GBA 2021 - Fall Flippingbook

Vol. 31 No. 3, Fall 2021 GBA Honourary Life Member William Grenville “Dutch” Davis....2 100 Years of the West Carling Association...........................................5 Incorporating Traditional Ecological Knowledge into Protecting the Great Lakes..............6 Return to the Bay: US Residents Get Back to their Happy Place..........8 President’s Report.............................11 ED’s Advocacy Report.......................12 Upcoming Events...............................14 News and I nformat i on f rom the Georg i an Bay Assoc i at i on Keeping Members Engaged During COVID PAGE 4 PAGE 10 PM # 40038178 GBA U P D A T E Your Voice on the Bay Lake Wolsey Fish Farm Remains Open Continues on page 2 INS IDE : By Rob Bosomworth, Director of Safe Quiet Lakes E xcessively noisy boats are a persistent, pervasive, and growing problem on many of our waterways in Canada, and the Decibel Coalition is working hard to do something about it. Established in November of 2019 by Safe Quiet Lakes ( safequiet.ca ), the Coalition is working to have Transport Canada enhance the current regulations for boat motor mufflers to include sound performance standards measured in decibels. They also want easy, efficient, and effective enforcement procedures. More than 40 lake associations and eight municipalities have joined the Coalition or publicly support its goals. These associations represent more than 90,000 lakefront property owners across Canada from Vancouver Island to the Eastern Townships in Quebec. The Georgian Bay Association (GBA) was one of the early members and continues to be a strong supporter. In fact, a number of the municipalities that support the Coalition joined on the recommendation of the GBA. You can see all the members/ supporters on the map here: https://tinyurl.com/nes99zxu . Jurisdiction of Canadian waterways lies with the federal government, so the Coalition needs to be national in scope. Small vessel regulations, which are administered by Transport Canada, require that most motorboats have a working muffler. Unfortunately, the definition of muffler is difficult to apply and police agencies have stopped enforcing it, much to everyone’s frustration. Unlike Canada, decibel limits for noise from motororized boats are well established in the United States and Europe. In the US, 30 states have legislations regulating boat noise levels measured in decibels. Many are based on the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA) Motorboat Noise Act ( https://tinyurl. com/46ufhftx ) . This act references two measurement procedures established by internationally recognized Society of Automobile Engineers (SAE). ≥ SAE J2005 measures noise levels while the boat is stationary with the motor in idle. The recommended decibel limit for this measurement is 88 dB, about as loud as a food blender. • This procedure is preferred by enforcement officers as it is very easy to perform and takes very little time. Keeping the Peace and Quiet: The Decibel Coalition The Decibel Coalition is working to create boating decibel limits. Photo: Rolfe Jones