After what can only be described as a “weird” start to the year, we’ve finally had a decent stretch of weather to enjoy our boats, NSC and the Ottawa River. The exact midpoint of the Sailing Season lands on Saturday, August 2 and that’s your deadline to ensure that your vessel is “seaworthy”. What makes a vessel at NSC “seaworthy”?
Your “vessel must have that degree of fitness that an ordinary careful owner would require his vessel to have at the commencement of her voyage having regard to all the probable circumstances of it”.
For example:
- Sailboats kept in the harbour must be masted with all standing rigging properly installed;
- Trailer Launch vessels must be easily uncovered and resting on trailers that are ready to
launch; or, - Dinghies must be resting on trailers or dollies that are ready to launch with standing
rigging properly prepared for sailing, thought not necessarily standing.
This check is intended to ensure that the limited resources of NSC are being actively used for boating and not for storing unused boats or because a member wishes to occupy but never use a mooring.
Bottom line: Your vessel must be ready to go. And, what if its not?
Hopefully, you won’t get this far. If your vessel is not seaworthy, I’ll be in touch and you might end up having your mooring suspended which means that you could be asked to remove your vessel and wait for a new mooring next year (see Section 9.2 of the Mooring Allocation Policy).
As always, if you have questions or concerns, please email the Rear Commodore.