Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2010, Jefferson Beach Marina to the Old Club at Harsons Island in the St. Clair Flats.

Pat and I really looked forward to going to the "Old Club" at Harsons Island to attend the rendezvous hosted by the Grosse Ile Yacht Club, Grosse Ile, Michigan. Pat was looking forward to 4 days of sitting still, enjoying making new friends and having some shore based activities. I was looking forward to connecting with the folks from the yacht club.

The history here is that Tim's and my dad was practically a charter member of GIYC in the mid 1940's and Tim has been an active member for many many years.

The other draw for me to the Old Club was that Tim, me, our mother and father had often passed this club on our way up the St. Clair River Channel on our way to either the dock of the Idle Hour hotel as it was known in the 1950's or to the dockside home of a friend who lived nearby.  Passing the Old Club was always an event for us due to its stature and very high end  reputation.  We would always comment as we made our way by the OC.

My now favorite baseball hat is from the Old Club.  Since it says "OLD CLUB" on its front, I am sure anyone who sees it will think it is a statement about ME instead a purchase from this venerable club.

However we had to get our broken boat fixed before we could leave the Jefferson Beach area.  Right next door to JBM is a marina called Emerald City where they have repair facilities.  That is where we headed.  These folks were awesome in their ability and willingness to go the extra mile for service.  They could not fix the problem immediately because they had to order a new "ram" which would take a day or two.  But they bandaged up the existing stuff for us we we could make our Old Club trip, and then back for final repairs.  We were delighted with their service.

Once at our final destination, we had all our expectations exceed by the hospitality of the entire Old Club staff.  They did everything in their power to make our stay a delightful one.  GIYC had approximately 30 attendees.

http://theoldclub.com/

www.giyc.com

Arriving, the outer break wall with Tim and Kathy's boat,  Amigo moored against the face dock.

Welcoming sign

Club house from the water side

Rear of the clubhouse looking over the nose of the Salt Shaker

Cottage Row

One of the activites.  Yes that is yours truely shooting skeet.

The admiral enjoying a "light" refreshement.

A cocktail party in progress aboard Amigo.

Pat among the other par 3'ers.

John Clark's beautiful Hackercraft

Commodore Crysler's Rinker, "Ship Happens."

Tim and I took a walk, a long walk.  We passed many cottages, an occasional store and an occasional marina.  Much of the trail was just what you see here.

However, Tim's wife, Kathy decided we should cut our walk in the heat short.  She procured some wheels to come rescue us.  Our manhood made us reluctant.  She was insistant. We got in.

Tim, making his beard ship shape for the upcoming evening festivities.

Another cocktail party, this one aboard Jerry and Karen's awesome Sea Ray.

The awards party at the end for the "formal" dinner on the final evening.  Here I am being presented with the award for the most improved sportsman.  Skeet shooting was brand new to me, so once I fired the first shell and missed the target, by a lot, each following round was an improvement.  In the end I was hitting a fair number of the the "clay pigeons."

Sad to leave, but this is the view of the cottages at the end of the channel, leading us out into the St. Clair River.