Vice Commodore’s Report December 2018

By Jim Luton

2018 has largely been a year of maintenance, which seems sometimes to be never ending. We made substantial progress on the painting of our storage sheds, finishing all but one on the path side, and many on the driveway side. We had good, dedicated crews on the prep and paint detail, spread over the year’s warm months. Both the CCNY and NYU concrete canoe teams came out on separate weekends to prep and paint containers in canoe alley, and to help out with other tasks as well. Thanks everyone! We’ll do our best to finish up the painting next spring.

Our club grounds cover about one-and-a-quarter acres, all of which needs mowing and weeding weekly, to remain in proper trim and appearance. These jobs are time-consuming, and should not fall solely on the shoulders of a very few. The gardening committee is proposing some changes to address the non-lawn sections of the grounds, and we are working on creating an organized mowing pool of volunteers to tackle this weekly task. Look for announcements pertaining to the groundskeeping work this spring.

We have closed the open fence area to Diamond Point with a nice gate and new fencing. There still remains some poison ivy removal along the fence and near the outdoor sink to be done. We hope to take care of that in the coming year as well.

The garden shed is on hold at the moment, waiting on me to submit a proposal to NYC Parks for their approval. I hope to get that taken care of soon. In the meantime, we have a clubhouse renewal project underway. Our goal is to clean up and reorganize the spaces, get rid of the deadweight junk, bring all the furniture and cabinetry to a cleaner, more homogenized “look”, and in the process create a second, dedicated dressing room. We have already begun (on our last workday), with Commodore Beth leading a ruthless de-junking crew.

John Decker purchased a new outdoor shed in which to house the Adaptive Paddling gear and our collection of kid’s games for the Youth Paddles. A crackerjack crew of able members prepared a level bed with drainage, assembled the shed, and set it up on its bed. All of this with very little “help” (interference) from me. We will be constructing a new closet storage room out in the main clubhouse room where all the office equipment will live, safely locked away. The new dressing room will occupy the former space. We’ll have storage cabinets and clothes hanging above comfortable bench seating, with a new rug, and a fresh coat of paint. We will then gradually replace the existing cabinetry and counters out in the main room, as time and money allows.

A reminder for everyone: please do not bring any of your old junk to the club! This means anything not requested by myself or the Commodore. We will only add furniture, appliances, and “stuff” as is needed to function. Items in the lost and found will go in the dumpster after a short time.

We continue our war with the geese and seagulls on the dock. We have set up goose barriers all around the dock perimeter, which are better than nothing, but not 100% successful. The gulls defy anything we do, but don’t poop as badly. They mostly drop shells. So, if you are down at the club winter or summer, please grab a broom and a hose (in summer) and help keep the dock clean. This is another surprisingly time-consuming job if left to one person to do. I think the dock bubblers will go in soon. If you see them not working (particularly in sustained sub-freezing temperatures), call the number on the whiteboard in the clubhouse.

The boat shop will be busy most of the winter and spring. The kayakers are planning some repair work soon. In February, Canarsian will go inside the shop for some cosmetic wood replacement on the interior. While inside, we’ll do some paint touchup as well. I expect this work to last until we launch in April. I believe that a Greenland Kayak building project is in the works for May-June. Keep your ears open for that exciting project!

If I have not thanked you all personally, please know that those of us on the Board and the members-at-large really appreciate all the hard work you do. You, the members, are what makes this organization special. We are unlike any other boating group around, with beautiful grounds and amazing access to Jamaica Bay and beyond.

Remember, you can go anywhere in the world, right from our dock! See you at the Club!

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