A Brief History
Fairwinds was incorporated as a non-profit sailing association under the Societies Act of BC on April 5, 1974. It is one of the longest continuously running sailing co-operatives on the coast – perhaps the longest. The early history of the club pre-dates the internet era and some of that history was written on scrolls that have been lost. Some of what follows has been gleaned from a handful of AGM minutes from those early years.
In 1974, the club commenced with 3 boats. The first boat (aptly but perhaps confusingly named “Fairwinds”) was a C&C 27 Mark II. In addition, there was a Columbia 29 and Cal 20 Daysailer. In the boating world, money is always an issue and it is no different with a co-op. Early financing was via a bank loan combined with depreciating member capital loans. When a member joined, they would pay a joining fee and also provide a membership loan based upon their skipper/boat status. Each year, this loan would depreciate by a certain amount. However, if a member resigned before their loan was fully depreciated, then the balance would have to be returned to them. Needless to say, there was some complicated book-keeping going on and a resignation could create hardship for those remaining. There was continual pressure to maintain or grow the membership.
At some point prior to 1982 the Columbia 29 was replaced with a 1976 Catalina 27. The C&C and Cal 20 remained in service and the club continued with 3 boats. In 1982 a new Yanmar 2GM diesel was installed in the C&C at a cost of $4900. The other boats had outboards.
In 1983 the bank loan stood at ~$16k and there was a member capital loan balance of ~$15k (consisting of 38 member loans). The following year, the bank loan was refinanced with First Pacific Credit Union via a chattel mortgage for $16k at a delightful 14.5% interest rate. Membership in those early years tended to vary anywhere from 10 – 30 members at various skill levels.
In 1986 due to a variety of problems including hull blistering, the Catalina was put up for sale and subsequently replaced with an Aloha 28 (Mystere). The C&C (Fairwinds) and Cal 20 (Manitou) remained in service.
In 2003 the bank loan was paid off … temporarily. Then, in 2004 there were a series of changes made. There had been a gradual shift to more of a cruising focus within the club and a decision was made to replace the Aloha and Cal 20. The Aloha and Cal 20 were sold and a Pearson 33 was purchased in Everett, Washington and imported into Canada. The previous capital loan structure was replaced by a bank loan and non repayable capital fee (paid in 3 annual instalments). Once again the club had a bank loan and now the club had 2 boats: the Pearson (Jolie) at SNSM and C&C (Fairwinds) at Oak Bay.
By the mid-2000’s the original C&C Mark II was showing it’s age and a variety of options (repair vs replace) were considered. In Sept 2009 the club traded up privately to a newer and more nimble C&C 27 Mark IV (Massilia). Financing required the bank loan to be topped up. Massila came well equipped for racing and when she lived at Oak Bay Marina (and our insurance policy allowed racing), the club participated in the Turkey Head Racing association.
In 2007 the club’s website was overhauled and replaced with the current website. As part of this, a new custom written booking system was created for the handling of boat reservations and tracking of member accounts. Since then, there has been an on-going effort to expand the content of the website and keep it and key documents like the SOPs current.
During 2012-14 the club faced a crisis when Jolie was out of service for an extended time. Her engine failed in the 2012 sailing season and an engine rebuild was found to be necessary. The rebuild occurred during the winter of 2012/13 and she was out of commission until early summer of 2013. The engine continued to have problems and then had a second catastrophic failure in late August of 2013. As Jolie was/is the club’s best cruising boat, this upset the sailing plans of several members and was a source of considerable angst. And expense. And labor. In both cases, the membership removed and reinstalled the engine – a massive amount of work. It was determined that the first rebuild wasn’t done properly. Unfortunately, the mechanic who did the first rebuild had disappeared and the club had no recourse except to pay for a second rebuild – this time with a competent mechanic. The club had the resources to pay for the first rebuild but not the second. After considerable discussion, it was decided that repayable member loans would be used to finance the second rebuild.
Just a side note on membership participation. Over the years, club members have contributed significantly to the success of the club. We've had members that have built their own boats, crossed oceans, taught Canadian Power & Sail Squadron courses, lived aboard in the Caribbean, etc. We’ve been fortunate to have had considerable expertise and significant contributions at various times. In the case of the Aloha, the diesel was rebuilt by a member using parts from a second crap Kabota to create a Franken-engine (Frankengine?). Other major contributions include Jolie keel reinforcement, electric windlass installation, electric head installation, numerous electrical/electronic upgrades, holding tank/macerator replacement, fuel tank R&R, diesel furnace replacement, sail repair, web site development etc. Countless hours have been contributed by members at haulouts and various dockside work parties.
In September 2016 the bank loan was retired and in early 2020 the final Jolie engine member loan was repaid leaving the club debt free. Woohoo - a huge milestone!
… to be continued ….