Since 1959, members of the Seafarers Yacht Club have been cruising the waterways of the East Coast of the United States and serving our communities.

Commodore’s Message

“We are fortunate to have the magnificent Chesapeake Bay as our backyard. Since its founding in 1959, the Seafarers Yacht Club has sailed these waters, promoting seamanship excellence, boating safety, and community service.”

- Commodore Derrick L. Cogburn

Welcome to the historic Seafarers Yacht Club (SYC). Our clubhouse is located in Annapolis, Maryland in the Eastport neighborhood, on a peninsula between Back Creek and Spa Creek, at the mouth of the Severn River. With this location, we are fortunate to have the magnificent Chesapeake Bay as our backyard.

Since its founding in 1959, the Seafarers Yacht Club has sailed these waters, promoting seamanship excellence, boating safety, and community service. With a membership containing both power and sail boaters, SYC is one of the oldest, historically African American Yacht clubs in the country.

It is my honor and privilege to serve as the 23rd Commodore of this historic club.

We maintain this cultural heritage and tradition as we provide numerous opportunities for our members to engage with the broader yachting community in Annapolis and around the world. We have an active annual cruise schedule, that takes our members all over the Chesapeake Bay and beyond. Our institutional memberships in US Sailing, US Powerbating, the Chesapeake Bay Yacht Clubs Association (CBYCA), and the Chesapeake Bay Yacht Racing Association (CBYRA), help create opportunities for engaging activities both on and off the water. For example, we are actively planning our 2024 Seafarers Regatta, following our very successful Inaugural regatta in 2022 with over 30 vessels participating (Tropical Storm Ophelia forced us to cancel the 2023 regatta).

The club’s commitment to our community stays in focus. From our founding support for Sea Scout Ship 1959 - Seafarers Commitment, the 2021 National Flagship, and the only Sea Scout Ship in Annapolis, to our leadership in US Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 24-09, to our new Seamanship School, and our support for the Seafarers Summer Youth Program, led by our philanthropic arm, the Seafarers Foundation, we maintain a strong commitment to the Annapolis, Anne Arundel County, Prince George’s County, and the broader Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia communities.

Off the water, our members and guests enjoy our camaraderie and fellowship through a wide variety of activities, from our paint and sip socials, jazz evenings, dance classes, karaoke nights, and game nights, to our annual Commodore’s Ball: A Mardi Gras Gala.

We look forward to the 2024 boating season, and hope to see you on the water!

Fair winds and following seas,
Derrick L. Cogburn
SYC Commodore

Honoring our Living Past Commodores. From left to right: PC Melville Wyche, PC William Woodard, PC George Smith (represented by his wife Vivian), PC David Turner, IPC Benjamin McCottry, and Commodore Derrick Cogburn, 13 January 2024, Seafarers Yacht Club (Not pictured: PC Ade Adebisi)

2024 Executive Board

Captain Derrick L. Cogburn, Commodore

Captain David Turner, Vice Commodore

Captain A. Joyce Price-Jones, Rear Commodore

Captain Bryan Rock, Treasurer

Mr. Sherman Addison, Financial Secretary

Captain Bill Woodward, Corresponding Secretary

Captain Edward “Curtis” Morris, Recording Secretary

Mr. Greg Gordon, At-Large Board Member

Captain Sheila Adebisi, At-Large Board Member

Captain Benny McCottry, Immediate Past Commodore

Change of Watch, 13 January 2024, Seafarers Yacht Club

Membership Inquiry

2024 Appointments

Chaplain - Captain Edward “Curtis” Morris

Fleet Captain - IPC Benny McCottry

Training Officer - Captain Tanya Morris

Quartermaster - Mr. Greg Gordon

Parliamentarian - Open

Sergeant-at-Arms - Open

Committees

Standing Committees (Chair(s))

Membership - Rear Commodore A. Joyce Price-Jones

Budget - Treasurer Bryan Rock and Financial Secretary Sherman Addison

Audit - Open

House - PC Bill Woodward

Yachting - Fleet Captain IPC Benny McCottry and Training Officer Captain Tanya Morris

Ways and Means - Greg Gordon

Nominating - IPC Benny McCottry

Ad Hoc Committees (Chair(s))

Regatta/CBYCA - PC Ade Adebisi

Newsletter - Lawrence Jones II

Technology/Communication - Bryan Rock, PC David Turner

Constitution - Open

History - Open

Our History

More than fifty years ago, when many Chesapeake Bay marinas would not let black boaters gas up at their piers and yacht clubs were closed to black captains, a group of working-class black men banded together in the face of discrimination and founded the Seafarers Yacht Club. They initially met in members’ homes, and later in a rented one-room storefront in Annapolis. In 1967, members purchased an abandoned schoolhouse at Third Street and Chester Avenue. Members have made noteworthy voyages along the Atlantic Coast to Massachusetts and Florida, the Caribbean Islands, several of the Great Lakes, and the Erie and Delaware Canals. In 1965 the Mates of the Seafarers Members formally named their group the Auxiliary of The Seafarers Yacht Club. Their stated objective was to support the goals of the Seafarers and to help maintain the Clubhouse. To that end they had dinners, yard sales, bake drives and all manner of activities to support the goals of the Club. In 2019, with the advent of a family membership, the Auxiliary voted to be absorbed by The Seafarers Yacht Club, enhancing the effectiveness of all. In addition, many members of the Seafarers Yacht Club, Inc. belong to, and are leaders of, the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, Flotilla 24-09. This flotilla was formed out of Flotilla 75 that was originally organized in 1970 at the Seafarers’ Clubhouse.

The year 2009 marked the 50th Year of continuous operations of the Seafarers Yacht Club. Special activities to honor the Seafarers’ legacy and celebrate this historical occasion included a Health Fair for the local community; worship service at a local church prior to the Flag Raising Ceremony, which officially opens the boating season; a 50th Anniversary Cruise to Baltimore Inner Harbor with greeting and a Key to the City from the Mayor; and a 50th Anniversary Gala. In addition, the Club was featured in the May issue of Southern Living Magazine and the May 12th edition of The Capital, the most widely circulated newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland. In 2019, the Seafarers Yacht Club celebrated its 60th Anniversary. Returning to Baltimore the Seafarers hosted members and guests for a major club cruise, dinner, and party. To commemorate the event, proclamations were received from the Mayor of Annapolis and the Governor of the State of Maryland.

Our Clubhouse

In 1967, the members purchased an abandoned schoolhouse at Third Street and Chester Avenue. This historic building, built in 1918, was the first elementary school for black children in the Eastport community of Annapolis. The building was thoroughly renovated by the Seafarers Yacht Club, Inc. with the addition of a swimming pool, and a deck overlooking Back Creek. Today the Seafarers Yacht Club is comprised of sixty members and is well known for seamanship and community service

Past Commodores

22. Benjamin McCottry, Immediate Past Commodore, 2021-2023
21. Ade Adebisi, Past Commodore, 2018-2020
20. David Turner, Past Commodore, 2015-2017
19. Melville Q. Wyche, Jr., MD, Past Commodore, 1999-2014
18. William H. Woodward, DDS, Past Commodore, 1997-1998
17. Frank B. Doggett III, MD*, Past Commodore, 1995-1996
16. Hosea E. Taylor*, Past Commodore, 1993, 1994
15. James T. Jackson*, Past Commodore, 1986, 1991, 1992, 1997
14. George T. Smith, Past Commodore, 1990
13. Joseph H. Carpenter*, Past Commodore, 1988, 1989
12. Norman W. “ The Norm” Ross*, Past Commodore, 1985

11. Leroy A. Jackson, MD*, Past Commodore, 1981, 1982
10. Edward C. Walker*, Past Commodore, 1980
9. Wendell P. “ Wende-K” Gardner*, Past Commodore, 1977-1979
8. Chalipin A. “ Yip” Dungee*, Past Commodore, 1975, 1976
7. Irving Henry, MD*, Past Commodore, 1974
6. William Bronson*, Past Commodore, 1968-1971
5. Albert C. “AL” Burwell*, Past Commodore, 1967
4. George E. Murray, Jr.*, Past Commodore, 1966, 1983, 1984
3. Hugh Dowling*, Past Commodore, 1965
2. Joseph Barr, DVM*, Past Commodore, 1963, 1964
1. Ellsworth “Bubba” Randall*, Past Commodore, 1961, 1962, 1972, 1973
* Deceased

Dockage and Our Fleet

In 1986, a 24-slip pier located in the same city block as the Club House was leased from the Thompson family. This served as the principal location of Seafarers' yachts until the spring of 2003, at which time dockage was relocated to Edgewater Boating Center on the South River. Dockage is now principally located at marinas along Back Creek and private docks owned by members. Club members' yachts now number around 30, ranging from 26 to 60 ft. in length. Members cruise the entire east coast from Maine to Florida. Several have sailed to the Great Lakes and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and others have participated in local and more distant sailboat races.

Our Foundation

Always aware of community, since its inception, the Seafarers Yacht Club provided swimming lessons for neighborhood children, and exposed children of Annapolis and Baltimore to recreational boating, highlighted by cruises on the Chesapeake Bay. In 2003, a formal one-week Summer Youth Program was established for at-risk children between the ages of 8 and 12 years from Anne Arundel and Prince George’s Counties.

This annual program is now under the direction of the 501 (c) (3) philanthropic arm of SYC is the Seafarers Foundation. Founded in 2009, the Seafarers Foundation is designed to provide instructions and practical experiences in first aid and life saving measures, water safety, swimming, fishing, boating, the science of navigation, math and reading skills, etiquette, information on career opportunities in the marine environment, and other matters pertaining to everyday life. In 2018, our Summer Youth Program was expanded to two weeks, and now includes 90-minutes a day of chess instruction provided by the U.S. Chess Center, as well as a strong STEM and maritime education program.

The Summer Youth Program has been an overwhelming success. It has brought much acclaim to the Club and Foundation, and provided program participants with an awareness and interest that would otherwise be difficult to attain.

The foundation also organizes a Thanksgiving Dinner for Seniors, and serves as the chartered organization for our Sea Scout Ship 1959.

US Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla

In 1970, members formed the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 75 at the Seafarers Yacht Clubhouse. Today, many Seafarers are members of the current U. S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 24-09. The activities of the Flotilla include education, safety inspections, and search and rescue. Several of our members have served as Commanders and Vice Commanders of Flotilla 24-09. The Flotilla also has a formal partnership with Sea Scout Ship 1959, as part of the broader Memorandum of Agreement between the US Coast Guard Auxiliary and the Boy Scouts of America.

Sea Scout Ship 1959

Our most recent community initiative was our support for the founding of Sea Scout Ship 1959 - Seafarers Commitment. Ship 1959 is named in honor of sv Commitment, the vessel purchased in Annapolis and piloted by Captain Bill Pinkney on his historic solo global circumnavigation. Captain Pinkney was the first African American to accomplish this outstanding feat via the challenging southern route. Our ship is chartered in the Baltimore Area Council and the Capital District by the Boy Scouts of America through our philanthropic arm, the Seafarers Foundation. Captain Derrick Cogburn was the driving force behind the creation of the ship as part of his Wood Badge ticket, designed to contribute to the legacy of the Seafarers. Captain Cogburn serves as founding Skipper, and numerous Seafarers including, Mate Tanya Morris, Mate William Woodward, Captain Ed Morris, Captain Benny McCottry, Captain Noemí Enchautegui, Captain Dana Lee, and Captain Ade Adebisi help to enable youth in Ship 1959 to lead one of the fastest growing ships in the country.