115 First Street, Keyport, NJ 07735
N40° 28.4' - W74° 11.0'

About Keyport Yacht Club

Founded in 1908, the Keyport Yacht Club, located in historic Keyport on the southwest shore of New Jersey's Raritan Bay, welcomes all yacht club members. We have a beautiful view of the bay and the New York City skyline. Our clubhouse provides showers, fresh water, and ice facilities.

During the summer season, members and guests may also enjoy a cocktail on the upper deck overlooking the fleet. Modern, well maintained launches are available to transport you to and from your boat. While KYC does not have a dining room, quality restaurants are available within walking distance of the clubhouse.

History of Keyport Yacht Club

The Keyport Boat Club was organized on December 20, 1907. The first regular meeting of the club was held on March 10, 1908, and on March 17th Mr. Peter Sondergaard was elected first Commodore. The land and building on the Hoff property on First Street, which had a large frontage on Raritan Bay, was purchased for use as the club facility. The club grew rapidly, numbering seventy members by July 1st of the same year. The name was changed to Keyport Yacht Club in November, 1909.

In the spring of 1909 the first dock was built. This dock was severely damaged by hurricanes in 1938 and 1944. Each time the dock was repaired and strengthened. It must have been very difficult following the '44 storm, given war-time material shortages. In October, 1960, this dock finally succumbed to the onslaught of Hurricane Donna. Undaunted, the Club ran fund raisers and secured a mortgage from the Monmouth County Bank, and on May 27, 1961, held a dedication for the dock which remains today. This dock cost $25,000. Additional electrical equipment, lighting fixtures, and plumbing hardware were donated and installed by the members.

The original Club Bylaws prohibited using alcoholic beverages on the premises. They permitted the playing of Dominoes, Checkers, and Whist, but banned Gin Rummy and Bridge which might encourage gambling.

No precise counts are available, but we know that club membership grew rapidly. In 1914 a 1500 square foot addition to the Clubhouse was built to accommodate the numbers of people attending affairs. The club roared during the '20s. In 1921 concrete steps and a sidewalk from the terrace to the dock were laid. In 1925 a hot air heating plant and hardwood floors were installed and the lounge rooms were redecorated. The following year additional bath houses were built and 1927 saw the north and west sides of the clubroom shingled. A locker room was completed for the boating season of 1928 and a large porch was erected across the front of the building in 1929.

As the club moved toward its 50th anniversary in 1958 the Clubhouse was completely overhauled. New heads with showers were constructed; a complete new hot water heating system was installed; the lighting circuits were modified; and a modern kitchen was built, along with new storage rooms and offices. When the Keyport Yacht Club celebrated fifty years with a gala dinner dance on the evening of November 29, 1958, there was no finer facility on the shores of Raritan Bay.

Over the next few decades the facility was continually improved and upgraded; a new bulkhead was built in '70 and '71 and improvements were made to the lower boat yard. Plans for even more ambitious capital projects were dashed in the early morning hours of February 5th 1981, when the Clubhouse of the Keyport Yacht Club, into which so many people, over so many years, had poured so much time and money and sweat and love, burned to the ground.

The Board of Governors, in an emergency session, decided that a new Clubhouse must be built and that it must be built quickly so that no membership would be lost. Within a week the remains of the building were removed. The only items salvaged from the old building were the carved eagle now over the fireplace in the lounge, the brass bell in the bar, the sculling oar in the entryway, some nameplates from the "Past Commodores" plaque, the "Historic Building" plaque and two "ingots" of melted coins from the safe and pool table. Ground was broken in April, barely two months after the fire. To provide a central meeting point for various committees, and perhaps a place to play cards on a Friday evening, a trailer was rented and parked on the property.

Work progressed rapidly on the new facility. Just six months after ground was broken, the 1981 annual meeting was held in the main room. Since 1983 the shower and rest room facilities on the lower level were constructed; the game room was decorated; a large "commercial type" kitchen was completed; the main room has been redecorated. The cost of the building was between $325,000 and $350,000. The Clubhouse of the Keyport Yacht Club rose, like the Phoenix, from its own ashes in a remarkably short span.

The Keyport Yacht Club today is alive, well and growing after almost ninety years. We are proud of what has been accomplished and look forward to what is yet to come.