By Jere Dennison

From the Log of December, 1967:

Fishing Bay Dock Removal

A final Court Decree has favored the Club’s neighbor to the West and we have been ordered to remove a portion of the tee (of the Fishing Bay pier) that encroaches on her oyster bed. The Western section is to be lopped off by January 24, 1968.

This short notice on page one of the Log underlies our eventual failure 2 years later to acquire the property west of the Club fronting on Fishing Bay then owned by Edith Hancock (and now owned by our good neighbor Sugar Ralston).

In the mid-1960’s, FBYC was in an expansionist mode with a burgeoning membership roster. Plans were developing for a swimming pool and a new east pier and bathhouse on Jackson Creek. I would have been beneficial to acquire more land to support these new facilities but none was available. By 1967, the Club decided to expand its Fishing Bay pier by enlarging the ‘T’ on the end to accommodate an increasing number of cruising yachts and greater number of sailing activities. No major problem was anticipated with the pier improvement, so the Club forged ahead with its plans. Nevertheless, there was one small glitch...Mrs. Hancock to our west owned the crown-granted oyster rights that existed under a portion of the western section of the ‘T’ extension. I recall that legal counsel for the Club maintained that these oyster rights would not represent an impediment to our project and could be ignored.

After the pier construction had been completed, Mrs. Hancock predictably filed a lawsuit to force the Club to remove the section of our pier encroaching upon her oyster rights. Furthermore, she would not agree to a settlement with the Club that would permit the pier to remain intact. The Club lost a heated battle in court in a process that generated bitter feelings that eventually derailed our efforts to later acquire her property. I will explain...

By 1969, Mrs. Hancock decided to subdivide her property, build a new house for herself on the western portion of her property, and sell her older home on the residual lot adjacent to the Club on Fishing Bay. The property went on the market for the ‘exorbitant’ sum of $45,000, and there were no immediate takers as the general consensus was that the real estate was overpriced. I recall that she even advertised the sale in the Wall Street Journal to broaden the market to potentially wealthier prospects.

Finally, a syndicate of prosperous clubmembers stepped up and wisely made an offer for the property that was accepted by Mrs. Hancock. After closing, the property would be conveyed to the Club for the purpose of accommodating its long-contemplated physical expansion. Proposals were formulated to locate the swimming pool next door, in lieu of its current site next to the launching ramp, and perhaps create a larger Clubhouse by modifying Mrs. Hancock’s residential structure. Additionally, the added beachfront and parking would be welcome for one-design events, and the ‘T’ on the end of the pier could be restored to its pre-lawsuit configuration. The property was thought to be the ideal acquisition to support FBYC’s future growth. And, really, was 45 grand too much to pay for all these new enhancements to our Club? Everyone was enthusiastic over the impending purchase.

But it was not to be. At closing, the Club syndicate was first chagrinned, and then outraged, that Mrs. Hancock intended to transfer title to the property without the controversial oyster rights that had torpedoed the ‘T’ extension at the end of the pier. Indignantly, and in an ultimately self-defeating effort to get even, they refused to consummate the purchase. Such was the animosity created by the 1967 litigation that the Club would abandon the effort to acquire the Hancock property for so insignificant an issue while totally ignoring the tremendous benefits that would have been gained.

In hindsight, many would consider this incident to represent the greatest strategic blunder in the history of FBYC.

Did you know?...

According to Frank Hargrove, our Commodore in 1969, we experienced an equally tragic failure in 1967 or 1968 to acquire the entire Stull property that bordered the Club on its eastern boundary. Frank had reached a verbal agreement with Neil Stull to purchase his property for $25,000. However, on the Saturday night of our Annual Regatta, a group of inebriated visitors to the Club from Maryland decided to avail themselves of Stull’s swimming pool without his permission, since the Club lacked a pool at that time. When confronted angrily by Neil Stull, one of these regatta participants gleefully propelled him into the pool. The next day, a furious Stull informed Frank Hargrove that, under no circumstances, would he ever sell his property to FBYC. This incident established the troubled relationship between Stull and the Club that persisted until Neil Stull’s death. While this was also a major opportunity lost for FBYC, it does not rank as a strategic blunder since the cause for this misfortune lay outside the control of Club management.