Canadian Yachting April 2022 - 33

48'
46'
44'
42'
vantage
Point
NEWS AND VIEWS FROM THE CHIEF
COMMANDER'S DESK
- by Peter Bolton, Chief Commander, CPS-ECP
SpaceX: I've just finished
watching an online stream
of the launch of an Italian
radar satellite. It was boosted
into orbit by a SpaceX
Falcon 9 rocket. After the
launch, the first stage booster
turned around and landed
successfully back at Cape
Canaveral. It was the third
time that this booster - the
rocket's first stage - had
done this amazing feat.
The reusability of the booster has greatly reduced the cost of
satellite launches with some boosters having flown upwards
of ten times. Fifteen years ago this would have seemed impossible;
ten years ago it was a possibility but unproven. Now it is
normal. In rural areas, consumers can now purchase satellite
dishes and receivers that link to the Internet using satellites
launched by this process. Huge progress in a short space of
time. What has this got to do with CPS-ECP? Well, before the
pandemic, all meetings and instruction were carried out faceto-face.
We had heard of Zoom and GoToMeeting but we
hardly used them. In a few short months, they became the
new normal. These changes have not been without difficulty.
I have heard that there are those who refuse to learn to use
Teams but it is a great communication tool - if we all use it.
Like I said, progress.
Pandemic: Eighteen months ago we were told that the pandemic
would be over within a year. That was a bit optimistic.
But thanks to some amazing scientists, in a very short space
of time, we now have vaccines that help to protect us. As an
organization, CPS-ECP has adapted. We came into the pandemic
with a suite of online courses and, over the last year,
these have been developed and improved thanks to our great
education department outreach team. With the uncertainty
we still live with, our squadrons need to focus on online classes.
A recent survey discovered that only 50 squadrons are teaching
and close to 80 are not. Our mandate is to teach safe boating
and navigation but we still have many refusing to change,
possibly because they only believe in classroom teaching or perhaps
are too scared to learn something new. When we finally
come out of the pandemic, we will be in a new normal. All of
us have to adapt to it. CPS-ECP must continue to adapt as well.
Face-To-Face Meetings: CPS-ECP offers boating safety instruction,
as do other organzations, but what we add to our offerings
is a social squadron life and membership with benefits. In
the early days of the pandemic, that social life was adversely
affected by provincial regulations and our own rules prohibiting
face-to-face meetings. This has resulted in a membership
decline that makes the business of finding bridge members
and instructors more difficult. It also reduces our income at a
time when salaries have to be paid and bills are increasing. This
has heightened the need to sell more classes, be they online or,
when possible and safe, in-person. ExCom enacted a temporary
ban on face-to-face meetings because of the dramatic rise in
infections caused by the COVID-19 omicron variant. Hopefully
we will soon return to the previous regimen of regulating our
meetings based on provincial guidelines. Infection rates, and
health guidance and regulations, are different in each province.
They change frequently and quickly.
Online Sharing: I am delighted to report that a number of
squadrons have started to offer their experience in online
teaching to their neighbouring squadrons. They are showing
others how to run an online class or letting an instructor sit in
on one of their own classes. Back in 'the old days,' the 'normal'
was that squadrons competed with each other, especially those
squadrons whose 'territory' overlapped with another. Now
we need all the customers we can get. We have to provide
products that those customers want - not what we think they
should have.
IT Improvements/Special Projects Fund: We are absolutely
delighted in the response from squadrons and districts to the
request for contributions to the Special Projects Fund. The New
Business Plan Committee has selected four projects that we
are not able to fund otherwise, and will be seeking approval
from ExCom and the board of directors to move forward with
them. The projects are IT improvements to the membership
renewal process, a new financial dashboard, a RE/RI database
and improvements to the national office.
As we move forward in 2022, I wish all members a safe and
successful year. ■
Canadian Yachting April 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Yachting April 2022
