I was recently married when my spouse suggested that we buy a cottage. Never having wanted one, I suggested we get into boating, not that I had ever owned or sailed a boat. She said yes!

So within a year it was CPS - Introduction (1983); CYA-Basic Cruising (1984) and our first boat - Midnight Run, a Bayfield 25 foot sloop which we sailed out of the Nepean Sailing Club. Follow up courses included Seamanship Sail, Advanced Piloting and Marine Electronics.

In 1988 we purchased a Bayfield 29 - Tiki Maru which we sailed in the Thousand Islands until 2009. It is an honour to serve as Squadron Commander as it was to previously serve as Executive Officer and Treasurer. I hope you will consider joining the Bridge and help us to achieve Safer Boating through Education.

Robert, like so many others, started sailing at a young age on a Sunfish.

He has owned a NorthStar 22, an International 420, an International 470 and, for one season (2011), a Cape Cod Mercury 15. He currently owns a Tanzer 22, Full Circle, berthed in Prescott Harbour.

He is always keen on more sailing opportunities.

He has been a CPS member since 1999.

He was Britannia Power and Sail Squadron Secretary from 2001 to 2004 and again from 2008 to 2010.

He was Membership Officer from 2004 to 2008 and received in 2007 the STAR Award for the highest Squadron membership retention rate in the country.

Since 2010, Robert is the Squadron’s Executive Officer (XO).

Robert urges you to consider volunteering your skills and abilities to promote safer boating.

After 41 years with DND, both as military and civilian, I retired in 1998 and went sailing. I cruised(live aboard) on a Corbin 39 for 4.5 years covering approx 25,000 miles travelling from Annapolis on the Chesapeake in summer to Georgetown in the Southern Bahamas in the winter using the ICW (4 round trips from Annapolis to Miami).

Sold the boat in 2003 but decided I wanted to be back on the water and bought a classic(1964), 25 foot wooden cabincruiser in 2005. I fixed her up(she had been stored in a barn for 9 years) and now have her parked at Aylings Marina, Merrickville. I have done some travel on the Rideau and will continue to do so in the future.

In the meantime I have been teaching boat-related courses and am currently a CYA certified instructor for VHF, Powerboating, PCOC, and Small Engines. In 2006 I became a CPS member and started teaching “Extended Cruising and Boating”. I hope to continue doing that as well.

I am also a member of the Britannia-Rideau Squadron Bridge serving as Training Officer.

An early interest in large bodies of water, both still and flowing, and the water craft to venture on them, from crude rafts to row boats, kayaks and canoes matured into a lifetime interest in boating. For many years, Springtime in Ottawa meant challenging the white water stretches on the tributary streams of the Gatineau and the Ottawa rivers. This was followed by canoe trips in the Summer and diving trips in warm tropical waters in the Winter.

In 1981, after completing the Boating course offered by the Britannia Power and Sail Squadron, I became a CPS member and, to improve my boating skills, continued to take various courses offered by their instructors. With increasing knowledge came the desire to apply it in practice in the form of boat rentals and charters. A house boat, with the convenience of home and the secluded anchorages of semi-private coves on the shores of Big Rideau Lake was a good first start. Cruising with friends on board a 31-foot trawler among the scenic Gulf Islands on the West Coast persuaded me that this was the way to enjoy boating without the challenges of ownership.

A bare boat charter of a 34-foot trawler in the sunny climate of the BVIs strengthened my interest in boating in sunny climates as well as a cruise through the Mamanutha island chain of Fiji on a winter holiday and a trip to Suva’s muddy harbour cured me of any inclination to sail across the Pacific.

Improving my navigation and boat handling skills remains as a continuing interest.

John has been involved with smaller power boats most of his life, partaking in cottage life in lake settings. John and his wife, Diane, became more interested in larger boats when they moved to the Ottawa area in the late 1990's.

They have both taken the CPS Boating and Maritime Radio Courses and have a 35 foot Four Winns express cruiser at Ivy Lea Resort in the Thousand Islands.

Having retired from IBM after 33 years, John's next pursuit is one of safe boating.

Tom, a Bluenoser by birth, hails from a long line of seafarers. His boating experience began at an early age while visiting his father, a chief officer (ON1), aboard a number of merchant ships along the Atlantic Coast and the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Tom’s first boat was a Sunfish which he learned to sail by trial and error. Over the years he has owned a number of sail, paddle and power boats.

With his first mate Christina they own a completely restored (wooden) 1976 Owens 33 Sedan Cruiser the “Evangeline P” named after a WWII Park Ship. Evangeline P is moored at the Ayling Marina, the home port of many wooden boats, in Merrickville. Tom and Christina and long time boating friends cruise the Rideau Canal system from June to September, occasionally venturing to the 1000 Islands area.

Tom has successfully completed a number of CSPS and Transport Canada (TC) approved marine courses. In addition to BPSS Treasurer, Tom has just begun assisting in the delivery of the Squadron’s training courses. He is also working toward the TC Marine Master (Limited) Certification in his spare time.

I started sailing in Montreal in 1975 at the Canadian Forces Sailing Association in Dorval, Quebec. I became their training officer and taught sailing at that club. (My first student was Howard Peck , who quickly became my partner, and later on became the Chief Commander of CPS.)

My first boat was a CL16, a great little boat. I wanted to know "everything" about sailing so in 1979 I took the boating course at West Island Power Squadron and became a member of CPS in 1980.

Howard and I moved to Ottawa in 1982 and joined this squadron. We have held many squadron positions, including that of commander and have also served on district as membership officer, secretary and administrative officer. At the national level I have held the positions of chair, Ships Store, and have been the National Membership Officer. At present I have switched from sailing to power boating on the Rideau system and enjoying the comforts of a fully equipped galley, two heads and a shower.

I have been volunteering for CPS for 32 years. I have found it to be challenging, at times, but most of all it has been a great deal of fun!

Tom built his first kayak at the age of fifteen and has been an avid boater ever since. In the 1970s he worked for the Department of the Environment, installing wave-measuring buoys, in Canadian coastal waters. This time on salt water gave him a taste for viewing the shore from the correct side. In 1998 Tom took a boat-building course at the WoodenBoat School in Brooklin Maine, after which he built an eighteen-foot pulling boat. He completed a sailing course, and bought a Halman 20, in 2001. In 2009 Tom and his wife purchased an Ontario 32, which is called Juno Beach. The new boat is moored in Iroquois, from which Tom and Brenda cruise the 1000 Islands, and Lake Ontario.

Richard G. A. (Art) Clare has been a member of BPSS since 1986. His experience includes both sail (RMC Kingston) and power but mainly power boating on the Rideau Canal. He and his wife Nancy lived aboard “Cocoon” from May to September every year for more than 20 years. “Cocoon” is a 38 ft steel house cruiser with twin diesels built in 1967. She is not a “blue water boat” but has been everywhere she can safely go.

Over the years Art taught Boating and Piloting to many members of Britannia-Rideau Squadron, including members of the present Bridge. Art has always been interested in the practical aspects of boating safety, including a healthy respect for wind, waves and weather patterns.

I have lived on the Ottawa River most of my married life and enjoyed the peace of the water. Our first sailing craft was an “Sabot” 7’8” then a cruising yacht, Ontario 32, Trillium V. Ted and I have sailed all the Great Lakes, down the rivers (Mississippi) to the Bahamas and back via the Intra Coastal Waterway. We still cruise (sail) 3 or 4 months each year near and about Manitoulin Island.

Power & Sail Squadron courses have helped us to enjoy the water and to make boating friends here in Ottawa. I enjoyed being the Activities officer for close to ten years. Ted and I continue to enjoy the many friendships we have made over the twenty some years as being members of CPS.

I was involved in boating at an early age, having spent many summers at the family cottage in the Kawarthas near Peterborough, Ont. I took the CPS boating course when I was 19, enjoyed it, and then took Seamanship Sail the following year. For the next 20 years, I sailed and powerboated when the opportunity presented itself. Then, I had the good fortune to buy a 30 foot sailboat on Lac Deschenes in Ottawa, and have never looked back.

I decided to renew my active lifestyle in the boating world, as many do. I constantly upgrade my qualifications through courses and training, allowing me to gain experience and increase confidence as I go. You are never too old, or young, to learn something new in boating!

I have lived on the Ottawa River most of my married life and enjoyed the peace of the water. Our first sailing craft was an “Sabot” 7’8” then a cruising yacht, Ontario 32, Trillium V. Ted and I have sailed all the Great Lakes, down the rivers (Mississippi) to the Bahamas and back via the Intra Coastal Waterway. We still cruise (sail) 3 or 4 months each year near and about Manitoulin Island.

Power & Sail Squadron courses have helped us to enjoy the water and to make boating friends here in Ottawa. I enjoyed being the Activities officer for close to ten years. Ted and I continue to enjoy the many friendships we have made over the twenty some years as being members of CPS.

Richard G. A. (Art) Clare has been a member of BPSS since 1986. His experience includes both sail (RMC Kingston) and power but mainly power boating on the Rideau Canal. He and his wife Nancy lived aboard “Cocoon” from May to September every year for the past 20 years. “Cocoon” is a 38 ft steel house cruiser with twin diesels built in 1967. She is not a “blue water boat” but has been everywhere she can safely go.

Over the years Art taught Boating and Piloting to many members of Britannia Squadron, including members of the present Bridge. Art has always been interested in the practical aspects of boating safety, including a healthy respect for wind, waves and weather patterns.

Valerie was the Commander of the Squadron from 2007 to 2009. She served as the Squadron's secretary from 2004 to 2007.

Although she has done some sailing in New Zealand, Scotland and Canada, she does not really think of herself as an experienced sailor. however, she does own a fleet - a canoe, a yakboard, a dinghy and a pedalo - as well as a hat that shows she is Captain of the fleet!

Valerie was previously a member of the Outaouais Squadron. She wanted to become more involved in CPS activities, because she is convinced of the need for volunteers to work towards the ongoing aims of “establishing high standards of navigation and seamanship; to provide training and study courses and facilities in the field of Boating, Seamanship, Piloting, Navigation and the safe handling of boats of all kinds.” She decided that the best way was to offer to do some work. Valerie was elected to the position of Rideau District Secretary in 2009.