The ice is gone. Power and water are again streaming to the slips. More and more boats splash into the water every day. The first pump-outs are now complete. And the Commodore’s Reception is imminent, scheduled for this Saturday. So the season at the Madeline Island Yacht Club, finally, is underway.

As of this weekend, a member of the shop crew will be on duty every Saturday for the remainder of the season.

A reminder to members that the Commodore’s Reception will convene from 4 to 6 pm on Saturday, May 27th in the Members’ Lounge. Refreshments will definitely be served.

Also Saturday, May 27th, staff from the Bayfield Coast Guard Station will be at the marina to provide free, no-cite inspections of boats. Assuming no emergencies on the lake that day, the Coasties will be around from 11 am to 4 pm. To get on the inspection list, call or stop into the store.

A Very Notable Retirement

This spring, for the first time since the Johnson Administration — that would be 1967 — the docks of Madeline Island’s marina will be without Stan Cory, perhaps the most venerable and venerated club member, board member, and Commodore in the club’s history. With his 40-foot Caliber 40 LRC, Red Sky, now sold, and not as spry as he used to be, Stan & Linda decided to retire.

“It was very, very difficult, believe me,” Stan said the other day. “I put it off a year. But it is time. I have to admit that.”

For the record, Stan’s numbers: 

• Years with a sailboat tied up on Madeline island: 55

• Years as a member of MIYC: 45

• Years of service on the MIYC Board of Directors: 29

• Years of service as Commodore: 13

“I just call him ‘Commodore for Life,’” said Bill Wolfe, a venerable member himself and the marina’s emeritus historian. “His heart was in that club. He dedicated his life to the place. And it is better for it.”

“We’ve been enormously fortunate to have Stan’s work, leadership, and friendship” said current Commodore Tom Penn. “It’s difficult to think of the marina without Stan in it. He’s meant that much.” 

Stan arrived on the island in 1967 with some buddies and a 24-foot sloop. The lure of Madeline Island?

“We couldn’t find place in Bayfield,” Stan said. “That simple. But I stayed.”

As Stan’s sailboats got bigger — the 24-footer became 28, then 34 and finally 40 — and the marina became the club in ’77, he was drawn into the management of the place. Very drawn.

“What people don’t know is how involved Stan was,” said member Renny Lovold, Stan’s boating buddy of more than 60 years. “He was not some figurehead Commodore. He would be checking in every week with people, to find out what needed to be done, who needed help, see what he could do. That’s what I’d say — he’s always been very involved, and just a very caring person, caring about everybody.”

“Stan wanted the marina to be operated for everyone,” Bill Wolfe said. “He worked very hard to listen to people and make sure many voices were heard. He’s just naturally a very warm person.” 

And, apparently, a not-bad sailer. Stan explored much of Lake Superior multiple times, organized club races for decades, even making the wooden trophies himself. When he sold Red Sky, Stan delivered it — to Buffalo, New York.

Those days on the water, and the people he sailed with, will of course be what he’ll miss most.

“The best weekends, we’d arrive on Friday, and there might be kind of a party,” Stan said. “Then in the morning we’d just head out, a bunch of us, to the islands. Pretty good.”

Pretty good indeed. Thanks Stan.