The north end of Delray’s municipal beach
has been a hangout for catamaran sailors
and their friends for more than 35 years.
Delray Beach resident Bob Kubin sails his catamaran, North East,
from the north end of Delray’s municipal beach.
This part of the beach is often called the Catsailors Yacht Club.
Delray resident Jack Indekeu takes a nap on his catamaran.
An appropriately named catamaran is prepped for launching.
The masts of the catamarans stand above the vegetation on the dunes along A1A in northern Delray Beach.
Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
VIDEO: Watch a sailing encounter with dolphins
Catamaran owners say communal feel
makes area a special place to hang out
By Willie Howard
The north end of Delray Beach’s municipal beach is easy walking distance from the more crowded sections of public beach near Atlantic Avenue.
But culturally speaking, Delray’s sailboat beach — marked by dozens of aluminum masts jutting into the sky east of the dune — is a far cry from a typical public beach.
Populated by veteran sailors and their friends who often gather around the row of sailboats parked on the sand, Delray’s sailing beach boasts a welcoming, club-like atmosphere featuring impromptu parties, visiting dogs, lounging beach readers and oceanfront nappers.
“With the boats here, it makes it more communal,” said Bob Kubin, who can create a shaded gathering spot around his Nacra 17 catamaran in a minutes with the help of a few bungee cords and a tarp. “It’s not a bad man cave,” he said.
Elias Reynolds has been storing a catamaran and sailing from the north end of Delray Beach for 17 years.
Reynolds said Delray’s north beach catamaran owners share parts and help each other, in addition to sailing and sometimes racing together. He’s watched kids grow up sailing at the north beach.
“I’ve met some great friends here,” Reynolds said while relaxing in a beach chair with friend Barbara Myer. “You can go from Key West past Palm Beach and you won’t find a place like this.”
There’s almost always somebody to talk to at the sailing beach. Sometimes, the sailors bring food and drinks and make it a beach party.
Yoga classes, Easter sunrise services, weddings — they all happen on the sailing beach, regulars say.
“It’s a club without being a club,” Myer said. And, in fact, the area is informally known as the Catsailors Yacht Club.
When wind conditions are favorable, shoving a boat from the sand and heading out into the open ocean for a few minutes or a few hours of sailing is always an option.
Maneuvering boats out beyond the breakers can be tricky, but once sails fill with wind and hulls slice through the blue waves, the cat sailors watch the beach grow smaller behind them as they focus on wind, tacks and leaning back to keep their boats from heeling over too far.
Some north beach sailors troll for fish while they’re out on the ocean. Others enjoy sailing alongside curious bottlenose dolphins, sea turtles that surface for air or schools of flying fish that burst out from the ocean’s surface and glide over the waves.
Andrew and Fran Montague of Delray Beach enjoy snorkeling and hunting for shells when they’re not sailing. (They search for shark’s teeth when newly dredged sand hits the beach during beach renourishment projects.)
Unlike stretches of the municipal beach to the south, the north-end sailing beach is not protected by lifeguards. Andrew Montague, a former lifeguard, said he has saved swimmers who have gotten into trouble off the sailing beach.
Reaching the beach and parking with bags full of sailing gear can be a challenge. Parallel parking costs $1.50 an hour — if you have plenty of quarters and can find a space.
On the other hand, limited parking keeps the sailing beach from becoming too crowded, as does the lack of a restroom.
Beach sailors often rely on friends to drop them off or devise other means of reaching the beach. Jack and Terri Indekeu come by bicycle on weekends and use a trailer to lug their gear.
The sailing beach was created by city officials around 1980. Before then, sailboats could be kept anywhere along Delray’s municipal beach, said Rich Connell, a former Delray Beach lifeguard and Ocean Rescue superintendent who retired in 2005 after 30 years with the city.
Connell said the designated sailboat beach was established after sailboats began to collide with swimmers.
A common sight on the north beach is someone wandering over to ask how much it costs to rent a sailboat.
For the record, sailboat rentals are available at the south end of Delray Beach near Casuarina Road and Anchor Park. (Call 279-0008 or go to www.delraybeachwatersports.com.)
Even though the north-end sailing beach is generally laid-back, there are rules.
Boat owners must buy $265 annual permits sand affix the sticker permits to the hulls of their boats to secure their places on the sand. (Sixty permits are available, and they were not sold out as of mid-April.)
Sailors must steer clear of swimmers in guarded sections of beach to the south. Boats must be inspected, maintained in usable condition, stored east of the dune and secured so they don’t blow around.
When a hurricane warning is issued, sailboats must be removed from the beach. That’s when the north-beach sailors come together to move boats in a hurry and lash them down in their owners’ yards.
Mat Urrutia keeps his kayak chained to a friend’s catamaran on the north beach and enjoys spending his afternoons hanging out with the sailors.
“This is local,” Urrutia said. “There’s no place I’d rather be.
“This scene ties me to this place.”
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