PaBIA's eBlast July 22, 2020

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Volume 12 No. 19

Dear {First Name},

PaBIA is eager to announce a fun photo contest for everyone, whether in PaB or not, with all your fun 2020 summertime joys - together with your stories - to show how you spent this novel summer. See the explanation in the eBlast below!

And how exciting to think that our beloved area in Pointe au Baril is now moving into Stage 3 of the reopening from COVID-19 !

And while that good news is percolating as to what it means for each of us, did you experience this past weekend's violent weather: high winds with surging water and torrential rains in thunderstorms?

Please be aware that after the storm surge, there is a great deal of debris now floating in the water - so beware! Perhaps you could turn around and pick up whatever you see...and if it is too big, notify PaBIA's Marine Patrollers , Tom and Chris ! They have the perfect patrol boat to handle such things! Remember to tell them where and what direction the wind was blowing.

The winds will begin to die down as the week progresses with a mixture of sunshine, clouds and rain with temperatures around 24-27 ^o C (76-82 ^o F)! Enjoy!

In this eBlast:

PaBIA's Promise to our American and Overseas Members
PaBIA EdCom: Alcohol and Boating are a Deadly Combo
PaBIA EdCom: Stormy Weather
PaBIA Sailing Races are BACK - Saturday July 25 2:00 pm
Stage 3 in Pointe au Baril
PaBIA Photo Contest
PaBIA MP & New Motus Towers in PaB! What are They?
ToA & GBBR in Collaboration with Environmental Report
GBBR: Seeing the Trees & Forest: Meet Your Forest Pests
Ojibway Club Virtual Art Show 2020
Lake Michigan-Huron Water Levels July 20, 2020
Lost and Found - 8x8ft floating dock; blue kayak

Latest Updated Calendars for

July ( 7.13.20) and August (7.13.20)

Of Interest

TO OUR AMERICAN &

OVERSEAS MEMBERS

from Tom Scoon, President of PaBIA

It is now the case that the Government of Canada has closed its borders to non essential travel until August 21st, 2020. As a result, it is likely that many of you will not be returning to Pte Au Baril this year.

In consideration of these restrictions, PaBIA will arrange for the cottage patrol to do the following at its expense:

A late summer patrol.
Punch existing cottage patrol tags for next Fall, Winter and Spring.
Replace any missing tags.

Please let us know of any specific request by emailing Nancy.

We all look forward to your return once conditions permit.

Ontario is Moving into Stage 3 - With Caveates

PaBIA's Winter Picnic may have been the last time a group of us got together in PaB. Our now-collectable red 2020 PaBIA Winter Picnic Toques will serve as a striking reminder of what a strange and unexpected year it’s been.

Now with the onset of Stage 3 in most of Ontario, we may be allowed to once again have outdoor groups to enjoy this paradise together!!

PaBIA's Friendly Photo Fun for Everyone!

With so much keeping us apart this summer, perhaps by sharing our favourite pictures and the stories that surround those images from this summer's fun, it brings us all a little closer, a little more together as a Pointe au Baril community. We've decided to make this a contest with prizes!!!

Example: Here - on a rainy day, Grandpa and grandson made a checkerboard and the checkers, painted them, and spent the afternoon challenging each other in friendly games!

So let's have a contest of sorts! Enter as often as you like and don’t hold back. Let’s build a treasure house of 2020 summer memories that we can share and enjoy over and over, together.

Stormy Weather…

by Trudy Irvine, PaBIA Education Committee

Fine weather in Georgian Bay is always enjoyable, but most Pointe au Baril residents also thrill to the kind of storms that we had last Saturday night and Sunday morning. It is exciting to watch the rapid approach of slate blue skies and to feel the wind pick up. There is a rush to take down flags and close windows as the sky darkens and boats race home. (Somehow, we always forget to take the plugs out of the little boat, but the depth of the rainwater accumulated in the cockpit makes a handy measure of just how intense a storm has been.)

While the open skies of Pointe au Baril make for such good weather watching, the rise in water level created by the (usually) west wind makes for more intrigue. Or lately, angst. With some shore docks turned into splash pads and boathouses already in up to their knees, the surging water is more menace than marvel. Flatrock Island reported an overturned tinny drifting east down their channel Saturday evening, and a washed-out footbridge Sunday morning. By Sunday afternoon, the wind had dropped and the water flowing back west out the Station Channel was creating enormous turbulence in narrow areas like Brignall Banks.

The elegant French word for this rise and fall of lake water with wind and atmospheric pressure is “seiche”, meaning “to sway back and forth”. Seiches can create standing waves large and small as water rocks back and forth between lake shores, much like the ripples created by sloshing in a bathtub.

It can be amazing to watch this sloshing and what I suppose are the smaller standing waves or oscillations resulting from it in smaller areas. The crevices between the east-west rock spines on Lookout Island are a good spot to look. Here I once observed water flowing quickly in one direction down a shallow channel, only to change a few minutes later and rush just as furiously in the other direction, again and again.

Luckily, seiches in Georgian Bay are smaller and historically, less destructive than those in other Great Lakes. Click here more information.

New Motus Towers on Georgian Bay

Marine Patrol are proud to share that with partner and donor, Georgian Bay Land Trust, they were able to successfully set up a bird tracking Motus to help researches keep track of our bay’s local birds and insects such as the Monarch Butterfly. The Patrollers and the GBLT team set out to the McCoy’s early on Friday and had beautiful day to work out in the sun. The Motus is found on the southern part of the Little McCoy Island and there is also one that was a recently set up at Thomson Reserve as well by Marine Patrol earlier in the season.

By tagging the Birds or Butterflies, researchers of the species from Canada and North America can learn more about their migrating schedule, routine and numbers. More information derived from tagging can be learning the gender and body condition of the species.

Birds that are being tracked by the GBLT are Night Hawks, Swallows and also the signature Georgian Bay bird the White-throated Sparrow among others.

The GBLT Motus towers are each equipped with three positioned antennae that can receive from a radius of 15 kilometres. For more information read an extensive article from the very own Brooks Greer, GBLT Manager and PaBIA supporter.

ALCOHOL AND BOATING ARE A DEADLY COMBO

by Ann Dority, PaBIA Education Committee

Treat the waterways like a roadway. You wouldn’t get in a car under the influence, so please don’t booze and cruise - ever!

Not only is it illegal, but alcohol and cannabis will have an effect on your reaction time. It is unsafe for everyone: you, your passengers and other boaters.

Be sure to have a designated driver.
If you see someone that you suspect is impaired behind the wheel, call 911. You could be saving a life.

GBBR & ToA in Collaboration

The Township of The Archipelago's 2019 Environment Report is now available on the Township’s website. It was completed by our strategic partner for the environment, the Georgian Bay Biosphere Reserve (GBBR).

A significant development in the reporting occurred this year. The TOA's Water Quality Program Report and Forest Health Update reports are combined into one Environment Report. We believe this is an advancement in maintaining an ecosystem. This report represents:

Results of the 2019 Water Quality Monitoring Program;
Fish Community data (for inland lakes) gathered by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry; and
An overview of featured forest pests and diseases found in the Parry Sound-Muskoka area.

In addition, GBBR has prepared a summary info-graphic that presents key findings and highlights from the 2019 Environment Report.

PaBIA Contribution

In the water quality section (Page 50), it is of note that PaBIA contributed significantly to the study of thermal stratification in Sturgeon Bay. As a reminder, we signed a MOU with GBBR in 2016 and the Marine Patrol performed specialized testing to study the effect of oxygenation and water temperature. This is a research initiative that contributes to the understanding of blue-green algae blooms.

Summer 2020 Update on TOA & GBBR Environmental Programs

As part of our partnership, GBBR hosted the first online seminar this week based on last year’s pilot; Game of Thrones – Protect Your House of Septic. The theme this year is septic education and is titled - Game of Thrones: Septic Health & Best Practices ( Listen to the Webinar ) ( Presentation slides ) . Over 60 people participated!

Upcoming Events

Sail Racing is Returning to PaB - Stage 3 style!

Our first races of the season will be this Saturday July 25 at 2 pm on the Middle Reach course! These races will be a "winner take all" for the July Series, so come out and win!

Our starting system is 5/4/1/Start.. For a quick refresher on the rules, flags used by the Race Committee and the starting sequence, see Racing Rules .

Our races must comply with the Ontario Stage 3 COVID requirements . You are encouraged to read them, but a few simple reminders:

If you are sailing with another person, please make sure they are either in your family/social circle "bubble" or wear masks (not easy but possible)
Stay at least 2 meters away from other boats and the Race Committee boat, including at the start and mark rounding

We are working through how we can hold an "on the rocks" Rendezvous awards ceremony after our races later in August that comply with the relevant regulations and health recommendations.

See you out there!

Stephen Griggs

Commodore PaBIA Sailing

PS Hope to see you out there! If, however, the weather is inclement on any one Saturday, PaBIA's Sailing Commodore, Stephen Griggs, sends out an PaBIA Sailing eBlast cancelling the sail. If you would like to receive this notification from Stephen and you don't at the present time, please email Stephen directly to ask to be added to his mailing list!

Seeing the Trees & the Forest:

Meet Your Forest Pests

With guest hosts Margaret Scott & Barry Davidson, Westwind Forest Stewardship

Thursday July 30 ^th 11:00 am EDT

We will explore the forest pests currently in the Biosphere and the ones on their way here: Beech Bark Disease, Emerald Ash Borer, Hemlock Wooly Adelgid, Oak Wilt, and more.

About the presenters:

Barry Davidson is the Forest Management Plan author, guiding the planning and silvicultural programs at Westwind since 1998. He previously worked as a Forester and Project Forester for the Vegetation Management Alternatives Program for MNRF and as the Program Manager for the Forest Biodiversity Program for Wildlife Habitat Canada.

Margaret Scott started at Westwind in the winter of 2017 after completing the Master of Forest Conservation program at the University of Toronto. Margaret is a Registered Professional Forester.

2020 Ojibway Art Show ONLINE

July 31-August 9

Mark your calendar now! The 2020 Ojibway Art Show ONLINE will open on Friday July 31 at 5:00 pm . It will run for 10 days, until Sunday August 9.

We’re happy to announce that our newly built website, designed specifically for this year’s online sale, is almost ready. This new site will feature all of the artwork available for sale along with purchase and delivery details and include an online credit card payment system. Stay tuned … the new web address will be announced next week!

Looking for some new summer jewellery, pottery or other handmade items from your favourite artisans? The popular Marketplace is returning as part of the online sale. A few of these crafts are featured below. Keep following our Instagram account and Facebook page where participating artists, and glimpses of their work, are profiled daily.

Make sure you follow along on our Instagram and Facebook over the coming weeks as we profile various artists and preview some of the art that will be available for sale or visit us at the: Ojibway Club Website .

For more information, contact Wendy Bunston .

Artist: Madeleine Arsenault xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Artist: Cathy Ballantyne

Artist: Anne Bethune, Tickled Pink Creations xxxxxx Artist: Kaila Campbell, Enchanted Earth Co.

Artist: Jeff Martens, Muddy Handshake Pottery Artist: Katie Myrans, Amara Silver

Artist: Elena Stebaeva, Clay Rock & Dog x Artist: Katie Trusler Ward, Kate Ward Design

Lakes Michigan/Huron Water Levels July 20, 2020

To better read the charts, please click on the chart for the

Daily or Six Month Forecast Water level chart and the corresponding websites

Lost and Found

Floating Dock Found

This 8x8 sq. ft. dock with black floats ended up at A-301 after Saturday night/ Sunday windstorm. If you recognize it, please contact Patti Bunston Gunn

Bright Blue Kayak Found

In other news, Marine Patrol discovered a missing kayak close to Champlain Island facing the open. The kayak is blue and looks fairly used. Reach out to the Marine Patrol to come by and see if it is yours!

Yearbook Update

With each eBlast, we will provide you a list of names for those who provided updated information. The details of all the changes since the Yearbook's came out in April is provided in a printable format for you to print out and insert into your own Yearbook copy!

No new updates