*Commodore’s Update* April, 2018 *Dear Members,* Spring has arrived despite these pesky snow showers, and we are getting the Club ready for a busy season! Registration for Pettipaug Sailing Academy is open – first come first served, so sign up now for this renowned junior sailing program. Scroll down for more details. Our resident ospreys have returned to their nest, so make sure to visit the club and welcome them back. Our committees have been busy planning; we’d love to see you join in the activities and lend a hand in the volunteer opportunities. It’s a great way to help the club and meet new people. *Race Committee: Volunteers Needed* We will be hosting a clinic for anyone interested in helping our race committee this summer. We are looking for people of all levels of expertise who are willing to lend a hand and see what racing looks like from the committee boat. Our clinic will run on Saturday, April 28 from 1-4pm. Please RSVP to me at kmryan1995@gmail.com by April 21. *Social Committee – new!* Want to get involved and meet more members? Join our newly formed Social Committee. All are invited to our first meeting on Saturday, May 5 at 11 AM at Pettipaug. Our first event is the Midsummer Party – help us make it great! RSVP to Mary Risseeuw at mrisseeuw@aol.com. *Blue Jay Racing* Catch the excitement and join in the rousting and jousting on the water for our first season of monthly Blue-Jay Racing. All PYC members are welcome to participate and attend. The new start date is Wednesday, May 23 due to the weather keeping us from getting our boats ready earlier. Contact Priscilla Robinson at probinson02@snet.net to sign up to sail, volunteer for race committee or boat maintenance crew, or for more information. *Powerboat Safety Classes* We are pleased to announce that we will again be offering two powerboat courses throughout the summer, *Basic Safe Powerboat Handling* and *Safety, Rescue, & Race Support Boat Handling*. If you are interested in either course or know someone who is, you can find more information under the Powerboat Course link on our website or directly at: http://pettipaug.org/PDFs/Powerboat_Course_Information_2018.pdf. All classes are open to the public. *House and Grounds* Thank you to all the volunteers who helped with our March work party. A special thanks to those who stayed late to help with the docks and to Toby Doyle and his son for lending their boom truck for the day. Since we were able get our docks set in March, we were early on the list for Connecticut River Dock and Dredge, and now our new pilings are in place. We are still compiling a list of tasks for volunteers for the next work party, date TBD. We will reach out to members when we have a date set. If you are interested in signing up for a locker at the club, they are available on a first come, first served basis. Any boats stored at the club must be registered and have a PYC sticker affixed. Only boats 20’ or less may be stored on our grounds. Contact Jim Carey at jciaus@yahoo.com if you need a sticker for your boat or want to register for a locker. *Junior Sailing Registration* Registration is now open for the 2018 season of Pettipaug Sailing Academy (PSA) for youth ages 8-16. The program runs between June 25th and August 3rd. Registration is on a first come basis, so encourage anyone interested in signing up to go to Junior Sailing on the Pettipaug web site, www.pettipaug.org and check out our program and application. Online payments accepted. *Essex Corinthian Reciprocity * Pettipaug members may enjoy dinner at Essex Corinthian Yacht Club once per calendar quarter and lunch or brunch three times per quarter. Check out their dining page and weekly menus at http://www.essexcorinthian.org/dining.html. No reservations are needed for regular dining, it is first-come, first-serve. Reservations can be made for special Sunday brunches (e.g. Easter, Mother’s Day, etc). And BYOB, as always! PYC members may pay with either Visa or Mastercard. *A Special Invitation* The Mystic River Mudheads and ECSA invite you to their annual Spring Sailing Seminar. They are pleased to announce that this season's presentation, "An Evening With Gary Jobson" will take place beginning at 1755 EDT, Thursday, May 3rd at Shennecossett Yacht Club, (1010 Shennecossett Rd, Groton, CT). To find out more and register in advance go to www.mudhead.org. Contact Jon Bawabe at Jbawabe@aol.com if you have any questions. *Save the dates* · Commissioning – May 12, 2018 · Mid-Summer Party – July 14th 2018 · Decommissioning – Oct. 13, 2018 · Annual Cocktail Party & Awards – Nov. 10, 2018 Photos taken March, 2018 I welcome your questions or suggestions. Commodore Kathryn Ryan kmryan1995@gmail.com *Please do not reply directly to this email, any questions should be addressed to me at email above.*