Social Director Report

Transcription

1 Ripple Rock Squadron Ripples from the Rock November 2016 Social Director Report Here s hoping everyone had a great summer and a great boating season. There is still time to be out on the water, just abit chillier now. It was an interesting season, as the weather was not as warm, and alot of wind. As much as it is hard to believe that the summer is done and fall is here, that just means that our Christmas season is coming upon us very fast. Our Christmas brunch has been booked at the Coast Discovery Inn for Sunday, Dec. 11th. The cost will be $19.95 per person, taxes and gratuity extra. Everyone will pay their own way. There is very limited seating so I will need numbers fast. Please have your name into me by Thursday, Dec. 1st. You can me at listerlynn@shaw.ca or call me at The time is 10:30 am for coffee/tea/gathering and the brunch will be at 11:00 am. Looking forward to seeing as many of you there. Vicky

2 Inside this issue Commanders Report Page 3 Humour Pages 4 Ripple Rock Squadron Box 481 Campbell River, B.C. V9W 5C1 Phone: Web Page: Collision Regs Quiz Page 5-6 Auto Identification Page 7-8 Boating Coarse Pages 10 Murray stoudt Owner & industrial supplies Tel: (250) Cres ltd Fax: (250) Ironwood Street Res: (250) Campbell River, B.C V9W 5L6 cres1986@telus.net Squadron Officers Page 11 Sponsors & Supporters Discounts may be available. The rate is set by the business where applicable. Please enquire before any purchase & show your Membership Card A-1 Radiators Ltd Advanced Marine Power Ltd. Advantage Travel The Travel Place Altech Diesel Ltd. Beaver Aquatics Bill Howich RV & Marine Boatland Cloverdale Paints Daigle Welding & Marine Ltd. Discovery Marine Centre Discovery Harbour Fuels Sales Encompass Marine Ltd. Island Inkjet Ideal Tackle Waypoint Insurance J.B. Radiators Lordco Parts Ltd. Lube-X Fast Oil Change Centre 2 Madman McKay's Napa Auto Parts North Island Propeller Ltd. Ocean Pacific Marine Supply Ltd. Periscope Promotions Plastics Plus Fabricating Redden Net Ltd. R.H. Printing Ltd. River Sportsman Ltd. Salmon Point Resort Sinnott & Co. Law Corp. St John Ambulance TEC Marine Surveying Topstitch Upholstery Tyee Chevrolet Oldsmobile Ltd. Tyee Marine & Fishing Supplies White's Diesel Power & Marine

3 Commander s Report November 2016 Where did the summer go? All those wonderful sunny days, gentle breezes, and warm ocean water for swimming. Oh wait! That wasn t here, it must have been somewhere else! We did have a lot of fun cruising this summer but like everyone else we just had to live with the changeable weather and sea conditions. For all of that we had a good time. Laurie and I ran into many Squadron and Yacht Club members as well as the new friends you meet at anchorages and marinas. The sticky buns at Nancy s were as good as I remember and the newly opened Husbands daycare center at the Lund hotel proved to be very popular. The memories of sitting at anchor with a cold beverage and the company of good friends will sustain me through the winter storms until we begin cruising again in the Spring. An exciting new year is upon us. We currently have a full class of Boating Essentials students underway to be followed by an ROC M. A number of Members Nights are being planned for the winter, keep an eye on our website for details. We are also planning some new course offerings that boaters will be interested in taking. I encourage everyone to go to the National site and update their personal profiles, then we have your contact information and can reach you with news of upcoming events. Also, check out the new course offerings and format so that you can register for course or seminars that interest you. Please contact me if you have any suggestions for activities in the coming year and I am looking forward to seeing you come out to support our Ripple Rock Squadron. Kevin Kavanagh Commander 1407 Maple Street Campbell River, B.C. V9W 5M4 3

4 HUMOUR FROM LIONEL A man feared his wife wasn t hearing as well as she used to and he thought she might need a hearing aid. Not quite sure how to approach her, he called the family doctor to discuss the problem. The Doctor told him there is a simple informal test the husband could perform to give the doctor a better idea about her hearing loss. Here s what you do, said the Doctor, stand about 40 feet away from her, and in a normal conversational speaking tone see if she hears you. If not, go to 30 feet, then 20 feet, and so on until you get a response. That evening, the wife was in the kitchen cooking dinner, and he was in the den. He says to himself, I m about 40 feet a way, let s see what happens. Then in a normal tone he asks, Honey, what s for dinner? No response. So the husband moves closer to the kitchen, about 30 feet from his wife and repeats, Honey, what s for dinner? Still, no response. Next he moves into the dining room where he is about 20 feet from his wife and asks, Honey, what s for dinner? Again he gets no response. So, he walks up to the kitchen door, about 10 feet away.. Honey, what s for dinner? Again there is no response. So he walks right up behind her... Honey, what s for dinner? Ralph, for THE FIFTH time, CHICKEN!! The Balloonist: A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost. She reduced altitude and spotted a man below. She descended a bit more and shouted: Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago but I don t know where I am. The man below replied, You re in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You re between 40 and 41 degrees north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude. You must be a Safety Engineer, said the balloonist. I am, replied the man, how did you know that? Well, answered the balloonist, everything you have told me is probably technically correct, but I ve no idea what to make of your information and the fact is, I m still lost. Frankly, you ve not been much help at all. If anything, you ve delayed my trip by your talk. The man below responded, You must be in management. I am, replied the balloonist, but how did you know? Well, said the man, you don t know where you are or where you re going. You have risen to where you are, due to a large quantity of hot air. You have made promises, which you ve no idea how to keep, and you expect people beneath you to solve your problems. The fact is you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow, it s my fault. 4

5 COLLISION REGS QUIZ You are heading home from a day in Desolation Sound. It is getting dark, and you see these lights ahead of you (the star shape indicates that the blue light is flashing). What do they mean, and what action do you have to take? See next page. BEAVER AQUATICS LTD. Bryan Erickson Island Highway Campbell River, B.C. V9W 2C3 Fax: bryan@beaveraquatics.ca SALES RENTALS AIR INSTRUCTION REPAIRS 5

6 Answer to Collision Regs Quiz from previous page: You are looking at a Government vessel engaged in Search and Rescue or Law Enforcement [Rule 45 Collision Regulations]. This signal may also be used by Coast Guard Auxiliary vessels engaged in Search and Rescue. The nav light configuration (aspect) shows the vessel is headed for you. The rules say to treat the vessel the same as any other power driven vessel (in a head on situation, you both alter to starboard). However in a Search and Rescue situation, that vessel may alter course or speed suddenly, as part of a search pattern, or if objects are sighted in the water, or when tracking a radio signal. So it is best to be extra vigilant until the vessel is well past and clear. And if you are in a head on situation, or the give way vessel in a crossing situation, it would be a good idea to give them more clearance. The vessel may also wish to make contact with you, so be prepared for it to come alongside. Captain Geoff recommends brushing up on your collision regs by going to the On The Water page of the website to check our basic introduction to Collision Regulations. Office: (250) Fax: (250) Shawn Switzer Owner/Operator FOR ALL YOUR BOATING NEEDS!! 690 Island Hwy., Campbell River, B.C., V9W 2C3 DISCOVERY MARINE CENTRE Outboard & Stern Drive Sales & Service Fiberglass Repairs Boat Hauling Greg Skaaravik 2625 Island Hwy Campbell River, BC V9W 2H4 Phone: Fax: achors@telus.net 6

7 by Capt. Geoff Automatic Identification System A pretty mundane name for a pretty neat system. Basically, vessels that have AIS send and receive signals on the same VHF channel as DSC. The AIS signal contains the vessel name, dimensions, course and speed, destination and other information. With an AIS receiver, you can see all the vessels around you that have transmitters. The original AIS receiver displays were pretty limited, looking somewhat like a radar display, displaying the range and bearing, and direction of the vessel. Even this was a huge advantage in areas like Campbell River, allowing you to see vessels around a corner (such as the dogleg at Seymour Narrows) that visual or radar would not show. However the technology has advanced with modern Radars and Electronic Charting, so that AIS targets are overlaid on your Radar screen and/or electronic chart. The data is also used to calculate closest point of approach (CPA), alerting you of a potential close quarters situation. This works great in open waters. Kevin and Cosmos, down at Ocean Pacific were telling me of a trans-pacific sailor, who outfitted his yacht with AIS. Freighters and tankers in the area would be aware of him much earlier using AIS than they would be using Radar. The AIS aboard the commercial vessel would likely be set to generate an alarm if a close quarters situation was developing. And the sailor likely could set the same alarm on his vessel. He found that large vessels were altering course early on to give him lots of sea room. In more confined waters, the CPA option is not as effective, as vessels are constantly altering course to stay in the channel, so a vessel could show a large CPA right up to the time it makes the final alteration at the final corner to aim directly at you. Even so, having that information, when you can t see around the corner is a huge advantage. Another advantage to AIS is that you can see the names of all the vessels around you. If there are three tug and tows following each other through the Narrows, trying to figure out which one is which, even when listening to VTS can be difficult. If you have AIS overlaid on your chart or radar, you know which vessel you need to contact if you need to make passing arrangements. AIS can be handy ashore for ship watchers. There are a number of web based viewers that will allow you to see a map of the area with AIS equipped vessels overlaid in real time. One is Siitech (there is a link to it on our web site, links page). Want to know if there is a cruise ship coming from Vancouver? Scroll down to Comox, if you see one there it is about an hour away (they will adjust speed to get to the narrows around slack, so check against slack water too). continued on page 8 7

8 Larger commercial vessels, particularly if going into US waters must have AIS. But it is also becoming more common for smaller vessels, as a safety factor. The big downside to AIS for most boaters is the cost. A class B system, suitable for a pleasure craft, is around $800-$1,000. An AIS receiver unit alone is around $400. You can get AIS data off the internet if you have a data connection, but experienced boaters know that cell coverage gets very spotty north of Seymour Narrows. If terms such as DSC are unfamiliar to you, particularly if you have a shiny new VHF radio with a big red button on it, you should get in contact with Ripple Rock Squadron (in Campbell River), as you need a radio operator s certificate for your DSC radio. There is a large fine associated with not having one, even if you don t use (or know how to use) the DSC function. And DSC can be a lifesaver in a distress situation. 8

9 MANUFACTURED IN CAMPBELL RIVER BY ALUMINUM BOAT BUILDING & MARINE FABRICATION CUSTOM SHEARING & METAL FORMING MARINE SUPPLIES FAX: TOM SEWID CELL: TOLL FREE: Island Hwy., Campbell River, B.C. Canada V9W 2G6 web site: Sales and Service Reg Dykhuizen Service Manager Phone: Fax: Maple Street Campbell River, BC V9W 3G1 9

10 Ripple Rock Squadron Boating Essentials course The 2016 Fall Ripple Rock Squadron Boating Essentials course is well on it s way with 17 participants. This years course extended by two weeks to include two expanded sessions on local tides and currents and digital charts and radar instructed by Capt. G Saunders. Also new to this class is a demonstration of the Knot of the week by Tony and/or Lionel which has proven to be very popular. The fall course will continue every Wednesday until November 30th and the Marine Radio course will be held the first week in December. Kevin and Tony will be attending a training info session in Nanaimo in November on the new training format for the spring session. We welcome members to attend all Bridge Meetings Call ahead ( ) if you have a topic to add to the agenda. Change of Information Name: Membership # Address: City Province Postal Code Phone # Address Boat Name: Boat Size: Power or Sail (Circle) Mail to: Membership Officer, Ripple Rock Squadron, Box 481, Campbell River, BC. V9W 5C1 10

11 RIPPLE ROCK SQUADRON BRIDGE OFFICERS Name Position Phone Kevin Kavanagh Commander OPEN Executive Officer Tony Robson Training & Supply Officer Bill Koss Past Commander Pat James Treasurer Paulette MacLean Secretary Grant Jones Membership /Privacy Officer Lionel Botting ATO ROC(M) DSC Lee Andrew Chief Proctor Vicky Williams Social Officer Anne Bosshart Historian Liz McLelan Newsletter Geoff Sanders Web Director OPEN Publicity Officer Stan J. Palmer General Manager DISCOVERY HARBOUR FUEL SALES Independent Marine Fuel Dealer DISCOVERY HARBOUR Box 512 Campbell River, BC V9W 5C1 Phone: (250) Fax: (250) Res: (250) Cell: (250) Your Vancouver Island Oceanside Vacation Destination Located mid-way between Courtenay and Campbell River Full Service RV Sites with cable TV On-Site RV Rentals & Cottages Sheltered Boat Moorage Heated Swimming Pool & Jacuzzi Restrooms with Free Hot Showers Fishing Charters Boat Rentals Recreation Hall Laundromat Waterfront Restaurant & Pub Playground & Games Room Open Year Round; Off Season Rates Salmon Point Road, Campbell River, B. C., Canada V9H 1E5 Ph: Fax: Toll Free:

12 Rolland Langill General Manager Island Highway Campbell River BC V9W 8C9 Phone: Cell: Fax: Toll Free: fishing, hunting, Camping Roger Kirk, murray Whelan Owners 880 Island Highway, Campbell River, B.C. Canada V9W 2C3 phone: (250) Fax: (250) Your Full Service Marine Store and Boatyard Ripple Rock Squadron Publications Mail PO Box 481 Agreement # Campbell River BC V9W 5C1 Canadian Power and Sail Squadrons Escadrilles canadienne de plaisance Training in Recreational Boating Since 1938 Published by Ripple rock Squadron a Unit of Canadian Power and Sail Squadrons 12