Fourth of July Yacht Club is a member owned and operated club located in Fourth of July Cove on Catalina Island in Southern California. The cove is a ten minute walk or dinghy ride from Two Harbors or the Isthmus as it is also known.

With a limit of 150 members and their families, the club is strongly oriented toward social activities for boating people. A key requirement for membership is a desire to participate and to volunteer. Although there is a full-time, resident club manager, and he has an assistant during the summer, it is the members who put on the majority of the extensive club activities.

Originally, the location was used as a Girl Scout camp. As a result, the club has comprehensive facilities. The main clubhouse will seat 140 people for dinner. There is a full commercial kitchen complete with a walk-in refrigerator, freezer, icemaker and dry storage area as well as pots, pans, dishes, utensils, coffee makers, toasters and a microwave oven. All of this is for the use of members at no charge. There is also a dishwashing area that is convenient for cleaning up.

There are eight cabins that sleep three people each, a larger double cabin that sleeps five on one side and three on the other, and two platform tents which sleep four each. There is a nominal charge for the sleeping facilities and for the use of the washer and dryer. The men's and women's heads and their showers are in separate buildings. The club manager has the use of the only house on the premises, and his assistant has a separate cabin.

The Peppermint Pavilion is a separate building for the use of children. It has a ping pong table, foosball game, children's books, stereo system and large screen TV. The TV is locked up except for special occasions such as Saturday nights when children's movies are shown during the adult party on the porch.

Outside, there is a paddle tennis court, volleyball court and a beach with a swim platform. As the facilities are located in a canyon, the area tends to be very private and safe for children.

Many members leave their whalers and their larger dinghies on a floating string tie that is located in view of the manager's house. This way, they do not have to tow them back and forth from the mainland to the cove. There is also dry storage for smaller boats such as kayaks.

In a typical year, there will be eighteen Saturday-night porch parties at the club. The first is on Memorial Day weekend and the last in late September. Sometimes, on long weekends, there are two parties. Typical attendance will be 75 to 125 people with up to 300 on long weekends. Emphasizing the need for participation, each party is generally spearheaded by one volunteer couple, assisted by four to ten other couples or persons.

At 6:30 PM on the day of the party, the cannon is fired four times and the conch shell blown. Everybody under the age of eighteen then leaves the porch and goes to the Peppermint Pavilion area where the manager's assistant provides them with hors d'oeuvres, hot dogs, hamburgers and soft drinks. After that two movies are shown on the TV in the pavilion.

Meanwhile, on the porch, extensive hors d'oeuvres are served as are soft drinks, mixers and ice. While the socializing is going on, the main barbecue is fired up with fifty pounds of mesquite. Members and guests then cook their own meat or fish on the barbecue after which they go through the line for salad, vegetables and other items. After dinner, there is time for more socializing and often some entertainment.

In addition to the porch parties, there are numerous other activities, many of which are for children such as the dinghy parade. A major event is the five day Fat Camp held in June for the ladies. The club is closed to men during Fat Camp.

A very important activity is the clean-up weekend in May. Although the club has no more than 150 families, between 150 and 200 people turn out to paint, fix up and repair the facility. Lots of hard work is done and much is accomplished. However, it is also a great party.

Over sixty members own or lease moorings in Fourth of July Cove, the Isthmus or Cherry Cove. This includes thirty of the forty two moorings in Fourth of July Cove. Thus most members arrive on their own boats and can use either their own moorings or one belonging to other members. Those that arrive commercially come on Catalina Express or Catalina Cruises, both of which offer service from the mainland to Two Harbors. From Two Harbors, water taxis are available to go to the club.

For more information, click on the Photo Menu to see pictures of the activities and facilities.