Wonderful Website Work

A webmaster's work is never done, and it seems I've been a bit behind in some cleanup, so I'll be busy working on the Bytown Brigantine website over the next couple of weeks. I would appreciate if anyone notices anything wonky on the website to send and email to webmaster(at)tallshipsadventure(dot)org. Or if you've got suggestions for the website, send them along too. Thanks.

Let's see, what else is going on with the Winter Program? Nothing this weekend except the Board of Directors has a planning meeting this weekend on Sunday. Next weekend though we have the VHF Radio Operator's course. You need this certificate to talk on the radio, so if you want to be crew and need this qualification you should plan on attending.

Restricted Small Vessel Machinery Operator Course

Bytown Brigantine will be offering a Restricted Small Vessel Machinery Operator (SVMO) Course In the New Year for interested participants.

Pass this along to anyone you think may be interested. Contact the office for registration.

This is a relatively new certificate offered by Transport Canada Marine Safety (TCMS) which is at the entry level of the engineering stream. If you are interested in learning about the fundamentals of ship board mechanical systems you may want to sign up for this course. If you are interested in helping out as a crew member on board either the Black Jack or Fair Jeanne this is a great way to get aboard as we require an SVMO aboard at all times.

The course will take place over five 2 hour sessions. Students will be encouraged to work at home independently and come to class with relevant questions. This course is intended for seafarers with a minimum of 14 days sea service performing engine room duties. This course will prepare students to challenge the TCMS Restricted Small Vessel Machinery Operator exam. Delivery will be a combination of lectures and hands-on practical skills, i.e. identifying pumps, piping, power transmission, underwater fittings, hydraulic systems and pneumatic systems on board the Black Jack and the Fair Jeanne.

Other Transport Canada requirements include: medical certificate, MED A2, Marine Basic First Aid, ten sea time, written examination on General Engineering Knowledge, and a vessel specific oral and practical exam.

You will be required to bring personal protective equipment including safety boots, overalls and gloves for the times when classes will be held on board ship.

The course is open to all
Course Length: 5 sessions at 2 hours each
Course dates: January 6^th, February 3^rd, March 1^st, April 7^th, May 5^th (the first Tuesday of every month)
Course Hours: 1800-1930
Course Fee: $100 (free to anyone how has donated over 100 hours of service to Bytown Brigantine)

Should you have any questions or would like to register please do not hesitate to contact the office at 613 596 6258 or email at info@tallshipsadventure.org.

Volunteer Opportunities with BBI

Bytown Brigantine will be hosting a monthly volunteer recruitment event on
November 28th, 2010 at 1400hrs at the BBI office (2700 Queensview Dr.
Ottawa)

Would you like to help to prepare the Fair Jeanne or Black Jack's rigging for
the 2011 season? Do you think you would be a great addition to the
Newsletter Committee? Perhaps you would like to lend a hand with answering
phones or managing the boutique?

Bytown Brigantine could not operate without the support of its vital corps
of volunteers. Whether you are interested in marlinspike seamanship,
navigation, teaching, public relations, general maintenance or special
events management we can certainly use your help. Whether your strengths are
working with youth, adults, or working on an individual project, you will
find an opportunity with BBI. Come and join us for an introduction to the
program and a quick look at what opportunities are possible, it is sure to
change your life!

There is no contribution too small - the time commitment for being a BBI
volunteer varies, come join us to see what it is all about.

If you can't make it for this volunteer orientation, don't worry, we will be
hosting a volunteer recruitment and orientation on the last Sunday of every
month, excluding December.

If you would like to attend the volunteer session please call the office to
let us know send an email to mary@tallshipsadventure.org.

I look forward to seeing you all there.

Mary Acton-Bond
Executive Director
Phone: 613 596 6258
Fax: 613 596 4335
Email: mary@tallshipsadventure.org

Winter Program Nov. 5 -7

Hello everyone,

This weekend the winter program kicks off at BBI! The program for the
weekend is as follows:

Drop-off is at 18:30 on Friday evening at the Bytown office, which is
located at 2700 Queensview Drive. There is a blue sign with our name on it
at the parking lot entrance, and a big sign at the office itself. Please
make sure you eat dinner BEFORE you come! We'll be getting right into the
navigation lesson and then sleeping over in the office.

Saturday is a work party, so we will be heading down to BYC to tarp Black
Jack before it snows (more) and strip the rigging off the masts. It will
be very cold, so make sure you dress warmly. After all that we will be
going bowling! We're going to take the bus to Merivale Bowling, so if you
have a bus pass please bring that, otherwise bring bus tickets.

On Sunday we'll be getting into groups to commence one of the greatest
winter program activities... the Sled Challenge 2011! Start brainstorming
now so your group can plan something epic on Sunday (the sleds themselves
will be built in December, and the competition is in January). Pick-up is
at 1200 noon at the office.

Make sure you have everything you need to sleepover including:

• a change of clothes
• clothes you don't mind getting dirty in
• a warm waterproof jacket, hat, and gloves
• a sleeping bag
• a bus pass or bus tickets
• your winter program form and $22, unless you have already paid :)

If you would like to come but haven't yet sent in your winter program registration you can fax it to (613) 596 - 4335. You can also bring it
with you this weekend, but in that case ***please send me an EMAIL saying
you are coming this weekend****. If you're wondering if winter program is
for you, come along this weekend and see for yourself!

Looking forward to seeing many of you soon!

Christine Chesterman
Winter Program Coordinator
Christine@tallshipsadventure.org

The registration form can be found at:
http://tallshipsadventure.org/pdf/registration_winter.pdf

End of the 2010 sailing season...

There's been lots going in at BBI the last two weeks as we get ready to finish off the 2010 season!

Thanksgiving

On Thanksgiving weekend, Black Jack and 13 crew headed upriver to collect the barges and say goodbye to the Island until next spring. The weather was absolutely perfect and night watch wasn't as cold as expected - or maybe wearing all our winter clothing made it just feel that way? On Saturday the barges were warped forward from their mooring place behind the catwalk. Rolfe in Green whaler, Captain in the TT, and the formidable fall current helped carry them out into the bay, where Black Jack was waiting to pick up her charges. The barges were towed alongside, with the whalers attached to the floating dock behind the supply barge. We set the tops'l and t'gallant coming into Constance Bay to officially make it the biggest and best sail-powered tow operation on the Ottawa River! In the words of the Captain, it was like sailing a small city block.

That night we anchored the whole fleet in Constance Bay. Mrs Acton-Bond somehow produced an entire turkey with stuffing from Black Jack's oven-less galley and everyone dug in to an amazing Thanksgiving dinner. We played a few rounds of two truths and a lie afterwards while digesting all that food... it may sound like a simple game but some people still don't seem to get it!

On Sunday Black Jack made her way to Pinhey's Point to anchor the barges. She then picked up Simon and Lynne Fuller and their girls, and Jean Fuller, Bytown's patron ( for whom Fair Jeanne is named!) to go for Black Jack's last proper sail of the year. True to this intent, all sails were set! Things got exciting fast after that as the wind picked and Black Jack heeled hard to starboard. The t'gallant, course, and main were doused and the ship kept on smoothly under the tops'l.

After the Fullers disembarked and the trainees were dropped off at Pinhey's, Black Jack picked the barges back up (after hauling the anchors in by hand against the current! Never underestimate how great having a windlass is) and headed back to BYC. The barges were towed smoothly into the yacht club by whaler and TT, then Black Jack followed and is now moored beside them.

Fair Jeanne
The good ship Fair Jeanne has been moored at Hartwells Locks in Ottawa since her return from Prescott in September. On Thanksgiving Monday she ventured down the canal through the Rideau locks downtown. We had many trainees and parent volunteers who were new to going through the locks, but they were fantastic and Fair Jeanne locked through quickly and without a hitch! She docked in the Ottawa River just below Parliament, but only for a week. The canal was drained during the week so on Friday October 15^th, Fair Jeanne transferred back up to Lock 4, her winter home of several years, and was lowered into her drydock cradles.

Downrigging Black Jack

Last weekend Black Jack said farewell to her status as a sailing ship. A great team turned out to help de-rig the ship on Saturday – unbending the sails drying them out, and flaking them into sailbags; sewing new sialbags for the running rigging and whipping countless lines; and swinging down the yards. Next weekend the masts will be lifted out with a crane, and Black Jack herself will be hauled out of the water for winter.

On Sunday, Albert Rolfe held a small engine repair course that simultaneously gave everyone a chance to learn hands-on engine maintenance and retire the outboards for winter properly.

A big thank you to all our volunteers, trainees, and crew for making this fall season so successful and so fun! We're looking forward to seeing many of you this weekend and over the winter!

Coming up at BBI

After a very cold but fun fall program, the sailing season is officially coming to a close this weekend - Fair Jeanne will be going into drydock on Friday and on Saturday Black Jack will be down-rigged for the winter. As always we would love your help in getting all this accomplished!

Friday October 15th - meet at Fair Jeanne at 0730, finish by 1600. Fair Jeanne is currently docked at the very bottom of the locks at Parliament -you can't miss her! The task for Friday is to bring the Jeanne up to Lock#4, at which point the Rideau locks will be drained, dry-docking Fair Jeanne in her cradles there for the winter. If you are available to help out with this, please let Mr. Drinnan (Fair Jeanne's Captain) know.

Saturday October 16th - meet at BYC from 0900 - 1600. We need as many hands as possible as there is a LOT to do this day! All the lines, sails, and spars will be taken off Black Jack, and the whalers also need to behauled out of the water. Down-rigging a tall ship is a really interesting process and you will learn a lot about how it all fits together by helping take it apart!

Sunday October 17th - meet at the Bytown Office (2700 Queensview Dr.) at12:30. Albert Rolfe will be teaching a small engine repair course at the office. For everyone who has ever been thwarted by an outboard motor, this is your chance to strike back! Learn how to troubleshoot and repair a small outboard at the office, everyone welcome. Please make sure you eat lunch before you arrive though.

If you would be able to provide lunch or drinks for any of the days, please email me! Sandwiches and drinks would be much appreciated.

For all events, do please email to let us know if you can come out that day. It really helps when planning the groups, food, and so on to know who is coming. Thank you and I hope to see many of you this weekend!

Christine Chesterman
Winter Program Coordinator

Girl Guides Weekend

Last weekend on Black Jack we were lucky to have both beautiful fall weather and an amazing group of trainees. We had a small team of Rangers from the Camp Woolsey Girl Guides camp aboard, many of whom had been sailing aboard Black Jack and Fair Jeanne before. The ship got underway from BYC on Friday evening and steamed upriver to Pinhey's Point. We did in-house and the girls were split into two watches, alternating between helming and standing watch on the aft deck and going through Deckhand rating in the logbooks down below. We anchored at Pinhey's, fit everyone into bunks and hammocks down below, and hunkered down to night watches. It was an absolutely clear and beautiful night, but COLD! I think it's safe to say that we all wore everything we brought with us and the hot chocolate on night watch was a lifesaver.

Saturday morning the sun was blindingly bright as we sang O Canada. Breakfast was a seemingly endless supply of tasty egg-in-bagels and then the girls put their backs into weighing the anchor so Black Jack could head upriver for Alexandria Island. Red watch did their aloft in-house while Green watch stood watch and learned how to do log entries, safety checks, lookout duty, and some more helming. The trainees were then split into pairs for 'speed-lessons' – a 7-minute lesson from each crew member about basic collision regulations, chartwork, buoyage, and naming parts of the ship. At Constance Bay the watches split up into their whalers and learned to use the sweeps – huge long oars – to race each other to shore. Green watch must have had their strong arms on, because they left Red whaler far behind! Both watches returned to Black Jack for lunch, then Green watch took their turn aloft as Red watch guided Black Jack towards Quyon and the island. At the island, we discovered that the bunk barge had become unmoored due to the sudden rise of the river this past week. The barge was rescued and everyone went ashore for an after-dinner campfire and more roasted marshmellows than you could shake a gaff at.

Night watch was even colder that night, which made the river steam and fog roll over the ship during the night! It was like being on the Black Pearl from Pirates of the Caribbean, but more frozen. In the morning Black Jack tried to bring the barges to Quyon to avoid further trouble at the island, but the current was too strong and the operation had to be postponed until next weekend. The watches split into whalers again, this time to take advantage of the great wind around Mohr Island. Whaler sailing is a great way to see sail theory in action. All those whiteboard lessons about tacking and gybing made a lot more sense to the Rangers when they were hauling on the main sheets, dipping the lug, and flying along on a beam reach or trying to beating upwind. We met back up with Black Jack for lunch and steamed downriver towards BYC. In Britannia Bay it seemed like every boat in the yacht club was out enjoying the amazing weather, so Black Jack had lots of dodging to do. Back at BYC, the girls were given their logbooks, now with Deckhand rating signed off. Maybe Black Jack channels a ship's concert vibe, but the girls had written a song that would rival any 10-day session – very impressed!

Hopefully we'll see you again next year!