The 23^rd Annual General Meeting was held at 1800 at the Britannia Yacht Club on Thursday, 30^th April. To encourage attendance the Squadron provided refreshments. Thirty members were present including a few who arrived late.

The following officers were elected for 1987/1988:

Commander	K. Joan Feltham, AP
Lieut. Commander and Executive Officer	Howard Peck, AP
Lieut. Commander and Training Officer	Colin C. Nicholson, AP
First Lieut. and Secretary	Margaret Macleod, AP
First Lieut. and Treasurer	Alex C. Falkner, AP
First Lieutenants
Membership Officer	Robin E. Dingwell
Supply Officer	Norman R. Grover, AP
Deputy Training Officer	Edward B. MacLatchy, S
Editor, Running Fix	Dorothy McClelland, S
Public Relations Officer	Sharon Scharfe
MAREP Officer/Historian	John T. Woolsey, AP

The meeting passed a motion to increase the Squadron dues from $9.00 to $13.00 for full members and from $4.50 to $6.50 for family members. This motion requires approval from CPS National Headquarters. There is no change in the fees paid to National and District Headquarters.

The Training Officer reported a decrease in total registrations for courses compared with the previous year. The drop-out rate on the Boating Course remains at about forty percent. However, there were very favourable pass rates for the Boating Course, Seamanship, Marine Electronics and the Radio Seminar. Of the 106 students who wrote the Boating Course examination the pass rate was ninety percent. The pass rate for all other courses was close to one hundred percent. Ten members of the Britannia Squadron registered at the Ottawa Squadron for courses not offered by Britannia.

The Treasurer reported a sound financial position at the present time. However, expenditures are increasing more quickly than revenues and the major items of expense are beyond the control of the Squadron. With the small increase in fees and good cost control there is no cause for alarm.

The full reports from all of the officers are filed with the permanent historical records of the Squadron.

The Annual Graduation Dinner and Awards Night was held at the Britannia Yacht Club on Thursday, 21^st May. One hundred and twenty-two members and guests were present for the dinner, to witness the presentation of merit mark, the pledging of new members and the pledging of the officers for 1987/1988.

The guests of honour were Chief Commander John D. Richards, N, and Mrs. Richards, District Commander Ralph C. Smith, JN, and Mrs. Smith, Squadron Commander Albert Hopkins, AP and Mrs. Hopkins of the Ottawa Power Squadron and Commodore Ian H. Anderson and Mrs. Anderson of the Britannia Yacht Club.

The Yacht Club staff provided an excellent buffet dinner commencing at 1915.

The ceremonial activities of the evening were well organized. At the Annual Dinner of the previous year more than half of the members became bored and left the event long before the termination of activities. This year the speakers were told to be brief and the presentations and pledges were streamlined with the result that not a single person departed before the official end of the evening at 2213. This happy situation was the direct result of the organizational ability of the Squadron Executive Officer, Lieut. Commander Joan Feltham.

In November, 1986 the Chief Commander wrote to all Squadron Commanders asking them to provide extensive information on the history of their Squadrons. The purpose was to verify and to up-date the HQ records before the 50^th CPS anniversary. This work of nine pages was completed by the Squadron Historian, 1^st Lt. John T. Woolsey, AP, during March, 1987. In May our Squadron Commander received a letter from Rear Commander George Sowter, AP, CPS Historian thanking the Squadron for the report and expressing congratulations for the excellence of the detailed information.

Britannia Yacht Club held a "Sail Day" on Saturday, 27^th June. On this day the general public were invited to the Club and offered a one hour sail on a yacht for ten dollars. The proceeds were donated to the Children's Aid Society.

Both members and non-members of Britannia Yacht Club from Britannia Power and Sail Squadron provided yachts and crews. It was a very successful event although unfortunately thunderstorms forced a close down of activities for a couple of hours in the late afternoon.

At the request of the Yacht Club a CPS Information Booth was erected on the Club grounds. Eight members of the Power Squadron volunteered their time to keep the booth manned during the "Sail Day".

In July the total membership of the Squadron reached a new record of 406. There were 333 regular members, 37 family members and 36 lady associates.

The Executive decided against a rendez-vous for this year. The reason was lack of interest with the numerous sailing events and picnic organized by the yacht and sailing clubs on Lac Deschenes.

The Commander appointed Dorothy Lloyd a First Lieutenant and Assistant Training Officer at the September meeting of the Executive. Her primary responsibility is the Boating Courses for the 1987/1988 training season.

The September registration for the Boating Courses was a small increase over the previous year, a total of 112. The registrations for Seamanship and Advanced Piloting were a disappointment, a drop of forty percent from September, 1986. For other courses the numbers were about the same as a year ago.

Over the summer there was a further increase in the membership of the Squadron. The total membership at the end of September was 416.

The first social event of the autumn was a Canada/United States Customs presentation on the evening of Monday, 5^th October in the lower lounge of the Britannia Yacht Club. Forty members and guests were present.

The speakers were Mr. George Klinefelter, United States Customs Service, Embassy of the United States in Ottawa and Mr. Marc Pergunas, Superintendent, Canadian Customs and Excise, Cornwall, Ontario.

The first presentation was made by our American guest who spoke on the usual problems and some unusual problems faced by Canadian yachts and crews entering the United States. In turn Mr. Pergunas spoke on the correct procedures and the problems for Canadian boats and crews entering Canada or re-entering Canada from the United States.

After a break for complimentary coffee and a cash bar the two speakers answered many interesting questions from their audience. Several pamphlets of interest to Canadian boaters were available for pick-up.

This social event proved to be both an informative and entertaining evening.

Britannia Squadron applied for permission to increase Squadron dues by four dollars per year. This would be the first increase in Squadron dues since 1977. However the request was refused on the basis that our net worth was too high. Subsequently an increase of two dollars was allowed.

Britannia Squadron has strong financial management with proper budgets and cost controls. The result is that the Squadron operates on a cash basis without the need for bank loans or credit from National HQ to finance training program supplies.

This failure to get the requested increase is a disappointment rather than a tragedy. There will be a small operating deficit this year and then the extra two dollars in dues, a small increase in course fees and lower subsidies for social events should produce some funds for the following year when needed for the Squadron's 25^th Anniversary celebrations.

First Lieutenant Sharon Scharfe submitted her resignation as Public Relations Officer at the November meeting of the Bridge. The reasons were her forthcoming marriage in December and plans to spend the next few months on their yacht cruising the Florida Keys and the Bahamas.

The last event of the autumn season was the Wine and Cheese Party from 2000 to 2200 at the Britannia Yacht Club on Saturday, 28^th December. Fifty members and guests enjoyed the evening. The guests of the Squadron were Commodore Dennis Foy and Mrs. Foy of the Britannia Yacht Club, Commander Albert Hopkins of the Ottawa Power Squadron and Commander Bertrand Southiere of l'Escadrille de l'Outaouais.

The small attendance at this event, less than half that of the previous year, is difficult to explain. Possible factors are the charge of $7.00 per person, an increase of $2.00 per person from the previous year, and no telephone committee. Since the Yacht Club catering was based on an estimate of 80 persons minimum, the Squadron had an unexpected deficit of $200. on this event.

For the 1987/1988 Training Season the Boating Course was offered only in the accelerated version, commencing in September and finishing in December. There were three parallel courses on three different evenings each week. Registrations were 33, 35 and 44. Out of these 112 students 67 wrote and 54 passed the examination. This is a pass rate of 80 percent, somewhat below the level of the previous year.

A Heart Saver Course was organized for members of Britannia Squadron on the evenings of 19^th and 20^th January at the National Defence Medical Centre. This course is Level I in the Cardiac Pulmonary Resuscitation Program. Eight members of the Squadron participated, the maximum number for each course, and the course was repeated during the first week of March.

Britannia Squadron assisted the Ottawa Squadron with the erection and manning of a CPS Information Booth at the Ottawa Civic Centre from 17^th to 20^th February.

Each winter commencing in 1986 the Squadron conducted a "VHF Seminar". This is a course of three evening lectures to prepare candidates for the Department of Communications examination leading to the Restricted Radio Operators Certificate - Marine. The examination is held on the fourth evening of the program.

This course is open to the public and is advertised at the Ottawa Sportsman Show as well as in the newsletters of the Britannia Yacht Club, the Nepean Sailing Club and the Britannia Power and Sail Squadron. The number of registrations was in the sixties for 1986 and 1987 with pass rates of 90 percent of registrations. This year there were forty-one registrations all of whom passed the examination. The Ottawa Power Squadron offered the same course each year with similar numbers of registrations and examination results.

Year 25 – 1988 / 1989 Year 23 - 1986 / 1987