Opening Day
Commodore B. J. Turk, 13 June 2003

It's finally here.

After months of working out the concept, and deciding if it was worth the time and money to get it together, the Acme Yacht Club has finally arrived. It is only fitting and proper that the club has its launch date as Friday the 13th, as such days are sacred to sailors of our lack of prowess. Just as the site launches today (with many things undone, which is also appropriate), so too has the club's domain name been obtained, although my wife doesn't know that I've spent the money just yet. She'll find out soon enough.

The Acme Yacht Club was conceived as a yacht club where those who are neither rich nor particularly skillful would be welcome. As for the latter, we not only intend to celebrate those who are not quite American's Cup class sailors, but honor them through the award of decorations and medals for the sundry misfortunes at sea that they or those close them have suffered. Among them are the Order of the Crescent Moon for those whose lives have been touched by someone's loss of life at sea, the Order of Neptune for those whose lives have been touched by the sinking of a vessel, the Mayday Medal for those whose lives have been touched by someone needing rescue at sea, and the North Star for those whose lives have been touched by being lost at sea.



Note the phrase "whose lives have been touched." What this means is that people who have not themselves experienced such things directly are also eligible for these honors. If an incident touched your life because it happened to a parent, sibling or child of yours, it counts, because tragedies at sea also affect those close to the person who actually suffered through the event. In this club, they are rightly rewarded.

As to the former, the Acme Yacht Club was intended from the beginning to be affordable to all. Crew memberships will be free, but Crew members won't get much for their membership. They won't even be allowed to buy a club burgee. Since they don't pay anything, they should be lucky to get anything at all, as far as I'm concerned. Officer memberships will start at just thirteen cents a day, which comes out to $3.95 a month, or $44.13 annually (a savings of a penny a day!). At this low monthly price, they'll have to buy their own burgee. Founding memberships will be a one-time fee of roughly four or five times the annual dues, which will include club privileges for life, a special club burgee, a plaque honoring them for their contribution to the founding of the club, and will be listed on a special page for founding members. Once the founding memberships have closed, then life memberships — no plaque, standard club burgee — will be made available (but at a higher price).



In addition, all members will be able to earn rank, based on their misfortunes. Paying members will earn officer rank and have access to the Officer deck, and free members will earn enlisted rank and have access to the Crew deck. To keep things simple, only three or four titles of each type will be used. Officers can attain the rank of Ensign, Lieutenant or Commander, while Crew can be Seaman, Chief Petty Officer or Master Chief Petty Officer. The rank of Captain will be reserved exclusively for Founding and Life members.

Thank you for your interest in the Acme Yacht Club. Pretty soon, we'll have more things ready for you. Check back soon and see what you find!



Other Commodore's Log entries:

      Thankful (13 November 2005)
      Shorter Days, Longer Nights (13 October 2005)
      Summer's End (13 August 2005)
      Summer Sailing (13 July 2005)
      3rd Friday the 13th Status Report (13 May 2005)
      Ode to Spring (13 April 2005)
      The Misfortune Continues... (13 March 2005)

      Commodore's Log Archive (old stuff)


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