Escanaba Yacht Club celebrates 90 years of success | News, Sports, Jobs

RR Branstrom | Daily Press Sailboats jockey for position before the start of the Escanaba Yacht Club’s third race of the season on June 19.

ESCANABA – 90 years ago, a passionate group with shared interests came together to organize events and improve Escanaba’s recreational boating environment. Today, the harbor, marina and waterfront clubhouse are representative of their accomplishments.

Before the founding of the Escanaba Yacht Club (EYC) and the efforts of men like John Mitchell – sailor and speaker whose tenacity led a reporter to call him “the spark plug” of the EYC – and Art Aronson – sailor, engineer and city administrator who hatched the plans – the shores of Escanaba were not exactly inviting for pleasure boats.

“It was necessary to drive through the northwestern shipyards and walk through ankle-deep sand mixed with soot and ash. The boats, sails and ropes were always black from coal dust,” says a yellowed newspaper clipping. “Many Great Lakes sailors wanted to visit Escanaba, but were discouraged due to a lack of facilities.”

And yet visitors today make comments like: “Escanaba has such a beautiful natural harbor,” without realizing that its creation was anything but a happy coincidence.

In the 1920s, sailing became a popular sport again after a period in which sailors who had previously been forced to rely on wind power enjoyed the adaptation of gasoline engines for small boats.

In 1928, John J. Mitchell of Escanaba purchased a boat in Sister Bay, Door County, Wisconsin, brought it back to Escanaba and renamed the sloop “Spirit.”

According to a story compiled by Mitchell himself, Ghost and others sailed from Escanaba to Manistique, Beaver Island, and around Green Bay. They met sailors in Door County, particularly around Ephraim and Fish Creek, and began participating in sailing races in Ephraim and Menominee in the early 1930s.

“Until 1934, we owned a number of sailing boats here and in Gladstone, despite (or because of) the Great Depression, which gave us all a lot of free time and little money,” Mitchell wrote.

And yet those few boats from Escanaba had to contend with the conditions mentioned above – docked at a dirty slipway next to an ore dock and constantly battling coal dust, soot and ash – so it makes sense that they spent so much time on Washington Island.

But in August 1934, the group decided to hold a fall regatta (race) in Escanaba on Labor Day weekend and make it an annual event.

The first race, held on Sunday 2 September, was well attended and eventful: one vessel capsized while attempting to tack around a buoy, and three others – a spectator vessel and two lifeboats – became stuck on the wreck of the Nahant, a cargo steamer that burned in 1897 and whose remains still lie off Sand Point. Today it is a popular diving site and marked by a green buoy, but that was not the case in 1934, when water levels were low and excitement about the race was high.

On October 15 of that year, the core group of Escanaba boating enthusiasts met at the offices of the Sawyer-Stoll Timber Company with the goal of forming a yacht club. John Mitchell and Jack Erickson agreed to draft a charter, which was presented the following week.

On October 22, 1934, the charter was adopted and the Escanaba Yacht Club was officially founded. Board members were Fred Royce, John Mitchell and Jack Erickson.

Between the ruins of Ore Dock No. 4 and the C. Weiss Coal Dock, the boatmen paved a section of railroad line on which they carted the boats from the ore dock to a yard during the off-season, and called it the Escanaba Marine Railway. Ed J. Vignette, Bert Jacobsen, “Jigs” Those responsible for the project included Jacobsen, Sam Wichman, Clarence Falk and Emerson Kidd.

The marine railway worked, but like the coal-covered slipway, it was not ideal. What was needed was a harbor on the south side of Sand Point, away from the ore docks.

In 1936, such a project began, with Art Aronson being considered the visionary behind it.

Through the efforts of the Works Progress Administration and the City of Escanaba, a channel was dug south of Sand Point. A slightly curved island was formed beneath it to protect the new harbor. It was called Sand Island, now known as Aronson Island. The harbor has never needed to be dredged since then.

It took a few years to complete, but in anticipation of what would become their new marina, boaters began using the waters there as an anchorage. Clarence Falk became the first harbormaster and painted “HARBOUR POLICE” on the bow of his motorboat.

In the late 1930s and early 1940s, a fleet of Seagull sailboats was established in Escanaba. The Gulls became numerous enough to have their own racing class, racing weekly in Escanaba and competing in championship races with others from the Green Bay area.

In 1942, the Coast Guard Temporary Reserve was formed to protect the ore docks during the war. It initially consisted of men from the EYC, but more were soon added.

Since its inception, the EYC has been a member of the Lake Michigan Yachting Association, which governs the rules on the water and also promotes communication among members. As word spread that Escanaba finally had suitable accommodations for its own and outside boaters, traffic increased.

“More than sixty yachts visited Escanaba Yacht Harbor during the 1939 season, bringing with them about 400 people, which is quite an event in itself,” reads a news article from 1940.

Many of these visitors stayed for a week at a time – a real boon to the city’s economy, considering that only five years earlier hardly any out-of-town sailor had dared to dock in Escanaba.

In 1948, construction began on a clubhouse. However, it turned out that all those who had pledged money were not enough, so the project had to be put on hold for a few years. In 1950, Les Wentworth took up the project again and after a series of work sessions, the clubhouse was completed. In 1955, a verandah was added.

In the late 1950s and 1960s, the club and the harbor were a hive of activity. In addition to motorboats, large sailing boats such as Charles Stoll’s Mindemoya and the Seagull fleet, another fleet developed – the El Toro class.

El Toros were small sailboats – the SS I Can Read in the Escanaba Public Library is one of them. They were simple but popular; in 1967 there were 18 of them in Escanaba.

The races took place several evenings a week and in 1968 there was a special feature: a track for the Seagulls from Gladstone to Escanaba was added.

Often a race track is laid out around a few markers, but starts and ends at the same point, as has been the case in racing series in recent years.

The EYC’s current racing is enjoyed by competitors and spectators, but there is not the variety and frequency of previous years. The June 2024 series featured just two classes – Spinnaker and Cruising – with a handful of races in each.

The club, however, has far more members than participating boats. John Anthony, Sail’s current Vice Commodore, said the EYC currently has about 160 individual members linked to about 80 memberships – it’s a family-orientated club and a single membership covers a spouse and young children.

Some have their own boats, others are crew members or simply like to support the organization.

“Sailing has always been about community,” Said Anthony. “Like many traditional sports and pastimes, it has evolved. Today, there are more recreational opportunities and people have limited time during the glorious but short summer. Boating has developed into different segments, including those who enjoy power boating, cruising, recreational sailing, sail racing and the ambience of a marina.”

Out-of-town boaters can use the clubhouse free of charge when passing through. The EYC offers an equivalent value to members of other yacht or boat clubs. This means that a person who belongs to another club can enjoy the same benefits as EYC members and vice versa.

“We had members visiting yacht clubs that provide mutual support in many areas of the United States and abroad,” Said Anthony.

As evidence of these relationships, pennant flags from other organizations hang in the clubhouse.

Because the EYC places great importance on social events and friendships, many of the events it organizes or participates in are open to the public. The first event of the season will take place at the same time as the Fun Run.

“To promote the EYC, the club hosts an open house during the summer, provides the club as a venue for the Marina Fest, is available free of charge to passing boaters, is available for rental by the public (subject to availability), acts as an ambassador for tourists and passing boaters, and offers friendly events for members and guests,” Anthony listed it.

Was popular for several decades “Venetian Night”, a festive, formerly annual event that included not only a parade of illuminated boats but also activities on land.

On the morning of July 4th – this Thursday – the EYC will host a brunch at the clubhouse, located near the corner of Loren W. Jenkins Memorial Drive and Water Plant Road – on the marina side, of course. The public is welcome.

The Marina Fest, which the club is sponsoring, takes place on July 27th.

The EYC’s 90th anniversary celebration will take place on August 17 and will include music on the porch and a regatta.

The regular August series of races will be held on the 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th – all Wednesdays – and will begin at 7:00 p.m. The best viewing spot is as far east as Water Plant Road goes – the tip of Sand Point.