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Report on March 26, 2008
Information Night
Approximately
30 members and friends came out for our Double
Header. We had a heart wrenching rendition of ‘Take
me out the Ball game’, with yours truly leading the
crowd. Someone shouted out that I should not quit my
day job but I had the last laugh as I flung out the
peanuts.
Our first
guests were Grant Brandlmyr and his associate Jamie
McCarthy from Robert Allan Ltd. We were all amazed
by the extent of the world wide operations for this
home grown Vancouver Company. We were also treated
to a 5 minute video clip at the end of the session
on their huge fire boat project currently being used
in Los Angeles. This video clip was recently
featured on the Discovery Channel show Monster
Machines. For more information visit their web
site at www.ral.bc.ca.
Our second
guest was to be Mike Richards for the Georgia
Straight Alliance but due to illness he was a last
minute scratch. The night was saved when Cathryn
Murray offered to swap her AGM night presentation
with Mike’s presentation.
Cathryn is the
project leader for the Canadian Boat Survey 2008.
She explained her survey and the research she is
doing which will help our environment. This is a
short survey of small boat owners and operators
using British Columbia’s marine water ways. It is
part of a doctorate project at the University of
British Columbia focused on hull fouling in British
Columbia and is supported in part by Fisheries &
Oceans Canada (DPO). Fouling can occur on
recreational boats by species attaching to the hull,
propellers, anchors, lines and fishing gear.
Recreational boat hull fouling is of interest for
two main reasons. First, increased fouling on small
boats can negatively affect fuel efficiency, speed
and cause increased maintenance costs to boat
owners. Second, small boats may also serve as
transportation for fouling plants and animals, some
of which may be new to BC or Canada. The
introduction and spread of new species in Canadian
waters poses a large threat to our native
biodiversity and can have widespread effects on both
our economy and health.
Burnaby
Squadron is a leader in championing environmental
issues. We need to look no further than our own
Patricia Brandlmayr, whose work was instrumental in
PMD being presented with the Natural Marine
Environmental Award. Please honour our great
heritage by completing Cathryn’s survey. Additional
information and the online survey can be found at
www.CanadianBoatSurvey.com. Cathryn has supplied
us with paper copies of the survey for those of you
who do not have access to the web. They will be
available at our AGM.
Mike Matich
Programs
Officer
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