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In 1980, when Matt Bingham was commodore, he appointed Sal Cerniglia, Rick Booth, and Lou Chumbres as a committee to study the possibility of the Club having its own hauling and storage.Their proposal was never approved by the members. (The rest of the story was written by Al Califano, Sept. 1, 1995)
In the fall of 1990 Mike, from the Chelsea Cottage Marina next to the Chelsea Yacht Club (CYC) property, announced that all club members who wished to store boats on CYC property and who wanted to use his services in hauling boats with his Travelift and placing them on CYC property would have to come out early because he was going to Florida for the winter and wanted all boats in place before he left.
Commodore Don Hall and Past Commodore Al Califano discussed the problem that Mike's requirement caused with the Storage program and decided that something had to be done. We were operating at the whim of someone who was controlling our club activities by dictating what, where, and when we were going to end our sailing season. For this and other reasons arising from disharmony between club members and Mike of the Chelsea Cottage Marina, Don and Al said, "Why can't we do our own Hauling and Storage (H&S)?" Al was willing to investigate the feasibility of doing it, and Don made him chairman of the H&S feasibility program. Thus began three long years of research, debate, legal issues, and frustration,
In 1991 Chris Bunker was elected Commodore and asked Al Califano to continue the H&S program. Bob Arnouts was selected as the architect to design the necessary Hauling Pit. Chris and Bob handled all the permits and legal issues. Al selected the Travelift and the contractor to build the Hauling Pit.
Mike from the Chelsea Cottage Marina tried to stop the program by getting the Town of Wappinger to investigate CYC as to deeds to property and permits from the Army Corps of Engineers and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and by getting the local residents upset with cries of encroachment on Town property and about anything else he thought might stop us,
Two years had now passed, and, after serving as Commodore for two years, Chris Bunker passed the Gavel to the newly elected commodore, Rick Scott. As there were so many unresolved legal issues, Chris Bunker remained involved with Bob Arnouts in helping to bring those issues to a close. Al Califano entered his third year as the chairman of the H&S Committee and worked with Jack Ryan using the newly purchased Pettibone Crane ( originally bought to replace the ailing Yale Crane) to haul and store members boats on CYC property.
The 15 BFM Travelift (brand name) was purchased from Foley Towlift Inc. (Foley Marine), located in Piscataway, New Jersey on June 8, 1993. Al first saw the 15 BFM Travelift at the New York Boat Show in 1992. After many conversations between Al and William Moore ( the representative for Foley Marine) regarding necessary modifications, such as making the Travelift two feet wider and three feet higher, a price was set and presented to the Officers and Membership for approval. The amount we paid was $72,115.00, which included delivery and assembly of the unit using the CYC Pettibone crane and someone to run it. Al Califano used the Pettibone to unload the truck and to maneuver the parts for assembly.. Once the Travelift was assembled, Al was given about one hour of instruction on its operation and a set of keys.
The Hauling Pit was constructed by Murphy's Sand and Gravel Corp. ( a local contractor recommended by Donny White). the total cost of all material and labor was $54,217.00. Construction was begun in December of 1992 and was completed in May of 1993. Al was there almost every day and videotaped it all.
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