Canadian Yachting December 2015 - (Page 6)

WATERFRONT This is My Watermark. What's Yours? Krystyn Tully, Co-Founder, National Water Centre I was upside down with my head and chest submerged in the Toronto Harbour when it hit me. It was early spring and I was taking the final test for the accelerated Basic Cruising Standard test. It was cold on Lake Ontario, pouring rain, and our crew was struggling to finish. My job - the final job of the day - was to capture the buoy in a "man overboard" drill. It was the would-be captain's third or fourth attempt. I was wet, cold, exhausted, and ready to go home. This time, I vowed, I would reach the buoy no matter how far away it floated, no matter how wrong the angle or the speed. It ends now, I thought. Which is how I came to be upside down, head in the water, legs still on the boat, stretching my arms as far as they could stretch. When I grabbed the buoy, I hugged it like a long-lost child. Someone hauled me in by my rain pants. And that's when it hit me: We've come so far, this lake and me. Read Krystyn's full Watermark story at www.CanadianYachting.ca We have started a collection of these water stories at Waterkeeper, the nonprofit I helped to start in 2001. We call them "Watermarks", after the faint but permanent mark that a waterbody leaves on you. Everyone has a Watermark. What's Yours? When you think about your favourite body of water, what one springs to mind? When you recall your most powerful memory of being on the water, what is it? Everyone has a Watermark, including you. Sometimes, the mark is stark: drinking contaminated water or eating contaminated fish and getting sick. Sometimes, the mark is more poetic: the lake at the cottage where you watched your children grow up. The Power of a Watermark Sharing your Watermark is an incredible experience. So is hearing someone else's story. I like to pull them out of relatives over holiday meals or colleagues at networking events. You can learn so much about a person when you hear his of her Watermark. This is the second of a six-part series on protecting waters, brought to you by the National Water Centre. The National Water Centre is the country's first facility dedicated to strengthening the cultural connection between Canadians and their waterways. Managed by Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, the centre promotes swimmable, drinkable, fishable water through community-building, information sharing, and leadership development. swimdrinkfish.ca Seafaring Santa Holiday gift ideas: Cool, Affordable, Shippable Steiner Navigator Pro 7x50 The porro prism Navigator Pro Series is the choice for recreational boaters, weekend anglers and hobby sailors. It offers exceptional performance for the price with many of the features found on premium, worldfamous Steiner marine binoculars. Although not built to military specification, they will provide a lifetime of use for most water enthusiasts. Delivers excellent image clarity, sharp definition and contrast, and oversized light-gathering objective for bright picture in low light. Read about this model in our Binoculars feature on page 25. From $517 http://www.steiner-optics.com 6 C a n a d i a n Ya c h t i n g DECEMBER 2015 http://www.CanadianYachting.ca http://www.swimdrinkfish.ca http://www.steiner-optics.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Yachting December 2015

Vantage Point: The Wave of New Boaters is Starting!
Waterfront: What’s your Watermark? Seafaring Santa holiday gift ideas.
Club Profile: Stony Lake Yacht Club
CPS: Seamanship Courses
Feature: Binoculars - Everything you could possibly want to know about understanding, using and buying binoculars for marine use. By Rob Macleod
Electronics Feature: Pinging the Unknown - A look at technologies that support modern marine radar. By David Schmidt
Destination: La Marina, Casa de Campo, Dominican Republic - Luxuriate in this profile of the Casa de Campo, a 7,000-acre resort located in La Romana on the southeast coast of the island and boasting a port, a heliport and an airstrip and home of one of the best billfishing spots in the world. By Elizabeth Kerr
Destination: St John River - Offering cruising areas that are as inviting as any protected inland lake or river, the 75 miles between Saint John and Fredericton make for any easy weekend cruise but there are also many side trips which can occupy you for as much time as you have available. By Glen Cairns
Galley Guys: Krates
Power Review: Neptunus 62
Crossing the Line: The 6th Great Lake

Canadian Yachting December 2015