A centuries old sailing tradition, the "Sail Past" originated when ships amassed prior to naval conflict and sailed past the Admiral's vessel to salute him/her, pledging their allegiance and hoping to pass inspection. Despite a happy lack of recent naval conflict, the world wide boating tradition continues to this day, supported by the superstitious, mariner notion that good luck and good weather accompanies all vessels and crew who participate.

The Jericho Sailing Centre Season Opening Sailpast (SOS) is important to you, good member, to ensure that all of your ocean excursions this 2013 season are blessed with favourable weather.

At Jericho, we consider the word "Sailing" to be the verb, meaning "travel over water" which is inclusive of all small naturally powered craft native to this shore. All Jericho Members and guests are invited to sail, paddle, windsurf, row, SUP, whatever you like to do here, past our flagship, the Albatross, to salute our President Chris Stairs and crew on Saturday, May 11 between Noon and 1300H.

The SOS is also an important part of the Jericho Boat Show OPEN HOUSE as it gives our visiting landlubber friends an opportunity to see the Jericho Sailing Centre in action - rain or shine please come out and share your Jericho spirit.

The English Bay Safety Seminar was developed for users of the Jericho Sailing Centre to help keep them safe at play on the waters of English Bay. The seminar covers basic water safety fundamentals along with user specific information drawn from the logs of the Jericho Rescue Team who have intervened in thousands of "sea disasters" over the past 38 years.

 Why make your own mistakes when you can learn from the mistakes of others? Don't challenge Darwin's theory, make sure your water safety knowledge is the fittest it can be. Your survival may well depend upon it. Find the missing links and fill in the gaps in your water safety knowledge by attending a FREE English Bay Safety Seminar May 6, June 3 & 24, July 22 or August 19. All times at 1900H RSVP JSCA office.

 Scores of mariners along the south coast of British Columbia heard the desperate, emotionally choked distress call over Channel 16, the marine emergency channel monitored by all radio equipped vessels: a trembling, heavily accented voice that clearly communicated an anguished final appeal; an overseas Captain's plea to the Canadian Coast Guard for immediate medical assistance to save his dying crew member. Six weeks previously, before Stephen Harper's Conservative government pulled the plug on Canada's most prolific lifesaving station for negligible and questionable savings, the Captain wouldn't have had to make that call and his crew member might have survived.

Fifteen minutes earlier on April 11, 2013 the Captain of the Osakana, a 200 metre containership out of Singapore on Anchorage 14, dead smack in the middle of Vancouver Harbour; just a short tack directly north of Jericho Beach, 1 nautical mile west of Stanley Park; and agonizingly, easily within sight, only 2.5nm NW, of the Kitsilano Coast Guard Station; had contacted the Canadian Coast Guard to request emergency medical assistance for his First Mate who was suffering a heart attack. Kitsilano Coast Guard Station crew could have been on board this vessel with hands on the casualty within 10 minutes of that first call.

Conservative Fisheries and Oceans Minister Keith Ashford's baseless claims that the Canadian Coast Guard's first and foremost priority is, and always has been the safety of mariners; and that, the closure of Canada's busiest coast guard station would not negatively impact the safety of mariners in Canada's busiest and most prosperous waterway, is a shameful, disgraceful falsehood. It is as the experts have been saying all along: the Kitsilano Coast Guard Station has been saving lives for 50 years, without it, lives will be lost.

When questioned about the Osakana incident by NDP Fisheries and Oceans critic Fin Donnelly in Parliament, Mr. Ashfield evaded answering the question directly, instead stating that there had been 37 life at risk calls involving 47 people since the Kits closure and that the Sea Island hovercraft had responded with an average "reaction time" of less than 10 minutes. Reaction time is the time it takes the Coast Guard vessel to leave dock - Kitsilano averaged less than 3 minutes. The question this brings to mind is "How much is the government actually saving?" In December, the Coast Guard Commissioner reported to Parliament that the savings were $700,000; down from the original projected savings. However the hovercraft, which has been in English Bay far more frequently than ever before, burns more than 3 times the fuel than the Kits cutter did and requires a crew of 4 rather than 3. Far more expensive to operate and an extra hour round trip just to get here and back.

Local Conservative MPs have been negligent in representing British Columbians, chosing instead to parrot Minister Ashfield's perposterous claims. Please continue to share your concerns with them and ask them: what are the actual savings in this matter of public safety?

The JSCA, along with many others in our marine community will continue to strenuously object to this ill fated closure. In the past two months we have collected over 5,000 letters to Stephen Harper objecting to the closure. We encourage users of the Jericho Sailing Centre to continue to write to local MPs and the Prime Minister to voice their objection. Form letters are available onsite at the Jericho Sailing Centre as well as on our website.

james.moore.c1a@parl.gc.ca

alice.wong@parl.gc.ca