Liberty Yacht Club

The Passing of Audrey Zapp

 This February, our great champion of Liberty State Park, home to LYC, passed away at 86 years old.  Audrey Zapp was a true believer in the potential greatness of our Park, and without her strength of conviction and purpose, there would be no home for Liberty Landing, no boating, and no public space that we now enjoy.

An article in the Record describes Audrey’ s tireless role in getting Liberty State Park off the ground, together with her partner, Morris Pesin. So if you always wanted to know who Audrey Zapp Drive is named after, here’s the link to the article that will teach you a little more about this remarkable woman. Thanks, Audrey!

2-8-2012 – Audry Zapp – Liberty State Park

Holiday Greetings

To All LYC Members, Families and Friends:

May you all have the Happiest of Holidays and the Best of New Years!!

I saw three ships come sailing in
On Christmas day, on Christmas day;
I saw three ships come sailing in
On Christmas day in the morning.

2011 Holiday Season

Well, we sure started this one off with major snow dump!  We are still cleaning up at home from all of the fallen trees and debris from the October storm. There are still so many things I need to do to get the boat ready for its winter sleep, but I don’t know how to find the time.

Just for once, I’d like to shrinkwap everything and forget about putting things away, and where all the bits and pieces will be in the spring when I return to put it all back together again.  Life is hard enough without the added worry about whether I need to revisit the winterization list once more to remember what needs attending to before the cold sets in.

Here’s hoping your holiday season starts off with lots of fun things to do, too.  Boats sometimes are just too much work!  But, what we have to complain about if we didn’t love the end product so much?

Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Give him a fishing lesson and he’ll sit in a boat drinking beer every weekend.
- Alex Blackwell

As we enter the month of May in the 10th year since 9-11, the news of the killing of Osama Bin Laden is probably the most welcome news anyone in New York harbor can ever have.  None of us can ever forget that fateful day, or the emotions that poured from everyone we encountered.  The grim reality of the event was, in my mind,  forever crystallized by the use of Liberty State Park as a temporary morgue.  So many of us wanted to volunteer our boats to help in some way the victims and those seeking refuge from the horrific destruction of the World Trade Towers.  At Liberty Landing, the stench from the collapse and accumulation of burned materials lingered around the docks for weeks.

As Commodore, I want to congratulate the military and the intelligence community for their vigilance.  We always see the Coast Guard around us keeping us safe, but when Fleet Week begins this month, we will have a special opportunity to thank the US Navy and the SEALs for their leadership in this brilliant accomplishment.

We will have our Opening Day on May 22, and at the Blessing of the Fleet, I for one will be making a special prayer in thanks for the removal of the most vile criminal America has ever faced.

God Bless the USA!

It’s almost Spring, and what comes to mind
for us boaters? 

You guessed it, time for the numerous trips to West Marine, Lockwoods, or your favorite chandlery!!  I have yet to get it in my mind to buy the things I need for spring commissioning sometime over the dark winter months.

Have you ever asked yourself why bottom paint cost $245 per gallon!?  And, why is it that you never have the right size hose clamp when you know it was there last fall?  The “to-do” list is supposed to get shorter each year considering that we’ll all another year older and that much more wiser than last season — sure!!

Yes, but that old line from Kenneth Grahame always sounds good right about now: 

“Believe me, my young friend, there is NOTHING–absolutely nothing–half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.”