Responses to our FIRST Online Newsletter
Emails/Letters
Responses to our FIRST Online Newsletter
Except for those of us
that have a nostalgic attachment to print media, the on line publication of
the news letter makes perfect sense. The publication of the print version has
obviously been burdensome for some time and it's past time to make the change.
Another advantage of the on line version is that it could be added to as material
comes in. Perhaps it would serve as a forum. Especially useful to those of us
who are separated by miles (kilometers) but united by interest. Maybe there
are others who would contribute shorter thoughts that do not constitute an article.
There is a site with which you may be familiar. If not, check out www.watertribe.com
, it's an example of a useful and informative organization with a well mounted
web site. Note the sponsorship. I bet there are companies (outfitters) out there
most willing to support an online presence by Swbans. If that's too commercial
for you to entertain, maybe we can do without but the possibilities are endless.
Let's have some conversation on this issue and not wait for the annual meeting.
AD
Sorry to hear that the
newsletter is on the endangered species list. I understand your concerns and
reluctantly agree with you. You guys have done yeoman service in producing it
over the years - thank you very much.
I thought seriously about taking on the process, but in the end decided against
it due to 1.) my own free time is somewhat limited, especially now that I am
on the Board of Directors, and slated to take over as chairman, of the Lunenburg
County Marine Services Alliance; and 2.) my physical distance from the SWBANS
epicentre would be too evident in the product.
I shall sorely miss the printed SWBANS newsletter. Possibly it is a feature
of my age, but a paper newsletter that comes in the mail and can be read prone
on the couch and later stored with its brethren in the file cabinet is much
more real than the ephemera of an image on a computer screen. Its passing from
the physical to the digital will be, in my world, akin to the passing of the
ability to have bottled milk delivered to your doorstep each morning - you know
that its loss is for the betterment of the product, but it is a loss of a way
of doing things that makes us somehow poorer.
Oh, well; I guess I'll just have to download the electronic version and print
it out for myself. Bah! Humbug!!
Michael
Hi you two. Looking forward
to seeing you soon - our heads are spinning up here too - but, I wanted to get
back to you quickly on the newsletter thing. From what you've said it makes
great sense to go entirely with an electronic edition of the newsletter - perhaps
online viewable, and pdf downloadable (more convenient if you don't have the
bandwidth to read online and have to wait a long time between page turns).
You guys are amazing for what you've put into the organization. I feel a bit
of a wuss as I haven't been involved in any SWBANS stuff for so long and enjoy
the newsletter immensely, and would like it to continue (and even dream of contributing
to it sometime) - the fact you're willing to continue with the newsletter is
great for the org.and much appreciated by many.
Greg
Great ideas!
I wish to commend Rye for all his years as producer...it really was a great
newsletter!
Michele
The E-NEWSLETTER looks
wonderful. I really like the whole idea, despite the fact that my computer took
5 or 10 minutes to get it. The colour photos make the articles much better.
Liza's trip to the Nile is interesting stuff and well done. I also like the
'heads up' that Ulli gave potential tall ship voyeurs who might be thinking
about going out on the harbour this summer. I would like to be on Meagher's
Beach to watch a sail-past that was as good as the last one we saw. Don't think
Jose will put her boat into Halifax Harbour again until they clean it up.
I believe that this new delivery system is a good way to go if we really want
to keep the SWBANS thing alive.
Gerry
I think that the new format
for the newsletter is TERRIFIC! It's nice that it's easier to produce and can
therefore come out more frequently (hint, hint). It's especially nice that pictures
can be included throughout, instead of just on the covers. And with my wireless
network and notebook, I can read it anywhere that I could read the paper version
(well, almost!).
Howard
Just had a scun at the
online newsletter - definitely the way to go. I'm on dial-up, but the DL took
only a few minutes. I'll try to get some shots and maybe a yarn for the next
issue - is there anything special you'd like?
Rick Hayes
Annie Kolls shared your
club's newsletter and I have to compliment you on an excellent job! Nice pictures,
great stories. All that snow certainly makes me appreciate our warm weather
in San Diego! I also posted your newsletter link to my "Dinghy Cruising"
discussion group: (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Dinghy Cruising/)
I think they will enjoy it! And perhaps we even have some members in your neck
of the woods!
All the best,
Shawn Payment (www.geocities.com/bluejay2718 My most recent boat
project!)
I visited your web site
and downloaded the SWBANS news letter. The photographs are great and the articles
very interesting. I really enjoyed the visit and reading of your various activities
though the turn over of theEun Mara in the snowy landscape had me shivering
as snow is a rarity here in Melbourne. I also enjoyed your piece about viewing
the tall ships from the waterline in your kayaks. Jill, my wife and I did a
similar thing a couple of years ago with the Endeavour replica when it was last
in Melbourne. We chugged about 8 kilometres up Port Phillip in my clinker fishing
boat and then had a good look at her from close up. It is a totally different
perspective isn't it.
Your site address will be in the next issue of our newsletter so I hope you
get many more visits from down under. I tried to send you a message from your
site but ran into trouble when it told me the message was too long. Never mind
I have written even more in this email.
Good wishes for your summer activities.
Regards
Geoff Carroll
WBA Vic
We received your web site
as members of the East Gippsland branch of the wooden boat association in Victoria,
Australia. Thought it was great.
It is obvious you have similar activities and friendship. We recently had visitors
from Nova Scotia staying with us and joined in our club activities for a couple
of days. Keep up the good work and hope we meet some day.
Lawrence and Maureen
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Mahone
Bay 2004
By Ryerson Clark
This year's Mahone Bay Wooden Boat Festival should be better then ever. Once
again SWBANS members play a huge role in the organization. Howard and Donna
Ray spearhead the event, a very large and time consuming project! Hats off to
them both.
The small craft races are handled by Race Director, Don Ives, who is also a keen competitor. SWBANS is the sponsor for these races donating the awards as a group. A few members also put something together for the top boats from their own pocket, which adds greatly to the event's enjoyment and the racers' smiles. Race times are on the MBWBF site. Racers, we do race on Wednesday, the day before the festival starts.
On the lecture circuit,
Michael Mason, Jack Bearden, Robert Fraser, Bob Cowen, Ken Lamb and Ryerson
Clark will be talking about boat topics in the tent on the wharf. Michael writes
" I'm going to be presenting a seminar at the Mahone Bay Wooden Boat Festival
again this year on the advantages of lobster boats as yachts, how to convert
a working boat into a yacht, the effect of the conversion on the speed and stability
of the hull, and the pitfalls of converting a Cape Island type fishing boat
to a cruising lobster yacht. I have titled the paper as, "Lobster boat
Conversions: Perils and Pleasures". I plan on a half-hour presentation,
and I'll take twenty minutes of questions from the audience afterwards. Jack
will be giving a talk on that goo, epoxy, Robert is building a paddle (or at
least telling you how). Bob will go over how he made his sailboat, the Weekender,
and I expect it will be there to view. Ken is showing how to build hollow spars
and Ryerson will tell one and all who will listen about the great advantages
of small boat camp cruising. Hopefully, Loon will be rigged as a trimaran at
the ramp for this talk to help illustrate what a person would need to safely
enjoy this amazing and rewarding activity. Look over the festival program while
visiting for times and dates or visit the web site for the complete info: www.woodenboatfestival.org
TO TOP
Sailing "The Big Harbour"
By Ryerson Clark
In Ulli's article last issue, "Tall Ships Seen From Small Ships" he mentions the dangers of a busy harbour for kayaks. These dangers exist for those of us who use busy ports in our small sailboats as well. With this articleI will explain the things Annie and I have done over the years to make our passages fun, interesting, and much safer.
Halifax Harbour is one of the busiest on the East Coast with almost constant traffic. Sailboats and motorcruisers of all sizes, fishing boats, ferries, tugboats, Canada's east coast Navy (destroyers, frigates, submarines), Giant cruise ships and container vessels, as well as smaller coastal commercial vessels. It has been our "home waters" for 15 very enjoyable years.
With all this traffic, how can it be enjoyable? I get as much enjoyment from seeing some foreign going vessel and wondering about it's travels as I do in the wild coming across a moose. We are very careful about weather, fog and wind. We have learned the "shipping channels", and from experience, just how fast a container ship moves! We watch and listen constantly, and these sights and sounds make an interesting contrast to wilderness sailing, and are not at all "bad", but rather contribute to the ever changing and interesting scenery.
We have sailed past giant
aircraft carriers, the QE2, had submarines pass very close, enjoyed the roller
coaster ride of tugboat wakes and have seen many, many classic sailing vessels
of all sizes. We can eat a picnic lunch on the 1000 acre wilderness park that
is McNab's Island at the harbour mouth, and later, dinner at the fanciest restaurant
in downtown Halifax on the same day!
We didn't learn how to stay safe in one season, or carry all the proper equipment.
Here are the important tips we have picked up over the years.
Get a weather report before you leave, Nova Scotia Marine Weather is 902-426-9600 and for Halifax harbour, press 1. Find out what it will be like during your whole day on the water and know the areas that will give shelter if it changes fast. Know what time the tide turns, in your favor, or against you. If you are bucking a tide, you are actually moving slower across a ships bow even if it feels fast. The summer winds usually come from the SW or W in the inner harbour. If you are in close to the wharves of the downtown area, this wind direction will cause "gusts", sometimes quite strong as they come racing down from Citadel Hill between the tall buildings. Keep a hand on the sheet ready to dump some wind and you'll be fine.
We sail with three plans, A, B, and C. Plan "A" is the perfect destination, plan "B" is a safer one if the wind kicks up, or fog rolls in, and "C" is maybe just a short sail in completely sheltered areas or not even leaving the dock. More accidents happen to small boats because they do not stay flexible to allow a change in plans with changing conditions!
And they can change very fast! Annie and I in Tully Mars and Ken Lamb in Chelsea Victoria made a trip from Shearwater to downtown. On this day the summer fog was rolling into the inner harbour, and back out to sea several times an hour. This makes interesting and, if done properly, fun sailing. This event also caused us to consider and then buy a handheld GPS. Because of the fog, we listened on our handheld VHF radio to Halifax Traffic (channel 12). This is the same thing as Air Traffic Control at an airport. No traffic in our part of the harbour (at least commercial) so we sailed straight across the fogged-in passage to Indian Point on McNab's Island. Here we were inside (land ward, or island ward if you like) of the channel buoys so pretty safe, anything large would run aground before it hit us. Keeping inside the three channel buoys that protect this end of the island we started circling the Ives Knoll buoy, waiting for a fog break to head north to the city center.
The break came before long and Halifax Traffic had no contacts inbound so we took an exact bearing by sight/compass to the mid point of George's Island, the shortest crossing of this channel. It is one mile so pretty hard to miss if the fog rolled back in. We were a third of the way, on course, when it did just that. We quickly lost sight of Ken but held our course, and damned if we didn't miss George's in that short distance! Never even saw it! We did however find the shore at pier 21, and safely across the channel, followed it into downtown. Ken hit a bit farther seaward. This taught us how short a distance you can get lost in. Now with the GPS, we can track our progress and make minor changes in course despite the tides and fog.
The basic gear we now sail
with ON EVERY TRIP in busy ports is a handheld GPS, a chart of the area, a compass,
a handheld VHF marine radio and a radar reflector. Most days we
don't need any of these, but..
We also of course carry
these items whenever in a new area or any trip when we are on an extended voyage
that includes overnight stays. With the VHF radio we can check marine
weather even when away from phones or computers.
Lets start with Halifax
Harbour Traffic. This is on channel 12 and is fun to listen to even in good
conditions. A weather proof unit is around $250.00. You get an idea where ships
are and how they are moving. As a pleasure vessel you don't have to report in,
but you can ask them for a radar check to see if you show up, or a radio check
(to transmit with your vhf you must be licensed; to listen you don't need one).
They also transmit warning updates about weather or other hazards like large
timbers that may be floating about.
Next, your radar reflector. This life saver costs about $60.00 (we use the long
skinny one shaped like a tube). Your life is worth the cost. Even if you can't
see them, they can now see you and Halifax Traffic can report you to larger
moving ships. We raise ours to the mast head on the flag halliard whenever there
is reduced visibility. If you want Halifax Traffic to know you are there in
fine weather, raise your reflector and you will be reported to commercial traffic
if you are near their path.
A GPS helps you find your
way in the fog, providing you have already put in a "way point" or
coordinate. The cost of a good weather resistant Garmin is under $150.00. What
we generally
do is sail to important buoys, docks, landmarks or whatever, in good weather.
We then mark it as a way point and record it on our chart. When the weather
closes in, we simply tell the GPS
to "go to" a certain way point and it then gives us a course and as
we steer towards our "point", the GPS shows us our speed, time of
arrival, distance to the point, and if we are wandering
off course.
Your chart of the area
is very important. Learn how to use it and at least understand basic pilotage.
Much can be found here besides navigation info. You can tell how deep the water
is at
various points, where the buoys should be, landmarks that are visible and a
wealth of other useful things.
Learn the "Rule of the Road" and understand that you are a very tiny speck compared to some of the vessels you will meet. Yes, in most cases you have the "technical" right of way, but remember, a container ship can't see you when you are a quarter of a mile or closer unless they have a bow lookout, and their radar won't hit you either. You may have the right of way, but that ship may need over one mile to stop, and being "dead right" is just stupid. We always tack away rather then cross their bows if in doubt. This makes just a bit more sailing and isn't that why you are out on the water in the first place?
The Harbour ferries have a set time and track and are easy to avoid without delaying them. Again, just tack out of the way until they pass and go astern. Overall, I find that pleasure sailboats know what they are doing out there and will apply the rules, less so with the smaller motorboats so be watchful. We stay safe by staying out of the way. Sunny weekends of course bring an increase in pleasure traffic, weekdays you will almost be alone.
Ulli's problems with the
kayak on busy waters don't all apply to you, the small boat sailor. You have
a huge advantage in stability and your sail makes it very easy for you to be
seen by others. With a bit of carefully gained experience, an eye to the weather
and other traffic, you will have a safe and enjoyable time on Halifax Harbour.
TO TOP
President's Letter
By Anne Clark
As you know, our Annual General Meeting will be held on July 31, 2004 at 9:30am
at the Mug & Anchor Pub in Mahone Bay. It's been a fairly quiet year for
SWBANS but we'll have a full Agenda at the AGM and will need to make a number
of decisions. I think it's really fitting that one of our matters to be decided
formally will be whether we want to dispense with formal meetings. You crack
me up.
Our first order of business will be to elect a Vice President. Our current VP
Jose Gladwin has done a great job during her term of office and I heard a rumor
that she may re-offer if no one else wants to take it over.
The last newsletter and this one have been electronic only and we will discuss
the newsletter and decide if it will remain online or go back to a printed version.
If it is going to be a printed version we need someone to take on responsibility
for production including layout, design, printing and distribution. Ryerson
has agreed to keep the newsletter if it goes electronic. At the AGM we need
to decide on the format, content and frequency of the newsletter.
Membership fees and how to spend them will be up for discussion at the meeting.
Our expenses are greatly impacted by the newsletter so we'll have to wait for
the final call on that before getting into discussions on what to do with the
extra money we collect. To date there has been no extra money. We cover the
cost of the newsletter, meetings (AGM), Web site and Small Craft Race Awards.
Changing to an electronic newsletter will "free up" some money and
there have been a number of suggestions such as purchasing T-shirts for members,
funding SWBANS events, funding SWBANS projects or contributing to charity events.
In a special meeting earlier this year we decided to dispense with monthly business
meetings. Let's face it.......we don't have that much business to discuss. So
we had "the meeting to end all meetings". There was beer and food
and, no surprise, great attendance. We agreed to put this on the agenda for
the AGM and for the rest of the year we will have social gatherings only.
At the AGM we'll ask for input from the rest of the membership and decide on
future meetings. For now the events to replace meetings are really shaping up.
We have a Fall Paddle scheduled for Blue Rocks (if this is a surprise to Donna
and Howard I'll apologize now), the January Open House (Up for grabs if anyone
wants to host), February Ski trip on South Mountain (Gerry and Jose Galdwin)
and the May paddle on Dartmouth lakes and canals (Anne and Ryerson Clark). In
addition we'll try for a sail from Stonehurst to Mahone Bay on July 24 or 25
and Gerry and Jose will host a Wet & Wild paddle on August 21 or 22.
There is one thing that never changes for me. It is so much fun to hang out
with you. I really enjoy being a part of this group. You are the best.
Take care and stay safe.
See you on the water.
Annie
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The
Boat Shed
Robert Fraser's Shop:
These two photos feature a strip built kayak that Jean Blane built this past
Winter in my shop at the Passage. The form-work for this particular kayak was
built to her specifications and with her input. She personally selected which
strip went where and was 'hands on' for every one. All the finish work has been
done by Jean. It is the best kayak to come out of my shop 'yet'.
The deck of a 36' K4 receiving a coat of epoxy. Combings had to be rebuilt; deck had one large hole in it; hull has rec'd a layer of 4 oz. glass. Boat belongs to Senobe. This work and work on Senobe's war canoes has come about because of a request placed through the SWBANS network.
The Museum's Windekilde
Windekilde hit the water with a huge splash and just kept going without slowing
down, finally stopping almost at the end of the pier when she careened to the
right and
struck the wharf. This boat wanted to go!
She is a replica of Marilla, a Tancook Sloop, 24 feet on deck with a beam of
6 feet.built in 1895. She is the oldest boat in the collection at the Maritime
Museum of the Atlantic.
Windekilde rowed easily with her two 10 foot oars and in the light winds of
the day, moved quickly along. She can be viewed daily sailing the harbour or
moored
beside the CSS Acadia.
Elizabeth Hall slipped
into the water a little more controlled. She didn't get the run that Windekilde
did as she never separated from her cradle. The Sea School helpers had lines
to her just in case.
This is their 12th boat in 10 years and their second for expedition (Dorthea
being their first)
She is modelled after a Sable Island Surf Boat in the museum's collection and
measures 30 feet LOA. When on course she is powered by teenagers pulling eight
oars if the wind dies. Students enjoy overnight and longer expeditions learning
how to live on and work the boat along our varied coastline.