Sixty-four seasons on Spa Creek, run by the people who sail from it.
Our story
In the spring of 1962, eight families on Eastport Wharf were tired of watching their boats sit idle while friends asked to borrow them. They pooled the boats, rented a shed at the end of the wharf and called it Tiller.
The rules were simple: anyone could sail, the price was posted on the shed door, and whoever took a boat out brought it back clean. Sixty-four seasons later the shed is a clubhouse and the wharf is Pier 6, and the rules have not changed.
Today Tiller is a club of 860 members with fourteen boats, a sailing school and sixty-two berths. It is still run by an elected committee of members, and anyone can walk down the pier and take a boat out for the afternoon.
Founded
1962
Members
860
Boats
14
Osprey, the club's first boat, still sails every summer.
Sixty-four seasons
1962
Eight Eastport families pool their boats, rent a shed on the wharf and fly the first Tiller burgee.
1978
Members build the pier themselves over two winters: forty berths, power and water at every slip.
1994
First Sail begins with four dinghies and one instructor. Dana Whitlock joins as crew the same year.
2009
Day boats by the hour, so anyone can walk down the pier and take a boat out for the afternoon.
2026
Fourteen boats, sixty-two berths and the sixty-fourth season of Friday night racing.
How the club runs
Written on the shed door in 1962 and painted over the clubhouse bar today.
i.
The rate on the website is the rate you pay. Fuel for two hours, life jackets and the briefing are included, always.
ii.
The committee is elected by the members every October, and every officer still sails on Fridays.
iii.
Every skipper is an instructor. Ask, and they will hand you the tiller.
Every officer still crews on Fridays.
The committee
Commodore
Dana Whitlock
Vice commodore
Marcus Bell
Rear commodore
Ines Carvalho
Fleet captain
Ray Donnelly
Head of the school
Alex Ortiz
Treasurer
Hannah Weiss
Harbor master
Tom Reyes
Racing secretary
Priya Nair
The annual meeting is held in the clubhouse on the third Saturday of October. Every member has one vote.
Come and see
The best way to know the club is to sail with it. Come down on any Friday from May to October, ask at the dock office, and we will find you a place in a crew for the evening race. No charge, no experience needed.
Where
Pier 6, 212 Eastport Wharf
When
Fridays, 5:00 pm, May to October
Bring
Soft shoes and a jacket
