Our Squadron History

The Prince George Power & Sail Squadron initiated a petition to the Canadian Power Squadron Board for a Charter to form a Squadron in April 1984. We officially received a Warrant for our Squadron on October 19, 1984, signed by John Cronwell, Chief Commander at that time.

Our first Squadron Commander was Gordon Springate. At that time, he was a teacher at the College of New Caledonia in Prince George. Gordon Springate, who now lives in Kelowna but maintains his membership in the Prince George Power & Sail Squadron, recently served as the Chief Commander for all of Canada!

Our Squadron members at the time that CPS granted our Warrant were: G. Brookes, T. Burgess, W. Bush, D. Chisholm, R.B. Hagen, L.M. Harris, G.M. Hartley, W.E. Hartley, T. Hewlett, L. Hill, R. Lindsay, E.Y. Lo, M. Lo, H.R. Matheson, K. MacMillan, D.J. Mears, R. Miller, D.G. Robertson, G.L. Springate, L. Sturgeon, J. Turner, L. Turner and R. Turner.

The first Boating Class was held in a classroom at the College of New Caledonia. In comparison to today’s classes, the classes during the 1980’s were more intensive as the Piloting course material was part of the Basic course as well. Now we have more training aids and more members to help with the instructing and procturing. Our burgee design was determined by a contest within the membership in 1990.

As well as conducting several training courses from September to April, our Squadron’s special events throughout the year are:

  • Pot Luck Dinners in the fall and early spring, with special attractions such as slide shows of members’ cruises, special guests, etc.
  • Fire Extinguisher & Flare Demonstrations in April
  • Change of Watch and Graduation Ceremonies in May
  • Boat Show in May
  • Squadron members’ boats participating in the May Day Parade
  • Fishing Derby in June
  • Various cruises during the summer in the Inside Passage and local lakes

    • The Prince George Power & Sail Squadron was also instrumental in assisting our members from other areas to form their own Squadrons in their community. These include Burns Lake Squadron, Cariboo Power & Sail Squadron (Williams Lake), Quesnel Power & Sail Squadron and Terrace Squadron.

    As of April 2004, we have 358 members in the Prince George Power & Sail Squadron. During 2002 and 2003, we averaged over 2200 hours of volunteer hours per year. Thanks for all our Squadron members who volunteer their personal time to educate the public in safe boating!

    Judy Smith, Communications Officer

    April 2004