PaBIA eBlast August 2, 2017

Volume 9 No. 9

Dear PaBIA Member,

What a fantastic turnout for 2017 PaBIA’s Junior Regatta, chaired by the very capable Lara Hunter, not to say anything about a PERFECT GB Day with warm breezes and blue skies! And the day before, what a wonderful demonstration of marine life – over 400 people took advantage of AquaVan!

May the weather continue throughout this week and the upcoming weekend for Saturday’s Sr Regatta on Saturday and Sunday for PaBIA’s AGM.

Saturday, August 5

The Regatta is this Saturday!

Come to compete, come to spectate, come to socialize. There will be a slight change in timing this year: diving will begin at 11:30, (instead of at 11) then the rest of the events will start at noon.

We are looking forward to a great day and hope to see everyone there!

Sunday August 6th

PaBIA’s’ Pancake Breakfast & Annual General Meeting

Proposed New Directors:

Ian MacLeod as Director of Ratepayers and Regulatory Affairs. Ian first became involved with the Pointe au Baril community when his children were young Ojibway campers and he assumed the role of the PaBIA Junior Regatta Chair for three years.

Since then he has served on the Board of the GBLT for seven years as the Land Protection Chair. He also served as Vice President and then President of the Sturgeon Bay Association prior to their amalgamation into PaBIA. Through those positions he became a Board member of the GBA. He last served PaBIA as VP.

Ian and his wife Jane just celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary and together have five children who enjoy working on and preserving the Bay every bit as much as Ian.

Mary Thomson as Director of Legal Affairs has been a cottager in PaB since 1997. She has practiced law in Toronto for 35 years. She is the firm-wide head for litigation/dispute resolution at Gowling WLG (Canada) after having practiced with McCarthy Tétrault for more than two decades. In 2013, Mary was awarded the Lexpert Zenith Award for extraordinary leadership in the legal profession. She is the current Chair of Outward Bound International, a position she has held since 2012, after many years with Outward Bound Canada.

PaBIA GIVES a HUGE THANK YOU

To those who have given of their time and talents to various chair positions on PaBIA’s team: Dan and Jan Stuckey as Fishing Chairs, Ellen and Scott Moody as Naturalist Chairs, and Doug Barrett as Director of Legal Affairs, PaBIA wishes to thank you!

****CHANGE****

EVERYONE IS INVITED TO PARTICIPATE

Saturday, August 19th

In the First Annual Pointe au Baril Tri!

Due to the popular demand of those on either side of the Jr Member age bracket, PaBIA is excited to announce opening the Triathlon up to EVERYONE OF ALL AGES!

So don’t wait – as there are just a limited number of Triathlon shirts – as they will be given out on a first come, first serve basis! $15 entry fee!

Eagles Spotted on Turning Island!!!

There have been several sightings of Bald Eagles this summer – but thus far, no eaglets to report. They have been spotted near the nest of the eaglets the past 3 years, near Pavis Island; but now, both last year and this summer, they have been spotted near Pontiac Island and on Turning Island, as seen by this photograph taken by PaBIA members, Star and Len Goodhand, from Skerryvore a few days ago.

From an American Bald Eagle sight comes this information: Some eagles do not breed every year. Bald eagles are capable of breeding annually from the age of four, but some of the adults, though paired, seem to choose not to breed. It might be an instinctive decision, based on the weather; availability of nesting sites, or food.

Because an eagle lives up to 30 years in the wild, it has many years in which to produce offspring. (So maybe PaB Eagles took a year off!)

Sailing Race

SUNDAY August 6th

@ 2:00 pm

This past week the fleet sailed on Mathew’s Bay under sunny skies and gentle westerly breezes that built through the day. It was all very relaxed and laid back on a lazy summer day. The Scot fleet numbered 8 boats including a shiny new addition to the fleet. It’s good to see the fleet continue to grow.

The Bongard / Bowlby family held a stellar Rendezvous high on the granite overlooking the bay.

This weekend racing will once again be on Sunday, with start time of 2:00 on the Upper Shawanaga race course. The Foster family is graciously hosting the Rendezvous at their property, M145.2

PaBIA Scot Racing Clinic, aka Scot Week, is being held this week at the Regan’s Ojibway location. This provides the opportunity to race Scots under the tutelage of an experienced racer in quick fire short races. The goal is to have fun and gain course sailing experience as a stepping stone to helming in the weekly PaBIA races. For people wanting to get involved in the racing program, this is a great first step. The program will run for 3 mornings which started Monday and culminate in the Flying Scot Race on Friday August 4th.

Contact Rainer Kaufmann if you would like to participate!

Being Prepared in Paradise…

Courtesy on the water

is the BEST prevention of boating accidents!

Although many folks have slowed down this summer in public areas, such as Desmasdons, Payne’s and the Ojibway (with many thanks to you), there are still some who seem to not have gotten the message. Having a high wake in populated areas is not only rude, but can also be incredibly dangerous and has been especially prevalent in the past few years. It can (and has) caused injuries, damage to items, and general discomfort.

Injuries this year include experienced boaters who have been thrown off a dock into the water between the dock and boats.

Because many wakes come into public areas all at the same time due to multiple boats going by all at the same time, the danger is magnified. Remember, you’re on cottage time. Take a few extra moments to slow down, enjoy the view, and watch your wake. Your Marine Patrol Team

Medical Emergencies Do Happen!

Question: Injured yourself and your guests have no idea what to do?

Answer: Refer your guests to the Cottage Emergency Action Plan (CEAP) (rt:) that you will have posted in your cottage! But that begs the question, what exactly is an Emergency Action Plan?

A Cottage Emergency Action Plan (CEAP) is a tool for our offshore community to assist us in responding to emergency situations. The idea behind having such a plan is to be prepared in advance to help you or your guest(s) respond in a responsible and clear-headed way should an emergency occur.

Once the CEAP is completed (using the easy to use EMS Phone Numbers & GPS Sheet as one resource), one can prominently display it in the cottage, cabins, workshop and in the boat!

PaBIA’s EMS Committee reviewed sample emergency plans and adapted an example to cottage life and for our community. While emergencies are rare, a plan will help you and your camp respond effectively and with confidence. Part of your plan should include neighbours who you could call upon to assist should you require it.

Consult the Managing Medical Emergencies in Cottage Country on PaBIA’s website!

Many thanks to PaBIA’s EMS Team – Scott Sheard, Chair, Tonia Blenkarn, Mike Evans, MD, Gary French, Ed Garner, Julia Sievwright and Bill Watts – for their time, energy and expertise in this vital subject!.

Dan & Jan’s Angler’s Challenge

One of the things we love about fishing is to try different types of fishing and using different techniques and baits. Over the last couple of years we have picked up fly fishing for smallmouth bass.

When the Smallmouth Bass are hitting you should try this for a good time. The bass are still in shallow waters and eager to feed. Our experience for a beginner is to try a beaded-woolly-bugger (top of photo). It is a wet fly and you fish very similar to how you fish with a jig head. The fight is incredible. Give it a try, you might love it. If our Grandson Tyler Lewis (bottom photo) can do it then we are pretty sure you can do it too!

Ojibway Island Grocery Store

The Ojibway Club would like the entire Pointe au Baril community to know that the grocery store at Ojibway Island is open to everyone…and this year, their new Retail Manager, Nicholas Ramnanan, guiding the staff, has helped to keep the store fully stocked and gift shop full of wonderful items for sale! The Ojibway Club welcomes you!

Pointe au Baril Community Bottle Drive

Remember to recycle separately all your alcoholic beverage containers into clear plastic bags, whether cans or glass bottles, and place them in the PaB Community trailer at the Transfer Site at the Station.

Join Georgian Bay Forever in the Phragmites Cut

This summer, Georgian Bay Forever has been working all over The Bay to protect its water thanks, in part, to financial support from many PABIA members. But the work is not done yet and we continue to need your help! Here are a couple of ways you can get involved and become Guardians of The Bay too!

Join a phragmites cut. This invasive plant threatens wetlands and habitat for species we love like turtles, frogs, and birds. We have been continuing to train communities – Midland, Collingwood, Nobel Beach just to name a few. Many communities, including PaBIA, are organizing Phragmites cuts on August 12th. Please volunteer and join the PaB community in Georgian Bay!

Learn about the importance of biodiversity. Support Georgian Bay Forever’s efforts to create a conservation tool in Georgian Bay to protect its aquatic creatures. When complete, this conservation tool which uses DNA barcoding to identify species, will become a library of the biodiversity of Georgian Bay’s aquatic species. It will establish a baseline to measure fast-approaching anthropogenic (human) threats. For more information, click here.

You love Georgian Bay, and so do we. Help us protect it by learning more about Georgian Bay Forever and consider donating today!

Yearbook Update

(since the printing of 2017 Yearbook)

To keep your Yearbook current, we suggest you print out the listing of all PaBIA Yearbook Updates here!

NEWEST UPDATES for new members and changes for existing members!!!

Bradshaw & Sorensen, Miranda & Peter (change)

Bunston, Brooke (addition)

In Memoriam

Jean Hughes, past PaBIA member , ‘Charley’s Isle’, wife of the late Warren Hughes, mother of Jeannie (Blaine) Shore, Nancy (Greg) Durand, Caroline (Craig) Lillico; sister of the late Catherine Bate and John (Margaret) Catto, July 2017.