Quote:
Originally Posted by enovillo
Alchemy,
I've been wondering what kind of cruising seminar resources are available in the GTA (other than the few seminars at the Boat Show every year). But I still haven't put a lot of effort into researching the issue.
Last year we attended one by the Shards at the PCYC. Now we're interested in attending more specific ones (e.g., safety at sea, diesel maintenance, weather forecasting).
How did you find out about that safety at sea seminar you attended? Can you recommend any sources?
BTW, we live in London, so seminars in the GTA are the best we can hope for.
Thanks!
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I have a couple of suggestions. Firstly, the Safety at Sea seminar was a prerequisite to participating in the
Lake Ontario 300, so there were a lot of skippers and crew there for that last spring. I heard about it via announcements at my yacht club. It didn't disappoint and was reasonably priced for a lunch in the middle of six hours or so of presentations. The
medical lecture was good to hear, and I finally got to meet Herb Hilgenberg, who certainly contributed to keeping a rough
delivery in '09 from getting even rougher.
A number of local Toronto clubs offer seminars or "sailors' nights" on their premises in the
winter, while others offer such courses as coastal pilotage,
radio DSC qualifications, all the way down to "how to splice". My club offers all sorts of these:
National Yacht Club.
Some GTA stores, such as Mason's in Port Credit, offer
classes on various seamanship topics, or one-night "diesel care and feeding"
classes. Not as interesting to me, because I'm beyond beginner-competent, but also because these are understandably ways for the stores in question to sell stuff in the off-season.
Lastly, you should check out your local Canadian
Power Squadron course. I've taken many of these, and recommend in particular the 12-week Boaters' Course for consolidating your knowledge. CPS course are held all over Toronto, but I'm sure there is something down London way as you are more or less the same distance to Huron as Erie.
A side note: My first
boat, a '73 Viking 33, still bears the reg. numbers starting with "24E", so its first owner must have been from the London area.
Hope this helps.