Hope springs eternal, it seems, at the Crow’s Nest Yacht Club.

Almost a year ago, the 40-year-old club, located in what club members described as the spot with the best view on Lake Wawasee, appeared to be on the ropes.

Membership, which had once been in the dozens, had shrunk to 13, and some of those hadn’t paid their dues in more than a year. It would be only a matter of months, perhaps even weeks, before the club, which was a year behind on its rent, was evicted from its location, some said.

There was a desperate need for new members.

Now a year later, and things don’t sound a lot different. Paid membership is down to two. But Ken Eber, a former commodore, has taken the reins and is trying himself to pump new life into the club.

“I’m paying the rent and digging up members who are willing to pay,” Eber said.

Meanwhile, Eber said he changed the locks on the clubhouse to keep out former members who haven’t paid their dues.

So far he has a handful of people who have committed to becoming members, agreeing to pay an annual $1,500 for a membership ($2,000 if it includes a boat slip on the club’s docks).

He’s also scrapped the practice of making bedrooms available on a first-come basis to club members. If you want a bedroom in the clubhouse, a large but old and rustic place in need of repair, it will cost you another $1,500 a year.

“I’ve been pushing for three months now,” trying to find members, Ebers said. “I’m just trying to lift the boat out of the water.”

He’d like to be in the Fort Wayne Boat Show coming up this week, but he doesn’t even have a display, so that’s out.

Eber still sounds confident. He’s got a handful of people who appear committed. Others are telling their friends about the club, which is generating some additional interest.

He’s established a website for the club, LakeWawaseeBoatSlips.com, something that was sorely needed, Eber said. He’s pitching the club as an affordable alternative to renting a home on the lake. Renting a house on Wawasee for a week will cost at least $3,000, he said. The club offers a season-long slip and use of the clubhouse including the kitchen, for $2,000. It’s a great deal, he insists.

But there are other hurdles to be cleared. The club needs to re-establish its original non-profit status. “I’m sure we’ve lost it because no one filed (an annual report) for years,” Eber said.

The place also needs a lot of the same things it needed a year ago. The clubhouse still needs a new roof. Eber would like to screen in the porch the way it was decades ago. And he needs to get fireplaces working. The docks with the slips are still there, though, Eber said.

In a way, the club’s troubles are a sign of the times, Eber suggested. The club was originally started by a bunch of business people who used the club as a social and business arrangement. It was a good place for making business contacts.

People don’t use clubs any more, Eber said. Now, they use social media. Building a fancy website is easier than rebuilding an old clubhouse.