Long-time club involvement continues

Posted by Cindy Badley
 May 8, 2024

Christine Moore Skrocki

Current Boat: PV Skrocknest, 27’ Four Winns

Home Port: Saginaw Bay Yacht Club, Bay City, Mich. (H-61)

Joined GLCC: 2001

Joined GLCC Board: 2019

Title: Director and Port Captain for Linwood, Mich. (H-62) and Caseville, Mich. (H-59)

  • Lifeline: What is your occupation?

Christine Moore Skrocki: I retired early and sold my residential real estate company in 2008. I keep my hand in it with a few commercial real estate assets. My husband, Jerry, is a home builder.

  • You joined in 2001 as a Legacy. What’s the story behind that?

            I’ve been boating all my life. My parents would say I was born on a boat. My parents, Norman, and Gloria Moore became members of GLCC around 1978 when I was quite young and continued actively participating in the club until 2010. 

Cruising experiences include 45 summers on my parents’ boat – boat size varied from 38’ to 57’, all Chris Crafts. Many times, my father and I would move the boat to the desired location with the family arriving by car. We cruised every summer with an itinerary of 4-6 weeks long and it included destinations of Lake Superior, including Isle Royale, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, Georgian Bay, and Lake St. Clair, and many weekend trips for a run to East Tawas or Caseville, Mich. 

I officially joined GLCC as a member in my own right in 2001. My focus is perpetuating the club in honor of my dad and all the wonderful memories I had growing up in boating and with GLCC.



You’ve certainly had a lot of boating experience with your family. What type of boat do you and Jerry have now? 

We own 2 boats – a 27’ Bay Line deck boat and a 29’ Sea Ray. My husband is a homebody, so we keep the 27’ deck boat at the dock at the house. I use the 29’ Sea Ray for cruising. We trailer it to a different port each year for seasonal dockage (this year it’s Rogers City) and then use that port as a jumping off spot for my summer cruising.

 

  • You are Port Captain for both Linwood, Mich. (H-62) and Caseville, Mich. (H-59). Why did you choose to be a Port Captain of those locations?

My dad was the original Port Captain for Linwood. When he retired from boating in 2009, I took over that role. We cruise a lot in Caseville, somewhere I used to live. I became Port Captain there to further promote the harbor. A fun fact about Caseville – it is famous for its “Caseville Cheeseburger Festival”. For 10 days in August, the town of 3,000 swells to 30,000-50,000. The festival is a take-off from Jimmy Buffett’s “Cheeseburger in Paradise.” The festival includes a cheeseburger competition, the “Parade of Fools”, etc. It’s worth checking out (note: docking reservations need to be made a year out).

  • What are the top three best benefits from your GLCC membership? 

The people, the events, and the places I visit! Due to my dad’s involvement with the club for over 30 years, I’m very nostalgic about the club and being around other like- minded cruisers.

  • Where have you been most active with the club?

 I have attended too many to count. The first Rendezvous I attended was at Cedar Point in 1982 with my parents, and have attended many more annual Rendezvous's since then. I try not to miss them and will go by myself if my husband is too busy to attend. I graduated from Travel and Tourism Management from Michigan State University so putting together events for the GLCC has allowed me to use my skill sets. Events that I have hosted for GLCC include the 2024 April Launch in Bay City, Mich., (board meeting and social gathering), five annual trailer boat rallies throughout Michigan, co-chairing the 2019 Rendezvous in St. Ignace, and chairing the "Spring Break" in the Florida Keys in early 2019.

There are so many great memories and stories from the events, such as the Georgian Bay Rally where libation coupled with boredom late in the evening resulted in music being played from a hailer, which led to attendees dancing on foredecks with other GLCC members using their spotlights to highlight the dancers. You never know how much fun you’ll have at these events!

  • What keeps you occupied in the winter?

We travel to our timeshare condos in the Florida Keys, and I trade my extra timeshare condos I own to northern Michigan destinations for skiing and snowmobiling. I have a booth of collectibles in an antique shopping center in Saginaw, Mich., that I help at now and then as a hobby.

  • Other perspectives you would like to share?

I truly enjoy the social and cruising aspect of the club. As a Legacy, how I came into the club is quite different from others. I continue to engage in events of the club primarily as a sole boater as my husband is a workaholic and not as active a boater/cruiser. So, you’ll see me at events as a single/solo boater. 

            This has led to a reflection that to continue to grow the club, we need to be open and inviting to all cruisers, whether they are a traditional couple or a single/solo boater. There’s always room for another fun person at any boating event.

Board Member Highlights