Rotary Club of Oak Bay Meeting 19 May 2015 - Pamela Bendal:sailor extraordinaire

Reporter:  Tav Macpherson

Photgrapher: Steve Sharlow

Master of Ceremonies, Bill Burns opened the meeting promptly at 12:15 pm and reminded us that Rotary International is amongst the most significant fundraising organizations in the world.  The positive impact in the world is international and makes a real difference to many people.  Bill further reminded us of the current Rotary Car Raffle, the beneficiaries of which are our neighbors who use the local food banks.  Please sell your tickets and sign up for shifts.

O’Canada was sung and John Jordan delivered the invocation.

Guests:

President, Jim Force welcomed our guests.  Jarrod Clayton, (Edmonton-Strathcona) was our sole visiting Rotarian.  Visitors to Rotary were Haley Tarnow, Eileen Lavigne, Jenny Hildebrand, Pamela Bendall, Maya McIntyre, Julie De Melo, Margret Mots and Alexander Ewanchuk.

Health of the Club:  Mary Canty indicated that Neil Rawnsley is having surgery next week and he was wished well by all present.  Tav Macpherson circulated a card to be sent to

Terry Toone (Victoria Club) who has been ailing. Terry and Joan Toone have been great ambassadors in Rotary’s fight for Polio Eradication.

Announcements:  

• Heather Aked made an announcement about something that the dim-witted reporter forgot to record.  
• Joan Firkins reported on her Rotary visit to Washington, DC and Minneapolis (see Facebook for her comments and photos).  
• Brian Lamb indicated that the accounting process is underway for the Mardi Gras dinner and he will report back in a couple of weeks.  
• Anne McIntyre has Car Raffle tickets for everyone to sell.

25/75

Celebrations Master, Jim Laing was assisted by guests Alexander and Maya who collected funds – great to see young people participating in our meetings.  Thank you both.  Jim first launched a vicious attack on his old buddy, Tav and his golfing ability despite the fact that the two of them have not played together for about six years.  Rod Sim was fined for sending out too many confusing emails and Bob Schelle apparently failed to sing O’Canada. General fines were for those that had not subscribed to the flag program, had not sold any raffle tickets, had not brought a guest to Rotary and were not wearing name tags and pins.  David Maxwell was celebrating a birthday while Wolf and Elise Schopperwere celebrating their 19^th wedding anniversary.  Various Happy and Sad dollars were collected.  Victoria Pitt won the 50/50 draw.

Guest Speaker: Tom Lidkea introduced guest speaker, Pamela Bendall who asked the question, “What was I thinking?” 

 

Pamela is an accomplished sailor having voyaged over 100,000 miles on the world’s oceans, many of them solo. 

She has visited over 100 of the world’s countries and sailed from Canada to New Zealand as well as Alaska to South America.  She has a Master’s degree in communications from Royal Roads University and has worked in real estate, investments and as a radio columnist for CBC.  She has two adult children and two grand-children.

Pamela first outlined her early sailing career.  She and her then-husband left Oak Bay in the early 1980’s with their two children, aged four and 10.  Their goal was to reach New Zealand and their adventures took them to many of the South Pacific Islands.  Along the way, she met our friend and great Rotarian, Tricia Timmermans, also an ocean globetrotter.  Pamela loved the wide expanses of ocean and also the variety of coral village cultures.  In 1989, she completed a cruise through the Pacific to Japan.  She noted that in those days there were none of the advances in technology that currently aid navigation and communication.  Celestial navigation and radio were the norm.

In 2005, Pamela realized that she was happiest when she was on her boat.  Having divorced and with two independent children, she decided to sail off-shore single handed.  She outfitted her 47 foot boat, Precious Metal, accordingly.  It had a 100 horsepower Isuzu engine and 500 gallons of fuel with enough capacity to range 2,500 miles.  The Boat includes a workshop, a washer and drier and a bathtub.

Pamela talked of her time as a charter operator based in Port Hardy.  Having obtained her Captain’s Certificate, she hosted many clients up and down the Pacific Coast.  The responsibility to her clients took her seamanship to a new high level and she survived severe weather conditions as well as the occasional unattractive customers.  She gained a great appreciation of the beauty and serenity of our coastline.

She left in 2008 on a voyage to San Diego.  Early in the voyage, she experienced a “shake-down” storm which damaged Precious Metal mechanically, electronically and structurally and left her physically and emotionally drained.  She refitted in San Diego and once again learned from her experiences.  Knowledge is power and Pamela learned with the help of others how to build and fix everything on a boat.  She continued her voyage down to Mexico when she became part of a group of sailors that raised over $100,000 used to improve the education facilities for local impoverished children. 

From there, she continued to the Galapagos and then to Peru.  Sadly, she reported that compared to her voyages 20 years earlier, she could see the increasing destruction of the oceans.  Contaminated ocean waters contain oil, effluent and garbage.  The worst environmental hazard is plastic which breaks down into minute particles which kill fish and wildlife.  The oceans currents concentrate these pollutants in certain areas of the open ocean and nothing can live in these massive dead zones.  Vast tracts of the world’s coastlines are also now classified as dead zones due to mankind’s careless and malicious activities.  She remarked that the oceans are the heart and lungs of the planet and that man is slowly suffocating the world.  Other problems for the oceans are over fishing and coral reef destruction.  With 170 billion tons of fish removed from the oceans annually, the balance of life is severely compromised.

Pamela concluded with an update of her new relationship and his boat, Rapscallion as well as her plans to sail the Central Columbian coast this winter.  We have only one precious life, she says, and we must all fulfill our dreams.  She answered questions from the audience. 

 Note that Pamela has written a book, “What Was I Thinking?” which she offered for sale ($20 – a real bargain) after the meeting.  Interested parties can gain an insight into this bright and adventurous woman’s experiences by reading this fascinating book.

John Jordan thanked Pamela and remarked that she has had a vision and realized her opportunities while living up to her responsibilities.

The meeting closed with God Save the Queen beautifully performed by our guest, Haley Tarnow.