. She had a simple dream as a young adult. She knew she wanted to someday start a family, and to someday own a summer cottage in Pentwater.

After Hazel’s marriage to my grandfather, Robert Loy (Commodore 1940), in 1923, they knew finances were tight, but they found a way to start a savings account for a summer cottage in Pentwater. Living in a small apartment in Rensselaer, Indiana at the time, 1934 became a year of huge milestones for my grandparents. First, they were fortunate to adopt an infant that would become their only child (my mother- Marjorie Loy DiPangrazio), and second, they purchased a lot on Channel Lane to locate their summer cottage. Once construction of the cottage was completed in 1935, Hazel and Marjorie began spending their summers in Pentwater, while Robert was limited to frequent trips and shorter stays with them during the summer months.

The story we always heard regarding formation of the PYC was that back in the early days of their summer cottage, my grandparents were part of a group of close friends in Pentwater who often celebrated together at each other’s homes and cottages. In viewing the many old photographs from their collection, it was clear this group of people knew how to have a good time in style. As much fun as they were having, they collectively realized that a larger venue was needed for them to gather and throw parties.

My great grandfather owned a local coal and ice business in Pentwater at the time, and he was well connected with other business owners in the village. When the potato warehouse that sat directly on Pentwater Lake became available for purchase, my grandparents and great-grandparents became part of the group that became PYC charter members in 1937. It is the same PYC structure that stands today. A building that has enabled countless happy memories for summer residents of Pentwater, and for their visiting families over the years.

Lacking the understanding of just how special a place it would eventually become to us, my siblings and I would often laugh at how much our grandmother loved Pentwater and the PYC. We actually have old home movies of our grandmother visiting our house at Christmas, and standing on our stairway while modeling the formal gown she planned to wear to next summer’s ’Brass Hat Formal’ dance at the PYC. We have since come to appreciate how great a legacy Hazel left us, and her love for the PYC has been duplicated many times across the generations of our family.

As small children, our grandmother’s summer cottage in Pentwater was the annual vacation destination for our family. I can remember meeting new friends on the beach, and then playing with them in the ‘kids room’ at the PYC whenever my grandparents would take us there. Most especially, we always looked forward to our Thursday night dinner visits to the PYC, and being introduced to all of our grandparent’s friends there, followed by taking the short walk across the parking lot to experience the magical Pentwater Band Concert. Today, those kids we played with on the beach, and at the band concert, and at the PYC, are some of the best friends we have in the world!

My parents retired to Pentwater in the late 80’s, and they became active members of the PYC. The Thursday night ritual described above was repeated with their children and grandchildren, and I can’t describe how great it was to have been part of that with my own children. They now have so many great memories of Pentwater that they associate with the many great times at the PYC, and I believe it is their dream to someday repeat it with their own children.

I didn’t realize as a young person how lucky I was to have been born into an extended Pentwater family. I didn’t come to fully appreciate until I was an adult, how great and magical a place Pentwater was, and the role the PYC played in creating all of those great memories. This is a legacy that I hope my children are able to repeat with their children and grandchildren, just like my parents and grandparents did. The new PYC structure is key to continuation of this legacy into the future. While there will be a large price tag associated with the new building, I can assure you the memories enabled by it will be priceless! 

Back in the 60’s my dad’s best friend Ken Matheson introduced Pentwater to my parents Dr. Ed and Kay Ferens. We started vacationing there soon after and stayed in the Nickerson Inn for a couple weeks every summer for two or three years. My mom, dad and 6 kids all stayed there, ate breakfast and dinner in the dining room every day and happily hung out at the beach all day long snacking on junk from the Park Store.

In 1968 or 69 my parents bought the old Victorian home at the corner of Lowell and Wythe. It was then that we started to spend our summers in Pentwater.

My parents were members of the Yacht Club and would enjoy many events there, mostly on the weekends. They had a large group of friends from the Matheson’s and Squires to the Richmond’s and more.

My Aunt and Uncle, Ed and Helen Deward bought a home in Pentwater soon after my parents did joining in all of the fun at the beach, in town and the Yacht Club.

Around 1980 my parents divorced and my mom sold the old Victorian home. My dad subsequently purchased the Wilson home on the corner of Carroll and Concord. This is where Robert and I now call our home away from home. 

I introduced Robert to Pentwater in the mid-eighties and he fell in love. From that point forward we have hosted many Ferens family reunions, Shaver family vacations and groups of friends in our home. We hope this tradition will continue with our kids and grandkids.

My parents and my aunt and uncle are no longer with us but my brother John and his wife Donna own a home in the village as do my three cousins. And just recently, some of Robert’s family just bought a home in town. 

Over the years friends and family have enjoyed countless lunches, cocktails, dinners and just sitting out looking at the water from the blue chairs on the yacht club deck. The view simply cannot be beat! I miss having lunches there with my dad, just he and I. Now I am happy to say, I enjoy an occasional meal there with Ken Matheson (the guy who started it all).

Alina Ferens Shaver

In the late 1920s, my great grandmother and great grandfather visited Pentwater for the first time and almost instantly fell in love with Pentwater. Only a few years after their first visit they built their cottage on the channel. They were the first in my family to join the Pentwater Yacht Club and I’m now the fourth generation PYC member to keep this legacy alive.

Legacy is not a word I use lightly. The PYC was a very important place to my grandparents and they made sure I knew of its importance even when I was young. I have memories of my grandpa trying to hurry us along, when I was a little girl, to make it in time to the potluck dinners on Thursday. He wanted to make sure we didn’t miss our helping, even though I was more excited to dance at the band concert after the dinner. Memories of several family reunion dinners at the PYC with memorable toasts and poems recited. It wasn’t until a few years later I took the Junior Sailing Camp at the Yacht club which I was so excited for because then I could learn to sail just like my Grandpa. My grandmother and I also shared so many meaningful conversations out on the deck of the Yacht Club. I would listen intently as she shared stories of her mother, my namesake, and pointed to her favorite fishing hole only a few yards away. I will forever feel blessed that we were able to have a service celebrating her life on that same porch where I shared so many memories.

These memories and so many others are the reason my husband and I joined the Pentwater Yacht Club this year! Not just because we want to remember them, but because we want to make new memories and hope that the next generation learn about our family’s PYC legacy from their grandparents as I once did.

We are excited for this new PYC structure because we know much like the history of the current building, the new structure will be a fertile place to make new memories. The traditions, the boat races, the nights of endless fun were not bound to the four walls of the PYC. It was the laughter and love that flowed out of its windows, that has resonated with me and my family throughout the generations. We look forward to investing into a long lasting structure that will one day be the place our next generation can walk in the steps of their great great grandparents. The best memories we have at the PYC are with the ones we love. We look forward to more space to enjoy a happy hour, watch the sunset, board our boat, and dance the night away. As my husband and I were planning events surrounding our wedding we hoped that we could host an event at the PYC but unfortunately the size and restrictions would not allow it. We are excited for a larger yacht club and know the memories made and celebrations in its space will be endless. 

My parents Bob and Betty Whitehead purchased the Acorn, 35 Channel Lane, in 1954 in Pentwater. My father was an attorney in Kokomo, Indiana where I grew up with my sister Susan.  However, my sister, mother and I spent most summers in Pentwater with my father joining us as much time as possible.  In the early 1960’s my parents joined the Pentwater Yacht Club. I learned to sail in Lightning sailboats on Pentwater Lake through the PYC. Every Thursday evening in the summer we would attend the PYC dinners that were followed by the Band Concert.  My father used to say sitting on the PYC deck looking over to the Band Concerts on Thursday evenings was like looking at a Norman Rockwell painting.

Our daughter Molly also learned to sail through the PYC “Sail Days” as a young child.  She also enjoyed playing in the “Kids Room” and now our grandson Michael has spent much time in that room too.  We have been able to celebrate many family events there including birthdays and activities that we celebrated at the club in conjunction with our son Jason’s wedding on the Channel in 2018.

As many of us have done who have cottages in Pentwater, husband John and I have had to remodel our places to make them safe and viable for modern times.  This has enabled us to secure the joy of spending time in Pentwater for future generations.  This new building proposal would do the same for the PYC members and families.

My family and I arrived in Pentwater in the summer of 1960 ... appointed as superintendent of schools in Pentwater…..it was recommended by Georgia Lites, the president of my board that joining the Pentwater Yacht Club would be a good  "idea" for my career.  With my wife Gail and my two pre-teen boys, we soon found ourselves caught up in the activities and camaraderie of the club.  

The Pentwater Yacht Club gave us friends, involvement in the village activities and an opportunity to give back our time by participating in the numerous volunteer activities available to all of us. I already was involved in sailing having raced in the offshore St Clair fleet in Detroit. It was the beginning of a long and rewarding hobby with the club.  

Racing in the offshore fleet, the Ensign fleet, the Sunfish fleet, and early on... the Lightning fleet, I gained my Coast Guard license, skippered a 12 Meter that was based in town and bought Condor. 

During the period of time that the Northern Light  U.S. 14, sailed out of Pentwater , the PYC board was very supportive to use the club as a training vehicle for many of the late teens, early 20 year old junior members of the club in competitive sailing.   Dave Andrae, the owner of the "Light", supported the Club use of the boat, which gave the Club recognition throughout the Great Lakes…. it had a reputation as the "Kiddy 12" in Great lakes racing. During that time members of PYC organized and sponsored the "Back From the Mac", a premier party for Great lakes sailors.  

Sailors from PYC also develop skills that resulted in victory flags in local and Mackinaw races.  Sailors from the club were recognized with sailing awards from national and local sailing organizations.  It is my pleasure to recognize the influence of our club the "art" of sailing. Volunteer activities are the rule at the club and there is a volunteer position for everyone. Our family over the years has sponsored dinners, volunteered in racing events, and represented the position of Secretary,  Board, working our way to represent the club as Commodore. 

Ron and I joined the PYC in 2011 and have made many great friends, like the five in the above photo who we probably wouldn’t have met.  How fortunate so many of our members are to have a long legacy at PYC!  The history of our club is rich and deep.  I’m writing our chapter to say how envious we are, and how much we are enjoying reading the stories from those members.

Many members, like us, have joined in recent years (half of our membership is new in the last 10 years) and don’t necessarily have roots in the Club or even in Pentwater.  But for all of us, our love of and commitment to PYC and the community is just as strong.  

Ron and I have a very small family, we came to Pentwater looking for a place to put down roots and to contribute.  We found it, and the Yacht Club is at the center!  Be the Commodore???  Not in my wildest imagination!  But Commodore I became and what a wonderful experience!  Amazing people from many backgrounds who are devoted to sharing.  PYC is a place where you can immerse yourself or just come to relax.  You can learn to sail or just enjoy the view and a drink with friends.  Either way you are part of a community and you can write your own chapter.  

Whether you are new to the Club or a long-time member, you can write YOUR next chapter for YOUR family.  As our new building becomes part of the future, your kids will be writing their memories about when mom and dad discovered the PYC!

Both our grandparents came from the Chicago area in 1917 & 1918 and bought property and summered here every year thereafter. 

Ted and I met here, dated and married in 1964. We did a lot of canoeing and  went for vacation trips to the U.P. and the Canadian Boundary Waters and the surrounding rivers here in Michigan. We had a 1963 Split-window Stingray and Ted built a rack for the canoe and we towed a VW — a strange sight to behold. 

One year I gave Ted a sail kit for the canoe as a birthday present and we  certainly had lots of experiences with it. One time we tipped over right in front of the public marina on a Sat. evening when boaters moored there were having  cocktails on their yachts…needless to say, we had everyone looking and laughing as we paddled away with a canoe low in the water and a sail up.  

Our next boat was a Hobie Cat 16’ and that was thrilling…a lot faster than the canoe and had many years of fun on that one. We used to try and keep up with  the Northern Light out in the big lake, but they would tighten up their sails and  leave us way behind. 

We joined PYC in 1976 and Joan got a Sunfish and raced several times a week.  By that time Joan was up here all summer and Ted going back and forth on weekends. Joan would do exercises to strengthen her abs and back so she could hang out on the boat and get a little more speed with the sail way out and keep the boat level. From there she progressed to crewing on Lightenings, Off Shore races and Ensigns. Oh, it was sooo much fun.  

We chaired a Thursday night “Bohemian Dinner” for many, many years with Ted  bringing dumplings and Bohemian rye bread from Chicago and getting the meat and the rest of the fixings through the Club. Those were good times doing the dinner and meeting new people.  

For a few years Ted would bring his big tractor into town and help put in and  take out the docks (when he had more time here). He made the Burgee boards and the sail boat lamps from Dave Peterhans designs and helped Gene Davidson put in the Yellow Bird Boat Crane and worked w/Tom Sturr and Jack  Patterson in the making of the Jin pole mast lift for the dock (when he could take time away from building our home.) 

A few in the family were past commodores and now there are about 14 family properties in Pentwater. Ted jokes that if he could get them all to vote for him he could be mayor of Pentwater!!!  

Many, many years of fun times, AND, hopefully, still more to come with the new building and making more new friends.

1975 ...group of young couples  joined PYC...it turned out to be a most wonderful adventure for all of us and as most of us were learning to sail for the first time.  A most perfect evening, I can recall , was just before sunset  that we met and looked over the situation for us "beginners". Probably not a good idea to go too far from the dock and down the lake. ... might have to help each other out in simple things like

"How do I turn this around ?”

“I'm not moving at all now...what do I do ?”

“I'm going in the wrong direction...any ideas anyone?" .  

As the first boats got into the water, they realized the nice easy wind was great  going away from the dock.... and then  we discovered if we went across from PYC  and turned the sail...there was a different nice breeze coming off the channel... "wow... how much fun!! "  We could go back and forth without much effort  and  so that's what we did for at least 45 min. I think. 

It was like being on a special ride at  Disney World. ?  We laughed and sometimes "directions" were shouted out as a sunfish had a little trouble and headed in a different direction. We were all HOOKED WITH SAILIN', for certain, that night . The most wonderful part of this story is that we ALL became very best of friends and helped each other not only when sailing the sunfish but sailing through life in sometimes heavy winds and storms. 

If you would like Dianne to email you an .mp3 file with her song, please email her at dibaker@aol.com.

My father, George Roth, was a pilot for United Airlines, and when United’s base was moved from Metro Detroit to Chicago’s O’Hare airport we had to move.  My parents scouted the west side of Michigan, and decided Pentwater was the place to be.  They bought a piece of property on the Big Bayou where dad knew he could anchor his Pearson 32’ and sail anywhere around the world from.  He was not interested in moving to another big city, as he was soon to retire, so he commuted to GR, hopped a flight to Chicago and then flew his scheduled flights.   

My first view of Pentwater came when I was fourteen.  My father, brother and I sailed our boat from Port Huron, around the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, and into the Pentwater channel late May of 1966.  Of course the PYC was the first building I saw on the water’s edge while I looked down that channel.  Little did I know that building would host some of the best events of my life!!  Pentwater at that time had every amenity one needed to live except a hospital and airport.  It was a true hidden gem of a village.

I became very involved with the Club when my parents joined in 1967.  My brother and I shared our Sunfish, and together we won the first Sunfish Jr. Club Championship in 1969.  All five of my siblings have raced Sunfish here.  I also raced Lightings, crewing on Wes McMullen’s boat.  In 1968 my father saw a need for a Sunfish sailboat franchise since there started to be quite a demand for the boats.  We started Lakeside Boat Sales, and for the first three years I ran it alone selling the boats, renting them, and teaching sailing.  It paid for college, and it kept me busy.  The Sunfish fleet at PYC grew to involve an A & B junior fleet, a men’s, women’s, and open fleet.  The majority of the Sunfish were purchased from our business. I spent my teen years helping with events at the Club, attending the Wednesday night teen dances and racing my Sunfish.  I was enlightened with my very first kiss after one of those dances under the big old willow tree that was at the south end of the parking lot.  It was a sad day for me when that tree was removed.  For many years the Club offered Pentwater High School the use of the building for their proms, and I enjoyed helping decorate, setting up, and attending the proms there.  It was like a fancy night out compared to a High School gym.  After High School I was a cocktail waitress for the Saturday night adult dances, from which I have many wild and funny stories to tell.  My father was usually one of the instigators involved in them. (Obviously the nut doesn’t fall far from the tree.)  In March of 1979 I moved to Colorado.  

As much as the mountains are my happy place the calling of the lake was stronger, and I moved back to Pentwater in June of 1985.  That summer I helped bartend evenings at the Club, and purchased a Custom Canvas business which I continued to operate in Pentwater for thirty years.  Over that time I volunteered my sewing talents to the Club to make the blue trim entrance awnings, the existing interior window valance box covers, repaired the south deck awning after a storm tore it apart, and numerous sail repairs for various members after some high wind races.  I had not been back in town for more than a week when I was asked to crew on an offshore sailboat racing at the Club.  I met Bill Bainton that summer too.  He lived on his sailboat “Sunflight” at Snug Harbor, and was also racing it at the Club.  Matter of fact “Sunflight” has been docking on the front dock of the club, and racing offshore, longer than any other boat currently here.  Bill and I married in Pentwater the following summer, and at that time the Club did not open full-time until the third Saturday in June, so we were able to have our reception there the Friday night before opening.   We realized that the majority of our friends were from my previous years at the club, and Bill’s having been a member since 1979.  The guest list was easy, they were almost all the same people! 

Bill & I have hosted over 20 PYC Thursday dinners, numerous special events, organized Sail Daze for many years, served on numerous committees, ran the Junior racing fleet and their activities, and both had our debut as fashion models at the Club. Obviously that debut was not a career changer for either of us, but great fun!  I was a board member for two years, and then treasurer for six years.  Bill was also a board member, and Commodore in 2001.   My mother, Lynn Roth, was also secretary of the Club for four years in the late seventies.  Our children, Marti and Mike, worked various jobs at the Club, and taught private sailing lessons on their Sunfish that we kept on the Club “beach”.  The PYC has always been like a second home to us.  Our kids would often say, “If mom and dad aren’t home go check the club.”

One of my greatest joys besides the many activities and volunteering at the Club, was my twenty years running the Pentwater Junior Sailing Program.  The program’s start was supported by the members of PYC, and sailed from the Club property for several years until moving to its new location for safety reasons.  Bill came on board to help in 2007 when we both retired from the Chelsea School District, and moved to our home in Pentwater permanently. (All twelve months!) 

Over the years I have made the majority of my close friends through being involved in the Club, and this is by far the most heartfelt aspect for me, and Bill too.  Some sail, some have fishing boats, or just a fun boat, and some have no boat at all.  Some play cards, some dine, and some just come to enjoy the view.  But best of all the Club has provided a place where we can all gather in mutual friendship, and enjoy one of the most cherished views in town.  Many years ago I came up with the phase “the Pentwater Yacht Club is my lake front property” when the board was trying to sell a dues increase of $15.00 to the membership.  For those of us who are not so fortunate as to live on the water the Pentwater Yacht Club is definitely the best real-estate deal in town! 

“Hey, let’s get one of those new Sunfish boats!”, said everyone in the 70’s. This is how it all started for us. The trendy boats were all the rage, and the Pentwater Yacht Club, well, that was the perfect venue. Yes, I did learn to sail in those days, but I ended up with so much more. I acquired lifelong friends.

My siblings and I, along with our Pentwater summer gang, participated in the PYC Jr. sailing program. Now, sailing the sunfish was so easy in those days. Your boat was left on a rack, on the sandy shore of the club. You would simply jump on your boat and paddle it around to the dock, where you would hoist the sail and prepare for the day on the water. Saturdays at the club were Race Days. On those days, you would find all the sunfishes lined up in a row, at the dock and ready to go. While you waited to take the boat out, you would cut up and goof around with the day’s competition.

Although these sailing Saturdays are a great memory for us all (at least the details that remain in our now middle-aged foggy heads!), it is the Homecoming races, the “Sail Daze”, that we remember the most. The PYC would conduct races like “Turtle” (tip your boat before you crossed the finish line) and “Backward” (cross the finish line backwards), plus “Obstacle Course”, “Partner Switch”, “Crazy Hat” and Pajama”, (rules all self-explanatory).

There was also the every-popular “Drop Your Partner Off on Shore, Only to Retrieve Them Before Finishing” event. Win or lose, the races were a blast, though, of course, winning was an added bonus.

Today, when we recall these PYC memories, we all agree that we had a wonderful childhood and that the Pentwater Yacht Club will always be a special place to us. I hope that these same opportunities will be continued for generations to come. We look forward both to seeing the bright future of the PYC’s unfold, and to continuing to make new friends along the way.

In the 70’s our family bought a little Sunfish, joined the Pentwater Yacht Club and found fellow sailors who have become friends for life.

Larry and Anne Konopka joined the PYC in the mid 1970’s.  This continued a long family tradition. Larry’s maternal grandparents Will and Florence Kappler were charter members of the club in 1935.  Larry’s parents Barney and Janet Konopka were active members from the mid 1940’s to the mid 1970’s.  

Larry remembers growing up in the club in the 1940’s and 1950’s.  There was a Junior Yacht Club then complete with Junior Officers.  Then dances and watersports were very popular and there were many junior members; no dues required.

Anne and Larry very much enjoyed the PYC in the 1970’s and 80’s.  They remember well the Thursday night dinners followed by the Civic Band concerts on the Village Green.  The Elwin Kent annual chicken dinner was a highlight.  There were dances or parties almost every Saturday night.  The Toga Party and Oldies Dance Party (which they co-sponsored) were very well attended, especially by the many younger members.  Perhaps the free keg beer and hot dogs accounted for the large turn-out!

There were two formal events each season; the Brass Hat and the Commodore’s Ball.  The Fashion Show was a big event (Anne modeled occasionally).  The PYC Sunfish Sailing Program was in full swing, thanks to the efforts and stewardship of the George Roth family. The Lightning Fleet was on the wane but off-shore racing was growing in participation.  Finding PYC Stewards and staff each year was a challenge and the food program was nowhere near today’s standards!  All in all however, it was a great time to be PYC members.   

“Catch a wave and you’re sitting on top of the world.” As a teenager in the 1960s, song lyrics like those from a Beach Boys’ song romanticized California surfing communities. I never went to California in the 60s, so I don’t know firsthand. To me, Pentwater, with its beach, sparkling great lake, waves, boats of many sizes, sunsets on the horizon, campfires on the beach in the evening, was just as magical.  

The Beach Boys songs were not the only music that imprinted the feeling of summer fun in us. It was a time of the greatest hits of groups like The Beatles, The Temptations, The Rolling Stones, Diana Ross and the Supremes, The Doors, Aretha Franklin, Dave Clark Five…. I could go on naming groups whose songs became so familiar that they still go through my head today. 

While that music conjures up memories of how much fun it was to be in Pentwater in the summers as a teenager, that era’s music’s connection with PYC holds a special place in my memories also. On Wednesday nights there were dances for teenagers at the yacht club. Neither you nor your parents had to be members of PYC in order for you to attend, and there was just a small price of perhaps one dollar for entry. 

So, most Wednesdays in the summer my friends Nora Lentz and Susan McVie, PYC member Susan Tolbert now, (Susan and I had played together on the beach since we were little girls because our grandmothers were close friends and neighbors on Channel Lane), got dressed up in our best Bermuda shorts and Lacoste polo shirts and went to the dances. I remember a couple of times Rick Pearce and my cousin, Lee Murray joined us. 

In addition to the music, the best part of those dances was the PYC building itself. The stronger the beat of the song to which the people were dancing, the more the PYC building floor bounced with the music. Whether you were actually out on the dance floor or sitting on the sidelines, you could feel like you were dancing because the whole yacht building was dancing with the beat of the wonderful music of that time.

In the 1990’s Jay C. Petter was the only industrialist in the Village of Pentwater. He owned the Pentwater Wire Works.

Jay and Betty Petter had been early members of the Yacht Club, but overtime they had allowed their membership to lapse. Jay and I were good friends and when he decided to rejoin he asked that I sponsor him. I was pleased to do so.

Jay had a boat that he used for fishing. He had purchased the boat from an industrial service company in Muskegon. The hull of the boat was steel. It was 45’ long and 16’ wide. It was originally built to ferry Lake Michigan workers to and from a site. I deemed it the ugliest boat I had ever seen!

After Jay’s purchase of the boat he proceeded to “fix it up.” He cobbled an 8’ by 8’ plywood appendage on the bow, and, cut a square hold in the plywood so he could see! He painted it green. Now this all steel utility boat could have definitely won the prize for being the homeliest on the Great Lakes.

In those days new members were asked to parade their boats by the Yacht Club for a Commodore Review. After seeing Jay’s boat, I suggested to Jay that he not show his boat to the Commodores, or to any of the other flag officers! I was truly concerned that his application would be denied. I urged Jay that if he were to cruise up Lake Michigan and “put in” at one of those toney yacht clubs, that he not tell them that he was a member “in good standing” of the Pentwater Yacht Club. If they were to see Jay’s boat I was afraid they would possibly move to cancel our reciprocal and may even move to cancel our Charter as a member of the Yachting Club of America. THIS WAS ONE UGLY BOAT!

Jay was a wonderful guy and loved our yacht club. He and I and his captain, Bill Glover, shared many a wonderful day fishing the lake.

I forgot the name of Jay’s boat - if it wasn’t named “UGLY” it should have been.

As it turned out all my fears were ungrounded. Jay and his boat were admitted.

Side bar:

The crew in Muskegon where Jay had purchased the boat forgot to insert a “plug” In the hull. All was well after the Coast Guard was dispatched and rescued Captain Bill. It may have been a better result if they had just let it sink. 

Tom and I have belonged to the PYC for many years, as my parents did before us, and when I was asked to write something about our memories of the PYC I had a terrible time thinking of only one…..there have been so many through the years.

I have included a photo of a favorite one of those many fond memories.

There was a bench on the south end of the dock. Before the tent, before the deck furniture …. We would sit on that bench and cheer, encourage, support the sailors that were on the lake doing their “thing”. It could have been the sunfish sailors (the Lady Sailors or the Junior Sailors) or the Lightening sailors…not sure, we were supportive of any and all of the fleets. Tom was taking photos to document the occasion and Liz Peterhans was graciously instructing us all how to sit properly for the shot. Hence… the perfect posture! Shoulders back. Hands clasped. Genuine smile. You will notice not ALL of us were co-operating but we were sure having fun trying. This photo sits on a shelf in our kitchen and reminds me every time I pass it of the friendships, the love and the joy filled moments that so many of us have experienced there through the years……and will thankfully continue to experience for years to come.

Pentwater Yacht Club’s first official ”Back from the Mac” party was in 2000, founded by PYC members Jack Patterson and Janet Webber. Jack had a legendary relationship with the Chicago sailing community. He ran a marina service there, and had sailed at least 20 Mac races himself. Janet worked for a Chicago ad agency, and had many sailing friends at Columbia Yacht Club, just blocks from her office. She made sure a PYC burgee always hung in their club’s bar. 

So, here’s the story…In 1999, on a Friday evening after the Mac race, there were about 7 race boats rafted off our dock for an overnight stop. A few guitars magically appeared from below, and cold beer and rum drinks were being served by our club. When the club finally turned off the dock lights at midnight, flashlights and lanterns appeared. Sailors are always prepared :). It was a great impromptu mix of visiting crew and PYC members. A collective thought was mentioned, “Why not make it an official party next year for returning Mac boats? After all, Pentwater is halfway back from Mackinac Island.”

The next year, (well before social media ) word was spread to all yacht clubs participating in the Mac, posters were hung, lots of food and rum was ordered, T-shirts designed. In 2000 “Back from the Mac” became the “party after the party”!  That first year we had 18 visiting race boats. Goose Island offered to sponsor our beer. Honk!  By our record year, we had over 50 Mac boats visit; 38 boats rafted off the club dock, later arrivals had to find space at other marinas, and a few anchored out.  Skippers and crew loved our Pentwater YC hospitality, and named us ”The Blue Chair Lounge”.  Great food, great music, and super fun.

Jack and Janet continued to chair the “Back from the Mac” for 10 years. In 2010, Mike and Marsha LaHaye and daughter Laura, stepped up to chair the party for many years following. And Larry Kwiat, a long time member of Columbia Yacht Club, and an “Island Goat” has volunteered to be our DockMaster for all 20+ years. Thank you! 

Jordan Aebig, as PYC club manager, is now leading the event, with help from an army of member volunteers, our great PYC staff and Pentwater community. Please volunteer if you can.  It takes a village 😊