THUNDER BAY YACHT CLUB
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THUNDER BAY YACHT CLUB |
TBYC ARCHIVES
CLUB HISTORY
HISTORIC
Note from the editor:
This is a gathering of information on the past history of the Thunder Bay Yacht
Club. You may have your own version of the past and we would be pleased to
include it also. Contact a member of the Yacht Club Executive Committee so that
your story can be added to this WebPages.
By Jim Coslett:
The Thunder Bay Yacht Club was founded in August 1945. In the beginning, a small
group wished to race sailboats- snipe sailboats, to be exact. These boats
required a skipper and one crew. The group gradually expanded as new sailors
were introduced to racing as crew. There was a need for a large pool of
replacement crew, for the boats were tippy and the skippers bold. Furthermore,
the sailing area off Chippewa was on the windiest part of Thunder Bay, and some
say also the coldest.
Even 50 years ago, all the shoreline in both cities was spoken for and busy, and
access to open water was a must with no engine in the boats. The Port Arthur
harbour inside the breakwall would have given some protection but was very busy
with commercial traffic and had no available location for a club. The Club was
formally organized at Chippewa Park, with Tom Corness as Commodore, and with the
blessing and support of Arthur Windnall, head of Fort William Parks. The new
Club, named after Thunder Bay, already had members from both the cities of Fort
William and Port Arthur, and 25 years later it became the Yacht Club that had a
city named after it!
The first meetings were held in the basement of the old City Hall- Tourist
Bureau, and then later at the J.L.Black Library in Westfort. A few power boaters
joined the sailors and added their support.
Art Widnall rented the Club some land at Chippewa and a clubhouse was built,
complete with the necessary privy, and some small 6' x 8' cottages the park was
disposing of as outbuildings. Chairs and furnishings were scrounged. W. Porter
Bailey Sr. had a huge brick fireplace and chimney built on. W.R.Coslett Sr.
donated windows, and Bob Prettie gave the knotty pine for the entire interior.
Entertainment at Club meetings gave instruction in knots and other mysterious
boating arts. To learn more, some took Power Squadron courses and eventually
formed the Lakehead Power Squadron in 1954.
Larger boats, such as 18' Cat boats with jibs, were soon added to the Snipe race
fleet. Four enterprising sailors then banded together to build six Lightning
class sailboats. In the name of fairness, and in order to prevent one member of
the group from devoting too much "TLC" to his own boat, they waited
till all six were finished and then drew lots. The extra two were sold to defray
the costs.
A number of sail and power craft were also home built. These were boats with
CABINS! There were, however, surprisingly few cruising sailboats at the Lakehead
at this time. Due to few docking facilities, most boats other than the racers
were berthed in locations away from Chippewa. Those that could not be trailered
were stored for winter at Perry's Boat Yard in Port Arthur.
Sailing in the early days was somewhat primitive. I remember arriving on a
breezy day to race, and seeing a member's "yacht" being used as a
marker. From a distance, it looked to be a fine yawl of about 30'. Upon closer
inspection, it proved to be built of 2' x 2's nailed together. At night, with a
Coleman light shining inside, it looked like a Venetian blind. The mitten sail
was nailed to the mast. At one point, the boat was rescued by a laker who
cleaned the masts and cabin off when it took up strain on the tow rope. It was
towed in and eventually moored by a patented method- they stopped pumping and
let it sink in the sand! The skipper and the boat are gone now; they don't make
'em like that any more, praise be!
Cruising to Rossport was common. The Derby was a big draw. The Lightnings and
other boats would sail together, but a boat loaded with cruising equipment was a
different boat. Many a long run was made on the edge of disaster with the crew
unable to shift position to let go lines.
Sometimes enthusiasm outdistanced common sense. There was a brand new 30' twin
screw cruiser built at the Lakehead and launched just in time for one derby. It
was immediately obvious that the propellers were on the wrong shafts, but there
was no time to change, so she backed to Rossport, unfortunately ruining the
gears. Stopping the boat was also a challenge. Thrown into reverse (forward)
while docking at Silver Islet, it inhaled a towed dinghy and chopped it up.
In another incident, at Rossport, a sailor insisted that in order to save time,
his boat be towed to the good fishing area by an 85' four engined yacht. The
powerful boat took off with the sailboat flapping at the end of a line, water
shooting up from the center board trunk, just about drowning the intrepid
skipper.
Potential disasters often work into humorous anecdotes. Sailors feel helpless
and vulnerable when they run aground, especially when the ground is a rock
surrounded by deep water. One sailor, for instance, stuck his keelboat high and
dry on ever popular Newcombe Rock near Lamb Island Light in Lake Superior. He
was spotted by the tug "Whalen", who recognized the problem from the
attitude of the heeling yacht, and rushed to the rescue with dreams of salvage,
only to be cheated of the prize when their bow wave lifted the sailboat to
safety.
Even winter had its adventures. Sailboats were replaced by iceboats in the
harbour. One "sailor" broke a number of ribs when his iceboat hit an
ice ridge at high speed. Another member sailed his iceboat into an open sewer in
Port Arthur Harbour. His rescuer lay on the ice to pull the skipper and the boat
out, rushing home to shower after the daring feat. The skipper, however, stood
in the cold till the lumps froze; he then brushed them off and went back to
sailing. It was, after all, one of those rare days when the ice was clear, hard,
and smooth.
The fleet continued to grow, both power and sail. The Lightnings would race to
Amethyst and then trailer to Loon to race, but most of the races were off
Chippewa spring and fall. The water at Chippewa kept shallowing and the sea
swept right through the dock, so nothing of fixed draft could stay there. Even
Lightnings had to remove their rudders. The power boats were mooring wherever,
many between the Harvester and Elevator D docks on the Ram River. Finally, with
regret, the Club had to give up the clubhouse at Chippewa. With its large raised
hearth fireplace, it became a shelter for the toboggan slide.
The last and only piece of land the City had on Mission River had become
available. The Club raised funds by sale of non-interest bearing bonds to repay
those who underwrote the purchase in 1957. The Club was incorporated in 1958.
Filings for docks were first driven by hand at the Mission River property, and
then using a barge borrowed from Abitibi who were still booming wood. Finally,
the Club was able to buy its own skid mounted pile driver that was drawn down
onto the ice by its own cables. Only two or three members knew what they were
doing, but the job got done. The "experts" were hard put to prevent
the rest of the eager helpers from doing themselves serious injury.
At one point, a call came to the Commodore: "Don't you know you are
supposed to have a permit to move a building?" By the time the building
inspector, police, and the Commodore met on the island, the 40' by 20' clubhouse
building was in place looking as if it had grown there. With no evidence, there
was no problem.
A ramp and marine railway were then installed, but ice was always a problem;
each year the ramp needed rebuilding. Boats were lifted by self-propelled cranes
for some time and stored on the property, but the bigger boats almost launched
the cranes occasionally, lifting the front wheels off the ground. All boats had
to go in or out on the same day because of the high cost of transporting and
rigging the crane.
A proposal was made for a boat transporter on a fifth wheel. The Club decided to
proceed, despite considerable opposition. The steel was cut and members
assembled the machine. Lift was supplied by four chain falls. Another member
provided a tandem truck used for moving everything from buildings, to boats, to
earth .
For a while the machine was used on the ramp with an electric winch as backup
and safety, but if the machine had drifted one way or the other it could have
broken through. It was soon obvious a set of piers was needed. Sheet piling was
far too expensive, so a large pair of cribs was built closed at one end, 8'
high, 12' inside, and 20' long. A backhoe was used to dig a hole in the bank,
and the crib was lifted into place. Again, for every member involved, there was
one predicting disaster, and it almost happened! Stone to fill the cribs was
delayed, ice was forming, and the hole was filing in. "I told you so's"
were being gleefully shouted.
Great Lakes Paper came to the rescue with a supply of empty barrels. Al Wray and
several helpers spent a day placing them on the piers and pumping them full of
water. The crib sank and was held in place. Stone was added later off the ice.
This whole operation required a steady head and a lot of rum. A tie back and
cables were dug in, piling and decks have been added to stiffen it, and it has
served us well for 25 years.
A class from the College laid out the property for increased storage as part of
a project. A supplier helped out the Club with heavy armoured cable, and power
was added throughout the property with members George Phillips and Jim Wheeler
designing and hooking up the system. George Killins would also show up with a
huge loader now and then to improve roads and clear space.
More recent improvements include a fence around the property to improve
security. The Club was also able to procure an operating crane and pile driver,
and used the expertise of members as operator and mechanic. This has been put to
use driving piles, for bank retention, and mast stepping.
Club members have updated the machines over the years, through the design and
installation of equipment, the addition of hydraulics to the machine, and the
retiring of the chain falls. Members have contributed hours working tirelessly
on the property, the haulout, and docking; servicing the truck and its
hydraulics; supplying and spreading many loads of gravel; and clearing the snow.
By 1979, Thunder Bay was planning to host the 1981 Canada Summer Games. This
prompted another major change in the focus of the Club. In order to host the
sailing activities, in February 1979 the Thunder Bay Yacht Club amalgamated with
the Lakehead Sailing Club and the Temple Reef Club. This amalgamation,
negotiated mainly by Al Wray, George Killins, Kevin Holloway, and Porter Bailey,
gave TBYC an enlarged dinghy fleet and access to the Marina facility.
After a major fire had destroyed much of the docking (and warehouses) at the
Marina in 1978, Club members and delegations of other local boaters were
instrumental in advising the City on the development of the new, improved
Marina. For the Canada Games, a new Race Centre was built on Pier 1, still in
use as a base for the dinghy fleet and a site to start and end the keelboat
races. This is "The Landing" Clubhouse where, except for a short stint
at Boulevard Lake, TBYC's Sail Thunder Bay Committee has operated dinghy
training programs with OSA since the TBYC inherited sailing instruction from the
Lakehead Sailing Club at amalgamation.
As most of the membership, both sail and power, now berth their boats at the
Marina, the Club needed a facility close to the action. The CN Station became
available and the Club jumped in with both feet. Under Commodore John Poleschuk,
the Club negotiated a lease from the City, and organized a mammoth volunteer
effort to renovate the facility. Club members volunteered their expertise, from
architectural skills, electrical and mechanical engineering, to wiring, laying
tile, drywalling and decorating. Members donated a bar, rugs, and cabinets. it
was an ambitious undertaking for the volunteers, and it caused some frustration
due to the high commitment of both time and money.
Now the CN Station is a centre for activity at the Marina. The Club uses
the second floor as a Clubhouse. A kitchen has been added off "The
Anchorage" Bar, and the "Upper Deck" room is available as a
classroom and meeting room. A lounge and library is planned for the third floor.
"The Anchorage" is opened Fridays at 4:30, Wednesday evenings, for
various club affairs and other related events.
Through all the fifty years the club has continued to grow and has stuck to its
credo "to further boating at the Lakehead". The Thunder Bay Yacht Club
has a lot to be proud of - the facility and clubhouse on the Mission River, the
racing programs, International races and associations, the assistance to sail
training, the dinghy fleet, the building on the pier, and clubrooms at the
Marina. The Club has been both a rewarding hobby and a challenge, but always a
source of pride.
The
beginning of the INTERNATIONAL RACE
Written by Ron Thomson who was one of the originators of the race, and edited by Paul Morton. Paul Morton sailed in the first ever International Race on his father’s homebuilt wood 36 foot ketch ‘Moonraker’ from Washington Harbor on Isle Royale to Port Arthur (now Thunder Bay).
I
launched my H28 ketch ‘Windward’ for the first time in 1959 just in time to
see the Royal Yacht ‘Britannia’ pass through the harbour. (Note that
‘Windward’ is one of several large homebuilt wood boats of that era –
there were no fiberglass boats) After
sailing ‘Windward’ for a few months I was pleased with her performance, with
a good turn of speed on a reach in good wind.
Therefore I wanted to try her out against other boats of her size.
At that time there weren’t many cruising boats at the Lakehead.
There was Brien O’Brien’s ‘Valencia’, Bert Row’s ‘Alsumar’,
and a few others. We could name the
boats at a distance by the cut of the sails and the colour of the topsides.
Roger
Bailey had been to Duluth and had seen the sailing activity there, and told me
that the Apostle Islands Yacht Club had a growing fleet of sailboats. Somehow I arranged to attend the AIYC meeting in Duluth held
at the Lakewood Country Club. I met
some very interesting boating types such as ‘Doc’ Huderle who had a
schooner, Dr. Pierpont had a 40 foot sloop ‘Siskiwit’ that had been in one
of the Machinac races, and Dr. Hagen had a 35 foot sloop ‘Caele’. Their club membership came from the Minneapolis area as well
as from further west and south, and had a wide range of types and sizes of
sailboats. Their club had an annual
Around the Apostle Islands race, which sounded interesting, so in the summer of
1961 Jim Coslett and I sailed to the Apostle Islands to enter the race.
The race started in Bayfield with an overnight stop at Rocky Island, then
around Stockton Island and back to Bayfield.
There were six boats in the event and we did OK but didn’t bring home
any trophies. Somehow the idea of
an International Race was broached. There
was some interest but the time wasn’t right yet.
In
1962 I sailed ‘Windward’ to Bayfield to enter a race from the Apostles to
Duluth. It was decided to start in
a reverse handicap order (pursuit race). The
slower boats would start ahead of the faster boats so that in theory we would
all arrive in Duluth together. The
start line ran north from Sand Island light, and the start time was midnight.
Unfortunately fog crept in but I was able to see the loom of the Sand
Island light in the fog and headed for Duluth.
Unfortunately one of the other boats started for Duluth before he was
clear of Sand Island. The U.S.
Coast Guard found the boat the next day with its mast stuck in a tree.
They found the skipper sitting on deck calmly smoking a cigar.
The ‘Caele’ found bottom at Encampment Island near Two Harbors and
ended up behind me at Duluth. I was
able to get a fix from the horn and radio signal from the Two Harbors light, and
was able to correct my course for Duluth.
In
1963 we got the first International Race organized from Washington Harbor on the
southwest end of Isle Royale to Port Arthur.
The American sailors involved in organizing the race were Dr. Pierpont,
Bill Huling, Bill Peet, Dr. Hagen, and Jack Soetebier. The course required leaving Angus Island at the east end of
Pie Island to port. At the skippers
meeting I explained that there was a shoal off the east end of Angus Island, and
how to get around it safely. I
found out later that some of the U.S. boats touched on the shoal. In the race the local boats were my ketch ‘Windward’, Bob
Morton’s ketch ‘Moonraker’, Bill Tamblyn’s yawl ‘Sirocco’, and Oscar
Sholtz’s trimaran. There were
about five entries from AIYC. It
was a good race with a windshift to the NW of Pie Island that repositioned the
fleet, and we all had a nice sail. There
was a breakfast at the Prince Arthur Hotel the next morning.
This was the first International Race.
Before
this there was a race from Isle Royale to Bayfield in which I did badly.
I can’t put a year on it. For
all these races we used the rating system known as the Cruising Club of America
Measurement Rule which involved knowing the displacement of your boat.
For the local boats we got Captain Basil Dube of the Canadian Coast Guard
icebreaker ‘Alexander Henry’ to lift our boats out of the water using a
scale to weigh our boats. This rule
was found to be too complicated and was only used for a few years.
I soon found out that with the new handicapping system a boat with a full
keel was disadvantaged and that the “Javex Bottle” boats were winning all
the races, So I decided to concentrate on cruising.
So these are my memories of how the International Race began.
Ron
Thomson
1945 –
Thomas Corness
1980 – Albert Wray
1946 –
Thomas Corness
1981 – Allan Crocker
1947 –
Thomas Corness
1982 – James E. Coslett
1948 –
Walter Ellard
1983 – Richard Clarke
1949 –
Walter Ellard
1984 – Richard Clarke
1950 – J.
Van Bailey
1985 – John Poleschuk
1951 – J.
Van Bailey
1986 – John Poleschuk
1952 –
Graham Baker
1987 – Ronald Nelson
1953 –
Graham Baker
1988 – Barbara Jokela
1954 –
Bruce Seed
1989 – John Poleschuk
1955 –
Bruce Seed
1990 – John Boggett
1956 – W.
Roger Bailey
1991 – John Boggett
1957 – W.
Roger Bailey
1992 – John Boggett
1958 –
James E. Coslett
1993 – Grant Lindsey
1959 –
Robert Morton 1994
– Grant Lindsey
1960 –
Colin Auld
1995 – Alberta Davis
1961 –
Steve Zeleny
1996 – Richard Matheson
1962 –
Steve Zeleny
1997 – Richard Matheson
1963 –
Albert Wray
1998 – Bert Blaauw
1964 –
Thomas Dow
1999 – Bert Blaauw
1965 – Roy
Bonnett
2000 – Mike Fabius
1966 –
Ronald Thomson
2001 – Mike Fabius
1967 –
Keith Willis
2002 – Rick Corness
1968 –
Donald Murie
2003 – Rick Corness
1969 –
Albert Wray
2004 – Nick Kovachis
1970 –
Thomas Murie 2005
– Nick Kovachis
1971 –
Donald Phillips
2006 – Bill Kruse
1972 –
William Zeleny
2007 – Bill Kruse
1973 –
James E. Coslett
1974 –
Mickey Graver
1975 –
Maurice Guyatt
1976 – J.
Van Bailey
1977 –
George Killins
1978 –
George Killins
1979 –
Craig MacDonald
