CORK Training & Community Support

This past weekend was busy for CORK volunteers and equipment. Saturday May 23^rd, 3 CORK boats and 4 volunteers participated at the Collins Bay Safe Boating Event and Sunday May 24^th, CORK Safety Chief, Gary Howard and David Lewis of Toronto hosted the newly developed Safety Course for regatta hosts.

The Collins Bay Safe Boating - Don't Rock the Boat - Day at Collins Bay was a huge success. The Coast Guard, Navy, OPP, Commercial Marina Operators, the Fire Department and of course the CORK crew were there to help. The concept of the day is to encourage people to be safe on the water with a side agenda to introduce non - boaters to the joys of boating.

The Fire Department taught people how to use fire extinguishers, flares were demonstrated, a sailing recovery of a man overboard and many static displays were presented. In addition to many activities ashore for children, free boat rides were the big hit of the day. CORK provided many of the rides as three CORK boats were used. Tim Irwin, Glen Fowler, Brian Warren and Gary Howard took families out for a 20 minute ride on Collins Bay. The people who took advantage of this opportunity were delighted with their rides.

Safety Course - the course focuses on regatta safety and was developed by Gary Howard and David Lewis, based in part on the CORK Regatta Safety Manual developed by Geoff Webster and Paul Rushton. The course provides information on hosting safe regattas and practical information on how to handle safety issues during an event. The course was hosted at the Kingston Yacht Club and 10 people attended.

In the next few weeks, CORK will be supporting the local community through assistance for the May 27^th Snowbirds event, as well as the June 13^th Dragon Boat Festival.