Fifty years ago, the U.S.S. Mission Bay escort carrier had reached the end of its vitality, and there were plans to scrap the ship that had served during World War II. Commodore Sterling Rounthwaite of the Mission Bay Yacht Club wrote Congressman Bob Wilson asking him to secure one of the ships’ bells for the now 82-year-old yacht club. Today the bell stands at the entrance to the clubhouse on Mission Bay, off El Carmel Point. It’s a quiet welcome, rung each opening day, but symbolic of a club that takes pride in its long history on the bay and continued involvement in the community. Edna Johnson, the club’s third female commodore who served in 2002, ticks off a list of charity events the club supports: boat rides for veterans and active military members, the blind, cancer survivors, burn victims, foster children and the handicapped. As a commodore, Johnson said she’s visited yacht clubs all over Southern California. “They are lovely places, but I say, ‘Thank God for the Mission Bay Yacht Club,’” Johnson said. Johnson particularly appreciates that the club is oriented toward children: the club hosts its own junior sailing program (ages 7-18), a special swim area for children complete with a floating dock and slide and a sandy playground. Thirty years ago Johnson and her husband, Kirk, moved from Memphis to San Diego for Kirk’s job in the Navy. They towed their Lightning sailboat across the country with them. “We drove in through the front gate [of the yacht club] and said, ‘We want to join,’” Johnson said. “You can’t do that in a lot of places.” On the first Thursday in May, the club held its first “Thursday Night Thing.” Sailboats raced across the bay water. The sun hovered, a blazing orange ball, above Mission Beach to the west and a full moon glowed bright over the bay. Chuck Weber sat on his 36-foot uniflyte sport fishing boat docked in the marina that was built for the Navy in 1974. He sipped from a glass of white wine. Around him bobbed Irish Eyes, Dream Catcher, Windsong, Eleanor and Yankee. A plastic, brown owl perched at the edge of the uniflyte to ward off seagulls. The marina was quiet and still, although members are permitted to live on their boats for 90 days each year. Weber spoke causally about the history of the bay and the dredging that transformed it from a marsh excellent for duck hunting, according to historians Mac and Eleanor McLaughlin, to a watery playground. Dredging the bay again would help prevent boats from bottoming out in the most shallow areas during low tide, Weber said. Weber acknowledged that caring for a boat sitting in salty, corrosive water is plenty of work. Boat owners often pay scuba divers to scrub the algae off the bottom of their vessels monthly, Weber said. “A lot of boats are named after their wives, so they want to take care of them,” said Weber s, whose boat is called Our Time. Across the marina, members of the yacht club relaxed around the bay, eating grilled salmon and burgers. The sound of a steel drum drifted across the patio. The yacht club is home to 17 fleets of boats that range from the junior and senior Sabot fleet to the Lightning fleet to the power fleet to a handicap fleet. The yacht club offers six types of membership from the flag member that is a boat owner to social member that does not own a boat. One-time initiation fees range from $1,800 for flag members to $50 for the junior and sandpiper members between the ages of 7 and 21. Monthly dues range from $11 to $105. The Mission Bay Yacht Club will host an open house on May 30 to showcase its fleets and offer boat rides and a clubhouse tour from 2-5 p.m., followed by a British-style fish & chips buffet at 5 p.m. and live entertainment with singer/guitarist Mike Fernandez until 10 p.m. The yacht club is located at 1215 El Carmel Pl. For more information contact (858) 488 0501 or visit www.mbyc.org.