LYRA

The hardy group of 13 boats and one "Land Yacht" enjoyed an always very friendly club and great facilities.  Our USA hosts were extremely helpful and even lent a car for use to go food shopping in Wilson for our party needs.  They gave us full access to their kitchen, with two stoves, pots and dishes.

The group included 8 newbie cruisers who experienced their first cruise and apparently enjoyed every second of it.  Some of the crowd were racers, who were pleasantly surprised at how relaxing sailing can be.

The fun started on Friday night as a group of boats traveled over to have an extra day.  A number partied at the Sunset Grill for Friday night dinner and had a great time.  The Saturday party was full of a great and yummy variety of appetizers, chicken main course and pie, watermelon and rum cake (with lots of rum!).  A toast was made to the late Mary Pappas for her early push to have TYC accept our cruise.

The weather cooperated with easy wind and waves to allow for pleasant travels with very few tacks.

Some members were extra hardy and cycled, walked and ran, around the Town of Wilson to shop and visit a local winery.

Customs check-in went smoothly with video-phone access and on-the-water check-in for those with Nexus passes.  To avoid challenges, we opted to buy much of the food locally, but it appears that wasn't really necessary.  A few miles out on the way back some of our travelers were greeted by the RCMP dinghy (a large and powerful dinghy) performing customs spot checks on the water.   Apparently the officers were very friendly and cooperative.

We look forward to the RCYC cruise on August 16/17!

Hosts: Hazel Wood & Dan Gregory on SATORI

Photos - Dan Gregory

Did you know? In the 19^th Century, Ashbridge's Bay was a particularly choice spot for fishing and hunting. The waters teemed with bass, perch, catfish, and sunfish, and in the fall, duck-hunters pounded the dawn skies over the Bay with fierce volleys from their shotguns. The marsh around the Bay was prime territory for muskrat, which provided fur for the lining of coats. Where Eastern and Leslie now intersect, there was a large icehouse, and in winter, large amounts of ice were cut out of the Bay and taken to be stored in the icehouse for sale to East-enders to put in their lemonade when the weather warmed. All of this, of course, was well before the arrival of the sewage-treatment plant.

Speaking of the water in the Bay, last week From the Archive asked who took an impromptu swim during LYRA 1997. No one correctly named the current member mentioned in the Leeshore Update from September 1997, so the chair of the Archive Committee will have to drink the prize that was offered himself. If you're curious who the honey-dipper was, you couldn't do better than to ask around!

This week's question: When were Junior memberships first offered at ABYC?

A. 1938   B. 1958   C. 1978   D. 1998

You can't light them, throw them in the water or in your household garbage

The Canadian Power and Sail Squadrons and The Rigging Shoppe are hosting a

Safety Equipment Education and Flare Disposal Day

Learn about required safety equipment, the care and maintenance of that equipment and how to safely and effectively use flares when needed.

In accordance with Transport Canada requirements, flares are approved for four years from the date of manufacture. Typically, this means that you need to replace your flares every third or fourth boating season and dispose of the old ones.  If they have expired or will expire during the boating season, you must replace them... it's the law!

1^st Boulevard Club
2^nd ABYC
3^rd PCYC
4^th OYS
5^th QCYC
6^th IYC
7^th RCYC
8^th Water Rats
9^th Hilton Head ( represented by Tom Webster and Paul Henderson )
10^th TS&CC
11^th Bronte YC 

Meanwhile, the newly reinvented Youngstown regatta, called the Can Am Challenge also took place last weekend.  Pasquale Leone and the crew of Hammertime II placed 8th in the Beneteau 36.7 fleet.  There may have been other ABYC participants, but as Yacht Scoring doesn't bother to list the club, my apologies if I didn't recognize the name of you or your boat. 

There is still time to sign up for LYRA, so be sure to visit http://abyc.on.ca/lyra2014/racer-info/ and register NOW! Don't miss the fun.

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A crew bank member "rises" to the adventures of the world's longest Freshwater race.   

I started racing at ABYC 2 ½ years ago during which time I have been on the T-Birds, "Crime Scene" and "Lively".  This July I had the pleasure of crewing on "Lively" for the Lake Ontario 600 Race.  As a novice in distance racing, I had little to relate to in preparing myself for what I was about to endure.  Having no shortage of "wise words" from presumably well-meaning souls, there seemed to be an overwhelming trend of my participation bordering masochism, insanity or torture.  For 4 days, 20hrs, 0 min. and 24 seconds, I endured!  Dug deep, found a way to stay positive and now I can proudly say that I did it!  

It was undoubtedly a physical and a mental challenge.  An inaugural, historic and memorable race, where Mother Nature threw almost everything she had at us, and to quote Joe Doris, Chair of the LOOR Committee: "We are now all better sailors for it!".  However on a personal note, I would be happy if I don't have to round Main Duck Island in the near future!  Yikes, what a "whipping", 29 knots the first rounding and 20 hrs. straight into 17-20 knot winds and big waves from the second rounding towards the Niagara mark.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Murray and Winnie Gainer, Nick Bolden and Kyle Harvey for giving me this experience.  Their support and constant words of encouragement had a big impact in my being able to endure this.  What an amazing team.  So proud of our second overall finish!!