Members of America’s Boating Club of Lake Murray
Are Enjoying the 2022 Boating Season

Following is a summary of our activities from March through July Fourth. To see all our fun, please follow this link to an MP4 file illustrating how we kicked off the boating season with gusto!

Camping/Boating Weekend

America’s Boating Club of Lake Murray began its 2022 boating season with a Camping/Boating Weekend at Dreher Island State Park on Lake Murray. The event was held 3-7 March with everyone having so much fun another such weekend has been placed on the scheduled for 2-5 March 2023! The weather cooperated, making it a perfect outing with great friends. In fact, eight campers and five boats attended this year’s events, enjoying evening bonfires, sing-a-longs provided by Mike Charles, kayaking, and a fish fry to celebrate the beginning of Lent.

Oyster Roast

Road repairs to our causeway resulted in our annual Oyster Roast being rescheduled for Saturday 19 March. As always, P/C Lee Ayers, SN-CN did a wonderful job planning and cooking oysters and shrimp for more than 100 members and their guests. A special thanks to P/C Janice Ayers, AP for the side dishes and to our member volunteers who helped set up for the feast and who assisted with clean-up afterwards. 

Shake ‘N Break

We began the second quarter of our year by having a great time on a less than desirable boating day, but still there were boats on the dock and members at Flotilla to enjoy each other’s company and a member appreciation luncheon prepared by the Bridge during our annual Shake ’N Break on 9 April. With 62 in attendance, we also blessed members of the fleet present and absent.

Lakeside Litter Sweep

As part of the Lakeside Litter Sweep, America’s Boating Club of Lake Murray has adopted Goat Island and committed to a bi-annual cleanup. Thanks to Lt Chris Zolnowski for organizing the 23 April cleanup -- one of two scheduled for the year. He also provided his pontoon for transport and supplied our cleanup volunteers with gloves and trash bags. We appreciate our members’ support of this great cause, helping the squadron fulfill our civic service in keeping our lake and its surroundings clean. The next Goat Island Cleanup Day is 22 October.

Cinco de Mayo

On 7 May our membership enjoyed event that is becoming an annual occurrence — Cinco de Mayo! Lts Kelly Turner and Carol Gaylord hosted this event, from decorating to cooking. Carol offered special thanks to her friend, Pat Bowers, who again came down from North Carolina to help put everything together. Carol cooked Pork Chili Colorado, beef tacos, chicken cheese enchiladas, rice, refried beans, and black beans. Also, Kelly announced Scott Stambaugh donated all the Mexican beer, just as he did last year, and Tim Austin donated margaritas to celebrate the occasion. Several children were on hand for this event; they really added a touch of energy to the 73 adults in attendance. Capping the event, Cdr Mike Urquhart swore in Jay and Jackie Page with their four children as new members!

Flotilla Island Workdays

Before continuing the summary of our cruises and other events, lets thank Harbor Master Gene Butler and our member volunteers who participate in the Flotilla Island Workdays. Well, actually, workdays are more like spending a couple of hours cleaning the building, mowing, trimming the island and causeway, and picking up all the pinecones. It’s not glamourous work but every member benefits. So next time you see an email seeking volunteers for a Flotilla Island Workday, come out and contribute a little time to make our facility and grounds shine!

Charleston to Beaufort Cruise

As usual, an out-of-town cruise was planned for the long Memorial Day weekend. This year, our members towed to Charleston for a familiar trip down the Intercoastal Waterway to Beaufort and Hilton Head. Weather wise, it could not have been a better weekend. Our cruisers were fortunate enough to be able to dock all nine boats at Beaufort Downtown Marina – a feat since the city was celebrating its annual Gullah Festival. On day two, Hilton Head was the cruise destination where everyone enjoyed a delicious lunch at Hudson’s Seafood before spending the afternoon at a beautiful sandbar. On the cruise back to Charleston, the group stopped to visit Morgan Island also known as Monkey Island. And yes, there was a monkey seen.

Cloud’s Creek Cruise

Next up, members had an opportunity to participate in the Fourth Annual Clouds Creek Cruise, which was led 4 June by P/C Fred Ruinen aboard Yankee Pankee. The group started from Flotilla Island, with more boats joining the fleet as it proceeded up Lake Murray past Big Man’s Landing. Passing under S.C. Highway 391 Bridge and curving South into Clouds Creek, our cruisers passed the new Palmetto Pointe development and under the Mt. Willing Road bridge as they headed to P/C Rick and Betsy Agar’s dock. Seven boats docked, rafting off each other until everyone fit. Two additional members arrived by car, bringing the total attendance for this cruise/lunch outing to 25 members. To everyone’s delight, Chef Betsy smoked two beef briskets all day Friday and smoked two salmon fillets Saturday morning. Everyone else brought an interesting variety of side dishes, including salads and desserts to share. The group enjoyed a sunny day, with nice breezes offering three hours of cooler weather while eating and socializing. This cruise is about 25 miles each way and represented new western “breadcrumbs” on the GPS for many members.

 Overnight Race

The Lake Murray Yacht Racing Association (LMYRA) Overnight Race was held 11-12 June and our members provided support boats for the race including three racecourse mark boats, two safety boats, and one floater boat. Mark boats remained anchored at the three rounding marks and shined a locator light to help the sailboats see the location for their turns. The sailboats rounded the triangular course twice before heading to the Finish Line located off the Columbia Sailing Club’s dock. Total distance sailed was about 32 miles. This years’ race was blessed with nice winds and cooler temperatures than had been experienced the week before the race. The moon also was close to full, helping with visibility. Seven sailboats entered the race but one experienced problems and dropped out before finishing. The winds made for a faster race than last year, but the waters were rougher for the downwind mark boat as the waves built higher through the night. The last boat rounded the third mark at 0052 allowing the mark boats to pull anchor and head back to the dock. The safety boat remained in position until the last sailboat crossed the finish line about an hour later.

Log Jam Raft Up

We had a great turnout for our first log jam of the boating season, which is a big raft up held twice a year and not to be confused with The Log Jam our quarterly newsletter. It was good to see a lot of new members participate. All told, we had 31 boats and 97 people enjoy a day rafted together at No Name Cove near Dreher Island State Park on Lake Murray! The next log jam is 20 August.

July Fourth Celebration

LMPS members enjoyed our Annual July Fourth Pig Roast before lining Flotilla Island to watch the Lake Murray Fireworks display on 2 July. This year’s menu included chicken, pulled pork, ribs, baked beans, cole slaw and desserts. We fed 86, but lost count of those members who showed up just to enjoy the fireworks. Special thanks to past commanders Ed Garbe and Jim Rakes for preparing a terrific meal for all to enjoy — they grilled and smoked 16 chickens, 12 racks of ribs and six pork butts. Interestingly, Jim said the cost of the ribs alone this year was double the amount spent on all the food prepared for our 1997 July Fourth cookout. On top of the wonderful food and fellowship, P/C R.J. Becht, acting on behalf of Cdr Mike Urquart and Executive Officer Tim Barnhill, swore in five new members, bringing Lake Murray’s membership to 259. 

If you would like to see some of the scenes captured during the events described here, follow this link to a slideshow capturing the fun we’ve had so far!