MACASSA MARINER

Spring, 2014

Celebrating 47 Years

Commodore: Vice Commodore: Secretary: Treasurer: Secretary Treasurer: Dir. Bar Management: Dir. Building Maintenance: Dir. Membership: Dock / Yard Master: Dir. Entertainment: Sergeant At Arms: Auditors:

Bar Staff:

Bill Mitchell Charlie Mitchell Dave Bailey Kevin Andrew Sandy Kovacs Cam Gauldie Ronnie Knap Bob Mueller Bill Jeffery Jim Hollands Gary Hale Jeff Dziepak & Adam Wilk

Carole, Heather, Janice, Samantha & Wendy

MBYC EXECUTIVE

UPCOMING EVENTS

} May 3 - Lift-in brunch } June 14 - Sailpast Steak Barbeque/dance } July 19 - RibFest } August 23 - Tropical Beach Party

} October 18 - Lift-out chili lunch } November 1 - Commodore's Ball } December 7 - Kid's Xmas Party } December 14 - MBYC Open House

Pg. 1

From the Bridge Commodore

Bill Mitchell

I hope someone out there enjoyed the winter. Now that it’s over April will be a busy month in the MBYC boat yard. I’d like to thank all the people who worked hard over the winter to keep your club open, active and viable.

As Commodore I have been considering the truly remarkable contributions by your Executive and mem-bership support at large. So for the record, I would like to update our readers on some of recent develop-ments at MBYC.

To begin with we have a few new executive members who have taken on the challenges of their direc-torships. Cam Gauldie is our new Bar Manager. He has taken his new position with enthusiasm. He says that this job has challenges but thanks to a dedicated bar staff they made the job relatively easy. Ron Knap our new Building Director is learning how much is involved in managing our building. He is al-ready working with Jim Hollands our Entertainment Chair, to make more kitchen improvements. Jim has also updated some of our old kitchen equipment. He continues to surprise us with new twists to new and repeated events. Ron Knap and Bill Jeffery will be looking for volunteers in the near future to update our boardwalk in front of the clubhouse. Bill Jeffery has new safety ideas for lift. Sandy Kovacs has contin-ued to update, revise Bi-Laws and continues to act on behalf of Kevin Andrew to collect our dues. Kevin continues his thankless job as Treasurer. Bob Mueller our Membership Chair and Bill Jeffery have worked hard on contacting our new Regular Members for their acceptance and orientation to MBYC. I have to thank our V.C. Charlie Mitchell for keeping me in line at our meetings and assisting in the com-munity work we do to keep MBYC in the loop.

We continue to host and support Knot a Breast., and Flower and Garden area beautification and spon-sorship. MBYC also continues to make generous financial donations, time and space for various organi-zations. As usual the Children’s Christmas party was a screaming success.

The in-house Reading Library has been receiving numerous donated books on Sailing and an assort-ment of other titles and has been maintained by Helena Allen.

Our club now has the atmosphere of a maturing Yacht Club.

All our social events 2013 /2014 were well attended and the volunteers who baked, bought, repaired, prepared and served are too numerous to mention but have our thanks.

Our outgoing Bar Manager John Travale, and Building Director Henry Vanderstoep have left their posi-tions for a well-deserved rest. I personally want to thank John and Henry for work well done.

I want to thank and welcome our new slate of Executive members and new Club Members.

In closing, I wish the membership at large a safe and enjoyable 2014 cruising/sailing season.

Macassa Mariner is published three times yearly by Macassa Bay Yacht Club. 80 Harbour Front Dr., Hamilton, ON L8L0B1 - 905 529-9205 - www.mbyc-hamilton.org/

•Editor, Creative & Desktop Publishing: Richard Brooks •Contributors: Mike Kott, Brian Leslie, Carl Easton •Adverstising: Bruce McLeod

Please update your E-mail listing and phone # so that your Club can keep you informed of any

important notifications or events regarding the club.

Either phone or drop a note off at the bar or send an email to Bob Mueller ( membership ) through the Club’s website or to mbyclist@gmail.com

Secretary’s Report

Dave Bailey

“It’s just another ordinary day un-til something happens and then the day isn’t ordi-nary any more”. That phrase stills sticks in my mind from some book I read or phrase heard, but can’t give proper credit. This winter had many of those ordinary days. Snowy, cold, miserable days on end, yet when something happens our focus changes. The day isn’t ordinary anymore.

I am looking forward to our sailing season and more particularly because my wife and I have planned to attend the Nonsuch Regatta at RCYC in July. There are 47 Nonsuch members already regis-tered to attend the weeklong event. So for me, I’m anticipating a week that won’t be ordinary. I’m hoping our cruising membership at MBYC have sailing days that will change their ordinary days to memorable.

The cruising membership should know that all of our e-mail reciprocal letters and invitations (86) have been received by Yacht Clubs around the Lakes. We have heard back from (29) Yacht Clubs so far. (33%.)

Most of these clubs (33%) are in Lake Ontario. My wife, who deserves 100% credit for these statis-tics and the work to generate these numbers, has discovered that Reciprocal Invitations and letters arrive year round.

Thanks to Chuck Mitchell we will have our Re-ciprocals updated on our Web Site on a regular ba-sis as the summer progresses. The “hard copy” of Reciprocal information will be in the Club when we reach our normal (62) Reciprocal numbers.

Pg. 2

Secretary-Treasurer Report Sandy Kovacs

Boaters who do not utilize the crane for lift-in are reminded that boats must be removed from the yard not later than 1 week after the Club lift-in date. A penalty of $5.00/day applies upon expiration of this grace period.

A further reminder that no vessel may be brought into the yard without prior approval by the Dockmaster. Please! No spectators allowed in the yard during lift-in.

CANADIAN TIRE MONEY IS STILL BEING ACCEPTED! THIS IS USED TO BUY TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT FOR OUR WORKSHOP.

PLEASE LEAVE CTC COUPONS AT THE BAR!

Membership Report Bob Mueller

Summers here?? Well just around the corner. It was a long cold winter but it’s looking brighter.

This year your Executive decided to bring in seven new Regular members. Welcome to Macassa Bay Yacht Club - Darlene Billingsley, John Boasman, Brian Cable, Larry Charters, Wayne Johnston, Klaus Kastlunger, Mike Vancas.

Remember there’s still a few Spousal cards left $10.00. Have a safe and wonderful summer.

Thanks again to every one for their well-appreciated help.

Dock Master’s Report Bill Jeffery

Just a reminder that your 2014 insurance policies are due. Also, please check the bulletin board or our web site in the near future for work party dates.

Joke of the Day #1 A senior citizen was driving along the Q.E.W. when his cell phone rang. It was his wife calling to warn him that there was a tv report of someone driving the wrong way on the highway. “Heck”, he said, “its not just one car, there’s hundreds of them”.

Pg. 3

JOHN TRAVALE For Superior Customer Service

Head Office:

340 Wentworth St. N., Hamilton, ON L8L5W3 Email: travaletires@bellnet.ca Tel 905-777-TIRE (8473) Toll Free 1-866-266-8473 Cell 905-961-0585 Fax 905-777-0404 Niagara:

4962 Union Rd., Beamsville, ON L0R1B1 Tel 905-563-TIRE (8473) Fax 905-563-0303

Book Review by Mike Kott

From The Wheelhouse - Tugboaters Tell Their Own Story

By Doreen Armitage

Copyright 2003. ISBN 1-55017-293-X

This book describes the history of the British Columbia based tugs that were used to tow cargo along the 27,000 kilometre coast line from Alaska to the Brit-ish Columbia coast line, south to Washington, Oregon and to California. The vessels had to contend with the tides and currents in the straights and around the rugged islands. The earliest tugs were wooden hulled, side or stern wheelers powered by wood fired boilers. The first steam tug was the Beaver. It burned seven to nine cords of wood daily. When the wind was favourable the tug aug-mented the feeble steam power with sails. Beginning in the 1880’s the wood fired steam engines boilers became coal fired. In the 1920’s steam power gradu-ally gave way to diesel.

A fascinating characteristic of steam power was the quietness of the steam engine. Thus when navigating in the frequent foggy conditions the whistle was used to sound their way along the coastlines by listening for the echoes.

Often times shouting was used to gauge the ‘distance off’ in this man-ner. The noisier diesels had much more power in a smaller package, plus less space was needed for fuel. By 1950 only about 35 steam tugs were left. In the 1960’s steel hulls be-gan to replace wood. Several thousand tugs in all have worked the coast.

The main work of the tugs was towing logs which were cabled together in various configurations of massive rafts which at times contained over one million board feet. In open waters of the coast the logs had to be transported by large rectangular barges some of which were self unload-ing.

“The versatile BC tugs and their skilled crews have towed just about everything: food, machinery, rocks, gravel, oil rigs, oil, railway cars, scows, deep sea ships, even houses. If it can be towed chances are a BC tugboater has put a line on it”.

The book outlines the fact that the early tug boats worked without the modern electronics that we use today, like GPS, chart plotters, radar, VHF radio and sonar. What surprised me in reading this book was there were no coast guard as such or any government rescue facilities in these harsh unforgiving waters. It was up to individuals to save themselves. When the early marine AM band radios were installed there was no radio protocols set up to call for as-sistance. The pro-active tug Captain Cyril Andrews lobbied the government and was largely instrumental in setting up a radio watch system with dedicated call channels which was gradually adopted. The tug boat captains often took on the grim responsibility of sea rescues until 1956 when the

……….Continued on page 6

Letter from Ronald

McDonald House

thanking us for our

donation.

Posted on upstairs bulletin board.

We Remember Casey Gordyn

Thank goodness the winter of 2013-2014 is over… at least I think it is! It’s a partly sunny morning with a fresh north wind with a temp of +4C as I write this. At least the temp is mostly in the plusses now! But, I still cannot apply the Cetol varnish or bot-tom paint as it is too darned cold; maybe tomorrow!

I humbly report that I was not able to get out to the February 5th general meeting at the club. The weather was abominable and I was whacked from snow shovelling all day! We have to commend those who made it. Despite the limited turnout, according to Dave Bailey’s minutes at the April 2nd meeting, a surprising amount of business was discussed. Full members are reminded that that they should try to attend the general meetings; your presence and input are valued.

It’s too bad that the “That’s Amore!” spring dance has been cancelled. Jim Hollands always does a super job on his gigs. I guess everyone is caught up with the very late start on getting our boats ready.

I noticed that someone has already taken all the protective winter covers off the dock electrical pedestals, plus someone else has gotten the water system turned back on. Thank you to those who did this. All these tasks are so incredibly important to be done. All the rest of us tend to forget that these and many other jobs like gardening, yard cleanup, building maintenance and cleaning have to be done by someone. There was a picture in the last Mariner of someone with a long pole reaching up to the veranda at the front of the club house. It was Garry Hale our Sergeant at Arms power washing away the winter dirt last April. As well we have to thank Bob and Bonnie Davidson, plus Robert and Marilyn Mueller, the team who have done so much painting around the club. A while back Ron Warby and Andy Hoekstra were seen digging up the electrical conduit to C-dock. Rich Brooks our newsletter Editor included many pictures in our January edi-tion of Mariner which showed not only the parties, but some of the jobs being done around the club. This is a great club and to keep it that way we all need to pitch in! By the way, the contractor who is cleaning and waxing our floors in the clubhouse is doing an incredible job.

Our Dock Master Bill Jeffery advised all the members present at the last general meeting to check the con-dition of their dock and attachments. A casual check of my dock showed that a retaining pin is worn and needs to be replaced; just giving you an additional warning. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. I noticed Tom Moyer was re aligning the front gates to our yard as they were out of line and drag-ging, which was caused by the deep frost. See Tom’s ad in Mariner under “Colonial Enterprises”. To avoid punctured tires and scrapes we had to pound back the re-rods poking out of the parking blocks caused by the frost heaving.

Lift in and lift out is always a tense and potentially dangerous activity. Kudos to Bill Jeffery and Ron Knap who have come up with a protocol and training to ensure that only one ground person per crane is to direct the crane operator. This person will be clearly marked with a fluorescent vest. This person is the only one that is allowed to give commands to the crane operator. Further on the subject of safety, it is recom-mended that those venturing out onto the docks should have a PFD on. The water is very cold and life threatening at this time of the year.

Have a safe and enjoyable summer on the water.

Out & About By M. Kay

Pg. 4

Joke of the day #2 Two local guys had just finished three hours of racing round the cans in their annual fleet race. They change their clothes before going to the bar.

As they are dressing one sees the other putting on a black lacy bra, panties, garter belt and stockings. “"Good grief! - how long have you been wearing those?" the astonished fellow asked.

A little embarrassed, the first responds, "Ever since my wife found them under the chart table".

Bumblebee: A History By Carl Easton My Halman 20 “Bumblebee” has a rather interesting history. In the last newsletter Mike Kott made reference to

meeting me in the North Channel many years ago and I thought that there may be some interest in her history to the present.

An accident and a couple of fortuitous events were responsible for “Bumblebee”. In late 1979 I was out doing some Christmas shopping in a blinding snowstorm when my relatively new car was “T” boned from both sides. It was a total write-off. I was whining about my plight at work when my boss mentioned he had a car he was going to scrap as his mechanic had declared it not worth fixing. I suspect that the mechanic had an ulterior motive in mind as after adjusting the valves I drove it for several years and almost fifty thousand miles. This literally free vehicle left me with a fairly large cheque from the insurance company burning a hole in my pocket.

I should mention at this point that I was already a keen sailor, racing with friends for years, but unable to afford my own boat. By an odd coincidence my best friend had just purchased a sailboat manufacturing company. Shortly after acquiring the company a hull came out of the mould with cosmetic damage which made it unsuitable for a new boat but quite repairable. With my insurance settlement I could afford the hull and the other pieces which would eventually become my Halman 20.

The pair of us spent Wednesday evenings and Saturday afternoons that winter putting together the boat which was originally going to be called “Horizon Bound”. Since I was doing the work there were a few features added which were not part of the factory production boats; nothing dramatic but personal touches and features which made the boat mine.

I was about to put the name on the hull when one of the factory workers walked by and commented “little short fat boat, yellow and black...looks like bumblebee”. He was right! In that instant “Horizon Bound” became “Bumblebee”.

At the time I was a member of BS&BC and had a floating mooring at LaSalle.

The first few years I cruised “Bumblebee” quite extensively circum-navigating the lake a couple of times and making many trips to Queen City Yacht Club in Toronto and down the south shore to Genesee Yacht Club in Rochester. During my first ownership I think she visited virtually every port on Lake Ontario.

I eventually managed to purchase a trailer and that extended our cruis-ing range, The North Channel became her stamping ground. The North Channel really sucked us in. In the first year we cruised the Channel, we had excellent conditions, a month of good winds taking us wherever we wanted to go in a hull speed reach or run - we never had to beat upwind once in a month of sailing. It also only rained a couple of times and only at night. I was totally hooked. Of course in the next eight years that never happened again but the Channel still remained a magical sailing destina-tion.

After about five years of sailing off a mooring, I was accepted as a member of MBYC in 1985, “Bumblebee” now had her own dock beside the “African Queen”. The “African Queen” was a very interesting dock-mate but perhaps I will tell that story another time.

A couple of years later she went to Quebec City for the Tall Ships Regatta where we anchored in the twenty foot tides just below the Quebec City Bridge. We almost lost her when she broke free her Danforth anchor while we were visiting on a friend’s boat. She drifted downriver almost five miles on an ebb tide before we were able to catch up with her. It took more than three hours to motor back against the current back to the anchorage.

Three weeks after the Tall Ships, we were in the North Channel and on the second night there the Danforth broke ……. ………...Continued on page 8

Bumblebee at a rock dock. South Benjamin Island North Channel

In her BS & BC days

Pg. 5

Pg. 6

Book Review continued from page 3……….

Canadian government granted $10,000 towards the expenses of outfitting and manning a radio co-ordination office where the tug operators and U.S. air force joined forces. Gradually the beginnings of proper protocols and monitoring were grudgingly established.

The writer has set up verbatim accounts from many of the tug captains and their crews from the earliest times to the present. It was a tough, demanding and dangerous life. These writings are augmented with many pictures which further show the tenacity of these tough little boats and their equally resilient crews. Also included are thorough biogra phies, a glossary and an index. This book is no longer in print, but if you keep an eye on our library shelves at MBYC it should appear. The book was donated by associate member John Darling.

P.S. Most everyone loves a tug boat! This book describes the workings of these remarkable boats and their crews. I remember , in about the mid 1980’s, taking my Hamilton Power Squadron Marine Electronics class of 12 guys on a tour of McKiel Marine’s ocean going tug “Kay Cole”, ostensibly to look at the radars.

After we all signed a waiver, we boarded then assembled in the wheelhouse to have a look at a working radar. We tracked a snow squall moving across Hamilton bay and looked at the various range settings of the radar. We were also taken with all this ship’s tremendous power and strength, but at the same time impressed with the gentleness of the crew who made us wel-come in answering our questions, regaling us with some of their stories from their time aboard. It was a night that the students and I would not forget.

View from the Editor’s Desk Wow, what a winter. At least for those of you who braved it without heading south. You deserve a t-shirt saying “I survived the winter 2013-14”

As I was lazing in south Texas, I found out that I had jumped the gun in announcing that we would move to an all (mostly) electronic newsletter. The original plan had been to have one print copy on file in the upstairs lounge plus a limited number of print copies for our three

annual editions.

The Executive has visited this concept and decided that we need to retain the one printed and mailed edition. Therefore, we will publish a fully printed and mailed edition in mid-January and limited print editions just prior to Lift-in and Lift-out. In addition, all editions will be available on our website.

Please be sure that you update the Club if you have moved. Each time we mail an edition, several issues (at $1.50 each for postage and printing) are sent back to us as undeliverable.

Pg. 7

By Brian Leslie As the Cruising fleet captain for MBYC I get the opportunity to meet with many interesting cruising captains from many yacht clubs on Lake Ontario.

The process for planning the seasons cruises starts in January at the LOCCA general meeting. Many calls and E-mails are exchanged before a cruise can be confirmed with any number of yacht clubs.

At MBYC we have so much to offer a visiting club such as, ie protected harbor, Carrol’s point anchorage, our clubhouse, Saturday Bbq’s, Bayfront park and our great members. Other clubs offer similar benefits. Ask any one of our past cruisers and they will all tell you how well the reciprocal clubs treat us when we visit.

Just as we have limited dockage at our club for visiting boaters, we are generally limited in how many of our boats can sign up for a cruise. This is usually limited to 10 to 16 boats. Sign up sheets will start to appear at lift in and usually fill up fast.

This year, as the cruising captain on Crackers, we are changing to a potluck format for the meals instead of collecting money. Potluck means that you would bring or make a meat, or vegetable dish or salad or dessert, enough to feed your crew and several more. If you have been to the dock B potluck dinner at the end of the season, you know how good and successful it is.

We have tried to change up the cruising destinations each year so that we can all get a peek what the other clubs and locales are like. This year, we will start off with a short hop to Bronte Yacht club at the end of May with several longer cruises planned for later

Destination Reciprocal? Departure Return

Bronte Harbour YC Y Sat., May 31 Sun., June 1

Dalousie YC Y Fri., June 6 Sun., June 8

Lakeshore YC Y Fri., June 20 Sun., June 22

National YC Y Fri., June 27 Sun., June 29

Toronto Hydroplane SC Y Fri., July 18 Sun., July 20

Cathedral Bluffs N Sat., Aug. 30 Mon., Sept. 1

All pictures in your Macassa Bay Y.C. Mariner are linked

to larger view versions. In most cases, hold CTRL and click on the

picture - you will see the larger images in a new window.

raysplace@bellnet.ca www.raysplacetheboathouse.com Info@bayfrontpropertycare.ca www.bayfrontpropertycare.ca

Pg. 8

Like to advertise in our Macassa Mariner?

Speak to interested boaters - drop a note to our advertising department

using the contact form at www.mbyc-hamilton.org/

Colonial Enterprises Mini Loader & Compact Excavator Services Wet Basement Repairs ALL EXTERIOR Waterproofing CONSTRUCTION Weeping Tile Foundations Refurbished * REPAIRS TO ALL *

Tom Moyer Phone 230 Campbell Avenue Off 905 529 6107 Hamilton, ON L8H 2G8 Cell 905 520 9255

Email: info@colonialenterprises.ca

Dr. Nicole Ciraolo Chiropractor - Acupuncture - Yoga Instructor

Ph. 905 628 1000 www.mokshahamiltonclinic.com

University Plaza, 101 Osler Dr., Dundas

The Health Centre @ Moksha Yoga Hamilton

Bumblebee continued from page 5…...

free again. Fortunately we were on board and were able to deal with the situation immediately and also discover the cause. A wind shift has caused us to sail over the anchor and in tripping over the anchor had picked up a stick which prevented the flukes from digging in.

The following day we visited Little Current and purchased the Bruce anchor which has been her working anchor ever since. The Bruce has never let us down and on more than one occasion has also held both ourselves and an addi-tional boat that was dragging by us in severe conditions. The Bruce is a great anchor but rather difficult to stow on a small boat so a bowsprit was added and an anchor locker created which made “Bumblebee” unique among Halman 20's.

Over the years we cruised the Channel from Parry Sound to the Turnbull Islands. We had many adventures, some of which could show up in these pages in future, and met lots of great people. “Bumblebee” proved herself to be an excellent little cruiser, comfortable enough to spend a month on, capable enough to handle very severe conditions, small enough to get into the most amazing anchorages and her sailing performance is much better than her stubby little hull would lead you to believe..

After the first year I made sure that she was mosquito proof which made life in the Channel much more pleasant.

After more than ten years together, twofootitis struck and I fell in love with another. “Bumblebee” moved on; a colleague from work purchased her and she continued to cruise the Channel for many years. For the past few years circumstances have prevented him from taking her north and she has been stored indoors.

In the intervening years I have owned a variety of boats, both sail and power, which I have really enjoyed. A few years ago I fell and damaged my left shoulder rather badly and this proved to be quite limiting as far as handling a sailboat is concerned. I was seriously considering retiring from boating after selling my last powerboat.

A chance encounter with my former colleague revealed that he was considering parting with “Bumblebee” and I realized I really was not ready to give up boating. My first love was available and I knew if I could still handle any sailboat it would be “Bumblebee” as she is incredibly easy to sail and well equipped for single-handing. Negotiations ensued and “Bumblebee” has returned home. A few days before I picked her up a door blew off the storage shed where she was kept, a flock of crows moved in and apparently had an excellent time using Bumblebee for target prac-tice. Fortunately I own a power washer.

I am really looking forward to renewing my friendship with her during this Spring and Summer.

We will see you on the water!

Winter has to

release its grip!

This is what the water looked like just two

weeks ago.

Pg. 9

By Margaretanne Cranfield

Hello to our friends at Macassa BayYacht Club .

Can you believe it? Knot A Breast is heading into its

16th season and what a season it is going to be.!!

Do you recall that in 2010, KAB went to Peterborough, Ontario along with about 73 other breast cancer teams from all around the world. Knot A Breast enjoyed a most success-ful , fun-filled weekend and came home to Ma-cassa Bay the winner of the event.

So here we are again 4 years later. This competition follows the pattern set by the Olympics and every 4 years some city applies for the right to host this event.

This year’s International Breast Cancer Race will take place in October, 2014, in Sarasota , Florida. You can just imagine how excited we all are!! Each and every one of the team is already preparing physically and men-tally to meet the challenge ahead.

The bar has been set, the work we will do and the smiles and laughter will soon be heard floating across the waves on Hamilton Bay.

Again, with thanks to Macassa Bay for your continued support and loyalty.

Gauze “Cottons” for Boating /Sailing / Cruise or Resort wear at

www.franzresortwear.com 905-317-4862 484 Main St. E., Hamilton L8N1K6 Canada 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Closed Sun. & Mon.

MBYC Members 10% off

Just

CLICK IT!

All of our

pictures can be viewed in full

size on the webpage version of Mariner