PaBIA eBlast August 17, 2022

Our beautiful weather is holding here in PaB with still several weeks of summer to go! Despite the blue skies, we ended up with a quick rain (.25″) on Monday around 6 pm out of the north…much to the surprise of many!

Folks, please take the time to read Toby Cavers story about the Cambria Island brush fire! Folks we ARE the PaB fire department – there is no one else! So let’s be prepared so please take a few minutes to read Toby’s story, answer a few questions and see the video along with suggested next steps.

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In this eBlast:

AUGUST

• GBLT – Visit with GBLT on the Ojibway Docks – August 18
• Emmaline Madigan – Celebrating 50 Years at the PaB Lighthouse – Saturday, August 20
• PaBIA Sailing Saturday, August 20, at 2 pm
• Shawanaga First Nation 25th Anniversary PowWow August 20-21
• WAJAX Fire Pump Demonstration on Friday, August 26
• Derelict Dock Day – Saturday, August 27 – We Need Your Help
• NEXT PaBIA Boater Maneuverability Coaching – August 31

OF INTEREST

• Brush Fire on Cambria by Toby Cavers
• Mink by Trudy Irvine, Education Director
• Literally on the Bay by Charlotte Stein, Parry Sound Books
• Lake Michigan-Huron Water Levels – August 15, 2022
• Yearbook Update 2022 as of July 26

August 2022 Activities

Brush Fires on the Increase in Pointe au Baril –
Including Last Saturday Eve on Cambria Island

Brush Fire on Cambria by Toby Cavers

Last evening around 9 pm, a boat came by our cottage and reported a fire in the bush on Cambria Island and asked us to contact local cottagers for fire pumps. As I was accustomed to, back in the days when our son worked at the Club, I called the manager to have the WAJAX pump taken to the fire location, along with someone who could operate it!

I have since learned there are only two people at the Club who have ever seen the WAJAX started. They did get it to the fire and, as it turned out, it was not needed. The only other person I knew that was familiar with the WAJAX wasn’t available by phone last night. I eventually discovered that the Marine Patrollers can operate the WAJAX and was able to contact one that lives near the fire. But that all took precious time.

However, I realize the information I really needed was a list of people and their contact information who are familiar and competent with the WAJAX firepumps.

As it turned out, enough local cottagers with their personal pumps showed up at the scene and were able to extinguish the fire!

But what if the fire had been further from the water…what if the fire had taken hold (it apparently had been burning underground for a day without much smoke) or further along than it was (which would have happened had the smouldering fire been allowed to burn overnight?

As it turns out, the fire is believed to have been a zombie fire which occurs when a “wildfire that burned deep underground in the previous year has continued to smoulder all winter long” (from BC Fire Services and Mike Waddington, McMasters U and PaBIA’s Naturalist speaker last Sunday).

Perhaps moving forward we can figure out how to communicate better with one another to effectively and efficiently get fire pumps to a fire …Toby

There have been several brush fires (mostly started by lightning) in PaB this summer.
Fire is a real danger to everyone here

We, cottagers, are our own fire department! Be Prepared!

1. We rely on our OWN actions and help from volunteers, so be prepared.
2. Check the Firepump Listings in your Yearbook and KNOW who has one in your area!
3. Create your Emergency Phone Call Listing of contacts and type them into your phone contact list now NOW to call or text in case of an emergency. 
4. Having an emergency response plan with your neighbours is highly recommended. Create a group contact list of your neighbours using WhatsApp or iMessage for speedier action. [WhatsApp]
5. Check out the Emergency Response Plan from 2018. 
6. A plan is only as good as the ability to enact it. Practice! Learn how to operate your Honda fire pump and have a fire drill.
7. Call 911 to report a fire. The 911 operators will coordinate fire response with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forest (MNRF). However, MNRF will only respond if the fire is out of control, and they may be busy fighting fires elsewhere. Remember, our first response is our own.

1. Would you be interested in learning how to operate the WAJAX firepump?

2. Would you come to a demonstration of the WAJAX Friday 8/26 @ 4 pm?

3. Own a Honda pump and would rather bring my own pump to a fire?

Check out this video to watch a demonstration of how to start a WAJAX pump.

QUESTIONS: CONTACT PaBIA’s Marine Patrol

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Visit with the Georgian Bay Land Trust on the Ojibway Docks

On Thursday, August 18 from 11 am – 2 pm, Janet Brough of the Georgian Bay Land Trust will be on the Ojibway Club dock to visit with members and discuss all things conservation. Stop by to ask your questions about the Land Trust or learn about their latest projects.

You can be a part of the GBLT with new summer clothing! Choose from hoodies, hats, t-shirts and more, or cuddle up in your very own Georgian Bay blanket!

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Sailing – Saturday, August 20 – 2:00 p.m.

The pictures were taken near Bradshaw’s island where many moored before the PaBAR races began! Below is one happy crowd enjoying lunch between Race 1 and Race 2.

Races7 and 8 for this week will be on the Middle Reach Course or in the open!

Please be in touch with Margie Wheler, our PaBIA Sailing Commodore, should you want to learn more!

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Celebration to Honour Emmaline for 50 Years as
PaB Lighthouse Keeper

This Saturday, August 20 – 11:00

Share your Favourite memories with her!

In the Anishinaabe Culture, the Birch Bark Basket symbolizes a connection individually and collectively that binds an individual to their land, ancestors, and each other. The Birch Bark Basket is an expression of experience and how a story is shared during Anishinaabe Cultural Practices.

In the soulful place where earth, sky and water meet nature and embraces the soul, Emmaline Madigan celebrates her 50th year as the Pointe au Baril Lighthouse Keeper. We are asking the community to fill Emmaline’s Birch Bark Basket with their Lighthouse stories, memories, and pictures.

Community members are encouraged to complete this linked form to share their favourite Pointe au Baril Lighthouse memories. The collected stories and photos will be shared with Emmaline once compiled.

For those who would like to share written memories and physical pictures, a traditional Birch Bark Basket will be present at Emmaline’s celebration at the Pointe au Baril Community Centre on August 20th.

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Shawanaga First Nation 25th Annual Traditional Pow-Wow Aug 20-21

If you plan on attending, there are some islanders who are going around noon on Saturday.

• a chair or blanket,
• hat and sunscreen as there isn’t a lot of shade in the theatre seating.
• Water bottle, alternatively we will be selling water bottles to use at the water stations, and the water stations are free to fill up your water bottle

If you want to take a picture of a dancer, just ask their permission first.

Please no pets

There will be staff around the pow-wow grounds if you have any questions.

They’re looking forward to gathering this year, miigwech for coming to join them and celebrate their special weekend.

Location: 2 Village Road, Nobel, ON, P0G 1G0

There is no fee, but they are asking for donations. The pow-wow is funded through donations and fundraising efforts.

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Please Consider Helping PaBIA
Clean up the Bay
August 27

Need Volunteers to Help Get
Boats to Station

In an effort to clean up our shorelines, PaBIA is hosting an abandoned dock day. Old, derelict docks will be towed into the station, and the township will disassemble and dispose of them.

This effort is entirely volunteer based. If you are around this August 27, please consider volunteering your time to help tow docks to the station. The more volunteers present, the more docks we can dispose of. With your ongoing support for this initiative, we will be able to clean our shorelines of old dock debris. Sign Up by calling (647-545-9283) or emailing the Marine Patrol.

If you plan to tow your own derelict dock into the station, please tow the dock into the area between the wharf loading area and the pump-out dock any time between 8:00 am and 4:00 pm.  The wharf attendant will help direct and tie off the docks. The attendant will have rope on site to do this and the area will be roped off prior to the 27^th so other vessels will not be in the way.   The Township equipment will collect the docks on the following Monday. 

PaBIA

Let’s All Get Onboard with our PFDs!

You Could Win Big Time!

And don’t forget to get your NEW PaBIA hat…

with the safety logo on the back! Find them in the Ojibway Gift Shop!

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On-the-Water Boat Maneuverability Coaching

with Randy Johnson, Certified Power Squadron Trainer &

PaBIA Chair of Fire & Boat Safety Committee

NEXT session on August 31

from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m. Sign-Up NOW via email to the Marine Patrollers or email the Ojibway Club Office and ask to be added to the Coaching Session! 

These are held at the Ojibway back docks

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OF INTEREST

Mink

by Trudy Irvine, Education Committee Chair

A common and delightful animal sighting on Ontario lakes is that of a mink undulating along a shoreline. It is a much nicer sight than that of a beaver slapping and swimming around your old dock or boathouse, planning their own “addition” once you are gone in the fall.

Mink are members of the family Mustelidae, which includes the also cute, but sometimes vicious, otters, weasels, fishers, and wolverines. All are long-bodied carnivores that have anal scent glands for signaling readiness for mating and for marking territory. While they cannot spray like skunks, they can emit a smell some find more offensive than that of a skunk when it is frightened.

Mink maintain territories of several square kilometers and will have several burrows within these territories. Burrows are located along the shoreline, under logs or stumps, or within recesses in rocks, usually in areas thick with coniferous trees such as cedars. From these burrows, they will hunt alone, preying on fish, crayfish, frogs, insects, mice, and chipmunks. Muskrats, waterfowl, and rabbits are favourite foods, and these larger preys are dispatched with a bite to the back of the neck.

Mink are crespuscular, meaning they hunt mostly at dawn and dusk. Mink do not hibernate and will continue to hunt from their burrows over the winter.

This time of year, kits that were born in April and May (about 4 per female) will be capable of hunting their own food, and they will be leaving the maternal burrows far behind to find their own territory. Adults will have begun shedding their summer fur and their thicker winter fur will be coming in, which consists of long, coarse outer guard hairs and dense, oily underfur. Mature and immature mink can be discerned from each other by the colour of their coat, with juveniles being paler.

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Yearbook Updates

Water Levels

Lakes Michigan/Huron Water Levels August 15^th, 2022 

To better read the charts, please click on the chart for the Daily or Six Month Forecast Water level chart and the corresponding websites

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