Some History of the Sand Bank Yacht Club as Reflected by a Member in 1999

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In December 1999, Joan Appleton, a Sand Bank Yacht Club Founder, reminisced about the Club's early days and trends in its modus operandi over the years.  In that which follows is Joan's unique perspective is presented verbatim in quotation marks.  A few other comments are made, to provide perspective for those who are unfamiliar with the Club's history.  

 

"In the summer of 1969, more than thirty years ago, Sam Dixon first suggested that we form a yacht club.  Later, when the winter residents, as the locals often called us, returned, three boating families worked hard to get it started.  Power boaters, Ollie and Zoe Durrell;  sailors, Shell and Katrine Riley, my husband Eric Appleton and I were the founding members.  Although they no longer owned a boat the Crawfords joined us as 'crew'.  Later, Gene and Marge Kulish weighted in to help, and Gene became the Club's first Commodore in 1972."

 

At this time Treasure Cay was a fledgling community, with a 30 room hotel, a few stores, the Beach Villas were under development, a golf course and a few houses.  The hotel's principal purpose was to house prospective property owners brought in by Deltec International, a British company that operated the community while it sold the properties that it was developing. 

 

The Club has always been operated by a committee comprising the Fleet Captain, Rear Commodore, Vice Commodore, Commodore, Past Commodore and Treasurer.  At the Change of Watch, held each year in mid-January, a Fleet Captain is elected, each officer except the Treasurer moves up one rung of the ladder, and the past year's Past Commodore retires.  Thus, each executive committee member, except the Treasurer serves for five years.  

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"We decided to name our club after Sand Bank, the small cay on which Treasure Cay had been built.  We entered Sand Bank Yacht Club in Lloyd's Register of Yacht Clubs in 1972."

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The Club has always operated only during the winter, from late October until early May because its members are mainly United States, Canadian, and European residents who choose to leave their wintry homes to enjoy the balmy Bahamas during those months.  

"Several of us wanted to build a Clubhouse in those early days.  Many spots were considered.  The popular choice was Joe's Creek, but after we took a good look at the difficulties and costs of such an undertaking, the more level headed members prevailed, and our dream has never become a reality."

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The Clubhouse idea has re-emerged several times over the years, but has been found each time, to be impractical due to the Club's seasonal nature. "It wasn't very easy to arrange Club outings in those early days, because we had no way to communicate except face to face.  So Shell, very nobly, used to cycle out to view the waves off Windward Beach and many times had to cycle all the way out to Ocean Boulevard to tell Eric and me that it was a 'no go'."  By the late seventies, VHF radios had become common in Treasure Cay homes.  Communication was easier, but not very private.  Treasure Cay Ltd, the success to Deltec International, pioneered the introduction of telephones in the late 1980's, and communication problems were eased.  "Gradually our numbers grew, but at one point it was murmured that 'we'd better not have more members that could not be fitted on to the after deck for cocktails'.  Just look at us now!"  "Each winter we grew larger and many new members joined us from Marsh Harbour.  We made some very adventurous trips.  Our favourite tip was to Baker's Bay, where we anchored offshore, and the ladies always had a fine time playing games in the Sea of Abaco.  We often visited Hopetown and Great Guana Cay.  Overnights at the Abaco Inn on Baxter's Beach were always a great joy and we made several trips to Joe's Creek for meetings.  In the late 70's the club helped with the start of the Abaco Regatta and I have great memories of being on Herb Shor's boat to make sure that the boats rounded the buoys correctly.  The Regatta stayed in Treasure Cay for a few years until it became too large and Marsh Harbour took it over".

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"The Club has changed in many ways since those early days.   Now we have 150 members and a long waiting list.  It is routine to have more than a hundred people at club functions.  That requires that we plan our activities more carefully, and that the focus of the Club activity be moved away from spontaneous boating excursions that are constantly threatened by inclement weather, to the more predictable land based gatherings that have characterized our programs in recent years."

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At this time the member limit was 180, and the roster was almost full.  The growth of the Sand Bank Yacht Club was from a handful of individuals in 1969 who got together to form a club for members with like interests.  The Sand Bank Yacht Club remains a thriving, sought after recreational feature of Treasure Cay and its surrounding community.

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Over the years, our resilient community, both the SBYC and Treasure Cay at large, has weathered numerous tropical storms and hurricanes, including the notable Hurricane Floyd in early September 1999 and, more recently, Hurricane Dorian two decades later. Despite these challenges, we take immense pride in the unwavering support our members have provided to one another and the broader Treasure Cay community. The synergy that has emerged has played a pivotal role in the community's journey toward "surviving and thriving" once again.

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