Our club was founded in 1973. At that time the charter and club rules were written to keep it a "blue collar" yacht club. All of the members are required to put in at least 20 work hours per calendar year, we have no paid staff. The founding members built the clubhouse, filled in a swampy area for the parking lots, did the electrical, plumbing etc. They were a talented bunch that worked very hard. Most put in hundreds of hours in the beginning. Th initial piers and slips were done using donated railroad rails, pounded into the bottom for posts, welded horizontally for the pier supports. The finger piers were welded on shore and slid out on the ice in the winter to be hoisted and welded into place. That all worked for many years.

In the late 90's a group of the founders decided that in order for the club to survive, it needed to modernize and expand. A new breakwall was built which enclosed the outer basin, the old wall was demolished and a plan was put into place to put in new floating docks. It was a fight all the way. Some of the old members didn't want to change at all, most accepted the changes but when the plans for the new docks were being drawn up, demanded that 25' slips be included. They wanted reasonably priced slips for their small power boats. The remainder of the slips were either 30' or 40', width being either 12', 14' or 16'. A compromise was reached and twelve 25' slips were included in the plans. The members spent three years demolishing the old docks and piers and installing the new floating docks. Strict rules were added regarding what size boats could be put into a slip, no more overages were allowed. (It was an old timer trick to jam a 30' boat in a small slip so as not to have to pay the larger slip fees).

What followed was an "oh shit" sequence of events. The old timers that demanded the 25' slips all moved to 30' slips as soon as they were put up for bid. They decided that they liked the extra room, and with all the hours and points they accumulated building the club could have their pick. So, of the twelve 25' footers, there were always a few empty. That really messed up the budget numbers. As time went on, current members also started buying larger and larger boats. Most of the 30' slips had to have the rules changed and are now 35' slips. The 40' slips are in such huge demand there are none up for bid and haven't been for many months. New members coming in, almost to the family, all have 30'+ boats, several are 40'+. They are now tied up in what used to be trasient dockage. Another oh shit, another series of rule changes. The 25' slips are now white elephants that no one wants, however the way they were built will require many thousands of dollars to change. Our tevel lift is at capacity with many of these new boats, our yard trailer is almost useless now.

On a final note, the state park marina accross the bay was built with five full docks of 18' slips. They currently have about 20% occupancy in that area of the marina, they have already removed on full dock but now lack the funding to change out any of the others.

Boat owners are buying bigger boats, even entry level boats. They are buying used not new, but they are defintely buying bigger.