PaBIA’s eBlast July 16th 2025

Jul 16, 2025 | Eblasts

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Volume 17 No. 10

As we move into the busiest time of the summer season with increasing boat traffic, please continue to be mindful of wakes in smaller narrow channels – especially if there are people on floating docks that become more tippy as the waves come ashore.

Please put GBB’s Climate Change in Georgian Bay program on your calendar now and join us one week from today for a discussion with the Executive Director and Climate Manager of Georgian Bay Biosphere with wine and cheese to follow.

And of course we hope everyone – along with their kids and grandkids – are gearing up to participate in either PaBIA’s Junior or Senior Regattas and honing one’s skills for the big events ahead. ONLY 10 days to Junior Regatta!

Table of Contents In this eBlast:

PaBIA

  • Part 4 – Hazards Responding to Fire by Mike Solecki
  • PaBIA presents – GBB Climate Change in Georgian Bay – Wednesday July 23 @ 4 pm
  • PaBIA’s Junior Regatta – July 26
  • OHPS – Historic Dock Restoration Needs the Entire Community!
  • PaBIA‘s 3rd Sailing Race of the Season: July 19
  • Literally on the Bay – Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
  • On the Water Boater Coaching – Next one August 10
  • Yearbook Update July 13, 2025

OF INTEREST

PaBIA

Climate Change in Georgian Bay –
Wednesday, July 23 @ 4 pm Ojibway Lounge w Wine & Cheese Following

Part 4 – Hazards Responding to Fires 

by Mike Solecki, PaBIA cottager and worked for BC Wildfire Service for more than 10 years as a Wildfire Technician.

If you are near a wildfire, or responding to a wildfire, it is important to be able to recognize specific hazards, and hazardous situations. Click here to read the entire 6 part series

The 3 most common items that cause fatalities from fire are:

  1. Small fires or inactive section of a large fire – Fire can change quickly and fires that are easy to underestimate are the most dangerous as people are less likely to follow the best safety practices
  2. Fire responding to a change in terrain – A fire reaching a different slope or aspect can cause a sudden and dramatic change in fire behavior and spread direction. It is important to pay attention to a fire moving into any different terrain feature
  3. Fire responding to a change in wind – wind can change suddenly and can cause changes in fire behavior and direction of spread. You should always take note of any change in wind direction or speed and be prepared to move away from a fire.

Other common hazards:

Aviation – Wildfire crews may arrive in a helicopter which will likely land to deposit the crew in the largest, safest area that is reasonably close to the fire. Never approach a helicopter that is running, especially from the rear of a helicopter. Let the crew come to you. Best practice is to stay at least 100 feet away from a running helicopter.

Trees – Especially in areas where there is poor rooting, a fire can disturb the roots of trees and cause them to fall unexpectedly, this applies anywhere fire is burning or has burnt.

Slips, Trips, and Falls – Fires are exciting and there is a temptation to run. Refrain from doing so. Falling and injuring yourself will not control the fire faster.

Click here if you’d like to read all 6 parts of this series.

Literally on the Bay

Welcome to the Pointe au Baril Library summer e-blasts.

The Library, located in the Community Centre on South Shore Road, is open from 9:30-11:30 am Mondays and Wednesdays, holidays excepted. Recent best sellers have been added to the collection in time for summer reading. We are very much looking forward to the many conversations that a Library generates.

Pointe au Baril Library at the Community Centre, South Shore Road
Summer hours: Monday and Wednesday – 9:30 am – 11:30 am

WILD DARK SHORE

by Charlotte McConaghy

In Charlotte McConaghy’s novel Wild Dark Shore an island is the central character.

Dom Salt and his children, Raff, Fen and Orly, are last remaining caretakers of Shearwater Island Research Station and Seed Bank off the Antarctic Coast. Sea levels are fast rising and the vault’s collection of millions of seeds is under threat as the ice sheets of Antarctica melt faster than scientists had predicted. Isolated from human contact and facing the unrelenting forces of nature, the family’s relationships are in turmoil. In this exacting environment a woman mysteriously washes to the shore in the midst of storm. They must all decide if they can trust one another to put past tragedies behind them and protect the precious seeds in their care before it’s too late.

Charlotte McConaghy is a young Australian writer whose previous novels include Once There were Wolves and Migrations. This newly published work, Wild Dark Shore, is a fictional representation of the real Macquarie Island which lies halfway between Tasmania and Antarctica. Macquarie, now designated a World Heritage Site, has a dark history of whale and seal hunting in which populations of the royal and king penguins and elephant seals were almost wiped out. Their ghosts hover over this story.

 In her endnotes to the book McConaghy comments on the impact that Macquarie Island had on her approach to writing the novel.  At the heart of experiencing Macquarie were the colours and textures, the smells and sounds and sensations I wanted to capture in this book… For these details I drew on my own experience during a research trip with my partner and sixteen-month old son, an adventure I will never forget, to a place that is surely one of the most precious in the world.

PaBIA’s Saturday Sailing Races are in Middle Reach Near Pym Rock!

Pointe au Baril Sailing is incorporating the next generation of sailors early on. For the past couple of years, Dom Auld, Sam Ireland, and a pack of parents have been running a sailing development program in small, more easily controlled dinghies called Zests, distinctive with their lime green sails. (“Development” is a code word for rigorous sailing, music, food, and ice cream prizes, not necessarily in that order.) This past Saturday, 7 Zest crews joined the regular weekend race, sailing a slightly shorter course. This was the Zests’ tune-up for the three week Junior Series that starts next week. It was a great success. And the crews in the bigger boats loved the company.  

And speaking of next week – the Weekend Races will be in the Middle Reach, near Pym Rock. First gun at 2:00 pm. All are welcome.

Want to be added to the sailing email list or for further information, please email Jamie Isbester by either clicking on his name or text/phone him by finding the information on page 292 of the 2025 Yearbook.

Of Interest

Ojibway Historical Preservation Society

THE DOCK
our beloved, historic gathering place needs a rebuild

A favourite gathering spot for our Pointe au Baril community
is at the end of its lifespan.
The OHPS is running a “Bucks for Boards” campaign
so new steel underpinnings and a deck
can replace the dock between the fire pump hut and gift shop. 
Please donate and receive a tax receipt!
Details here:  https://ohps.ca/dock-renewal

Many thanks to those who have already donated!

Existing Dock Rendering by Watt International
Proposed New Dock Rendering by Watt International

Thanks to the incredible generosity of donors, approximately $600K has already been raised towards the $750K estimated cost of restoration. And that number keeps ticking up! Let’s raise the rest by the end of July, so our contractor can order materials and get working this fall.

With many thanks in advance!

Georgian Bay Land Trust

GBLT Landscript

GBLT Nature Walks

Join us for a naturalist’s tour of our conservation properties. We’ll stop to learn about the sometimes-overlooked flora and fauna of these beautiful places.

August 16, 10 am

Price Island, Pointe au Baril

Register here

Art Show Ticketed Events are On Sale!

Art Show Dinner + Silent Auction – August 7th @ 5:30pm

Art Show Breakfast – August 9th @ 9am. Artists, Emily Worts, Libby Hunter, and Joseph Hartman will be showcasing their work. 

Tickets are still available!

  • Members can log in to Clubspot and get your tickets today. OR
  • As a non-member, you can call the Ojibway Club office 705-366-5085 to reserve tickets today. Everyone is welcome!

The Art Show weekend is the club’s annual Fundraiser. Besides the above listed events there will be a large art gallery with works for sale by local artists all weekend. We also host a very popular Marketplace where local vendors join us Friday night + Saturday all day to sell everything from clothing to jewelry. A percentage of all proceeds will go to supporting the Ojibway Club. 

2025 Your Lakes, Your Views Survey – It Matters

The GBA is encouraging each one of us to take part in the 2025 Your Lakes, Your Views Survey NOW (click here).

This survey is done every four years and focuses on

  • how people use the bay and
  • any concerns around boating (think noise, wakes, speeds, etc.).

Georgian Bay was included for the first time in 2021 so it is important that we continue to collect data to see how concerns have changed.

Since 2021, legislation has been moved forward on decibel levels and wakes as a direct result of these surveys.

Why is PaBIA Participation Important?

Your responses will have a direct impact on decision-making, informing key decisions that shape our community. The survey’s findings will:

  • Shape GBA committee plans, organizational programs, and policy development with government and law enforcement. Results are shared with the boating industry and decision makers at all government levels.
  • Provide valuable, Bay-specific data that will inform decisions benefiting our community.
  • Contribute to a continued effort to drive legislative change. The 2021 survey resulted in regulatory changes on wakes and boat noise.

About the Survey:

The survey is confidential, conforms to PIPEDA legislation, and the results will be analyzed by a team from Earnscliffe. The results will be presented in September, and we’ll report back to you so you can share with your members.

Your voice matters and can shape the future of our Bay!
The survey closes on July 21, 2025.
Let’s work together to ensure Georgian Bay perspectives are represented and our voices are heard!

Yearbook Update

With each eBlast, we will provide you a list of names of those members who have provided updated contact information. The details of all the changes since the 2023 yearbook came out in early May are provided in THIS  printable format   for you to print out and insert into your own Yearbook! Changes as of June 23 are below.

For reporting Markers’ problems
contact Tom Cavers by cell (pg. 267 in yearbook) or email

For contacting Secretary-Treasurer and Asst. Sec. Treas.
Nancy Rogers and Elise Findlay: contact.pabia@gmail-com)

Cooke, Patrick & Gabler, Melissa (fire pump addition)

Forth, Cheryl & Jimmy (addition)

Water Levels

Lakes Michigan/Huron Water Levels July 11, 2025.

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

Please support PaBIA’s Yearbook Advertisers 2025

This site’s advertising feature was created to provide assistance for special local information & events for existing Yearbook advertisers only.

Emergency 

• PaB Nursing Station
• Canadian Coast Guard 
Search and Rescue
800-267-7270
• PaBIA Emergency info

PaBIA