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Knotmeter - April 17, 2020

Knotmeter - April 17, 2020

Dear Members,

Not too much to report between last weekend and now..
Vice Commodore Crothers has a note today regarding our canine friends.
As much as we like our canine friends, they are wild and should be treated as such, so please don’t feed them.

Thanks to those who have supported our KYC takeout service… after some tweaking it seems to be just humming along. Your continued support helps to offset costs during this shutdown.

Due to the current pandemic, our launch will be postponed by at least a month. As the Provincial Gov’t has extended the state of emergency by another four weeks, that takes lockdown to about mid May.

With this in mind, we will have lots to do on our boats prior to launch, so I’m proposing a possible 2.5 week period post “state of emergency" to allow time for such preparations. We all assume that there will still be precautions for gatherings. We don’t know what post emergency will look like, what protocols will be in place, etc., etc. As usual, we wait. To launch late May or early June would be as good as it gets.

With that in mind, I have tentatively booked Napanee Crane for Sunday May 31 and Monday June 1.

We ALL want to get at it- prepping our babies for launch. However, it is important for now to note that the yard/property (less take-out service) remains closed. However, the Board sees no reason why owners can’t have some, minimal access to their boats to “maintain” their tarps, and check on the condition of their boats.

We ask that you limit those visits to maximum 30 minutes (or less), and of course keep your social distance at all times.

Be extra careful.

We continue to watch and wait as the C19 pandemic unfolds. Speculation will soon to run rampant as to what’s going to happen… We’ll try to be pro-active and maybe get a step ahead in getting things moving again.
"We can’t wait!"

Cheers,
Peter Cohrs
Commodore

| Foxes and Wildlife

To all KYC Members

We have a rather unique and interesting change in the type of springtime activity at KYC this year. Without the noise of sanders, buffers, clattering aluminum ladders, radios and friendly chatter, a family of foxes is thriving under our boat storage shed. There are two adults and at least six kits taking advantage of the play ground provided by our quiet boatyard, sunny lawn and the grassy area at the bottom of Simcoe St. They all appear very healthy and happy with the exception of a scrawny interloper that shows up at odd times and the cute kits provide a hopeful sign of nature’s resilience during this abnormal spring.

This is the second year we have observed foxes on the property. We still have the mink on the docks, squirrels all over the place, rabbits, ducks, geese and lots of small birds that either call KYC home or are just passing thru. There has been one unsubstantiated report of a fisher earlier this spring so we are very aware of our active natural environment and no one wants to harm its animal inhabitants.

KYC does however have responsibility for what happens on our property (ref. City Animal Bylaw) and we are concerned about what may occur if a fox were to be accidently or intentionally surprised and cornered by a curious human or pet. We have members with young children and neighbours with cats and dogs who walk the property and the waterfront trail for fun and exercise and we normally encourage young people to sail from our launch ramps. At times, we have observed a small crowd of curious walkers and photographers at the bottom of Maitland and Simcoe enjoying the kits’ playfulness.

The best advice we have received from our local resources (LFL&A Health Unit, City Bylaws, Sandy Pines Wildlife Centre and Greenshield Pest Control) is that left alone, the fox family will move on to better hunting grounds once the kits are old enough. We are not allowed to have them captured and moved more that 1 km. by law and no one in their right mind would want to do them harm in any other way. We are also advised, they may return next winter to hibernate if the crawl space under the shed is still accessible. Our intention at this point is to wait for nature to take is course and close the access holes after the fox family has moved on.

In the mean time, we require that no one feed the foxes on KYC property and please only observe them from a distance. Dog or cat kibble, bread, fruit or vegetables are not normal foods for these wild animals and they are definitely better off allowed to be wild.

Respectfully, your Executive Committee