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Eastport Yacht Co

Annapolis MD  

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The 32 flybridge.

We have a 2024 model Eastport 32, twin inboard diesel in production CALL NOW for details and price.

**JUST LISTED** 2008 Eastport 32 SEA TOY, $385,000 In St Michaels Maryland.

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Eastport Yacht Club

Stories from the Eastport Yacht Club

Eastport Yacht Club PO Box 3205 317 First Street Annapolis, MD 21403 (410) 216-9263

Website: http://eastportyc.org/

Not your traditional blue blazer club, EYC is built on activity, on the water and ashore. Our members are involved in a diverse range of boating activities, supported by social events and strong camaraderie. Known for our million-dollar view of the Severn River and Annapolis, EYC also is recognized in the Chesapeake Bay region and beyond as a club capable of managing major championship regattas, Friday night Beer Can races, and everything in between, as well as providing great social networking for cruising, parties, and charity events. It’s all about life on the water, and all about fun.

EASTPORT YACHT CLUB  BECOMES NSHOF FOUNDING MEMBER

During the year 2009, the membership of the Eastport Yacht Club will celebrate the twenty-ninth anniversary of its birth. Although the idea of an Eastport Yacht Club had been discussed since at least the early 1970’s, the actual organization was the result of the informal Friday night social gatherings at the offices of Kaufman & Ladd, Naval Architects on Severn Avenue in the Eastport section of Annapolis, Maryland, U.S.A. During the spring of 1980, eleven of the regulars at these gatherings formed a steering committee with the intention of forming the Eastport Yacht Club.

This steering committee consisting of Robert L. Allen, Eugene Ambo, Thomas Bell-Wright, John Crummey, T. Ross Glover, Jeffrey S. Goldring, Frederick Hecklinger, F. Michael Kaufman, Glenn D. Klakring, Robert A. Ladd, And Ivon Paulin met weekly at the offices of Kaufman & Ladd under the chairmanship of Mike Kaufman to go through the formal process of creating the yacht club.

By October, two hundred persons had been selected who were considered as appropriate for the charter membership and invitations were sent out. No restrictions concerning race, creed, or sex were considered in the selection of these charter members. The number of invitations was limited by the number of persons who perhaps could fit into the upstairs of Marmaduke’s Pub where the first meeting of the charter members convened on October 13, 1980.

The idea of the club was received with true enthusiasm. It was determined by vote that a permanent clubhouse was to be sought after, although there were some persons who, understandably, suggested caution because of the cost of such a venture. The burgee that had been created by the steering committee was accepted.

The burgee pattern was intended to represent the Eastport Bridge in an open position. While continuing to seek a permanent clubhouse, the EYC found temporary quarters on the fourth floor of a building at Annapolis City Marina on Severn Avenue in Eastport that opened on November 6, 1983.

The search for a suitable property continued and on April 23, 1989 the membership approved the purchase of the present site, and after much creative financing, the new clubhouse was opened for use on October 3, 1992. An additional section adjoining the present site was acquired during June, 1999 and in 2004 arrangements were made to acquire the Paape property which is next beyond that towards Severn Avenue. During the spring of 2006, the program of expanding and rebuilding the marina was completed. Various committees are active at planning the continuing development of our expanding properties.

All members are encouraged to volunteer and serve on committees so that EYC will continue to develop by the membership and for membership. The Eastport Yacht Club has accomplished a great deal since its creation twenty-nine years ago and is now responsible for many events, many of which are noted in the letter from our Commodore. During 2004, the membership voted to increase the voting membership from 500 to 600. Eastport Yacht Club has become a vital part of our community while continuing to be a fun place to be.

Frederick E. Hecklinger Historian

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40 years and counting for the Eastport Yacht…

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40 years and counting for the Eastport Yacht Club Lights Parade in Annapolis Harbor

This year the parade will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. on Dec. 10 , when boats decked out in holiday lights will be paraded up Spa Creek and through Ego Alley.

The Light Parade started as a one-man show in the early 1980s when Jim Langer, while living on his boat in Spa Creek, adorned it with Christmas lights and paraded around Annapolis Harbor. It caught on over the years, turning into a multi-boat extravaganza over the next four decades. By 1988, the event was proclaimed the official Maryland Winter Celebration.

Annapolis invites everyone to find a good spot along the parade route to see colorfully lit boats on a crisp December evening.

“Make sure you come out early because in the past it’s been pretty busy,” said Trudy Stalder, an Eastport Yacht Club member who hasco-chaired the Light Parade for the last four years with husband Tom Stalder.

Spectators can see the parade from several places, from the Eastport Bridge to finding a spot at the Eastport Yacht Club. There will also be vantage points along City Dock, Susan Campbell Park, the Naval Academy sea wall and other spots along Spa Creek.

During the event, Watermark is teaming up with We Care and Friends to host a dockside fundraiser from 5:30 to 9 p.m. aboard the Harbor Queen. There will music, drinks and a front-row seat to the parade. In lieu of a ticket, We Care and Friends, a nonprofit organization based in Annapolis that helps people struggling with substance abuse, will be collecting monetary donations as well as toys, linens, bedding, blankets, toiletries, clothing, and non-perishable food items.

Watermark has partnered with different organizations like this since 2011 and are excited to uphold the tradition to help a worthy cause.

“It is an absolute pleasure to partner with We Care and Friends for this year’s Queen of All Fund Drives. They do phenomenal work to help our community,” said Jake Iversen, president of Watermark, in a statement. “The Lights Parade is an Annapolis tradition, and we hope to see a big turnout to enjoy the festivities and support this wonderful organization.”

This year, there will be more than 40 boats participating in the parade, a number Tom Stalder said he hopes will continue to increase as the event gets closer.

“This show was up to 65 boats in the late ’80s,” he said. “It’s been down into the 30s recently but last year we were up to 40 before we canceled and this year we have more than that and counting. Hopefully, the trend continues.”

Stalder said he believes LED lights have allowed more boaters to light their crafts for a more reasonable price. He recalls when boaters needed a generator to keep their boat lit up.

“We expect to see all kinds of creative lighting ideas some by theme and others with moving lights spelling out fun holiday messages,” Stalder said.

Stalder said they are seeing new registrations every day, adding that participants don’t need to be part of the Eastport Yacht Club.

The Stalders said they take great pride in being able to help present the parade to the city each year because it starts the holiday season in Annapolis.

“It’s like our gift to the city,” Trudy Stalder said.

The event will coincide with other holiday events happening in the city. The Annapolis Holiday Market will be open from Dec. 8 to 11 at City Dock, along with Midnight Madness, when downtown businesses stay open late on Dec. 1, 8 and 15, leading up to Christmas..

The city of Annapolis asks those planning to watch the parade to be mindful of the potential for cold air and water temperatures along with slippery surfaces on boat decks and near the water’s edge.

The rain date for the event is Dec. 9.

Check the Eastport Yacht Club’s website for registration and inclement weather information. Deadline to register a boat in the parade is Dec. 6.

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Sharing the Light

Parade of Lights turns 40

by Jefferson Holland. Photos Courtesy of Eastport Yacht Club Lights Parade.

One of the most celebrated events on the Chesapeake Bay began humbly in 1981, when a guy named Jim Langer, who lived aboard his boat in Spa Creek, strung Christmas lights up in his rigging and paraded around Annapolis Harbor. The idea caught on and the one-man show quickly turned into a multi-boat parade. By 1988, the event was proclaimed the official Maryland Winter Celebration. Now celebrating its 40th anniversary, the Eastport Yacht Club’s Lights Parade will feature dozens of boats ranging from a 75-foot skipjack from the Annapolis Maritime Museum to smaller sailboats, dressed-up Boston Whalers and more, gathered to dazzle more than 30,000 spectators surrounding the harbor on Saturday, December 10, from 6 to 8 p.m.

While the event is truly magical, it takes a huge effort on the part of scores of volunteers to make it happen. At the Eastport Yacht Club, all of the organizers are known as “elves.” “Everyone is an elf,” says Heather Ersts, former commodore of the club and “Chief Elf” of the parade from 2005 to 2008. “Everybody’s got a job. The skippers put in days and days of work to make that happen. Nobody’s getting paid and it costs a lot of money to decorate the boats, so it’s truly a gift to the City of Annapolis. Everyone involved is involved because they absolutely love it, they bring the joy through the boats and through the spirit of the evening.”

Tom and Trudy Stalder have served as Co-Chief Elves for the past four years, though in 2020, the event was canceled due to the pandemic pandemonium, and in 2021, it was canceled last minute on the day-of due to predictions of very high wind. 

Nobody wanted a repeat of the parade in 1991, when a cold front burst through the harbor just before the parade was about to start, with wind gusting up to 48 mph. Most of the participating boats were already under way when that happened, Tom recalls. The Chief Elf at the time, the late Robin Allison, made the call that the show must go on, and so, “the skippers braved the elements and provided a spectacular display of seamanship in the harbor.”  

Safety is key, Tom notes. There’s even a designated “Safety Elf.” In 1999, the parade route was extended up Spa Creek, through the drawbridge and up to Truxtun Park. According to Tom, that proved to be another challenge for the participating skippers. “It’s really dark and shallow up there.” 

As a precaution, Tom has announced that the organizers have a rain date this year for the first time. “If we know the weather’s going to be bad, we’ll run the Friday prior to the normal Saturday date,” he says. “We’ll know pretty much in advance what the weather’s going to be, so we’ll make that call at our skipper’s meeting on Thursday.”

Navigating in the parade is a challenge to begin with, not just because of the weather, but because it takes place at night. “There are lots of lights on the boats,” meaning lots of red and green lights that interfere with lighted navigation markers. The parade route takes participants through mooring fields, under the drawbridge several times, and up and down unlit channels. 

The entries are awarded prizes for various categories. Last year, the Best in Show award went to a sailboat whose mast was decorated as a palm tree and the deck and rigging lit up as a “Pirate’s Treasure Island.” Past favorites include a boat with the outline of the “Fragile” lamp from the movie A Christmas Story , a golden angel blowing a trumpet, and the all-time classic, “The Flasher,” an animated display that shows a leeringly exhibitionistic Grinch flinging open his overcoat to reveal a glowing Christmas tree. That made its last appearance in 2003.

Of course, the fun isn’t just in watching the lighted boats. In 2001 there was the first Lights Parade wedding as well as the first Lights Parade proposal. Participation in the event is open to the public. “You don’t have to be a member of EYC to register a boat for the parade,” Trudy Stalder says. “In fact, most of the skippers aren’t members. Sail, power or dinghy, it doesn’t matter— decorated is the key word.” “And safe!” Tom adds. 

You can even participate from shore. Spectators bundle up and crowd Annapolis City Dock to watch the spectacle, lining the Spa Creek Bridge and packing the street-end parks to watch the boats go by. Restaurants and hotels with Spa Creek views throw viewing parties, as do those lucky enough to have boats at downtown city marinas and slips. The whole thing feels like very festive street party, and has become a central part of the holidays in Annapolis. And not just there; coastal towns around Bay took inspiration and now boat parades are a tradition from Alexandria, Va., which celebrated 20 years in 2019, to Havre de Grace, Md., begun in 2021.  

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