Membership renewal for the year 2006-2007 will soon be in the mail. Please submit your payment by mail (cheque) or online (credit card) at http://cpsdues.cps-ecp.ca.   

Don’t forget to give us your current mailing address, phone number, and e-mail address (for the Scuttlebutt). Contact Otto Hancock at HanSir01@aol.com or phone 514-990-0253 (leaving a message with your name and any contact details).

Bringing CPS into the 21^st Century requires your input. This is your opportunity to shape the future of the Canadian Power and Sail Squadron! Go to http://ecc.cps-ecp.org/ftpacc.htm and into “Members Moorings”. Click on Strategic Plan to view a presentation on this topic.  Fill in the membership form with any ideas or insights that you want to share. Notice that responses are needed by June 1, 2006.

Squadron AGM ( Annual General Meeting)  - Tuesday, Apr. 18, 2006, at the Royal St. Lawrence Yacht Club,1350 Lakeshore Drive, Dorval, QC at 1930 hrs  (7:30pm) - your attendance would be greatly appreciated.

What is the name of the Canadian adventurer who recently rowed across the Atlantic?

Be the first to correctly answer at Scuttlebutt - Inspector Clewseau and you will win a much coveted mug.

“Books are the compasses and telescopes and sextants and charts which other men have prepared to help us navigate the dangerous seas of human life.”

Jesse Lee Bennett

Tadoussac

 Tadoussac is the capital of the Marine Park.  Most of the whale watching and marine life observation starts there. Getting into Tadoussac must be done with the tidal currents that can reach more than eight (8) knots.  The best time to enter is two to three (2-3) hours after the low tide at Pointe-aux-Pères. Navigation in the Saguenay inlet is particularly hazardous. The challenges include:

• A large volume of navigation including commercial vessels (tankers and freighters), speedy whale watching zodiacs, kayaks and nervous skippers;
• Winds that can reach in no time up to 60 knots due to a funnel effect of the inlet.  At the mouth of the inlet the winds are usually 10-15 knots higher than those recorded at one mile away on the St. Laurent;
• Heavy fogs that will develop mostly in July and August and are cause by the meeting of icy salt water (St. Laurent) and the warmer fresh water from the Saguenay;
• Chopped, boiling water (tide rip) caused by the huge quantities of water trying to escape the fjord. The fjord bed has an average depth of 250 meters, and rises steeply at Tadoussac where the total depth is only 20 meters;
• Water temperature is freezing and air temperature is not terribly warm.  The average temperature of the water is three to four (3-4) degrees in the St. Laurent, and the average summer air temperature is fifteen to seventeen (15-17) degrees. However, you can swim at Baie d’Éternité in the summer.

Take a well-deserved rest once in Tadoussac marina, and walk to town for an excellent meal. 

Points of Interest

From Tadoussac, don’t miss exploring the fjord up to La Baie or Chicoutimi.  The scenery is absolutely spectacular and mooring in the marinas easy.  The temperature is much warmer, and navigation is easier.  You can even swim in Baie Éternité!

Your first stop from Tadoussac will be Anse-Saint-Jean (four hours) where you will find a beautiful marina with complete services.  From there in two hours you will reach Baie Éternité that is the most spectacular scenery in the fjords.  Leave your boat at the mooring and hike the trails up the mountain to visit the Virgin Mary. If you are lucky you might see a cruise ship stopped at the foot of the mountain and playing the Schubert Ave Maria.   From here go up the fjord stopping at Saint-Rose-du-Nord which takes two (2) hours, which is a modest, but adequate docking facility.  Continue to la Baie which takes another three (3) hours.  La Baie is a commercial port and a fair size city where you will find everything you need. Don’t miss their restaurant and the local play at the theatre!!   Should you want to continue north, in four and a half (4.5) hours, you will reach Chicoutimi.  Bon voyage et bon vent!

 For more information contact George Bonnaud, at Scuttlebutt - SSLP Marine Park

• A Sailboat meets a Container ship – Germain Bouffard, 51, was less than 24 hours into his dream voyage, en route from Montreal to the Caribbean aboard his 18-metre yacht, when disaster struck. Just after daybreak on Aug. 11, 2004, a few kilometers upstream of Quebec City, a 30,000-tonne container ship crushed his treasured sailboat, the Mondisy, killing Mr. Bouffard and a friend.

•  Source:  The National Post A6 23 February 2006.

• Ocean-flow findings mean colder Europe – The ocean currents that weave around the Atlantic like huge rivers, moving vast volumes of warm water from the tropics to moderate the climate of Europe, have suddenly begun to weaken, according to a team of researchers from Britain’s National Oceanography Centre.

• Source:  The Globe and Mail A14 1 December 2005.

• Storm brews over treasures sunk in 1814 – A U.S. treasure hunter’s bid to scavenge a famed War of 1812-era shipwreck off the coast of Nova Scotia has met a storm of protest from underwater experts, who say the province’s rich maritime history is being pillaged by modern-day pirates.

• Source:  The Globe and Mail A3 2 January 2006.

Overview

Getting more out of your GPS part II

 In the last Scuttlebutt I teased you with the thought of maximizing the use of your GPS.  Today we’ll go through some of the specifics. 

You need a GPS that can interface with a computer and a computer.  You will need a data/power cable to hook the two together.  This cable can be bought or built for considerable savings, here is a good reference if you would like to build one: http://pfranc.com/.   Modern laptops don’t have serial ports so you’ll have to get a USB to DB9 converter.  The sales rep will know what this means if you don’t. Now comes the software and digital maps, the most expensive part of your journey.

As mentioned in the previous article and as knowledgeable CPS members we know how to deal with waypoints and tracks so we don’t need embedded maps.

Here are a few links to some software to interface your GPS via your computer.

http://www.gartrip.de/

http://www.easygps.com/default.asp

http://www.tapr.org/~kh2z/Waypoint/

http://www.faureragani.it/mygps/

http://www.chimoosoft.com/gpsconnect.html (for MAC)

 They all do about the same job transferring your waypoints, routes, and tracks from and to the GPS receiver. Some add some extra flavors like viewing your tracks on your computer and adding maps to these visualizations.  You will want to spend a winter evening trying out all these programs and find which you are most comfortable to work with.  Since they’re all free, it will only cost you a little time.

In the next scuttlebutt I will make available a set of all important waypoints for lake St-Louis.  If you have a set of waypoints that you’d like to share send me an email at Scuttlebutt GPS Waypoints

 Tom Contaxakis at Scuttlebutt - Cadet (or Tom's) Corner

All courses are offered at Lower Canada College Directions to LCC in the evenings.

The courses will start during the week of September 11th. with the usual:- New Boating Course--Piloting and Advanced Piloting and hopefully Celestial Navigation. We will also offer DSC/VHF Radio and Boat Pro for all ages. Times and cost of courses to be determined commensurate with the numbers involved.

Money in the Kitty

We are seeking advertisers who, for a business card inclusion, pay $50 a Scuttlebutt appearance. This targeted marketing effort will reap those offering navigational products and services great returns. We encourage potential advertisers to offer preferential rates to CPS members.
Contact Otto at Scuttlebutt - Advertisers

We are looking for special stories about your boating experiences. Contribute one or two paragraphs to Scuttlebutt - Contributions marking Scuttlebutt in the subject line.