By Josh Davis, Associate Editor

(Nov. 2, 2017) Once, again, the yacht club in Ocean Pines will be called “the yacht club.”

General Manager John Bailey announced the change during a regular board meeting last Friday.

On Jan. 3, following an interior remodeling, the association issued a press release to announce a rebranding campaign at the amenity.

“The association is naming the Ocean Pines Yacht Club, which was built in 2014 after the original yacht club that was built in 1975 was replaced, ‘Mumford’s Landing in Ocean Pines,’” the release stated. “The re-branding campaign is a forward-thinking initiative that will honor the community’s history while creating a promising future for a more marketable amenity.”

Along with the new name for the building, a newly installed 20-foot-long bar just inside the main entrance was dubbed “Tuffy’s Tavern,” honoring Charles “Tuffy” Mumford, and the dining room was to be called “The Cove,” or, alternately, “The Cove at Mumford’s Landing.”

The rebranding proved to be unpopular and Bailey, after taking over in September, often jokingly referred to the building as “The Yacht Cove.”

It also did not help the bottom line. The club faltered during what were traditionally its most profitable months, posting losses of $115,537 in June, $15,499 in July, $73,341 in August and $7,910 in September.

Also last Friday, Bailey, announced a total review of food and beverage operations at the yacht club, beach club and Tern Grille.

He said existing contracts were being reexamined, personnel issues were being addressed and member expectations were being reevaluated.

“I spent some time talking with members that were there at the yacht club on Thursday nights, Friday nights, etc. and getting a feel for what they might be willing to accept as far as some changes go,” he said. “I wanted to include them in that process.”

He said the beach club was already closed for the season and a 20-percent resident discount at all food and beverage facilities would be discontinued as of Monday.

The discount program was instituted by former interim general manager and Director Brett Hill earlier this year without the full board’s approval.

“The 20-percent discount that wasn’t budgeted for certainly impacted our revenue stream and our projections,” Bailey said. “That’s not to say we won’t have the discounts here and there, but the general 20-percent discount instituted earlier in the year – that’s gone.”

Bailey noted the verbiage on a slide during his presentation, which read, “yacht club?”

“Note the name. [We’re] probably be going back to yacht club,” he said, drawing applause from those in attendance. “We’ll see what the reaction is to that.”

For now, the yacht club will be open from 4 p.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday, November through March, he said. It will be closed during the remainder of the week.

Friday nights will include specials and live entertainment, and Saturday evenings will feature trivia night, Bailey said.

He said Tern Grill would move to “usual changes and our winter hours” for the season. It also will institute some menu changes.

“It’s a general, wholesale review. It’s not just dealing with the yacht club – it’s dealing with all of food and beverage,” Bailey said.

Bailey added plans for renovations to the second floor of the country club were under review and would consider “what’s the end use that we want for the facility.”

“I have a new layout for the board to consider with possible initial action at the November meeting,” he said. “We have over 50 [clubs and organizations] that are clamoring for space to meet.”

The new layout apparently would include a large meeting space, as well as a “large, open area” that could be used for “big meetings, board meetings, corporate golf events [and] other special outings,” Bailey said.

He said the upstairs kitchen would be renovated to serve buffet-style banquets and ADA improvements to the building would include an elevator to the second floor.

The renovations are expected to take about a year to complete, Bailey said. He estimated schematics would cost $5,000 and construction documents would cost $30,000-$40,000.

“I know that people are really wanting to get to construction done and open and everything by Memorial Day … in talking with the engineer and laying this project out, you really are looking a year from now before you’re done with everything,” Bailey said. “To do it right, it will take some time.”