"What follows are recollections of the past, mostly from memory, but in some instances from organization records".
                                                                                                      ….Peyton Chichester 

Summers in Virginia are usually rather pleasant, but at rare times they can get so hot as to be the only thing that would make you want to live somewhere else – but not for long!

In that respect, the summer of 1975 was no exception. However, it was noteworthy in that several other factors made a group of sailing enthusiasts start thinking of ways their sailing could become more convenient and comfortable if they could only find a better place to launch their boats and a place to keep them, so that they wouldn’t have to take them home after each outing.

For some time the berm which carries Woolridge Road over a small arm of Swift Creek Reservoir had been the base of operations for about forty sailors, but there was no real launch ramp, making it difficult if not impossible for those who had the larger boats to "do their thing"; parking spaces were at a premium, since they had to be shared with fishermen, and the Chesterfield County Police were issuing tickets to vehicles which were parked with wheels on the pavement!

A few of the "regulars", after they had seen each other often enough to start up an acquaintance (after all, even non-native Richmonders are more reserved than other folks,) began talking about how it would be great to organize a sailing club and then, investigate the possibility of finding a place to call home; if possible, somewhere on Swift Creek Reservoir. Covetous looks were turned toward a wooded strip of vacant land with a nice, sloping beach just south of Genito Road at the reservoir’s north end

It wasn’t until September that conversations and dreams began to actually get put into action when, on the 30^th of that month, 27 interested sailors got together for an organizational meeting at 8911 Midlothian Turnpike, sales office of Temple Marine, Ltd. As host of the meeting, Julian Temple opened the proceedings shortly after 8:00 o’clock, saying that the first order of business should be the appointment of a temporary chairperson and of a secretary/treasurer. By acclamation, Don McKenzie was named as Chairperson and Pat Wycoff as Secretary/Treasurer; They were to serve in those positions until By-Laws could be adopted, the club incorporated, and general elections could be held.

Following a lively discussion by the assembled sailors, it was agreed that their primary purpose was to form a sailing club that could obtain a site on Swift Creek Reservoir which would be a good base for sailing and related activities for the members of the organization. McKenzie appointed three committees to report at the next meeting to get the "ball rolling". There being no further business, after a motion made and duly seconded, the very first meeting of what was to become G.R.S.A. was adjourned at 9:15 p.m.

The pro-tem committees appointed and their members were as listed here, for the record. Current members won’t recognize many names, but the club still enjoys the results of much of the groundwork, which these folks accomplished.

Although the second organizational meeting lasted two and three quarter hours, it had only two positive results, according to the record. The minutes of the first meeting were approved and the Chairman of the Program Committee announced the club’s first Social Event – an Oyster Roast to be held at the proposed site on October 26, 1975. The only other item mentioned in the record of activities for the evening was the presentation of a draft of the proposed By-Laws. The draft was not approved, so it can only be assumed that even after two and a half hours of discussion, not everyone saw things in the same light!

Organizational meeting number three was much more fruitful, due probably to the fact that there had been a lot of research, hard work and negotiation behind the scenes. After the reading and approval of minutes of the previous meeting, Program Committee Chairman Al Watkins announced the first regatta and first social event, an oyster roast, were scheduled for October 26, to be held at the (hopefully) future site of the club’s operations in a real display of optimism.

Chairman McKenzie called on Bill Hamilton to report for the Site Committee, and it looked like there might be hope at last!

The plot of land which the berm sailors had been eyeing greedily was owned by the Ellett family, and they had agreed that the club could lease the land which was wanted (did you notice that there were two Elletts on the Site Committee?) for the huge sum of $300.00 per year, an amount equal to the annual taxes on the property which contains 13 acres and is zoned agricultural. Since this zoning allows social clubs, it was moved and seconded that the proposed improvements to the site should be submitted to the County Zoning Board for their approval.

Because of rumors to the effect that there might be objections by some Brandermill residents to club use of the reservoir, Don McKenzie gave a summary of Brandermill’s history, including the fact that many property owners had been given the impression that they would have exclusive recreational use of the lake which had been created as Chesterfield County’s reservoir; he suggested it might be appropriate for some members of the group to meet with representatives of the Brandermill Owners’ Association to extend an offer of friendship and to assure them that the club wishes only to enjoy sailing and to develop a facility which will retain the character of the area while providing a land base for social activities and family recreation. A motion was presented and approved to form a committee for such a meeting. Don Black was appointed chairman with Bob Gibby, Roy Gavilan and Nancy Blount as members-at-large. Subsequent events would prove that this discussion was almost prophetic, and the proposed meeting turned out to be an indicator of the negotiations which at times made the future of the fledgling organization very bleak indeed.

The lawyers representing the Brandermill Owners probably were very well compensated, but counsel for G.R.S.A. was serving initially without fee, just for the love of sailing.

The Board of Directors which was elected later prepared for some resistance from Brandermill residents, but they were not prepared for Earl McKesson, the self-appointed sheriff for all the Brandermill residents. More to be heard from him later.

The group discussed items which should be included in a lease for the property, assuming that the County Zoning Board will grant a use permit. Most desirable would be to have a 5 year lease with options for renewal for as long as possible, with the right of refusal if the Elletts decide to sell. Pat Wycoff presented a budget to cover the period until April 1, 1976, which was to be established as the date for the closing of charter memberships and the starting date for the fiscal year. Proposed was a target of fifty members at the very outlandish sum of $20.00 per household – "household" being the term chosen to accommodate some of the more contemporary lifestyles, and the $20.00 being the most it was felt could be squeezed from a group all of whom were pleading poverty. Reaction to the offer of club membership was so enthusiastic that instead of fifty charter members hoped for, there were 106 by the closing date.

The name "Greater Richmond Sailing Association" was approved by the group from two submissions (the other was not recorded!)

Don McKenzie read a revised set of proposed By-Laws submitted by Ed Wilson’s committee. After discussion of each item with some revisions suggested by and approved by vote of the members of the Board, the By-Laws were approved. Pat Wycoff and Ed Wilson were instructed to submit them, along with the proposed budget and proposed name to The State Corporation Commission.

Special recognition was voted for Ed Wilson and his committee for their efforts in preparing their recommendations for the By-Laws.

Our first regatta and social event on October 26, as reported by Al Watkins, was one of those "Good news / bad news" affairs! The bad news first, the regatta fell victim to Murphy’s Law in a big way! Arrangements had been made for a local television station to cover the races and the camera rolled; but would you believe the film was inadvertently exposed? Then, to put the icing on the cake, the list of the winners was lost. One can only hope the winners know who they were even though they are unrecorded.

At least the race program had plenty of room for improvement. The good news? The oyster roast, planned as a self-supporting event, actually made a profit of $63.00! Apparently it pays to be sociable rather than competitive.

Once the technicalities of name, by-laws, incorporation, lease, zoning, dues and budget were taken care of or were in process, The Greater Richmond Sailing Association was at last ready to get down to the business of doing some serious sailing, but it was the dead of winter and there were a few things which the site needed to make it an effective dry land support facility. As soon as the weather gave the first signs of spring, things began to happen in a spectacular way.

The people who had been appointed to the site committee set things in motion by declaring three work days which produced an almost magical deluge of willing workers, who turned up in force with grubbing hoes, rakes, picks, axes, brush hooks, shovels, post hole diggers, hammers, pruning shears, chain saws, graders and front-end loaders; trees were trimmed or felled as appropriate, roads and parking areas were established and marked with lime, a concrete launching ramp was poured and a graveled earth ramp was constructed. The budget provided funds to the site committee for materials and for the labor which had to be done by "professionals", but there was very little of that required since it turned out there was a tremendous amount of talent which the volunteer members displayed, especially as to carpentry. The only compensation the volunteers got was hot coffee and doughnuts and an occasional keg, which wasn’t tapped until an appropriate amount of work had been accomplished. There was an unwritten law that on workdays, no matter how perfect the weather conditions, no boats would be launched before noon or before the day’s straw boss (usually Bob Atherton,) said enough had been accomplished for that session.

Something was missing, though. The only sanitary facilities on the site had to be improvised behind a bush or a fat tree. That somehow did not seem satisfactory for some of the more modest members, so a canvas screen was rigged as a temporary measure for privacy of the ladies. At least that freed up more bushes for the men. Finally, a more conventional solution was approved by the Board which voted to award a contract for Porta-potties; one in the winter months and two during sailing seasons. The Board also contracted for a dumpster to take care of all the debris, social events, boat maintenance and yard work generated. Civilization had begun to set in.

One of the things that was recognized immediately was the need for somewhere to keep "stuff" such as the electric trolling motor and battery for the race committee / rescue boat, the buoys used for marking race courses, flags used for controlling the races, tools used for maintaining the grounds. The construction capabilities of the membership had not shown up immediately, so when one of the members was offered a former canteen truck that had belonged to a private school which the club could use as a storage shed. On the "beggars can’t be choosers" theory, the club accepted. When the truck arrived (not under its own power), it was a very bright blue, and had a logo for the "Blue Devils" on its side. It was garish. It was ugly. It stood out like a very sore thumb. It offended on just about any account,. But it did keep a lot of gear locked up and out of the weather for many years until the Boat House was built, and ugly as it was, it wasn’t nearly as offensive once it was painted a sort of moss green (so it almost matched the porta-potties and the woods, if you used your imagination).

Social events were being held regularly, at least once a month officially, but after the work days there was always coffee and doughnuts and sometimes after the Sunday "atheist’s races" or just out of a clear blue sky there would appear a "sudden keg" which would generate an unscheduled social event. Occasionally it would rain even though there was a scheduled event, but, undaunted, someone would break out a tarpaulin and the party would go on. If anyone should ever try to tell you champagne breakfast isn’t a contact sport, and a great one, suggest they try it with a mixed group of 35 or 40 congenial people in a pouring rain under an 18 foot by 18 foot tarp!

Pleasant and friendly as that was, it was decided that a picnic shelter was needed. G.R.S.A. Construction went into action again and one appeared. Simultaneously, playground equipment, small boat racks and a real gate were built; another ramp was created, the sail folding area was established and the landscaping at the turning circle was established. All this construction (and much more to come) was done under the direction of Bob Atherton who has always been an effective and dedicated asset to the club.

In the earlier days it was a very rare visit to the club which did not reveal an additional structure or a change in the parking lot or roadways which made the site a more comfortable, pleasant and convenient place to spend your leisure time. There were plenty of picnic tables, barbeque grills, docks, decks, bridges and parking spaces for cars and boats.

As the site was beginning to take shape it became evident that there was a need for rules to cover the way members and their guests would behave both on land and on the water, and this meant establishing site rules which had to be created from scratch by the Board of Directors; it also meant familiarizing the members with the rules of the United States Yacht Racing Union, which had been accepted by the Board of Directors as the rules to be followed on the water not only for regattas but for day sailors.

One of the first questions to come up was one of control. What would be done to separate the people who had a right to be there from those who did not? There were several suggestions, but the one which looked like the winner was to issue decals to members and guest passes to invited guests, and voila! Any member of the Board of Directors could identify the driver of any car not displaying a decal or a pass and ask them to leave. Simple. The only problem was that one of the Board members had a 1964½ classic Mustang Coupe and he vowed he would not deface his baby with any decals! The idea was rejected for cars, but it did get passed for boats.

Some novice racers who had not familiarized themselves with the rules sufficiently were detected giving way on the racecourse to a better informed but unscrupulous crew bearing down on them and frantically shouting, "Port!"

Although "look out for the boom!" is not an actual rule, maybe it ought to be; about $2,000 worth of dental work earned one member the nickname "Bite the boom _____!"

Here, as elsewhere, names withheld or changed to protect them from embarrassment – besides, they know who was involved, and so do any others who have any business knowing.

One member’s bride was very eager to go to the Caribbean Islands and her spouse tried to satisfy her by renaming the sandy beach beyond Judge’ Point St. Grsa. Needless to say, it was a good try, but somehow not quite the same, although the lady did enjoy sunning herself on the renamed strand.

One story which may or may not be true, but which is too good to omit from any history concerns one of the founding members who spent so much time at the sailing club that once when he went out of town he came home to find that his wife’s patience had been totally exhausted, and so, despite the tremendous amount of work involved, she had buried his Hobie in the back yard!

The promontory to the left of the ramps and activities area does not have any name other than "The Point" as far as the records or memories go. Nevertheless, it was one of the most popular areas for short sails to a place where any number of boats would "raft up" to share each other’s company, and maybe a toddy or two. It was more or less out of view of the picnicking areas; there are rumors that man overboard drills were sometimes held, and even veiled hints that there may have been some skinny dipping by a few of the less inhibited members – only after dark, of course!

Any history would be incomplete without recording an extremely foggy night after a successful soiree when a couple had decided to spend the night at the site and after their supper and before going to bed in their van were sitting at a picnic table having a nightcap when lo and behold – the fog parted to reveal a disheveled and anxious looking being in sailing attire. Without normal civilities at first, even though his story was a bit fuzzy due to emotion, he told a tale of equipment failure, a landfall to make repairs, false accusations of trespass, police brutality, lack of consideration for a lady and illegal incarceration.

Does anyone remember heading out for the point (or coming back by it) and realizing that what they thought was a squirrelly wind that kept them tacking and jibing over and over again was really only having your centerboard caught in the Sargasso Sea?

Or do you remember how long it took most of us to remember just how far offshore the channel was between the point and the sand bar?

Does anyone remember when a member’s guest drove through the gate without opening it?

Does anyone remember when one of the most talented sailors in the club managed to capsize during an Around the Island Race trying to set a spinnaker in a dead calm?

Does anyone remember, on a happier note, that there was actually a wedding on the club grounds? Not only that, but it is still a viable union. Many happy returns!

Does anyone remember the New Year’s Day when the lake was frozen so the jon boat was put on the ice to fulfill the tradition?

Shortly after the fledgling club took occupancy of their new home, an unexpected problem arose, and it was caused by man’s best friend. One of the elected officers and his wife had a handsome boxer which they liked to bring out to the site for exercise and country air. It was a nice dog, and friendly, which was part of the problem, as some of the members had small children whom they liked to bring out to the site for the same reasons, not to mention the fact that it seemed more logical than getting an all-day baby sitter.

In addition to the fact that some of the smaller children were frightened by the large dog’s friendly advances, several times barefooted sailors stepped in the dog’s large "calling cards". Needless to say, the discussions in the Board meetings were long and heated as site rules were being written when one of the Board members proposed that a rule prohibiting pets on the site should be included. It’s hard to imagine the intensity when a person’s concern for the rights of their pet is pitted against another’s concern for the rights of their offspring! Children, however, in this case won, thus leaving the pets at home to comply with Site Rule No. 10 despite the threat by the dog-owning Vice Commodore to resign his office, a threat which he carried out. The club is still benefiting, as Bob Atherton was elected to fill the remainder of his unexpired term.

Another Site Rule, originally No. 11, but later dropped, caused nearly as much controversy; it simply stated that footwear must be worn at all times. There had been several instances of badly cut feet from hidden or submerged sharp objects, so despite some people’s contention that they have an inherent right and even a duty to go barefooted around water, the Board bureaucratically decided to protect them from themselves.

Following is a listing of the known Charter Members:
(Note:  those names listed in blue are still members)

01 Pat Wycoff

02 Kenneth Guthrie

03 Harry Harding

04 Ed Wilson

05 Don McKenzie

06 Bill Ford

07 Edgar Mallory

08 Dick Dillenbeck

09 Richard Duma

        11 James Loving

12 John Clarke

14 Barry J. Dunsmore

15 Michael Jernigan

16 Claude Dodson

17 Arthur Ritter

        20 Tom Lincks

22 Michael Nolte

23 Alex McGrath

24 Meda Lane

28 Edgar Edelman

29 Peyton Chichester, Jr.

31 R. Grayson Terry

32 Esson M. Miller

35 Tom Torrence

37 Arline Mosier

47 Joe Stianche

50 Albert Wood

51 Brent Finch

52 Charles C. Rosson

53 John R. Cobb, III

55 Dan Cosby

        57 Robert Conklin

58 Kenneth D. Saylor

60 Francis L. Church

61 Joseph T/ Schmierer

62 Leslie S. Gibbs

63 Arthur C. Klevenz

64 Robert W. Duvall

73 Robert J. Pareene

77 Robert J. Behnke

81 David E. Jones

83 James T. Poindexter, III

92 Donald Habel

94 William H. Mitchell

      100 Robert E. Atherton

      101 Lee Rust

      102 Edmond Pittman

      104 Leatrice K. Fastabend

      105 David Phillips

      106 Joan M. Meiller