The Blue Sky Sailing Club is an ideal way for people to get out on the water and experience sailing on the club-owned boats.
“We are a sailing club, we are not a yacht club. You don’t need to own a boat to join. Our activities essentially are mostly built around twice a-week two-hour social sails from typically 6:30 until 8:30 out on Lake Nipissing,” explained Jim Puddiser.
Puddister refers to the non-profit, which operates out of the North Bay Marina as a “very social club.”
“We get four or five boats out at a time with three or four people per boat and it is a whole lot of fun. Often during the year it is timed with some pretty spectacular, world-renowned Lake Nipissing sunsets,” said Puddister.
Boat rentals are an option.
“One can sign up for lessons that would eventually lead to certification to be able to rent boats. And we do rent our boats out by the day, weekend, month, or season. And then the other aspect is participating in the maintenance of the boats and pulling them in and out of the water in the spring and fall. Personally, I find that lots of fun.”
The membership fee is $160 a year.
“Which I found to be an incredible value. I had a few little boats and decided to get rid of those and joined the club,” shared Puddister.
“So, the things we get to participate in for 160 bucks is a really good value. There is a one-time $100 initiation fee. Social sails are 15 bucks per, or you can buy a package of 10 for $100 and get it for 10 bucks apiece. Boat rentals vary in price.”
“We have a family who rent for the season, one of our nicer boats and they just have a great time. They’re looking to buy a boat themselves, but for the past two years, they have rented from us. It is a great value.”
Typically the members meet Wednesdays and Fridays at the little boardwalk at the marina in front of the boats.
“Then we organize who is going to captain a boat, and how many people are going to go in each boat. It is recommended to bring a life jacket, non-marking shoes, ideally a hat, and a bit of water. “
The club currently has about 35 members.
“Some of the other stuff we’ll do is we’ll go away on an overnighter, a bunch of boats together. We’ve gone to the French River, to the Manitou’s, and we’ve gone into Sturgeon Falls and stayed at the docks overnight there. It was lots of fun.”
The club also takes part in an annual international sailing celebration called the Summer Sailstice, held on the weekend nearest the summer solstice.
It is described as a way to share a global love of the sport.
“Sharing the camaraderie of knowing that there are sailing enthusiasts around the globe who are all doing the same thing.”
Puddister sees many benefits to sailing.
“It is that feeling of getting out there under wind power, none of the fuss and muss of gasoline and loud motors and floating along on a light breeze, to the excitement of getting out there in a pretty stiff wind and going up and down over the waves, water crashing over the decks and sometimes getting wet and lots of laughter and carrying on.”
There is a backup plan should the wind die down.
“If we find ourselves out there, particularly on a weekend trip or an overnight trip, all the boats have substantial motors on them. They’re meant to just move them along at about five or six knots and we get home that way. And these are 27, 28-foot boats. We have a 21-foot boat that is kind of a trainer it is good to learn on. All of the boats are power-equipped to get us home.”
Club members look forward to growing and sharing their passion and enthusiasm for the sport.
“ We have annual open houses in the spring. In the past two weeks, we’ve put our four boats in the water and two of three of the owner’s boats in the water.”
Puddister advised people to “show up with 15 bucks in hand and try it out to see how you like it,” for a social sail.
“We’re thinking it is reasonable to go on a couple of those, and then ask people to join the club.”
People can join the club any time during the season.
Club members can get a little competitive.
“We have started racing. We have a few races during the year, we drop markers a kilometre or two in a triangle out from the marina, typically on a Saturday morning, and we would crew up the boats. So, we’re doing more of that.”
For further information go to blueskysailing.org
