PaBIA's eBlast July 21, 2021

PaBIA's Vision: To Preserve This Unique Natural Habitat for Generations to Come

Volume 13 No. 20

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This Oshkinigig is a birch bark canoe (wiigwaas jiimaan) handcrafted in Parry Sound in 2019

by the Georgian Bay Anishinaabek Youth who demonstrated how it was made to interested PaBIAers!

Thanks to Mike Berton for the photo!

Greetings!

Just two days ago, Americans learned the border between Canada and the USA WILL open on Monday, August 9th for all those fully vaccinated, with a negative COVID test, and a filled out ArriveCan - an app that must be completed within 3 days of one's crossing the border. Check the Canadian Government website for all the particulars for travel. So the wait is over for Americans but our International friends will not be able to join us for this summer. Sadly, the Canadian government won't extend the border opening to them until after Labour Day. For some of our American members, their kids will be starting school shortly, which will preclude them from coming until next summer: So the announcement is bittersweet. There were various publications, including this one from the Globe & Mail, that describe the decision.

Check out Helen Bryce's continuing article on water levels and Trudy's story on the rattlesnakes. Then tune in on Thursday to GBB's presentation about the Massasauga Rattlesnake (don't forget to sign up!) Also, Janet Irving's book reviews today, thanks to Charlotte Stein of Parry Sound Books, features author, Waubgeshig (Waub) Rice of the Wasauksing First Nation!

July has been a rainy month with more thunderstorms predicted...check out this photo from yesterday's morning thunderstorm below! The strong northwest winds blew over a grill in the picture below and others had their 80 lb. deck umbrella stand (with the umbrella closed) knocked into the water - this photo below is being pulled from a video that was shared! Mother Nature is hollering! Thanks, Michael Phippen

And the calm after the storm...thanks to Gary French

In this eBlast:

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR ALL BOATERS

The S-Turn Flashing Red Light is STILL NOT Back in Service by Tom Lundy, Director of Member Safety

TODAY & TOMORROW

PaBIA In-Person Boater Coaching @ 1:30 pm with Randy Johnson, Royal Squadron Trainer
GBB - Living Alongside Zhiishiigweg, the Massasauga Rattlesnake Thursday @ 10 am
GBLT's Visit at the Ojibway Docks Thursday, 8 am - 2 pm

JULY

PaBIA's Sailing Race - July 25 @ 11 a.m. Out in the Open
GBF's Is Recycling Plastic Working? July 29

AUGUST

PaBIA Triathlon Rescheduled to August 14th
Ojibway Art Show Online Viewing on now; Sales - August 4-8
GBB Climate Speedier Webinar August 26

OF INTEREST

International Joint Commission Survey Asking YOUR Opinion on Water Quality
Literally, on the Bay Janet Irving, Education Committee
Homemade Traps for Gypsy Moths are Working
Afternoon Delights by Trudy Irvine, Education Committee
What Impacts Our Water Levels, What Does The Future Bring, And What Can We Do About It? This week: Precipitation by Helen Bryce
Lake Michigan-Huron Water Levels - July 19, 2021
Yearbook Update 2021 from July 7^th

OF INTEREST

Markers ALERT UPDATE - The Good and the Bad

Notice to Boaters

Submitted by Tom Lundy, Director of Member Safety

Please be advised that the S-Turn Flashing Red Light remains

OUT OF SERVICE until further notice!

We repeat, please plan any night boating accordingly.

On Tuesday, July 13th a crew from the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG), Parry Sound Base was working on a communications tower on Hwy 69 near Pointe au Baril. They called to advise they would be willing to take a look at the S-turn light if we could provide water transportation, weather permitting.

The rain held off and we made arrangements to transport them by to the S-Turn light. They were able to retrofit the photocell (dusk to dawn control) with newer components and everything seemed to be working properly (under manual testing).

On Wednesday (14^th) morning, Andy Blenkarn confirmed with Jim Rogers, Maps & Markers Chair, that the S-Turn Light was operating properly last night. We thank Andy for making that special night run on our behalf.

Many thanks to CCG Parry Sound for providing the "community service" at no cost, particularly technicians Dave O'Gorman, Adam Simms, and James Smith for scheduling PaBIA into their busy calendar on short notice.

And finally, I would like to thank all the boaters who slowed down to "no wake" while passing our boat during this repair. It was very much appreciated.

Now the BAD NEWS!

The repair did not last long. On Sunday (18^th) our Marine Patrollers, Tom & Chris, reported at the Maps & Markers Committee meeting that the S-Turn Light was not working on Saturday night (17^th).

But there is GOOD NEWS!

As a result of the report submitted last Tuesday by the CCG crew to their Supervisor, I was contacted by Ron Harrison, CCG Aids to Navigation Electrical Technician / Supervisor, on Friday (16^th). Ron indicated that CCG Parry Sound has an inventory of out-dated equipment which is considerably newer than our existing lights and is willing to provide some of this equipment to PaBIA as a “community service”! Jim Rogers and I are planning to meet with CCG in early August when the CCG crew returns from Thunder Bay to discuss any and all opportunities with respect to CCG's out-dated equipment.

We will keep everyone informed via future eBlasts.

Homemade GM Traps Are Working!

Here are three homemade traps that appear to be working to attract the male gypsy moth that flies after coming out of its pupa stage while the female gypsy moth who cannot fly awaits.

Homemade Trap

Mark Gwozdecky

My homemade traps are working!

Homemade Trap

Michael Phippen

They actually clear the surrounding area of the pesky demons. They are very easy and fast to build - well worth the effort.

Homemade Trap

Andrew Vanderwal

Your Input and Views Matter

Please Consider Completing This Important International Joint Commission Survey on

Great Lakes Water Quality

All PaBers rely on our clean Georgian Bay waters for transportation, recreation,and, for many of us, life sustaining drinking water. The International Joint Commission is asking 10 minutes of our time to share input for how each of us uses and values the water. Please consider answering this short survey - as YOUR opinion matters!

The International Joint Commission’s Great Lakes Water Quality Board is seeking your input on Great Lakes and water quality issues and as Rolfe Jones, president of GBA, writes, "Your opinions are important to the IJC, and both GBA and the IJC thank you in advance for your time and valuable input."

This online poll explores opinions, values, and beliefs about the Great Lakes and asks you about your concerns and suggestions for the future. Additional IJC information is here. or contact Raj Bejankiwar at IJC. All individual responses will be kept in strict confidence.

Afternoon Delight

by Trudy Irvine, Member of Education Committee

Photos by Chrystal Barrett (1^stone) and Trudy Irvine (2^nd)

“Gonna find my baby,

gonna hold her tight,

gonna grab some afternoon delight -

my motto’s always been when it’s right, it’s right -

why wait until the middle of a cold dark night?” Listen to the song!

The lyrics of this 70’s gem could be the mating song of any of the snakes found on the warm rocks of Georgian Bay. It seems that the reptiles’ need to thermoregulate necessitates some rather public displays of affection. Reports of not-so-secret afternoon trysts lasting for hours have come from Wawonaissa and Sagadawong islands, and I am sure there are more accounts out there.

Reproduction of the Eastern Massasauga rattlesnake is especially interesting. Females do not reach sexual maturity until they are about 5 years old, and then they only breed once every two years- once every three if resources are scarce. Things begin when females with mature eggs in their oviducts release a pheromone trail, and the chase is on. Males track the trail to locate a fertile female and follow her around for a few days, frequently touching and rubbing against her. Fertilization is achieved with the males using the paired hemipenes at the base of their tails (usually kept tucked away in their bodies) to inseminate the females. Males are immediately on their way after mating, while the female will soon seek out a gestation site that will provide good cover and a range of temperatures to help her incubate her eggs. Females will return to the same gestation site every couple of years with each reproductive cycle. Unlike other egg-laying snakes in Ontario, rattlesnakes are ovoviviparous, meaning that the female

retains the fertilized, shell-less eggs in her body until she gives birth to live young. Females feed very little if at all and live primarily off their fat reserves throughout gestation. Females that mate in the late summer are capable of storing sperm until they ovulate the following spring. Litter sizes range between 3 to 20 young, with 12 being the average, and the newborns are about 20cm in length. They are born equipped with fangs and venom, and their own baby rattle- a single yellowish “button” at the end of their tail. Mortality of the youngsters is high, as they are vulnerable to a variety of avian and mammalian predators, and subject to environmental stresses.

It’s hard to be a snake. It’s hurtful to be called a viper and no one wants to be known as suffocating. If you should encounter two snakes enjoying each other’s company, give them a wide berth and leave them to enjoy their skyrockets in flight.

Literally, on the Bay

Book recommendations by Charlotte Stein, owner of Parry Sound Books

Edited by Janet Irving, Education Committee.

There is nothing – absolutely nothing - like reading a book on a summer’s day on Georgian Bay! This summer we suggest some books that are literally set on the Bay – or feel so much so that we just had to include them.

Midnight Sweatlodge

Indigenous author, Waubgeshig (Waub) Rice of the Wasauksing First Nation, who began writing while still in high school, studied Journalism at Ryerson, then worked for the CBC. He now divides his time between Sudbury and Wasauksing. His first short story collection, Midnight Sweatlodge, was inspired by his experiences growing up in an Anishinaabe community.

Legacy

Waub Rice knows well the importance of storytelling, “a crucial practice that has kept our culture alive in our communities”. Midnight Sweatlodge was followed by his debut novel Legacy, a story of tragedy and family legacy, at once heart - breaking and uplifting.

Moon of the Crusted Snow

His second novel, Moon of the Crusted Snow, is set somewhere in the north, in an Anishinaabe community struggling without electricity and without contact with the rest of the world. In a place where some know how to live off the land and have the resilience to survive, others do not. This post-apocalyptic novel is both chilling and terrifying, and hopeful.

What Impacts Our Water Levels,

What Does The Future Bring, and

What Can We Do About It?

This week: Precipitation

Next week: Evaporation

by Helen Bryce, Director of Education

(editor's note: we all know water levels are complex and often, as soon as we think we understand them, we are fooled again! Helen has done a fabulous job of breaking it down for us - but the article in its entirety is quite long. We offer it here in the eBlast in chunks, but for those who want to read it all, you can find it here.)

By far the biggest influence over GBay levels is the combined interactions between precipitation and evaporation. Science has demonstrated that there are no other factors in existence today as influential as these natural processes on water levels - not Great Lakes inflows and outflows, not Great Lakes regulatory modifications and diversions as they currently operate.

What is Precipitation?

Precipitation is weather that we see when we look out the window each day.
It takes the form of rain, snow, sleet, or hail that falls to the ground.
Groundwater that flows and collects below the Canadian Shield rock formations can be affected by heavy rainfall, which eventually will flow into the lake.
The moss and soil can only absorb so much rainfall and then the rest runs off toward the lake (potentially causing erosion).

Where does it come from?

The water in the Great Lakes comes in the form of storm systems from many directions: from the Gulf of Mexico, the Northern Pacific Ocean, or the Atlantic Ocean (like the devastating Hurricane Sandy that came up the eastern coast of North American in 2012).

What is the impact of precipitation?

The more precipitation, the higher water levels on GBay will rise.
Generally, the air temperature decreases when it rains because the moisture is falling from a cooler layer of air above.
As it falls into the warmer air near the ground, heat is exchanged through conduction and convection which gets the air moving.
Precipitation levels have had the most influence over water levels prior to the late 1990s and again more recently.
Record rainfall over the past three years has resulted in more water entering the lakes than leaving, increasing the levels to the extreme high we had last summer.

What is the impact of Climate Change on precipitation?

The size of a storm depends on the amount of water vapour it carries.
A 1º Celsius increase in air temperature means a 7% increase in the water vapour contained in a storm system.
As the temperature of the earth’s atmosphere warms due to the accumulation of greenhouse gases, the size of storms increases.
If Global Warming continues to gradually increase the air temperature, the impact of climate change on precipitation can also be expected to increase.

And the Jet Streams?

Jet streams are bands of strong wind or air currents, 8-14 km up in the atmosphere (5-9 miles), that generally blow from west to east all across the globe.
Jet streams form when warm air masses meet cold air masses in the atmosphere.
The Earth has four primary jet streams: two polar jet streams, near the north and south poles, and two subtropical jet streams closer to the equator.
They have impacts on weather, air travel, and other things and are closely monitored through weather satellites.
Monitoring jet streams can help meteorologists determine where weather systems will move next.
But jet streams are also a bit unpredictable. Their paths can change, taking storms in unexpected directions.
A recent example of this is Hurricane Harvey that got stalled over Houston, Texas for 3 days dumping the equivalent of 495 days of Niagara Falls rain onto that city.
Over the last few decades, the Jet stream has been gradually weakening due to the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
The historic sharp line separating cold Arctic air from warm tropic air is decreasing.
Warmer polar temperatures slow down and weaken the jet stream.
The jet stream can get wavier and block weather systems in these wave traps, known as Rossby waves.

TODAY & TOMORROW

In-Person Boater Coaching

with Randy Johnson, Royal Squadron Trainer

JULY 21 at 1:30 p.m. Ojibway Back Docks

For anyone who is fully vaccinated and wishing some in-person boater coaching (how to dock that boat in the wind), Randy will meet you at the back Ojibway docks. Bring your own boat and learn from the Pro! Sign Ups at Marine Patrol Hut

GBB - Living Alongside Zhiishiigweg,

the Massasauga Rattlesnake

TOMORROW Thursday July 22 10:00 AM EST

The Massasauga Rattlesnake, Zhiishiigweg in Anishinaabemowin, is well known as Ontario’s only venomous snake, but there is so much more to this amazing animal. Register Here for Free

Visit with the Georgian Bay Land Trust Tomorrow

On Thursday, July 22nd from 8 am - 2 pm, Janet Brough of the Georgian Bay Land Trust will be on the Ojibway Club dock to visit with members and talk about all things conservation. Stop by to ask your questions about the Land Trust or learn about their latest projects.

You can be a part of the GBLT's 30^th anniversary celebration with new summer clothing! Choose from hoodies, hats, t-shirts and more, or cuddle up in your very own Georgian Bay blanket.

SHOP FULL LINE OF ANNIVERSARY ITEMS

The Georgian Bay Land Trust is a charity dedicated to protecting wilderness lands along eastern Georgian Bay and the North Channel, through strategic conservation planning, land securement, stewardship, research, and education. They protect 64 ecologically significant places, including 16 in Pointe au Baril, which provide habitat for 50 species at risk and recreational opportunities for communities.

July 2021

PaBIA Sailing Race -

Saturday, July 25 @ 11 a.m.

July Series race 7 & 8

Please note the change in time and date for the racing this weekend. This is done to accommodate the Junior Regatta usually held on Saturday. Even though the Jr. Regatta is canceled, we will keep the date as advertised in the PaBIA calendar.

The race will be held in the 'Open'. To get to the racecourse, leave Ojibway Bay through Empress Channel. If it is too windy or poor weather, the race will be held in Ojibway Bay. A Sailing eBlast will go out by 8:30 am Sunday morning to confirm the race location.

See the Sailing eBlast for other announcements including information on the first Rendezvous which will be held after the racing this weekend for all sailors and participants only.

Everyone is welcome to join future races. If you are interested in sailing or need crew, please contact our Commodore, Margie Wheler.

Join GBF's Lunchtime Webinar on Tackling Plastic Pollution

Georgian Bay Forever’s Tackling Plastic Pollution Webinar Series is a collection of one hour webinars aimed at raising awareness about the abundance of plastic litter entering our local and global waterways. Each webinar will end with descriptions of programs GBF has put in place to combat each issue and ways and alternatives you can implement in your life to reduce plastic waste.

Is Recycling Plastic Working? Thursday, July 29th at 12 pm

Since mass-production began in the early 1900s, the use of plastic has spread to different fields from medicine to electronic manufacturers to restaurant chains. In Canada, domestic demand for plastic is about 4,667 kilotonnes annually, while on a national basis only about 9% of plastic thrown out ends up getting recycled. This can’t go on. What can be done about it? In 2018, the Canadian government joined the Ocean Plastics Charter that is working with businesses, international organizations, and other countries to ensure plastics are designed for reuse and recycling. How can we get there? This second installment will focus on the types of recyclable plastics, on the different recycling processes, the status of recycling with a focus to Ontario, and what is needed to be done to drastically change how much plastic goes to harder-to-find landfills and litters the environment. We will also be going over strategies you can use to support initiatives around more sustainable approaches to plastic production, use, and management.

The lunch-time webinars are:

Is Recycling Plastic Working?

Thursday, July 29^th @ 12 - 1 pm

Plastic Waters:

Thursday, August 26^th @ 12 - 1 pm

August 2021

PaBIA's Triathalon Rescheduled for Saturday, August 14^th

With the hope that our American and International members can join us in August, PaBIA's Triathlon will now take place on Saturday, August 14th! Consisting of a swim from the Ojibway back swim beach out and around the lollipop and back, then a run on the Walking Trails and a final kayak/canoe around the Ojibway Island, we are hoping you'll consider participating. At the very least, put it on your calendar NOW and plan to be in PaB that weekend! Details to follow in the weeks to come!

Depending on participation, staggered start times may be required. Questions? Contact Myelle

2021 Ojibway Club Art Show ONLINE

August 4-8

Continue to preview this year’s fabulous artwork. Sales will open on August 4^th at 10:00 am and continue until August 8^th at 10:00 pm.

You can also look forward to these upcoming events:

ART SHOW DINNER – Wednesday, August 4

Please join us on Wednesday, August 4th for a special dining experience in support of this year’s Ojibway Club Art Show. You’ll be greeted with a complimentary cocktail and treated to a viewing of some representative art pieces from our participating artists. There will be favours for all and a few prizes as well. Stay tuned for more information.

$115 per person with proceeds going to the Ojibway Club Art Show. To reserve tickets, call or email the office at 705-366-5085.

MARKETPLACE – August 6-8

The Marketplace returns live and in-person this summer. We will kick it off with a cocktail reception on Friday from 5-7 pm. Come check out the participating artisans on Saturday 10-4 and Sunday 10-2.

BREAKFAST WITH THE ARTISTS –

Saturday, August 7 (9-10 am)

Enjoy a continental breakfast with featured artists Deborah Farquharson, Bob Hambly, and Claustro who will talk about their inspiration and process and answer your questions about their work and life on Georgian Bay.

$30 per person with proceeds going to the Ojibway Club Art Show. To reserve tickets, call or email the office at 705-366-5085.

For more Art Show information: Website, Instagram, Facebook: Ojibway Club Art Show or Email.

GBB - Climate Action:

Project SPEEDIER

Thursday, August 26, 2021 10:00 AM EST

Project SPEEDIER aims to create a grid that builds towards a net-zero smart community in the Town of Parry Sound. This is a unique opportunity where a rural municipality is pledging to be net-zero in partnership with Bracebridge Generation.

Lakes Michigan/Huron Water Levels July 19, 2021 To better read the charts, please click on the chart for the Daily or Six Month Forecast Water level chart and the corresponding websites

Yearbook Update! (as of July 17^th)

With each eBlast, we will provide you a list of names for those members who have provided updated contact information. The details of all the changes since the 2021 yearbook came out in late April are provided in THIS printable format for you to print out and insert into your own Yearbook!