The Annual General Meeting was held on the evening of 27^th April at the R.A. Centre. To encourage attendance the agenda included four short sailing films to be screened after the formal meeting. This was not a popular Innovation as many of the members present for the business meeting did not remain for the films. As well as the films there was the usual cash bar and free coffee and cookies to encourage attendance.

The following officers were elected for the 1979/1980 season:

Commander	Edgar Wiggs, JN
Lieut. Commander and Executive Officer	James D. Fathers
First Lieut. and Secretary	Jack Harper, JN
First Lieut. and Treasurer	Glynis L. Burnett
First Lieutenant	Karl Buckthought, AP
First Lieutenant	Andrew Campbell
First Lieutenant	Kenneth Kendall
First Lieutenant	Frederic Kirk, S
Auditor	John E. Reeves, AP

The Treasurer reported a strong financial position.

The Training Officer reported that of the 113 students who wrote the Boating Course Examinations there were 109 passes; this is 96 percent. The results for advanced and elective courses were incomplete at the date of the AGM but preliminary results were encouraging.

In June the Squadron Commander appointed First Lieutenant Frederic Kirk, S to the rank of Lieut. Commander and the position of Training Officer. Jack Brooks and Claire Geoffrion, AP, were asked to serve as Assistant Training Officers.

First Lieutenant Desmond Moyles, AP, was appointed to the Squadron Executive with responsibility for MAREP and History, the same position that he held during the previous year.

During the summer representatives of the Britannia and Ottawa Power Squadrons met with the Ottawa Carleton Regional Planning Board when boating and boating facilities for the future were discussed. Representatives of these two Squadrons met also with representatives of Rideau District and Parks Canada in discussions on the Rideau Waterway. There was a previous meeting concerning the Rideau in 1978 and most of the proposals of the CPS representatives were accepted.

This summer the Kingston Power Squadron celebrated its 25^th Anniversary.

Lieutenant Karl Buckthought arranged for Skyline Cablevision to produce two half hour programs on boating safety. Britannia Squadron members took part in the production. These two boat safety programs were repeated several times during the summer on both Skyline and Ottawa Cablevision systems.

The Squadron Lieutenants appointed during the year by the Commander were Conrad Belanger, Michael Deschenes, AP, Vance Elliott, Thomas Gautier, Norman Genn, AP, A.M. Laughton and Rich Whan.

During the spring and summer of 1979 there were some differences between two Past Commanders who were members of the Nominating Committee and the elected Executive Officers of the Squadron. The dispute concerned details of the administration of the Squadron. The result was that on 10^th August, with the exception of First Lieutenants Karl Buckthought and Desmond Moyles, the members of the Executive resigned their positions. District Commander John Richards was able to smooth ruffled feathers and to appoint a new executive that was acceptable to those involved in the dispute. The new Executive Officers were :

Commander	Jack Buchanan, S
Lieut. Commander and Executive Officer	A. Kenneth Findlay, AP
First Lieut. and Treasurer	Howard Holliday, S
First Lieutenant	Karl Buckthought, AP
First Lieutenant	Desmond Moyles, AP
First Lieutenant	Herbert Law, AP

The Executive Officer acted as Secretary until a permanent Secretary could be appointed.

Lieut. Commander Frederic Kirk continued to serve as Training Officer.

There was a total of 296 registrations for courses in the autumn. The Boating Course had 161 students, Seamanship 55, Advanced Piloting 53, Junior Navigator 19 and there were eight registrations for other courses.

At the Executive Meeting in September the Commander appointed Marion Roberts to the position of First Lieutenant and Secretary. Conrad Belanger and Vance Elliott were appointed to fill the vacancies among the First Lieutenants.

The Squadron continued to have a strong financial position. In November the Executive approved an interest free loan of $2,000.00 to the Rideau District. This loan was to provide working capital to the District to assist with the preparations for the Annual CPS Convention to be held in Ottawa in 1981. A donation of $1,500.00 was approved for the CPS Building Fund. National Headquarters had asked for donations from squadrons to finance the construction of a new warehouse and modifications to the HQ Office Building at Scarborough.

The first event of the Squadron year was a talk by Steven Colgate in the Auditorium of Ridgemont High School on the evening of 6^th February. Mr. Colgate sailed his American ocean racing yacht Sleuth to a first in the Restricted Class, fourth in the Open Division and fifteenth overall in the 1979 Fastnet Race. This was the year when a vicious storm struck the fleet. Of the 306 yachts that started the race less than 100 finished. Fifteen lives were lost, 136 people were rescued and 23 boats were sunk or abandoned.

This event was organized by the Britannia Power Squadron. More than 500 tickets were sold through Yacht Clubs and Power Squadrons in Ottawa. Mr. Colgate is an experienced public speaker and the evening was a huge success.

The speaker was entertained to dinner by the Bridge of Britannia Power Squadron. After his talk there was a reception to which the Executive Committees of Rideau District and the Squadrons in the District were invited.

After all expenses for this event the Britannia Power Squadron had a profit of $500.00 which was donated to the District to be applied towards the cost of the 1981 CPS Convention in Ottawa.

The provision of a CPS Information Booth at the Ottawa Sportsman's Show was now a well established annual project. The booth was erected by the Ottawa Power Squadron and manned jointly by the Ottawa and Britannia Squadrons.

Commander Jack Buchanan and Lieut. Commander Frederic Kirk were invited to speak on the topic of Harbour Etiquette to the Nepean Sailing Club. This lecture on anchoring and mooring was well received by the audience of forty five sailors.

The Annual Graduation Dinner and Dance was held at the R.A. Centre on 18^th April. The guests of honour were District Commander Jack Jeswiet, JN, Commander Douglas Morphy, N, of the Ottawa Power Squadron, Commodore P.E. Brule of the Britannia Yacht Club and Mr. Joseph Koscher and Mr. J.L. Soden of the Ottawa Board of Education.

Year 17 – 1980 / 1981 Year 15 - 1978 / 1979