ICOYC News

With “November Echo”, San Francisco Yacht Club Signals the Approach of Pandemic’s End

On 17 April 2020, the leadership of the San Francisco Yacht Club, located in Belvedere, CA, hoisted the signal flags Charlie Golf One at the clubhouse. The nautical flags are meant to communicate, “I Will Stand by to Assist You”, which was not only a message for the Club’s members, but also for the community as a whole as, we all endured the trials of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the following months, this message of goodwill and Corinthian spirit spread around the globe, ultimately reaching over 300 yacht clubs and harbors on all seven continents. Several ICOYC Clubs participated in what became a viral message of hope, raising their own matching set of signal flags.

As the finish of this horrific pandemic nears, Marin County, where the SFYC is located, reports that over 85% of tis residents are now vaccinated, COVID-19 cases are steadily declining, and businesses and schools are reopening. Though there is still a lot of work to be done and illnesses endures here and abroad, the Club’s leadership agreed that the time had come to send a new message to their membership and our community.

At the Club’s Opening Day festivities in April 2021, Commodore Don Jesberg announced, “While we must remain vigilant, and we will always be at the ready to assist our members and our neighbors, the time had come for us lower Charlie Golf One.” With that, the Club hoisted November Echo, the international signal flag array meaning “You should proceed with great caution”.

The club is hoping to one day soon display November Hotel, which means “You are clear of all danger”.

All ICOYC Member Clubs who have displayed Charlie Golf Over One are welcome to follow suit.