OCTOBER 2016 | VOL. 33 | NO.

THE BURGEE

RYC

Photo: Scott Bradley

When I first came to the RYC to submit my well planned with help from family and
friends. We were also very lucky to have
membership application in June 2016, I
knew it would be the perfect location for my the perfect mid-September warm weather.
It was a wonderful wedding ceremony that
wedding.
On September 18, at sunset, our wedding we will always remember. Im sure we will
reminisce about it from time to time for the
ceremony took place on the deck of our
boat, which was docked at the end of the rest of our lives.
ramp. Guests gathered closely on the dock, My wife and I would like to take this opstanding and watching the ceremony. We portunity to thank the Commodore, Ron
had the wedding reception at the tent area. Haag, for letting us use his tent setup,
The setting was so beautiful that all guests flowers and stereo. We would also like to
thank the RYC directors for approving our
were astonished and amazed.
Deep-down I was very proud when guests wedding at the RYC and the members who
told me how impressed they were. It was
1

cleaned the east dock and ramp before the

wedding. In addition, we would like to
thank all the members who helped us in the
first year as RYC members.
During the first year, we have enjoyed
the wonderful boating time and we have
learnt a lot about boating. We have experienced a different and inspiring life style at
the RYC. I love you guys and wish to continue learning from you, sharing and celebrating even more great moments with you
at the RYC.

And Theyre Off

American and Canadian West Coast and

back across Canada in time for 2017 docksin.
Drop in to Tom and Helens blog from
time to time to track and maybe even to chat
with this nomadic power-boating couple.
http://6monthadventuree.blogspot.ca/
Note the double ee on adventuree.

at end of October on a six month sort

of circumnavigation of the lower 49
states/Canada. Long-time members Tom
Scott and wife Helen Rosseau, having retired
in September after careers in the military and
then the high tech satellite business, are not
about to sit at home until the next boating
season.
Toms humongous Ford F350 will haul
his even more humongous 5th wheel trailer to
sunnier climates as shown on the map. Relying on dash cams, camera-toting drones, and
a host of other techie toys, Helen, noted for
her posting RYC photos after every major
event, will document the sights and describe
the sounds of life in the Deep South, the
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AGM. Ive really enjoyed being involved in

the running of the RYC over the past 3
years, but look forward to being just another
member next year. While the Commodore
may be the lead position on the Board, I depend entirely on the other Board members
and Officers, who in turn depend on the remaining members to execute on their plans
and manage the day-to-day operations.
To that end, I would like to thank the
following Board members and Officers for
their efforts this year:
1. Al Koch for once again leading
the PA teams to serve up good food
and good times.
2. Don Fleurs for keeping the
property looking and working great
and for implementing his improvement program; whether having a
new gate installed in our compound
The boats are out, the docks are stacked
to replacing degraded telephone
and weve just had our first skiff of wet snow
poles.
for the season sad to bid farewell to sum3. Brendan Verhey, for taking
mer. Overall though, weve had a great seaover management of our largest
son weather wise, with many hot and sunny
asset and upgrading our electrical
days to spend boating or idly enjoying the
infrastructure on the East side to
river from the deck.
simplify installation.
This is my last article to you as Commo4. Bill Ogilvie for managing memdore as I will be stepping down at the fall
bership and the thousands of details

necessary to keep members happy

while balancing organizational and
member requirements
5. Denis Fournier for taking over
the accounting duties and implementing increased expense due diligence and categorization.
6. Shawn Marley for record keeping and managing our elections, and
finally;
7. Denis Cadieux for giving us
that second opinion and providing a
wise word to avoid legal pitfalls.
I know each of these folks depend on
host of volunteers to assist them make it
happen and I know they are grateful for the
work these members have done under their
watch.
So I say farewell as Commodore with
memories of a few challenges, a few disagreements, but overall great times with an
amazing group of people. People I know,
who have nothing but the best interest of the
club at heart.
Best wishes for a great 2017 boating
season as we celebrate Canadas 150th
birthday!

people leaving our docks and heading south

to The Thousand Islands or even touring the
Rideau. I hope you all enjoyed it as I was
very jealous...yes...as you all know I had the
worst boating season this year with engine
breakdowns and repairs...BUT...never fear,
The Treacy O`Brien II will be on the water
next year to enjoy the weather and great
company of all of you.
Speaking of weather, when it wasn't sunny
and beautiful, it was windy and wet, and
most of that wind has started to come from
the East more often over the last two or
three years which is causing havoc on our
east docks! As some of you might not know,
our North East linear docks have taken some
damage and I'm working vigorously to solve
the problem with a committee that has over
30 years of experience with our east docks. I
will touch base more on this subject at our

Fall AGM on November 15th. As for the

West, our newly built `B`Arm held well with
a few minor adjustments and fixes needed in
the spring.
Docks Out this fall seemed to go a little
slower. The reason for this is due to no prep
work being done the day before. Our docks
are getting bigger and that means there is
more work to do. Docks In used to be a
one day affair but that is not the case now.
We need people for the day before and the
day after to make it a success. But overall
everyone pitched in, stayed later than required, and we had all the docks out just
before we started barking at the moon
..lol...I want to thank all of you for the support and help this year and I`ll see you at the
Fall AGM.

Hello Everyone. Well, the 2016 season had

some great weather for boating and I'm sure
you all took advantage of this. I saw many

Well, the boating season has come to

an end and I would like to reflect on the
activities your PA team have run in 2016
but, more importantly, acknowledge the
members who have run these activities for
you. The first activity in 2016 was the
Commodores Ball held in February. Thanks
go out to Helen Beauchamp, Chip Hair,
Heidi Belair and Russell Gee for setting up
the room, doing the decorations and then
doing all the cleanup the following morning.
In March, Mike Strauss was kind
enough to organize a ski day at Calabogie
Peaks and we were all then invited to a pot
luck dinner at their cottage (which is a
house) where some stayed overnight as
planned and others stayed as they were in
no condition to drive back home.
We had four work parties in April and
May where thanks go out to Johanne
Morin, Brenda Strauss, and Lucie Mainguy
for doing the lunches. Finally, Docks In,
where all members are there to perform
assigned duties and/or as the need arose.
Your PA team ensured you were well fed
and able to carry on with the work and
duties to be done by days end.
The first summer social event was the
Meet & Greet which this year was led by
Elizabeth Hartt with big shoes to fill as this
event was previously led by the Payans.
The event is to welcome and meet our new
members which at the time consisted of
twelve members. Based on the excellent job

she did, we hope she will volunteer to do

next years again.
Ladies night this year was led by Penny Haag with the assistance of Heidi Belair
& Helene Beauchamp. Our Cow Girls had a
romping good time as usual but word was
put out they missed their men. Who knows
what next years event will consist of.
The Pig Roast was a success and we
had the Spitfire 91 band which our Kevin
Lake plays in. Thanks go out to Lucie
Mainguy, Andre Normandin, and Carole
Lalonde for helping out in making the veggies and salads.
The Hip-O-Beef did not have the usual
attendance but those who attended had a
great time. The event had Karaoke as entertainment and you would be surprised at
the talent which is kept well hidden by
most members. Thanks go out to Heidi
Belair & Russ Gee for getting us a real deal
on the entertainment as well as helping out
with the food preparation.
Elizabeth Payan led the Pot Luck &
Corn Roast night. An array of delectables
were brought to share amongst friends and
members. We should have many more pot
lucks at the club over the summer.
Raymond Touchette, with the sailing
committee, held the Dave Rodger Memorial Cup Race whos emphasis this year was
more on participation than on winning.
There were two fleets with two first winners and the prizes were for participating
rather than prizes for placing or winning
the race. This was more in the spirit of
what Dave Rodger stood for and believed
in.
I was mistaken when I publicized Movie Night as being our first movie night ever. There was another previously held
which, from what I understand, was spontaneously held and where members backed
up their trucks so as to have a tailgate
movie night. It was a cold evening plus the
Canada Russia Hockey game night was the
same night so participation was not as
expected. However, be prepared as the
interest and comments made will lead us to
holding one movie night every month next
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season. So as to not impinge on your boating activities, the plan is to hold these on a
Friday evening. Maybe we can/will combine pot luck dinners and movie nights
together. Just a thought? I would like to
thank and recognize my grandson, Winston, and his friends Eric and Henry for
running the popcorn machine.
Thank you Colleen McKee for again
running the Scrabble Tournament.
The final PA event is Docks Out.
Thanks go out to Lucie Mainguy, Michelle
Begin, and Brenda Strauss for helping out
with PA.
There are several behind the scene
members who are working for you. Garry
Mulder and his team of various members
put up and take down the tents for your
social and private events as needed. Fred
Cameron ensures you have ice at the club
for your needs. For those travelling on the
water and staying at various marinas and
or Yacht Clubs, Terry Payan handles all the
reciprocal agreements. Every year Gary
Ward arranges for us to have the RYC Garage Sale & getting the Rope Man there as
a service to you. And finally, your Burgee
editor, Scott Bradley, who continues to do
the best Burgee papers ever.
I am certain I have left some of you
out and for this I apologize. I thank you all
enormously for all your work to ensure we
hold social functions and activities which
meet our members needs and continue to
make the RYC the best co-op Yacht club in
Canada.

Small Boats on the Rideau

We have been traveling the Rideau canal
now for about 8 years. We started off with a
runabout and now we are travelling in a
cruiser.
Using our runabout, we would go up the
Ottawa Flight Locks, have lunch at Dow's
Lake, turn around and head back home. Fun
but a long day.
Traveling the last few years on the canal,
we have seen other options for people with
runabouts on the Rideau. We came across a
young family of four who would travel for
the day, set up a couple of tents at the lock
station and then continue on the next day.
This was the second time they had run the
'triangle'. The 'triangle' consists of travelling
down the Rideau Canal to Kingston, continuing down the St. Lawrence to Montreal, then
up the Ottawa River back home. This takes
about two weeks.
This summer we came across a family of
four who were in two runabouts. The driver
of the second runabout was a 15 year old
boy with his younger brother of 12, and the
parents were in the front runabout. They
actually put their boats in the water at the
RYC the day before we came across them.

Their idea of traversing the triangle was to

stay at Bed and Breakfasts along the way.
Their first stop was at lock 17, Burrits Rapids. The owner of a Bed and Breakfast from
Merrickville came and picked them up at the
lock station and returned them the next day.
Their second day was at Westport. Im not
sure what their backup plan was, if they
couldn't find lodging or if they were late
making it through the Narrows, which was a
possibility since they took too long of an
afternoon break. Its possible they arranged
another pickup at the Narrows from the Bed
and Breakfast owners.
This summer Parks Canada installed
oTentiks along the way. These are tent-like
cabins on a platform that provide a BBQ and
showers for your use. They are quite comfortable. These are another option for those
who can't or prefer not to stay on their boat.
We've seen lots of people who go back
and forth along the canal in pontoon boats.
These have improved over the years and are
quite comfortable with a great canvas package all around. I hear the beds are quite comfortable too. One couple we met lives all
summer on their pontoon boat and have
6

done it for years.

We've seen a lot of sailboats going down
the canal. Lots of people like to sail on the
Big Rideau. You'd have to find a place to step
the mast though, since you have to take it
down to travel the canal. Most just motor
through and continue on to better sailing in
Lake Ontario. Be careful of the water level.
This summer was so dry that an RYC member
made it to Kingston but had to come back
via Montreal due to the drastic drop in water
levels.
There are lots of cruisers along the canal
too. Many of them try to go for the powered
lock stations. We consider it luck if we get
one. If not we don't mind staying where
there is no power. It's usually a lot quieter.
This summer we got to explore the lower
Rideau. The lock stations south of Big Rideau
Lake are amazing: very clear water, great for
swimming and cooling off. Just beware of
the fish that like to nibble and surprise you.
Anyway you travel the Rideau is an experience. Every lock station is beautiful. I would
recommend it as a great vacation for everyone and it's possible in any size of boat.

Now that we were on Lake Ontario our

sense of urgency diminished significantly,
and we started out comparatively late
(1030hrs) next day, aiming to anchor at
Pryniers Cove, just before The Gap. However, when we arrived in the latters vicinity at
1630hrs and phoned ahead to Confederation
Basin to reserve a slip for the following day,
we were informed that there was a big music
festival in Kingston that weekend, and all of
the slips were reserved from Thursday
through the next Sunday.
Damn! The westerly breeze had been
building up out on Lake Ontario and the
waves coming through The Gap were daunting, but we had laundry to do again, showers
to take, and ice and groceries to buy, not to
mention liquor and beer, so we had to push
on if we were to get into The Basin at all,
even for a single night. Finding an open day
slip would be impossible they are wellfrequented at the best of times.
And so we found ourselves wallowing
along Kinstons waterfront at 2100hrs, running before a nasty swell in the dark. All
shoreward navigation beacon lights were lost
in the glare of the citys night illumination,
the tiller was fighting me so hard that I had
to go inside and steer using the wheels hydraulic ram (the odd shape of our rudder
makes the tiller difficult to handle in a following sea), and even then I lost control once
and turned broadside to the waves.
The only way I knew where we were or
where we were going was from the icon and

information displayed on the little screen of

our chart plotter. I spotted the sailboat we
were following in the dark by dint of his own
little screen in his cockpit, but I never saw a
single one of the supposedly lit spar buoys to
starboard they were faint and intermittent, and the glare of the city seriously compromised my night vision. Frankly, it was
not an experience I would want to repeat
right up there with bashing head-on into another boat and getting hit by lightning (been
there, done both sorry, no T-shirt).
Eventually we came abreast of Confederation Basins tall beams and were able to
crab around in the 180 degree turn required
to enter. We didnt bother to call on the
radio we just motored straight in and tied
up on the wall at the disabled access dock,
arriving at 2115hrs, and then walked over to
the adjacent marina office, which was open
until 10pm. We werent the only boat there,
either, but we were told that our space had
been reserved and we had to be off it by
1100hrs the next day.
In the end we were only an hour late in
getting away after seeing to our various errands, but nobody showed up to hassle us
and half an hour later we were tied up again
at a prime dock on nearby Cedar Island, part
of the St. Lawrence Islands National Park.
Normally you cant get space there for love
nor money except by blind luck, but everyone
had abandoned it in favour of the music
festivals venue.
We hadnt been to that particular island
literally for decades, so it was practically new
7

to us. There is a small stone fortress called

a Martello Tower on the island, a nature
trail to hike, and you can see Fort Henry
across the way and hear the noontime guns
fire. Protected from westerly waves by a
point of land, we only had the wakes of the
many tour boats going by in the channel to
contend with, and we were stern-to them
instead of broadside.
Other Park islands beckoned we
didnt really have to be back in Ottawa until
the end of the month, and our headlong rush
through the TSW had bought us a little extra
time in these famous cruising grounds. On
Friday we moved on to Beau Rivage Island
near Ganaoque, planted ourselves there until
Sunday, and were back in Confederation Basin by Sunday evening, ready to go out for
dinner one last time before continuing the
trek homewards.
The trip up the Rideau Waterway was a
leisurely series of late starts say, around
1030hrs and early stops anywhere between 1430 and 1630hrs. Despite Tony
being rather tired of being crowded into a
boat with 2 dogs, a husband, and all their
various equipment and possessions, we both
enjoyed the casual pace of our 6-day transit.
And finally on Saturday, August 31st, at
1730hrs, we arrived back at our slip at the
Rideau Yacht Club, having put 1007.14
statute miles beneath our keel over a period
of 50 days
And without hitting another boat, going
aground, or breaking down! J

Dont
till I tell (Whack!)
I
, dont
(Thump!!)
s skipper was seeing stars...and
it was only mid-afternoon. Two consecutive
boom-on-noggin events just as the Pearson
28 crossed the start line for the 2016
Dave Rodger Memorial Cup race.
Now most of us in the Rockcliffe Yacht
Club Sailing Group (RYCSG) know that
Scott Bradley is a man of few words. What
we did not know was that his crewmate,
Ginette, habitually listens to only about
half of the very few that he does say.
This was a revelation of sorts. Being a
male, I was led to believe that selective
hearing is an affliction that mostly affects
men, so Im told. Or so I think Ive been
told (but, of course, I cant be certain that
I actually listened if and when I was told,
therefore its debatable as to whether I
heard that said. Whatever.
Back to the story. It seems that Ginette was in selective-hearing mode as
the Race Marshall signalled the start. Being a responsible crewmate, she heard, and
responded promptly to, the executive command TURN. And turn she did - twice in
succession. Now Ginette is known for being of a most positive disposition so natu-

rally she would not process anything

negative such as dont. Hence she
didnt; thus doing what she did. She delivered two well executed tacks within 30
seconds and was quite proud of that. After
all this was an important race and
was always a contender. That both tacks
resulted in beaning Scott with the boom
were simply unintended consequences as
was Scogins placing eighth overall in a
combined ranking of 16 boats.
No mistakes were made on the part of
and
. In the two fleet competitions each took the honours thus earning their place on the DRMC trophy.
s win was a first for Mike Walkers
boat skippered by Simon Cadieux, and
crewed by Mike, Jessica Seguin and Gord
Campbell. Claiming overall best corrected
time were Mohammad Nazroo and Pierre
to yet another victoBelley driving
ry, one of many over the years.
At the post-race celebrations there were
the usual round of presentations, random
prize draws, and even a note of tribute to
the late Derek Hatfield, Canadas renowned solo round-the-world sailor who
recently passed away. Being that the RYC
Sailing Group folks tend to enjoy food,
8

they topped the evening off with their potluck supper, and the RYC contributed corn
on the cob for all present.
If you read the last
, you
might be wondering how Optimistic Al
made out aboard
. Alas, optimism only gets ones boat to go so fast;
and this time (again), even with Carole not
employing selective listening, hanging on
to every word Alain said, and executing
timely tacks both at the winches and at the
still came up short. They
helm,
did achieve one notable result, however.
bested Terrys
(with
first mate Bert Hall acting as a human
whisker pole on the westward leg) by a
mere eight tenths of a minute in this near
hour and a half race.
With the DRMC now a thing of the
past for 2016, the RYCSG thanks the
DRMC Committee; Scott Bradley, Elizabeth and Terry Payan, and Raymond
Touchette. As special note of thanks goes
to our long-time sailor, associate member
and one of the clubs founding members,
Pierre Lamontagne, for once again being
the Race Marshall.

Canada Games 2021 Update

From the Canada Games Web Site and City of Ottawa Web Site.
Canada Games 2021 Update - From
the Canada Games Web Site and City
of Ottawa Web Site.
All Four Ontario Communities Bidding to Host the 2021 Canada Summer Games are Invited to Advance.
At recent meetings, the Canada
Games Council`s (CGC) Board of Directors approved the CGC 2021 Bid
Process Technical Review Committee
report recommendation that the four
communities bidding to host the 2021
Canada Summer Games advance to the
Phase II review.
The Technical Review Committee is
confident that all four bids possess the
technical capabilities to host the 2021
Canada Summer Games and all should
be moved forward to phase two, says
Tom Quinn, Canada Games Council
Chairman. Ottawa, Niagara, Sudbury
and the combined bid of Kitchener,
Waterloo, Cambridge and Guelph all
demonstrated tremendous enthusiasm
toward hosting the 2021 Canada Summer Games.
During separate community site
visits for Phase I that took place in late
August, the four communities met with
the Canada Games Council 2021 Bid
Process Technical Review Committee
(TRC) to provide detail, showcase locations and answer questions. The TRC
evaluated each venue within each community and scored based on the following factors:

Whether or not the venue

meets the stated minimum venue standards;

Whether or not the venue

meets the Canada Games distance standard;

The ancillary aspects of the

venue (seating, change rooms, concessions, etc.);

The accessibility of the ven-

ue;

The operational and capital

risk associated with using the venue for
Canada Games.
With their successful completion of
Phase 1 of the Technical phase, it is
now determined that all four communities have the quality and technical capacity necessary to move to the Phase
II evaluation.
Following the Board approval, individual reports were provided to each
community outlining their results to
date. Through these results, the communities have now been formally invited
to develop and submit a Comprehensive
Host Community Bid Proposal representing Phase II of the Host Community Selection Process. The deadline to
submit this proposal is January 31st,
2017.
After the January 31st, 2017
deadline, the 2021 Bid Evaluation
Committee will assess the Comprehensive Host Community Bid Proposals,
conduct site visits for Phase II and then
provide a final ranking and report to
the CGC Board of Directors.
Following the detailed process, the
CGC Board of Directors will notify the
Province of Ontario about the final
selection of the successful 2021 community. The public announcement will
then be made in late March or early
April of 2017 through a media event.
The City of Ottawa will now submit
its Phase 2 Comprehensive Host
Community Bid proposal, showing the
strength of the bid and overwhelming
community support. The proposal will
be evaluated by the Canada Games
Council and scored against other bids
from Greater Sudbury, Niagara Region,
and a partnership between the cities of
9

Kitchener, Waterloo, Guelph and Cambridge. An announcement of the successful bidder is expected on March 30
or 31, 2017.
The Canada Games rank alongside
other major sporting events like the
Grey Cup, World Junior Hockey Championship and FIFA (Fdration Internationale de Football Association)
championships. The games are a twoweek long sporting event that would
take place in late July and early August
of 2021. [the impact to RYC would be
one week only]
Promoting the nations capital as
an ideal location for major national and
international events and conventions is
a cornerstone of the Citys economic
development plan. The City developed
the Bid More, Win More, Host More
strategy in partnership with Ottawa
Tourism to promote Ottawa as a worldclass event hosting destination, create
jobs and grow our local economy.
As a result of Ottawa moving on to
the next phase of the bid process, I
have been invited to a meeting on November 14th to learn what the next
steps are with respect to the rowing
venue. As mentioned previously, the
real work will begin only if Ottawa wins
the bid and we begin the process of
negotiating the details of our role in
the hosting the Rowing events in
2021.