Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
The newsletter of the Ottawa Power and Sail Squadron
Mar 2021 Page: 1
Commander’s Message
Ahhh, Spring! It’scoming, when isyet to be deter-
mined. Only 16 moredays.Then we start countingagain until it’s time towax-on, wax-off, andrepeat!From what I’ve read in
boating publications, boat sales new and used, aresetting a record pace. Most dealers are already soldout and the waiting lists keep growing. Time for CPS-ECP to capitalize on these new boaters. Squadronsaround the country, including Ottawa, should “talkup” the benefits of becoming members and to takesome of the many courses and seminars that areavailable.The Squadron and Rideau District AGMs are comingup within the next two months. Volunteers for Bridgepositions are always welcome, as are nominationsfrom the general membership. Contact me [email protected] if you are a volunteer orhave a nominationA little humour thanks to Henry Beard & Roy McKie.Marina: Commercial dock facility. Among the fewplaces, under admiralty law where certain forms ofpiracy are still permitted. Most marinas have up-to-date facilities for the disposal of Canadian currencythat may have accumulated on board ship causing afire hazard.Check out our Facebook page, Ottawa Power & SailSquadron, for tips, course listings and other usefulinformation. Also our website at www.boatottawa.caor thru the CPS-ECP website www.cps-ecp.ca. UsingFacebook and other forms of social media is just oneof the ways we are communicating with you, theMembers.Stay safe, stay healthy
Axel Obenauf, SNCommander
Free Boating InformationBy David Root,Financial Officer, Kingston Power and SailSquadron
Where do you get your boating information - is a paidsubscription the only route?That was my choice for years, but as social media tookhold, many publications began to publish free newslet-ters, with detailed content and some are on a daily basis, Itook note! For your consideration, I currently track thefollowing free newsletters:Cruising Compass – weeklywww.Cruisingcompass.comFor those interested in the cruising lifestyle, offshoresailing, navigation and weather and boat reviews. BlueWater Sailing magazine is included quarterly.gCaptain Daily – dailywww.gCaptain.comFor those interested in international commercial marineevents from ship hijackings to the US Navy in the SouthChina Sea to offshore solar farms to Container ships andCruise companies management. The Vendee Globe andits impact on marine shipping is also covered And if thereis a major crash fire or sinking it will be on gCaptain.Practical Sailor Waypoints – weeklywww.practical-sailor.comFor those interested in unbiased product reviews, recentarticles include: A second look at flute shape; cold watersurvival; mildew resistant caulks and recent nauticalpublications for purchase. Contains no advertising buttheir own.Soundings Dispatches eNews – dailyhttps://hub.soundingsonline.com/subscriptionFor those interested in news items from the Soundingsmagazine, reviews of the latest nautical books,information on maintaining boat systems, boat shownews, used boat profiles; all with a New England flair.With an occasional house for sale advert for NewEngland houses thrown in. And they are now beginningto include podcasts of local people and boat builders andrelated day trips.Enjoy!
Mar 2021 Page: 2
The 2020 – 2021Executive Committee
Squadron Commander Axel Obenauf, SNImmediate Past Commander Court Harkness, SNExecutive Officer VacantFinancial Officer Robert MenardEducational Officer Robin Craig, CNA/Edu Officer French Courses Jacques Boudreault, PA/Edu Officer French Course Réginald GuilbertMembership Officer Joan Feltham, APA/Membership Terry Hamilton, JNSecretary Robert Dandurand, PCommunications Officer William M. Hall, PPublic Relations Donald Partridge, APMarketing Officer VacantRegalia/Mailing Officer Marjorie LadouceurRideau Ripples Editor Robert Dandurand, PRVCC Coordinator Peter HansenSocial Affairs (Chair) Mara ZarinsWebmaster Robin Craig, CN
Squadron Financial Review Michael Crawford
Squadron Mailing Address
Ottawa Power and Sail Squadron6901 Bilberry Drive,Ottawa ON K1C 2E8
Cdr Axel Obenauf(613) 825-2882
Please check the website for updates andlatest information:
boatottawa.ca/events.html
You have any ideas or a topic for an Information Night,please drop me an e-mail [email protected] we can work together to make it happen!
Squadron EventsCalendar
Have a safe winter - Fly Your CPS-ECPFlag Proudly and Promote Our Organizationby Networking with your Dock Mates andanyone on the water/ice!
“All face to face activities,classes, Squadron andDistrict Meetings arepostponed until thecoronavirus / COVID-19situation is resolved and therestriction is lifted.Our paramount concern isthe health and well-being ofall our volunteers, theirrelatives and friends. This isthe safest course of action inthe current circumstances.”
maritime quarantine flag
Mar 2021 Page: 3
ScuttlebuttBy Robert Dandurand, P
There is a little-known fact thatyou can drown right at the marina– in the most shocking way! It iscalled “ESD” – Electric ShockDrowning. [ ] The primary sourceof dangerous AC leakage current isshore power, originating on thedock or vessels plugged into it. Atthe dockside power source, if thereis a non-functioning groundingsystem or an improper groundingof the neutral-white powerconductor or just unapprovedwiring near the water, there caneasily be a charge snaking throughthe waters of the marina. [ ] Themost unnerving aspect is that ifmuscles are exposed to chargedwater, they can become paralyzed,making it impossible to swim oreven breathe. Drowning happensjust that much faster sinceobviously, you can’t do anythingto aid yourself. Stay out of thewater in a marina. Never, ever gointo the waters of a marina, neverswim around docks or boats thatare connected to shore power.
Source :https://www.waterwayguide.com/latest-news/news/10879/an-vital-update-drowning-shocking?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=news_10-21-2020&utm_content=News+10-21-2020
◊◊◊
Rideau Canal traffic in 2020 took aCovid-19 hit. The canal openedlate. Traffic was down 27.8% witha total of 44,141 vessel passagesrecorded through the locks,compared to 61,145 vesselpassages in 2019. In total, during2020, 77.7% of the boats werefrom Ontario, 20.6% from Québec,only 0.2% from the U.S. and 1.5%“Other”.
Source: Friends of the RideauNewsletter, Fall/Winter 2020, page3.
◊◊◊
In the previous Ripples, you werechallenged to locate precisely thetwo Cardinal buoys betweenBrockville and Kingston. One wasgiven (southwest of LynedochIsland, just a bit west of the IvyLea Bridge: 44° 20.787ʹ N 76°0.930ʹ W). There is also anotherone about 17 nm west of this oneat the end of Howe Island. Youwere asked to provide itscoordinates. Tom Beaver was firstto respond: Spit Head WestCardinal buoy: 44° 14ʹ 36ʺ N 76°22ʹ 23.1ʺ W.
◊◊◊
An aquatic invasive species is anyforeign plant, animal, or micro-organism that has been introducedto an ecosystem and constitutes athreat to the environment,economy, or society by taking overor out-competing native species.Recreational boating is one way tointroduce invasive species. Boatsmay inadvertently transport thespecies (in ballast, attached tohulls, etc.). Moreover, fisherman
may use illegal invasive species asbait.
Three ways to stop spreadinginvasive species:
1. Wash all types of vessels and allequipment that may come incontact with water from awatercourse (e.g. a trailer, fishtank, fishing rod). 2. When fishing,use artificial lures or legal bait fish.Empty and wash the bait bucketmore than 30 meters away fromany watercourse. (Note: Theprovincial lists of legal bait fish isupdated every year. Refer toannual publications on fishing formore details.) 3. Polish and waxthe hull of your vessel. A well-polished and waxed hull issmoother, reducing the chancesthat micro-organisms and dirt willstick to its surface. As an addedbonus, your boat your boat willlook shinier and will be easier towash!
Source:https://www.ottawariverkeeper.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/BoatersBook_en-sustainable.pdf
◊◊◊
An explosion at a fuel dock
Mar 2021 Page: 4
Incredibly, the woman was not injured; neither wereher husband and his daughter, who jumped off theburning boat into the water, or the fuel dock attendantwho was blown off the dock.
Tonight, at mid-northern latitudes, look for thebrilliant star Arcturus to climb over youreastern horizon around 9 to 10 p.m. local time.That’s the approximate time on your clock,regardless of your longitude
Extend the natural arc of the Big Dipper’shandle to verify that you’ve found Arcturus. Inthe Northern Hemisphere, Arcturus counts asour faithful springtime star. At present,Arcturus rises about three hours after sunset atmid-northern latitudes. Arcturus will besparkling above the horizon at dusk/nightfall ina month or so to announce the return of springto the Northern Hemisphere!
Bottom line: Before going to bed tonight, locatethe Big Dipper in your northern sky, and thenfollow the arc in the Dipper’s handle to findyellow-orange star Arcturus.
Source: https://earthsky.org/tonight/arc-to-arcturus-the-springtime-
star?utm_source=EarthSky+News&utm_campaign=8d99cf61eb-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_02_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c643945d79-8d99cf61eb-395197485
◊◊◊
The worst thing about docking are the witnesses.
Mar 2021 Page: 5
From the Desk of the DistrictMembership Officer!!!In June 2020, I reported that Rideau District had 766members (Brockville 153, Kingston 177 & Ottawa436). At that time. our renewals left a lot to bedesired!
Well now, our Rideau District numbers are at 785members (Brockville 157, Kingston 179 and Ottawa449). Let’s not get excited just yet but credit must begiven to our new members who joined prior toregistering for one of our Online Courses and thosewho joined after successfully completing one of ourprescribed courses. Also, a big slapon the back to our Instructors forrecruiting new members across theDistrict!
Right now, we have 478 memberswhose expiry date are current and307 others who are outstanding. Ourrenewal rate is at 61% as a District.This will likely change drastically aswe have 321 members needingrenewing by April 30, 2021.
Let us look at our Ottawa Squadronnow (March 01, 2021)! Our numbersare as follows:
You are wondering what No Charge means: well, it isthe Regular Lady, Regular Life and Associates (under19 years of age) who do not pay membership dues,but they must all renew to simply ensure that theirdata is kept up to date. All members should checktheir profile when renewing to maintain the nationaldatabase integrity!
Our percentage is like all the other 129 Squadronsacross Canada. On April 30, 2021, 173 of ourmembers will require to renew their membership.Please do not wait ‘till the last minute.Make my Day, Renew Now…
Simply: Log In (E-mail / Password), access yourprofile, Membership and press the “Renew Your
Membership” button and follow the instructions…using your credit card.
If you have any issues, please e-mail me directly([email protected]) and I will help you.
There are several ways to renew your membership:
• Credit Card & PayPal as indicated above.
• E-transfer sent to [email protected] - Use Membership ID# as the password.
• Online Banking - Call-in to CPS-ECP Office, askfor Membership 1-888-CPS-BOAT (277-2628) Ext.0159
• Cheques mailed to CPS-ECP National OfficeCanadian Power and Sail Squadrons, 26 Golden Gate
Mar 2021 Page: 6Court, Toronto, M1P 3A5. Please add your Member’sID. This is the least preferred method during thepandemic as all CPS-ECP Staff works from homeuntil further notice.
Now for those 175 members who are outstandingsince 2019-2020 – The National MembershipCommittee created the Membership Recovery Project/ Special Renewal Incentives. The conditions are:
• The special Membership Renewal Offer is aonetime opportunity.
• Member's membership must have lapsed morethan 183 days (½ year)
• Membership will be renewed to the member’snormal yearly renewal day and month in 2022 withpayment of one year’s dues. $52.00 and familymembers at $26.00.
• Membership dues must be paid at the time ofapproved renewals.
Here again, if you cannot find your expiry date asindicated above, please send me an e-mail directly([email protected]). I will help you get intouch with the National Office Membership Recovery/Renewal Associate, Sakinatou Barry and make sureyour membership is renewed quickly.
The New IT System has had its issues but manyvolunteers, CPS-ECP National Office Staff and ourprovider Innovexa have been working at solving many
of those issues. One of the major issues in 2020 wasthat members did not receive their membershiprenewal notices but this has been corrected for 2021and a renewal button has been added to facilitaterenewal by members. The list of projects we havebeen working on is too long to elaborate on but I cansay that we are making progress and there is a light atthe end of the long tunnel.
In closing, I hope that you reach out directly ([email protected]) and get your membershiprenewed. You all have been members of a greatorganization dedicated to boating safety for manyyears and we look forward to many more years ofyour support to assist us in continuing our mandate.
Please Make my Day and Renew Now!
Guy
Guy A. Ladouceur, P/D/CNational Membership Committee – ITMembership SupportRideau & National District MembershipOfficerRideau District Financial OfficerBrockville & Kingston Squadron MembershipOfficerTEAMS: [email protected]: [email protected]: (613) 824-9490CPS | Membership - CPS (cps-ecp.ca)
David’s BookshelfBy David Root
Cruising
Cape Horn, The Logical Route,(14,216 miles without a Port ofCall), by Bernard Moitessier, 1969translation from French, softcover,251 pages. The book captures oneof the greatest sailors of all time ashe and his wife set out in 1965 tosail from France to Tahiti roundCape Horn and return. Moitessier
includes detailed explanations ofwhy his boat was so capable andincludes a review of what he mightdo if he were to do it all again.Such a journey before we nowexpect to have GPS et al.
A Father’ Journey, Steered byFalling Stars, by Daniel Spurr,1992, hard cover, 248 pages. If youare at all familiar with themagazine Cruising World then youare very familiar with the writingsof Daniel Spurr. But his time in
prison and the loss of his sonwould be likely unfamiliar to you.The book follows him and hispregnant wife’s sailing journeydown the east coast from Maine tothe Bahamas. Along the way hisson dies and he is confronted withhis past. A book for anyoneplanning the trip and a testament tothe power of family and friends.
North to the Night, A SpiritualOdyssey in the Arctic, by AlvahSimon, 1998, softcover, 325 pages.
Mar 2021 Page: 7
A read that kept me on the edge ofmy seat twice! In 1994 Alvah andhis wife Diana set out to explorethe Artic in a 36-foot boat. Fourmonths later, with Diana having toleave to take care of an ill parent,we find Alvah alone, high abovethe arctic circle, 100 miles fromthe nearest settlement, except for asmall cat Their adventures in thepolar night are spell binding.Diana returns in the spring, themonumental journey continues, toearn them both the 1997 CruisingWorld Seamanship Award.
Outrageous Grace, Taking theLong Way Home, by JohnOtterbracher, 2009, softcover, 244pages. John and his family learnedto sail on the Great Lakes grewconfident enough to take asabbatical, to sail the Atlantic andto tour the Mediterranean. Butseven (7) heart operations in eight(8) months raised serious questionsas to whether or not a sabbaticalwas even realistic. But then turnthe page and they are back sailingon the Gulf Stream. Check out hisstill healthy and confident websiteat www. Outrageous-grace.com.
Passage to Juneau, A Sea and ItsMeanings, by Jonathan Raban,1999, hardcover, 435 pages. Arecognized writer andaccomplished sailor, Raban wantedto sail from Puget Sound toJuneau, Alaska, to document thepassage, study the sea and IndianMythology. And there was alsotime to improve on his relationship
with his daughter. What he did notknow at the start was that he wouldbe divorced by the end of the trip.Definitely a book to have as youmake this cruise for his focus onseas, currents and anchorages andthe history would fill any quiethours on your journey.
The Water in Between, AJourney at Sea, by KevinPatterson, 1999, softcover, 292pages. In 1994 Kevin, a Canadian,whose military career and that as aphysician were in the dumps andhis long term girl friend haddropped this morose young man.What to do… he bought a 20-year-old concrete ketch with visions ofsailing to Tahiti. Well, he did andthen to French Polynesia. Thejourney, he knew less than hethought, the partners he selectedwho were as lost as he, combinedwith lots of cigarettes and advent-ures proves perseverance can winout.
Boats and sailing
From A Bare Hull, by FerenecMate, 1976, hardcover, 534 pages.Ferenec, a Canadian from BritishColumbia built a 32-foot Westsailfrom bare hull and deck at a timewhen he was a consultant toWestsail Corporation. This waswhen he crafted this encyclopaediaof a book complete with dozens ofphotos and drawings of every piecefor a sailboat, including reviews ofsailboats and engines. All indexed
and labelled. It’s what you need tounderstand how a boat isconstructed and how you canmaintain it. Considered a mostcomprehensive classic in its day.
How To Sail Around The World,Advice and Ideas for VoyagingUnder Sail, by Hal Roth, 2004,hardcover, 464 pages. With 37years at sea and over 200,000 seamiles, Hal knows what will workon a boat and how to fix it. Thisbook reviews all the parts from sailinventory to anchors andassociated chain and everything inbetween and explains how theywork at sea while commenting onvessels to consider while ensuringhow to stay warm and dry.
Seawise, by Don M. Street Jr.,2004, softcover, 331 pages. Firstpublished in 1979 and updated in2004 by an internationallyrecognized career sailor with over300,000 sea miles in his 46-footengineless yawl. The 2004prologue runs to some 80 pages.This sailor wanted to be relevant,promote safety and show you theway to sailing in the LesserAntilles and cover the myriad ofissues that affect boat design andfair weather sailing. If you haveread some of his 200+ sailingarticles you now see what madehim so passionate about the worldof sailing.
Mar 2021 Page: 8
The Sailing DreamPart III – Buying ourown SailingCatamaranBy Shaun Clare
After chartering many differentcatamarans in numerous sailingareas, we finally felt that wehad a good idea of the featureswe really like, and those thatwe can live without. Withretirement less than two yearsaway, it was time to startshopping for our owncatamaran – a thrilling butdaunting task, as most cats arelocated in, either, Florida, theCaribbean, or theMediterranean.This fact added a complicatingfactor to our “wish list” – we hadreally hoped to buy a boat that wasalready registered in Canada, sowe could bring it into Canadawithout having to pay HST on it.At 13% of the value of the boat,we would potentially have to pay$45,000 or more in tax the firsttime we crossed the border andbrought the boat home so we couldsail in Canadian waters. Being ableto sail the boat in Canada wasimportant to us – not only so wecould use her here until we wereready to head South, but alsobecause this is where our love ofboating began – it only felt righthaving Ottawa as her home port.My Dad, Art Clare, was a long-standing member of the CanadianPower and Sail Squadrons, andintroduced my wife Anne and I tothe organization. CPS and boatingwere a big part of Dad’s pre- andpost-retirement – he was a proudmember, and always promotedCPS to those who weren’t familiar
with it. Dad served many postswithin the organization over theyears, and eventually became theCommander of the Britannia-Rideau Squadron in 2013.Dad taught Anne and I our veryfirst CPS course – the generalBoating course – where we learnedthe fundamentals of how to safelyoperate a vessel. We were amazedat the scope of topics covered inthis initial course, such as thesafety items that legally must be onboard a vessel of a given size, thebasic concepts of navigation andaids to navigation, how to properlyanchor a boat, what the variouslines are called and what they areused for, and how to tiecommonly-used knots. At the endof this course we both realizedhow much more there was to learn,so we continued on with numerousother classroom-based courses(these days CPS also offers manyof these courses virtually). In theend Anne and I acquired our
Boating, Maritime Radio (VHF)and DSC, and Pilotingaccreditations. I went on tocomplete the Fundamentals ofWeather and Global Weathercourses.My Mom and Dad owned a 38 foottwin-diesel River Queen, and wespent hundreds of hours touring theRideau, Ottawa and St. Lawrencewaterways with them on that boat.It was such a great opportunity toapply what we had learned in classto the real-life world of boating –made even better because our in-class teacher was there with us!Once we felt confident, we wouldtake the boat out on our own forextended trips. It’s because ofthese memories that being able tobring whatever catamaran webought back home was importantto us – we wanted to take our boatto some of the same places wehave visited in the past, and todiscover new ones.
The Prescott harbour at dusk
Mar 2021 Page: 9The search for our boat began – wehad been looking online for yearsbefore we started lookingseriously, just to get a sense forwhat the market looked like at anyparticular time, and how muchboat we could expect to get forhow much money. During thattime, we came to realize thatcatamarans are extremely rare inCanada. There were many timeswhen there was not a single catover 30 feet in length available inthe entire country.Despite this, we figured we mightas well start our search “locally”,so we went onto a number of thelargest boat marketing websites wehad been browsing in the past, andlooked for boats currently locatedin Canada. We found exactly three.Two were in Vancouver, BC (aCanadian catamaran “hotspot” aswe had discovered from some ofour early searches – if there was acatamaran available anywhere inCanada, it seemed to be inVancouver). The third showed upas being at a marina in Iroquois,Ontario – a 40-minute drive fromour house! Really? For all thesearches we had done in years past,the closest to us was one we sawonline perhaps 3 or 4 years agothat was for sale in Toronto – thatwas well before we were ready tobuy one, but it did tell us the rarityof finding anything close to us.The boat we found at IroquoisMarine Services was a 30’ 1998Endeavourcat Mark II. It wassmaller in length than we hadplanned to purchase, but sheappeared to have a ton of space onboard, with a huge galley (boasting10 feet of counter space), twoqueen-sized berths, a large headwith separate walk-in shower, and6’4” of headroom (I’m 6’3” tall, soreally didn’t want to have to
crouch while walking aroundaboard). She had twin Volvodiesels with saildrives (each withless than 1,000 hours of use). Allof these points checked our boxes,and met or even surpassed theamount of space found on some ofthe cats we had sailed that weremuch larger. The secret seemed tobe based in the boxy overall shapeof the boat – at first glance shelooks a little chunky, but havingthe extra space was a huge bonus.One big factor that remained to bedetermined was her seaworthiness– we wanted a boat capable ofsailing at least as far as theBahamas, and further South if atthat point we decided we wanted tokeep going down the Caribbeanisland chain. It turns out asistership of hers had sailed fromClearwater, Florida to Australia viathe Panama Canal, and is stillsailing there today. We liked herpedigree, and further researchshowed us that these “little” catsare built like tanks.This was enough for us to call theperson selling her (it was a privatesale), and we set up anappointment to see her. Within acouple of days we were on our wayto Iroquois to check her out.We were amazed at the conditionof the boat – you never really cantell much from pictures, whichseemed to show her in immaculateshape – but as soon as we were onboard (she was on the hard for herWinter storage), the attention todetail and overall condition wasbetter than we could have hopedfor.My Dad was a Canadian Militaryengineer and I was accustomed tothe detailed maintenance regimenhe used for regular upkeep on hisboat. The person selling thiscatamaran was a retired Canadian
Air Force pilot who also usedchecklists for absolutely every bitof maintenance that was done onthis boat to ensure nothing wasmissed and was done on schedule– then all of this was recorded inhis maintenance log, very muchlike my Dad would do. Theengines looked like they had neverbeen run. The bilges were spotless.The gelcoat was in near-perfectcondition. Everywhere we lookedand everything we saw just seemedto tell Anne and I that we werelooking at our sailing catamaran!I arranged for a marine surveyor tocheck out the entire boat, includingdoing standing rigging and engineinspections. I was there with himto get his candid feedback as hewent through the boat, and he toldme he was very impressed with hercondition, which he rated in thesurvey as “Very Good”, defined inhis report as “Essentially as new inappearance and operation”. Wewere thrilled.We put a deposit on the boat tohold her, with the final sale beingconditional on a successful sea trial(during which we would also haveour surveyor on board) and for thenext few weekends I assisted theseller with performing all theSpring commissioning tasks thathe would typically do to get theboat ready prior to launching. Iwas especially impressed with thelevel of detail he went through ateach step of the process. Oneexample were his bilgeinspection/tests – about 5 gallonsof fresh water was poured intoeach bilge, then one by one theelectric bilge pumps were testedfor operation and efficiency, thenthe manual Whale pumps weretested. Once complete each bilgearea was sponged down, and wipeddry. Then each through-hull was
Mar 2021 Page: 10opened and closed ten times toensure the valves were workingand had been exercised. All hosesto each through-hull opening wereinspected for chafe, stiffness(aging) and each stainless hoseclamp checked for condition andtightness. Any wires located in thebilges were checked to ensure theywere secure, in good condition andthat connections were tight andcorrosion-free.This went on for every system onboard, and by the end of thecommissioning process I washighly confident that we werebuying a safe and well cared-forboat. We were so fortunate to notonly have found a seller that wasso particular about boatmaintenance, but also that he waswilling to spend the time he didgoing over every system on theboat with me.The sea trial went flawlessly, andwe closed the deal that same day.TUSK – named by her previousowner using the acronym for “TheUltimate Sailing Kitchen” – wasours! The next day Anne and I leftIroquois to bring the boat to ourmarina in Prescott – we hadbooked and paid for our slip inadvance of the sea trial – a smallprice to pay if the trial didn’t gowell (although we felt there waslittle risk of that).We feel so fortunate to have notonly found this particular boat, butthat she was located so close to usand was purchased at a reasonableprice. The bonus is she is aCanadian-registered vessel (theprevious owner had paid the taxwhen he imported her), so we cansail her anywhere we choose, andbring her home as often as we like.Last year we spent a total of 50nights on board, most at anchor.We visited some of our favourite
spots in Gananoque that we hadpreviously cruised to with myparent’s boat, and discovered manymore amazing anchoragesthroughout the Summer and Fall.We sailed as far West as Picton,Ontario, to visit wine country.We had the boat hauled out atIroquois at the end of September,and she is sitting on the hard now,waiting for another season ofsailing next year. We plan tocontinue to explore more of the1000 Islands and Lake Ontario thisyear, and are hoping to get all theway to Niagara-on-the-Lake – withmore wineries to tour, and so muchto see along the way, it should be abeautiful sailing trip.2021 will be our last full boatingseason in Canada, as we plan tohead South via the Erie Canal, theHudson River and then theIntracoastal Waterway beginningin August of 2022, with manyideas of the tropical locations wewant to cruise as hurricane seasondraws to a close at the end ofNovember 2022.
We’ll share our plans in theupcoming 4th part of this series -until then, Spring is just around thecorner, and boating season is fastapproaching – we can’t wait.Next instalment: Planning ourjourney South
TUSK stern quarter
Galley looking forward
Mar 2021 Page: 11
The Sailing Dream -Recipes AfloatBy Anne Vaillancourt
Fresh bread, baked while anchoredout in a beautiful bay, is a trueluxury. The aroma and flavour arewell worth the little effort needed.Bread is difficult to keep fresh on aboat, especially if you are luckyenough to be in a hot and humidtropical climate. It stales quicklyand is sometimes even difficult tofind at a store depending on whereyou are. Learn how to make yourown and you’ll be that much moreself-sufficient on your floatinghome. Your crew will also loveyou!
When we have chartered sailingcatamarans in the Caribbean andFrench Polynesia, we always hadan oven on board, and now that wehave our own sailing cat with anoven here in Canada, the first thingI baked on board was this beautifulcrispy country loaf.
You will need a Dutch oven, andalthough this is a large and heavypiece of galley gear, it is, as allthings on board should be,multipurpose. It can be used in theoven, or on the stove for amultitude of one pot dishes andholds its heat very well. In myopinion, it’s a “must-have”. Asmall digital kitchen scale is alsogreat and takes very little space.When baking, it provides a much
more accuratemeasurement ofingredients.
Along with a fewbasic techniques, theother important thingto know is aboutprotein content inflour. I found out thehard way that flour inthe Caribbean is verydifferent from all-purpose flour inCanada. My firstcouple of tries in theVirgin Islands failed,and then, after someresearch, Idiscovered it wasbecause the flour Iwas using did nothave enough protein.To make a good loafyour flour shouldhave at least 12%protein. To calculatethis, you need twopieces ofinformation: the
number of grams of protein perserving and the number of totalgrams of flour per serving. Forexample, the common brand offlour I use in Canada has 4 gramsof protein in a 30-gram serving offlour, which comes out to 13.3%protein. It’s awesome and workswonderfully. In the Caribbean youmay need to look for bread flour tocome close. Just do a quick checkof the nutritional facts on the labelto be sure.
I hope you try this out even if thefirst time you do it is in your homeoven. If your boat oven can’t quiteget up to the 445-degreetemperature required, just add afew extra minutes to the bakingtime.
Ingredients:○ 650 g all-purpose flour (or flour
with at least 12% protein as notedabove)
○ 7 g Instant or active dried yeast○ 8 g Salt○ 480 g Water○ 20 g Vegetable or olive oil
Directions:Start the recipe by adding all of thedry ingredients to a bowl andwhisk them together. Add thewater and oil, then mix with thehandle of a wooden spoon into ashaggy, sticky dough.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrapand allow the dough to proof (rise)for 45 minutes.
After the 45 minutes, turn thedough out onto a slightly wetworktop and knock it back for 30seconds (I call this slapping thedough – lift, slap in down on thecounter, fold it over on itself, turnit and do it again about 12 times -it’s fun!). The dough should nowAnne's Bread
Mar 2021 Page: 12
appear smooth and silky, put itback into the bowl, cover and setfor 30 minutes.
Prepare an 8in / 20cm wok orsimilar vessel by greasing withbutter.
After the second rise of the dough,repeat the process of turning it outand knocking it back for a further30 seconds, form the dough into aball shape and place it in the woksmooth side down, sprinkle a littleflour over the dough and cover
with a dry lightweight cloth, andset your timer for 30 minutes.
Preheat your oven at the same timeto 445°F, and place your Dutchoven in the oven, as it needs to beheated up for 30 minutes to reachthe correct cooking temperature tobake this bread.
After the 30 minutes carefully takethe very hot Dutch oven out of theoven, remove the lid, and tip thenow risen dough from the wok intothe Dutch oven, give the Dutchoven a quick swirl to centralize the
dough, replace the lid and get itback into the hot oven for 30minutes.
After the 30 minutes, carefullyremove the lid and bake for afurther 5 minutes with the lid off,this will make the bread a littlecrustier.
Remove the Dutch oven from themain oven, carefully tip out theloaf of bread, and place it on a wirerack to cool for 20 to 30 minutesbefore slicing.
Should You RethinkYour Reliance OnGPS?By David Root,
The following is drawn from aJanuary 21st opinion piece in theNew York Times: “Our GPSSystem Is Too Vulnerable” byKate Murphy, commercial pilot,journalist and author.
Since 2000 when GPS becamepublicly available, questions havebeen raised about the signal and itsvulnerability. First, the satellitesthemselves are at risk of being hitby space junk and the signal, fromsuch a high orbit, is consideredvery weak and subject tointerference.
Second, the signals are subject tospoofing. This was documented in2008 when the threat was just fromhackers, but in the past five yearsmore than 10,000 incidents havebeen attributed to Russia andChina alone including Ship’sCaptains reporting errors of 20-120miles while off the coast of Russiaand ships disappearing from theplotting screen off China.
Spoofing units are now soinexpensive local teenagers canafford to use the technology to telltheir parents where they are not? Aspoof can affect all GPS units inthe vicinity, not just the onetargeted?
What to do? – The USgovernment, in 2018, passed theNational Timing and Resilienceand Security Act to establish a newsystem in two years. Not yetimplemented!
Why? In 2010 the current GPSsystem costs $1.7 Billion a year tooperate, maintain and no Agencyhas stepped forward to takeresponsibility to manage or reducethis expenditure. So, alternativeswere considered,eleven to dateincluding LORAN,fibre optics andsatellites closer toEarth orbit.
While this wasoccurring PresidentTrump in February2020 signed anexecutive order titled“National ResilienceThrough Responsible
Use of Positioning, Navigation andTiming Services.” The essence ofthe order was that GPS users (thatis you) need to have their owncontingencies in place shouldoutages or corrupted data appear.
Then early this year, Karen VanDyke, Director of the Office ofPositioning, Navigation andTiming at the US Department ofTransport, predicted there wouldnot be a one-size-fits all approachand that the government wouldfocus on critical sectors.
A report was submitted to the U.S.Congress in January 2021.
While the debate goes on, makesure you know how to get backwhen data is not available!
Waiting for Spring
Mar 2021 Page: 13
Kingston to the NorthChannel and Back:Part 2 – Pelee Islandto the North Channel.By Rob Saloman
June 25th 2017 and Day 8 of ourpassage as we departed PeleeIsland in stiff WSW winds yetagain heading for the DetroitRiver. We motor-sailed with ourjib only, given the state of ourmain sail. Laurel was happy to seethe last of the turquoise waters ofLake Erie as we approached theshipping lanes which dog leg about7 nm out into the lake to avoidsome shallows on the Canadianshore. There’s no chance ofmissing the king-size RACONmarkers of the up-bound anddown-bound channels into theriver as we start to keep an eye outfor lake freighters. Ohio,Michigan, and Ontario are all insight as we turn into the up-boundchannel.
The Detroit River is not what youmight expect in terms of heavyindustry although there is certainlysome of that. There are alsobeautiful, stately homes and bothDetroit and Windsor have lovelywater fronts. Even moreunexpected are the turquoisewaters and a Sunday airshow toentertain us on the Michigan side.There’s plenty of time to enjoy allof this motoring against two knotsor more of current for the 20 milesor so to Windsor where we spendthe night at the Lakeview Marinawith a dinner out with friends aftera 45 mile, 9-hour passage.
Motor-sailing with our jib as wecross under the AmbassadorBridge at Windsor and theUniversity of Windsor Campuswhere our son Justin attendedschool previously.
June 26/17, Day 10 and our plan isto make our way another 45 milesto Sarnia and a visit to BostonSails, a Doyle sail loft, for repairs.We left the Detroit River and setout across Lake St. Clair staying inthe shipping lanes since much ofthe lake has only 10 to 15 feet ofdepth. We were able to motor-sailon our jib again and with a breakfrom river current for the 19 milesto the mouth of the St. Clair River.Then it was back into 2-3 knots ofcurrent again but lots of nicehouses to look at and freightertraffic to avoid. The current isreally crazy for a few minutes asyou cross under the bridge atSarnia where Lake Huron dumpsinto the river but then you are outinto the lake with the Sarnia YachtClub (SYC) immediately to thestarboard. SYC has a tightentrance but with range markers tohelp. We took advantage of theirfuel dock to top up our diesel andsign in and then it was off to dockbetween pilings. It was a tight fitand we aren’t used to pilings to tieup but fortunately most of themwere padded and we squeezed in.We ran to help our friends Pierre
and Sue onEncore and theyhad it eventighter. Fendersare useless withpilings of course.There was somedocking angst butwe got them tiedup and we settledin for dinner on
Soul Mate. SYC has greatfacilities and are veryaccommodating plus they were abargain at $44/night.
We had contacted Boston Sailsbefore arriving so they were readyfor us next day. They were also inPoint Edward, walking distancefrom SYC, but not carrying a mainsail so they were kind enough topick me up and bring me back totheir loft. They laid out our sailand assured us they could have itfixed by the end of the day. Theothers went grocery shoppingwhile I stayed on the boat to workon another repair, a brokendipstick handle for our Yanmargear box - nothing a little epoxycouldn’t fix until I could order anew one. True to his word, Spikeat Boston Sails had our repair doneby afternoon so I walked up to theloft and they delivered me back tothe boat with our main sail allfixed up. I think they only charged$100 and they did a great job. Iwould recommend them to anyone.
June 28/17, Day 12 and after twonights at Sarnia Yacht club we arewell rested, repairs made, fridgesand diesel tanks full, and ready forthe 42 mile passage to Bayfield.We had light SW winds today sowe decided to put up our spinnakerfor our NE run. Lake Huron wascalm and winds were very light sowe eventually had to motor but we
Mar 2021 Page: 14had four hours of the 8-hour tripsailing our spinnaker. I waslooking forward to arriving inBayfield where I had sailed as ateenager. In fact, all of LakeHuron was a blast from the pastnostalgia trip for me as I grew upvisiting family and friends’cottages all along the way.
We arrived in Bayfield late after-noon and tied up at the Village ofBayfield Marina where we met Hal& Terri from Texas on C’est lebon, a Beneteau 423. They weredoing the Great Loop and had beenvirtually everywhere up and downthe West and East Coasts over theyears. They had motored past usfrom Sarnia and presented us withphotos of our spinnaker run. Halsaid Terri’s policy was if theycouldn’t sail above seven knotsthey motored. Hal played guitar soI was happy to have a buddy tojam with. Bayfield is a lovelysmall town and mini boatingmecca with multiple marinas, ayacht club, a chandlery and lots ofquaint shops and restaurants. Wewalked into town for an eveningstroll with an ice cream stop andreturned to the boat for a groupdinner on the marina picnic tablesfollowed by some guitar playingwith Hal and bed.
Friday morning, June 30, Day 14.We had spent two nights inBayfield as Pierre and Sue hadsome family business to attend toand Bayfield was lovely so wedidn’t mind. The Marina even hada car for us to borrow to check outthe local grocery store. Departuretoday was 6 AM, most unlike us,
but we had 65 nm to ourdestination of Port Elgin.Yet another day of motorsailing on a calm LakeHuron as we passedKincardine and Goderichwith arrival in Port Elgineight hours later at 3 PM.We walked the beach andtown that I grew up visitingannually as a child, haddinner back at the boat, andwatched the first of severalbeautiful Lake Huron
sunsets.
July 1/17 Day 15 and Canada Day!We could have stayed in PortElgin and taxied into Southamptonfour miles north which is a veryquaint tourist town and where allthe Canada Day celebrations werehappening. Instead, we opted for anight at anchor off Chanty Island
since there is no docking inSouthampton. It seemed like agood idea at the time and it startedoff well but more on that later. Wedid anchor there and we dinghiedinto Southampton for the day.Another place from my childhoodwhere my Aunt and Uncle had acottage and it’s a great little townthat was totally committed tocelebrating Canada Day in a grandfashion. We greatly enjoyed theshops, fresh fries and lemonade,some local history, and dancing tolive music. Then it was back tothe boat to watch the 10 PMChantry island was not a verygood block from the NW wind andwaves so it was a bumpy, sleeplessnight. We tried moving closer tothe island once but that didn’t help.I took the blame on this one as itwas my idea to anchor there.Encore and Soul Mate were happyto depart for Tobermory nextmorning, dodging the underwaterbreakwater between Chantry andSouthampton which did not showup on our Navionics charts but achannel was marked at least. Justone more reason to avoid ChantryIsland.
Soul Mate’s spinnaker run to Bayfieldcourtesy Hal on C’est le bon
C’est le bon, Encore, and Soul Mate tied up at the Village ofBayfield Marina, Bayfield River.
Mar 2021 Page: 15July 2/17, Day 16 onward toTobermory 55 nm to the northwith no real ports of refuge alongthe way. Fortunately we made itto the fuel dock in Little TubHarbour just behind the ChiCheemaun Manitoulin Ferry andjust ahead of a wicked storm front.We rode that out at the fuel dock,got some diesel, and headed to ourslip where we met up again withTerri and Hal on C’est le bon.Encore was already there too.
July 3, Day 17, we opted for ashort trip north past Flower PotIsland to Club Island in GeorgianBay for the night. Fifteen milesthat we were able to sail. Weanchored in the small bay incrystal clear water about 10’ deeplooking at our anchor on thebottom.
July 4/17, Day 18 we motored the25 miles from Club Island and pastKilarney to Thomas Bay in thenorthwest corner of Georgian Bay.It was dead calm when we arrivedin paradise after maneuveringthrough the rocky landscape intothe bay. We were done rushing toget to the North Channel just seven
miles to the west but we left thatfor another day. In fact, we weretired after 2.5 weeks of mostlylong passages so we decided tojust relax. Thomas Bay was sobeautiful and we had it prettymuch to ourselves with Encore sowe stayed for three nights enjoyingthe striking landscape and clearwaters. We swam, hiked amongthe rocks, did yoga and justgenerally wound down from ourlong trip west and north.
We enjoyed some amazing sunsetswhile alternating dinners betweenboats and enjoying the goodcompany.
July 6 Day 20, our last night inThomas Bay we had anotherrelaxing day and watched thesunset anticipating with excitementour return to the North Channel forour fifth time next day.
To be continued in Part 3 – NorthChannel to Mackinac Island
Rob Saloman is an RYAYachtmaster and a SalesConsultant with Breezeway
Yachts. Rob and his wifeLaurel have been sailingthe Great Lakes system formore than 35 years onvarious iterations of “SoulMate”. They started out onthe Ottawa River at theNepean Sailing Club. Theyalso sail the Caribbean ontheir Lagoon 450Catamaran “Kindred Soul”.
Riding it out at the fuel dock as others sought shelter. It was violentbut brief.
Hiking Flat Rock Island, Thomas Bay
Mar 2021 Page: 16
A Small Boat RigPrimer for MessersBy Burton Blais
Behold the small boat rig, so variedin its configurations andcombinations, each variantevolutionarily suited to a particularpurpose. For the smarty-pants set,nothing cultivates the admiration(or so we delude ourselves) of theless initiated like being able to lookat some vessel in a harbour andcomment on what a fine cat ketchshe is, or see the fine springy sheeron that sharpie. So here I offer thefollowing definitions to improveyour vocabulary and level ofconversation when trying toimpress company in polite society.And they must be polite indeed tolisten to you carry on about boatystuff.
For starters, consider theubiquitous Marconi rig. The term"Marconi" was originally coined torefer to modern sloop rigs withtriangular mains and jibs on a tallstayed mast (the height of themasts, taller than anything that hadpreceded this rig, inspired thecomparison to the tall stayed mastsdeveloped by the Marconi WirelessCompany to serve as radiotransmission towers). The typicalstayed gaff rigs with a headsail soprominently featured in trade boatmags would be a form of the slooprig (which Marconis are essentiallya sub-category of).
Sloop is the general designation forany rig with a mainsail (regardlessof shape) and headsailcombination. It can also be what Icall the slurping sound my office-mate makes when he eats soup,though here I am straying.
A cutter is much the same as asloop albeit with at least twoheadsails (e.g., staysail, jib andyankee) - not sure if cutters areconsidered a sub-category ofsloops, so we'll just say "cutter"and leave it at that to not appearignorant.
A yawl is any rig with a main mastand a smaller mizzen abaft thesteering station (though this exactlocation is somewhat hard to definefor most small boats which have atransom-hung rudder: the generalrule here is that if the mizzen isobviously set well aft and has avery small sail that serves more tobalance than drive the hull it isregarded as a yawl), and the yawldesignation is irrespective ofmainsail shape or whether shecarries a headsail.
A ketch issimilar, thoughusually with alarger mizzenwhich actuallycontributessignificantly todriving the hulland is set on amast locatedforward of thehelm station (thisis pretty obviousfor any type ofboat, regardlessof how the rudderis hung); suchvessels may behard for y’all to
ketch up with (see what I didthere?).
The schooner is a two-mastedvessel with a taller aft-steppedmain mast and a smaller foremaststepped for'd, regardless of theshape of the sails or whether shecarries headsails - some designshave two masts of the same heightand carry two sails of similar area,and it’s anyone's guess if theyshould be referred to as schooneror ketch rigs (guess it depends onyour mood and whether you wantto be reckoned a "schoonerman").Interestingly, a Seapearl I onceowned could be either a schooneror a ketch, depending on whichhole you plunked the mainmast in(though she goes from havingneutral helm in proper ketch formatto weather helm in schooner rig,
with no particularperformanceadvantage for thelatter, unless you wantto be admitted to theschooner races inChester, Nova Scotia).
Sloop with a Marconi sliding gunter rig
DrascombeLugger Yawlwith boomkin
Mar 2021 Page: 17
A cat rig is a single mast, usuallyset well forward, carrying a largishmainsail and nothing else,traditionally the main being of the4-sided gaff variety (though leg-o-mutton variants are common insmall craft). But here's a question:is any small vessel with a singlelarge driving sail set forward (asthey necessarily must be for properbalance) a form of cat rig? Is myChesapeake crab skiff, which isrigged with a large sprit sail,considered to be a cat? Not sureabout that, but one thing is certain,no one knows the true origins ofthe terms "cat" and "schooner"when describing sailing rigs,though there are several well-known anecdotes on the subject.
Still with me on this?
Now, of equal interestwhen talking about smallboats to show off yourimpressive knowledge isdescribing the hull types,which go hand-in-glovewith rig types, and it isinteresting to try to naildown the definitions forthe terms sharpie, dory,cat (hull, not rigdescriptor in this case),and so on. Again, whilethere are obviousarchetypes for these, thereare many modernadaptations which blurthe line.
So, while a sharpie is generallytaken to be any hull form where thebeam is relatively narrow inproportion to the length (e.g., mycrab skiff has a touch under 5’beam on 15' LOA) - beingoriginally developed as flat-bottomed boats in the ChesapeakeBay area for the inshore fishery,though ultimately refined to havemoderate deadrise vee-bottoms andeven arc-bottoms - how would oneclassify, say, the Seapearl? Shehas very definite sharpiecharacteristics (wee bit over 5’beam on a 21' hull), yet herrounded bilges are morereminiscent of whaleboats (whichto my knowledge don't have aspecific category, but one generally
knows one when one seesone – hum, four “ones”there), and she has a dory-style tombstone transom.
Dories are another exampleof how confusing thingscan get, as they aretraditionally defined ashaving narrow bottoms,
flared sides and a tombstonetransom. The main reason for thisconfiguration, of course, being forthe purely practical purpose ofstacking multiple dories on thedecks of fishing schooners (theresultant load-carrying capacityhere is a happy side-effect, thoughnot unique to the dory style, assharpies also have tremendouscarrying capacity, and so dopeapods, for that matter). Astriking example of form followingfunction. Yet, for all intents andpurposes those hulls also share akey characteristic of double-enderswith respect to having a verynarrow transom at the waterline,which makes them excellentperformers in following seas.Speaking of double-enders,peapods and moderninterpretations like the Exploration18 (see photo above) are hard topeg - are they dories, sharpies, orperhaps miniature whaleboats?The latter design was inspired byun-specified British inshore fishingboats, but what, exactly are they?Fun boats, of course, and maybewe just leave it at that.
Catboats may seem easier to spotbecause they are essentially anylarge-beamed hull (the classic typehaving a broad transom) where thebeam is almost half the length ofthe boat.
SeaPearl 21’
ChesapeakeCrab Skiff
CatBoat
Mar 2021 Page: 18But then, how would youcategorize John Welsford'sHoudini design - has a lot ofelements in common with theAmerican catboat form, such as awide beam in proportion to length(i.e., almost 6' at the gunwales on a13' hull), has a mainmast set wellforward sporting a standing lugsail(which looks and behaves an awfullot like a cat rig), but it has a verynarrow bottom reminiscent of the
dory type. It’s actually a veryinteresting boat, with great formstability while sailing surprisinglyfast and rowing, um, adequately,because of that narrow bottom.
All this brings to mind how theancient art of recognizing rigs andhull form has its modern parallel inplane spotting, where our WorldWar Two-era forebears needed tobe able to distinguish aerial
silhouettes sothey could tellwhether thatbuzzing thing upthere was aMesserschmidtor a Spitfire(kinda importantto know thedifference, as onemeant a severethumping was instore while theother wassalvation). I can
imagine those ginger-hairedinhabitants of the 9th CenturyBritish Isles having a keen interestin knowing how to interpret thoseapproaching silhouettes on theseaward horizon, for 'twas eitherlocal fishermen returning with thepromise of a feast, or a horde ofblood-thirsty Vikings poised todescend on the village.
I guess one shouldn’t get too hungup on definitions, though there areinstances where knowledge can beof practical value. Ah, but for thoseof us who are mere messers, withnary a worry for what approachesin the distance (lest it be ascreaming cigarette boat), let itsuffice that some boats just workout really, really well, regardless ofwhat they are called, and in the endisn’t that all that matters?
Houdini 13'
Mar 2021 Page: 19
NEW O.P.S.S. HATS FOR SALE
Earlier this year, Your Ottawa Squadron and its Executive Committeepurchased these beautiful baseball caps with the Squadron Logo.
You must buy a hat for the minimal cost of $25.00 each or a couple forChristmas gifts to your loved ones!
The hats can be obtained from the Ottawa Squadron Regalia Officer:
Marjorie Ladouceure-mail: [email protected] orcall (613) 824-9490.
Hats will be available at all upcoming Ottawa Squadron Events afterCovid 19. Please do not wait, we may run out!
Marjorie Ladouceur
OPSS Regalia & Mailing [email protected](613) 824-9490
Mar 2021 Page: 20
Local Supporters
The heart has been a symbol all over Canada to say thanks to front line Covid-19 workers. Hereis my way of saying thank you to all the front line workers who put their all on the line for usevery day. It was made by the talented crew at UK sails NW in Sidney B.C. – Vern.Source: https://sailinganarchy.com/ October 6, 2020
