Canadian Yachting May 2022 - 32

wind
Shifts
Paul M. Rellinger, Editor-in-chief, The Port Hole
What's old was wonderfully new again in late March as the
CPS-ECP education team took a bold leap of faith and gathered
at a Toronto hotel for its annual spring meetings.
That's right. Came together. In-person. Face to face, albeit
masked for the most part. Meetings. A shared dinner too,
complete with dessert and all the rest.
As of this writing, greatly eased pandemic restrictions had
made such interaction possible. Yes, the coronavirus is still
with us and will be, to some degree, for a very long time, if
not forever. Rightly or wrongly, people way smarter than you
and I have determined that since the virus is always going to
be with us, we best learn to live with it as best we can.
It was against this backdrop that the education team decided
to dip their collective toes in the return-to-normalcy waters. A
gutsy move, to be sure, but the right call.
So it was that some 25 members, and another 30 online, mostly
education officers, came together to talk business, reviewing
course offerings and the way they're marketed and delivered,
and looking ahead to a new reality that will see courses taught
both in-person and virtually, and in many cases a combination
of the two.
I was fortunate to be present for a portion of the gathering,
taking advantage of a kind invitation from NEO Brian Reis
who asked if I would emcee the Saturday evening program
of speaker presentations. I didn't think twice about attending
- to be wholly honest, he had me at dinner.
You can read a summary of the meetings and the presentations
in this edition of The Port Hole. While it provides a
good overview of what went down, and there was plenty, it
does little to capture the emotional lift of being together. It
was invigorating - therapeutic actually - to hear chatter and
laughter that wasn't interrupted by a weak Internet signal. It
was a battery-charging reminder of why many of us became
members in the first place.
For me personally, having been adopted by CPS-ECP in late
2019, the gathering provided a welcome opportunity to finally
put some faces to names. I was beginning to wonder if Chief
Commander Peter Bolton really existed or was a figment of my
virtual imagination. And I was fortunate that John and Doreen
Hinksman were seated at my dinner table. That's about as close
to CPS-ECP royalty as it gets. If that wasn't enough to capture
my attention, I learned that Brian and I share an interest in
American Civil War history, which excited me to no end and
led to some terrific reminiscences.
Such interactions are what we have sorely missed and can now
look forward to returning to in 2022, if not at the late October
AGM and National Convention in Toronto then at some
point before. Yes, how comfortable each of us is in terms of
jumping back into the in-person fray is a matter of personal
choice that must and should be respected. No one can tell you
when you're ready, never mind the willing and able part of
the equation. But that said, if not now, when?
As always, any contribution to The Port Hole is most welcome.
Email your articles and/or photos to me directly at communication-chair@cps-ecp.org
or to theporthole@cps-ecp.ca ■
Published by Authority
of the Board of Directors
Editor-in-Chief
Paul Rellinger
Canadian Power
and Sail Squadrons
Art Director
Vanessa Schmidt
Graphic Designer
Nour Bawab
Proofreaders
Louise White, SN
Photographer
Don Butt, AP
Published 6 times per year:
February, April, May, June, October,
December, Copy deadline is ten
weeks prior to publication. Editorial
copy and correspondence
should be sent to theporthole@
cps-ecp.ca
32 CANADIAN YACHTING | MAY 2022
Canadian Power and Sail Squadrons
| Escadrilles canadiennes
de plaisance
26 Golden Gate Court
Toronto, ON M1P 3A5
1-888-CPS-BOAT
F. 416-293-2445
theporthole@cps-ecp.ca
www.cps-ecp.ca
National Office Director
Martin Gangnier
48'
46'
44'
42'
http://www.cps-ecp.ca
Canadian Yachting May 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Yachting May 2022
