Commander s Commentary

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Midland Power and Sail Squadron, Founded in 1952 P.O.

dispose of expired flares from local boaters.

In co-operation with local boaters, our specialists will inspect their vessels for compliance with Transport Canada s minimum safety

The Simulator is designed to assist boaters with docking and various boating skills. Check it out and see how you fare.

Commentary... 1 RVCC offered at Bayport InWater Boat Show... 1 Upcoming Fall and Winter Courses... 3 Water Levels, April 2015.

.. 6 Georgian Bay In-Water Boat Show... 6 Byng Inlet to Bad River Cruise/Anchorage... 8 2015 Grad Celebration/AGM.

Some of our attendees arrive Friday night and stay through to Sunday at reduced dockage fees for CPS-ECP members.

1 Midland Power and Sail Squadron, Founded in 1952 P.O. Box 763, Midland, ON L4R 4P4 Commander s Commentary Finally, it s late May and we are earnestly preparing for the advent of summer and the boating season. Hurray! Your Squadron volunteers and Boating Specialists will be busy this summer with many safetyoriented activities maybe we ll see you at local marinas. June 6, 7 at Bayport Yachting Center We are assisting with CPS-ECP Flare Day in cooperation with Bayport and CIL/Orion to collect and dispose of expired flares from local boaters. Recreational Vessel Courtesy Checks Our Boating Specialists will be on hand to perform free RVCCs (Recreational Vessel Courtesy Checks). In co-operation with local boaters, our specialists will inspect their vessels for compliance with Transport Canada s minimum safety equipment requirements. The CPS-ECP Virtual Trainer will be on hand for boaters to try their skills at boathandling. The Simulator is designed to assist boaters with docking and various boating skills. Check it out and see how you fare. June 13 at Bayport Yachting Centre: Our Boating Specialists will again be on hand to perform free RVCC (Recreational Vessel Commander s Commentary... 1 RVCC offered at Bayport InWater Boat Show... 1 Upcoming Fall and Winter Courses... 3 Water Levels, April Midland Squadron s Facebook Page... 4 Navigation Tips... 5 Rendezvous Invitation... 5 Bridge Officers... 6 Georgian Bay In-Water Boat Show... 6 Byng Inlet to Bad River Cruise/Anchorage Grad Celebration/AGM Midland Squadron website: June 2015 Volume 8, Issue 2 Newsletter Editor: Sandy Campbell Courtesy Checks). In co-operation with local boaters, our specialists will inspect their vessels for compliance with Transport Canada s minimum safety equipment requirements. June at Henry s North: This weekend is the squadron rendezvous held on Frying Pan Island at Henry s in Sans Souci. Some of our attendees arrive Friday night and stay through to Sunday at reduced dockage fees for CPS-ECP members. Saturday afternoon everyone joins in on the potluck nibblies and refreshments on the dock and/or picnic area. Saturday night squadron members and wives/guests all enjoy a Henry s North fish dinner. From your Bridge. best wishes for a safe and happy boating season. We look forward to seeing you on the waters of Southern Georgian Bay. We ll be watching for your CPS-ECP flag. Safe Boating, Noel Campbell, Commander Throughout the summer we offer Recreational Vessel Courtesy Check (RVCC) inspections on an appointment basis. Just contact Bob LaVictoire at for a mutually agreeable appointment time. Get a check-up not a ticket! Page 1 of 10

2 Midland Squadron website: Page 2 of 10 Q

Upcoming Fall & Winter Courses Presented by your Midland Squadron Boating Essentials: September

Maritime Radio (VHF) Course (classroom) Begins Monday, April 2016 at Midland Secondary School.

values, there is less pressure on navigators to pay strong attention to their location.

63 m above a chart datum or 2 feet in Imperial units.

Please note: If we have four students for any offered CPS Course, we will arrange the course for

Seamanship, Advanced Piloting (AP), Fundamentals of Weather are just a few suggestions.

to noel.campbell@rogers.com. We will advise you as soon as the course becomes available.

Advanced Piloting, Junior Navigator Noel Campbell After June the normal process is for a slow decline

At the start of the season, the water usually is quite cold which cools the air over the lake.

could be a non-starter. Cold air over the lake makes it essential to have warm clothing on board.

3 Upcoming Fall & Winter Courses Presented by your Midland Squadron Boating Essentials: September (classroom) Begins in September 2015 at Midland Secondary School and runs for nine (9) weeks. Maritime Radio (VHF) Course (classroom) Begins Monday, April 2016 at Midland Secondary School. Georgian Bay Water Levels 25 April 2015 Now that lake levels have more or less reverted to normal values, there is less pressure on navigators to pay strong attention to their location. The prospects continue to be good. By June the level will likely reach m IGLD or 0.63 m above a chart datum or 2 feet in Imperial units. So much for a lot of recent commentary on low lake levels. Please note: If we have four students for any offered CPS Course, we will arrange the course for members or non-members. Seamanship, Advanced Piloting (AP), Fundamentals of Weather are just a few suggestions. Please advise us and we will accommodate you. Please visit our website at To complete our pre-registration form (MS Word document), send it as an attachment in an e- mail to noel.campbell@rogers.com. We will advise you as soon as the course becomes available. Suggested Courses or Seminars Electronic Navigation Weather RADAR for Pleasure Craft Seamanship, Advanced Piloting, Junior Navigator Noel Campbell After June the normal process is for a slow decline in level. However, that is not totally certain. Continued wet weather could raise the level even more. At the start of the season, the water usually is quite cold which cools the air over the lake. For that reason, one should wear a life jacket around and on the water as surviving a cold immersion could be a non-starter. Cold air over the lake makes it essential to have warm clothing on board. There is a Squadron rendezvous organised to go to Henry s on the weekend of 19th of June. A great shakedown cruise rewarded with convivial company at Henry s. A good way to make sure that you are ready for the season. Henry usually gives us a break on docking charges. Call Bob LaVictoire at if you are interested. Have a great boating season. Cheers, Mirabile Dictu Midland Squadron website: Page 3 of 10

4 Midland Squadron website: Page 4 of 10

Navigation Tips By Noel Campbell Later, once you get used to your chart plotter, you can pre-install Way Points and use those as supplements to your chart plotter.

The reason I say this is because you tend to concentrate heavily on the screen of the chart plotter.

5 Navigation Tips By Noel Campbell Later, once you get used to your chart plotter, you can pre-install Way Points and use those as supplements to your chart plotter. During our trips to Killarney, Wiarton, Tobermory and Parry Sound using the small-craft route, we found that the helmsman (captain/skipper) has a very boring and tiring time. The reason I say this is because you tend to concentrate heavily on the screen of the chart plotter. You concentrate to make sure your vessel stays on the suggested course line provided by the chart the small-craft route. It makes for a tedious, most unenjoyable task whereas what you want is a relaxing, enjoyable view of scenery, other craft and engine operating parameters. Additionally, the Coast Guard, in an attempt to reduce costs yet provide their mandate of safe inshore waters, have reduced the number of buoys, making it difficult to see certain markers (colour in daylight) as readily as you would like. Chart 2202, Sheet 2 of 5 Guide to Buoy C127 from Buoy C125 (Superior Shoal) On your strip charts, you can pre-plan helpful aids to help alleviate some of the burden on the helmsman. One of the most useful aids I ve found is to draw a course line that shows a True and Magnetic reading from a departure point to a distant marker buoy over top of the suggested route. The helmsman can glance periodically at the compass to confirm the direction and watch to pick up the buoy in that direction or heading. There may be a distant range, a high point of land, or something distinctive on the paper chart to assist. This helps to get the helmsman looking out of the boat, rather than on the screen try it, you ll like it! This is a way for the navigator to get involved too. Chart 2202, Sheet 1 of 5 Guide to Buoy M12 from Whiskey Island Rendezvous 2015 Our Squadron rendezvous is booked for the June 19 weekend at Henry s north on Fryingpan Island in the Sans Souci district. Many boats will arrive on Friday night to make a weekend out of it, while others will arrive Saturday morning. Festivities begin Saturday afternoon with refreshments and a pot-luck selection of nibblies Midland Squadron website: and snacks. Saturday evening we adjourn to Henry s dining area for an ever-popular fish dinner and prepare for a Georgian Bay sunset. Sunday morning many depart for other areas or head for home. Call Bob LaVictoire at to reserve your slip at reduced rates for CPS-ECP members. Noel Campbell, Cdr. Page 5 of 10

2015-16 16 Bridge Officers Midland Power and Sail Squadron Commander Noel Campbell (705) 549-5383 noel.campbell@rogers.

ca Training Officer Noel Campbell (705) 549-5383 noel.campbell@rogers.com Treasurer Mike Hamilton (705) 528-1397 mrmwhamilton@sympatico.

com MAREP Officer Vacant Membership Murray Lockhart (705) 522-1340 lockhartmurray@gmail.

6 Bridge Officers Midland Power and Sail Squadron Commander Noel Campbell (705) Immediate Past Commander Bob LaVictoire (705) Executive Officer Vacant Secretary Christine Robinson (705) Training Officer Noel Campbell (705) Treasurer Mike Hamilton (705) Public Relations Officer Jim McLarty (705) MAREP Officer Vacant Membership Murray Lockhart (705) Assistant Training Officers Robert LaVictoire (705) Ken Lockhart (705) Newsletter Editor, Webmaster, Membership Assistant Sandy Campbell (705) Administrative Officer T. Milne Dick (705) Safe Boating Specialist (RVCC) Bob LaVictoire (705) Training Aids Vacant Back Row: Bob LaVictoire Jim McLarty Ken Lockhart Murray Lockhart Milne Dick Front: Sandy Campbell, Noel Campbell, Christine Robinson Missing from the photo: Mike Hamilton Midland Squadron website: Page 6 of 10

7 Midland Squadron website: Page 7 of 10

Byng Inlet to Bad River Anchorage In the summer of 2008, your Commander, wife and son tried our first extensive 10-day cruise of Georgian Bay. Attending the cruise was our Yorkie, Mugsie.

The planned holiday included alternate nights on the hook with the other nights in a marina for recharging batteries.

Actually there were so many highlights it s difficult to decide on just a few.

The weather for that period was mostly sunny and warm with blue skies and light winds.

of the holiday, friends would ask us What was your favorite part of the trip? and each of us had a different answer.

8 Byng Inlet to Bad River Anchorage In the summer of 2008, your Commander, wife and son tried our first extensive 10-day cruise of Georgian Bay. Attending the cruise was our Yorkie, Mugsie. We did this in our son s Rinker 280 EC, a 31-ft. (length overall) complete with its single 8.1-litre gas engine stern drive. The planned holiday included alternate nights on the hook with the other nights in a marina for recharging batteries. The plan was to overnight at Port Rawson, a marina stop at Pengalie Bay, on to Shoal Narrows, Byng inlet, Bad River, Killarney and return to Parry Sound, Hope Island, then home. Actually there were so many highlights it s difficult to decide on just a few. The Bad River, Beaverstone Bay, Collins Inlet, Canoe Channel, Parry Sound, Sans Souci, 12-Mile Bay, Beckwith Island, Franklin Island.. and on and on. had their own special beauty. The weather for that period was mostly sunny and warm with blue skies and light winds. The subject single-day cruise was a highlight, because of the weather and the typical southern Georgian Bay scenes of sculptured rock, windswept pines, pristine blue waters and azure After completion of the holiday, friends would ask us What was your favorite part of the trip? and each of us had a different answer. Mine would be the excitement of passing through The Parting channel at Obstacle Island. Sandy would say the busy and pretty community of Killarney. Glenn would say the windswept islands and picturesque landscape of the Hangdog Reef near Pointe au Baril and Mugsie enjoyed the friendliness of the folks and grassy evening walks at St. Amante s at Byng Inlet. Each to his own, I guess. skies. We left St. Amante s and proceeded down the South Channel to meet with the small-craft route at marker A149 on Chart Here we joined the D course at the entrance to the North Channel at Byng Inlet. We followed the D course through Cunningham Channel, around Cedar Island, Kantos Point and through Roger s Gut, passing North of the Churchill Island Group. We then turned south of Dokes Midland Squadron website: Page 8 of 10

The DA course would take us through the Outer Islands and return to the main D course at Buoy D80 just north of the Bustard Islands where the main outlet of the French River enters G.B. By doing this we experienced Dore s Run and the Parting Channel at Obstacle Island.

9 Island. Based on the small craft route mileage markers, we had travelled 17 statute miles at marker D55. We had pre-planned to take the alternate DA course for the next 17 nm as we made our way towards the Bad River Anchorage. The DA course would take us through the Outer Islands and return to the main D course at Buoy D80 just north of the Bustard Islands where the main outlet of the French River enters G.B. By doing this we experienced Dore s Run and the Parting Channel at Obstacle Island. Here and throughout our journey, we saw the raw beauty of G.B.: smooth, sculptured Granite rocks, windswept pines and island after island nestled in pools of clean water under clear azure skies. For this cruise, water depths were reported to be slightly above chart datum, so, the soundings you read were what you got. Channels were mostly 10 to 20-feet deep, with some areas getting as low as 5 feet. We conned carefully in these few areas. Our depth-sounder confirmed most readings. With the length and width of the Rinker 280, we found it quite exciting to navigate through the Parting Channel with a slight wind in the area. We re-joined the small-craft route at D80, completing our measured 17-nautical-mile side trip. You could see the Bustard Island lighthouse in the distance. On course 253T and prior to reaching the fairway buoy, we made a sweeping turn north to course 018T. We attempted to line up with marker buoys west of Mary Grant Rocks to join the DH course which leads into the Bad River. There is a poorly visible range which guides you into the area, and, once visualized, it will navigate you in nicely. It s about 4 nm into the anchorage, but, with care you will enter and enjoy a peaceful anchorage. Devil s Door rapids is close at hand, with lots of interesting islets to explore by dingy. BE careful, since there are lots of uncharted low spots to snag your prop. Editor s Notes: Noel Campbell, Cdr. This Part I of Noel s story only scratches the surface of that cruising vacation. Today s electronic tools like video cameras in cell phones, pocket cameras, and the ultimate travel camera like the Go-Pro, make it so easy to make movies of your cruising adventures in part or in whole. What a great way to spend some time enjoying our various holiday cruises all over again throughout the long, cold, dreary days of winter. With your SMART TV, login to your own free YouTube page where you ve uploaded your movies/videos or slideshows of still shots directly from your camera or accessed from your PC s My Videos folder. Thanks to Noel s practice of keeping a little log book of each day s cruising adventure details, i.e., the compass course, the markers we passed, the weather conditions, the channel conditions, the sights along the way, departure/ arrival times, helped to make the telling of this story so real and more interesting. To further capture the details of this story, you ll want to pull out your charts and follow along. Be sure to watch for the September True Course to read about the final leg of the Campbell s 2008 cruising vacation. Midland Squadron website: Page 9 of 10

AGM and Graduation Dinner Our Annual General Meeting was held at the

The meeting went well, with our new Bridge being sworn in by District

In the dining room, we held the Graduation dinner and awards ceremony.

completing the Boating Essentials course offered this spring.

narrative of his Great Loop adventure completed last year.

accompany them. All enjoyed the food and beverages.

10 AGM and Graduation Dinner Our Annual General Meeting was held at the Olympia Restaurant in the Midland Best Western on Saturday, May 9, The meeting went well, with our new Bridge being sworn in by District Commander Brian Reis. In the dining room, we held the Graduation dinner and awards ceremony. Graduates were pledged and presented with their well-earned flags after completing the Boating Essentials course offered this spring. Jim McLarty, our Training Officer, presented a short picture show and narrative of his Great Loop adventure completed last year. Jim sure has a wonderful way with pictures and the stories that accompany them. All enjoyed the food and beverages. Thanks to all who attended and helped to make this graduation a memorable one. Noel Campbell, Commander Midland Squadron website: Page 10 of 10

Jim McLarty. Commander

Jim McLarty. Commander Midland Power and Sail Squadron, Founded in 1952 Summer 2018 Volume 11, Issue 2 c/o 33 Byrnes Crescent, Penetanguishene, ON L9M 1V9 Newsletter Editor: Sandy Campbell Noel Campbell Commander Jim McLarty