Prince George Power & Sail Squadron Icebreaker

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1 September 2010 Prince George Power & Sail Squadron Icebreaker Prince George Power & Sail Squadron P.O. Box 64, Prince George, BC V2L 4R9 Website: Calendar of Events Jan 4, 2011 Boating Course March 5 Spring Pot Luck Social March 21 VHF Maritime Radio Course April 27 AGM, Flare Demo and Fire Extinguisher Demo May 7 Spring Gala (Student Graduation, Change of Watch, Award presentations, catered dinner May Sailing Regatta (date to be determined) June 11 & 12 Fishing Derby COMMANDER S CORNER Greetings fellow boaters! I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable summer of boating. The weather was beautiful for the most part (except for the smoke). The Squadron s only function in the summer was the Annual Fishing Derby at Francois Lake. A total of 90 people attended and lots of fun and good times were had. Thanks to Steve Seebach for organizing the event. As our boating season in the north is coming to a close, the Squadron would like to hear from you. Please share your boating stories that might be eligible for either the Bent Prop or Golden Prop award. You can forward your story to any Bridge Member. It s a lot easier to remember now than in April next year! On a sad note, the Squadron Fall Potluck has been cancelled so there is no social function until after Christmas read on in the Icebreaker for further details. Respectfully submitted, Doug Cherry Reminder to Members: During the past year, our members have been encouraged many times by CPS and by articles in this Icebreaker to update their Profile in the CPS database. Please take a few minutes to ensure that your information is correct, including the following: name, address, phone number, address, boat name, HAM license number, MMSI number, etc. You can also indicate if you don t want to receive the Pacific Yachting magazine and the Roster. This is YOUR Profile and you can update it accordingly as your situation changes. You have the control. It is very easy to access: Go to ecp.ca. See top of page in the middle and click on Login. If you are a first time user: Click on Help about login, cookies & browser setup and follow the directions accordingly to add CPS to your Trusted Sites. As you have an address registered in our database, you can now login using your address. This will connect you to the Member Site, then go to Update your Member Profile and make your changes as you wish. The system is very user friendly but if you need assistance or would rather that we do this for you, please contact Barry or Judy at bjsmith@telus.net, or phone us at Note that this applies only to Regular Members and to Associates who have paid membership dues.

2 Page 2 Bridge Members 2010/2011 Commander - Doug Cherry Executive Officer - Bill McFarlin Training Officer - Bruce Porteous Secretary - Judi Shannon Treasurer - Paulette Valois Public Relations - Rupert Mann and Jim Mummery Membership - Robert Kroeker Communications - Judy Smith Supplies - Robert Valois and Mike Zaluski Publications - Judy Smith Socials - To be determined Socials - Fishing Derby - Steve Seebach Proctors - Gayle Hebb Advanced & Electives - George Brookes Boat Pro - John Hebb Historian - Jim McNeal Administration - Kirk & Shannon Bentley MAREP - Gary Shannon Phoning Committee - Maggie Stoner Webmaster - Barry Smith Port Captain - Jim Dorval Environment - Sandy Cherry Past Commander - Trudy Langthorne PMD Northern Liaison - Lou Jewitt PAST COMMANDERS Gordon Springate John Turner Doug Mears 1987 Bob McChesney John Sahlstrand Bob Clayton George Brookes Grant Olsen Gary Shannon Neil Symons Jim McNeal Lou Jewitt Barry Smith Willi Wagner Jim Dorval Trudy Langthorne LIFETIME MEMBERS (members with 20+ years) Gordon Springate George Brookes SQUADRON SOCIALS Due to unforeseen circumstances, we presently do not have a Socials Officer. We are pleading with our membership to have someone (or a group) step forward and offer to take on this position on our Bridge. The responsibilities include planning the Fall and Spring Pot Luck Socials, plus the Spring Gala in May. The Socials Officer could also have a group who would help in any way possible to make it easier for you. Please consider volunteering for this position and give back to the Squadron the time that has been given to you in the past.

3 Page 3 SQUADRON FISHING DERBY Our annual Fishing Derby was held at Francois Lake Lodge on June 12 & 13. It was attended by 74 adults and 16 children, for a total of 90. Great attendance! The fishing started on Saturday morning and everyone had a good time reeling in the illusive trout! The Squadron hosted the Saturday evening BBQ which was enjoyed again by all. The chefs were busy cooking all the burgers and hot dogs. Thanks to everyone who brought the delicious salads and desserts. There was certainly lots of great food! After the BBQ, our annual Horseshoe Tournament was held with the winner playing until long after dark. Thank goodness there were flood lights! The winners of the tournament were Bill McFarlin and Colin McLeish (Colin is a graduate of our last Boating Course class). Congratulations to Bill and Colin and to everyone else who participated. It was fun for all. Thanks to Sandy Cherry who organized the Tournament. Derby prizes were presented on Sunday afternoon. First place in the children s category went to Thomas Porteous. The first place in the adult s category went to Rollie White, but as Rollie is not a Squadron member, the Squadron trophy went to member Maria Morrow who reeled in the next biggest trout amongst the adults. Her fish was exactly the same size as that of Thomas Porteous in the children s category. Congratulations to all winners. Door prizes were then drawn for everyone who attended the derby. A very big thank you goes out to Steve & Lori Seebach for organizing this event, and to all their helpers in making it such a great success. Many thanks also for the donations of prizes by over 30 companies and individuals, as listed on Page 5. It is with your support that our Fishing Derby continues to be a success! Hope to see you again at our Fishing Derby next year!!

4 Page 4 FISHING DERBY (cont d) The Horseshoe Tournament too!! Thanks to Jim & Dora McNeal and Judi Shannon for the pictures. The last two teams standing!! Congratulations! < The coveted Horseshoe Tournament trophy!!

5 Page 5 A very big thank you to the following businesses and individuals who donated prizes to our Fishing Derby at Francois Lake Local Businesses Individual Donors 15 th & Central Chevron 5 th & Tabor Auto 97 FM Radio Art of Tanning CKPG Chieftain Auto Chinook Shaffolding CruiseShipCenters D-Line Auto & Tire Energy Wise ICI Paints Lakewood Electric Lifesavers First Aid Lordco Marine Plus Mary Poppins Daycare NAPA Northern Scale Northland Dodge Northway Glass NR Motors P.G. Citizen PG Motors PG Power & Sail Squadron Royal LePage Snap-on Tools SpeeDee Printers Vern s Ventures Williams Petroleum Windward Sailing Services Wood Wheaton Al Pringle Barry & Judy Smith Bill McFarlin Bruce & Debbie Morris Erin Coltman Gary & Judi Shannon George & Kay Brooks Jim & Kathy Dorval Lyla Lindsay Monty & Maria Morrow Peter & Maggie Stoner Roy & Lori Bernhardt Steve & Lori Seebach A big thank you also goes out to Bonnie & Martin at Francois Lake Lodge who again this year weighed all the fish - and looked after our Squadron very well. We encourage our members to support the above-named businesses, as they continue to support our Squadron. Do you see the optical illusion in the above graphic? You should be able to distinguish the word optical and also the word illusion.

6 Page 6 COAST GUARD LIGHTSTATIONS There used to be 264 staffed lightstations in Canada, of which only 51 remain staffed today in British Columbia (originally 41), and 23 in Newfoundland (originally 57). The others were in Quebec, Ontario and the Maritimes. One lightstation in Canada (at Machias Island, New Brunswick) is fully automated but as it is on the international border, Canada proposes to retain it with staff, for sovereignty purposes. In comparison, the United States have de-staffed all of their staffed lighthouses, including those in Alaska. Only one U.S. lighthouse remains staffed for historical reasons (located in Boston).

7 Page 7 The following story was sent to the Icebreaker Editor by two of our Squadron members. It emphasizes the importance of knowing how to operate your Maritime VHF Radio. For those of you who do not yet have your ROC(M) - Restricted Operators Certificate (Maritime), you should consider taking our CPS Maritime Radio Course which will be offered in March It is illegal to operate your VHF Radio without this certificate. July 27 Bill and I just got back from the ocean. We were out since the 3 rd of June and were called back through Prince Rupert Coast Guard. We got the call on channel 16 from Prince Rupert Coast Guard. At 11:20 on channel 16, Prince Rupert Coast Guard addresses: 2-6 foot Tollycraft Pleasurecraft Take it Easy, an urgent message. Bill acknowledged immediately that we were Take it Easy. They thanked us for replying so quickly and there was a message - could we switch to channel 8-3 alpha. We did, our daughter was requesting us to call her and to start heading home. We replied that we were about 18 miles from Hartley Bay and would call in an hour once we arrived. Did we want to know more? No, we would call as soon as we could. Got to Hartley Bay, contacted Amanda but wasn t a panic but for us to come home rapidly. We called the Coast Guard back on 83A to say thank you for their help, their reply was: The credit goes to you, you did all the right things you let family at home know how to get in touch with you, and you responded quickly. You should give lessons to everyone else out here. Our daughter had the numbers for the Coast Guard we got from Barry & Judy and our MMSI number (although they didn t use it), and she waited on the phone to know that we were contacted. Everything went very smoothly. We were down by Ashdown when we got the call at 11:20 July 24 and were back at the marina by 14:55 and home by 0410 the morning of July 25. So Thank You for all the training; it makes a difference when you are prepared. Things flow much more smoothly when done right and less stress if that is such a thing. Thank you, Bill and Bev

8 Page 8 Our Squadron is pleased to recognize the businesses that support us, as shown on the pages of this Icebreaker newsletter. Please remember to support them! Chinook Scaffold Systems Ltd. Dodd Hareuther, General Manager 9189 National Place, Prince George, BC Telephone: Fax: The Icebreaker newsletter is produced and The Icebreaker is produced and distributed by Judy distributed by Judy Smith, Publications Officer. If you Smith. If you have any questions or would like to see have any questions or would like to see specific items specific items of interest in the Icebreaker, please of interest in the Icebreaker, please contact Judy at contact Judy at or her at or her at bjsmith@telus.net. bjsmith@telus.net. Your stories are appreciated. Your boating stories are also appreciated share you experiences!