COVID-19 and Impact on ABYC
Food and Beverage
Thank you to all for your patience as we navigate through these rapidly changing circumstances. We are getting lots of guidance from different sources, and are trying to find the best path forward.
Today, Ontario health officials asked restaurants and bars to stop serving food and drink other than takeout, and that's not really a good match for our customers.
So, after consultation with our SRVC and Club Manager, and then with the entire board,
we've made the difficult but necessary decision to close bar and restaurant service effective immediately,
until we get the all clear.
I want to
thank our F&B staff, led by Michelle, Sam, and Chris,
as they have further enhanced our cleaning protocols to keep us as safe as possible over the last few days, and I know we all
hope to see our club open, and them back at their stations,
as soon as possible.
Minimum Billing ... because we have to close down the last two weeks of the first quarter, we'll adjust minimum billing for the first quarter by 1/3, making it $60. We will update you on Q2 minimum billing when we are able to open again.
Office
The club
office will remain open
, but
please do not visit, rather communicate by phone or by email.
We're not setup to redirect all our business to allow our employees to work from home, but fortunately, our layout, with 3 people in 3 rooms, would meet all the guidelines for social distancing.
Work Parties
We will
open the building at 8:30 on Saturdays to allow work parties
participants to get dressed, come in to warm up, and return to street clothes, and
we'll close it when the work party is finished
.
We will look at setting standard opening hours for Saturdays and Sundays in a few more weeks, when it is time to start working on our boats, and depending on guidance from health officials.
Please feel free to
bring in your own thermoses and snacks during this period
... we will not be offering any communal food, utensils, or tableware. We highly recommend that food NOT be shared.
In accordance with health official guidelines, please email
workparty@abyc.ca
if you will be helping. In the unlikely event that we do have a case appear in our community, officials want to be able to track other people who they may have come in contact with.
General
Our cleaners will focus on washrooms, and after each Saturday, the tables upstairs.
As we've said before, please:
- protect your fellow members by staying away 14 days if you've been travelling by air overseas, or are at any elevated risk for having been exposed to the virus
- If you're sick, stay away until you're fully recovered (it's very hard to distinguish COVID-19 from the flu without formal testing)
- If you are personally at increased risk of contacting the disease, stay away until we get the all-clear from health officials
As we get closer to launch, if we're still in this state of heightened precautions, we'll take steps to ensure
ALL our members get the help they need to get ready,
without anyone having to take unnecessary risks.
COVID-19 and Impact on Sailing
For those not aware, March and April regattas have been cancelled around the world. May and June events are awaiting more news and decisions, and we may see those cancelled as well. Everyone is optimistic that we'll see a change soon. Of course, there is also discussion about the Olympics in general, and individual sports (turns out there are not nearly as many spectators for sailing as there should be!). For our Olympic hopeful, Sarah Douglas, the next qualification event, the Princess Sofia regatta in Majorca, has been cancelled, so she is awaiting more input from Sail Canada.
Docks Project
Is still continuing! The teams removed all the tires from the Red Dock area, and our piling removal contractor due on site later this week. Please do not park anywhere on the railway side, to make sure they have access, until all the pilings are gone!
Work Parties - focus on High Water preparations
Work on the boardwalks etc. will continue this Saturday. If you're in good health and can assist, please join us.
I wish to thank the board, the members, and the staff, for their help and focus on OUR club during these challenging times.
If you have any concerns or suggestions, please don't hesitate to reach out to myself, the responsible member of the board, or our club manager.
Paul Brennan
, Commodore
