Sad News about Bob

It is with Deep sadness we have to announce the passing of Robert (Bob) Townsend the founder of Bob’s Nautical . Many in the sailing community know of Bob either personally or through his reputation and knowledge. Bob loved sailing and always enjoyed talking to people about sailing, sailing history and the County. 
If you wish  to leave a story about Bob or just pass some comments, please feel free to do so here.

SHELLBACK THE CLUB THAT IS NOT

As an introduction to Shellback, I can do no better than reproduce an article from the October November 1968 Issue of Gam of Yachting by that great nautical magazine's founder, publisher and editor Karin Larson.With the end of the sailing season members of the Shellbacks Club will again take voyages of fancy at Thursday Luncheon meetings at the Lord Simcoe Hotel in Toronto.Actually, the Shellbacks Club is not really a club at all. There is no constitution, no initiation fee, no annual dues, no clubhouse, no membership committee, no Board of Directors and no executive. All it consists of is a group of men who like to get together once a week to hear a yarn and sing a sea shanty. For over thirty years this non‑club has continued. Throughout this time traditions have developed and at some time a bell made its appearance. Each summer Al Rae, an early Skipper, disappears with the bell and in the fall returns it with the name of the last Skipper engraved upon it for the only records the club keeps.In the early days meetings mustered only a dozen or so. Attendance now usually numbers somewhere around fifty men. Through the years a time schedule, which is strictly adhered to, has evolved. 12:20 Hands to Stations 

12:30 Hands to Dinner

 12:45 Toast to the Queen and Sailors Everywhere

 12:50 Introduction of Guests

 12:55 Sea Shanties

 1:05 Introduction of Speaker

 1:30 Pull up AnchorAnyone who smokes before the Toast to the Queen is required to contribute 25~ to the dory. Long winded speakers are cut off with four clangs of the bell and the only way one can show he is a member is to become a yarn spinner and be awarded a lapel pin in the shape of a miniature square rigged ship.Yarn Spinners are shanghied from anywhere‑‑anyone with an interesting waterfront tale, whether of sailing in square riggers around the Horn at the age of sixteen, International competition, or of building a dream boat. Past Yarn Spinners would, together, present a notable collection of talent as many outstanding national figures have had their turn.P.S. It's strictly stag.NOTHING MUCH CHANGESExcept that for many years Shellback has met on Wednesdays instead of Thursday, and, yes, thanks to the changing times and the persistance of Karin, it is no longer strictly stag.SHELLBACK CLUB 70 YEARS OF TRADITION

_{By. Robert B. Townsend}
  

For some hearty Canadian Sailors, the season never ends. SHELLBACK CLUB is an organization of sailors that has, for over 60 years met for mutual refreshment once a week, when the regular sailing season is over. The club has no constitution, no rules, and no debts. Membership is open to all sailors who can afford the price of the meal (2004 only $11.00) aboard Captain John's Jadran at the foot of Young Street at Toronto's Harbour. For many years the club met at Mugg's Landing, a venerable old dining room in the Victoria Hotel in downtown Toronto, which had been specially decorated for the club; its walls covered with pictures of sailing ships and the sea.The club was officially founded in February of 1934 with its motto "In all respects ready for sea", but the traditions of Shellback dates back to 1924 when Gerry L'Aventure, Gord Francis, Wm. Hearst and Howard Griffin started to sail together in a series of famous yachts, out of the Royal Canadian Yacht Club: including the famous "P" Class boat "Caramia", a true virgin (no engine) 50.16' L.O.A.The crew bank met on Wednesdays at Eileen Bradley's Tea House on Adelaide St., for lunch, and to organize for the week‑end races. "P" class boat had a crew of about 12 and a crew bank of about 20, so organization was essential. The lunches became so popular, they continued throughout the winter months. To maintain the flavour of the occasion, it was decided that only dyed‑in‑the‑wool nautical buddies were to be invited. The table talk was restricted to the one subject: sailing.Gerry L'Aventure was the organizer of the Shellback club, as such, giving the group its name (which means "old sailor" amongst other definitions). At the first official meeting of the club, lunch cost $0.35. There were only 2 commandments: (1) ‑ no business talk (2) no smoking before the toast to the King of the Dominion of Canada and the toast to "Sailors everywhere".Gerry L'Aventure was the clubs first skipper. Since then, skippers have changed when the present one could find someone to take his place and not before. More often than not, a temporary absent member has been "elected" (read shanghaied).Membership is restricted to those who have been introduced as a guest at a regular luncheon. Once inducted by the skipper, membership is forever. A Shellback is a Shellback. There are no dues, membership lists, or records. At each meeting, guests and their introducers lead in the singing of an old sea shanty: to keep the old tunes alive, and to recapture the spirit in which the old Shellbacks sang on sailing ships. This is followed by a yarnspinner telling a tale of the sea.The first yarnspinner was William Hearst whose topic was "Pirates I have Known, ‑ present company excepted" Bill repeated this most interesting talk at the clubs 35th, 40th, 45th, and 50th Birthday parties. Yarnspinners have included many world famous sailors. All have an interesting story of the sea or sailing to tell. In the day's of wooden boats, very few ladies were active in sailing boats in the Toronto area. Dame Niaomi James, Bridgette Aubrey, and Patience Wales were all speakers at the clubs major yearly event, the annual boat show dinner where since 1967, ladies have been invited. Since 1984 ladies have become very much a part of the clubs membeship, reflecting their increased interest and participation in the sport, and in ladies sailing, reflecting the outstanding achievements by many ladies in the sailing fraternity.In 1938, Bill Hearst advised the club should have an insignia. Richard the Lion‑hearted was the first to conceive of a Coat‑of‑Arms, and Bill followed Richards tradition by conceiving a Coat‑of‑Arms for sailors, which was built by Al Rae. A rope mounting extends below the shield to hold a plaque on which is inscribed the words SHELLBACK CLUB. The first quarter of the shield is white with a fork and spoon to signify a luncheon; the second quarter, an anchor on a yellow background; the third quarter, a ships bell; and the fourth quarter, 3 waves.The clubs Bell, on which is inscribed the names of all the skippers over the nearly 60 years of the club's existence, was taken from a famous old ship, and is used to call "all hands to lunch" promptly at 12:20 hrs, and again to "out pipes" at 13.45 hrs.With its loosely formed executive (refered to as the bridge) and consisting of the Skipper, a Mate, the Purser or Master at Arms, some people are amazed that the club continues to exist, year after year. But such is the interest in the traditions, and in sailing. Shellback look forward to many more years of packed houses at their weekly lunches, between October and April, forFun, Fellowship and the Sea.

SHELLBACK COAT OF ARMSThe Coat of arms was presented to the Shellback club during a talk by Bill Hearst on the 25th of January, 1939 at the clubs regular meeting at Ellen Bradley's Grill on Adelaide Street.William Hearst, who was one of the founders of the Shellback Club, is quoted as saying "Richard the Lion Hearted was the first to conceive a coat of arms and it was felt that the Shellback Club needed an Insignia, so we had to invent one." It was generally conceded that the club's coat of arms was the brainchild of Nik Beketov, F.N. Fairhead, Al Hearst and Al Rae but none of them were prepared to take credit for it at the time.The coat of arms had a rope mounting which extends below the shield to hold a plaque on which was inscribed the words "Shellback Club". The first quarter of the shield was white with a fork and spoon to signify the luncheon . The second quarter a Black anchor on yellow, the third quarter a bronze coloured ships bell on a red background, and the fourth quarter three waves which separate a blue sea and a green sky.

MEETING PLACES OF THE SHELLBACK CLUB 934 LAURA MATILDA TEA ROOM, 90 KING STREET WEST1937 SHAKESPEAR LAND, 8 WELLINGTON ST. WEST

1938 ELLEN BRADLEYS GRILL, 7 ADELAIDE ST. WEST

1946 HOTEL CARES‑RITE1947 MUNICIPAL HOTEL1948 HOTEL BARCLAY1950 COLONIAL TAVERN, 209 YONGE STREET1957 PRINCE GEORGE HOTEL1967 LORD SIMCOE HOTEL1968 MAPLE ROOM, UNION STATION 1971 (NOV. 3) MUGGS LANDING, 56 YONGE STREET.1988 NAG'S HEAD TAVERN, YORK STREET1989 CAPT. JOHN'S ABOARD THE JADRAN1999 NATIONAL YACHT CLUB.2000 CAPT. JOHN'S ABOARD THE JADRANSKIPPERS OF SHELLBACK AND THEIR MEETING PLACESThese are based on the listing in the Shanty book, the skipper's name's on the bell and the recollections (a few years back) of Bob Bleasby andCharles Leggatt all updated by Al Rae Jr. and vetted by BB and CL. Shakespeareland ‑ 1936/37 Gerry L'Aventure; Laura Matilda Tea Room ‑ 1937/38 Gene Sorsoliel; Ellen Bradley's Tea Room ‑ 1938/39 Johnny Hobbs; 1939/1940 Eric Blencairn; 1940/41 Bill Hearst; 1941/42 Ernie Grundy; 1942/43 Ian Armour; 1943/44 Jim Hyland; 1944/45 Trevor Hawgood; Hotel Carls‑Rite ‑ 1945/46 Al Rae Sr; Municipal Hotel‑ 1946/47 Laurie Muir; Hotel Barclay 1948/49 Doug Armour; 1949/50 Paul McLaughlin; Colonial Tavern ‑ 1950/51 Jim Mitchell; 1951/52 Arn Gorman; 1952/53 John Mason; 1953/54 Bill Gooderham; 1954/55 Gord Brown; 1955/56 Murray Crawford; 1956/57 Bill MacRae; Prince George Hotel ‑ 1957/58 Paul Phelan; 1958/59 Lew Pickett; 1959/60 Ed Lawless; 1960/61 Lew Pickett; 1961/63 Arnold Ducklin; 1963/65 Bill Good; 1965/66 Dave Morris; Lord Simcoe Hotel ‑ 1966/68 Peter Van Buskirk;The Maple Room ‑ 1968/71 Peter Van Buskirk; Hotel Victoria ‑ 1971/72 Norm Donaldson; 1972/74 Harry Roman; 1974/75 Harry Roman/Gord Proctor; 1975/76 Gord Proctor; 1976/79 Chuck Peterson; 1979/80 Chuck Peterson/Bob Townsend; 1980/81 Bob Townsend; 1981/82 Bob Townsend/David Kerr; 1982/83 David Kerr;Nag's Head ‑1983/84 David Kerr/Charles Leggatt; 1984/85 Charles Leggatt; 1985/86 Richard Birchall; 1986/88 Richard Birchall; 1988/89 Don Stark/Bruce Anderson; Captain John's ‑ 1989/90 Bruce Anderson; National Yacht Club ‑ 1991/92 Bruce Anderson/Al Rae Jr; 1992/2000 Al Rae Jr. Captain John's2000/02 Al Rae Jr.; 2002/03 Don Gallagher;2003/03 Michael Sutherland; 2003/2004 Noel Lien.

This editorial appeared in Gam on Yachting when I was Skipper of Shellback. It was prompted (I believe) by a discussion I had with Karin Larson, founder, editor and publisher of Gam on Yachting when I made the statement there were some people in our society that still believed in the old saying that THE ONE THING THAT MEN AND WOMEN HAVE IN COMMON IS ENJOYING  THE EXCLUSIVE COMPANY OF MEN.

gam on yachting

Editorial February 1980

The corruptive presence of female sailors is compounding like a plague throughout the Canadian yachting communities. It is obvious that a high proportion of their male counterparts actually enjoy the companionship of women and consider them people. These characters go so far as to take pleasure in competing with women in their own yachts in events such as the Marblehead‑Halifax Race and competing with them as crew members in a number of series, including the East‑West match races instigated by the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club.

Such lax, undisciplined men have succeeded in opening the sanctity of yacht club memberships and wardrooms to women and will certainly do nothing to prevent the resulting deterioration to the moral fibre of our society. Even worse are the men in the industry, like Charlie Smith Sailmakers, who are now offering to accept females as apprentices and trainees.

But hold, all is not lost. The forces of evil and moral degradation have not effected a complete conversion.

Lo, in Toronto, Toronto the Good, a small but determined luncheon group holds out as a bastion of purity. By standing firm in its resolve not to be penetrated by the advances of the female sex, the Shellbacks Club has made a telling conquest in the name of decency.

Female sailors are finally convinced that they will never be admitted except as occasional (very occasional) guests to this club and they have gracefully retreated to form a luncheon club of their own. (A rude Nova Scotian sailor, ignorant enough to be amused by the proceedings, has wryly dubbed the yet unnamed group 'The Squackbacks'. The expression will be carefully ignored by sailors with taste.)

Meanwhile, the fortitude of the Shellbacks may be an inspiration for ever new conquests. For instance, rather than allowing females to disrupt the courses sailed on by the males of the human species, they might be relegated to a course of their own. Some may argue that space will be difficult to find on a busy Toronto regatta day. Such talk is not realistic. There's a fine duck pond in High Park and that, for the ladies, ought to be perfectly adequate.

And this is only the beginning of possibilities in holding the line. Carry on Shellbacks! Long live Toronto, the Good.

There were some replies to Karin's editorial in the next issue, all from ladie sailors, and all very supportive of Shellback. I have been instructed not to print them in this web page.

I can say that one comment was

If the sailmakers were to take all the women off their employment lists the wonderful racing sailors would not have any sails to fill.

And another from a Lady skipper of her own boat:

I wish to send you this letter of complaint. Not only did this article treat female sailors with disrespect and disregard, you also insulted the many males who have accepted females (whether as crew or skipper) as an integral, acceptable facet of sailing.

Prior to the above editorial Ladies had, albeit very infrequently, attended shellback. It was a sign of the times. In fact when the writer was skipper shellback he introduced female speakers to Shellback, one who had sailed a motor sailer singlehanded to the east coast, and one who in my mind was one of the great sailors of all time, Bridgette Burdett, who competed in the Mini Transat. Also I arranged for the main speaker at the Shellback Boat Show Dinner in January of that year, Patience Wales, who later became editor of SAIL magazine in the USA The next year the speaker was Dame Niomi James, the singlehanded around the world sailor of some fame.

.

Safe Sailing

SAFE SAILING
By Robert B. Townsend

Yacht Clubs are in a unique position develop and promote sensible and safe boating. The Club Bulletin, and the Wednesday night sailing sessions during the winter and Whitby Yacht Club's adult sailing programmes are excellent venues for teaching safety.

Imagine yourself being caught out on the lake in a very bad storm. (It has happened to many of us, and will happen again to most of us). It has been likened to hurtling down a mountain road in a coach. It's night and you have no headlights. For some reason the windshield has blown out and rain hits you in the face like bullets. You are tearing at full throttle down the wrong side of the road, full of pot holes. Someone beside you is trying to point out the hazards. The throttle is jammed.

In such a situation you do not want to be rescued. The last thing want near you is another boat or land. What you want is confidence in your ability to sail, and in the boat, particularly the rigging.

What about man overboard situations?

Imagine one man of a 3 person crew goes overboard and in the ensuing panic the boom slams down on the skippers head, knocking him out cold. The main halliard gets wrapped around the prop shaft which brings the mainsail up to the top of the mast with such force that it rips the head of the sail off, just before the engine quits.

As the last member of the crew on his feet, what would you do, as skipper bleeds profusely, and the boat drifts away from the man overboard to wards a rocky lee shore?

SAFETY AT SEA

I WOULD LIKE TO DRAW YOUR ATTENTION TO THE EDITORIAL IN THE CURRENT EDITION OF MACLEANS MAGAZINE June 13th 2011
entitled OTTAWA SHOULD NOT GO OVERBOARD ON LIFE JACKETS.

I happen to strongly agree with Macleans editorial staff.

this is not the first hair brainy idea to come from Ottawa.

Some years ago, when I was still an active sailor, Canada became the only country to make compulsory the ring shaped hard core life buoys instead of the standard horsehoe buoys.

I objected at the time, but without the help of the sailing press could not bring sense to Ottawa.

SAFETY
Robert B. Townsend

ONLY IN CANADA

Owners of an Alberg 30 or A37 are fortunate in that they know that their vessels fall between the Guidelines for 8M and 12M vessels prescribed in the legislation governing boating safety, Think of the poor guy who has a 41 foot boat. He has to measure in metric to find out if he fits within the 12M rule. A metre is 39.372 feet. Assuming that the “M” stands for Metre.

When the executive director of the Allied Boating federation promoted the idea of compulsory ring shaped hard core life buoys, making the old reliable horseshoe shaped life buoy “illegal”, many of us sailors objected. The horseshoe shaped life buoy is legal, and promoted in every country except Canada.

The regulation says that the lifebuoy for a vessel of 8M to 12 M must be 610mm or 762mm outside diameter For those educated in imperial measure and even for those educated in metric who have difficulty picturing those dimensions, they must be 23.622 inches or 29.994 inches outside diameter.

The ring type life buoy must be made of a specified hard foam material. (I was told that the executive director of the Allied Boating at the time had a brother in law who manufactured that material). The popular Soft foam, used world wide, is not acceptable under Canadian law..

In Canada the Life Buoy must be a solid ring; not a horseshoe shaped lifebuoy that is accepted for sailing vessels all over the world, particularly offshore races where “man overboard” has been known to occur.

The argument made was that the hardcore foam ring could be thrown farther and more accurately from a wharf, with no wind blowing. In our experiment with representatives the Coast Guard present, not so. In Fact on that occasion the horseshoe shaped buoy won the toss every time, hands down. In a heavy sea and strong winds, anything could happen

The Coast Guard told us that it is recommended that if you had to use a lifebuoy, you should place your outstretched arms through the hole in the ring buoy so that it is around your body. My 46" chest is greater than either the 508mm, 610mkm or 762mm size outside diameter life buoy. For those small enough to fit into the those life buoys in the prescribed manner, their arms then outstretched into the life ring, might (probably would and in one case did) find their maneuverability in the water greatly restricted.

If I were overboard, with my a 46" chest, and a 44' waist, and someone tossed me a life ring, the best I could do would be to put my arm through the hole and hang on for dear life until rescued. Unlike with a horseshoe type, I could not get it around my body. If I started to lose consciousness due to hyperthermia, or other cause, and let go my grip, good-bye.

Bruce and Shirley Burgess had the misfortune to have a massive ingestion of water into their vessel from an unknown source when ten miles offshore in Lake Ontario. They had time to put on their life buoys as the vessel slowly sank beneath them. One was a ring type, one was a horseshoe type. The horseshoe type was easy to put around the waist, and for the 23 hours they were in the water before being rescued, it worked fine. The ring type tended to cut off the circulation of blood in the arms. After an hour it had to be removed. It could not be taken off by the person wearing it. That person had to hold their arms straight up while the other person pulled it off. This was made more difficult because of the rough waters and strong wind. (Boating accidents seldom ever happen in nice weather). Had it not been for them having a horseshoe type of life buoy to hand back and forth, with the person using the ring buoy hanging on with an arm through the hole while the other person relaxed in the horseshoe buoy, there would have been two fatalities.

The rules and regulations do not say where the buoys should be placed on a vessel. I once took a photo of a. Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary vessel berthed at Ontario Place. It was a large powerboat with practically no deck (and no grab rails) between the cockpit and the small foredeck. It had their two life rings solidly attached to the forecabin, where they would be practically impossible to reach in a heavy sea. There was no safety equipment in the cockpit at the rear of the vessel.

It was my understanding that the Canadian coast. Guard agreed that, while, they would not advertise it, after hearing my argument they would not lay charges if a sailing vessel did not have life rings, if she had adequate soft horseshoe type lifebuoys. Why not say so in the regulations

On Odyssey to be legal) we elected to keep any hard life rings under the bow berth cushion while keeping the horseshoe life buoys at the stern pulpit. We also had a rule that no one was allowed to fall overboard. It was not a democratic boat. The skipper was a benevolent dictator for the safety of the crew and passengers.

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Bobs Nautical: Canada Geese AROUND US

Bobs Nautical: Canada Geese AROUND US: "Below is an editorial from Gam on Yachting, 1975 explaining how bad the Canada Geese problem was 35 years ago and why it is much, much worse..."

Canada Geese AROUND US

Below is an editorial from Gam on Yachting, 1975 explaining how bad the Canada Geese problem was 35 years ago and why it is much, much worse today.

Canada Geese
AROUND US
FROM GAM ON YACHTING NOVEMBER DECEMBER 1975.

Canada Geese are a familiar sight along Toronto's waterfront. Sail by the airport and you'll probably have more squadrons of geese than you will airplanes overhead, drop your anchor in one of the Island lagoons and before you have time to unwrap your sandwiches, a family of geese will likely be around to share it with you.

In the springtime those of us who are especially sharp eyed will see nests hidden everywhere, in the storage piles of winter boat cradles, in long grasses, wooden thickets, hollows of trees and even on the roofs of sheds.

As the days grow longer the families appear, little fleets of five, six, eight bits of fluff' swimming in formation with one parent leading and one bringing up the rear, or little clusters poking at the grass or weeds along with shore, one parent or the other constantly on the watch for danger.

The bits of fluff soon grow to scraggy imatures and flying lessons begin. Somehow it never quite happens, but often formations come so close that skippers wonder how they manage to avoid flying right into their sails.

This summer bird counts put the number of Canada Geese in Toronto area at about 1,500. To people who frequent the waterfront, it sometimes seems as though there are many more than this.

Only ten years ago the occurrence of Canada Geese in the area was rare indeed. Occasionally, during the spring or fall migration season the sound of honking from above would bring Torontonians rushing to their doors or windows and provided a topic of conversation for the next few days.

In 1965 the wings of six pairs of Canada Geese, the originals of the present colony, were clipped to encourage them to nest on Centre Island. At the time there was considerable controversy from environmentalists. Feelings are still mixed.

The Canada Goose is a beautiful and intelligent bird, for most people a pleasure to have around. The concern felt is for the increasing dependence of the birds on artificial feeding by humans and the environmental imbalance which might result from their presence in ever increasing numbers.

A little arithmetic indicates that this concern might be justified. Geese mature in about two years. They can live and are able to produce for close to thirty years. --