DIBS AND DABS ABOUT PRINCE EDWARD YACHT CLUB

"Picton is a very beautiful place viewed from the deck of the steamer. Its situation is novel and imposing, and the number of pretty cottages that crown the steep ridge that rises almost perpendicularly from the water, peeping out from among fine orchards in full bearing, and trim gardens, give it quite a rural appearance. The steamboat enters this fairy bay by a very narrow passage; and, after delivering freight and passengers at the wharf, backs out by the way she came in. There is no turning a large vessel round this half circle of deep blue water. Few spots in Canada would offer a finer subject for the artist's pencil than this small inland town, which is so seldom visited by strangers and tourists."

People still live in Town who can remember the days of sail, when schooners carried out apples and brought in coal to the local docks. Many old pictures show ships of sail and steam, both paddle wheelers and propellers, over wintering in the harbour, locked firmly in the ice. It happens no more. Today's ships and boats in Picton are lifted bodily from the water before freeze-up, and spend their winter under tarpaulins on land.

In the past few decades, the harbour has been limited almost totally to pleasure traffic, seeing, at times, over a hundred sail or power vessels lying inside it. Those vessels are well served by several facilities - the Prince Edward Yacht Club, the Tip of the Bay Motel, the Picton Harbour Inn, the Town Marina, the Prince Edward Cruising Club, by various private docks, and by a bottom with good holding for anchors. Over the past 150 years, the harbour at Picton was dredged several times by Federal authorities to a depth of 14 feet. The sandy mud bottom left by that dredging still exists.

The Prince Edward Yacht Club
Like most others, the Prince Edward Yacht Club has two activity centers - one on the water, the other on the land. On the water, the P.E.Y.C., small as it is, offers formidable competition in events like the Eastern Yachting Circuit as well as our own Club racing (see Racing schedule). We can boost of more than a hundred years of sailing activity around these parts. Coming off the water, our Club aims to look after you and yours in a clubhouse that is being improved and upgraded. The first record we have of sailing activity out of Picton is from the 1880's, but no on-the-water clubhouse of any note existed then for years to come. Our clubhouse of today dates only from the mid 1930's. At that time, a derelict building stood on the water front, the deteriorating remains of the electric lighting plant built for this town about 1890. An enlightened Town Council in 1937 rejuvenated the shambles of a building and turned it over to the Yacht Club for a modest annual rental. Photographs hanging in our lounge show he progress of improvement over the years since then. Especially interesting was the year that we removed paneling that covers some of the windows of the original building, opening them up to brighten our Dinning Room. We hope that you like them as much as we do - compare them with their appearance in photographs of fifty years and more ago. In 1999 the much awaited renovations were completed on the Bilge. The new "Chart Room" gives us a room with a beautiful view of the harbour. A new bar was constructed in 2005 to provide improved services for our members and guests.

The PEYC every summer brings many visitors to stay on their docks, and periodically hosts important  regattas for Lake sailors. All who come to the Club by water are welcomed by the Harbour Herons, standing proudly at the harbour entrance on Chimney Point. These are two "sculptures" of steel plate, standing about 8 ft. high; live herons also frequent the harbour. Maybe more to the point, Dennis Payne, the Club Manager will welcome you heartily, as will  the Commodore.