The Binnacle. Victoria Day Parade. June Yahoo! Newsgroup : VIRCB Vancouver Island Radio Control Boaters

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "The Binnacle. Victoria Day Parade. June Yahoo! Newsgroup : VIRCB Vancouver Island Radio Control Boaters"

Jewel Dennis
5 years ago
Views:

1 June 2012 Volume 34, Issue 6 Victoria Model Shipbuilding Society Victoria BC Canada vmss.ca Yahoo! Newsgroup : VIRCB Vancouver Island Radio Control Boaters Victoria Day Parade Preparing the float Photo by Barry Fox Photo by Barry Fox Waiting in the marshalling area

June 2012 Page 2 Victoria Model Shipbuilding Society General Meeting May 10, 2012 Graham Smith could not attend this meeting, no minutes recorded.

Andrews 479-2761 Binnacle Editor: Scott Munford 382-1673 Quartermaster: Bob Rainsford 383-2256 CRD Liaison: Barry Fox 598-4619 Parks Liaison: Mike Claxton 479-6367 Sailing Director: Fred Herfst

2 June 2012 Page 2 Victoria Model Shipbuilding Society General Meeting May 10, 2012 Graham Smith could not attend this meeting, no minutes recorded Executive Committee President: Barry Fox Vice-Pres: Ron Armstrong Secretary: Graham Smith Treasurer: Mike Creasy Show Coordinator: B.Andrews Binnacle Editor: Scott Munford Quartermaster: Bob Rainsford CRD Liaison: Barry Fox Parks Liaison: Mike Claxton Sailing Director: Fred Herfst Librarian: Dave Denton (Plans) Librarian: Don Meyer (Books) Publicity: Ron Armstrong Director@Large: Jim Briante All above (250) area code Your Executive meets the last Thursday of every month!] The Victoria Model Shipbuilding Society is a nonprofit club, open to all, established in 1978 under the Societies Act of B.C. Mailing address: West Saanich Road Box 55 Victoria, BC V8Z 3E9 PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL HOBBY SHOP

3 June 2012 Page 3 Meeting Moments (Left) Ron Armstrong gave a book review. (Below) Jack Lenfesty discussed building his models

June 2012 Page 4 The Prez Says... ON THE RADAR INFORMATION ON UPCOMING EVENTS Prez Says Half way through the year and going into what we can hope is a nice summer for boating.

One think we won t have anymore is any place for our library.

4 June 2012 Page 4 The Prez Says... ON THE RADAR INFORMATION ON UPCOMING EVENTS Prez Says Half way through the year and going into what we can hope is a nice summer for boating. We have secured a new place to hold our meetings once our current meeting place is gone and our last meeting at the old place will be the July meeting. One think we won t have anymore is any place for our library. As such, Dave Denton has undertaken the job of getting the material distributed to members who may want some of the good material stored there and finding a home for the book case itself. If you are interested in any of the content then make sure you get in touch with Dave soon. After the July meeting it will all be going, somewhere. Our Victoria Day Parade exercise was really very good. A lot of nice boats well displayed on our float. A committee of four did the lion s share of making this all happen so you should make sure that Ron Armstrong (Chair), Dave Denton and Kevin Hamilton receive at least a handshake and a pat on the back for a job well done. I had a bit to do as well but these three did the most of it. We should be hearing from Saanich pretty soon about the annual Strawberry Festival, we are returning to the Air Museum again this year and a couple of other more organized days are in the works as well. So we are keeping busy and boats are being used and displayed. Kind what we are supposed to be all about. Now for the business part. I know, you thought I would leave that part out this month. None of it is really too bad to take on. Firstly, our membership is doing quite well. We are at a high mark compared to the last few years so that tells me our efforts to go out and put on displays is working, the publicity our PR guy gets for us is working and there is interest in what we do as long as we keep letting the world know we exist. The next part might seem to be a bit early but.... Later on this year we get to our Annual General Meeting and a part of that is the (shudder) election. Every year we tell you that all the positions are actually available for you to put your name in. Luckily, for many of the positions, we have very good people who occupy June 24th: Boating Event, Harrison Pond Meetings: Second Thursday 7:30-9: Carey Road Next is: July 12th, 2012 POWER: Sundays Harrison Model Yacht Pond (HMYP) Dallas Road at Government Street SAILING: 1st and 3rd Sundays 1 3 PM Beaver Lake Next is June 17th, 2012 LANGFORD LAKE NAVY Wednesdays 9:30 Langford Lake, Leigh Rd at Trillium some of those positions and like to keep on going. But we always have a couple of vacancies to fill and this year will be no different. Mostly, from what I understand, we have one main position for which there are no candidates on the horizon. Your current one will not be filling it, for sure, this time around. So look deep inside and think about getting involved. The rest of the Exec team is excellent and just do their job which makes this one really quite easy. Head a few meetings, help guide some decision making and go home. Doesn t sound all that imposing and it isn t. So either pony up yourself or start working over someone you think is a good prospect so that we don t have to spend a long time at the meeting staring at each other wondering how we can get the position filled at the last minute. Think about it. See you at the water s edge some day. -Barry

5 June 2012 Page 5 THE SUB SUBJECT This month and next, it will be attempted to make clear how vessels in water can be made to behave/ function. First up is my Màrklin wind-up toy submarine. Next month the column will deal with the high speed Russian torpedo. While the Màrklin had been in my hands since early childhood (10 th birthday present) I originally (in Belgium) had few opportunities to run it. Often enough, though, to know that, running it in a circle it would go under and come up again. But I never thought of the how? and why? The questions never awoke in my mind until O had the spring repaired by a dedicated clockmaker an Englishman (Mr. Black) who d spent his adult life in South Africa. Other repairs were handled with my soldering iron. All dents were removed, by hand, using the rounded head of a ball been hammer. With a fishing line attached to the stern, I gathered enough courage to take it to the pond at the foot of Government Street. I had no idea of how shallow it was. And the water was inky and I didn t a yardstick or anything like it. So I took a chance much encouraged by my late and very dear wife. I knew enough to give the rudder a twist, in hopes that the little ±15.5 boat would run in a circle. She did that. Went down and came up twice. Then got tangled up in the attached line. All in all though, it was an encouraging start. During the initial trial, on a Wednesday, I met Norman Farley and Johnnie Johnson. Both said I should come back on a Sunday. They both guessed that City Parks would clean out the pond before the weekend, and that there would be members of a boating club who would no doubt be interested. That was the fall of Now a line sketch. (Continued on page 6)

June 2012 Page 6 (Continued from page 5) The VMSS in the 114th Victoria Day Parade The sketch and legend no doubt gave away the game plan but at the time neither Len Gibbs nor Orval Wilson had a

6 June 2012 Page 6 (Continued from page 5) The VMSS in the 114th Victoria Day Parade The sketch and legend no doubt gave away the game plan but at the time neither Len Gibbs nor Orval Wilson had a ready answer for the dive-and-surface feature. One spectator ventured an interesting guess: there had to be some sliding ballast weight in the hull. I assured him there wasn t. Nothing hi-tech I said. I saw the guts when the clockwork had a new spring put in. Then what? he said. I gave him a polite shrug. And I kept on experimenting. Bending the stern plane as far as I dared. All that did was shorten or lengthen the submerged distances. But I was fearless now. Orv had told me he kept a pair of hip waders in his T-Bird s trunk. Finally, then, at long last my dim bulb lit up. A short way into a run, the screw s downward thrust lifted the hull over its centre of balance. The boat took a dive, whereupon the water flow on the stern plane forced it back up. A sort of perpetual motion if it weren t for the spring running out. Why did it take me and others all that time to figure out such an obvious thing? Perhaps it was too simple to accept such simple simplicity. Following all that and years of fun, the new (second) spring snapped. The clockmaker said he was running out of length to re-rivet the clock s frame spacers a third time. I could live with that. Unfortunately, that third spring is weaker than the first replacement. The toy runs again, but not fast enough to dive. So the Màrklin has been decommissioned and looks just fine, sitting on the foyer s fireplace mantel. Next month, subject to the availability of more info, the very fast Russian torpedo will fill this space. Till then, see you at the pond. Jim Cox organized a new cushion for me. Romanus Unicum What do you get when you put together a selfstyled Alberta redneck, a Langford old boy, a long haired easy going tradesman and an out of box thinker who also worries too much? You get the VMSS Parade Committee, and a damn good one it was too. We laboured by night and day and pulled off the first time entry of this club----or any modelling club---- in the biggest parade in the Canadian Southwest and American Northwest. Dave Denton produced rugged frames to hold the display planks. Barry Fox and Kevin Hamilton produced the signs and lettering. Kevin also provided the blue tarp, which shrouded the trailer and gave that "sea" look below the displayed models. Barry also watched the budget and provided a calming presence when I was sure we had a crisis or two. Of course nothing would have happened without Tom Gardner loaning us his perfect trailer, and Dave Marryatt his Spider motor home to pull it. Three of us rode in comfort for two hours (one for the parade, one for getting back to the old Cornell lot for unloading). And thanks go to Rob Ross, Al Adams, Romaine Klaasen and Dan Baker (who also helped with both set-up and takedown) for providing such excellent models to arouse crowd enjoyment. Our thanks to Dennis Andrews, manager of Metro Toyota, for allowing us to use the old Cornell Chevrolet lot to gather and load the models on to the trailer (and unload after). The old service carport was ideal shelter from the cold morning (7 am) rain. Last but not least, our thanks to Pam Marshall, assistant manager of View Royal Canadian Tire, for allowing us to park the rig there over Sunday night." As for the point of the exercise, I guess the jury is still out and will be for a long time. The bad weather kept many would-be spectators at home. As for TV coverage by CHEK 6 we had the bad luck to be placed behind some young and lithe Filipino dancers and ahead of one of those dynamic American bands. Though Gordie Tupper read the entire script I'd sent in, the camera blipped by us going from dancer delight to brass band booms. If we do it again I'll try to get us placed between two boring entries! LOL So how many people got excited by the hobby, and checked our website is too soon to tell. But in the meantime Bravo Zulu to my fellow Parade workers. They're practical, hard working and fun to be around. Ron Armstrong

June 2012 Page 7 Sailing Report Our annual trek to Salt Spring Island was well attended again this year. Six VMSS members made the trip this year and spread ourselves throughout the fleet.

Wind was all over the place, not the best winds we have ever had but still enough for a lot of good sailing.

Jan Schmidt took our best result with a tie for second place that had him actually finish third on the tie breaking. Next up was David Cook in 17th place and then the rest after that.

7 June 2012 Page 7 Sailing Report Our annual trek to Salt Spring Island was well attended again this year. Six VMSS members made the trip this year and spread ourselves throughout the fleet. With 25 boats on site we broke into 2 fleets for the weekend with 6 boats moving up and down as the heats completed. Wind was all over the place, not the best winds we have ever had but still enough for a lot of good sailing. The best sailors still had their normal kind of weekend and the rest of bounced all over the place. Jan Schmidt took our best result with a tie for second place that had him actually finish third on the tie breaking. Next up was David Cook in 17th place and then the rest after that. But it was a fabulous event with every kind of wind you can imagine and ending with all the boats needing to drop down a size on their rigs to cope with increasing winds. Lots of good social time was had with a no host dinner on Friday and the traditional and great salmon BBQ on Saturday night. Sunday wrapped up just after noon so that we could all start on our journey's home. Besides the 6 boats from Victoria we had a good representation from Hornby Island, all over Washington and from Portland, OR. We even enticed one fellow up from California. If you ever want to see some first rate sailors, first rate boats and some great sailing, come on over to the Salt Spring Island Sailing Club the first weekend in June. It will be happening there. - Barry David Cook 80 working ahead of the fleet Photo by Barry Fox Jan Schmidt 76 chasing Graham Herbert 23 Photo by Barry Fox

June 2012 Page 8 Bill Andrews organized a number of members to attend the retirement dinner for the outgoing Admiral at Maritime Forces Pacific held at Government House last Thursday.

8 June 2012 Page 8 Bill Andrews organized a number of members to attend the retirement dinner for the outgoing Admiral at Maritime Forces Pacific held at Government House last Thursday. A well-dressed group arrived in suits and ties with a number of naval craft suitable for viewing and operating by the Lieutenant Governor and guests in the swimming pool on the grounds of Government House. Members participating - Bill Andrews, Jim Cox, Dave Nelson, Dave Denton, Rob Ross, Mike Claxton and Mike Creasy. The weather was cool and cloudy but the rain held off for the event. Both members and guests operated boats. Rob showed how his new torpedo could run similar to an actual one - it navigated across the pool and disappeared through the filter drain and had to be recovered from the filter system. All who attended were quite interested in the various models present and we hope we answered all their questions. The guests were later piped into the banquet room for their presentations and we were invited to the lower dining room for supper. It was an interesting evening and all looked forward to further participation if requested again. Mike Claxton More event photos on last page

be used. I put my 63-inch destroyer in the water and was a little disappointed.

9 June 2012 Page 9 Got stuff worth reading this month. First off the engraving shop has moved to new digs at the Reflections Centre on Millstream Rd. This is just around the corner from the old place, you get there by going a little way down Hoffman Rd, into the grocery store parking lot, turn right and any of the numbered spots on the right may be used. I put my 63-inch destroyer in the water and was a little disappointed. It burns 25 amps of power and runs for about 10 minutes, what a joke, it does float well, and cuts the water like a knife. There are quite a few drawbacks building something of this scale, parts supply, weight, launching and retrieving weight, to name a few. This is the point where I have to ask do I continue? Or get rid of the millstone. Re-powering will be a necessity. I borrowed Marks Wattmeter and did calculations on a variety of motor combinations, here they are. Voltage motor gears amps propeller can mm 8.4 venom 15d mm 6 venom 15d mm axial 27 t straight can straight can As you can see I now know why I am quite happy with the power combination in my small destroyer, the last one on the list, and why I think I will stay with 1/96 scale, it produces a boat 47 7/8 inches long and has longevity of battery life. Will someone take the 63-inch monster off my hands? Dave Denton Contributions to the Binnacle are welcomed. Deadline for submissions: Sunday before the monthly meeting. Editor: newsletter@vmss.ca Ron Armstrong will be giving a Power Control Clinic at our June meeting. There is a Boating Event scheduled for June 24th where as Ron puts it, this is the opportunity to put into practice what they learn in the presentation.. VMSS MODEL BOAT PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST OPEN TO MEMBERS OF ANY MODEL BOAT CLUB Just a few Rules: 1. Maximum of 3 entries per amateur-photographer/member: DIGITAL (jpg) only! 2. Send by attachment to: newsletter@vmss.ca subject line: PhotoContest Entry (important!) 3. Model ships and related topics only, please. Limit of 3 (three) entries per person. 4. Deadline November 14 th, Judges decision final; prizes to be announced at a later date in. NOTE: It is intended that the top 12 BEST entries will be used in our VMSS Calendar for Questions: to: newsletter@vmss.ca GOOD BOATING AND SHOOTING!!

10 June 2012 Page 10 Government House Photos supplied by Mike Claxton

March Volume 37, Issue 3. The Binnacle. Victoria Model Boats Victoria, BC. Relaxing Sail at Harrison Pond

March Volume 37, Issue 3. The Binnacle. Victoria Model Boats Victoria, BC. Relaxing Sail at Harrison Pond March 2015 Volume 37, Issue 3 Victoria Model Boats Victoria, BC Relaxing Sail at Harrison Pond http://www.vmss.ca http://coastaliom.webs.com March 2015 No, this is not a new R/C action figure built by