The Water Rat Sailing Club News

Membership renewal/rule changes and Spring cleanup/Special AGM

Wed, 25 Mar 2026 04:00:06 GMT

Membership renewal

Spring is here! And with that comes our annual renewal. Emails should be going out this week. There are a few changes:

You’ll notice that we are using Smart Waiver to help us collect digital signatures that are required to renew your membership.
You’ll also need to upload your insurance information, which must include a minimum of 1 million in personal liability.
If there is a credit on your account, please press Invoice Me and not Pay Online for it to be applied to your renewal.

Membership rule changes

Active Use Rule:

We have an active use rule which requires members to sail their boat to maintain membership, a policy which has strong support in our membership survey (more to come in our next newsletter).

Since it’s difficult to determine who is and isn’t sailing, we’ve changed this rule to require members to send 1 photo of themselves using their boat(s) to allow us to better determine which boats are being used. We’ll have more details on the logistics later in the year.

If you won’t be able to sail this year, please request an exemption from our body rat.

Mast Up Rule:

We have a rule requiring members to put their mast up each year by June 30. Unfortunately, some members were exploiting a loophole and putting their mast up but otherwise not rigging their boat. The rule has been changed so that the boat must be rigged for sailing/paddling.

Social Membership:

We’ve removed the volunteer hour requirement from the social membership in order to make it less expensive and more attractive. If you’re no longer sailing or paddling and would like to convert to social membership please contact our body rat. This frees up some space and allows us to offer memberships to people on our waiting list.

You can view all of our rules here.

Club Access

We’ve had a few questions about access control, so we’d like to provide an update.

We switched to the electronic system two years ago. The main reason for the switch is that we had been using the same locks for years and there were many more keys out there than members.

No large installation uses physical keys any more; offices, condos, apartments, all use fobs.

When we bought the system, we were told that it would work offline. And it does, but the digital key comes with issues, particularly because of the lack of reliable internet connection at the club and the intermittent use of the digital key by some members.

That’s why we are turning off the digital key altogether and using the fobs. This should resolve all our access issues.

You don’t need to request a fob. If you don’t already have one, it will be set up for you and left in the clubhouse. You’ll receive an email when your fob is ready.

Spring Clean Up

Join us on Saturday, April 25 (the rain date will be April 26) at 9 am. Please bring a rake and gloves and check at the clubhouse for priority tasks.

We need 6 people to launch the boat and 3-4 people with wetsuits to put in the dock. Please contact our dinghy rat if you can help.

We also need approximately 8 people for lunch prep. Please contact our party rat if you would like to help.

There will be a special AGM after lunch is served to discuss and vote on a plan to install running water and grey water capture at the club. This will happen at 1 pm.

Save the date!

Water Rats will be participating in the OHF Club Crawl, scheduled for Saturday June 6 this year. Tickets and details are coming soon.

The Heinz Gebauer Spring War will also happen on Saturday June 6, more details to come soon.

Don't forget…
Submit your volunteer hours on our website.

Missing a newsletter?
Visit our website to get caught up on club news.

Want to find out about club events?
View our calendar here.

The Water Rat Sailing Club

Our members & Board

"Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing around in boats."

City of Toronto water survey

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 17:47:44 GMT

Just over one month till spring!

IMPORTANT: CITY OF TORONTO SURVEY

The city is developing a Personal Watercraft (PWC) Safety Plan to improve safety along Toronto’s waterfront in advance of the 2026 summer season. Personal watercraft include small, motorized vessels such as Jet Skis, Sea-Doos, and WaveRunners.

This Plan is being advanced in response to community safety concerns and City Council direction, and is being developed in coordination with key partners including PortsToronto and the Toronto Police Service Marine Unit, alongside local clubs, operators, and waterfront organizations.

They are looking for our input. Please visit the survey link to participate and make the Outer Harbour safer for everyone. The deadline is February 23.

WATER RAT MEMBERSHIP SURVEY

Don't forget to participate in our membership survey here!

DON’T FORGET…
Submit your volunteer hours on our website.

MISSING A NEWSLETTER?
Visit our website to get caught up on club news.

WANT TO FIND OUT ABOUT CLUB EVENTS?
View our calendar here.

membership survey/spring clean up

Fri, 13 Feb 2026 02:48:39 GMT

SHARE YOUR OPINION! MEMBERSHIP SURVEY
As we look toward a new season, we want to ensure Water Rats continues to be a place we all love to sail and paddle at. To help us improve, we’ve launched a short member survey. We truly value your honest feedback on how we’re doing. We are already hard at work on improvements, including the installation of running water.

We want to hear your ideas for what’s next. Whether it’s a specific project, a new event, or a small fix, your suggestions will directly shape our priorities for the coming months. Please take a moment to share your thoughts here and help us keep the club moving in the right direction.

If you would like volunteer for a project, please contact us directly as the membership survey is anonymous.

SAVE THE DATE!
Our spring cleanup will be Saturday April 25! More details to come.

VOLUNTEER HOURS
The volunteer hours that you completed in 2025 have been uploaded your profile. Please check them and if you see any issues contact the membership rat for corrections.

membership survey/fobs/volunteer hours

Tue, 20 Jan 2026 02:48:51 GMT

MEMBERSHIP SURVEY
As we look toward a new season, we want to ensure Water Rats continues to be a place we all love to sail and paddle at. To help us improve, we’ve launched a short member survey. We truly value your honest feedback on how we’re doing. We are already hard at work on improvements, including the installation of running water. We want to hear your ideas for what’s next. Whether it’s a specific project, a new event, or a small fix, your suggestions will directly shape our priorities for the coming months. Please take a moment to share your thoughts here and help us keep the club moving in the right direction.

FOB CONVERSATION
Due to the issues we've had with the digital key system, we are converting all members to access the club only with the fobs. As part of the process, you will receive an email from Salto saying that your access has been removed. That refers to the digital key access and you will still be able to access the club with the fob. If you don't currently have a fob, you'll receive an email when your fob is available for pickup.

VOLUNTEER HOURS
The volunteer hours that you completed in 2025 have been uploaded your profile. Please check them and if you see any issues contact the membership rat or corrections.

MISSING A NEWSLETTER?
Visit our website to get caught up on club news.

WANT TO FIND OUT ABOUT CLUB EVENTS?
View our calendar here.

Thank you for attending our holiday party

Wed, 24 Dec 2025 14:39:26 GMT

A big thank you to everyone who made our 2025 Holiday Party at Ashbridges Bay Yacht Club a smash hit! Julie MC’d the high energy party vibes with a sing along, delicious dinner, awards, prizes and plenty of dancing.

Stapleton Hall sparkled with holiday cheer including holiday themed rocks collected from the Outer Harbour by Josette and Peter, and beautifully painted by Josette, Yvonne, and Sylvia.

The dance floor stayed warm thanks to the incredible Side Hustle Band—Laine, Brad, Eric, Barry, Robert, and Tim—who absolutely rocked the house. Adding to the musical magic, Willa penned a brand-new Water Rats Sailing Club song, humorously performed by the Ratty Singers: Elizabeth, Yvonne, Michael, Scott, Steve, Peter, Kurt, Marvin, Jennifer, and Willa. Standing ovation worthy!

Throughout the evening, Roy Spencer’s stunning Photo Slideshow of 2025 played on screen, bringing back a year’s worth of memories, laughs, and adventures.

Enjoy some photos from the event on our facebook group.

A special shout-out to John Sá, club member and beekeeper extraordinaire, who generously donated 12 jars of local honey from Bees and Nature Toronto — sweet prizes in every sense of the word .

And of course, the night wouldn’t be complete without our hand painted wood awards and festive Gnomes, celebrating the legends of the year.

Congratulations to:
* Peter Eagar – Best Ambassador
* Beata Sejane – Best Participant (Sailing)
* Marvin Coulson – Most Sportsmanlike
* Yvonne Pennefather – Most Enthusiastic Volunteer
* Ted Kerr – Most Dangerous Boat
* Kurt Pammer – Best Capsize Recovery
* Stuart Northey – Most Likely to Paddle Through Anything (ice, rain, mosquito clouds)
* Shona Chornenki – Human Compass
* Scott Taylor – Best Grill Master
* Heather Broughton – Wildlife Liaison

ILCA / Laser Awards
* Ray Davies - Spring & Summer Series, Fall War & Overall Series
* Nigel Heath - Heinz Gebauer
* Chris van Rossen - Fall Series
* Frank Goldschleger - Most Improved / Best Rookie
* Joe van Rossen - Poona Top Overall Contribution

Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate, sing, dance, laugh, and close out an unforgettable year together. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Holiday party on Saturday night

Fri, 05 Dec 2025 01:31:33 GMT

It’s almost time for our holiday party!

Join us at ABYC on Saturday night around 6:30 pm.

️Tickets are $32.50 per person. Note: We may not be able to fulfill your preferred dinner because that deadline has passed, but there will be food for everyone!

️Parking is available at the municipal parking lot across the street.

Members who dress in Christmas attire will get a free drink ticket at the door.

It’s going to be an epic night!

Lock change at Water Rats

A combination lock has been installed at the man gate (the small door): please use 9816 to get in. Make sure the numbers line up at the top and not the middle.

The digital lock will remain at the main gate. Please contact body@waterrats.ca to purchase a fob for easier entry.

And the keypad is back at the clubhouse! Please use 6491 to get in.

DON’T FORGET…
Submit your volunteer hours on our website.

✉️MISSING A NEWSLETTER?
Visit our website to get caught up onclub news.

WANT TO FIND OUT ABOUT CLUB EVENTS?
View our calendar here.

One day only holiday party sale!

Mon, 17 Nov 2025 01:06:04 GMT

One day only holiday party sale!!! Goes until Monday November 17 at midnight. Tickets are now available. Get yours today!

About the party: Our holiday party is December 6, back at the ABYC.

Tickets are $25 per person for one day only and include dinner (with wine).

There will be a slideshow at the party! Please send any fun photos of water rats events to webrat@waterrats.ca so we can include them!

We'll be giving out awards and you are welcome to nominate when you make your ticket purchase. Or please email partyrat@waterrats.ca with your suggestions.

Lock Update

This year we set up an internet connection for the lock by the gate to the club to improve the reliability of the locks. It has helped, but we have some app users experiencing difficulties. At times a new key is created that needs to be downloaded to the lock before it can be used. Due to the weak internet connection or lack of solar power, sometimes this is not happening reliably. So we've decided to switch everyone to fob access only, as we need to prioritize the reliability of the system. Once the fob is setup on the lock, it will not require continued connectivity to the internet. Fobs will be distributed to all members who don't have one over the winter via the pickup box in the clubhouse.

We're going to switch the clubhouse back to a combination lock. And we're going to leave the combination lock on the small gate, with the combo posted in the clubhouse. That is meant for anyone having issues to exit the club, and not for regular entry/exit.

If the battery on the lock is low, it will flash red 4 times before opening. Once we get a low battery alert, we will swap with the spare lock. The battery can then be changed while the lock is not on the gate (in case there are any issues with the battery change, which is what happened this summer), and this eliminates the possibility that the battery dies.

We're confident that these steps will eliminate any issues next year. We'll only look to expand the system again if members have a good experience. And if it's still not good, we'll look to change.

DON’T FORGET…
Submit your volunteer hours on our website.

MISSING A NEWSLETTER?
Visit our website to get caught up on club news.

WANT TO FIND OUT ABOUT CLUB EVENTS?
View our calendar here.

AGM this weekend/Holiday party tickets

Thu, 13 Nov 2025 02:37:38 GMT

Coming up this weekend…

AGM MEETING

Our AGM will take place Sunday November 16 at 2 pm at the club.

Our Paper Pat, Party Rat, Racing Rat and Chief Rat are resigning and we’re looking for members interested in taking on those roles. Many thanks to Julie, Walburga, Ray and David (who has spent seven years on the board) for their service!

As a reminder, members are welcome to run for any role on the board.

We will be putting together an agenda in advance for the meeting. If anyone would like to add an agenda item please email chiefrat@waterrats.ca and put AGM in the subject line.

Please find our executive board member reports here. If you are not able to attend and want to vote, please fill in our proxy form and assign your vote to someone else.

For those who attend the AGM in person, we will be announcing a special one day deal for our holiday party. Curious? Come and find out what’s happening!

HOLIDAY PARTY

Our holiday party is December 6, back at the ABYC. It’s looking to be quite the banger this year! Please join us!

Tickets this year will be $32.50 per person and include dinner (with wine). Note that you will need to purchase your ticket ONE WEEK in advance in order to pre-order your dinner. Please don’t delay!

There will be a slideshow at the party! Please send any fun photos of water rats events to webrat@waterrats.ca so we can include them!

We'll be giving out awards for:

+Best Sailing Ambassador (representing Water Rats at international meets) (Sail)
+Best Sailing Participant (Sail)
+Most Sportsmanlike (Sail)
+Most Enthusiastic Volunteer (Sail or Paddle)
+Best Capsize Recovery (or “Wettest Exit”) (Sail or Paddle)
+Human Compass Award – For “creative” route choices that turned a 5 km paddle into a scenic 12 km tour. (Paddle)
+Most Likely to Paddle Through Anything – Ice? Rain? Mosquito clouds? They’re out there anyway. (Paddle)
+Wildlife Liaison – For the paddler who interacts most closely with local birds, fish, or logs-that-look-like-beavers. (Paddle)
+Make up a new award and nominate somebody! (Sail or Paddle)

You are welcome to nominate when you make your ticket purchase. Or please email partyrat@waterrats.ca with your suggestions.

Tickets are now available. Get yours today!

DON’T FORGET…
Submit your volunteer hours on our website.

MISSING A NEWSLETTER?
Visit our website to get caught up onclub news.

WANT TO FIND OUT ABOUT CLUB EVENTS?
View our calendar here.

AGM/Holiday Party/Executive Board Reports

Wed, 05 Nov 2025 21:04:59 GMT

Thanks to everyone who came out to our club fall cleanup. Don’t forget to add your volunteer hours!

AGM ANNOUNCEMENT

Our AGM will take place Sunday November 16 at 2 pm at the club.

As a reminder, members are welcome to run for any role on the board.

We will be putting together an agenda in advance for the meeting. If anyone would like to add an agenda item please email chiefrat@waterrats.ca and put AGM in the subject line.

Please find our executive board member reports here.

For those who attend the AGM in person, we will be announcing a special one day deal for our holiday party.

HOLIDAY PARTY

Please join us on December 6 for our holiday party, back at the ABYC. Tickets this year will be $32.50 per person and include dinner (with wine). Note that you will need to purchase your ticket ONE WEEK in advance in order to pre-order your dinner.

There will be a slideshow at the party! Please send any fun photos of water rats events to webrat@waterrats.ca so we can include them!

We will need some volunteers for this event:

+Show off your crafty side and make table centerpieces.
+Arrange to get sponsorship prizes to giveaway at the event.
+Greet people at the entrance and give away tickets.
Please email partyrat@waterrats.ca with your interest.

We'll be giving out awards for:

You are welcome to nominate when you make your ticket purchase.

Tickets are now available. Get yours today!

DON’T FORGET…
Submit your volunteer hours on our website.

MISSING A NEWSLETTER?
Visit our website to get caught up on club news.

WANT TO FIND OUT ABOUT CLUB EVENTS?
View our calendar here.

Fall Cleanup/AGM/Holiday party

Mon, 20 Oct 2025 14:54:14 GMT

Our season is coming to an end and it’s time to get our club ready for the winter. Please note that our fall cleanup has been delayed for one week (it will now be November 1) to leave some additional time for the leaves to fall from the trees.

FALL CLEAN UP

We’ll be having our annual fall cleanup on Saturday NOVEMBER 1 (with Sunday being the rain date). Come help us make the space beautiful and get some volunteer hours!

Bring a rake and some gloves. We will also need some volunteers to prepare lunch and bring in the dock (wetsuit needed). Contact groundsrat@waterrats.ca and put FALL BBQ in the subject line to help.

AGM ANNOUNCEMENT

Our AGM will take place Sunday November 16 at 2 pm at the club.

Sadly, our Paper Pat, Party Rat and Chief Rat are resigning and we’re looking for members interested in taking on those roles. Many thanks to Julie, Walburga and David (who has spent for seven years on the board!) for their service!

NOTE: if there is someone who would like to step up as party rat until the AGM please let chiefrat@waterrats.ca know (we need someone to help plan the holiday party and Walburga is on holiday!)

As a reminder, members are welcome to run for any role on the board.

We will be putting together an agenda in advance for the meeting. If anyone would like to add an agenda item please email chiefrat@waterrats.ca and put AGM in the subject line.

HOLIDAY PARTY

Please join us on Saturday December 6 for our holiday party, back at the ABYC. Tickets this year will be $32.50 per person and include dinner (with wine).

There will be a slideshow at the party! Please send any fun photos of water rats event to webrat@waterrats.ca and put PHOTOS in the subject line so we can include them!

We will need some volunteers for this event.

Show off your crafty side and make table centerpieces.
Arrange to get sponsorship prizes to giveaway at the event.
Greet people at the entrance and give away tickets.
Please email chiefrat@waterrats.ca with your interest an put HOLIDAY PARTY in the subject line.

We'll be giving out awards for:

Best ambassador (representing Water Rats at international sailing meets)
Best participant in sailing
Most improved sailor
Most sportsmanlike
Most enthusiastic volunteer
Most outspoken

Tickets are now available. Get yours today!

DON’T FORGET…
Submit your volunteer hours on our website.

MISSING A NEWSLETTER?
Visit our website to get caught up on club news.

WANT TO FIND OUT ABOUT CLUB EVENTS?
View our calendar here.

Upcoming club events and news

Fri, 05 Sep 2025 13:20:27 GMT

What a great summer we have had so far. The club looks amazing and the weather has given us so many reasons to get out on the water.

Join us at some upcoming events at the club:

LAST SUMMER BBQ SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 14

Our final summer BBQ will be Sunday September 14 from 4 - 6 pm. There will be delicious food and live music. If you are able to volunteer, please contact partyrat@waterrats.ca.

FALL CAT REGATTA SEPTEMBER 20/21

Cat sailors! Our annual Cat Regatta is coming up on September 20. Register here now. Breakfast and dinner are included for a very reasonable price. We still need a boat driver and assistant on Saturday. If you can help, please sign up here.

In club news:

MAIN GATE LOCK

As you are likely aware, we’ve been experiencing some problems with our digital lock and we hope to have this fixed soon.

IMPORTANT! The combo to the temporary lock is 9816. There is a visible line at the top of the lock which is challenging to see in the dark. The lock will not open if you line the numbers up in the middle, they need to line up at the top along the line.

THE ABANDONED FLOATING DOCK

This has been a challenge to resolve. The Port Authority is working on the situation and hopes to have the dock removed by mid-September. Fingers crossed that it’s gone soon!

OUR LEASE WITH THE CITY

Our lease with the city has been up for renewal and after several meetings, we should see a new lease in early January. There are still some things that need to be finalized, so we await their direction on final date.

PAVING REGATTA ROAD

Looks like Regatta Road will be paved to Unwin in the next week or so which will definitely help with dust and dirt on our cars. Be prepared for delays while this takes place.

FISH HABITAT ON THE RAT SPIT

There has been talk of the creation of a fish habitat off of our spit and the city has drawn up plans, but nothing has been done and the project has not found funding yet.

We have been in several meetings with the City to voice our concerns with the habitat and how it will affect our sailing/kayaking experience negatively. Please stay tuned for any updates as we will let our membership know as soon as we have more information.

DON’T FORGET…
Submit your volunteer hours on our website.

MISSING A NEWSLETTER?
Visit our website to get caught up onclub news.

WANT TO FIND OUT ABOUT CLUB EVENTS?
View our calendar here.

Last summer BBQ on September 14

Sun, 24 Aug 2025 21:10:10 GMT

LAST SUMMER BBQ SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 14

Our final summer BBQ will be Sunday September 14 from 4 - 6 pm. Please join us for some delicious food and live music. If you are able to volunteer, please contact partyrat@waterrats.ca.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED TO CLEAN CLUBHOUSE

We are looking for volunteers to help out on a regular basis to keep our lovely club house clean. Chores include: Broom and mop the floors, clean both change rooms, tidy cabinets and fridge. Mops and buckets are found in the men’s change room, detergents are under the kitchen cabinet. Please contact Elizabeth Lee (laiharfong1@icloud.com) if you are able to help out.

FALL CAT REGATTA SEPTEMBER 20/21

Cat sailors! Our annual Cat Regatta is coming up on September 20. Register here now. Breakfast and dinner are included in the very reasonable price. We still need lots of volunteers for this weekend event, please sign up here.

AND DON’T FORGET…

Submit your volunteer hours on our website.

MISSING A NEWSLETTER?

Visit our website to get caught up on club news.

WANT TO FIND OUT ABOUT CLUB EVENTS?

View our calendar here.

volunteers needed/BBQ on Tuesday

Thu, 17 Jul 2025 18:43:32 GMT

NEXT SUMMER BBQ JULY 22
We’re doing it again! Our next summer BBQ is Tuesday, July 22 at 7 pm! Join us at the club for a free dinner and some lake fun. If you are able to volunteer, please contact partyrat@waterrats.ca.

SUMMER REGATTA COMING UP
All sailors! Please join us for a one-day regatta on August 3! Here’s where to register.

We need a volunteer who would be willing to pick up and deliver a simple breakfast from Tim Hortons to the club for 8:30 AM in the morning of Aug 3. Please contact Beata if you can help out.

AND DON’T FORGET…
Submit your volunteer hours on our website.

MISSING A NEWSLETTER?
Visit our website to get caught up on club news.

WANT TO FIND OUT ABOUT CLUB EVENTS?
View our calendar here.

Ant Spray rescheduled/Summer BBQ July 22

Tue, 08 Jul 2025 14:12:28 GMT

IMPORTANT! ANT SPRAY RESCHEDULED
Due to an illness, our next ant spray has been rescheduled to Thursday, July 10. Members are not permitted to enter the club during the entire morning. Thanks in advance for your understanding.

NEXT SUMMER BBQ JULY 22
We’re doing it again! Our next summer BBQ is next Tuesday, July 22 at 7 pm! Join us at the club for a free dinner and some lake fun. If you are able to volunteer, please contact partyrat@waterrats.ca.

SUMMER REGATTA COMING UP
All sailors! Please join us for a one-day regatta on August 3! Here’s where to register. We will need volunteers. Please contact Dan Borg at 416-254-8882 if you can help out.

HAVING TROUBLE WITH THE SALTO APP?
You are not alone! We’ve discovered that the Salto device doesn’t work well with phones in MagSafe cases. If you are using one of these, please tap your phone screen (not the back of the case) to the device or remove your phone from its case. This should enable the device to find your digital key more easily.

DO YOU HAVE ACCESS TO A BACKHOE OR DIGGER?
If so, please get in touch with groundsrat@waterrats.ca. There’s a project you may be able to help us out with.

AND DON’T FORGET…
Submit your volunteer hours on our website.

MISSING A NEWSLETTER?
Visit our website to get caught up onclub news.

WANT TO FIND OUT ABOUT CLUB EVENTS?
View our calendar here.

FIRST BBQ JUNE 24

Mon, 16 Jun 2025 15:35:51 GMT

REMINDER: FIRST BBQ JUNE 24
Calling all members! Our first summer BBQ is next Tuesday! Join us at the club for a free dinner and some lake fun. If you can volunteer please contact partyrat@waterrats.ca.

PLEASE CUT THE GRASS UNDER YOUR BOATS
A reminder to all sailors to cut the grass under your boats. Also make sure your trailer tires are not flat. This helps us keep the property looking clean and tidy, especially with our lease renewal coming up!

We are also seeking a volunteer to clean up the grass under the paddle racks. We have a club weed wacker. Please contact paddlerat@waterrats.ca to arrange.

DO YOU HAVE RECEIPTS TO SUBMIT?
All board members have new email addresses. Get in touch with Gord at moneyrat@waterrats.ca. Moving forward, requests will only be accepted through this address.

WE HAVE ROOM FOR MORE LASERS!
We’d love to recruit more active sailors for the club. Do you have friends who love to sail and have their own boat? Share the word with them!

AND DON’T FORGET…
Submit your volunteer hours on our website.

MISSING A NEWSLETTER?
Visit our website to get caught up onclub news.

WANT TO FIND OUT ABOUT CLUB EVENTS?
View our calendar here.

Notice: Club closed this Tuesday morning

Fri, 30 May 2025 17:40:21 GMT

IMPORTANT NOTICE: WATER RATS CLOSED TUESDAY JUNE 3 AM

It's that time of year again. We have booked our annual fire ant spraying on Tuesday June 3 and Tuesday July 8 from 9 am to 12 pm. The club will be closed during this time.

Sorry folks, as Tuesday appears to be a lovely day! Hope the weather holds out until noon for us!!

Club crawl this weekend!

Mon, 26 May 2025 15:16:10 GMT

Summer weather is (finally) here!

It's time to get out on the water! Here are some upcoming social events. We hope to see you there!

Outer Harbour Sailing Federation Club Crawl

Join us this Saturday at 5:30 for a pirate club crawl along our Outer Harbour clubs. The fun starts at the windsurfing club, but feel free to join us anytime. Tickets are available on our website. You'll be given a wristband which must be worn at the event.

We also need a few more volunteers who are able to help out for the Water Rats portion at 5:30. Please contact Shona (paddlerat@waterrats.ca) if you are able to help out.

Heinz Gebrauer Spring War

Saiilors! Our first regatta happens on June 7! Have you purchased your tickets yet? Find out more about the event here.

All sailors!

A reminder to please put air in your trailer tires and maintain your boat. This will help us maintain the property.

Save the date for our first club BBQ

It's happening on June 24! See you there!

Submit your hours
Submit your volunteer hours on our website.

Missing a newsletter?
Visit our website to get caught up on club news.

Don't miss a club event
View our calendar here.

Spring events coming up

Wed, 14 May 2025 01:17:21 GMT

WELCOME BACK TO THE WATER!!!

REMINDER: CLUB CRAWL COMING UP MAY 31
Calling all members! Curious about the other clubs that share our space along Regatta Road? Now is your chance to make some new friends.

Our annual club crawl is May 31 and if you buy before May 20, tickets are only $20. Purchase them here. Food, music and fun included!

HEINZ GEBAUER SPRING WAR REGATTA 2025: JUNE 7 Sailors, have you registered for our first 2025 regatta yet? Tickets are $50 for a whole weekend of sailing! Sign up to participate now.

We’ll also need 2 volunteers to help out on the Saturday BBQ. Please contact racerat@waterrats.ca for more information.

ARE YOU GOOD AT WOODWORKING?
We are seeking a couple of volunteers for a few small projects. Please contact body@waterrats.ca for more information.

SAVE THE DATE! FIRST CLUB BBQ IS JUNE 24!
We will be calling out for volunteers soon! It’s free! Enjoy some food and good company!

JOIN THE MEGA CLEAN
Saturday mornings: May 31 and July 12 Time: 9:45 AM – 1:00 PM
Cherry Beach & Tommy Thompson Park Shoreline Cleanup is partnering with Don’t Mess with the Don for waterway clean up too!

Water Rats club member Anna Hoad is representing Toronto Nature Stewards now so we thought it would be great to have a bold event that connects the outer harbour areas to take action on litter.

If anyone wants to join the shoreline clean up they are welcome to; either land based or in their own kayak or canoe.

CAT RACING AND SOCIAL AT JTOWN: MAY 18
Please join us for the first cat race practice of the year on May 18 at 3 PM on land at St. James Town Sailing Club or on the water in the Harbour!

A sausage(upwind/downwind) course will be set in the area, depending on the direction of the wind, between TMCC and Eastern Gap. There is no sign up (drop-ins are welcome) and we do not keep score.

The session is kicked off with a sailors' meeting and an on-land briefing at St. James Town Sailing Club. It continues on the water in the Harbour between 3:30 PM and 5:30 PM, and is wrapped up with a social debrief on land at St. James Town Sailing Club around 6 PM. Please bring a race watch and BYOB!

This is a voluntary, community driven race practice session, built by our cat sailing friends at St. James Town Sailing Club and Westwood Sailing Club. St. James Town Sailing Club will be setting the course this time. If you are interested in volunteering and setting the course for future race practice sessions, taking place every other Sunday, please contact Beata Sejane at cat@sailtoronto.com.

For more info on these bi-weekly sessions please click here.

AND DON’T FORGET…
Submit your volunteer hours on our website.

MISSING A NEWSLETTER?
Visit our website to get caught up on club news.

WANT TO FIND OUT ABOUT CLUB EVENTS?
View our calendar here.

Spring Cleanup this Saturday

Wed, 23 Apr 2025 14:39:31 GMT

It's almost time to get out on the water!

REMINDER: SPRING CLEANUP ON SATURDAY

The weather is looking good for our spring cleanup on Saturday, April 26 (rain date is April 27) at 9 am.

Please bring rakes, gloves and water bottles.

We still need some volunteers for lunch prep. Contact Mike (mike.gurski@gmail.com) in advance if you can help.

We also need people with wetsuits to enter the water to help launch the boat and the lift. Please contact Garvie (kgbrown100@gmail.com).

COMING UP: HEINZ GEBAUER SPING WAR REGATTA

Join us for this event on Saturday, June 7. Register here. Stay tuned for a volunteer announcement.

SAVE THE DATE: OHSF PUB CRAWL

Our OHSF pub crawl will be on Saturday, May 31. It’s a fun event and we’ll make an announcement when tickets are available.

AND DON’T FORGET…

Submit your volunteer hours at the end of your cleanup day participation. Please log them here on our website.

MISSING A NEWSLETTER?

Visit our website to get caught up on club news.

WANT TO FIND OUT ABOUT CLUB EVENTS?

View our calendar here.

Spring clean up April 26! and more

Wed, 16 Apr 2025 21:32:50 GMT

JOIN US FOR SPRING CLEANUP ON APRIL 26

It's time for our spring clean-up! Join us on Saturday, April 26 (the rain date will be April 27) at 9 am.

Please bring rakes, gloves and water bottles.

Check with Mike (mike.gurski@gmail.com) at the clubhouse for priority tasks. If you have sanders and painting equipment please bring them.

We need 3-4 people with wet suits to go into the water to help launch the boat. Please contact Mike to arrange.

We also need 10 volunteers for lunch prep. (1 to get groceries, 2 for kitchen prep, 3 to run the BBQ and 4 for clean up). Contact Mike in advance if you can help.

SUP SPOTS AT WESTWOOD

Westwood Sailing Clue has 2 spots open for SUP boards 11 feet or less (hard or inflatable). The cost is $325 a year. Please contact Shona if interested (paddlerat@waterrats.ca)

UPCOMING EVENT

Join us for the Heinz Gebauer Spring WAR Regatta 2025 on June 7. Register here.

IS THIS YOUR BOAT?

(See photo here)

Please contact Shona (paddlerat@waterrats.ca) ASAP
HR Rack #3 Arm #6 Boat # 1441

This is NOT your Assigned Rack. This boat must to be moved on or before spring clean up or we will need to cut your lock.

AND DON’T FORGET…

Submit your volunteer hours at the end of cleanup day participation. Please log them here on our website.

MISSING A NEWSLETTER?
Visit our website to get caught up on club news.

WANT TO FIND OUT ABOUT CLUB EVENTS?
View our calendar here.

Take our 2025 Membership Survey

Tue, 28 Jan 2025 01:47:50 GMT

Membership Survey

The board is committed to continually improving the member experience at Water Rats. To help us understand the areas for improvement and where we're doing well, we'd like to invite you to participate in an anonymous survey. You'll have the opportunity to rate the club in various areas and provide feedback and overall comments. Thank you for taking the time to complete the survey.

Rule Change

We continue to experience issues with boats appearing at the club without obtaining stickers. As a reminder, members are only permitted to store the boats listed in their profile. It creates a lot of unnecessary volunteer work to determine the owners of these boats, and a result the executive has decided to apply a fine in cases where boats are brought to the club and not registered. Rule 12 has been changed as follows (change in italics).

12. Club stickers must be affixed to all boats and trailers kept at WRSC. Failure to affix current stickers may result in a member’s boat or trailer being removed from the Club. If a member changes or brings a new boat or trailer to the Club, new stickers must be obtained from the Membership Rat or other member of the Executive before bringing the boat or trailer to the Club. Any boats found at the club without a sticker, or where the sticker is not registered to any member, will be subject to a fine of $100.

Unidentified Boats

There are a few unidentified boats at the club. If one of them belongs to you, could you please contact the Membership Rat. Given that these boats arrived at the club before the rule change, we will not be applying the fine.

Floating Dock

Many of you might have noticed a large dock washed up on the beach of our club.The Port Authority has been notified and they will return to sort out its removal!

Enjoy the winter! Less then four months until we're back on the water!

Holiday Party tickets are on sale

Thu, 21 Nov 2024 02:14:30 GMT

BUY TICKETS TO OUR HOLIDAY PARTY NOV 30

Don’t miss out! The weather outside may be frightful, but our holiday party will certainly be delightful!

Join us for some seasonal cheer! We'll have music, a buffet dinner, drinks and (maybe) Santa! The event will be held at The Keating Channel Bar and cost $49.50.

Buy tickets here.

We’d like to collect some photos to create a slideshow at the meeting. Please send your favourite moments at Water Rats to Roy. Or just upload them to this gdrive folder!

AND DON’T FORGET…

Please remember to submit your volunteer hours by the end of the year. Please log them here on our website.

MISSING A NEWSLETTER?
Visit our website to get caught up on club news.

AGM: THIS SUNDAY/VOLUNTEER NEEDED

Thu, 14 Nov 2024 01:56:12 GMT

AGM: THIS SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17 AT 2 PM

We’ll be meeting in person at the clubhouse. Please plan to attend if you are able.

You’ll find the executive member reports here. Note that there are some important (and lengthy) appendix hotlinked to the paper rat and ground rat reports. Please take some time to review them also.

If interested, here’s where you can find the minutes of our AGM in 2023.

As Jeff mentioned, all board positions are open to members who are interested in running.

URGENT: VOLUNTEER NEEDED

We need a volunteer (or two) to fix the fence that borders our property with Cherry beach. A large dock floated in and caused some damage. Please reach out to Micheal if you can help.

BUY TICKETS TO OUR HOLIDAY PARTY NOV 30

Join us for some seasonal cheer! We'll have music, a buffet dinner, drinks and (maybe) Santa! The event will be held at The Keating Channel Bar and cost $49.50.

Buy tickets here.

AND DON’T FORGET…

Please remember to submit your volunteer hours by the end of the year. Please log them here on our website.

AGM NOV 17/HOLIDAY PARTY

Tue, 05 Nov 2024 23:35:13 GMT

AGM: NOVEMBER 17

Our AGM will be on November 17 at 2 pm. We’ll be meeting in person at the clubhouse. Please plan to attend if you are able.

You’ll find the executive member reports here. Note that there are some important (and lengthy) appendix hotlinked to the paper rat and ground rat reports. Please take some time to review them.

As Jeff mentioned, all board positions are open to members who are interested in running.

Longtime member, Julie Hughes is interested in the Chief Rat position and since she’s out of the country for the AGM, we’re including an introductory note from her below.

If other members are interested in running and unable to attend the AGM, we’re happy to send your info as well by email to the membership. Feel free to send us a note.

A NOTE FROM JULIE HUGHES

Hello WRSC Members!

As we approach our AGM, I wanted to throw my hat in the ring for Chief Rat officially.

About Me
My name is Julie Hughes, and I’ve been a member of WRSC for nearly 20 years. If we haven’t had the chance to meet yet, here’s a bit about me:

• I’m a mom to two amazing university students.

• I’ve been sailing and racing since childhood.

• At WRSC, you’ll find me racing my Laser and paddling my Hobie kayak—often accompanied by my two Aussie shepherds.

Why Now? Why Chief Rat?

1. It’s been a few years since I served on the Board, and I believe it’s my turn to step up.

2. I deeply love WRSC and want to support and expand our community.

3. I’m actively involved in sailing, racing, and kayaking.

4. I’m passionate about fostering open communication and supporting community discussions.

5. I’m dedicated to promoting our shared goals for the club we all care about.

I won’t be able to attend the AGM in person as I’ll be travelling with Looking at the Stars, a charity that brings classical music to prisons. I’ll be in Lithuania until November 22, but I’m grateful for the opportunity to connect with you here.

Thank you for your time and consideration. Here's to a great life at WRSC!

BUY TICKETS TO OUR HOLIDAY PARTY NOV 30

Join us for some seasonal cheer! We'll have music, a buffet dinner, drinks and (maybe) Santa! The event will be held at The Keating Channel Bar and cost $49.50.

Buy tickets here.

AND DON’T FORGET…

Please remember to submit your volunteer hours by the end of the year. Please log them here on our website.

MISSING A NEWSLETTER?
Visit our website to get caught up on club news.

Note from Jeff/Fall Cleanup date change/AGM announcement

Tue, 22 Oct 2024 14:21:05 GMT

A NOTE FROM JEFF

Hello Rats!The end of year activities are soon upon us! Coming up we have the fall cleanup day, the AGM, and finally...the Holiday Party! (see more below)

This will be my last year as Chief Rat, marking roughly 6 years of time on the board as both Body and Chief Rat. Unfortunately, I'm finding it difficult to find enough time to make it downtown as much as I would like (we bought our first house in Port Perry 2.5 years ago).

It's been my honor to serve on the exec for Water Rats. Sailing offered me a world of friendship and opportunity and I am happy that I've done my best to ensure others can enjoy that same pleasure. It's been my pleasure to work with the rest of the board at rats, they are an incredible group, with many differing opinions but one thing in common, they all love the club.

We've taken a number of steps to clean up, improve and modernize operations at rats. We have new lockers, new paddle racks, a beautifully painted deck with shade, a more secure and easier to manage lock system, a new power boat, new safety equipment (including a defibrillator), accessibility improvements to the beach area, a cleaner site (due to the cleanup/sale of 20+ derelict/unclaimed trailers and boats), and many more efforts behind the scenes.

On top of it all, it's great to see an increasingly active membership showing up to BBQ, regatta, group paddle and general events. Good job Rats!

There are a lot of great people that work hard to keep rats going strong, while I can't mention them all, I do want to highlight one such person individually. This person is always putting effort into the little things (and the big things) that aren't necessarily glamorous, but always necessary. Thank you Bruce, for the amount of care and effort you put into everything you do for rats.

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the AGM and Holiday Party.

Most of our exec is willing to run for another year, but as always, ALL positions are open to anyone who is nominated and receives the most votes. Below is a quick overview of the positions, everyone is planning to return unless noted otherwise.

Shona - Paddle Rat

Annette - Web Rat

David - Paper Rat

Chris - Dinghy Rat

Ray - Race Rat - Would happily step aside for someone else to step up, but would run again.

Michael - Body Rat

Walburga - Party Rat

Gord - Money Rat

Norm Lamb - Past Rat

Jeff - Chief Rat - Not planning to run again.

If anyone would like to run for a position, and would like more information, or the opportunity to introduce themselves formally to the membership, please reach out so we can assist!

FALL CLEANUP: DATE CHANGE

Due to the unseasonably warm weather, we are pushing the date of our fall cleanup back by one week as the leaves have yet to fall from the trees. This will now happen on November 2 (rain date November 3).

Please bring rakes and gloves. Check at the clubhouse for priority tasks.

We need 3-4 people with wet suits to go into the water to help take out the boat.

We also need 10 volunteers for lunch prep. (2 to get groceries, 3 for kitchen prep, 3 to run the BBQ and 2 for clean up).

Contact Barbara if you can help with the food preparation.

AGM: NOVEMBER 17

Our AGM will be on November 17 at 2 pm. We’ll be meeting in person at the clubhouse. Please plan to attend if you are able. More to follow soon.

BUY TICKETS TO OUR HOLIDAY PARTY NOV 30

Join us for some seasonal cheer! We'll have music, a buffet dinner, drinks and (maybe) Santa! The event will be held at The Keating Channel Bar and cost $49.50.

Buy tickets here.

AND DON’T FORGET…

Remember to submit your volunteer hours by the end of the year. Please log them here on our website.

MISSING A NEWSLETTER?
Visit our website to get caught up on club news.

Volunteers needed/regatta winners/fall cleanup

Mon, 23 Sep 2024 21:58:12 GMT

CPR/First aid seminar this weekend

We'll be doing some training on Saturday September 28 at the clubhouse at 9 am.

There are a few spots available if you would like to join in. Please reach out to Annette to arrange.

Regatta winners and photos

It was a great time last weekend. Visit our facebook group for photos.

Congrats to the winners! See below.

Get your volunteer hours this fall!

We need help with the following.

1) fill potholes in drive

2) assist in moving lumber

3) take abandoned wheels and tires to Canadian Tire

4) Give the BBQs a good clean for winter.

Please contact Bruce if you can help out.

Fall work party

We'll be having our fall cleanup on Saturday October 26th from 9 am to 1 pm. The rain date is Sunday October 27th.

Food will be served at the end of the event. We need 2-4 volunteers to help out.

Please bring rakes and gloves. We'll also need four volunteers with wet suits to take in the boat lunch.

Please contact Barbara if you are able to help out.

See you at the fall cleanup!

BBQ this weekend/Regatta next weekend

Sat, 14 Sep 2024 14:17:03 GMT

CLUB BBQ: TOMORROW

Join us at Water Rats for a free dinner on Sunday September 15 at 4 pm! You’ll get one play hour if you attend.

FALL CAT REGATTA NEXT WEEKEND

Please consider helping out with the following positions if you are not sailing in our annual regatta. Specifically we are still looking for boat drivers (and assistants) on both days. Note that we provide the boat, gas and VHF radio. Sign up is here.

If you’d like to race with us, please sign up here.

As always, solid racing, beautiful weather, delicious food on both days and lots of fun prizes are guaranteed at Water Rats!

Enjoy the wonderful weekend ahead!

September BBQ/Fall Regatta

Thu, 05 Sep 2024 01:03:40 GMT

CLUB BBQ: SEPTEMBER 15

Join us at Water Rats for a free dinner on Sunday September 15 at 4 pm! You’ll get one play hour if you attend.

We need 4 volunteers to help run the event, please contact Walburga if you are able to help out.

WE NEED VOLUNTEERS FOR THE SEPTEMBER CAT REGATTA

The regatta will take place September 21/22. Please sign up here if you are able to help out. There are several open positions.

RACING SERIES

Our fall racing series is on Sundays at 1 pm. Please join us, beginners are welcome.

FALL CLEANUP

Stay tuned for an announcement coming soon!

Hope everyone had a wonderful summer. There’s still some nice weather for boating ahead!

August BBQ/Volunteers/CPR training

Wed, 31 Jul 2024 17:47:04 GMT

CLUB BBQ: AUGUST 13

Join us at Water Rats for a free BBQ dinner on Tuesday August 13 at 7 pm! You’ll get one play hour if you attend.

We need 4 volunteers to help run the event, please contact Yvonne if you are able to help out.

Save the date for the next BBQ on Sunday September 15 at 4 pm.

WE NEED VOLUNTEERS FOR THE SEPTEMBER CAT REGATTA

The regatta will take place September 21/22. Please sign up here if you are able to help out. There are several open positions.

UNIDENTIFIED BOATS

We have found several boats that do not have an identification sticker. Could you please review the photos and if these belong to you, please contact Michael. If you are buying a new boat, please be sure to obtain stickers before bringing it to the club.

FIRST AID/CPR TRAINING

Member Micheal Whitehead has offered CPR/First Aid training for 12 members. The entire course lasts all day (8 hours), but if you only wish to take the CPR training this will be taught over a shorter period just after lunch.

There is no cost, unless a certificate is required in which case it will be $21 for CPR and $31 for Emergency First Aid.

Please sign up if you are interested and indicate what days work the best. We would prefer to train members who are attending the club on a regular basis.

SHIP CHANNEL BRIDGE UPDATE
Here is the latest from Ports Toronto. It looks to be over by August 16.

MISSING A NEWSLETTER?

Visit our website to get caught up on club news.

Cat Racing Practice this Sunday

Tue, 30 Jul 2024 21:46:17 GMT

Join us for Cat Race Practice every other Sunday at 3:30 PM on the water. Please see the list of events and dates.

Meet us for a quick on-land session at JTown at 3 PM, on the water from 3:30 PM to 5:30 PM, to be wrapped up by 6 PM.

This weekend (August 4) we will be joined by Dan Borg!

Please join us! We will be set up on the water in front of Water Rats and should be fairly visible.

URGENT: BBQ postponed

Tue, 16 Jul 2024 20:03:52 GMT

URGENT: BBQ postponed

Due to today's storm and subsequent flooding tonight BBQ event is postponed until tomorrow (Wednesday July 17).

Reminder: BBQ July 16/Club shirts and hats

Fri, 12 Jul 2024 16:45:52 GMT

CLUB BBQ: JULY 16

Join us at Water Rats for a free dinner! And you’ll get one play hour if you attend. Please bring musical instruments if you have one!

SHIP CHANNEL BRIDGE UPDATE
Here is the latest from Ports Toronto. It looks to be over by August 16.

WATER RAT SHIRTS/HATS FOR SALE

Apologies for the incorrect information in our last newsletter. The good news is that these items will be available for ALL but cat regatta volunteers get a $20 discount and NOT free swag.

Shirts (quick-dry material and ladies' cut available) please specify your size $30

Hats (cotton twill material with embroidered Water Rats logo) $20

Available in the following colors:

Hats in White and Navy Blue
Shirts in Atomic Blue, Silver, True Red, Forest Green and Navy Blue
Shirts (Ladies Cut) in True Red and Wild Raspberry

If you are placing your order AND volunteering to help with the Water Cats Fall regatta, the cost for your hat + shirt is only $30!

During both days of the regatta (Sep 21 and 22) we will have a shirts and hats "station" on site and the price will be the same - $30 for shirts and $20 for hats. There will be a volunteer to administer this stand. We will add a box with a money slot so that if we have the merchandise in our inventory in your color and size, you can get it on the day of the regatta. If there is enough interest we might make the box and leave at the clubhouse as soon as next week.

Please contact Beata to place your order!

ARE THESE YOUR BOATS?

We are looking for the owners of these two kayaks. They are on the bottom row of the beach racks closest to the cats. Please contact Shona Chornenki.

MISSING A NEWSLETTER?

Visit our website to get caught up on club news.

Club BBQ on July 16

Tue, 02 Jul 2024 17:22:22 GMT

CLUB BBQ: JULY 16

Our July Water Rats BBQ will happen on July 16th. Join us at Water Rats for a free dinner! And you’ll get one play hour if you attend.

We need 4 volunteers to run this event. Please contact Walburga if you can help out.

NEW MEMBER?

We have created an onboarding Q&A just for you. If any have any additional suggestions, please get in touch with Annette.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

Are you able to help run our Cat Regatta on Sept 21/22? Sign up here.

WATER RATS MERCHANDISE

We have Water Rat hats ($20) and Tshirts ($30) for sale.

Hats are available in White and Navy Blue.
Tshirts (Mens) in Atomic Blue, Silver, True Red, Forest Green and Navy Blue.
Tshirts (Womens) in True Red and Wild Raspberry.

Please contact Beata to place your order.

If you are volunteering for the Cat Regatta (see above), the price for both will be reduced to $30.

HAVE KIDS THAT WANT TO SAIL?

Join us at the Outer Harbour Sailing Camp for an exciting, inclusive sailing experience for kids aged 6-17. Our mission is to make sailing accessible to all, fostering a love for the sport regardless of background or sailing experience. Led by passionate, certified instructors, we offer CANSail-accredited programs in a safe, fun environment. Campers will navigate waters, understand wind patterns, and master sailing techniques, earning Sail Canada certificates along the way. Our tight-knit, volunteer-led community powdered by the Outer Harbour Sailing Federation promotes inclusivity, diversity, and equality in sailing.

One or two-week sessions in July and August, Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. run out of the Outer Harbour Centerboard Club. Register now for a summer of excitement, learning, new friendships and much more!

More information here.

The camp is currently offering 25% off our WetFeet program, using the discount Code 'Spring'

Additionally, we are offering 15% off for all members of OHSF clubs, they need to enter code 'OHSF24' to apply the code.

MISSING A NEWSLETTER?

Visit our website to get caught up on club news.

Cat Race Practice all summer long

Wed, 19 Jun 2024 13:47:11 GMT

Cat Race Practice all summer long

Join us for Cat Race Practice every other Sunday at 3:30 PM on the water. Please see the list of events and dates.

Meet us for a quick on-land session at JTown at 3 PM, on the water from 3:30 PM to 5:30 PM, to be wrapped up by 6 PM

Please join us! We will be set up on the water in front of Water Rats and should be fairly visible.

BBQ: June 18

Tue, 11 Jun 2024 13:13:23 GMT

CLUB BBQ: JUNE 18

Our first Water Rats BBQ will happen on June 18th. Join us at Water Rats for a free dinner! And you’ll get one play hour if you attend.

We need 4 volunteers to run this event. Please contact Walburga if you can help out.

CLUB CLOSURE

The club will be closed 8 am to noon on June 17 for red ant spraying. Please do not come to the club during that time.

NEW CLUBHOUSE LOCKERS

Please do NOT lock or close the container door. It is almost impossible for some of our members to get it back open. Just push it closed but do not turn the latches. You should have a lock on your locker inside to protect your belongings.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

We’ll be tackling invasive plants on the property again Thursday, June 13 at 10 am. Please bring gloves and a shovel if you have one!

HAVE KIDS THAT WANT TO SAIL?

Some of our neighbouring clubs have learn-to-sail programs. Find out more here.

Club crawl/spring regatta June 8: Get your tickets

Tue, 28 May 2024 21:26:55 GMT

80’s SAILING PARTY CLUB CRAWL SATURDAY JUNE 8

Here’s YOUR chance to see our neighbouring clubs!

Join us for an eighties-themed club crawl on Saturday, June 8 starting at 5:00 with a live band at the Toronto Windsurfing Club and ending at 10:15 with an 80's dance party at Westwood Sailing Club.

There will be a prize for best costume!

Buy your ticket now for $20.

The price goes up on June 3!

We also need two volunteers to help staff the Water Rats portion of the party. Please contact Walburga if you can help.

2024 HEINZ GEBRAUER SPRING WAR

Ahoy sailors! Join the race on Saturday/Sunday June 8/9. Coffee, snacks and prizes for the top three finishes. Great weather and fun is guaranteed!

Price for the regatta is $40, get your ticket now.

BRIDGE CLOSURES

The Ship Channel bridge on Cherry Street is still closed. No definitive word yet on when it will be opened. In the meantime, you need to access the club via Leslie street.

And just for fun, the single-lane bridge east of the club will also be closed intermittently this Wed - Friday from 8 pm on. Let’s hope they’re finished by the weekend!

CLUB CLOSURE JUNE 17

The club will be closed 8 am to noon on June 17 for red ant spraying. Please do not come to the club during that time.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

Help our members remove invasive plants from our property. We’ll be out on Saturday, June 8 at 10 am and Thursday, June 13 at 10 am. Please bring work gloves, water and a shovel if you have one.

SAVE THE DATE

Our first Water Rats BBQ will happen on June 18th. More details to come soon.

CLUB LOCKERS

If you are using locker 1146 or 1170, please remove your lock and contents immediately. These lockers have been assigned to someone else.

PLEASE KEEP OUR CLUBHOUSE CLEAN

Just a gentle reminder that we do not have a cleaning service or a garbage pickup service. So please clean up after yourself and pack your garbage to take home

We all appreciate it!

More cleanup this weekend

Wed, 08 May 2024 20:19:55 GMT

MORE CLEANUP THIS WEEKEND!

Need more volunteer hours? Bring a wheel barrel and some gloves to the club this weekend (May 11/12) to help us load the bin before it's removed next week.

CAN YOU LOAN YOUR TRAILER?

Our neighbours at Mooredale are sending lots of boats to an event in Peterborough in mid-June. Are you able to lend your trailer (for a fee) to help them out? Please contact Mary.

ANT SPRAYING DATES

The club will be closed on May 13, 8 to noon and on June 17 8 am to noon for red ant spraying.

Please do not come to the club during those times as you will be asked to leave.

MISSED A NEWSLETTER?

Please visit our website to catch up on club news.

Ant spraying dates/New boat vote/Work party this weekend

Thu, 02 May 2024 19:54:23 GMT

ANT SPRAYING DATES

The club will be closed on May 13, 8 to noon and on June 17 8 am to noon for red ant spraying.

Please do not come to the club during those times as you will be asked to leave.

JOIN US FOR THE SPRING WORK PARTY

It's time for our spring work party! Join us on Saturday, May 4 (the rain date will be May 5) at 9 am.

Please bring rakes, gloves, battery-powered power sanders, safety glasses, sandpaper, ear plugs if you have them. Our picnic tables need sanding and painting and the clubhouse needs to be scrubbed and prepped for caulking.

We need 3-4 people with wet suits to go into the water to help launch the boat.

We also need 10 volunteers for lunch prep. (2 to get groceries, 3 for kitchen prep, 3 to run the BBQ and 2 for clean up). Contact Barbara if you can help.

Reminder that attending the event and helping out counts towards your volunteer hours.

SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING AFTER THE WORK PARTY TO DISCUSS WATER RAT RIB

After the work party at 1 pm, we will be hosting a meeting to discuss and vote on the purchase of a new boat.

Water Rats current RIB (Grand 520S with Tohatsu 50HP) was purchased in 2012 for $17,800 + HST.

Due to the age of the boat (approx. 12 years) and the fact that the tubes were leaking air, the executive determined that that the current boat would need major repairs or a new boat and motor would need to be purchased.

The Rib was brought in for an assessment and quote for repair to Melo-craft Inflatables in Missisauga. Melo-craft determined that the boat is unseaworthy due to a failure of the internal baffles essentially making it a one chamber boat. Melo-craft noted that “Due to the nature of the glued seam construction of the tube set paired with the age of the tubes it is highly possible for an outer seam to fail at anytime. It is strongly recommended the boat not be used.”

Repair of the boat is not an option and replacement tubes are not available. Given the age of the motor, the executive recommends replacing the complete boat and motor.

We have recieved quotes from the following vendors:

1. Melo-craft Great Lakes ST520M with Suzuki 50 HP, - $29,799 + HST (including $1,800 trade-in of current boat)

2. Grand/Gala Atlantis A500L Tohatsu 50HP - $31,212 + HST

3. Zodiac Open 5.5. $52.995.00 + HST

4. Highfield Patrol 460 $32,495.00 + HST

We recommend option 1 as many other clubs including RCYC, Boulevard Club, Ontario Sailing, Brockville YC and Whitby YC are also using this boat.

We will be taking a vote during the meeting. Please fill in your proxy form and send it to David if you are unable to attend.

VOLUNTEER JOBS

Ramps to the Beach

We would like to build stairs/ramps down to both beaches. We are looking for a total of 6-8 ramps so that we can make these areas more accessible for members. Please contact Michael to help.

Sink

We received many requests to improve the hand/dishwashing station at the club. We are looking for a member to scope out what would be involved in this project, the costs, and a plan for how to do it. Please contact Michael to help.

MISSED A NEWSLETTER?

Please visit our website to catch up on club news.

Spring work party/new boat/volunteer jobs

Tue, 23 Apr 2024 18:41:14 GMT

WORK PARTY SATURDAY MAY 4

It's time for our spring clean-up! Join us on Saturday, May 4 (the rain date will be May 5) at 9 am.

Please bring rakes, gloves and if you have it, battery-powered power sanders, safety glasses, sandpaper, ear plugs as the picnic tables need sanding and the clubhouse needs to be scrubbed and prepped for caulking.

Check at the clubhouse for priority tasks.

We need 3-4 people with wet suits to go into the water to help launch the boat.

We also need 10 volunteers for lunch prep. (2 to get groceries, 3 for kitchen prep, 3 to run the BBQ and 2 for clean up). Contact Barbara if you can help.

SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING TO DISCUSS NEW BOAT

We will be meeting after our work party to discuss and vote on purchasing a new boat.

Water Rats current RIB (Grand 520S with Tohatsu 50HP) was purchased in 2012 for $17,800 + HST.

The Rib was brought in for an assessment and quote for the repair to Melo-craft Inflatables in Mississauga. Melo-craft determined that the boat is unseaworthy due to a failure of the internal baffles essentially making it a one chamber boat. Melo-craft noted that “Due to the nature of the glued seam construction of the tube set paired with the age of the tubes it is highly possible for an outer seam to fail at any time. It is strongly recommended the boat not be used.”

Given this, repair of the boat is not an option and given the age of the motor, the executive recommends replacing the complete boat and motor.

We have received the following quotes.

Melo-craft Great Lakes ST520M with Suzuki 50 HP (similar boat), $29,799 + HST (including $1,800 trade-in of current boat
Grand/Gala Atlantis A500L Tohatsu 50HP (similar boat) $31,212 + HST
Zodiac Open 5.5. $52.995.00 + HST
Highfield Patrol 460, rigged with the Yamaha F50LB $32,495.00 + HST

We recommend using: Great Lakes ST520 with Suzuki 50HP. Other clubs using these boats include RCYC, Boulevard Club, Ontario Sailing, Brockville YC and Whitby YC.

We will be taking a vote during the meeting. Please fill in your proxy form and send it to David if you are unable to attend.

VOLUNTEER JOBS

Ramps to the Beach

We would like to build stairs/ramps down to both beaches. We are looking for a total of 6-8 ramps so that we can make these areas more accessible for members. Please contact Michael to help.

Sink

MISSING A NEWSLETTER?

Visit our website to get caught up on club news.

Membership Renewal / Membership Survey Results / Work-Play-Pay Program

Michael Williamson — Sun, 03 Mar 2024 16:49:09 GMT

Membership Renewal

You will receive a membership renewal notice on March 15. Please renew your membership by April 1^st if possible as it helps us with numbers. If you’re not planning to renew, or need more time please contact Michael. A late fee of $100 will be charged starting April 13.

The key return refunds are going to be applied at membership renewal because this is the easiest way to do a large number of refunds. The membership fee is unchanged at $225 this year, but you will see the fee reduced to $175 and a charge of up to $50 depending on how many keys you returned. Our membership system does not allow for discounts, only for fees, which is why we must apply it in this way. If you returned 0 keys, you will pay $225 (charge of $50). If you returned 2 keys, you will pay $175 (0 additional charge). If you didn’t return your keys last year, we’ll have another opportunity to return them for next year.

If you have a credit on your account, please press Invoice Me instead of Pay Online. An invoice will be generated and you can apply your credit against the invoice, and then pay online.

Digital Key Changeover

We will be changing over to the digital key on April 1 at the start of the new membership season. We will send an invite to the Salto KS system to everyone who has not registered for their digital key this week. It expires after 3 days so please register when you receive the email. Once you have registered with Salto, you need to download the Salto KS app on your phone. Google Link Apple Link

When you create your digital key, it will not work immediately as it needs to be authorized in the backend. We will set everyone up at the end of the week, but if you need access sooner, please reach out.

We have recorded videos to show how to open the lock Phone Fob

There are still a few fobs available for purchase.

Please contact Michael if you’re having any issues.

Membership Survey Results

Thank you everyone for taking the time to respond to our membership survey. We asked many questions related to your experience at the club, questions related to management, and for project suggestions. All of this information is very helpful so that we can do what you want with the club. We had 96 responses which is similar to last year (93). The summary of member experiences is shown below:

We’ve improved in every category since last year, and overall the results are very high. The men’s change room was updated with shelves for the items that were being stored in there, removing the pile up of junk. We bought new paddling racks to move the canoes and kayaks closer to the water and closer to the ground. We didn’t do anything on the washrooms unfortunately, but there was an improvement in that category as well.

We had a look at the overall experience, and the rating is similar between sailing and paddling members and between recent and long-time members. It’s nice to see that everyone is having a good experience.

There were 3 people who were not receiving emails (97% have no problems). If you have any issues, please check your spam and add WaterRatsSailingClub@wildapricot.org to your contact list.

Finally, 96% of members thought that the executive would make good use of the feedback provided by the survey. We try hard to listen to the members and appreciate the confidence in our work that was expressed.

Work-Play-or-Pay

In 2023 we introduced a ‘Work, Pay, or Play’ program as an expansion of our ‘Work or Pay’ program. The new program credits members one hour of volunteer work for attending club organized social events and races. 70% of members thought that the new program was a positive change for the club, and 65% thought that it improved the turnout at social events. We also found that it improved engagement with only 25% of members completing zero hours in 2023, compared to 45% in 2022. However, we found that only 40% of members completed all of the hours, which was the same as 2022. And 45% of members indicated on the survey that they had trouble completing their hours due to lack of volunteer jobs. In the 2022 survey, members thought that both the volunteer hours and cost were too low. In 2023, members thought that the cost and hours were too high, so it appears that we may have overshot. Based on all of this information, we are changing the hours and rates to what is reflected in the schedule below (under Updated Program):

Hours Worked/Played	2022 Cost	2023 Cost*	Updated Program
0	150	300	260
1	125	270	220
2	100	240	180
3	75	210	140
4	50	180	100
5	25	150	75
6	0	120	50
7	0	90	25
8	0	60	0

The change will be applied retroactively for 2023. We decided to make the first few hours cost more, so that members who were close to completing their hours had a smaller penalty. As well, the number of hours required has decreased to 8, of which 4 can be completed by ‘play’. As result, members who are active in our social events or racing will have to complete fewer work hours compared to 2022.

February SGM Results

The club held a special general meeting on Feb 7 to vote on whether we should allow members with Catamarans to store a Laser free of charge, instead of for the fee of $200 that was previously changed. The motion passed 17-16. Following this motion, the executive also voted to allow members with Dinghies over 15’ to store an additional boat free of charge to align these rules. The limitations now become:

Catamaran members: 1 catamaran, 1 dinghy under 15’, 2 canoes/kayaks
Dinghy/Laser members: 2 dinghies (max 1 over 15’), 2 canoes/kayaks. 3 dinghies can be stored for an additional $200
Paddling members: 2 canoes/kayaks. 3 canoes/kayaks can be stored for an additional $200.

As a reminder, members who want to bring new boats to the club must register them with the club and obtain stickers before bringing them to club. These limits are subject to availability of storage space (currently no issues).

Maintenance of your boat and surrounding area

On our membership survey we received a number of complaints about the condition of other members boats. Water Rats is a community and a space shared with over 300 people. We all want to be proud to come to the club, and share the space with our friends and family. Everyone has a responsibility to maintain their boat and area around it in a way that we can all be proud of. Specifically, members must cut the grass around their boat, make sure that the cover is maintained (not ripped or covered in lichen), and make sure that their boat can moved (no flat tires, etc). The top of the boats should not be used for storage. Let’s all try hard to make Water Rats a beautiful place to sail and paddle.

Lockers Available

We have a few of the smaller lockers available in the container. They cost $40 for the season. Please contact Michael if you would like one.

Storage Locations

A few members indicated in the survey that they were not happy with their storage location. If you would like a change in your storage location, please reach out to Michael (Sailing) or Shona (Paddling) to discuss possible solutions.

Sail Tubes Follow Up Survey

Members indicated interest in the sail tubes in the membership survey. We’re conducting a follow up survey for obtain more details for planning. If you are interested in renting a sail tube please fill out the survey.

Volunteer Jobs

We received a number of great suggestions for projects in the membership survey. We’re still going through the list of projects, but we’ve selected a few to start on and are looking for some volunteers to help with them. Also, please note that the survey was anonymous; if you volunteered for a project in the survey response, we don’t know who you are. Please contact Michael if you’d like to volunteer for a project not on the list.

Ramps to the Beach

We would like to build stairs/ramps down to both beaches. We are looking for a total of 6-8 ramps so that we can make these areas more accessible for members. Please contact Michael to help.

Sink

Washroom

Likewise there were are number of requests to improve the washroom situation. We’re looking for someone who can find a supplier and obtain a quote. The cost for this project is likely high, so we’ll probably need to raise membership fees to pay for it and we will bring it to this year’s AGM. Please contact Michael to help.

Clean & Repair Clubhouse Exterior

The Clubhouse has several areas mildew where the caulking needs to be replaced. The roof needs to be cleaned with TSP. There are areas of the exterior that are splitting and need a fiberglass repair. Please contact Barbara to help.

Deck Refinishing

The clubhouse deck needs to be sanded and repainted. Please contact Barbara to help.

Website Content for New Members

We would like to improve the content on our website, with a focus on providing information for new members. Please contact Annette to help.

SGM date Feb 8/2023 membership survey

Fri, 26 Jan 2024 14:29:04 GMT

2023 Membership Survey: January 31 deadline

We are looking for your feedback on how to make Water Rats better. We've created a survey with questions to better understand your experience at the club.

In addition to the questions, there is a comment section at the bottom where you can leave additional feedback. Some of the questions have an Other option where you can also write in suggestions.

We are looking forward to hearing your feedback!

Take the survey here.

SGM Date: Feb 8

The club will be holding a special general meeting on Feb 8 at 7 pm at the club as a follow up to our AGM to discuss and vote on changes to the fee structure for members who have a catamaran and a Laser.

Background
For as long as we have digital records (2011-present), the Water Rats Membership Rules have officially allowed members to store:

1. 1 Catamaran or up to two Dinghies under 16’ (if a sailing member)

2. Up to 2 Canoes/Kayaks

When conducting the inventory of boats in 2021, we discovered that a number of members had more boats than the rules permitted. We learned that in the past, some Catamaran members had been given permission to store a Laser free of charge in order to encourage participation in Laser racing. This was never changed in the membership rules and the practice was inconsistently applied over time, with members being told at times they were not allowed to store a Laser. In addition to Catamaran members with Lasers, we found paddling members with three boats, dinghy members with three boats, and Catamaran members with non-Laser dinghies. In many cases, members added these boats without seeking permission at all and the club had no official records of the boats.

The board felt that the fairest thing to do was to give the privilege of additional boat storage to all members. However, that privilege came with an additional fee of $200 to avoid Water Rats becoming a dump for unused boats. The fee was successful in encouraging a number of members to sell unused boats and we had many members take the opportunity to add another boat. Several members recognized that they were aware they were not within the rules and welcomed the opportunity to pay the fee to abide by the updated rules. Currently we have 7 Catamaran members with a Laser and 2 Catamaran members with another dinghy. Of the Catamaran Members with Lasers, only one is participating in Laser racing.

We asked in our 2022 membership survey if members felt this fee was fair. 80% of respondents answered that the fee was fair or too low. We asked again in our 2023 membership survey, which is not complete, but with 72 votes cast 76% of members indicate their support for the current fee structure.

At the AGM, a few members felt that the fee should be removed. To that end, we will be considering the following motion:

Modify membership rule 4(a) to read “one catamaran and one dinghy” and rule 5 to read “Laser and Dinghy members may store one additional dinghy under 15' and its trailer at Water Rats for an additional fee of $200 per year. Members must obtain approval and stickers before bringing the boat to WRSC.”

The effect of the motion is to remove the $200 for Catamaran members who have a dinghy.

If the motion passes, members who paid the fee will be refunded, resulting in a cost of approximately $5,400 to the club.

If the motion does not pass, then the fee structure will remain unchanged. Given that the membership surveys indicate broad support for the current fee structure, if we are unable to obtain quorum, we will leave the fee structure unchanged.

The board recommends voting against the motion. We feel that it is reasonable for members to pay for the storage space that they use. We don’t believe that the fee is so large that it discourages members from Laser racing. We have found that members with multiple boats often do not make use of all of them, contributing to our derelict boat problem. Having a small fee encourages members to consider whether they are making good use of the boat, and we have found the introduction of the fee to already be successful in removing a few boats that were unused.

In addition to voting at the meeting, members may vote by proxy by sending the form to David. The form can be digitally signed.

2023 Membership Survey

Fri, 19 Jan 2024 16:22:54 GMT

We are looking for your feedback on how to make Water Rats better. We've created a survey with questions to better understand your experience at the club.

In addition to the questions, there is a comment section at the bottom where you can leave additional feedback. Some of the questions have an Other option where you can also write in suggestions.

We are looking forward to hearing your feedback!

Take the survey here:

https://waterratssailingclub.wildapricot.org/Sys/Poll/49946

Register for our holiday party!

Tue, 21 Nov 2023 16:24:31 GMT

Come to the holiday party!

We'll be having our holiday party on December 1 at the Keating Channel Pub at 7 pm. There will be entertainment, a buffet dinner, wine on the table and a free drink at the door!

All this and you get to claim one play hour. Tickets are only $45.

But please register on our website before Saturday so that we have accurate numbers to order the food.

Hope to see you at our holiday event!

AGM/director's reports/holiday party

Thu, 16 Nov 2023 18:36:41 GMT

AGM this Sunday

Join us at our AGM at the Water Rat clubhouse this Sunday! There will be beverages and cookies. Plus you qualify for one play hour. We need 30-35 members for quorum so please attend if you can.

Director's reports are in and can be found here. Please find links to this and other reports below. Note that there is also a form for members who would like to vote by proxy.

Director's Reports for Water Rats 2023.pdf

WRSC Proxy Form 2023.docx

Minutes from 2022 WRSC AGM.pdf

Please bring folding chairs in case we don't have enough seating for all attendees.

Come to our first post pandemic holiday party

Attention sailors and paddlers! Our first holiday party in FOUR YEARS is coming up in two weeks. Don’t miss it!

Come and enjoy a wonderful evening with your fellow Rats.

Ambience, live music and a buffet dinner with wine will be awaiting you. Let’s get into the holiday spirit together.

Tickets are $45. Register here now! We would really like to see you there.

Volunteer hours

Water Rats has a work, pay, or play system where members are required to contribute 10 volunteer/play hours per year. Hours that were not completed are charged at $30 per hour on the 2024 renewal invoice. Please ensure that you have entered your hours on our website by Nov 30. Hours that are not entered using the form will not be counted.

Have a great winter!

AGM announcement/holiday party

Fri, 10 Nov 2023 02:25:46 GMT

Annual General Meeting Announcement

We are going ahead with an in person annual general meeting on November 19th at 2 pm. Beverages and cookies will be served and your attendance counts towards one play hour. It will be held at the clubhouse.

All of our current executive board members have indicated that they are happy to stay on for next year.

They are:

Chief Rat (Commodore)	Jeff Gerrits
Race Rat (Race Director)	Ray Davies
Dinghy Rat (Associate Membership Director)	Chris Van Rossem
Paddling Rat (Associate Membership Director)	Shona Chornenki
Key Rat (Membership Director)	Michael Williamson
Money Rat (Treasurer)	Gordon Akum
Paper Rat (Secretary)	David Street
Party Rat (Social Director)	Walburga Groetzinger
Web Rat (Communications Director)	Annette Bradford
Grounds Rat (Harbour Master)	Barbara Anderson
Badger (Past Commodore)	Norm Lamb

As always, we welcome new nominations for any position. If you are interested in running please contact our chief rat Jeff Gerrits.

An email containing director reports will go out a few days prior to the meeting.

Please join us and have your say about the club. Note: we need 15% of the club to attend the meeting which is about 35 people. If you indicated on our poll that you would like an in person meeting, please make this a priority if you can.

Holiday party

We are going ahead with our holiday party this year on December 1 at the Keating Channel club. If you intend to go please purchase your ticket soon so we can prepare some snacks in advance.

We'd like to prepare a slideshow at the event to showcase how wonderful our club is. If you have photos to add please send them to Jeff Gerrits.

Thanks to our volunteers

Thanks to all the members who attended our fall cleanup event! Many hands make light work. And special thanks Richard Woodrow for building the fantastic shelves in the men's changeroom and to Bruce Hanson for cleaning up the propety fence line.

Our club is volunteer run and every person is encouraged to make their contribution! Don't forget to add your volunteer hours on the club website by the end of the month.

See you at the AGM next Sunday!

AGM announcement and poll/holiday party/volunteer hours

Fri, 03 Nov 2023 21:04:04 GMT

IMPORTANT: AGM date announcement and poll

Our AGM is happening on Sunday November 19th. Several members have expressed that they would like to return to in person meetings at the Water Rat clubhouse. We'd like to know what you think. Please indicate your preference on our poll. Note: you need to sign in as a member to vote.

We'll need 15% of membership to agree to an in-person meeting to carry forward with that option. Location will be announced on November 9.

Join us at our holiday party!

We'll be having a holiday party this year. It will take place on December 1 at 7 pm at The Keating Channel Pub. Tickets are $45 and you can buy them on the Water Rat website.

Volunteer hours

Water Rats has a work, pay, or play system where members are required to contribute 10 volunteer/play hours per year. Hours that were not completed are charged at $30 per hour on the 2024 renewal invoice. Please ensure that you have entered your hours on our website by Nov 30. Your current hours should be up to date on your member profile page.

Masts down for winter storage

As a reminder, members are required to demast their boats by November 30. Winds can be strong over the winter and we’ve had boats topple over when stored with the mast up. To protect everyone’s property, we require that boats are stored with the mast down.

Winter storage

Members who would like to store a boat for the winter that they do not normally store at Water Rats may request to do so for a fee of $50. Winter Storage runs from Oct 1 to April 30.

Have a great winter!

Digital locks/winter storage/social events

Mon, 23 Oct 2023 01:15:30 GMT

Fall work party this weekend

We'll be having our fall cleanup on Saturday October 28th from 9 am to 1 pm. The rain date is Sunday October 29th.

If you plan to attend please note your attendance on this poll (so we have enough food for everyone). Note: you need to be signed in as a member to our website in order to respond.

AGM announcement

Save the date! Our AGM will be Sunday November 19. Like previous years, this will be a virtual meeting. More details will be announced soon.

Volunteer hours

Look for an email with your digital key

If you haven’t signed up for your digital key yet, please watch your email for your invitation to download your digital key. It will be titled Your invitation to Water Rat Sailing from SALTO Keys as a Service. The link in the email will expire 3 days after you receive it, so if you are able to register within that timeframe it would be helpful.

Once you have created your account, please download the Salto KS app on your phone and then you can log in and download your digital key. Many smart watches also support digital keys. To access the locks, open the Salto KS app on your phone and hold your phone to the lock.

Key return

In the clubhouse there is a box for key return. Please write your name on an envelope and place your keys inside. We will discount your membership on renewal based on the number of keys returned. We also need a volunteer to go through the keys and record the names. Please contact Michael if you are able to help.

Fob pickup

Members who have purchased a fob on or before Oct 20, you can find you fob in the clubhouse in an envelope with your name on it. Anyone who would like to purchase a fob can still do so here. The fobs cost $30 and will not be refunded if you leave the club.

Why are switching to digital locks?

The main reasons we are switching to digital locks is to increase security, reduce administrative efforts, and reduce costs.

Currently, Water Rats owns two sets of padlocks. Each year we do a key exchange, where we switch keys between padlocks. While not everyone is aware that this is our system, it provides little security. Someone who does not return a key, for example if they leave club, will still have access every other year. Over the years, we’ve “lost” 100s of keys, both from people who misplace the key, and members who leave the club but do not return their keys. The only way to keep this system secure is to continually buy new locks, which would cost around $5,000 per year. After accounting for the recovery of the fob cost, the electronic lock costs only $4,500. The savings are mainly because to keep a physical key secure, we would need to throw out the keys each year. Finally, our locks have a log on them. If we have a security incident, we can download the logs and see who entered the club on a certain day.

Physical keys are also a large administrative effort. To do a key exchange requires 10s of hours of volunteer work and record keeping associated with it. It’s also a lot of work for members to come to the club and exchange keys. It may take you 5 minutes to download your new digital key, but think of this as your 2023 key exchange and every key exchange you would have to do for a long as your maintain a membership. Beyond the key exchange, there is a significant key effort to meet members who didn’t come to the key exchange, lost their keys, or left the club. Each year, 10-20 people don't come to the key exchange. Think of the amount of work to arrange times to meet all of these people. When someone leaves the club, we refund them for their key deposit. That means our treasurer needs to write a cheque, membership rat needs to get that cheque, arrange to meet the departing member and exchange the key. Each of things adds up to a lot of time that doesn’t really make the club a better place. With the digital lock, when someone leaves we can delete their keys in seconds, and instead of dealing with keys we can focus our efforts on things that improve the club for all members.

We’re modernizing our system in a way that will provide security benefits to members, eliminates key exchanges, and reduces the administrative effort. No organization with over 200 members is giving out physical keys in 2023 and we're simply updating to the modern security standard.

Winter storage

Members who would like to store a boat for the winter that they do not normally store at Water Rats may request to do so for a fee of $50. Winter Storage runs from Oct 1 to April 30.

Rules changed to reflect new key policy

We’ve changed the membership rules to reflect the change to our electronic lock, removing the key deposit. This change shouldn’t affect any members, but we would like to announce it so that members are aware when the rules are changed.

Who is interested in having a holiday party?

Please answer our poll if you'd like to attend. Note: you need to be signed in as a member to our website in order to respond.

Have a great winter!

Fall work party/New locks/AGM date

Fri, 13 Oct 2023 17:51:51 GMT

Fall work party

We'll be having our fall cleanup on Saturday October 28th from 9 am to 1 pm. The rain date is Sunday October 29th.

If you plan to attend please note your attendance on this poll (so we have enough food for everyone). Note: you need to be signed in as a member to our website in order to respond.

Food will be served at the end of the event. We need 2-4 volunteers to help out. Please contact Barbara.

Please bring rakes and gloves. We'll also need four volunteers with wet suits to take in the boat lunch. Please contact Barbara.

Electronic Lock Transition

Our new electronic lock has been installed on the clubhouse door. You should have received an email from Salto KS to create your account. Once you have created your account, download the Salto KS App from the App Store. When you log into the app, it will download your new digital key. This is your new key to Water Rats! Once the key is downloaded, you do not need internet access to use it.

To access the clubhouse, open the Salto KS App and press Use Digital Key. Hold your phone up to the end of the lock, and the lock will flash green and activate. You can then turn the knob on the lock to rotate the deadbolt. This lock functions differently from our previous lock; the deadbolt operation is manual. Currently there is a key fob hanging from the door of the clubhouse; if you have any issue with your digital key, you can hold the key fob to the lock to open the door.

There are also new padlocks that will be placed on the gate. In order to ensure that no members are locked out, we are still using the old pad lock. Around Oct 28, we will change the pad locks to the electronic locks. If you do not register for your digital key by Oct 28, you will lose access to Water Rats.

You must return your old keys. In the clubhouse, there is a key drop off box. Write your name on an envelope and place your keys inside, then place the envelope in the key return box. We will be refunding the key deposits against the 2024 membership fees. Members will receive a discount based on the number of keys returned. We will not be issuing cheques for the return of the key deposit.

We have a limited number of key fobs available for purchase for $30. The fobs are a purchase not a deposit, they will not be refunded if you leave the club or lose the fob. The main reason for switching to electronic locks is to reduce the effort involved in giving out keys, replacing lost keys, recovering keys from past members, purchasing new keys, key exchange days, etc. Therefore, we ask that members purchase a fob if they have a technological issue using the digital key. Our preferred method of access is the digital key, which cannot be lost and can easily be disabled when members leave the club.

AGM announcement

Save the date! Our AGM will be Sunday November 19. Like previous years, this will be a virtual meeting. More details will be announced in the next newsletter.

Personal items in the clubhouse

There are a number of personal items in the Clubhouse such as wetsuits, PFDs, sunglasses, water bottles, etc. Please remove any personal items that you may have left in the clubhouse by Oct 28. Any items not removed will be assumed property of Water Rats and may be disposed of.

Volunteer hours

Men’s changeroom cupboard

We would like to clean up the men’s changeroom. We are looking for a member who could build or purchase/install a cupboard to organize all of the items that are being stored in the changeroom. Please contract Michael if you would like to help with this project.

Who is interested in having a holiday party?

Please answer our poll if you'd like to attend. Note: you need to be signed in as a member to our website in order to respond.

Have a great winter!

Fall work party/holiday party

Fri, 06 Oct 2023 20:31:56 GMT

Save the date: Fall work party

We'll be having our fall cleanup on Saturday October 28th from 9 am to 1 pm. The rain date is Sunday October 29th.

Please bring rakes and gloves. We'll also need four volunteers with wet suits to take in the boat lunch.

More details to come.

Who is interested in having a holiday party?

Please answer our poll if you'd like to attend.

Also:

New gate looks will be installed soon and a date for the AGM will also be announced in the next couple of weeks.

Have a great winter!

paddle on Thursday/cats regatta coming up!

Tue, 29 Aug 2023 16:52:38 GMT

Paddle paddle paddle this Thursday

On Thursday August 31 we'll meet at club at 2 pm and leave shore at 2:30pm sharp. We'll paddle to along Cherry Beach to Ward Island for an ice cream. Participation means you get 1 play hour towards your membership!

Water Rats Cat Fall Regatta coming up

Join us on September 9 for an unforgettable weekend of cat racing! Prizes, dinner and a guaranteed good time. Register for the event here.

Not a racer? No problem because we still need a few volunteers to help run the event. Sign up here.

Fall is coming!

Although we hope there are many more great days to enjoy the water to come, this is a reminder to secure your boats and other property for the upcoming season.

See you on the water!

Next BBQ Aug 15/Paddle social this weekend

Wed, 02 Aug 2023 16:53:55 GMT

August BBQ party coming up!

Join us for food and good cheer on Tuesday August 15 at 7 pm! Attendance will count as one play hour, so what do you have to lose?

We'll need some volunteers, please contact Walburga if you are able to help out.

Paddle and lunch on Ward's Island

Join our Paddle Paddle Paddle Group this Saturday August 5th for a paddle and lunch on Ward's Island. Meet at Water Rats at 10:30. This will also count as a play hour! Contact Shona for more.

Volunteers needed

We are looking for volunteers to assist with putting blocks under the beach kayak racks on Wednesday August 9th. Contact Shona if you're available.

Cat clinic recap and thanks!

Thanks to the Olympic sailor Kevin Smith (Barcelona 1992 and Seoul 1998, Tornado) for hosting a great cat clinic at St. James Town Sailing Club all day on Sunday, July 16. Kevin is a guest coach at JTown (member of OHCC, Water Rats and Westwood SC) and this was the third time he has offered his annual coaching session on cats at JTown, completely free of charge.

Kevin's unparalleled knowledge was appreciated by all six students at JTown who passed their Cat 1 test on their first try thanks to Kevin’s methodical coaching and clear communication. Congratulations to Pablo Cazaurang, David Lewis, James Wallace, Jamie MacKinnon, Kelvin Lui and Reid Brewer from JTown!

Kevin's coaching was driven by the “why” and focused on clean tacks and gybes, tiller exchange, getting out of irons, backwards sailing and fore-and-aft crew weight orientation. Kevin used simple sailing exercises, covering parking (stopping), simulated docking, capsize recovery and man overboard with a live person in the water.

Thanks Kevin Smith for your altruism and for continuously sharing the joy of sailing with us!

See you on the water!

Club BBQ/Electronic locks/Unidentified boats

Fri, 07 Jul 2023 14:18:14 GMT

Club BBQ: Tuesday July 18

Join us rain or shine at our next club BBQ and get a play hour! Free food and good friends!

Electronic locks are coming!

We will be installing our new electronic lock shortly, which will allow you to access the club via an app on your phone. If you have a partner or co-owner of your boat, please make sure that they are listed on your profile and they will receive access via the same app.

Unidentified boats

We have a number of unidentified boats at the club. If you have brought a boat to the club recently, please review the list and reach out to Michael if any of these belong to you.

Bringing new boats to the club

As a reminder, members are required to obtain permission and stickers before bringing any new boats to the property. Boats left on the property without obtaining permission are considered legally abandoned and can be removed at any time.

Reminder – Lawn Maintenance

Members are required to maintain the area around their boats. Please make sure that you cut your grass regularly. We have an easy to use electric lawn mower in the blue container which can be accessed with your Water Rats key.

Trailer Storage

Water Rats reserves the space closest to the water for sailboats. If you have a trailer stored within the first 4 rows closest to the water or along the Western fence south of the big tree, could you please move it to the back of the club. Referring to our map trailers should not be stored in areas M, N, P, Q, R, S, W, V, or X.

Come and play with the big Cats at TMCC!

We are "crashing" the Toronto Multihull Cruising Club (TMCC's) social sailing party and our cats are welcome to participate in this fun long distance racing. Beach cats from JTown and Westwood are also invited so we hope to have a nice little fleet.

Join in Wednesday at 6 pm on the water between TMCC and JTown. No sign up needed, please contact Beata if you'd like more information.

Join the JTown Crew Bank

JTown is a community sailing club next door to the rowing club and some of their members would love extra exposure to cats! They run a well rounded cat program and here is a list of folks interested in crewing on a cat. Let's join forces!

Vounteer jobs/paddle paddle/next BBQ

Mon, 19 Jun 2023 18:43:58 GMT

Volunteers needed

Join us Thursday 22 and Saturday 24 at 10 am. We'll be cleaning up the beach, cleaning out invasive plants and other grounds projects. Contact Heather if you are able to help out. Bring gloves, water and if possible a wheelbarrow.

Our clubhouse deck needs sanding and staining! Contact Barbara if you can take on this job.

Also need a volunter to move the new blocks under the kayak racks. Please contact Shona if you can help out.

Paddle paddle paddle

Join us for upcoming social paddle events. Your participation counts for 1 play hour per event. Contact Shona if you would like to add your name to the group list.

Next Club BBQ: July 18

Join us rain or shine at our next club BBQ and get a play hour!

We need four volunteers to help pick up food, cook and do prep and clean up work afterwards. Contact Wallburga if you can help out.

Our next fire ant spraying: July 5

Our club will be sprayed for fire ants again on July 5. Please let Barbara know about any potential problem areas.

Please help us keep our clubhouse tidy

If you make a mess or see a mess, please stop for a minute to tidy up. We don't have a cleaning service, it's all up to members.

See you on the water!

BBQ party/volunteer opportunities/racing events

Tue, 30 May 2023 14:37:30 GMT

This weekend: Heinz Gebauer Spring WAR Regatta 2023

BBQ dinner on Saturday included. Terrific prizes, great weather and fun guaranteed. Register on our club website.

Coming up: Water Rats BBQ Party

Join us for a FREE dinner at 7 pm on Tuesday June 13. And get one play hour towards your membership!

We need four volunteers to help run the event. Reach out to Walburga Groetzinger if you can help!

And don't forget: Wednesday Cat Races

We are "crashing" the Toronto Multihull Cruising Club (TMCC's) social sailing party and our cats are welcome to participate in this fun long distance racing. Every Wednesday at 6 pm sharp on the water between TMCC and JTown.

Help us get rid of the fire ants!

Spraying for fire ants is booked for Monday June 5 and Wednesday July 5 at 8 am to 12 pm. Please help in letting us know where they are. Send information to Barbara Anderson as soon as possible.

More volunteer opportunities!

Thanks to everyone who has help out so far with lockers, chairs, fencing and beach racks! There's more to do!

1. Deck needs scrapping, mould removal and painting (4-6 people)

2. Cover, soil and sod for area formally tarped (6 people)

3. Planting by boat ramp

4. Watering of big trees weekly til October

5. Removal of invasives with Heather.

Contact Barbara Anderson if you can help!

In the meantime, see you on the water!

upcoming events/ant spraying/volunteer opportunities

Fri, 19 May 2023 13:54:05 GMT

Club Crawl 2023 next weekend

Feast like a king on a budget, coronation nibbles at each stop on Saturday May 27. 5 pm start at Toronto Windsurfing Club, work east to Westwood, 45 minutes at each club. This event will qualify for a play hour.

Price: $20 until Wednesday 25th, $25 after. Register on our club website

Heinz Gebauer Spring WAR Regatta 2023 coming up

Join in for all the fun on June 3/4! If you don't sail, we need volunteers. Regatta price is $40 and includes a BBQ dinner. Register on our club website.

And sailors, don't forget! After this weekend racing moves to Tuesday night.

In-water clean up event next weekend

Join us for an in-water cleanup (plastic, paper, wood, sharp rocks) effort in front of the Toronto Windsurfing Club and west to Cherry Beach on Saturday May 27th, 2023 from 10:00am to 2:00pm. Bring: water shoes, gloves, sunscreen, towel, re-useable water bottle

Looking for more volunteer opportunities?

We need:

A volunteer to pick up a load of new chairs and some post blocks from Home Depot.
Volunteers to put blocks under the new beach racks.

Contact Shona if you are able to help out.

Please don't forget to log your volunteer/play hours so they count towards your required hours for 2023.

Please move your kayaks this weekend!

This is a reminder to move your kayak to its new spot by Monday so we can decommission some of the older racks. Contact Shona if you have any concerns.

Ant spraying this summer

Spraying is booked for Monday June 5 and Wednesday July 5 at 8 am to 12 pm. Please help in letting us know where they are. Send information to Barbara as soon as possible.

New lockers in container

Just a note that some members are having trouble locking the container. Don't worry about it, just push the lever down and leave it unlocked.

See you on the water!

Locker painting/CAT races/High water on beach

Fri, 12 May 2023 18:06:39 GMT

Hope everyone is able to get down to the club and enjoy some of the great spring weather we've been having! A few updates from the team.

Painting the red lockers

We need volunteers to help prepare and paint the red lockers over the next couple of weeks. Please contact Bruce Hanson if you are able to help out and get those volunteer hours out of the way. Here's where to log your volunteer hours.

Members using those lockers may wish to empty them for the next couple of weeks.

Join us for Cat races at the MTCC!

The fun starts Wednesdays on and after June 7 at 6 pm on the water between TMCC and JTown. There is no sign up, just join in, contact Beate Sejane for more information.

High water on the beach

Our beach kayak racks are in! Please note that the water is higher than expected this year and very close to racks 10, 9, 8 and 7. We're keeping an eye on the situation but please be prepared to move your boats if required. We'll be posting photos to the facebook group regularly.

See you on the water!

New date: Work party Sunday April 23

Sun, 16 Apr 2023 15:13:49 GMT

Spring Work Party on Sunday

We'll be holding our spring work party on April 23 at 9 am. It will be followed by a BBQ at 1 pm.

Help us rakes the leaves, put in the docks and prepare the club for the season. And get in a few volunteer hours which are mandatory this year! No need to RSVP, just come down and bring a rake and some gloves.

If you have a wetsuit and can help us put the dock in, contact Ray.

New Work, Play or Pay policy

For 2023, members are required to complete 10 hours of volunteer work up to six of which can be completed through play (attending social events). Incomplete hours are billed on next year's membership at $30.hour).

New Social Event for Paddlers!

New paddle rat Shona Chornenki would like to explore starting a weekly social event for paddlers. If you're interested in joining (participation will count towards club 'play' hours) please fill in this form.

Spring Racing/Regatta!

The spring racing series will start Sunday April 23 at 1 pm. Please also register for the Heinz Gebauer Spring WAR regatta on the weekend of June 3/4.

We'll need some volunteers for the race committee, to mark boats, take care of scoring and work the BBQ on Saturday after racing. Let Ray know if you're available to help.

New Locks Coming

Water Rats has invested in a new gate system coming in May. You'll be able to install an app to your phone to open the gate and clubhouse or you can purchase a fob for $20. More details will be announced soon!

New Kayak Spots

They're here! The new kayak racks have been located to the beach! Paddling members have recieved a survey asking where they would like to move. Check your inbox!

Late Fees

Please renew your membership now. After April 22, a late fee of $100 is applied.

Membership renewal and changes to member rules

Fri, 17 Mar 2023 13:07:21 GMT

Membership Renewal Opens Today

You should have received an email earlier today with a link to renew your membership. Membership expires on April 1 so please renew by this date if possible. If you need to make alternative arrangements or do not plan to renew, please contact Membership

Unidentified Boats

On renewal you will be required to confirm that you don’t own any of the unidentified boats. Please review the list carefully as we will dispose of any boats that are not confirmed to belong to a member. Please contact Membership if one of these boats belongs to you.

Work or Pay becomes Work, Play, or Pay

We are changing the work or pay system, adopting a system from the Burlington Beach Catamaran Club who have reported great success with the Work, Play, or Pay system. Members will be required to complete 10 hours each year, six of which can be completed through play. Play involves attended club organized events such as BBQs, Regattas, Weeknight Racing, and the AGM. For paddlers, we will be creating a new weekly paddling night. Each event attended counts for one hour regardless of how long the event is. The hours can also be completed through volunteer work as usual.

At the same time, we are increasing the cost for uncompleted hours to $30 which raises the cost for not participating from $150 to $300. The increase is designed to provide more encouragement for members to engage in club activities, while keeping the cost unchanged for active members.

The change is on a pilot basis, we intended to try the system for two years and review it to see if it has improved engagement in club activities.

Active Use Rule

We have added an active use rule, which states that members must use the boats that they store at Water Rats each year. We don’t view this as a change to the rules, but a clarification. We have a number of tests of active use, for example, Catamarans are required to put their masts up by June 30 each year. But we until now, we didn’t have a rule that explicitly states that members are expected to use the boats that we store. Water Rats mission is to provide affordable access to the water for sailors and paddlers. It is not intended to be a place for cheap storage, and this rule will clarify that.

Profile Updates

Please review your membership profile to ensure that all of the boats you have stored at the club are accurate. Contact Membership if you need to make any changes. Please remember that if you want to bring a new boat to the club, you must obtain stickers before bringing it to the club.

Volunteer for Changerooms

We are looking for a volunteer who would like to spearhead the changeroom revitalization project. If you’re able to help, please contact Membership.

Lockers

We have a few of the newly built lockers that are available in the container. The ones available are on the upper shelf for a cost of $40/yr. Please contact Membership if you would like one before you renew as the charge will be added to your renewal.

Membership survey results and more

Sat, 25 Feb 2023 19:25:26 GMT

Survey Results

We recently conducted a membership survey and would like to share the results with you. We received 100 responses which is excellent. We asked several questions about your experiences at the club, which were rated Dissatisfied, Somewhat Satisfied, or Very Satisfied. The charts below show the average rating across the questions asked. A score of 100% indicates that all members answered Very Satisfied; Somewhat Satisfied corresponds to 50%; and Dissatisfied is zero.

The overall experience for members at the club was great, with a score of 75%. Nonetheless, a few areas for improvement were identified:

Changing Facilities
Members were not completely happy with the changeroom facilities. We currently have a men’s and women’s changeroom in the clubhouse. The code for the clubhouse is 6491. Since the change rooms were closed for pandemic, they have become a sort of storage room. We’re going to clean them up and address any deficiencies for the start of the sailing season. We’re looking for a volunteer to help with this task, please reply to this message if you’d like to help.

Washroom Facilities
We currently have two portable washrooms that are cleaned on a weekly basis. Unfortunately, these are the best solution we have available. Due to our proximity to the water and the leased nature of our facility, we can’t install a permanent solution such as a septic tank. We investigated upgraded trailer style washrooms, but the cost is prohibitive to rent these year-round. We are going to build a small deck around the washrooms to ensure that they are on a level surface and provide a more comfortable access point. Members who have other thoughts and suggestions for us to consider are encouraged to respond to this email.

Paddling Storage
To address the issues with paddling storage, we will be buying or building new racks. They will have a maximum height of three boats, and we’re going to move them to the beach for easier access to the water. The project is underway and more details will follow, but we’re hopeful to have the new racks early in the season and think that they will go a long way to addressing members’ issues.

Fees and Membership Level
We also asked members for their feedback on fees and the membership level. The charts below show the responses. A score of zero indicates that members felt the fees were fair, a positive score indicates the share members that felt the fees (or membership level) should be higher, and a negative score is the share of members that felt the fees should be lower.

For the most part, the scores are very close to zero indicating that members are comfortable with our current fee structure. The results show a preference for more members, and this is something that we are trying to address. We’ve made a lot of space clearing out abandoned boats, and we currently have room for new Laser members as well as a few catamarans. We’re also tackling the large problem of member engagement.

The other area that members thought was too high is the volunteer requirement. Water Rats is a volunteer run club. We have no employees, and we have the work-or-pay system because we need all members to chip in to make the club a success. Unfortunately, the majority of our members do not volunteer at all. On the other hand, many members are putting in well above the required hours (often a very significant amount of time). While we can understand that not everyone wants to volunteer, the results clearly show that the work-or-pay system is not working as a way of encouraging members to volunteer and contribute to the operations of the club. We’ve discussed the issues, and don’t feel that decreasing the requirements make sense but we are going to look at what adjustments can be made.

We also received a number of excellent suggestions in the comments that we’re going to look into implementing, such as organized sailing and paddling social times, a webcam to view the water conditions, and improved security. Stay tuned for further updates.

Volunteer Opportunity

We are looking for a volunteer who would like to spearhead the changeroom revitalization project. If you’re able to help, please respond to this email.

Masts Down Rule

This winter we’ve had strong winds that have caused boats stored with their masts up to topple over or fall off their trailers. Boats being blown over can cause significant damage to other members’ property. To address this issue, members will now be required to take their masts down by Nov 30 each year.

Unidentified boats

As a reminder, members are required to request permission and obtain stickers before bringing a new boat to the club. We have found a number of boats without stickers; if one of these belongs to you, please respond to this email to claim it. Boats that have been left at the club without permission are considered legally abandoned and may be removed at any time.

Lockers

We have a few of the newly built lockers that are available in the container. The ones available are on the upper shelf for a cost of $40/yr. Please respond to this email if you would like one.

Membership survery/volunteer hours/unidentified boats

Sat, 21 Jan 2023 23:05:27 GMT

2022 Membership Survey

We are looking for your feedback on how to make Water Rats better. We've created a survey with questions to better understand your experience at the club. If you have the time, please fill out the survey. In addition to the questions, there is a comment section at the bottom where you can leave additional feedback. Take the survery here.

2022 Volunteer Hours

The volunteer hours for 2022 have now been recorded on your profile. If any corrections are necessary, please reach out to Michael by Feb 15.

Unidentified Boats

We have several boat and trailers at the club whose owner is unknown. As a reminder, members are only permitted to store the boats and trailers listed in their profile at the club. Members must request permission and obtain stickers before bringing any new boats to the club. If you brought a boat to the club in 2022, could you please review the pictures and reach out if one of these belongs to you.

See you in the spring!

AGM on November 27 at 2 pm: please join us online

Fri, 18 Nov 2022 17:02:56 GMT

Update: Link to Zoom meeting is added below.

A quick note on virtual AGM. It’s worth mentioning, that while we are keen to return to in person meetings, we are also mindful that our members do not all share the same level of risk tolerance surrounding covid. Sadly, the club does not have access to reliable enough internet to hold the meeting in a hybrid fashion. Because of these facts, and the number of recent COVID cases, we’ve decided to hold off on having the event in person for 2022. On a positive note, the number of people attending the AGMs over the last few years in a virtual setting has been quite high.

Rat Reports

Rat Reports.pdf

2021 AGM Meeting Minutes

2021 11 21 Water Rat Sailing Club - AGM 2021 Minutes.docx.pdf

Agenda

Call To Order
Approve 2021 Minutes
Director Reports
- Money
- Body
- Paper
- Dinghy
- Paddle
- House
- Race
- Party
- Web
- Badger
- Chief
Elections

- Money
- Body
- Paper
- Dinghy
- Paddle
- House
- Race
- Party
- Web
- Chief
Proposed BYLAW Changes
Other Business
Adjournment

How to Connect

Link to Zoom Meeting:
https://sunlife.zoom.us/j/1233335638?_x_zm_rtaid=bR0dc-mvR9G4LJvYlx6reQ.1668962976662.857669e9ba86d05fc1940fcb399c9253&_x_zm_rhtaid=976

Dial in number: 1-647-558-0588

Meeting ID: 123-333-5638

Best way to connect:

Use your personal computer at home.

Click the link above

Second best way to connect:

Use your mobile device

Click the link above

Third best way to connect:

Use your telephone

Use the External Dial In number (see above)

You will also need to enter the Meeting ID (see above)

Then hit "#" on your keypad

Quorum

Note that we do need 15% of the membership to attend to make this an official AGM. That is about 32ish people. If you can, please do attend.

Running for 2023

Here’s what we currently know about who is running for re-election for 2023, please reach out if you are also interested in running for one of these positions.

Position	Incumbent 2022	Running for 2023
Chief Rat (Commodore)	Jeff Gerrits	Jeff Gerritts
Money Rat (Treasurer)	Gordon Akum	Gordon Akum
Paper Rat (Secretary)	David Street	David Street
Lead Body Rat (Membership)	Michael Williamson	Michael Williamson
Dinghy Rat (Membership)	Joe Van Rossem	Joe Van Rossem
Paddling Rat (Membership)	Christy Sneddon	Shona Chornenki
House Rat (Grounds)	Barb Anderson	Barb Anderson
Race Rat (Racing, Vice Commodore)	Ray Davies	Ray Davies
Party Rat (Social)	Monika Roschlaub	Walburga Groetzinger
Web Rat (Communications)	Annette Bradford	Annette Bradford
Badger (Past Commodore)	Norm Lamb	Norm Lamb

New paddle rat/Boat lift day/Winter party/AGM/AED training/Winter storage

Wed, 09 Nov 2022 14:43:06 GMT

New paddle rat needed!

If you're interested in joining the Water Rats board as paddle rat please contact Norm Lamb.

Boat lift day: Saturday November 12

A crane coming to move the boat lift in the am and we could use some help from 9 am - 2 pm. Bring work gloves, rakes and wheel barrow if you have them. Contact Barbara Anderson.

Winter party in January

Are you interested in attending a holiday party in January? Please visit our website to let us know in an online poll. We're trying to sort out numbers.

Free AED training for 10 members

We will be holding an AED workshop. Please contact Barbara Anderson with your interest. Priority will be given to active members.

Please save the date: AGM

On November 27 at 2pm Water Rats will hold its annual general meeting. The official announcement of the meeting with agenda and other materials will follow shortly.

Volunteer Hours

Please submit your volunteer hours for 2022 using our online form by November 30, 2022. Make sure to use the email address that you log into the Water Rats website with. We will not be making corrections to the volunteer hours by email due the significant effort required to do so.

Winter Storage

Members are permitted to store the boats listed in their profile over the winter. Members who wish to store another boat may request permission to do so for a fee of $50 per boat, subject to available space. Winter Storage runs until April 30, 2023.

No fall clean up/winter party

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 18:16:21 GMT

Nearly the end of the season (boo)

Please visit the club and make sure your boats and equipment are safely stored and secured!

And we hope to see you for some skating when the harbour ice freezes.

No fall clean up

To help the critters that we share our property with, we're going to leaves our leaves this year. Ground cover is a great way to help out moths, butterflies, snails, spiders and others.

But: we will be putting out a call for help to bring the boat in AND we may be organizing a group of people to help get a few outstanding club projects done. Stay tuned!

Winter party

We're on this year! December is a busy time so we'll be having a post holiday party in January. We're looking for a volunteer who can find a venue and a date and organize volunteers for the event. It's a great way to get those last few volunteer hours in. Please contact Monika Roschlaub if interested.

August BBQ Bash/AED Training/Cat Regatta volunteers

Mon, 15 Aug 2022 13:35:54 GMT

Join us for another BBQ Bash on August 25

Join us at Water Rats for an all-members BBQ on Thursday August 25 at 7 pm! Free food and good company for everyone!

We need 5 people to help out (three people to do set up and two people who will do the cooking of the meat/veggie burgers).

This involves being at the club around 6 pm, helping with setup AND clean up including cleaning dishes, bowls, utensils, taking out the garbage, etc.

Please contact Monika Roschlaub if you're available. Hours will count towards club hours.

Free AED training

Help save a life! We are sponsoring training for 10 members. Members who are more frequently around the club will be given priority.

Please contact Barbara Anderson if you're interested.

Volunteer for our cat regatta on Sept 10/11

Our cat regatta team needs volunteers for a variety of positions on the weekend of the race.

Please contact Beata Sejane if you are available. Hours will count towards club hours.

Club closure/Locker build party

Fri, 22 Jul 2022 18:30:40 GMT

Club closure: July 28

Ant spraying is done twice a season usually in June and July. No one is allowed on the property between 8 am and noon.

If you come and ant spraying is underway, YOU leave the property not the ant sprayer. Today the ant sprayer had to leave as some club members refused to.

The club will be sprayed Thursday the 28th.

Locker Building Day: August 6 from 10 am

We have purchased a shipping container which will house 40 new locker spaces. There will be a work party on August 6 at 10 am to fit out the interior of the container with the individual lockers. We need members to help with the construction. Please bring your own hammer and drill if you have them.

Once the lockers are built, members who indicated they would like a locker on their membership renewal will be contacted.

Please don't forget to log your volunteer hours so they count towards your six required hours for 2022.

Marvin Coulson GoFundMe

If you are able one of our club members, Marvin Coulson (you may know him as the guy who cuts our grass) is in need of some help.

How to use our new AED/Marvin Coulson Go Fund Me

Sat, 09 Jul 2022 13:42:13 GMT

We have an AED for medical emergencies

We have an AED, a device known to save lives if someone is having a heart attack. It is located in the clubhouse under the thermostat. Instructions are on the wall .

All members are requested to review this video in order to learn how to use the device.

Additional training will be announced at a future date.

Marvin Coulson needs your help

Water Rats member and volunteer, Marvin Coulson is having some medical issues. You may know him as the member who cuts the grass at the club. His nephew has set up a Go Fund Me where you can make a contribution to assist towards his recovery.

Club closure dates/unidentified boats/volunteer hours

Fri, 10 Jun 2022 17:48:54 GMT

Club closure dates

Please note that the club will be closed June 14 and July 28 from 8 AM - 12 PM for spraying.

Our clubhouse is clean!

Please help us keep it that way by knocking the sand off your shoes before entering and cleaning up after yourself.

Thank You!

Thank you to Roger Moss who very kindly donated his boat to the club for sale in the WRSC auction. The proceeds from the sale will go towards building new locker space.

Unidentified boats

We need your help in identifying the owner of a few more boats and trailers at the club. Please take a look through the photos and reach out to Michael if one of these boats belongs to you..

Join the Cats race practice at JTown

JTown is hosting a new initiative this year, running seven basic race practice sessions bi-weekly on Sundays at 3 PM. All cats are welcome! They'll will be setting up in front of JTown on the South side of the Water Rats spit.

Here is where you can find more information.

Here's how to finish your volunteer hours

Thank you Shona, Earl, Franziska and the gang for great picnic table work! Thanks also to Bruce for our amazing shade on the porch.

Still missing a few? Here are some things that still need doing!

LOCKER CLEANING: Prepare (clean & sand) & paint the rusting lockers & windsurf container roof. L Mc is the project lead but we need some assistants.

FIX CONCRETE CYLINDERS: On the 2 last fence poles in water. Project lead is Bruce Hanson, we need assistants.

WATER BIG MAPLES: To keep the guarantee on the planted trees - need to be watered every week Spring to October. Need to know how to operate a gas water pump so can water from the lake. Join Micheal and Barbara in taking care of our new trees.

Please contact Barbara Anderson if you can help out!

Please don't forget to log your volunteer hours so they count towards your six required hours for 2022.

See you on the water!

Finish your volunteer hours and join the fun at the club

Fri, 13 May 2022 20:56:21 GMT

Here are a few ways to get in your volunteer hours this summer!

LOCKER CLEANING: Prepare (clean & sand) & paint the rusting lockers & windsurf container roof. We need a project lead and assistants.

FIX CONCRETE CYLINDERS: On the 2 last fence poles in water. Project lead is Bruce Hanson, we need assistants.

PRESSURE WASH AND RESTAIN THE CLUBHOUSE DECK: We need a project lead and assistants.

WATER BIG MAPLES: To keep the guarantee on the planted trees - need to be watered every week Spring to October. Need to know how to operate a gas water pump so can water from the lake. We need two more volunteers.

PAID MECHANIC: We need a mechanic to service the chain saws, blowers, zizzers for edge of grass. This is paid position.

REINSTALL SUN SHADE ON THE DECK: Project lead is Bruce Hanson, we need assistants.

STAIN PICNIC TABLES: One member has started this project, we have the stain, looking for someone to take over!

Contact Barbara Anderson to help out.

Please don't forget to log your volunteer hours so they count towards your six required hours for 2022.

Race Results for Summer Series

Matthew Burpee — Thu, 18 Nov 2021 04:27:42 GMT

"Summer series final results - Congrats to all who

participated in our 2021 club racing series!" - RRR

Select spreadsheet to load larger version.

Tuesdays

Thursdays

AGM & Board Positions/Filming/Vaccination

Matthew Burpee — Fri, 08 Oct 2021 14:33:00 GMT

From Head Rat Norm Lamb

AGM and Board Positions:

"The AGM is Nov 21^st at 2pm to 4pm. Please register.

We do need a quorum to hold this meeting, so our participation is important.

This will be a Zoom meeting and the connection information will be sent to you closer to Nov 21^st along with the pertinent material.

We encourage everyone to take a leadership role in the operation of the club. New faces and ideas are always welcome. If you are at all interested in helping, please reach out to us. As the phrase goes “Many hands make light work”.

The following list is of those directors who will be transitioning out. If there is a name beside a current director’s name it is the name of a member willing to step up and take on that position. This candidate will need to be voted in at the AGM.

Please note, this list may grow as not all directors have determined if they are going to stay or transition out.

If the list does grow, I will let you know. If you are willing to fill a vacancy or contest any of the candidates below please let me know.

Descriptions of Executive Roles

Position and current member	Candidate
Head Rat – Norm Lamb	Jeff Gerritts
Race Rat – Randy McMeekin	Open, no candidate
Membership Rat – Jeff Gerritts	Michael Williamson
Social Rat – Monika Roschlaub	Willing to transition out if there is an interested member
Communications/Web Rat – Matthew Burpee	Willing to transition out if there is a super interested member

Volunteer Hours:

Covid has made the pursuit of volunteer hours that much more interesting this year and last. In an effort to remind you that we do need volunteers to run this club we are asking the following of you. Please go to the website and fill in the Volunteer Hour Sheet for 2021. If you did not do Volunteer Hours due to covid, that is okay. We understand. This exercise is not meant to be punitive but to get an idea of the number of volunteer hours that were done this year.

Volunteers Needed:

Barb is looking for volunteers on Oct 16^th and 17^th (Saturday and Sunday) to assist with moving Hanlan’s back to Hanlan. If you can assist either of those two days, please contact Barb directly. Barb's email

Filming:

A film company will be using TMCC (last club at the end of Regatta Rd) on October 12^th and 13^th (Tuesday and Wednesday of next week). The film company will be occupying much of Regatta Rd. There may be a delay to access the club if they are shooting a scene. Parking should not be impacted as we have parking inside our club. As well, during those two days they may restrict access going around the spit. I would suggest launching from the west ramp on those days. Please note the film company is paying a ‘users’ fee to TMCC along with a fee to the other clubs of the OHSF, so there is a benefit for our inconvenience for those two days. See the attachment below for more details.

Clean Up Day:

No Fall Clean Up Day. We hope to return to them in 2021, covid permitting

Holiday / Christmas Party:

There will be no Holiday/Christmas party this year. Extra restrictions and policing around indoor gatherings due to covid is the key reason. We hope to have one next season. There was a suggestion made to hold the party in January as it is easier to find a facility and easier to find spaces on people’s calendars.

WRSC Vaccination Policy:

The board last night debated and approved a Vaccination Policy for our location at 4 Regatta. Effective immediately, only persons with double vaccinations or medical exemptions will be able to use the facilities. When using the clubhouse masks must be worn too. All regattas will require participants to be masked or practice social distancing when on land. I am in the process of putting the final touches on the policy itself and will circulate it when complete. As it is the end of the sailing season, this should not impact us significantly but will come into play in 2022. Stay tuned for further details.

Restricted Area – No Sailing:

A friendly reminder, not to sail within the mooring area of the TMCC boats. That area of the harbour (east end) is out of bounds as it is difficult to navigate and quite easy to hit one of their boats or a mooring line.

2021 10 08 MDGS2 - Notiification Letter - TMCC - 16 Regatta Rd.pdf

Norm

Head Rat

AGM: Sunday, November 21, 2021 2PM

Matthew Burpee — Tue, 05 Oct 2021 22:39:12 GMT

Save the date.

Last year we had 60 people join us for or AGM online. We're hoping for the same or more this year.

Check your email for details.

2021 Fall War Laser Regatta

Matthew Burpee — Wed, 29 Sep 2021 16:27:41 GMT

The Fall War Laser Regatta at the Water Rat Sailing Club was held September 25-26, 2021. The race was with ILCA/Laser Standard, ILCA/Laser Radial boats. "There was plenty of breeze, lots of dumps and death rolls, one broken mast step and few breakdowns." Thanks Randy McMeekin for organizing and all those whom volunteered.

Congratulations to the Champions!

1st: Gord Welsh. 2nd: Chris van Rossem. 3rd: Nigel Heath

Open Catamaran Regatta Links. Sept 11-12, 2021

Matthew Burpee — Tue, 31 Aug 2021 14:55:15 GMT

Sailing Instructions (PDF)

Event registration

Volunteer positions (Doc)

Facebook Event Page

Main Contact:
Beata Sejane
416 886 7277 (cell)
bgintere@gmail.com

Volunteer grounds jobs available

Matthew Burpee — Mon, 24 May 2021 17:29:00 GMT

I know the first thing you want to do is get out on the water! But of course the second is to start on your volunteer hours. We’re continuing small work groups. Choose a project, up to 5 pals (ok from different households), and a date/time. Tell me when so I can start you off with the right tools & plants. Anna Hoad - text (416)778-0054, or email annahoad01@icloud.com.

1. Want to kill phragmites? This is a one person surgical strike operation (1/2 hour) but must be done each month. Do you have what it takes for a sustained kill operation? I have a sharpened spade for you. Bring gloves.

2. Come and get your lumberjack (and jill) on! Ever felt like ripping a tree out? There's buckthorn below the club house and we now have a weed wrench to pull them out. Bigger ones need to be sawn down. This is a one time job of up to 5 people, probably 3-4 hours. Bring a saw or chainsaw, clippers and gloves.

3. As a kid did you want to dig through the earth to China? Digging knotweed out of the sand by the western ramp is just like that! You need gloves and a trowel, and endless determination. We’ll be clipping back the ones in the western bank twice. Bring clippers or kitchen scissors.

4. Last year everyone did an amazing job of clipping back the dog strangling vine (stage 1), then we buried it in mulch (stage 2). This year we overplant with assertive native plants (violets, solomon’s seal, wood anenomes) to discourage it from coming back (stage 3) and clip back any stragglers (stage 4). Bring on the gardeners; we will overcome! Gloves, trowels, clippers or scissors needed.

5. Last year we turned the sod in a 2’ strip by the eastern fence, mulched it, and planted vines and flowers. This year we turn the sod of the western fence. Spades, clippers and gloves needed.

6. We need weekly watering of the little trees planted last year on the eastern bank. It’s a good workout, and only shoes needed. But, please, no watering of the two new big trees. We have a schedule, folks designated, and too much water is as bad as too little for them!

7. Jobs for kids: pickup fallen branches from around the grounds to make it easier for Marvin to mow; pick up plastic from the sand; 1 kid job to apply moss to lumps of concrete (kid will get covered in dirt and need to swim to clean off!).

Anna

Club reopens Saturday, May 22 with health measures

Matthew Burpee — Fri, 21 May 2021 15:22:49 GMT

Huzzah!

We're reopening on Saturday, May 22.

- No more than 5 people together at a time

- Minimum of 2 m distance between

- Only members of the same household can sail or paddle together

- If you live alone, only one other non-cohabiting person can sail or paddle with you

- No entry to clubhouse

See you on the water!

News: Province Safely Reopening Outdoor Recreational Amenities Prior to End of Stay-at-Home Order

Club closed in line with province-wide stronger stay-at-home order

Matthew Burpee — Sat, 17 Apr 2021 15:58:09 GMT

Effective immediately, the Water Rat Sailing Club is closed due to the province-wide stay-at-home order. The locks will be changed. The board will re-evaluate as the situation warrants.

Please do your part and help keep our community safe. "The Stay-at-Home order currently in effect requires everyone to remain at home except for specified purposes, such as going to the grocery store or pharmacy, accessing health care services (including getting vaccinated), for outdoor exercise, or for work that cannot be done remotely."

Let's look forward to a healthy and more open summer on the water. Breathing near groups of people inside without properly wearing one or two masks is how Covid spreads. Don't go indoors for long with others outside your household. Keep distance from others and get the vaccine as soon as you can. The tragedy of our time may end faster than we think if everyone does these.

Statement from the Government of Ontario:

April 16, 2021 - Office of the Premier: Ontario strengthens enforcement of province-wide stay-at-home order

Club grounds temporarily open during Ontario stay-at-home order

Matthew Burpee — Thu, 08 Apr 2021 20:52:39 GMT

Yesterday, the Ontario Government announced a state of emergency and month-long stay-at-home order, which came into effect this morning. As of Wednesday, schools in Toronto closed under an order by our Medical Officer of Health.

The reality right now is that COVID-19 variants, which are more transmissible and more dangerous, have changed the game. Case rates, hospitalizations, and ICU occupancy are increasing rapidly, and we need to stop a devastating third wave.

Ontario Sailing has reviewed Ontario's Stay-at-Home Order.

Ontario's Stay-at-Home Order

Yesterday Premier Ford announced that Ontario would be in a State of Emergency and the province issued a Stay-at-Home Order (Regulation 265/21). Under this provincial Regulation, individuals are only permitted to leave their homes for purposes deemed essential. Within that order, exercising and physical activity are acceptable reasons for individuals to leave their homes. Individuals are also permitted to leave their homes for work or volunteering when the nature of the work (paid or volunteer) requires it to be done outside of the household as deemed by the employer. (Reminder that any volunteer role should be officially documented and specific to required tasks.)

Provincial Regulation 82/20 (as updated to reflect changes made for April 8th, 2021), governs which businesses and organizations are allowed to be open and what conditions they are required to meet to provide anyone coming to their facility. Yesterday’s updates to the Regulations regarding organizations do not impact Boating clubs; there were no changes to that portion of that Regulation. As such, boating clubs may be open to provide opportunities for individuals who are allowed to leave their houses such as for recreational sailing and launch (see Regulations Overview document previously sent and attached below).

Under the Regulations, the fundamental practices of physical distancing, wearing masks and keeping groups to under 5 people must continue to be followed and enforced. The facility can determine how many can reasonably be on site while still maintaining the distancing requirements but note that you may not host any organized activity with more than 5 people. There should be no identifiable group gathering socially of more than 5 people on the property. Failure to meet this, or any other requirement, may result in the organization, the Directors and/or the individuals possibly facing fines.

It is extremely important to note that all the requirements for facilities and organizations that have been previously laid out under the Shutdown portion of the Regulations Overview that Ontario Sailing has provided are met under the responsibility of the Directors of each organization. To highlight some of those include:

Building only open to participants for washrooms, first aid areas or access to those areas
Boat owners doing activity with their boats should only be with household members
Safety Plan must be completed, posted for staff and accessible if requested
Signage about screening and other expectations posted
Staff and Volunteers are required to screen for COVID symptoms before attending the facility and that should be documented.

(Please review the full document carefully to ensure you are meeting all requirements).

We appreciate that the provincial government recognizes the importance of physical activity and mental well-being and the role organizations like yours play in supporting their communities. Being able to participate in safe outdoor recreation is key to helping people through these times. To continue to be recognized for our ability to provide these experiences, it is critical we all do everything we can to continue to be safe in all areas of our operations and activities. Each organization’s Board of Directors needs to carefully assess their risk and make decisions that work for their facility, organization and community. These decisions need to be made within the confines of your insurance coverage (recommend you check with your insurance providers) and local authorities.

We appreciate your patience as we worked with legal counsel last night and today to understand how the two different Regulations impact the different situations our member organizations may be facing across the province. We know these are challenging times and appreciate all your efforts to support sailing.

Please do your part and help keep our sailing community safe and work towards a safer and more open summer on the water!

Questions about COVID Regulations

We have provided as much clarity as possible based on the Regulations themselves. If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact Lisa Roddie (lisa@ontariosailing.ca) or Glenn Lethbridge (execdir@ontariosailing.ca).

****************

Regulations Overview – UPDATED April 3rd, 2021 (referenced above)

Below is an overview of the Regulations currently in place, broken down by different activities common to our member organizations. Please consider reading all areas to fully understand how you may be impacted. Each organization has to use the broadly written Regulations as the starting point for decisions about the risks they are willing to undertake as an organization, recognizing their own unique situations. We recognize that each of our member organizations face distinctive items impacting their risk assessment. For example, consideration needs to be given to items such as size and space, both indoor and outdoor, and what type of activities they are undertaking, also the number and variety of activities. Each organization’s Board will have to consider all the factors in their situation to determine their potential risks and how to address those risks.

All Activities & All Zone Classifications

All staff & volunteers need to complete the workplace screening before attending each day and confirmation should be documented and securely saved.
Signage is to be conspicuously posted for others about self-screening prior to entering the relevant premises.
You need to track the attendance of anyone coming inside the facility. (While this is not required in green, it is strongly recommended to maintain in green for consistency). This information is to be stored for a month and released, if requested, to Public Health.
Each organization needs a written safety plan that covers the procedures you have in place around COVID including screening, distancing, masks or face coverings and cleaning. This plan is to be posted conspicuously and available upon request.
Masks or face coverings are required inside facilities and recommended whenever within 2m of others.
2m distancing must be maintained except in special situations in specific colour zones highlighted below.

Overall Clubhouse Activity

All Zone Classifications – can attend to check on property; staff and specified volunteers can get ready for opening.
Inside access is limited as follows:
Grey & Shutdown – allowed to access washrooms, first aid & food take-out / pick-up areas and the path to access those areas.
Red - allowed to access storage, washrooms, first aid & food take-out / pick-up areas and the path to access those areas.
Green/Orange/Yellow – limited to 50 people inside of building (as size permits).

(Note: if running different types of operations such as meeting space or Food & Beverage, there are different regulations specific to those activities to be aware of).

Launch

Allowed to be open in all classifications to launch but need to follow all workplace guidelines and consider recommendations based on classification.
Staff (including volunteers with specific job descriptions) are permitted to work under rules for marinas/boating clubs.
Ensure all workplace related rules are followed from regular health and safety to the screening requirements.
Maintain physical distancing as much as possible and masks or face coverings following Public Health Guidelines.

Recreational Sailing

Boating clubs are currently permitted to be open in all zone classifications.
In Shutdown, Grey & Red, only household members or caregivers are permitted within 2m of each other.
Recommend following public health guidelines for your zone classification in relation to activities permitted and protocols required.

Racing

Shutdown – no sport allowed - this would include any organized sailing activities such as practicing, training, racing or instruction.
Grey - Individuals are allowed to practice/train singlehanded – no competition (racing) or teams (no doublehanded or crewed boats). Participants are limited to 10 people at any time, and they must pre-book a time slot and have been actively screened. Collecting and saving information for contact tracing is required. Individuals are required to stay 3m apart and shouting/loud talking is not encouraged.
Red – Same as Grey, except individuals to stay 2m apart.
Green/Yellow/Orange

Can come within 2m of each other only while engaged in sport.
Masks or face coverings required except when exercising or playing sports.
Stand-alone racing regattas are allowed – to a maximum of 100 people.
“Leagues” – any organized series of regular races, such as club race nights (registered/awards etc.), is limited to a maximum of 50 people per group. (You could have 2 groups run in one evening as long as groups are separated). The Regulations indicate that each “team”, or in sailing a boat crew, is not permitted to compete against teams outside of their group or against teams outside their league.
Given the evolving nature of colour designations, Notice of Races should include a note that due to COVID-related restrictions, there may be changes without advance notice.

Club Events

Organized club events with protocols including cleaning, physical distancing and masks or face coverings are subject to the following number maximums:

Sailing Schools – Day Camps

(For programs offered to youth in a Monday to Friday full or almost full day design that could provide care while parents are at work)

Permitted in all colour classifications, however not permitted in Shutdown
Need to follow Ministry of Health Guidelines for Day Camps.
Last updated Version 3 - August 13th, 2020, watch for an updated document.
Major change in Version 3 – Cohort size a maximum of 15, not including staff.
Screening of participants must be more actively done than with other patrons.
Cohorts cannot mix.
Check with local public health for local interpretations of their guidelines.

All Other Sailing Instruction – Cruising & Dinghy

(This includes all adult instruction and any once or twice/week or weekend program design).

Grey & Shutdown – no programs permitted.
Red – Recreational based programs permitted ONLY if 2m distancing can be maintained throughout for participants and instructors (Emergencies exempt). Indoor group size in whole facility limited to 10 participants, outside to 25 participants.
Green/Yellow/Orange – programs permitted to run; maintain 2m distance unless needed for specific instruction; masks or face coverings are required except when exercising or playing sports.

Please Note: Ontario Sailing does not set any COVID-related regulations or restrictions regarding your activities. We are sharing publicly available information regarding Provincial laws. Each organization’s board or owner is responsible for understanding your legal situation, managing your risk, making decisions on how to proceed, and managing any consequences; Ontario Sailing takes no responsibility for your reliance on the information we provide in our COVID-related communications.

https://ontariosailing.ca

Covid, clean-up, keys, insurance, safety and more

Matthew Burpee — Sat, 03 Apr 2021 17:38:53 GMT

From Norm, Head Rat

The weather is getting warm (well, it was last week!) and people’s thoughts are turning to sailing and The Water Rat Sailing Club. As the season is starting up, I’d like to take this opportunity to update you on what is going on at the club along with a couple of requests for assistance.

Covid Update

Just when we thought we were in the clear Doug Ford shuts the province down again… probably a good idea but it is tough to swallow… again.

Having said that the Ontario Sailing Association (OSA) has launched a Covid Task Force. Randy, our Race Rat and Laser sailor, is part of that committee. Part of their mandate is to “Interpret the Legal requirements that the Province imposes on our sport and recreational activities of Sailing including training.”

We will use the guidance from the OSA/Covid Task Force and the City of Toronto to determine if we are open and what extra steps or activities might be required.

To see the latest OSA Covid Updates check their website link above, our Facebook page, and the OHSF website.

At the moment, we are open!

Clean Up Day

Once again, we will not have a formal Clean Up Day. Volunteer Requests will be posted via email and Facebook for individual projects.

New Keys, Locks, Insurance and Transom Stickers

Please be aware that this year we will be changing the locks. This means you will need to give us your old key and we will provide you a new key for the new lock. Your old key will not work.

Insurance – we will need to see your insurance. For liability purposes you need to have insurance coverage for your boats.

May 8^th and May 12^th are the days the membership committee has set up for you to get your new key and to show your insurance. Try to make yourself available for one of those days. Covid regulations may require that we change things up… so stay tuned and pencil in May 8 and May 12^th in your calendar.

We will not be changing the lock until after May 12^th.

At that time, we will also be handing out Transom stickers. We want to make sure our membership system is up to date with the inventory of boats sitting at our club. Note that we have decided not to issue annual stickers (i.e. 2021).

Water Safety Meeting

Because of Covid 2020 the Outer Harbour was very congested. As a result, we had several collisions and near misses. A committee of OHSF clubs, along with Kite Boarders and Swimmers has been struck. They have had one or two meetings so far. Their goal is to make the Outer Harbour a safer place for all participants. Stay tuned for more information.

Shade

The board has decided to replace the willow we lost last year with two trees instead of a built structure. The two trees are big (20 -40 ft) and should be planted in the next month.

Chairs

The board has approved the purchase of new picnic tables, muskoka chairs and a new swing. If you have the time and are interested in helping me out with this project let me know... norm.lamb@ymail.com

If you have any questions let me know

Norm

Head Rat

Shutdown Stage: Only members of same household can sail and boat together

Matthew Burpee — Sat, 03 Apr 2021 04:00:01 GMT

Less an issue at our club as we are often boat solo but important to note.

From Ontario Sailing: "Under Recreational Sailing and Boating, boating clubs are currently permitted to be open in all zone classifications.

Please remember that in Shutdown, Grey & Red, members of the same household are permitted to sail and boat together and do not have to adhere to the minimum 2m requirement.

We encourage them to follow public health guidelines for their zone classification in relation to the protocols required.

For a detailed outline of ways to keep safe when you are preparing to go boating during the pandemic, we encourage to you get "A Guide to Responsible Social Distancing for All Boaters".

Close contact is the highest risk. Limiting these risks is critical to keeping Ontario open and safe. So, no:

- close contact

- closed spaces

- crowded places

- forceful exhalation

Annual General Meeting, Sunday, Nov 22

Matthew Burpee — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 14:39:25 GMT

2:00pm, Sunday, November 22

Please RSVP on website at http://waterrats.ca/event-4043413 The virtual AGM details and private link to the Zoom call will only shared by email.

We ask that you get ready in advance. Please download and setup the virtual meeting software from https://Zoom.us. We will be using the polling function within the application. How to use Zoom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6i-NA563Ojk

Please contact us or reach out to others in the Facebook Group if you need help or have any questions.

Thank you

NEW DATE: Volunteers needed for club maintenance, Saturday Nov 21 at 10 am

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 01:39:39 GMT

Help us Keep Ontario Beautiful (our little part of it):

Mowing leaves into mulch:

- last call, quick pass with the mowers to get the last of the leaves, including outside the front gate

Removal of invasives:

- dig out 2 dozen phragmites on the wild spit

- cut down a big buckthorn, uproot a few babies on western bank

- dig out isolated knotweed babies from the sand by the ramp

Public survey about water taxi, or seabus to Water Rats and other clubs

Matthew Burpee — Sat, 07 Nov 2020 20:58:12 GMT

We need your opinion! Waterfront Toronto has recently released a Marine Use Strategy that includes a proposal for public marine transportation services (water taxi or seabus) to facilitate access to points throughout the Outer Harbour - with a stop at our club.

While the proposed public transportation service is a great way to provide more access to the points indicated on the map such as M6 (Cherry Beach), M7(Water Rats) and M8 (Leslie Spit) on page 19, it doesn't address the concern for the safety and security of recreational water users (including sailors and kayakers and their boats). It is also lacking consideration of other options to provide access, such as improvements to existing transportation routes (i.e.: lighting on Goodman Trail), augmented TTC bus service along Unwin Rd, or increased bike share locations.

Waterfront Toronto is asking for comments on their plans. Please take some time this weekend to review the proposal and complete the survey before it closes on this MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9th. Let's make sure that our concerns are taken into consideration.

Proposed Plan | The Survey

Thank you Dianne Davis for bringing this to our attention.

Check our Facebook discussion as well.

See you online at the AGM on Nov 22 at 2pm, and safely on the water in 2021.

Photos of recent grounds work

Matthew Burpee — Wed, 04 Nov 2020 17:25:15 GMT

We recently took advantage of the lake being low to remove gravel on a beach, and level up some puddle spots.

URGENT --- Sat Oct 24, 2 pm, help remove the docks

Mon, 19 Oct 2020 18:06:06 GMT

approx. half an hour (earn credit for one volunteer hour)
2 meter spacing with masks
on-shore work, feet stay dry
help to slide one dock on top of another

Water Cats Fall Regatta: Final Results, Pictures and Thank You's

Matthew Burpee — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 23:03:39 GMT

Race Results (PDF) | Photo Gallery | Event on Facebook | Instagram

By Beata Sejane, race organizer, and Jonathan Lazdins

To many, 2020 has presented challenges unlike any in recent history. But the positive spirits and can-do attitude of cat sailors, sponsors and organizers at Water Rats Sailing Club contributed to another successful Regatta. Water Rats hosted the Water Cats Fall Regatta on September 26 & 27. Twenty-four (24) catamarans competed in light to medium air on the first day with strong breeze on the final day. The sun and the beautiful skyline of Toronto were shining along with all those who contributed to the event by supporting the sport. It revealed the remarkable passion, enthusiasm and love for sailing that is present in the sailing community in Toronto.

It is hard to find words to thank the large team of volunteers who dedicated their time and efforts who made this Regatta successful, Fogh Marine and North Sails taking the lead. A special thank you goes to Morten Fogh, Geoffrey Moore and Louisa Bobyk.

Huge thank you to Race Committee Maxim Newby, Jimmy Sabourin, Kevin Smith, Peter Eagar, Andrew Mahoney, Rahm De-Undergrad and David Chennels; Race Chairs Beata Sejane and Marvin Coulson; Communications Matthew Burpee and Ed Young; Results Dan Borg, Rahm De-Undergrad and Marty Vandenberg; Weekly race practice Jimmy Sabourin and Dan Borg; OHCC, JTown and Westwood Sailing Clubs for extra crash/pin boats; Jessica Lee, Michael Williamson, Kate McMurray, Dean Goodwin, Murray Kibler for awesome photos and videos; Benoit Friolet, Jessica Lee, Mike Doell and Ray Davies for terrific rescue/race support; Greg Brothers for purchasing and delivering 15 gallons of gas; and a very special shoutout to Robert Wessel for lending us his big cat to be used as a Committee Boat. Thanks to everyone from near and far who came out to make this event a success, from Burlington Beach Catamaran Club, Westwood Sailing Club, Outer Harbour Centerboard Club, St. James Town Sailing Club, Toronto Multihull Cruising Club, Etobicoke Yacht Club, and Mississauga Sailing Club. Congrats to all winners and a special shout out to first in their fleets, Andrew Woods of Burlington Beach Catamaran Club in his foiling super cool A Class cat (Low Portsmouth), along with Andy Warwick and Mike McKnight of Etobicoke Yacht Club in their supercharged Hobie 16 (High Portsmouth).

Here are some photos and videos from the Regatta, please feel free to add yours!

Shared Google Photo Gallery

Thanks again and see you on the water!

Beata

Race Results | Photo Gallery | Event on Facebook | Instagram

Volunteers needed to maintain the club grounds

Mon, 21 Sep 2020 02:01:27 GMT

Oct 17, 24 Saturday mornings from 10-12: This year we're going to mulch the leaves, not throw them away. Each team will have:

- 1 person to pull leaves from under boats, clear twigs away and throw them out

- 1 mower who will be mulching up the leaves

Need more than two hours? Just bring a lunch! Prefer some other date or time? Come when it suits you. Because there’s only two mowers, if you want to come Saturday, please reserve your day.

Regatta Road gate lock

Matthew Burpee — Fri, 04 Sep 2020 17:36:46 GMT

The Regatta Road gate near Unwin Ave will be locked beginning this weekend‬ (Sep 4) for the near future to reduce illegal activity such as garbage dumping and presumably others such as overnight parties and cruising.

OHSF members must apply their code to use and return key from lockbox and then close gate.

The City of Toronto Parks, Forestry & Recreation @TorontoPFR thank you for your cooperation.

See Norm’s email for more details on the process.

Weeknight racing begins in August, Sunday racing in Sept/Oct

Matthew Burpee — Sat, 01 Aug 2020 17:16:23 GMT

From Race Rat Randy

Drum roll please.....

Attention Race Fans!!! (Been a while since you heard that eh? Whoot whoot!)

With the GTA now cleared for COVID Phase 3, we are cleared to start our weeknight racing program forAugust, Sunday racing in Sept/October, and possibly host the infamous Fall War Regatta.

Here’s the deal for August.

-We will race Tuesday and Thursday nights until the end of August
-All classes welcome from all OHSF clubs. If we get enough interest from the cats we can think about a separate start and handicaps
-Races will start promptly at 630 pm and run TIL dusk.
-Expect 3-4 races per evening
-Races are simple windward leeward as shown in the very professional looking diagram below.
-Starts will be 3 minutes. There will be no visual aids (flags) - we use a whistle only.
- you must sail by the committee boat and identify yourself so we can score properly. Last year we had way too many unnamed participants.
-no protests - if you break a rule take your circles
-Wearing PFDs mandatory
-our RC will be made up of students who will be trained on how to set up the course but are not PROs. No abuse will be tolerated - this is meant to be fun so if the line is not perfectly square just take a deep breath
- the Race Director is totally open to bribes to overlook OCS’ and other infractions - just DM me.

First race night is Tuesday August 4th. Be there or be square. Tell your friends...

Race Rat Randy (RRR)
416-712-7444

Community Safety Guidelines during Pandemic

Matthew Burpee — Sat, 01 Aug 2020 00:26:11 GMT

We each need to help minimize the spread of Covid this August and fall.

Be aware of a false sense of security. We should still be very vigilant as numbers have spiked in many places when restrictions have been lifted. It may be safer to assume that each person you meet could have Covid. Take necessary precautions including avoiding groups, social distancing, wearing a mask, and hand washing.

Sail or paddle with people from your household or bubble. If you don't go with people in your bubble, Ontario Sailing recommends that you wear a buff or face mask or covering while on the water.

We are still required to maintain physical distancing of at least 2 metres with people from outside our household or ten person bubble. We must wear a mask or covering when close to people outside our household or bubble.

Our club is responsible for ensuring physical distancing can be maintained. It’s important we present well, as you reflect our club. So let's not let our safety measures slip.

Always bring a mask, have it with you at all times and expect it to be required when things prove difficult to maintain physical distancing.

The clubhouse remains locked.

There will be a clean up day in early November.

The AGM will be done via zoom.

Knowledge about Covid prevention has developed further since this spring. Please see the following about this awful disease.

Reputable Sources for Covid Info

Province of Ontario

City of Toronto

Health Canada

World Health Organization

Related Information

Ontario Sailing Association

Outer Harbour Sailing Federation

Water Rats COVID-19 Guidelines, May 2020

Club partially reopens with COVID-19 Guidelines

Matthew Burpee — Fri, 15 May 2020 02:38:49 GMT

Getting out on the water with caution

We are all members and as such must bear responsibility for the well being of all. Please carefully read the following sections: 1) COVID-19 Guidelines 2) Before Coming, and 3) At the Club.

1) COVID-19 Guidelines

Club members with any possible signs of COVID such as cough, sniffles, fever, headache, lack of smell and/or taste must seek medical help and not visit the club
Club members who have been exposed to anyone with COVID or are suspicious of having COVID, must stay home 14 days
Club members are responsible for ensuring the safety of others and themselves
Club members should clean anything they touch that will be touched by others, with sanitizer or soap and water
Club members should not assume, however, that common surfaces are clean. On the contrary, they should assume the opposite and do frequent hand washing in an appropriate fashion for at least 20 seconds
Club members should avoid touching their face
Club members should avoid close contact with others and should be at least 2 metres/ 6 feet away from others and probably more
Club members should not assume that if they are wearing a mask, this will necessarily protect them from getting COVID. Wearing a mask is more protective of others by helping to prevent the transmission of virus from the person wearing the mask. It has less protection for the person wearing the mask of getting the virus from others and especially from someone not wearing a mask. Club members can wear masks but still keep their distance from others
On the water, sailors should be as far away from others as possible, and at least several metres. Recommendations re runners / bike riders, etc., have been to stay considerably more than 2 metres away as people exerting themselves, as may be the case in stronger winds, may spread the virus longer distances
Generally, the virus is spread by droplets from a person's cough, sneeze, breath and by touching something contaminated with the virus and then touching one's face
COVID is very contagious and is probably significantly spread unknowingly from asymptomatic individuals or from people with minimal symptoms
While many, if not most, club members are in good health, they should not necessarily assume that they will not get severely ill, and at any rate may unknowingly pass the virus onto a more compromised person who could get very ill and / or die
Members should be encouraged to keep their distance from others, not assume that what they are touching is free of virus, frequently wash their hands and not touch their face

2) Before Coming

You must bring hand sanitizer with 70% alc. and/or soap & water
A face mask, and ziplock bag for safekeeping it on you, is recommended
Bring your own water, cleaning supplies, dishes, utensils, thermos, and personal chair if needed
No guests at this time

3) At Our Club

The clubhouse will be closed. Practise 6 feet / 2 metre spacing everywhere
Washrooms may be infection hotspots. Sanitize door handles, toilet seat cover before and after use. They will be cleaned on Fridays
Front Gate: You must use sanitizer on the lock and gate before and after. Mowing under your boat? Sanitize shed lock, shed handles, lawn mower handles and cord handle before and after
In larger boats, such as cats, a second person should only be a household member. Luckily, most of our boats are for only one person and are shore launched which is an ideal situation
We are not permitted to run any organized programs or events
Sanitize your hands and cellphone after handling anything shared

4) COVID-19 In Toronto

The trend in new infections has not yet started to fall in Toronto by mid-May as it has elsewhere. We still need to be cautious until we are vaccinated. Please see COVID-19: Status of Cases in Toronto.

According to current evidence, the COVID-19 virus is primarily transmitted between people through respiratory droplets and contact routes. Symptoms have included: cough, fever, difficulty breathing, and pneumonia. In severe cases, infection can lead to death (650 to date in Toronto). Symptoms can be mild and may take up to 14 days to appear after exposure.

Please visit the following resources. And please verify news sources you see online as the world collectively responds to this tragic pandemic.

Public health information about COVID-19

5) Boating Guidelines

A) City of Toronto & Province of Ontario directive

B) Government of Canada boating directives

Note: The guidelines were written by member, MD Larry Chad and sections by Grounds Rat, Barbara Anderson and Web Rat, Matthew Burpee. They will be updated as the season progresses through stages of relaxing restrictions and in keeping with directives from the Province of Ontario, the City of Toronto, the Ontario Sailing Association and the Outer Harbour Sailing Federation. For information about clubs please see: Guidance on Health and Safety for Marinas during COVID-19 (PDF).

Club will close on Sunday, March 29 due to pandemic emergency

Matthew Burpee — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 21:04:01 GMT

After considerable discussion during a conference call last night attended by all members of the Club executive, it was unanimously decided that the Club will be closed effective 4 pm on Sunday, March 29.

The lock on the gate will be changed and only one or two executive members will have keys.

The decision to close is based on the COVID-19 pandemic and the declarations of emergency made by the Province of Ontario and the City of Toronto.

The delay in closing is to permit notification to all members and provide a brief period for members to remove their boats and trailers should they wish to do so before the Club is locked down. The combination for the lock on the Clubhouse door will be changed when the gate lock is changed. Please bring hand sanitizer. Or bring soap to wash your hands with lake water brought onto land. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands. Keep distance from any others.

Anyone with a catamaran on the beach is urged to move it to the catamaran parking area to the east of the Club road. High water is forecast for Lake Ontario and could occur during the period when the Club is locked down. Any catamarans left on the beach will be solely at the risk of the owner and the Club accepts no liability for any loss or damage to catamarans left on the beach.

All members are urged to make sure their boat is properly secured especially those with kayaks or canoes on the racks prior to lock down.

Spring clean-up is indefinitely postponed.

The Club will re-open once government authorities indicate that normal activities can resume.

Norm Lamb

Chief Rat (Commodore)

Resources

Outer Harbour Sailing Federation

City of Toronto COVID-19

Ontario Ministry of Health COVID-19

Health Ca nada COVID-19

World Health Organization COVID-19

A letter from the City of Toronto for Water Rats, April 9, 2020

High water expected early this summer

Matthew Burpee — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 15:13:04 GMT

The international body that helps regulate water levels on Lake Ontario is forecasting a return to flood-level heights this early summer but not as high as in 2017 and 2019.

The International Lake Ontario - Saint Lawrence River Board (ILO-SLRB)

Fall 2019 news: BBQ, Regatta, Joe van Rossem wins, Paul Henderson inducted...

Matthew Burpee — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 16:12:27 GMT

Club events

Please join Sunday races into October. The Water Rats Club BBQ on was on September 12 and the Water Rats Cat Regatta was on September 21 - 22. Upcoming: 2019 AGM on November 3, Fall cleanup day on November 9, Holiday season party on December 7.

Club news

Water Rat’s own Joe van Rossem finished 2nd in his class though tied with 1st in points at the 2019 Laser Masters World Championship. Well done Joe! Very close racing as there was only 1 point between 1st, 2nd & 3rd.

Congratulations to The Water Rat club founder Paul Henderson on becoming the first Sailor to be inducted into the Ontario Sport Hall of Fame.

Please add your photo in the waterrats.ca directory so members can connect names and faces. Login and select members.

On LinkedIn? Please press "Follow" on our new LinkedIn organization profile at https://www.linkedin.com/comp…/thewaterratsailingclub/about/ If you volunteered on the board in the past (you rock) consider updating your LinkedIn profile with the name "The Water Rat Sailing Club" and then your role.

Please consider joining the Outer Harbour Chat (OHSF) on Facebook to learn about local concerns. If interested in the future of the Port Lands. You are invited to join a discussion September 11 at 5:30pm at Westwood Sailing Club. All welcome.

A Hobie 18 and a Sea Kayak are for sale and more items are wanted.

Looking back, it was the wettest year on record with our road and beaches flooded. But it was a good summer as we had our 50th celebration party, good turnouts for Tuesday evening races, and members won in competitions abroad. What was your favourite moment?

Dan Borg won 3rd at World Championship Hobie 14!

Matthew Burpee — Tue, 30 Jul 2019 17:00:04 GMT

Water Rat and Team Canada member Dan Borg won 3rd at World Championship Hobie 14, FF Voile in Paris last week! Congrats Dan!

Lean more about Dan on Team Canada's page.

50th Anniversary recap

Matthew Burpee — Thu, 27 Jun 2019 21:08:21 GMT

The first sailing club in the Portlands area of Toronto recently celebrated 50 years of providing low-cost and low-impact access for sailors and paddlers. See event announcement for background.

The day

Event organizer Jordan Mitchell opened with how the event came together and how the club has transformed from a post-apocalyptic wasteland to a beautiful green space. Also, mentioned that during the planning of the event, some incredible stories came out of the woodwork (e.g., Water Rat costumes from the early 1970s, the Poona Pot Sail/Ski Championship and the Water Rat 10 Commandments).

Club member Jimmy Sabourin joined in for a land and water acknowledgement in Mohawk tradition, gave thanks to the land, water, winds and rains and talked about the importance of bringing your best self.

Julie Dabrusin, MP for Toronto–Danforth, as a member of the neighbouring Windsurfing Club, she hadn't seen the Water Rat from the inside and was amazed at how beautiful the grounds were. She talked about the importance of having access to the water so close to downtown and the importance of protecting it from plastic waste.

Paul Henderson, Club founder, spoke for about 20 minutes on the development of the Water Rat and all of the clubs along the Portlands (see his Canadian Yachting article). He later cut a cake and showed the members the first membership badges for him, Gordon Norton and Bill Cox.

Norm Lamb, our Chief Rat, thanked the 50th anniversary organizing committee and talked about the importance of member-run clubs where so many people dedicate their time for the enjoyment of others.

Paula Fletcher, City of Toronto Councillor for Toronto Danforth, talked about the tenacity of the club members for fighting to stay put on an incredible piece of water and land. She also planted a silver maple tree.

Photos and video

YouTube, Flickr, Facebook and Instagram.

50th Slideshow

For 50 years The Water Rat Sailing Club has championed dinghy sailing in Toronto's Outer Harbour. 200 members and their families participate in dinghies, catamarans, canoes and kayaks. The volunteer-run non-profit co-op was founded in 1969 and has one of the largest Laser fleets in Canada.

Water Rat Ray Davies is the European Masters Champion!

Matthew Burpee — Fri, 21 Jun 2019 04:00:01 GMT

Discussion online

Randy McMeekin: "Ray Davies is the 2019 European Masters Champion! You have done Water Rats, District 3 and all of Canada very proud! Al Clark from British Columbia won the Grand Master division as well. Two Canadians at the top of the podium and this international event.Well done Ray! Beers on us when you get home."

Johan van Rossem: "Congratulations Ray Davies! This is a big deal, to win the master division in Europa is a big deal and he is not just any old Rat. He is a Water Rat. Well done Ray."

Ray Davies: "Thanks everyone for the warm wishes. Overall, I had a great time and was very pleased with my results. Only had one bad race over the 9 race series. The venue hosted the World Masters previously and I can see why - consistent sea breeze, sunny and warm water. We didn’t race in anything less than 5 knots and the final race was probably gusting to 25 knots offshore. Excellent race management and was fun to race the trapezoids reaching in the gusty winds. Very proud to rep Water Rats and Canada at this event.

5Oth Anniversary Celebration announcement

Matthew Burpee — Sun, 16 Jun 2019 01:53:00 GMT

The first sailing club in the Portlands area of Toronto celebrates 50 years of providing low-cost and low-impact access for sailors and paddlers

Press Release (PDF) | Event Registration

TORONTO – The Water Rat Sailing Club will be hosting its 50th Anniversary Celebration (1969-2019) on Saturday, June 22, 2019 from 11am to 4pm (rain date: Sunday, June 23) located at 4 Regatta Road, Toronto.

At 1pm, the club will welcome Julie Dabrusin (MP for Toronto-Danforth), Paul Henderson (the club’s co-founder and former Olympian) as well as a tree planting ceremony with Paula Fletcher (Ward 14 Toronto-Danforth City Councillor). The event will round out with a no rules open Team Challenge/Poker Run (sailing and paddling) in the afternoon.

The Water Rat Sailing Club was the first sailing club established east of Cherry Beach in the Portlands area of Toronto. Paul Henderson, Gordon Norton and Bill Cox gathered a group of sailors from the Royal Canadian Yacht Club (RCYC) in 1969 and worked with the Toronto Port Authority to lease a piece of land that had served as the test site for the Leslie Spit. The hot water discharge from the nearby Hearn Generating Station allowed the keen sailors to continue racing year around. The name of the club “Water Rat” originated from Kenneth Grahame’s children’s book “The Wind in the Willows” and the founders borrowed a line from the book for the club motto: “There is nothing — absolutely nothing — half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats”. Willow trees were planted in 1970 at a time when there was sparse vegetation in the area and have grown to create a picturesque site, used over the years as a backdrop in several Canadian TV programs and films such as Down the Road Again (see clip).

Shortly after the establishment of the Water Rat, seven additional clubs sprung up along Regatta Road, making it a hub for dinghy sailing, windsurfing and paddling in Toronto. The Water Rat Sailing Club is well-known for its casual atmosphere; instead of a “commodore”, the top executive is known as the “Chief Rat” and for more than 40 years, the clubhouse was a ship wheelhouse from a freighter.

As of 2019, the Water Rat Sailing Club continues to be a vibrant, not-for-profit co-operative club with more than 200 members. The focus is to provide low-cost access to sailing and paddling with a minimal environmental footprint. The club is proud of its connection to the Laser sailboat, a four-metre single-handed dinghy sailboat designed by Canadian Bruce Kirby, built by Ian Bruce with the sail designed by Hans Fogh. The Laser has become the Water Rat’s largest fleet with more than 75 boats. Many Water Rat members compete regularly in weekly club races as well as Canadian, U.S. and international regattas and throughout the club’s history, several Olympic and National champions have honed their sailboat racing skills at the club. In addition to the Laser, there is also a large fleet of catamarans, mono-hull sailboats, wind surfboards, kayaks and canoes.

Contact

Matthew Burpee, Water Rats Communications, e-mail, 416-270-7701

Jordan Mitchell, 50th Anniversary Celebration Committee member, e-mail.

Weather forecast

Articles about The Water Rat Sailing Club

Joe Berkeley, Rat Pack, March 23, 2016

Paul Henderson, A personal account: The Water Rat and Outer Harbour Sailing, March 28, 2019

Photos from 1969+ on Flickr and today in Instagram

Articles about the Laser

The history of the Laser, Bruce Kirby and Ian Bruce, Laser Sailing, April 15, 2016

Rob Kothe, Interview with Bruce Kirby – the designer of the Laser - Part One, Sail World, November 11, 2009

###

Paul Henderson was instrumental in assisting with the founding of the Outer Harbour Sailing Community including The Water Rat SC, Mooredale SC, St. Jamestown SC, the Hanlan Boat Club and more.

The clubhouse was a former ship wheelhouse for almost 4 decades. More: Flickr

One of ten willow trees planted in 1970

Waterway acknowledgement

Ontarí'io means "Lake of Shining Waters" in Huron. The Water Rats Sailing Club is grateful to have the opportunity to enjoy these shining waters and leased beachfront park. We are accountable to our local relationships and reflect on the past. For millennia the waterways by this Great Lake, marsh and rivers behind us have been the passageways and home for many indigenous peoples. In the 2nd millennium the Huron-Wendat and Petun First Nations, the Seneca, and most recently, the Mississaugas of the Credit River have lived in the vicinity before us and keep living here now, as we live here and keep living here. We also note that after more than a century of newcomers to Canada's largest province, with now the fourth largest city in North America, there has never been a purchase of the Great Lakes, just parcels of land around them.

About land acknowledgements

Event registration

5Oth Anniversary Team Challenge/Poker Run

Matthew Burpee — Fri, 14 Jun 2019 16:45:57 GMT

WATER RAT 5Oth ANNIVERSARY TEAM CHALLENGE (aka the WRSC poker run)

On Saturday June 22nd, we will be celebrating the 50th Anniversary party. Among others, sailing legend Paul Henderson will be joining for the celebration.

To add to the festivities during the day we will be holding the first annual Water Rat Team Challenge.

Here’s how it works:

Each team must consist of 5 sailors and three boats as follows:
1 Laser with 1 skipper
1 catamaran with 2 crew
1 kayak or canoe with 2 crew

The teams will assemble, rigged, dressed and ready to go on either the south beach or the lagoon depending on the wind/weather.

First off the beach will be the Laser- Le mans style with as much help from teammates as possible. The Laser will sail a short distance to an anchored boat where they will receive a playing card. The Laser will sail back to the beach and tag the catamaran to go next. The catamaran team will sail to the boat and receive 2 cards, sail back and tag in the kayak/canoe team who will paddle to receive 2 last cards and then will return to the beach.

Best hand wins the competition but bonus points may be awarded for best time overall and maybe for best costumes, or maybe for something else totally random. Note the judges are omnipotent and are to be revered, but will likely be easily bribed.

There are basically no rules. All methods of propulsion, cheating and misbehaving are permitted. However, safe boating practices must be followed with appropriate PFD’s etc. Boarding, contacting, or ramming a competing boat is not allowed, but mooning and mocking is encouraged.

You may form teams on your own, or if you’d rather you can simply be assigned to a team on the big day.

The winners will receive huge prizes of little value and one year of bragging rights.

If you are interested please let me know as soon as possible at randy.mcmeekin@gmail.com, or via FB messenger, or via text at 416-712-7444, or by smoke signal.

Should be a blast and will allow us to get to know each other better. May the best team win.

Race Rat Randy (RRR)

Facebook Event

2019 social events

Matthew Burpee — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 18:19:31 GMT

Please RSVP and add these social events to your calendar or Facebook. Volunteers are always wanted so contact the Social Rat, Monika Roschlaub.

June 22 50th Anniversary Celebration. RSVP | Add to calendar | Facebook

July 11 BBQ. RSVP | Add to calendar | Facebook

August 8 BBQ. RSVP | Add to calendar | Facebook

September 12 BBQ. RSVP | Add to calendar | Facebook

December 7 Holiday Party. RSVP | Add to calendar | Facebook

Google Calendar

Final Results for the Heinz Gebauer Spring War Regatta

Matthew Burpee — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 07:46:47 GMT

Top 3 Laser Full Rig

1.) Gord Welsh

2.) Pat Wachholz

3.) Ray Davies

Top 3 Radials

1.) Andrew Mahoney

2.) Julie Stewart

3.) Pam Shinkoda

Thanks to all the volunteers who made this regatta a success, particularly those who covered for me while unexpectently away on business.

Thanks Ben and Brett Slykerman for the great day 2 and awards pics.

See you all at Fall War 2019! - Randy McMeekin

Select image to expand:

June 8, day 1, provisional results after one discard

Registration form:
http://waterrats.ca/event-3435784

Notice of Regatta

Laser Standard, Laser Radial, and Laser 4.7

June 8-9, 2019. Water Rat Sailing Club, Toronto, Ontario

Organizing Authority: Water Rats Sailing Club, 4 Regatta Road, Toronto, Ontario. Main Contact is Randy McMeekin randy.mcmeekin@gmail.com or via cell at 416-712-7444.

Rules: All races will be governed by the rules as defined in the Racing Rules of Sailing 2017-2020 (“RRS”) and Laser Class rules, except as modified by the sailing instructions.

The Sailing Instructions will be available online at www.waterrats.ca and during onsite registration.

Eligibility and Entry: Laser Standard, Laser Radial, and Laser 4.7. Each class must have a minimum of 5 entries for a separate start. Competitors shall enter by completing the entry form available on the event website and paying the required fees.

Entry in the event is not final until registration is completed. All competitors must check in on site to complete registration.

Entry Fee: $40.00

The entry fee includes coffee and muffins each morning, water between races, a Saturday after racing BBQ (hamburgers and Sausage) and a Water Rats 50th anniversary t-shirt. Bring your own refreshments if desired to after racing socializing.

Format/Racing: The low-point scoring system, RRS Appendix A will be used. Short courses will be set to allow 4-5 races per day. One (1) race shall constitute a regatta. The number of races per day will be determined by the Race Committee.

Schedule: Saturday June 8 Skippers Meeting 1000 hrs
- First Gun 1100 hrs
- Sunday June 9 First Gun 1000 hrs

Equipment: Regatta is open to all Laser boats with class legal equipment. Note however that non-legal sails (ie, Intensity brand sails) may be used in the regatta. All sails should have a number identification of some kind.

Insurance: Each competitor is required to have third party liability insurance no less than CDN $2,000,000.

Venue and Race Course Area: Racing will be held south of the Water Rat Sailing Club in the Toronto Outer Harbour. Boats, trailers, dollies and cars may be stored at the WRSC free of charge. Camping on site may be permitted upon request. Information about the sailing club can be found at www.waterrats.ca

Additional Information: Check the event registration page at http://waterrats.ca/event-3435784 or contact Randy McMeekin at randy.mcmeekin@gmail.com or 416-712-7444

Repost: A personal account: The Water Rat and Outer Harbour Sailing

Matthew Burpee — Thu, 04 Apr 2019 15:10:24 GMT

A personal account by Paul Henderson, The Pope of Sailing! "The Water Rat and Outer Harbour Sailing"

Please read more in the article from Canadian Yachting: http://www.canadianyachting.ca/news-and-events/current/4993-a-personal-account-the-water-rat-and-outer-harbour-sailing

Mar 28, 2019

By Paul Henderson

From my point of view, sailing is a sport, which relies totally on the environment. Sailors use a renewable resource—wind—for our power. Our boats sail across lakes and oceans, and we do not scar the surface. Sailors are extremely concerned about the environment. In fact, one of our 1972 Olympic medalists, Paul Cote, was a founder of Greenpeace.

I first became aware of environmental issues in 1966 when I was invited to a luncheon at the Argonaut Rowing Club organized by Gordon Norton and Bill Cox with Jack Jones, the forward thinking chief engineer of the Toronto Port Authority. Jack had built Ontario Place and other marinas along Toronto’s waterfront using landfill. Toronto was going through a dynamic construction boom with a number of large office buildings going up in the downtown core. This required digging large foundations to house subterranean parking lots and shopping concourses, and the earth had to be dumped somewhere. Jack’s solution was to build a large spit out into Lake Ontario at the foot of Leslie Street, which he justified by saying that all this earth had once been under the lake before it receded centuries earlier. Lake Ontario is a huge body of freshwater about 400 kilometres long, 100 kilometres wide and 200 metres deep. There is a ledge east of Toronto Harbour where the lake is only 10 metres deep, and this was where the spit would be constructed. Some three kilometres offshore, the lake bed drops off dramatically to about 100 metres.

An environmental lobby tried to stop construction of the spit on the grounds that it would ruin the natural mating ground of the soft-shelled crab. Sounding a different alarm, a left-leaning New Democrat Party (NDP) city councilor said that the spit would take up some of the surface area of the lake. I could not believe this uninformed rhetoric—Lake Ontario pulsates minute by minute due to small changes in atmospheric pressure. The lake is also subject to strong east and west winds and depending on wind direction, the water piles up at one end and then runs the other way. The surface area of the lake is constantly changing, and the 200 acres of the proposed spit would have a negligible impact on its overall surface area.

At the luncheon, Jack Jones rolled out his engineering plans for the spit and informed us that they had poured a small test area about 100 metres long at the east end of Cherry Beach to test whether it would be subject to erosion by winter storms. They found that this test spit built up as sand collected along its edge. Jack suggested that we should grab it to ensure a footprint for recreational sailing in the waters to be protected by the spit, which would come to be known as the Outer Harbour. We needed

to come up with a reason to convince our friends at the Toronto Port Authority to allow us to use it. It so happens that the Hearn Generating Station used water from the lake to cool their generators, returning the slightly warmer water back into the Outer Harbour. This kept the area ice-free during the winter. We prepared a letter asking that sailors be allowed to use the test spit for winter sailing, and the Toronto Port Authority gave us a temporary permit to do so for six months in 1968. We purchased eight Sunfish dinghies and sailed almost every weekend all winter long (see photo). It was a very bleak, treeless area housing derelict fuel tanks, salt piles, mounds of aggregate and scrap yards, but it gave us our much needed access to the water. The sailors are still there.

Gordon Norton and Bill Cox, Founders of The Water Rat, preparing to sail a Sunfish at the inaugural Water Rat Regatta December 1970. This shows how the Toronto Outer Harbour looked when we started to use it. The rocks were there to protect the erosion of the shore which was happening before “The Spit” was built, planned by Jack Jones.

The barren wasteland, with no trees, is where the community sailing, rowing and windsurfing clubs now operate. The land was allocated by the Hon. Donald MacDonald.

The Martin Goodman Trail now winds between the Water Rat and the Hearn Power Generating Station. More recently, the same group has tried to get a rowing/dragon boat course dug out north of the Water Rat to save it for recreational use.

Bill Gooderham, Head Cheese of the Water Rat, planted the first trees there.

Gordon Norton, Bill Cox and I are proud of the fact that we started the recreational use of this industrial wasteland guided by the vision of Jack Jones of the Toronto Harbor Commission.

The Water Rat:
We needed a name for our new venture. Gordon Norton was quite politically astute. He observed that since the Toronto city council had been taken over by the left-leaning NDP, it would be ill advised to use the words “Yacht Club” because he felt these words would carry connotations of privilege to the proletarian-minded NDP. Norton believed we should call it “The Water Rat” after the famous line in Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind In the Willows where the water rat says to the mole, “Believe me, my young friend, there is NOTHING—absolutely nothing—half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats. Simply messing . . . .”

Norton also decreed that we should not have a commodore but a “head cheese,” and the always helpful Bill Gooderham was so named. One day I went down to the barren Outer Harbour and saw Bill planting a dozen willow trees which he had purchased. If you go down there today, the 25-year-old trees are very grand.

So The Water Rat was founded. We needed a fence to enclose the area to protect our boats, which we left on the shore but The Water Rat had no money. Colonel Frank Ovens, our mentor and manager of the RCYC, allowed Cox and me to access the membership roll and send letters to our RCYC friends asking each for $100 to underwrite the cost of the fence. This raised the required $10,000. Sailing was now possible in Toronto all year round. The print media that first winter were very supportive.

Thanks to the Port Authority, which was breaking up old lake freighters, we inherited the captain’s cabin and wheelhouse of the Victorious and converted them into a unique clubhouse. The structure was detached with cutting torches, loaded with the Port Authority’s unusually large crane onto a truck, and installed at The Water Rat. We also needed a dock. Commodore Grant, who owned Overland Transport, donated a flat-bed from a semi truck, and it still serves as a very functional dock.

Maury Edwards, also from the RCYC, was CEO of McCord’s Concrete. He said that most nights they had leftover concrete in their trucks and were dumping it out at the spit. If we would meet the trucks at The Water Rat, we could get free concrete for our boat park and thus secure the land. We had a detail of members worked out, and when McCord’s called we would all hurry down to The Water Rat with our rakes, shovels and hip waders. As luck would have it, one night the concrete pumps broke at one of the big building sites downtown, and we got seven trucks each carrying 12 cubic yards of concrete. The Brymer boys, Stu Green and, as usual, my Mary were there to help. That is a hell of a lot of concrete to spread!

Norton was right. At a city council meeting, NDP leader Jack Layton stood up and announced that The Water Rat was the type of recreational facility Toronto should foster, as opposed to the “royal” yachting clubs. He demanded that The Water Rat be designated on new city maps. We were now kosher! I never told Layton that The Water Rat had been founded and funded by members of the Royal Canadian Yacht Club, which over the years has been the glue that holds all sailing together in this region. The Water Rat has since been turned over to its present users with no strings attached. I trust they remember that it was the RCYC sailors, together with the vision of Jack Jones, who made it all happen, and that it has allowed many entry level sailors to enjoy sailing on Lake Ontario.

Outer Harbour Sailing Federation:

In 1972 there was a very close federal election. Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau was fighting for his political life. I am not a card-carrying anything, and I usually vote for people I know. I am an entrepreneurial businessman with a social conscience, and am equally as concerned about where tax money comes from as I am about where it is being distributed.

Mary’s good friend Ruth Hutchinson was married to the Honourable Donald Macdonald, M.P., who represented the federal riding of Rosedale where we live. Summoned to a policy meeting for the election, I asked Don what he wanted me to do. “Work for the opposition,” was his tongue in cheek reply.

His advisers felt that the election would be very close and that the densely populated high-rise apartment buildings of Toronto’s St. James Town would be key to the outcome of the election. I had an idea. The St. James Town YMCA had ushered in a new concept for community sailing to introduce newcomers to Toronto, aged 20 to 40, to the sport. It had proved so successful that it spawned similar projects out of the Westwood YMCA, North Toronto YMCA and Mooredale House, all operating out of the Toronto Island Marina. The City of Toronto, which owned the marina, was in the process of evicting them, however, and they had no place to go. Two of these clubs were in Macdonald’s Rosedale riding, as was The Water Rat—Port Authority land is a federal jurisdiction. I suggested that if Macdonald would promise to allow the community sailing clubs to operate on the unused Port Authority wasteland east of The Water Rat, he would be doing a great service to the community.

I told him that the next Wednesday I would be giving one of my monologues on sailing to the St. James Town and Mooredale community sailing clubs and that he should make an appearance at the meeting. I would introduce him and he could make the commitment publicly to give them a new home. My own involvement with these initiatives came about as a result of the established sailing clubs’ refusal to allow these new community clubs to race with them, ostensibly because they had a long-standing exclusive racing alliance. Bill Gooderham and I made it a practice to enter all the keen racers from the community clubs at no charge under the aegis of the RCYC, and in this way we were finally able to break the stalemate. The community programs have in fact proven to be excellent feeders to the established clubs.

At the Wednesday meeting, Macdonald signed up 30 residents of St. James Town to canvass voters on his behalf. The Trudeau Liberals won the election by one seat. Macdonald carried the St. James Town polls by 600 votes, which proved decisive in the Liberals’ extremely narrow margin of victory in Rosedale—he hung on to the riding by only 400 votes! By virtue of our modest initiative, Trudeau carried the country.

True to his word, Macdonald delivered the land east of The Water Rat. Peter Van Buskirk, then manager of the RCYC, became the first president of the Outer Harbour Sailing Federation, guiding it through its early years, and was especially skillful in his dealings with the Port Authority.

For some reason the North Toronto YMCA did not take up its slot, so the Hanlan Rowing Club took over, adding a new aspect to the use of the Outer Harbour. Over the years they have tended to act as if theirs is the controlling use, and occasionally I feel compelled to remind them of Olympic rower Marnie McBean’s observation that rowers sit on their ass and look backwards.

Paul Henderson

Paul Henderson has represented Canada at three Olympic Games: 1964 Enochima in the Flying Dutchman, 1968 Acapulco in the Finn and at the 1972 Schilksee as coach. He also qualified for the 1980 Olympics at Tallinn in the Star but Canada joined the Olympic Boycott against the Soviet Union.

He was a member of the founding group that set up CORK (Canadian Olympic Regatta Kingston)

The first time Henderson represented Canada at the International Yacht Racing Union, was in 1970 to advise on the sailing venue for the 1976 Montreal Olympics. He stayed active for ISAF for over 30 years.

Henderson dedicated five years as a volunteer in his leadership of the Toronto Olympic Bid, to host the 1996 Olympic Games and was also consulted to the 2008 Olympic bid and to the 2010 Vancouver bid.

Henderson was elected President of the ISAF in 1994; the first non-European to ever hold this position.

Please read more in the article from Canadian Yachting: http://www.canadianyachting.ca/news-and-events/current/4993-a-personal-account-the-water-rat-and-outer-harbour-sailing

What's your T-shirt colour and size? Register for Water Rats 50th

Matthew Burpee — Thu, 21 Mar 2019 13:33:05 GMT

50 years! Remembering liftoff in 1969

Matthew Burpee — Thu, 17 Jan 2019 18:03:30 GMT

1969

"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

"And now for something completely different"

"Pinball Wizard"

1969 was a pivotal year. The first human landed on the moon, the Concorde plane flew, Nixon started the draft, and the Woodstock generation began. Closer to home the TD Centre went up, John Lennon and Yoko Ono played at Varsity Stadium, and Trudeau made French and English official. Telesat Canada was formed, Ontario Science Centre opened, and the first ship passed through the Northwest Passage.

And Water Rats began! The story about how we started in 1969 is one of equal opportunity and importance to the events above in this author's opinion. It began when the chief engineer of the Toronto Harbour Commission suggested at a lunch meeting that a recreational sailing club start by a spit they were building.

The first Laser sailboat "TGIF" may have been brought to Water Rats and sailed in December 1970 by three people: Laser co-inventor Ian Bruce, competitive sailor and sail maker Hans Fogh, and our club founder aka the “Pope of Sailing” Paul Henderson.

Learn more in this entertaining account...

2018 holiday party a success

Matthew Burpee — Mon, 10 Dec 2018 04:47:28 GMT

Our seasonal holiday party brought us together to celebrate our sailing community, our wins, our volunteer efforts, our friendships and even musical and dancing abilities. The dinner was delicious and the cheer even better. We'll be celebrating our 50th in July.

The event was held Saturday, December 8, 2018 from 6pm-11pm at 30 Ashbridges Bay Park Rd, Toronto.

Photos/video by Matthew Burpee (album) and Yvonne Pennefather:(album).

2018 communications in review

Matthew Burpee — Fri, 23 Nov 2018 22:54:41 GMT

Wild Apricot membership software continues to be effective in managing our main communications via email and web. It allows us to securely manage our current 200+ members and offers a number of features such as payments, event registration, email blasts, and website management.

First we'll look at visitor stats for the last year and then our social media accounts. Your feedback is welcome.

Next year we'll look again at improving the website content and design for our internal and external communities.

Web stats Nov 2017-Nov 2018

The website is unsurprisingly more popular from April to June when anticipation for the sailing season is the strongest with prospective and current members.

Top page visited after the home page are about the membership, then contact, about us and racing events.

People find the site mainly by typing the URL address in, with search tools, or link from another website.

Visits from around the world.

Technology used

Social media

Facebook group 195 members

Facebook page 23 likes, 87 visits

Instagram (new) 81 posts 103 followers 28 following

Twitter (new) 117 tweets, 28 followers, 45 following

YouTube (new) 1 video, 3 subscribers

Pinterest (new) 42 pins, 6 boards, 2 followers, 2 following

Your feedback is welcome.

WATERFRONToronto: Port Lands Flood Protection & Enabling Infrastructure – Cherry Street North Bridge

Matthew Burpee — Fri, 23 Nov 2018 14:00:00 GMT

WATERFRONToronto

November 6, 2018 Via Email

RE: Port Lands Flood Protection & Enabling Infrastructure – Cherry Street North Bridge

We are writing to provide information and an update on a project that may be of interest to your organization, the Port Lands Flood Protection & Enabling Infrastructure (PLFPEI) Project.

Project Description

PLFPEI is a comprehensive plan for protecting southeastern portions of downtown Toronto from flooding in the event of a provincially defined Regulatory Storm. This includes parts of the Port Lands, South Riverdale, Leslieville, south of Eastern Avenue and the First Gulf/Unilever development site.

[Figure 1 - Project Area: Existing Conditions. Project area outlined in pink.]

Cherry Street Bridge Demolition and Construction A key part of the PLFPEI Project is the removal and replacement of the existing Cherry Street Bridge. The new Cherry Street North Bridge will span the Keating Channel and will be located along a realigned new Cherry Street, approximately 120 meters west of the existing Cherry Street.

The new Cherry Street North Bridge plays a critical role in achieving flood protection. During a major storm, the existing Cherry Street Bridge and abutments (particularly the south abutment) create a pinch point in the Keating Channel, contributing to flooding. Removing the existing bridge and abutments will allow us to widen the channel at this location and improve flood conveyance during large flood events. To maintain access in and out of the Port Lands west of the Don River, the new Cherry Street North Bridge will be constructed prior to the removal of the existing Cherry Street Bridge. Construction is expected to begin in January 2019. Additional information can be found through the links provided below.

[Figure 2 - PLFPEI Proposed Bridges]

Background and Context

Providing flood protection for the Port Lands was identified as a top priority by all three levels of government when they first established Waterfront Toronto in 2001. Working together over the past decade, Waterfront Toronto, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA), the City of Toronto and the Toronto Port Lands Company (now CreateTO) have developed and refined a solution to naturalize the mouth of the Don River and protect the Port Lands and nearby neighbourhoods from potential flooding. The PLFPEI Project will create a new mouth for the Don River in the middle of the Port Lands between the ship channel and the Keating Channel.

Naturalizing the mouth of the Don River will provide the necessary flood protection and unlock the development potential of this waterfront area. A new urban island neighbourhood called Villiers Island will emerge on the south side of Keating Channel. In addition, the project will also enhance habitat for natural species and will re-establish river and wetland habitat in the area, which provide social and environmental benefits and naturally moderate the effects of flooding and erosion.

The PLFPEI Project has been informed by extensive engagement and consultation with the public, government agencies, stakeholders, Indigenous communities, and landowners and developers. It is consistent with the City of Toronto’s primary waterfront planning document, the Central Waterfront Secondary Plan. It also secured key environmental assessment approvals in 2014 from the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (formerly the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change):

• Lower Don Lands Master Plan Class Environmental Assessment; and

• Don Mouth Naturalization and Port Lands Flood Protection Project Environmental Assessment.

Navigation Protection Act

The Navigation Protection Act authorizes and regulates the public’s right to unobstructed passage over navigable waters. The process evaluates potential impacts to navigation and acts to minimize those impacts. An undertaking in, on, over, through or across any navigable water in Canada triggers this process. As part of the approval process for the Cherry Street North Bridge project, Waterfront Toronto is required to submit a Notice of Works form pursuant to the Navigation Protection Act.

Navigation was a topic covered in both the Lower Don Lands Master Plan Class Environmental Assessment and Don Mouth Naturalization and Port Lands Flood Protection Project Environmental Assessment. The Don Mouth Naturalization and Port Lands Flood Protection Project Environmental Assessment conducted a Navigation Risk Report and Updated Maneuvering Circle Assessment. This report identified and assessed navigation risks and proposed mitigation measures. The report can be found here: http://www.trca.on.ca/dotAsset/182028.pdf. Navigation was a topic covered as part of the Environmental Assessment consultation program. A summary of the consultation record can be found here: http://www.trca.on.ca/dotAsset/181980.pdf.

[Figure 3 - Aerial View of Proposed Full Vision for the Port Lands, including a new river valley and naturalized mouth for the Don River.]

Stakeholder Engagement

The proposed design for the new Cherry Street North Bridge is attached to this document. This bridge will be fixed and will replace the existing lift bridge. The elevation of the underside of the bridge will be 79.45 m CGS 1928. During high lake level (El. 75.50 m CGS 1928), the navigation clearance will be 3.0 metres plus 0.95 m buffer; during mean lake level (El. 74.70 m CGS 1928), the clearance will be 3.8 metres plus 0.95 m buffer. For more information, refer to drawings NASN-100 and NAAC-100 attached herein. Please provide comments regarding the effect of the vertical clearance change on marine navigation directly to Transport Canada at:

The Manager, Navigation Protection Program

Transport Canada

100 Front Street South,

Sarnia, ON N7T 2M4

Or via Email at:

NPPONT-PPNONT@tc.gc.ca

Comments will be considered only if they are in writing and are received not later than 60 days after the date of this letter. Although all comments will be considered, no individual response will be sent.

We will continue to keep you updated on the PLFPEI project as we move forward with the design.

Best Regards,

Simon Karam

Project Director

20 Bay Street, Suite 1310

Toronto, ON

M5J 2N8

Tel: 416.214.1344

Fax: 416.214.4591

www.waterfrontoronto.ca

Information Links:

Community Consultation, July 22, 2018 – Presentation Material (PDF)

PLFPEI Project Components

Cherry Street Stormwater and Lakefilling Project (PDF)

Waterfront Toronto Release Due Diligence Report on Port Lands Flood Protection Enabling Infrastructure (PLFPEI), October 20, 2016

Don Mouth Naturalization and Port Lands Flood Protection Project Environmental Assessment

Lower Don Lands Master Plan Class Environmental Assessment

Hanlan Boat Club's dock is on our shore this winter

Matthew Burpee — Sat, 10 Nov 2018 13:59:01 GMT

Our friendly neighbour Hanlan Boat Club needs temporary space. Their docks are on our shore until the end of March.

September update from Norm - Help wanted

Matthew Burpee — Wed, 12 Sep 2018 05:34:20 GMT

"I wanted to take this opportunity to provide you with an update on things that are happening at the club." - Norm on September 12, with minor updates from Matthew on September 25.

BBQ

The final summer BBQ will be help on Thursday Sept 13th. Mark it in your calendar. I hope you can attend.

Board Member position open:

Paddle Rat

Some of the responsibilities include:

Keeping racks organized and maintained
Notifying new members as they come up on the waiting list
Facilitating the membership process with the Membership Rat
Encouraging members to lead paddle nights

Sylvia Winninger has done a fantastic job of the Paddle Rat portfolio and will be greatly missed.

If you are interested in helping out in this capacity, please contact me directly.

Boat Captain

We are in desperate need of someone to look after our two boats. At the moment we are double dipping, as two or more board members are looking after the boats... and their own areas. I feel it is time we get a specific person or team to manage our boats.

The responsibilities are open for discussion. I would think the following might be part of the responsibilities:

Scheduling of the use of the boats
Oversee maintenance requirements
Be the point of contact with the Water Sports Camp
Ensure we have all the correct safety equipment on board and it is in good shape
Lead the replacement process of our boats as required
etc...

It would probably be of benefit if you were somewhat mechanically inclined for this position.

This would not be a position on the board (which is probably a good thing... less red tape)

If you are interested in helping us out, please let me know.

Regatta / Marketing person

At Water Rats, this year, I believe we will be running 5 regattas. The way we are currently structured the regatta organizer (usually one person) is responsible for all aspects of the regatta, getting Race Committee, Race officer, organizing dinners, making the Notice of Race, marketing the event, crash boat, awards etc...

To alleviate some of the pressure on the regatta organizer it would be great if we could find someone to deal with the marketing of the regatta. Once again, the responsibilities would be up for discussion but think that some of the following would be included:

Use Facebook/email/posters etc.... to advertize our regattas
Liaise with other OHSF clubs and promote those regattas
Work with other organizations (ORCA, CRAM ... ) regarding scheduling of regattas
Standardize/Coordinate prizes for all regattas (maybe WRSC hats and tee shirts?)

This, as well, would not be a position on the board (which is still probably a good thing... less red tape)

Board of Directors

Are you interested in participating on our Board of Directors? Every year we do have some turn over in the board.

If you interested in participating please contact me and we can discuss the possibilities. We are always looking for good people.

Events

Sunday races

Every Sunday at 1pm until the end of October.

Catamaran Regatta - Ben Hur

Cat regatta September 22/23 at our club. All cat sailors are welcome.

Clean Up Day

Saturday, October 27. Rain day October 28. Let’s clean up our club for the coming winter and year ahead. Please RSVP at: http://waterrats.ca/ event-3087700 so we know how much food to buy for the 1pm BBQ. Bring gloves and a rake if you have one and a friendly vibe.
Volunteers are needed for the BBQ and clean up of the club house afterwards. Contact Barbara Anderson <serenewaters.barbara@gmai l.com> and learn more about hours at http://waterrats.ca/hours. Facebook event.

Private function at Club

Sunday, November 4 - Sarah Pointer is hosting an evening social.

AGM

Sunday, November 18, 2pm

Christmas Party

Dec 8 or 15th (finalizing the exact date and will let you know shortly)

Movie. Our old clubhouse made it to the big screen

Here's an email below from our former Chief Rat Steve Hoke: "Finally found a posted copy of the movie that was shot at the 'Rats Oct 2010. I got $8,750 for the club which went right in to our building fund towards the new clubhouse. Shows how pathetic our old clubhouse really was, strong in character but…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqkYLjB5EeM&ab_channel=DanielStewart

For segments featuring our old clubhouse and grounds, skip to 39:50 also 1:15:06 and 1:18:43

If you have any questions / comments / concerns let me know.... more information to come!

Norm Lamb
Chief Rat

Sunday races begin until end of October

Matthew Burpee — Tue, 04 Sep 2018 17:27:54 GMT

Weeknight racing is over for the season.

We will be switching to Sundays at 1pm from September until the end of October. With the possible exception of the Ice Bowl one Saturday in November.

Also, Ian our RC is moving to England tomorrow for school. Let Mike Doell know if you are interested or know anyone who would like run them for us.

August news

Matthew Burpee — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 21:53:24 GMT

Message from Chief Rat Norm Lamb

Board Members Wanted

Are you interested in participating on our Board of Directors? Every year we do have some turn over in the board. If you interested in participating please contact me and we can discuss the possibilities. We are always looking for good people.

Catamaran regatta

There is a cat regatta this weekend at our club. All cat sailors are welcome.

September BBQ

The final summer BBQ will be help on Thursday Sept 13th. Mark it in your calendar. I hope you can attend.

Science experiment

There is a pink rope attached to a few clear plastic bottles on the dock. Please don't remove them as people are monitoring the bottles for algae growth.

Member parties

Some club members have used our facilities to host member parties. We have had a few this year and have had some suggestions from members on how to make this a better experience for all. The board will be looking at this for next year.

Boats

At the moment our coach boat (otherwise known as the RIB) is going into the mechanic for some much needed attention. Our other smaller boat (known as the Whaler) has seen better days and is in need of attention or possible retirement.

Clean-up day

We haven't finalized the date but keep your eyes open for something in early November.

AGM

At the moment we have chosen a tentative date for the AGM, November 18th (Sunday 2pm). We will finalize that date at our next board meeting in September and let you know

- Norm

The new Port Lands project has begun

Matthew Burpee — Sun, 22 Jul 2018 19:35:23 GMT

Water Rats is seen in the distance at middle right below with new buildings north of the ship channel.

Photos from July 18 public consultation regarding the project and flood protection.

Port Lands Project Map

Why the Port Lands are Vital to Toronto’s Future

#WaterfrontTO

July races, paddle nights, and Club BBQ

Matthew Burpee — Sun, 01 Jul 2018 11:30:00 GMT

Happy Canada Day! This July please join us at:

Tuesday Laser & Catamaran races 6pm
Thursday Laser races and possible coaching depending upon numbers
Wednesday July 4 Paddle Night 6:30pm with Sylvia. Chantal may lead other nights
Thursday July 12 Club BBQ 7pm

Try to keep cool and hydrated as we hover around 29C this week. Watch for the effects of heat illness: swelling, rash, cramps, fainting, heat exhaustion, heat stroke and the worsening of some health conditions.

Notices:

Racks - There are still two boats that are occupying other member's spots. The first one is on harbour rack 1, berth 1, sticker #0883. The second is on south shore rack 5, berth 7, sticker #1073. Please contact: sylvwin2@hotmail.com

Member run socials will happen Saturday July 21, Sunday July 22, and Saturday July 28.

Oh, world politics. Canadians looking to buy a new U.S. made sailboat, as of today, will have a 10 per cent tariff added. If looking to save try other origins as well and the various classifieds online.

May you enjoy the summer from our beach sharing Toronto' beautiful parkland and waterfront with its residents and visitors.

Skip the 400. Keep an eye on the wind and get on the water!

Member run socials

Matthew Burpee — Wed, 27 Jun 2018 21:00:22 GMT

Club members are welcome to have socials with their friends who are non-members. The Club must remain accessible to the general membership, of course. Each party must be approved on a one-by-one basis and operate under our set of rules such as leaving the Club cleaner than found.

Upcoming:

Sat. July 21 - Sarah Pointer and Greg is hosting friends

Sat. July 28 - Ted Kerr is hosting ten friends

Sun. July 29 - Bill Spurrell is hosting Ryerson's Trampoline Club

Related: Membership rules

Spring War Catamaran Regatta results

Matthew Burpee — Mon, 18 Jun 2018 20:03:55 GMT

High Fleet

Sailed: 5, Discards: 1, To count: 4, Rating system: SCHRS,

Entries: 7, Scoring system: Appendix A

Rank	Fleet	Class	SailNo	Club	HelmName	CrewName	SCHRS	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Total	Nett
1st	High	Hobie 14	63273	Etobicoke Yacht Club	Amy McNeill		1.405	1.0	(2.0)	1.0	1.0	1.0	6.0	4.0
2nd	High	Hobie 16	114396	Mississauga Sailing Club	Nicholas Liebel	Laurence Liebel	1.193	2.0	1.0	2.0	(3.0)	2.0	10.0	7.0
3rd	High	Hobie 16	114482	Mississauga Sailing Club	Karen-Ann Xavier	Daniel Schneider	1.193	(4.0)	3.0	3.0	2.0	4.0	16.0	12.0
4th	High	Hobie Getaway	9497	Etobicoke Yacht Club	Johnston Hall		1.242	(7.0)	4.0	7.0	5.0	3.0	26.0	19.0
5th	High	Hobie 16	114250	Westwood Sailing Club	Brock Monroe	Gular Elbi	1.193	3.0	(7.0)	5.0	6.0	5.0	26.0	19.0
7th	High	Hobie 17	6588	Etobicoke Yacht Club	Neil McNeill		1.196	5.0	6.0	6.0	4.0	(8.0 DNF)	29.0	21.0
6th	High	Nacra 500 Double	4540	St. Jamestown Sailing Club	Andrea Frej	Sarah MKcGee	1.171	6.0	5.0	4.0	(7.0)	6.0	28.0	21.0

Low Fleet

Sailed: 5, Discards: 1, To count: 4, Rating system: SCHRS,

Entries: 10, Scoring system: Appendix A

Rank	Fleet	Class	SailNo	Club	HelmName	CrewName	SCHRS	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Total	Nett
1st	Low	F18	CAN018	Water Rats	Dan Borg	Chris Moulder	1	1.0	3.0	1.0	1.0	(4.0)	10.0	6.0
2nd	Low	Taipan F16	226	Water Rats	David Antognini		1.033	3.0	(5.0)	2.0	3.0	2.0	15.0	10.0
3rd	Low	F18	1084	Water Rats	Jeff Gerrits	Tom	1	4.0	1.0	7.0	(8.0)	1.0	21.0	13.0
4th	Low	A-Cat Foils	22	BS&CC	Andy Woods		0.973	6.0	(8.0)	3.0	2.0	3.0	22.0	14.0
5th	Low	F18	2553	Water Rats	Marvin Coulson	Ted Kerr	1	2.0	4.0	(9.0)	9.0	5.0	29.0	20.0
7th	Low	F16	36	Water Rats	Beata Sejane	Roy Spencer	1.028	5.0	(6.0)	5.0	5.0	6.0	27.0	21.0
6th	Low	Nacra F17 Solo	CAN600	Water Rats	Stephen Stelmach		1.071	(8.0)	2.0	4.0	7.0	8.0	29.0	21.0
8th	Low	A-Cat Foils	44	BS&CC	Larry Woods		0.973	(7.0)	7.0	6.0	4.0	7.0	31.0	24.0
9th	Low	A-Cat Foils	US 29	Water Rats	Norm Lamb		0.973	9.0	9.0	8.0	6.0	(10.0)	42.0	32.0
10th	Low	A-Cat Foils	CAN1023	Burlington Beach Catamaran Club	Dean Mayke		0.973	10.0	10.0	(11.0 DNC)	11.0 DNC	9.0	51.0	40.0

Posted by John Weakley
www.sailwave.com

Results & photos for Spring War Laser Regatta

Matthew Burpee — Tue, 05 Jun 2018 19:15:23 GMT

2018 Spring War Laser Regatta, June 2-3, 2018

2018 Spring War Catamaran Regatta, June 16-17, 2018

TBA

Learning: Tacking for Lasers

Matthew Burpee — Sat, 02 Jun 2018 18:25:17 GMT

Tacking for Lasers appeared in The International Laser Class Association's blog on May 30, 2018

By Jon Emmett, a professional sailing coach in the UK

One of the beauties of Lasers is just how well they tack—if tacked well. Races are anything but a boat speed race to the corner in most venues and conditions, which means those who have their head out of the boat and good boat handling can gain on every small shift and gust, giving some of the best one design racing available.

Heinz Gerbaur Spring War Laser Regatta June 2-3

Matthew Burpee — Wed, 16 May 2018 13:48:14 GMT

Registration 9-10am

Skippers Meeting 10am

First Warning Signal 11am

First Warning Signal Sunday – 10:30am

BBQ after sailing Saturday

Regattas: Lasers June 2 & 3. Catamarans June 16 & 17

Matthew Burpee — Tue, 15 May 2018 19:17:01 GMT

Save the date! Online registration to come.

June 2 & 3 - Laser Regatta

June 16 & 17 - Catamaran Regatta

Sail Tuesday & Thursday evenings

Matthew Burpee — Tue, 15 May 2018 16:41:43 GMT

Tuesday - Laser and Cat races for fun. All skill levels. Approx 6pm

Thursday - include Laser training. Several of our experienced sailors will pass along hints, tips, and valuable training points to those looking to improve.

There are three purposes for these group sails....
1. To get people out on the water.... and ....
2. Meet other people in the club (and friends of)
3. Improve our sailing skills!

Many thanks to Mike Doell (our Race Rat) for spearheading this.

- via Norm's email.

Volunteers wanted for Thursday evening BBQs

Matthew Burpee — Tue, 15 May 2018 16:39:21 GMT

"We need 3 volunteers for each of the 4 summer BBQs. This involves being at the club at around 6pm, helping with set-up, and to clean up afterwards, including cleaning dishes, bowls, utensils, taking out the garbage, etc. Last year the BBQs drew about 50 members and clean-up help was really needed.

For anyone who would like to organize an entire BBQ, it entails choosing the menu, buying all the stuff, meat, veggies, salad, condiments, drinks, etc. Of course I would help out as well and there will be 3 volunteers to clean up. I could also buy the meat of that would help.

This would pay 6 work hours so you’d be done for the season. You’d be reimbursed the same evening, just hold on to all receipts. Let me know if this appeals to you and call me or email me for further details."

Yvonne Pennefather
Party Rat

Web and social media update; please share your news

Matthew Burpee — Tue, 03 Apr 2018 18:08:31 GMT

Our website is still important in this age of social media. In fact, WaterRats.ca can be thought of as a hub of our communications with social media as its spokes. Please continue to share things in Facebook and in Instagram, etc., with the hashtag #sailwaterrats. Your photos, videos, sailing tips, articles and news is wanted. I'll reach out to you to repost items here with your permission and credit.

With all the recent security and post reach issues in Facebook, trends in technology and design, and the coming neighbourhood along Cherry Street there's an opportunity to improve our community website, email and other social media to highlight our story.

Three quick changes

1) Design update. The third column on the home page was removed to allow for a larger opening photo that conveys the enjoyment of racing with other sailors in natural and urban beauty. The site menu was shortened with links to unused content removed for now. The logo was cleaned and title font changed. Fonts are also larger for easier reading. More design work will be done during the year to make the site more mobile friendly.

2) YouTube, Instagram & Twitter accounts have begun for members and fans who prefer to hang out in those party lines. When posting please use the hashtag #sailwaterrats and check-in to the location so we can connect with fellow Water Rat members and their news.

3) A mobile app is now available from Wild Apricot, our online community application. You can: register for events and pay event fees from your phone, update your member personal profile, and find fellow sailors in the member directory.

Check out past versions of our website by adding waterrats.ca on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine. A few screenshots are below.

Projects to be implemented in 2018

Matthew Burpee — Mon, 02 Apr 2018 03:33:36 GMT

16 members were in attendance at last Wednesday's WRSC Board of Directors / Executive Meeting.

The Capital Expenditure Committee and Board agreed upon a new gate locking mechanism, gravel road repair, upgraded toilet service and a dry sink.

What to do before seeing everyone again on Saturday, May 5

Matthew Burpee — Tue, 13 Feb 2018 22:33:12 GMT

Registration & Clean-up Day is Saturday, May 5. The rain date is Sunday, May 6.

While waiting out the cold you can stay warm online:

Log in at left and renew your membership. Consider adding photos and info to your membership profile. To complete your renewal process, you will need to appear in person on Saturday May 5th from 11 AM to 2 PM or Wednesday May 9th from 6 PM to 8 PM to sign the waiver, exchange keys, provide proof of insurance and get your 2018 boat stickers.
Start a conversation with other members in the Facebook group

Leave a fair review about the club in Google and Facebook

Join us elsewhere in social media: YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest

Learn sailing tips

Explore sailing class forums

Shop for equipment

Christmas and holiday season party

Matthew Burpee — Wed, 22 Nov 2017 17:20:59 GMT

Please register and join in the seasonal cheer on the eve of December 9.

Please log volunteer hours after the AGM

Matthew Burpee — Wed, 22 Nov 2017 17:17:52 GMT

A big thank you to all of those that made it a priority to show up at the AGM. Your show of support is greatly appreciated.

Please log your Work or Pay hours for the AGM. If you performed other volunteer work, you can use this link to record your time as well.

Tree cutting Monday Nov 13 & Tuesday Nov 14

Matthew Burpee — Sat, 11 Nov 2017 19:03:06 GMT

Some boats and boat racks have been moved for this. Please don't move them before the cutting.

AGM is Nov 19. New secretary wanted

Matthew Burpee — Wed, 08 Nov 2017 17:21:17 GMT

The AGM is scheduled for Sunday November 19th, 2pm at the clubhouse.

Your attendance is very important, it gives you an opportunity to vote and influence how things are done at WRSC.

It is with sadness that I announce that Julie will be stepping down from the executive. She did a great job in her tenure on the board and will be missed!

As a result, we are looking for a new member/volunteer to serve as our secretary for the 2018 season. If you are interested in helping us out on the board as our secretary please contact me.

As in the past:

1. If you attend the AGM you will receive 1 Work or Pay hour.

2. If you attend the AGM you will also receive 1 drink ticket that can be redeemed at the Christmas Party.

Looking forward to seeing you at the AGM.

Sincerely,

Norm Lamb
Chief Rat

Club closed Friday morning

Matthew Burpee — Wed, 30 Aug 2017 17:59:56 GMT

The club will be closed for spraying as they missed some of the red ants the first time around.

When: Friday Sept 1 from 8am until 12 noon.

Reminder: BBQ Sept 14th

Midsummer news

Matthew Burpee — Wed, 02 Aug 2017 22:02:15 GMT

August BBQ Help Wanted
We still need 1 volunteer to help out on August 10 at 7pm. You will earn 3 work hours. Please let Yvonne know if you can help: ydk220@sympatico.ca

Parking
Please do not park near the racks at the south shore (near the dumpster). Please refrain from parking "on the hill". As a result of the high water we have had to move some kayaks/canoes and sailboats onto the lawn beside the clubhouse. At the moment there are two saw horses indicating the 'in and out' for that area. Please do not park in front of them. Thank you.

Notice
If you have a canoe/kayak and you have not spoken with Sylvia about its location you are probably one of the stragglers. Please email sylvwin2@hotmail.com ASAP.

Ants: Please be careful behind kayak rack #7 for now.

F18 Help Wanted
WRSC is hosting the F18 Canadian Championships, Sept 30/Oct 1. For this to be successful we need some volunteers. If you could help us out, please contact Jeff at: jgerrits609@gmail.com

Clean Up Day - Nov 4th
Christmas Party - to be determined

Please join our Facebook Page & Group

Matthew Burpee — Wed, 02 Aug 2017 20:50:35 GMT

Everyone is welcome to join and tag the Water Rats Facebook page.

A Facebook Group is available for members of Water Rats to share discussion.

The water is still rising in mid-May. Please check your boats

Matthew Burpee — Fri, 12 May 2017 18:52:50 GMT

Massive amounts of water is coming from upstream. The skies are clear but the lake is still rising. Lake level could rise by another 25 cm.

The water is very high on the harbour racks, up to the level of the lowest boats, higher when there are waves.

One of our members managed to pull in a kayak paddle that had floated away, but could not reach a paddle board.

The water is very cold. The Outer Harbour has been polluted from water draining into the Inner Harbour so please proceed with caution.

More discussion by members

What one thing do we need to change to our website?

Matthew Burpee — Wed, 26 Apr 2017 19:46:30 GMT