Charlie Would Have Been Proud By Doug Owen

Opening Day Weekend, April 24th and 25th, was dedicated to the memory of Staff Commodore Charlie White who, sadly, passed away some months ago. I’m sure that most of us are by now familiar with the story of the concept of the Blessing of the Fleet beginning in 1963, when Capt. E.J. Towle and Charlie made it happen. As I understand it, the thought was that if the fishing fleet received a blessing in the spring, why not the pleasure craft?

This photo of Charlie and Gini White was taken on the day of the First Blessing of the Pleasure Craft in 1963. It is a photo taken on B dock in between Jack and Bert Cooper's boat called Bitoa and Charlie and Gini's Truluv. In the backround you see the Baruna and Santana on A line.

 
This was the 41st Anniversary of the annual Blessing of the Pleasure Craft in conjunction with Opening Day on the Bay, and it was truly spectacular. In preparation, boats began arriving as early as Thursday, to secure a guest spot at the docks. Compliments to Herb Rodricks, and Hans Andersen, who did it again, bringing approximately 21 member’s vessels into the Harbor, and finding safe and comfortable dockage for them for the festive weekend.

By Friday, the bunting and flags adorned the Clubhouse and deck rails, and many of the boats in the harbor already had their decorations in place or were at dress ship. The Clubhouse was crowded on Friday night, with racers from the Friday Night Series and members in anticipation of the activities of the weekend.

On a beautiful Saturday morning, there was much activity on the docks in preparation for the Decorated Boat Contest. By noon, the entire harbor seemed ablaze with color in a variety of interpretations of the theme for this year, “Follow Your Rainbow”. As a tribute to Charlie, FATHOM THIS was decorated with a huge balloon rainbow, stretching from bow to stern. At 1400, the judges took to the docks, working through the difficult task of trying to score efforts based on theme, preparedness, hospitality and the like. This was made even more difficult throughout the afternoon with the ingestion of a variety of “bribes” from those being judged, and the obvious public displays of inebriation on the part of the judging staff.

Sunday morning dawned bright and beautiful, as a large group assembled on the main deck of the Clubhouse, where the “God Squad”, consisting of Rev. Jim Current, Father Michael Barber and Cantor David Margules conducted religious services and the blessing of the boats in the harbor.

A wonderful breakfast followed in the ballroom, beautifully decorated once again by the Corinthian Women, spearheaded by Sandra Solomon, Pat Goss and Donna Purvis. Michael Moradzadeh took on the Master of Ceremonies responsibilities this year, and dispatched his duties with great aplomb. At this gathering, new Life Members Peter & Jytte Birnbaum, Donald & Helen Hanson, and Kenneth and Kathleen Pieri were honored. Rear Admiral Kevin Eldridge, Commander of the Coast Guard Pacific Area, provided a very interesting talk on the topic of security in the Bay Area in light of terrorist threats. Staff Commodore and Opening Day Committee Chair Diana Fischer presented a beautiful commemorative bouquet to Ginny White, in honor of the dedication of the day to Charlie’s memory.

The God Squad and the Coast Guard were excused to attend to their duties, and for the next couple of hours, the voice of Cantor David Margules could easily be heard across the water from the USCGC SOCKEYE, blessing vessels as they passed in review.

Shortly after the departure of the Coast Guard from breakfast, Richard Solomon slipped quietly out of the dining room to attend to last minute details aboard WHITE SWAN, in preparation for departure for the Cityfront and the PICYA boat parade. She appeared Bristol and beautifully decorated, with a rainbow over a mockup of the Clubhouse on the foredeck as she departed the harbor.

Guests and more members began arriving, and shortly the Pelican Grill, the music of Zena Quinn and the Waiter on the Water service to boats in the harbor all began, making for a very festive afternoon. People socialized on their boats and the boats of friends, danced on the main deck, talked, ate, and just enjoyed the all around beautiful day. The Waiter on the Water concept was very well received, with more than 45 meals being whisked to the docks by willing waiters. It was a very successful addition to the afternoon.

The Corinthian Men’s Chorus, which had performed the Coast Guard Hymn at breakfast, did a wonderful encore performance on the main deck, followed by the presentation of prizes for the Decorated Boat Contest by Mary Ellen Wetlesen.

All too soon the afternoon was winding down, and people were reluctantly going upstairs to the ballroom for the barbecue and dancing to the sounds of the GTS Band. Sure the weather was beautiful outside, and yes, because it was so balmy the band upstairs was playing mostly for their own enjoyment for the first hour or so, but when this was in the planning stages months before, who knew?

Many thanks go to Ingo Schreiber, Frances Ramage and the staff of both CYC and CCI whose efforts served to make this day so successful. The barbeque was excellent, the band, which played until 19:30 was very danceable and good to listen to, and all in all, the day, and really the entire weekend, seemed to go like clockwork.

Your Opening Day Committee, plus all of the volunteers, put a lot of planning and work into making it a very enjoyable day, with everything running smoothly, and deserves a lot of credit.

Even Charlie; I suspect he was in charge of the weather…..

[more Opening Day Photos on next page]