History of Eastern Stores [Aventura] Yacht Club

By Herb Stone

In the spring of about 1973, I heard about a yacht club being formed and contacted Mort Eisenberg who lived on NE 166^th Street in Eastern Shores. About five other people and I founded the club. We all had small boats, but Mort had a new 42 foot Hatteras. Mort was a heavy duty fisherman with his son, Barry. He taught me a lot, but if you got any dirt on his boat, he went nuts because he was the original Mr. Clean.

Mort's wife, Mel, was the other half of the M & M. I volunteered to find a uniform and a color so we would look like a club. I was a tennis player then, so I found a supplier of clothing to the tennis trade called "Rags" located near the Miami Airport. The only color available in quantity was yellow and that is how the color was selected. We all had shorts, shirts, hats and jackets. Mort, who owned a motel on Collins Avenue called the Olympia was able to get carry bags which we presented to new members along with decals and other goodies, including our constitution and membership cards.

Now we needed an emblem. I designed the original circle and triangle which was used on our pennant. Also, Mel and I composed the monthly newsletter.

Monthly meetings were held at local restaurants, and the favorite was the Fish House 5 in Hallandale near 1-95. Dinner was $5.00. Of course, dockage at marinas was $.75 a foot also. After Mort's first two years as our Commodore, a great guy named Bob Kahn took over. I was Vice-Commodore. Bob unfortunately passed away after a couple of months, leaving me to take over for the year. I did not get credit for that period of time. I was really commodore three times and have held every position at least once.

At one time, we had about 60 members and that was a problem at restaurants and marinas. We had a large group from Winston Towers, plus several members from the Neptune Flamingo Club. After several disagreements, we dwindled down to about 25 members. When we had a gathering, and everyone wore yellow, we were a sight to see. One member made an effort to change that rule, but I never agreed with it.

Many pictures were taken over the years, but I could not locate the guys who took them. At one time, we had about six dentists in the club. Our activities ranged from poker runs to photo trips where you would identify a photo of a local sign or marker and when you arrived there, you got a prize. We visited all the Abacos when there was no charge to go to the Bahamas and no limit of fish you could bring back. We also made trips to Plantation Yacht Harbor in the Keys which now is a city-owned marina. Many picnics were held at Mort's house because he had a double lot. He now lives in Naples and many of the original members have left the area. Some members decided to incorporate the Aventura name since the area was being developed. I remember when we had to reserve a telephone for your boat at Bahia Mar. Who new?

Happy Boating!