Pass-a-Grille - St. Petersburg Yacht Club

Pass-a-Grille
ST. PETERSBURG YACHT CLUB
107
Pass-a-Grille
… Historic site …
George Chase, left, L.L. McMasters, Al Gandy, Paul Reese, Gidge Gandy, Babe Fogarty enjoy the bar
in the Pass-a-Grille clubhouse in the 1930s. Gulf Beaches Historical Museum
Original burgee: The luff tape,
above, of the original PAGYC burgee,
below, shows the 1934-38 winners’
names for the under-16-foot, under100-square foot sail class.
SPYC archive
T
he Pass-a-Grille Yacht Club was organized
and chartered in 1934. Many residents of
Pass-a-Grille were members of SPYC but
they envisioned a club of their own on the beach.
The founders were Mac Granger, Jack Deacon Sr.,
George Chase, Dr. R. Geisler, Leo Czekalski, Joe Dew, Al Gandy, Ken Merry and
Charles Hastings. The first commodore
was George Chase who served for three
years. Al Gandy, who succeeded Chase,
had previously served as commodore
of SPYC, as had Lew McMasters, who
later served as commodore of PAGYC in
1939.
In the 1930s, Pass-a-Grille was a separate town at the south end of Long Key.
The incorporated city of St. Pete Beach later subsumed all of Long Key including Pass-a-Grille. The
channel into the Gulf of Mexico at the south tip of
Pass-a-Grille likely existed for centuries and it is believed that Panfilo de Narvaez anchored off Pass-aGrille during his exploration of Florida in 1528. The
island had at least one freshwater spring. The name
Pass-a-Grille is believed to have been derived from
the French name Passe-aux-Grilleurs; early visitors obtained fresh water and grilled their fish catch at this
beautiful, convenient place.
The first clubhouse was a frame beach cottage at
the south end of the property occupied by the club
today. The layout served the “men only” character of
the early club: a bar, two card rooms, a tiny kitchen
and a large screen porch. The first regatta sponsored
by the newly formed club was held Sunday, Oct. 7,
1934.
A description of the course describes a Florida
those born before 1950 had the pleasure of knowing:
“A 1 ½ nautical mile triangle whose starting line was
between a buoy placed at the northwest end of Daisy
Flat and a channel stake at the southwest end of Mud
Key (now the tip of Vina del Mar), then northeast by
east to a channel stake at the northwest end of Pine
Key (northernmost of three islands joined to create
Tierra Verde) passing to the east of the stake, then
south by west to the channel stake at the northeast
end of Shell Island (which disappeared completely in
the 1970s) passing between a buoy and the channel
stake, then north by west back to the starting line.”
By the 1940s, PAGYC had become a popular social center and an active sailing club. Before encroachment upon its bay side sailing area by dredge-and-fill
projects, the club hosted a well attended July Fourth
multi-class regatta that attracted sailors from all
around Tampa Bay.
SPYC’s Fish Class boats regularly participated after having made the sail down Tampa Bay, around
Pinellas Point, and west through narrow channels to
Previous page: Pass-a-Grille Yacht Club Vice Commodore Bob Ripple, front, and Rear Commodore Len Jurca (obscured) salute as children graduating from the 2004
two-week sailing course offered by the club’s women’s sailing team, the Broad Reachers, sail past. Willie J. Allen Jr. / St. Petersburg Times archive
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CENTENNIAL 1909-2009
The PAGYC original clubhouse and docks appear at the left in this 1940s photo of Pass-a-Grille’s bayside. The club was established in
1934. The Australian pines prominent on the island were eradicated by a freeze in 1961. Gulf Beaches Historical Museum
Pass-a-Grille. Throughout its existence PAGYC was
a popular destination for power and sail cruisers by
virtue of its hospitality, old Florida setting and proximity to the Gulf.
In 1956, a ladies’ auxiliary was formed. Their
fundraising activities contributed to the construction,
in 1960, of the clubhouse in use today. The original
clubhouse was razed for parking.
In 1961, PAGYC was a charter member, as was
SPYC, in the formation of the Council of Thirteen,
which is now known as the Florida Council of Yacht
Clubs, an organization representing the interests of
yacht clubs statewide.
During the summer of 1970, Nancy Lucas, wife of
then-Pass-a-Grille Commodore John Lucas, started
to solicit members for a women’s sailing organization to represent their yacht club. The name “Broad
Reachers” was adopted by the 11 founding members in 1971. It is attributed to B. Z. Gilman. Since its
founding, the group has continued to promote sailing among its members and to provide training for
junior sailors. The group is a member of the Florida
Women’s Sailing Association and participates in interclub regattas.
The Broad Reachers sail weekly on Saturday
mornings September through June, provide an annual round of social events and conduct a junior sailing program each June. They have a fleet of 14 International Optimist dinghies. During the June 2009,
junior program the “Reachers” were augmented by
members from the “downtown” club and an instructor from the Sailing Center.
The original Pass-a-Grille clubhouse, as viewed from Pass-a-Grille Way in the
late1930s. Gulf Beaches Historical Museum
Harry Kingsley Jr., Orville Benefield and Kenneth Merry Sr. sing at a PAGYC party in 1938.
Gulf Beaches Historical Museum
ST. PETERSBURG YACHT CLUB
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Pass-a-Grille
Jim Robinson
and Bob
Tucker took
second in
1965’s Hurricane Classic,
which ended
at Pass-aGrille. Jim
Dick and Mary Jane Miseners’ Tonga departs PAGYC in 1985,
bound for Panama and many ports beyond. Gulf Beaches Historical Museum
Robinson collection
Pass-a-Grille
Yacht Club
commodores
1937
Alfred L.
Gandy
1938
R.J.
Dew
1939
1940-42
L.L.
M.M.
McMasters Simmons
1943-44
L.
Czekalski
1947
W.J.
Calvert
1948
K.F. Kaufhold
1949
O. Brumby
1950
L.L.
St. Louis.
Gulf Beaches
Historical Museum
The afternoon seabreeze heels Fish Class boats
participating in PAGYC’s 1963 July Fourth
Regatta. St. Petersburg Times archive
Pram sailors and parents celebrate a day of racing in the 1950s with dinner at
PAGYC. Twenty-two boats sailed in this regatta. Gulf Beaches Historical Museum
Moth and Suicide class participants prepare for a race in a 1950s PAGYC July
Fourth Regatta. St. Petersburg Times archive
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CENTENNIAL 1909-2009
In the late 1970s, PAGYC initiated a two-day regatta for offshore capable boats, which was sailed
in the Gulf. The club received support from Anchor
Savings Bank (which disappeared in a merger in the
1990s). This regatta, known as the Anchor Trophy
Race, was sailed in mid-January, served as a tune-up
event for the SORC and consistently attracted large
fleets. The event continued with sponsorship from
the Crown automobile organization; however, the
date was moved to early spring to reduce the likelihood of being “blown out” by a winter cold front.
By the year 2000, the 40-year-old clubhouse had
reached obsolescence and the PAGYC leaders and
membership faced difficult choices. A core group of
PAGYC members including Commodore Roger Erb,
Millard Gamble, Len Jurca, Joseph Klingel and Bill
Neuens was determined to preserve the existence of
a yacht club on their historic site. PAGYC, under the
leadership of its last commodore, Erb, and SPYC under the leadership of Commodores Fred Bickley and
Fred Deuel and P/C James Montgomery, negotiated
a merger, which became effective Oct. 31, 2007.
Under the terms of the merger, PAGYC members
became members of SPYC. Bickley, Tito Vargas and
Klingel took the lead in rapidly designing and executing a “crash” program of renovation of the clubhouse, docks and parking lot. The renovated facilities re-opened for use by the members July 4, 2008,
under the name St. Petersburg Yacht Club at Passa-Grille.
1951
Frank T.
Hurley
1954-55
W.R.
Gramling
1956
G.E.
Borresen
1957
E.G.
Wise
1959 & 1963 1960
1961
W.A.
G.W.
Edward L.
Miller
Spicklemire Theobald
1962
E.D.
Martin
1964
E.L.
Jones Jr.
1965-66
H.S.
Ivory
1967
J.A.
Rhoades
1968-69
W.W.
Chase
1970
John S.
Lucas Jr.
1971
1972
W.F.
B.H.
Holzhauser McCurdy
1973
W.F.
Hunt
1974
E.S.
Ferris Jr.
1975
B.B.
Baer
1976
F.H.
Houser
1977
L.A.
Scholl
1978
Gordon K.
Getz
1979
John
Gleason
1980
Walter H.
Dickman
1981
Joseph A.
Kamleiter
1982
Lloyd D.
Lance
1983
Jack F.
Clement
1984
W.G.
Zingre
1985
Robert D.
Spiers
1986
Henry S.
Taylor 1987
Frank A.
Sharp
1988
Frank J.
Valde
1989
Robert F.
Bolster
1990
Cortland T.
Krams
1991
John F.
Pearce
1992
Cecil W.
Sanders
1993
William A.
Stevenson
1994
John A.
Pitt
1995
Howard D.
Edwards
1996
Richard L.
Keller
1997
Harvey W.
Fritz
1997
James
Irwin
1998
John G.
Bosserman
1999
Edwin S.
Whittaker
2001
J. Barrie
Munroe
2002
2004-05
Dr. Marvin A. Sandy
Bayles
Stevenson
2006
Len
Jurca
2007
Roger
Erb
ST. PETERSBURG YACHT CLUB
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Pass-a-Grille
The 2007-08 renovation of the Pass-a-Grille clubhouse included this unique partition between the dining room and the lounge. W.C. Ballard / SPYC archive
The exterior renovation included rebuilding the
seawall, installing new docks and adding this
dockside patio. W.C. Ballard / SPYC archive
A view from the dock shows St. Petersburg Yacht Club at Pass-a-Grille in September 2009. W.C. Ballard / SPYC archive
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CENTENNIAL 1909-2009