The Official Magazine of the Bluewater Cruising Association
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An Update From the Islands and Inlets

Scott Crawshaw

February 22nd, 2024

It has been a great season so far, with in-person attendance at Club Nights in the mid-thirties and online attendance at around fifteen computers and other devices. The end of 2023 included a pot-luck dinner at the Nanaimo Yacht Club for the Mid-Island group, and a casual appies social and awards night at RVYC. The New Year began with a fantastic presentation by Cresswell Walker and Irena Chmielowicz entitled “The Longest Goodbye”, followed by another on February 20: “Sailing to Haida Gwaii” by Glen Wilson and Cheryl Crowther.

Looking ahead, there are two club nights on the island in March:  Tuesday, March 19 is in Victoria “The Race to Alaska (R2AK) with Team Ship of Fools” presented by Kevin Greenwood, and VI Mid-Island welcomes Cresswell Walker and Irena Chmielowicz on March  21 with their presentation “Small Boat to Alaska“.

Our Fleet and Weather groups continue to meet regularly, and we invite anyone interested from the Vancouver Island and Calgary Chapters to join. If you are hoping to go offshore within the next couple of years and this is of interest to you, please contact Campbell Good, VI Fleet Coordinator.

VI Chapter activities include club nights, special events, Christmas potlucks and socials, education courses and a Fleet program.

We have several education sessions coming up and the best place to find out information about the upcoming schedule is on the BCA website calendar (banner on the far right on the website home page). The list of courses is also displayed during Club Nights. Course subjects for the next couple of months include Inflatable Dinghy Selection and Repair, Tides and Currents, Inside Passage Weather Strategies, and Basic Marine Radar. We will be sending out emails with sign-up details.

Longer term: Mark your calendars for the BCA May Rendezvous, the first of BCA’s three official on-the-water rendezvous of the year. This year VI will host BCA at Telegraph Harbour Marina on Thetis Island, May 18-20 and we are looking forward to seeing you out on the water. Next is the VI June BBQ, which is being planned for Tuesday, June 11 at the Canadian Forces Base “Gunroom”. More details on each of these events to come.

In the meantime, I encourage you to come out to the Club Nights if you can. We would enjoy meeting you in person and it is also a great opportunity to meet with the presenter(s) and other sailors to help meet our dreams of cruising. If you are interested in volunteering in any capacity, from helping out with an activity to being on the Watch, please get in touch with me or any of the Watchkeepers. For your information, we need a Membership Coordinator for VI.

Sail safe.

Yours aye,

Scott Crawshaw
Vancouver Island Vice Commodore

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