The Changing Years
Purchasing and moving into the floating Clubhouse marked a turning point in the Club's history. For the first time, the Club owned property and enthusiasm became stronger. Membership grew rapidly under an active recruiting effort. The members were no longer restricted merely to weekend racing or regular scheduled meetings, but could meet everyday at the Club for beer and conversation. There was no bartender; chits were signed on the honor system. The Mess Treasurer kept the liquor in the trunk of his car, and during regattas someone would set up as bartender. Members brought sandwiches for most of the affairs, but on special occasions, meals were catered by Millers Grill.
Participation picked up tremendously. Members pitched in to do volunteer construction work, and those who could not contribute labor contributed money or materials. One of the lady members donated money for furnishing the bar, which was located in the Pilot House and crafted by a master carpenter. In it were located the original ship's engine controls and the ship's wheel (the latter which is now mounted on the wall in the present Corpus Christi Yacht Club bar). The pilothouse was extended aft and space below was large enough to seat, with folding tables and chairs, about 45 members for meeting or dining. On the after deck was a reviewing stand where the members, wives, and children could watch other members of the family race. Races were usually started off the Clubhouse and before the south gap was closed in 1958, the course was out one gap, around the red beacon or a cane pole out in the bay, and back through the other gap.
This change in the direction of the Club was not made without pain. With the added expenses incurred by the ownership of property, it was found necessary (six months after moving into the floating clubhouse)to raise the dues to $25, plus $5 federal tax, per Senior Member per year. This dues increase, plus the requirement that every member purchase a $100 debenture bond, resulted in the dropout of a number of the less active members. Efforts were increased to recruit new members. A revision of the By-Laws at this same time also changed the Club into one which was more aligned with the old eastern yacht club tradition instead of the previous family type club, involving women as participating members equally with the men.
The convenience of the location on the end of the T-Head and the Club facilities promoting a social atmosphere, attracted a number of new members. Fifty-one members were added during 1952. Two years after the floating Clubhouse was in place, membership as listed in the first official roster of the Club dated October 1953, totaled 104. Forty-five years and many changes later, twelve of those members or their spouses listed in that roster, are still active members of the Corpus Christi Yacht Club. Those members are: #2 - Dr. Bill Allen, #9 Mrs. Robert H. Blair, #13 - Harvie Branscomb, #18 - Bill Carl, #28 - Mrs. James R. Dinn, #36 - Franklin Flato, #57 - Norman Holmes, #59 - Allen Jephson, #72 - Mrs. W.T. Neyland, #79 - John Pitcairn, #89 - Edwin Singer, and #100 - Bob Wallace. Five of those members joined the Club when it was the Southwestern Yacht Club. Those five members were: Mrs. Robert H. Blair, Harvie Branscomb, Mrs. James R. Dinn, Allen Jephson, and Edwin Singer.
The Club added a lot of color to the waterfront. Races were held almost every weekend. The Snipe, Penguin, and later the Highlander and Sunfish class one-design boats where very active. Club boats participated every year in the races between Galveston and Corpus Christi, and the Club hosted the entire fleet to a party on the years that the race ended in Corpus Christi. Corpus Christi Yacht Club sailors represented the Club in many regattas throughout the country in their one-design classes. In 1957, Buck Bailey, trailing his Highlander to Mentor Ohio (the home port of the Highlander one-design class)won the Highlander International Championship by an unprecedented landslide. The next year, the Corpus Christi Yacht Club hosted the Highlander Internationals in Corpus Christi. Once again, Buck won first place. The races generated considerable local interest due to the unusually big fleet of boats with the large colorful spinnakers. It was the largest fleet of one-design sailboats ever seen in this area up to that time.
Shamrock Cove was the favorite cruising spot during that period. Many rendezvous were held there for overnight cruises and beach parties. Fiberglass was just beginning to be used in boat construction, but all the cruising type boats were still being made of wood. Among boats owned by Club members were a number of beautiful ones, most of them having been built on the East Coast and sailed down. In evidence on the waterfront were such boats as Hoot Gibson's Alden designed 43-foot schooner, Caroline; Norman Holmes' Whispering Winds, and later his Cutlass; Lee McMillan's Sparkman and Stevens 34-foot Desiree; Robert Blair's 46-foot Viking; Eddie Singer's 33-foot Seaquester (often sailed by his wife with a boatload of girl scout Mariners); Dr. Guttman's beautiful varnished mahogany Swedish double-ender, the Saga; Harvey Branscomb's 33-foot Josephine; and many others. And, there was the beautiful sloop Valiant, owned by Bill Carl, Jeff Carr, Alvie Hill, and Dusty Rhodes. She was so big that they couldn't even bring her into the Yacht Club. They had to take her through the bascule bridge and tie her up in the inner harbor.
In spite of the very active racing and cruising programs sponsored by the Club, almost from the beginning, efforts were renewed to find a permanent home. The floating Clubhouse was viewed only as a waypoint. By June 1954, the Executive Committee had decided that no more expenses should be incurred for beautification or for the hull (except for necessary repairs). A new Club Site Committee attacked the old problem with renewed vigor. In addition to the old sites pursued unsuccessfully eight years previously, many new locations were added. The City and some of the influential members of the Park Board and Marina Advisory Board were at that time strongly in favor of locating a yacht club in the marina area. They lent their support to the project, even helping to write special legislation to enable the City to grant a lease.
By June 1959, the choice narrowed down to the Herndon Fish Market on the L-Head, the present site of the Club. The City had agreed to sell the site, approximately 90 x 200 feet, to the Club. The price - $18,400 - the estimated cost of filling a comparable area.
At last the Club had the promise of a permanent site on land for a home. Now facing the 120 members was the monumental task of raising enough money to pay for a clubhouse that would meet the long-term needs of the members and that would be a credit to the Club and to the Community.
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