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Huntington Harbour Yacht Club turns 50

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As called for by protocol, members of the Huntington Harbour Yacht Club salute flag officers as they pass during opening day ceremonies Sunday. The club was celebrating its 50th Opening Day with the parade, opening ceremonies and food and entertainment.

The Huntington Harbour Yacht Club parade elicits cheers from onlookers along the route Sunday. The parade on Opening Day is a tradition.

Yachts parade down Huntington Beach Harbor Sunday. The yachts were part of Huntington Harbour Yacht Club's opening day celebration.

Huntington Harbour Yacht Club member Jim Sanderson takes in the opening day ceremonies Sunday.

It's smooth salling on the White Diamond yacht where a Harbour Yacht Club member keeps a steady step during opening day ceremonies Sunday.

A pennant-decorated yacht proceeds down the harbor in Huntington Beach Sunday. It was part of the 50th opening day celebration for the Huntington Harbour Yacht Club.

Huntington Harbour Yacht Club staff commodore Rich Tarantino fires a shot to announce the arrival of a staff commodore during opening day ceremonies Sunday.

Huntington Harbour Yacht Club's oldest member, Mim Strickler, plays her trademark bugle during the Club's opening day. She has been playing the instrument since “I was a baby,” she said. She has been a Yacht Club member since 1975.

Huntingtonton Harbour Yacht Club Commodore Kimberley Harrison salutes while her salute is returned by members during the 50th opening day ceremonies.

A pup looks a bit confused by a large passing yacht during the Huntington Harbour Yacht Club parade on opening day.

That year, the group decided to name itself the Huntington Harbour Yacht Club.

On Sunday, that club celebrated its 50th anniversary with more boating, booze and merriment, as an organized procession of 17 yachts careened through the harbor midmorning.

“The ’60s were wild,” said Mary Ellen Houseal, an 80-something-year-old member who joined the club during its first year, when dues were $25 and meetings were hosted in living rooms. “We were sailors, and sailors had more fun than anyone else.”

Back then, Huntington Beach was a small community of only a few thousand people that was growing rapidly.

Houseal moved down from Pasadena in 1964 with her husband to escape the Los Angeles smog. Like many others who settled in Huntington Harbour at the time, she was in her 30s, attracted to the clean air and active lifestyle of waterside dwellers, wasn’t notably wealthy, but had enough money to afford a boat. Soon, through the dinghy races and the yacht club, she knew almost everyone who lived and played in the harbor.

“You really didn’t see a stranger in the water,” said Ross De La Hoye, 77, a Vietnam War veteran and original club member.

Five decades later, Huntington Harbour has morphed both physically and socio-economically.

Million dollar yachts now moor behind $10 million homes along the harbor’s winding canals. Those homes, which have been remodeled taller and taller over the years, now block the favorable winds that once made the harbor an ideal boat-racing course. A bridge built over Pacific Coast Highway made it impossible to keep large sailboats with tall masts in the harbor, leading most local boat-enthusiasts to buy motored yachts. And the lack of dredging has created increasingly shallow water conditions.

The club has morphed too, swelling to 500 members and taking up occupancy on a prime harbor-side parcel. Members’ ages now skew more toward 50 and 60. And the competitive sailing of yesteryear has largely disappeared, save for a few youth contests. But members still espouse the value in passing on the knowledge of sailing and the club’s legacy.

That’s why the club runs a summer sailing school to teach 5-to-13 year olds how to properly maneuver a dinghy, with 30 percent of the class’s spots given as scholarships to local children. The club’s leaders say they hope to infuse young blood into an aging club, and the best way to do that is to get children infatuated with sailing at a young age. A few of those kids have even gone on to represent the United States in international competitions.

Mainly, though, people seem to flock to the club for the same reason Houseal did 50 years ago: to create a community of people who will stop to say “Hi” when they see each other around town, who will sail together every so often, and who like to get together weekly for a few cocktails.

“It was started as a very relaxed club, and it’s still close knit,” said John Schmidt, a local car dealership manager who serves as the club’s vice commodore. “You always know somebody.”

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Become a Member

HHYC offers a wide range of boating and social activities for individuals and families with residences in Huntington Harbour and the greater area. Members enjoy reciprocal docking and dining privileges with numerous Southern California Yacht Clubs and Yacht Clubs around the world. If you have a boat or just enjoy many social or boating activities we hope you will consider HHYC. Boat ownership is not a prerequisite for membership.

Membership Privileges

Members also have special private party rates for personal events held at the club house. If you would like further information or would like to attend an event, please call the HHYC Office Manager at (562) 592-2186, or email at [email protected] .

• Eight or more cruises a year to places like Newport Beach, Dana Point, San Diego, Marina del Rey and Catalina.
• Four to five “in harbour” cruises with our Fun Fleet per year. These usually involve mystery cruises, parades, poker runs, etc., followed by a party at the club house.
• Monthly Men’s Luncheon cruises to popular eating establishments.
• Fishing seminars by the Harbour Rod and Reel Club
• An active club involvement in races and regattas. HHYC is the home of the National Champion in Predicted Log Racing. We also compete in many local regattas.
• Our Summer Sailing School is run by our Foundation. It is a fabulous way to teach youngsters about the rules of the waterways and basic sailing instruction. Our juniors and sailing school students compete regularly in local regattas.
• Birthday dinners every other month. A free drink and dinner at a special reduced price to those with birthdays. Dancing and entertainment accompany the great food.
• Friday night is the the place to be at HHYC. The bar is open and drinks are modestly priced. Dinners are available for a reasonable price as well.
• Sea Belles , the women’s arm of the club, plans events, holds luncheon seminars and fundraisers for the club.
• During the summer months, Thursday evenings are for sailing and a burger bash/barbeque.
• HHYC has Sunday brunches Menu every week from 10a-1p.
• HHYC also hosts guest lecture luncheons, bridge groups, garden club, CPR, boating safety, and other educational classes.

MEMBERSHIP LEVELS

Regular/family, non-domicile*, intermediate**, junior (ages 10-21).

*Must have been a Regular or Single member, then moved away (at least 75 miles) **Ages 21-32 only. No voting privileges & cannot serve as a club director or officer (refer to the Bylaws)

APPLICATION Membership Folders with an application form can be found on the front desk at the club. If you have questions contact the Club Office at 562-592-2186

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION A one-time initiation fee is required, plus the membership dues.

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION REQUEST

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• Other: please let us know in the additional information section

Public boat channel for Huntington Harbour opens Thursday

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Huntington Harbour Yacht Club commodore Rudy Lopez said he hopes to take his boat out into the ocean on Thursday, weather permitting.

It isn’t just another day for Lopez.

Thursday marks the first day that the new civilian boating channel through the Anaheim Bay will be open to the public, Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach has announced.

“I just want to go out there, putz around, get into the open water and come on back,” Lopez said. “I think it’s a historic thing for us as a club. You can take that travel path any time you want, but there’s nothing like that very first day.”

Under the former configuration, which has been in place since Huntington Harbour was developed in the 1960s, civilian boaters had to pass through the Navy base in order to enter and exit the Pacific Ocean through Huntington Harbour. Now, they have their own dedicated lane.

The old channel is becoming part of Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach and being blocked off, said Gregg Smith, public affairs officer for the weapons station.

“It improves safety and security, both for the boating community as well as for the Navy,” Smith said.

The new channel is part of a $154-million U.S. Navy project designed to reconfigure Anaheim Bay, as well as build a new ammunition pier for the Navy. The project is set to be completed in 2024.

“We have an ammunition pier currently,” Smith said. “It’s actually an ammunition wharf, but it was originally constructed in 1944 and then rebuilt in 1953. It’s not been substantially modified since that time, so yes, we are definitely looking forward to a replacement.”

Smith said the public channel had to be completed before construction could continue. He added that the weapons station hopes to shorten the amount of time that the channel is closed whenever a Navy ship is entering or exiting.

“The Navy ships and civilian boats will still share the outer part of the bay there, where the mouth of the arrowhead jetties are, but it will be a much smaller area of the bay than they were sharing before,” he said.

That is good news to Lopez and the Huntington Harbour Yacht Club, who have been awaiting the channel’s opening.

“We’re located at the southernmost part of that whole channel, so we have a longer way to travel,” Lopez said. “Cutting down a little bit of the time to get into the open water is a good thing.”

Work on armoring the sides of the new channel will continue for several more months.

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Matt Szabo is a sports reporter for the Daily Pilot. A Southern California native and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo graduate, he has been covering sports for L.A. Times Community News since 2006, most extensively water polo and tennis. (714) 966-4614

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HYC Restaurant Menu & Reservations

New_format_menu-070124 starters,   pasta, from the sea, from the land, *consuming raw or undercooked meats, poultry, seafood, shellfish or eggs may increase your risk of foodborne illness..

Children's Menu

Chicken Fingers | French Fries | Ketchup 12.00

Pasta | Butter or Marinara 10.00

*Mac & Cheese 11.00

All Prices subject to 18.5% Restaurant Fee (This is not a gratuity) & NYS Sales Tax

  *This menu item consists of, or contains meat, fish, shellfish, or fresh shell eggs that are raw or not cooked to proper temperature to destroy harmful bacteria and/or viruses. Consuming raw or undercooked meats, fish, shellfish, or fresh shell eggs may increase your risk of food-borne illness, especially if you have certain medical conditions.

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Huntington Harbour Yacht Club (HHYC)

by Marie Rogers | May 19, 2023 | Yacht Club Members

Huntington Harbour Yacht Club (HHYC) hhyc.org 3821 Warner Avenue, Huntington Beach, CA 92649 (562) 592-2186 Fax (562) 592-0887

Total: 300 members – 85% power, 15% sail.

Facilities: Bar open seven nights a week. Food served seven nights a week. Sunday Brunch served every Sunday. Small boat dry storage available. 2 ton hoist. Public guest dock.

Membership: Initiation fee $850. Dues $900 for family, $575 for single, $50 for junior member

Junior program: Active year round sailing program. Top-notch summer sailing open to non-members. U.S. Sailing Certified Instructors.

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