Retirement community's sailing and boating club is now in its second year
Early in 2022 the residents of BayWoods of Annapolis, a continuing care retirement community, decided we wanted to better utilize our fabulous Chesapeake Bay-front location on the Back Creek peninsula. The solution was determined to be forming a yacht club and providing a variety of water related activities.
The BayWoods Yacht Club (BWYC) came into being in May of last year and became an instant hit with a sold-out Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating (CRAB) sailing event, a big-boat three-day charter, a radio-controlled demonstration in the inside pool with a social afterwards, and well attended monthly meetings.
The BayWoods waterfront location and facilities on Bay Front Drive (fronting Bembe Beach Road) and directly across the street from Port Annapolis Marina make us a community that was just begging for a yacht club organization. Our facilities include an inside pool, large hall, and outside patio overlooking the Bay for meetings and socials. A long pier and deck are perfect for socials and waterborne activities including radio-controlled sailboat races.
The residents chose five areas of activities and elected a commodore, fleet captains for each of the areas, and specialists in communications and video/presentations. They are as follows: commodore, Bob Hawley; fleet captain-CRAB, Ed Paglee; fleet captain-charters/rentals, Dick Kammann; fleet captain-radio controlled sailing, Ken Rose; fleet captain-canoe/kayak/SUPs, Tom McGovern; fleet captain-socials and communications, Liz Freedlander; and video/presentation productions, Beth Mainiero.
2023 activities are in full swing. We enjoyed CRAB outings in May and June. We also have a three-day charter cruise to Rock Hall and St. Michaels, MD, scheduled for July, with day sails planned for a 43-foot charter boat and Annapolis Sailing School 24-foot Rainbows.
Our monthly meetings will include presentations by various sailing and environmental organizations around the Bay and sailing videos of interest to all. Our activities will also feature socials on our fabulous waterfront grounds.
By Dick Kammann
