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COMMANDERS
REMARKS
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In the last newsletter I wrote
about the challenge we faced to equal or better last year’s performance
at the Pender Island Fall Fair, when we earned the trophy for the best
float in the parade. Well, our Squadron outdid itself and for the
second year in a row we earned the trophy! For the past three years in the parade
we have promoted our CPS mission: Safe Boating Through Education.
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The
first year our theme was Gilligan’s Island and we all know what
happened on that fateful 3 hour tour
of the SS Minnow: “Don’t Get
Stranded Like Us!”, “If Only The Skipper had taken the CPS Boating
Course…!” The second year the Pirates of Thieves Bay made their
appearance to remind us that “Dead Men Tell
No Tales, Live To Tell
Yours!”, “Don’t Be A Corpse, Take A CPS Course” and “Treasure You
Cannot Steal”.
This
year our theme was the marriage between Safe Boating and Education
with slogans such as “I Do, I
Do Promise to Boat Safely!” and “Get Me
to the CPS Course On Time!”. The lovely bride and handsome groom were
ably portrayed by Julie and Tim Lywood. Bev Gerry popped out of the
cake as “Miss…ed CPS”
while
several Bridge officers and some of the
members formed the wedding party who danced the jitterbug following the
float. This superb production was directed by our Event Coordinators
Steve Fisher, Rich Fox
and
Roger Pilkington. Thanks go to everybody who
helped make this event so enjoyable and successful.
Photos
are included
in this newsletter. What,
oh what, shall we do next year?
Our
information booth at the fair was manned again by our Bridge members and several students were
signed up. We had a new
canopy, which made things
a little easier.
The
boating classes have started with a total of 26 students in
Boating, Piloting and Fundamentals of
Weather. Again, our thanks go to
all our instructors for volunteering their time so freely. In our next
newsletter we will begin a feature column entitled: “Meet Your
Bridge”. It will tell you who these people
are, how and why they got
involved with
CPS, what else do they do, etc.
Remember
our mission: We are a dedicated group of volunteers interested
in increasing safety and pleasure on the waterways through education.
Nick Samsom, Commander
IT'S TIME TO SUBMIT YOUR NOMINATIONS FOR THE
PRESTIGIOUS KAPTAIN KRUNCH AWARD
Our
Executive Officer, Nancy Coutts, is on the prowl looking for boating
misadventures, odd incidents or
faux pas committed in 2005 by you or
your fellow Pender Island Power Squadron members. The Kaptain Krunch Award will be awarded to
the "winner" at the Annual
Christmas Potluck Party in December 13.
You may nominate yourself, as well as other CPS boaters. Be
sure to note the details such as date, place
and specifics if you see
someone make a goof, and then give Nancy a call at 6188 or send an
email to kandncoutts at cablelan dot net, to tell her all about it. She
needs to hear from you by the first week of December. All sources
of information are, of course, confidential! The boating
misadventure or incident of 2005 will be awarded at the Annual
Christmas Potluck Party on December 13.
SID NIGHTINGALE WINS THE DR HAROLD HELM TROPHY
The
Dr. Harold Helm Trophy is given to the person in the Vancouver Island
South District who achieves
the highest average mark in Advanced Piloting. This year our own Sid
Nightingale, Boating class instructor
and proctor, had the highest marks. He received the trophy at the
boating course on October 13 from Chief Proctor Lt. Bob Rose.
Mrs.
Irene Helm who donated the trophy is the widow of Dr. Harold Helm, 1907
- 2000. Dr. Helm, a life member, served 35 years in Canadian Power and
Sail Squadrons, first in Pacific Mainland District, then in Saltspring
Island Squadron where he was a charter member.
The
next issue of this newsletter will include photos of Sid and the trophy.
RIVER NAVIGATION
MARKERS IN RUSSIA
I
recently sailed on the Viking "Pakhomov" from Moscow to St.
Petersburg, and discovered that some of
the route/channel markers were
peculiar. Essentially the route took us through the Moscow-Volga
navigation canal, a bit along the Volga, through the Rybinsk Reservoir,
via 17 locks through Lakes Beloye, Onega and Ladoga then finally the
Neva River to St. Petersburg. Since we were going "downriver" on the
Volga and
Neva rivers, the port markers of whatever shape were red. The
starboard markers on the Moscow/Volga
Canal and Volga River however
were white. In the lakes the starboard markers changed to alternating
white and black horizontal stripes. On the Neva River to St. Petersburg
the starboard markers changed to black.
Just
one of those things to keep in mind next time you cruise from
Moscow to St. Pete's!
Frank Weniger, Past Commander
REVISION OF SHIPS STORE WEB PAGES AT CPS
HEADQUARTERS
Early
in
September the Ship's Stores
(2.) web pages listing CPS accessories, clothing, flags,
publications,
digital charts etc. were revamped. There is a grand clearance sale of all
NDI digital charts which will last
until all stock is gone. The prices
have been greatly reduced. For example the Vancouver Island East chart,
once priced at $375.00 was on sale for $208.00 as of October 23. Many
other charts have already sold out,
so quick action is necessary if you
crave this or the other British Columbia charts still in stock; namely,
Queen Charlotte Sound / Hecate Strait to Portland Canal and Vancouver
Island West - Queen Charlotte Islands.
UPCOMING EVENTS
1. October Social - Harvest Wine
Tasting
WHEN:
Friday, October 28, 1800 to 2100 hours
WHERE: Morning Bay
Vineyard and Estate Winery, 6621 Harbour Hill Drive
COST: $5:00
per person
BRING: Your
favourite appetizers and snacks
RSVP: by Monday,
October 24 to Elizabeth Watts, 3676 or e-mail to dhargreaves at
cablelan dot net
2. Christmas Potluck Party
WHEN: Tuesday, December 13
WHERE: Home of Keith and Orlene Lacey
Watch
for further details via e-mail. Preliminary plans include the
performance of skits illustrating the nominations for the prestigious
Kaptain Krunch Award, which will be presented that evening.
ENVIRONMENT
Through
the
summer I managed to catch Rafe Mair’s passionate criticism of B.C.’s
fish farming policies
on the radio. I also note he has recently
been appointed to the board of the Georgia Strait Alliance. (3.)
The
figures are in for this year’s
pink salmon run and it has been more than disappointing (read a
disaster)
in all areas where the runs pass finfish aquaculture
operations. The most likely culprit is sea lice escaping
from the
pens.
B.C.
Government fisheries and
environmental websites provide a glowing description of aquaculture
practices on our coast, emphasizing their significant economic impact
and advances in technology such as the “net-bag” system. This
system is sort of closed to the open water as the fish are contained
within a huge plastic bag instead of the usual net. Either way,
the “waste” falls out the bottom. The net-bag system
unfortunately
results in a “variation in economic performance” as
oxygen has to be pumped into the water. The government notes “no
disease risks to wild fish were evident in either system”.
The
B.C. Government feels confident
enough to announce “The new Finfish
Aquaculture Waste Control Regulation (4.)
provides the
legal authorization for all finfish farms to discharge waste, without
permits,
while ensuring that aquaculture wastes are managed in an
environmentally sustainable manner. It replaces
the Aquaculture Waste
Reduction Regulation (B.C. Reg. 470/88), which regulated waste
discharge from finfish farms using less than 630 tonnes of feed per
year, while exempting them from the need to obtain a permit. (Today few
farms use less than 630 tonnes per year.) The new regulation also
exempts farms using more
than 630 tonnes of feed per year from the need
to obtain a permit.” They go
on to note there will be a
regulation that would "implement a performance-based waste management
model”.
It’s
interesting to look at
Scotland’s extensive experience with salmon farming, as described by
the Salmon Farm Monitor
(5.) which notes that sea lice have pretty well
wiped out the wild salmon.
Some other points noted by this
organization:
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Farmed salmon
eat fishmeal.
It takes about 3 tonnes of wild fish to fatten up and harvest 1 tonne
of
farmed fish, creating a net loss of marine resources.
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The red colour
of farmed salmon
comes from two products produced by the Swiss pharmaceutical Hoffman La
Roche and dosed to the fish: Canthaxanthin and Astaxanthin.
Because the former product has been
linked to eye defects in children,
the European Community plans to limit the permitted levels by a factor
of four.
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About 30
different antibiotics must
be used to make for “healthy” farmed fish.
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The American
Journal of Clinical
Nutrition performed some tests on Omega 3 levels.
Unfortunately,
farmed salmon don’t have much – about 3 times less than the wild
variety.
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Scottish fish
farms generate the
waste equivalent of approximately 9 million people. This is
significant for
a country whose population is a little over 5 million.
That’s all from me – see you at the
fish counter, if this defective eye permits.
Lt.
John Cowan, Environment Officer
One of John's
favourite photos taken during his
recent voyage from Tahiti to Hawaii features one of the mothers in an
amateur dance troupe in Uturoa, Raiatea. He mentions that they all just
played and danced
for fun, and everyone was free to jump up and join in.
PHOTO GALLERY
Most of the photos
below were taken by Chief
Proctor
Bob Rose. Tara Folk, a neighbour of Events
Coordinators Rich Fox and Steve Fisher, used
Rich's digital camera to take the head shot of Bev Gerry
and the
adjoining photo of Julie and Tim perched cozily in the limousine.
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The towing vehicle with its decorations and furry passengers
awaits
the start of the Fall Fair Parade in at the Fire Hall
marshalling area. |
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Former Commander Bev Gerry as Miss'ed was jostled about in
the
wedding cake, but was a good sport. Her costume, as always,
was unique!
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Lt. Julie Lywood, Assistant Socials Officer and
her husband
Tim made a great wedding couple.
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The Fall Fair judges are about to see the Pender
Island
Power
Squadron's parade entry as it passes the Hall stage.
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The wedding party dancing to the music which emanated
from within the cake, as
controlled by Lt. Rich Fox, one of
our inventive Program-Events coordinators.
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The cake and the towing vehicle at rest
beside the Squadron's new display booth.
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Training Officer Lt./C Marti Tilley at our very
versatile new display booth chatting with visitors.
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Bev Gerry, Rich
Fox, Helen Lemon-Moore, Roger Pilkington and
Steve Fisher with the Gulf Excavating Trophy for best float in the
parade.
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RECENT BACK
ISSUES
OF THE
ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER
August 2005
May 2005
December 2004
September 2004
FOOTNOTES
1.
http://www.cps-ecp.ca/english/index.html
2.
http://www.cps-ecp.ca/shipstore/english/index.html
3.
http://www.georgiastrait.org
4.
http://www.qp.gov.bc.ca/statreg/reg/w/wastemgmt/256%5F2002.htm
5. http://www.salmonfarmmonitor.org
6.
http://www.cablelan.net/frose/privacy.html
Editor:
Lt Fran Rose
(S)
Phone: 629-2060 E-Mail: frose at cablelan dot net
URL:
http://www.cablelan.net/frose/PIPS.html
