PAGE 30, WIIITBY FREE PRES%~ WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 1992 sept. 24e, 19-77 >By iLBa Townsend This ya, the silver anveralyyear of *the Whitby Yacht, -Club,',members are reminded cf-significant evonts ini the 2 5 years since 'Mol Goresld, Jim Stewart -and the famous 'Group of Savon' started the club in 1967. .Saturday, Sept. 24e 1977 was the« Day of Disastor' at tho club. AIEo, this was the day of an unfortunate boating accident off the Eastern Gap of Toronto' harbour due to veiy bad wieather.' Threo people loet, their live~ apparently washed overboa from their 24-ft. sloop. Day. of strong east winds had' built high waves that were estim ated at 14 foot at moe ponson the lake. Heavy ms frm tho east ofton causo probems for yacht clubs on Lalco ntro, particulsrly those clubs situatod towards the western part of the lace. On this day it wss more sevore than normal. There was a-graduai incroase in the force of winds on Saturday, Sept. ý 24 ýto a point where a pchedul d Thunderbird Regatta, plnedffr the weekend at WYC, had te, be/cancelled. Tho wind had reached a steady 36 te 38 knots by 1700hours. With' a reefod main and world ng ji bI took ' Odyssy' and commodore Phil Finkie out ite the lake te havea first-hand look at the sea conditions. Whitby is a sailor's club and the coemodore loved a good ssii as much as 1 did. We encountered heavy sea conditions. W. were concerned about tho surge problem in Whitby harbour that. often- resulted frera heavy east winds. After three hours of heavy-weather sailing, we roturned te, tho harbour. Wo noted a tremondous surge1 ontering the harbour with waves1 washing- over the harbour entranco waljs. The surge flowed into the bay and around tho club property. At that time, there was. a wooden piling structure (colloquiallyc referred te as 'the picket fonceZ that was on . the site of our1 present groyne,' and which was1 designed and built te reduce the problems due te, the surgo. Boats tied te the floating docks were rocking frem the surge, but net severely enough te cause rosi concern. At. 1730h wo left 'OdysSey' securely tied in her slip near the end of dock 4. The commodore arranged fra 'dock watch' (members checkng every boat at least once an heur -the club's ' Day of. Disaster' SHOWN AYI'ERTH STORMi, boats from docks 4 where they were usually located, further east and and 5. some of them groumded, are at the shoreline dloser to the then McNamara property. 1 adjaoent to the clubhouse -- about 150 feet from Photo courtouy ofBd MoPherson, Whltby Yacht Club t eonsuro that dock linos wei holding). Thon the rain. came. While the rain had no effet on the subsequent damnage, it di provide for uncomfortable, an dangerous' working condition and poor visibility when trying t observe the effects of the storir This danger was worsned by th fact that, the raxnps te tho dock had been disconnectod t racilitate, the installation of shor protection. The winds kept increasir tmtil 2000h, at which timo it wa a steady 42 knots, gusting te 49 with a rocorded high of 48. Th wind direction was a relative] constant 090 degrees during th~ mnost severe, period, of the storn The static- water le.vai (n< including the waves) rose over l ro inches during this time as a be about 12,000 lbo. teo much success. rosult of strong winds piling At 2130h, 'Chatterbox,'Hugh The build-up cf the surge< was ct water up along the northwet Mchaelson's Columbia, 34, causing 'waves high enough t< d shore of Lake Ontario. started te slp her.linos on dock 7'. break over the top of thega id Waves froin the.- east were Msny hands turned out from theý dock. The crew on docks 6 ads as boing reflected inte the harbour clubhouse te heIp, but before long, wisely elected, te abandon the te entrance by the long westerly dock 7 started te shift entirely docks and return te, the n.breakwall, at the harbour and move tewards dock 6. StOiTis clubhouse. ie entrance. The waves were thon of boats on the west side of dock 7 S reflected off the steel governnient wero coming dangerously close te to: docks teward the club harbour the boats on the east side of dock Shortly after 0200h, the surge, re ares. 6. beesme' horrendous Sudderily,, Ini the confused waters, the there was a loud roar. boats were bouncing wildly. Dock Commodore Pinklo and Roy lineos were coming looe e very. Hiscock ran into the clubhouse 6e , A m't-" n ght where.Th docks were wet and informing us 'that dock 5 had le~ dangercus. The strain on the broken lbase. and had, drifted over, 9 ha s docks and anchors, the confusion striking the bîoatsý on' dock 4. le er cf the. water, the bouncing of the Shortly afterwards, dock 7 rk n. boats with the resulting strain on booss crahng into dock 6. There ot ~the dclns the wind and the was a mass of twisted docks and M ~pouring ram ail added te the 140 keel boatsocrushing tegether. Once in the harbour, the wave goneral chaos. Nothing could be done te, save action created an effect similar te It was becoming dangerous to them. wator sloshing back and forth in bo on the docks. Telophone calîs a bathtub. Wave 'trains' wou]d were made te members te semetimes cencel each othor eut, prpare them for the worst. One but at other times, they would b one they arrived at the club A d reinforce one another. The bt there was little they could de. A td ybreaik," resulting waves wore estimated Many stayeýd the night. at from two te four foot with MandýyNnd I rrived techeck cnf occasional rogues te six foot, al eut cosnyfusardiodngh withmn the dock area betwoen the (after a r*nner party at the Barn ____________ gas dock and the ' picket fonce.' Theatre with oight other During the evening, there was mombers of the club).. The scene spcal concern for those beats on was utter chaos. We wished that THE NEXT DAY dock 7. It was the newest dock we had stayed eut sailing on the' Teseea abekwsm and the anchors had not settled lake for the night because, being of utter confusion: broken hearté deop inte the soft, muddy bottem a seaworthy vesseI, ' Odyssey' looking at damaged boats, The Ofebay. would have been safer on the lake end of dock 4 had swung counte- The uphift force on each dock than at the dock. clockwise. Boats tied te the outer anchor (caused by the docks By new, it was tee late te end of the east'side cfdock 4 lifting with the surge) was attempt te take any boats from were starn against the gas- dock equivalent te tho displaceinont of the dock. The cnuson cf the te the wost of dock 4. lhe wooden threo styrofoam blocks, les. the surge would have guaranteed a trimaran 'Endeavour' had beeki weight of the dock, or roughly collision with other beats. moved te the end of. dock 4 fro= 2,500 lbs. Added'te this uplift, At 0100h on Sept. 25, the irnoer basin by a well- were the forces causod by th-ie commodore Finilde and Roy Meaning worker the previeus daiy yachts that were tightly secured Hlscock clsmbered back on dc 4 without the owner's knowledge. te the' docks. When the anchor te begin another check of the She was now smashed and had chains tightened, the bonslinos. Members i the clubhouse u-k twisting the dok finge continued te pull upward with tried te keep an oye on them, upsid down. The steel frame of forces equal te thoir frequently seeing the Iight from the dock finger was scouring the dispîscements. their' flashlight on the dock. starboard Bide of Odysseys 'huli. A 26-ft. boat would exert Other menibers were on docks 6 lier stern was against 'the steel about 6,000 lb.. offorce. If there and 7 trying their bost te keep Pilingof the gas dock were two such boats .on one the sterns of boats fron strlking I nger, lhe.total uplift, force.would - ac- t rin mzium ase.witoult . SRP G3 . * BOE WATER SMART.. WATCH DUT FORHR CHANGES. STHE ROYAL LIFE SAVING Cim~ L : SOCIETY CANADA MARINE 1 a IVIi itby Yacht Club years old i- -IL - - 1 . »I -