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Under the Big Top with the Cruising Fleet<br />
Tom Corboy, Chairman, Cruising Fleet Committee<br />
Each cruising season for the past several years has<br />
been punctuated in June and September with a<br />
“Big Tent Event.” June’s Newcomers’ Cruise and<br />
September’s Fall Rendezvous are held at the waterfront<br />
homes of AYC members within the Chesapeake watershed<br />
and attract anywhere from 30 to 60 boats for a<br />
weekend rendezvous and multiple events ashore.<br />
A typical event will feature shared hors d’oeuvres<br />
and cocktails ashore on Friday evening, pot-luck shared<br />
breakfasts on both Saturday and Sunday mornings, either<br />
a catered or cook-your-own lunch on the grill on<br />
Saturday, then a Saturday afternoon activity—perhaps a<br />
lecture with nautical theme, or flower arranging or another<br />
craft—finally a fine catered dinner under the tent<br />
complete with live music and dancing.<br />
Planning begins several months in advance as, typically,<br />
two or three couples act as cruise leaders for the<br />
event. Careful and thorough coordination with the cruise<br />
hosts, selection of tent location, and arranging for all of<br />
the required infrastructure—tents, tables, chairs, selecting<br />
a party theme, arranging for a caterer, musicians, etc.<br />
—consume the energy one would expect in putting on a<br />
party for a crowd of from 125 to 200 folks.<br />
AYC Secretary Jim Rogers, his wife Ellen, and<br />
daughters Allison and Emily have hosted the Newcomers’<br />
Cruise in 2006 and 2009. Their home in Galesville<br />
was temporarily annexed as a province of Italy for the<br />
2006 “Carnevale in Venice” and the 2009 “Return to Italy<br />
and the Blue Grotto.” Costumed and masked revelers<br />
celebrated Carnevale, fine Italian wine, cuisine, music,<br />
and dancing. Then in 2009, the tent was illuminated in<br />
blue to replicate Capri’s Blue Grotto.<br />
Several Newcomers’ Cruises have been held at<br />
Presqu’ile, the home of Dick and Karen Kimberly on the<br />
Wye River. Their generous hospitality, expansive yard,<br />
swimming pool, and ample anchorage make it a favored<br />
location, drawing capacity crowds whenever we rendezvous<br />
there. We will be returning to Presqu’ile for the<br />
2010 Newcomers’ and the sun will shine (we will break<br />
the rain curse that has been visited upon earlier years).<br />
16 AYC BEACON VOLUME 1, NO. 2
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