A centuries old sailing tradition, the "Sailpast" originated when tall 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 2015 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 his fearless crew on Saturday, May 9 between 1300H and 1400H.

 

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.

Every Tuesday @ 1815H

Now-September 8

  

  

  

If you race in Jericho's Tuesday and Sunday series events, your results are shown by sail number for each race, but to be scored in the overall series results you have to register your name. Registration has been simplified for 2015. If you haven't registered you will see a "Register" button where your name should be in the race results. Click the button beside your sail number and you go to a login page. Login has been changed - select a Jericho member year and then enter the last 4 digits of the Windline phone number for that year. This will take you to the registration form. Select your name from the list, or enter it if it isn't on the list, click Enter, and you're done.

A couple of things are new. You can now use the registration form to register for the whole 2015 season, using a radio button beside the list of names. If you enter a name that is similar to a name that is already on the list (such as Bartlet, when Bartlett is already on the list), you should be prompted to confirm that you really want to enter the new name.

If you sail a two person boat, you can register both people on the same form. If you only register one person, the results will show that name plus a register button, as a reminder that one person still has to register.

The "Add or remove a competitor" button is still available, under the results, and it works the same way it did last year. You can use it to correct or delete a registration if necessary.

Hopefully these changes will make it easier for JSCA members to register and be scored in the Jericho Sunday or Tuesday series.

Results and registration are at jracing.org.

 

 

   

  

  

Rally Against Coast Guard Cuts @ Kitsilano Coast Guard Station

Speech May 6, 2015

 

My name is Mike Cotter, I've worked off the coast of BC for 38 years; formerly as a crew member with the BC Ferry Corporation and the last 27 years as the GM of the Jericho Sailing Centre, a few minutes by sea from this, the former Kitsilano Coast Guard Station.

 

Just seven weeks after the Steven Harper Government closed the Kitsilano Coast Guard Station; on April 11, 2013, the Captain of the Osakana, a 200 metre container ship at anchor, dead smack in the middle of English Bay, within sight of the shuttered station, put out a desperate, emotionally choked, distress call over Channel 16 pleading for the Canadian Coast Guard to respond immediately to his initial distress call, made some 20 minutes earlier, for medical assistance to save his dying crew member. His shaking words were heard by every mariner on our coast within radio range and by all of the people who staffed our coast guard radio services that afternoon.

 

The Canadian Coast Guard Hovercraft "Siyay" had already been enroute for fifteen minutes from their Sea Island Base when they replied to the Osakana's Channel 16 plea that their ETA would be an additional 10 minutes. Every one of us who heard that call felt the extreme frustration; but I'm sure the hovercraft crew, some of whom likely had served at the Kits Station, felt it the most, as they knew better than anyone, that, had this station not been closed, the Osakana's crew member would already have been in the capable hands of trained Canadian Coast Guard crew; and he may well have survived. Just seven weeks was all it took to sustain the first casualty of the Stephen Harper Government's cuts to coast guard services along Canada's busiest coast.

 

The latest casualty of Canadian Coast Guard cuts are Vancouver shorelines and our precious marine environment, from what was a relatively small spill which should have been easily contained. It was very painful to see the senseless damage to our ocean playground and was further exasperated when people in Vancouver were deliberately lied to by our federal government representatives. I can tell you two things with certainty: the Kitsilano Coast Guard Station was strategically located, equipped, and crewed, to respond expediently to incidents like the April 8 Bunker C fuel spill in English Bay; and, the Stephen Harper Government wants Canadians to somehow believe that it wasn't.

 

We all wait, here on the coast of British Columbia, with today's closure of the Canadian Coast Guard Vancouver Marine Communication and Traffic Services Centre; for the next casualty of these cuts, and I hope, like most of you here today, that it is not another mariner, not more of our treasured marine environment, but instead a Stephen Harper Government that has shown nothing but callous disregard, disrespect and even contempt for our coastal environment and the peoplewho work, transit and recreate on it.

  

 

 

 

The 2015 Jericho Wavechaser Paddle Series kicks off Thursday May 21st then every 2nd Thursday after with the finale on Saturday September 5th at 11am. We're looking forward to building off the 2014 season which ending with growing participation of paddlers in all eventsFor more info paddle over to the Wavechaser webpage.