Yacht clubs find aweigh

LACONIA — During his professional career, Roger Guilbert represented a company that distributed Lysol, 3-M disinfectant cleaner, and Dial soap. Part of his job was to go to hospitals to train staff on the proper use of such products.

Guilbert is retired now and serves as the commodore of the Spinnaker Cove Yacht Club in Laconia. In that position he has found himself during the coronavirus pandemic drawing on his knowledge of sanitation and infection control as the club figures how to strike a proper balance between providing access to its members to a recreation they enjoy while at the same time safeguarding their health.

As the weather gets nicer, boating enthusiasts are eager to take advantage of yacht clubs around Lake Winnipesaukee. Spinnaker Cove on Paugus Bay is currently open, but with restrictions in place to keep members safe.

The clubhouse is padlocked shut, Guilbert said. The only on-site amenity that is open is the toilet facilities/ changing rooms, and only three people are permitted in there at once. In keeping with the current guidance from the state to deep clean high-touch surfaces, the facility is being cleaned and disinfected three to four times a day during the weekend, when the club is busiest.

Guilbert explained that the club’s board is using Gov. Chris Sununu’s guidelines for campgrounds and golf courses as the template for the protocols at Spinnaker Cove. As the guidance from the state changes, the club will alter its restrictions so they conform to the directives from the governor’s office.

“We are waiting to see what he has to say this week,” Guilbert said.

The situation is the same at the Wolfeboro Corinthian Yacht Club across the lake.

There the clubhouse, deck, and beach area are closed until further notice, according to Cate Poole, a member of the club’s Board of Governors.

Members are able to go to and from their boats. But Poole said because the club’s on-shore amenities are closed for the time being, members are taking their boats out onto the lake and, once they return, get right back in their cars and leave.

Something missing

Corinthian has 122 members, with another 10 people on the waiting list, which Poole sees as an indication that boating activity remains strong despite the COVID crisis.

What is presently missing at Spinnaker Cover and Corinthians is the on-shore camaraderie that members typically enjoy when they return from a day on the lake.

“It’s going to be difficult,” Poole mused. “The social aspect is pretty much not happening.”

Poole and Guilbert said the members understand the need for the restrictions and  have been very cooperative.

New protocols have also been established at Mountain View Yacht Club on Saunders Bay in Gilford.

The number of people allowed into the toilet facilities or changing rooms at any one time is being limited. And while members can go swimming, they are prohibited from congregating on the beach.

“Once people have gone for a swim, they are to go back to their boats,” said Bruce Wright, president of Irwin Marine, which manages the club.

Mountain View has room for 284 boats, according to Wright. Because of the crisis, he said, the facility did not open for the season until May 5, which means that many members’ boats did not get into the water as early as usual.

Asked about club members who live outside New Hampshire, especially those who live in states hit hard by the pandemic, Wright said the management is relying on the states’ guidance on visitors from out of state. He said that Gov. Sununu’s main concern has been about an influx of day-trippers rather than visitors coming for longer stays.

Alison Shea, an owner of the 250-slip West Alton Marina, said activity there is much as it has always been, though boaters are abiding by social distancing guidelines.

“Everyone is being very respectful” of the guidelines, she said.

But otherwise it is business as usual.

“We are open, and we are at full capacity,” she added.