Project update

I've been busy digging out and recovering from a week of hard labour in Halifax so no posts for a few days.

Things are slowing down for the holidays, but back here at Project Ojibwa HQ there has been continuous activity.

A steady stream of membership applications are coming in and we are up to about 50 members to date. Only 49,950 to go and we will have the project paid for  .....well we can hope anyway. I think 500 members is reasonable.  Once the local community learns that the only way to get a peek inside the boat before the public opening (which could be more than a year away)  will be through the membership route, things will pick up dramatically.  In fairness we haven't really launched the membership program fully yet.

We have seen the quote for transiting the boat and it's looking as if the move by floating drydock is the most practical, and surprisingly not much more expensive than a traditional tow (much less risky as well).  Soil testing will be done soon on the site and hopefully any questions about ground stability will be put to rest.

Thursday evening found us meeting with the town council of Bayham.  Council passed a resolution to generate letters of support for the project to the political players in our little drama and to encourage neighboring municipalities to join in.


Everyone is very supportive and eager to get the wheels turning on the project.  We're all asking the same question at the moment  "WHERE'S THE BEEF?.....hoping that CAF/Candev is listening, because we've done all the T crossing and I dotting we've been asked to do and all that stands between us and a hard launch of the project is for the cash that was promised over a year ago to begin flowing... hopefully once the holidays are over, the bureaucrats will run out of excuses to delay and get this show on the road!

Where's My Car?

Yesterday was a travel day so no post.    Woke up in Halifax and scraped an 1/8th inch of frost off the windshield and came home to this.

We managed to shift the last of the sonar and radar components, every bunk we could find on all three boats and I left the crew to carry on and headed to the airport. 

What a blast this past few days has been.  Thanks to everyone who helped and especially those who are carrying the load, especially our Cox'n  Sylvain Rouillard.  Looking forward to getting back soon to help secure the boat for see.

Will keep posting as things evolve here at Elgin Military Museum. I have a bit of catching up to do.  . We have an Open House on Sunday and folks here will want to hear about my recent adventures.

Bye for now

Weather Bomb Defused

 

Well the storm passed, and the only damage was to Project Ojibwa's proud pennant, which is no doubt gracing the shoreline of Bedford Basin or some inland high point.  So it goes.

On board, all is in good shape and we have transferred quite a few small parts.   Olympus's Radar and Sonar components are waiting for strong backs to show up and handle the sub to sub transfer.  Unfortunately, I'm heading home tomorrow and will have to leave the dockside leadership in the hands of my good mate Sylvain.  He will have help I'm sure since a few volunteers have yet to make it aboard due to work or family commitments.  The crew will continue working without me until Dec 10 and I'm pretty confident it will be "Mission Accomplished"  for this phase.  

I will be aboard tomorrow before I fly out, to inventory the work to date and say goodbye to the crew.  I have mixed emotions about leaving.  I'm really grateful to have this chance to do this and reconnect with old shipmates and make so many new friends. (Actually don't tell the museum, but I would have paid good money to do this) 

Hopefully next time I see Ojibwa will be about the time the tug is preparing to take her home.  

Stand down the Work Party

DND observing high winds and strong tidal surge today. Harbour ferries have been canceled and the Angus L. MacDonald bride is swaying like a drunk.   Action on the boats is too lively to work safely, so we wait for tomorrow.  Forecast is for fair skies and calm waters.

Family Day at NAD Dartmouth

Today, Project Ojibwa's flag flies proudly from the jackstaff on our submarine's bow.

More volunteers on board and a family atmosphere is developing.    We shifted a tremendous amount of gear from Olympus, recovered many torpedo control parts, telegraphs and tallies and disassembled her periscope roundabout.  Tomorrow we attack the soundroom.

I have to say that every day I can see visible progress In Ojibwa.  With more parts coming home, it looks to me as if the mountain we are climbing is not quite so high today.

Pictured here are L to R  Laurie Custance, Keith Estabrooks, Rick Bodden, Sylvain Roulliard, Art Bodden, Rob Arbor, Bert Houde and his son Corey.  Not pictured is Peter Weis , John Madison, Lucky Gordon  and Tim Kramble

No posting yesterday as it was the Submariners Association of Canada's AGM, and I was able to make a presentation to the membership on the project's progress.  I got a very favourable response and many good wishes and much support from those in attendance.  We'll be working hard to build a firm partnership with all chapters of the SAOC across the country, thanks to the Executive Committee for making it possible for me to tell our story.


Tomorrow is another full day with more of the same.  I hope we will have the Olympus's Forward Torpedo Room mainly cleared by the day's end.

Cheers for now from Halifax

It's Good To Have Friends

 The work began this morning for real...finally.  Arrived thursday, met by Lucky Gordon and after a great meal and a great evening  catching up, we met up with a small group of Volunteers.  Lucky and Gary Hopkins both old shipmates and Keith Estabrooks and Sylvain Roullard  both submariners, toured all three boats with   myself and our navy rep, Tim Kramble.  After a quick inventory we worked  out  some kind of a plan,   spent a few hours on an easter egg hunt and collected a good volume of smaller parts, gauges, etc to fill in some of the many holes in the control room panels.  Lot's more of this to do, but it's obvious we wont find it all. Afterwards off to Home Despot to pick up some required tools, flashlights and such and home for dinner.

Sunday will be the big day  and with any luck we'll have a larger crew who can hand to hand the larger pieces and work on more dismantling of good parts for Ojibwa.   Lots left to do, but we're feeling pretty good so far.  

Will post more after Sunday

My Bags are Packed, I'm ready to Go!

Finally,  the work can begin..

I'll be arriving in Halifax late tomorrow and will do a survey of Ojibwa Friday AM.  Looks as if I'll have enough help, thanks to our old shipmates.  These British bolts need some specialty tools, because the Brits, being an insular culture, have their special way of doing things and it will be hard to find a nut or bolt that can be handled with tools from the local Canadian Tire.  Fortunately there are some British car nuts in North America, and having owned a vintage jaguar  and a few British motorcycles at various points in my life,  I was able to find a source for Whitworth spanners and Posidrive Screwdrivers.  If you are wondering what I'm talking about just google "whitworth"  or "British Fasteners" on Wikipedia.

Stay tuned as I will be posting pics and videos as the next week unfolds

Cheers 

Come Aboard Mates!!

PROJECT OJIBWA IS UNDERWAY!

We are launching our membership drive and we need you to come aboard.  The engineering and environments studies have been completed .Our Project Manager - BMT Fleetech  along with Mammoet and Heddle MarineServices, are working on the transit plan. The Navy has the final release at the top of the pile, major grants  from CANDEV/Communities Adjustment Fund and SandPlains Fund are in process.  A group of volunteers is being mobilized to prepare Ojibwa for her final voyage.

All that is missing is a reasonable bank balance to cover the day to day expenses of the project, until major funds begin to flow....that's were you come in..

Please view the video here and go to www.projectojibwa.ca and get your membership application underway

Work Party HO!

Well, we finally found the right people and things are moving.   All is well when the submariners take charge of things.  We are on for the week of  Dec 5 to 10 and longer if necessary.

I plan to fly into Halifax late thursday, do a recce with my mate Lucky Gordon on Friday the 3rd,  attend the SAOC AGM on Saturday and talk with as many people as possible after the meeting about the Project.

Work can begin Sunday as we now have access on weekends and after hours.  If you didn't volunteer because you weren't available days  contact me.

I'm excited to get this phase of the project underway and looking forward to meeting some old shipmates...its been too long

Cheers

HURRY UP...WAIT!

Ojibwa sits in Halifax harbour,  she is in a poor state of repair with many of her essential parts now being stored on the two other OBoats due to go to the wreckers.  The Navy issued us  with a Nov 30 deadline to recover these parts and find replacements on the scrappers.  Having been given a start date and organized a volunteer crew to commence work beginning Monday the 22nd, we now hear that DND requires more time to prepare for our arrival...Maybe the 29th would be better.  That leaves us 2 days to accomplish 6 days worth of work....this math doesn't add up.

Does DND understand this is a big problem?   We obviously need them to extend the deadline or Ojibwa will end up as very poor representation of what was once the pride of the Navy...cardboard cutouts and photos of the parts we were forced to leave behind are a poor substitute for the real thing.  .let's hope reason prevails

ROAD TRIP???

Looks as if your humble blogger will be making a Road Trip to Slackerfax this week to help whip Ojibwa into shape for the trip to Ontario next spring.

I'm wondering if I can snag any Members for OJ's New Ship's Company while I'm there......If  you're wondering how to get one of those caps..signing on is the only way.. I'll be bringing a whole bagful of caps along with my receipt book.  So look for me next weekend!! I'm sure I can find some convenient location that serves refreshments.....sure do love that PROPELLER  IPA!! (If I can't find that I guess Keith's 'll do too)   Man I miss the east coast!

Will advise a time, date and location.........For those that I don't connect with. we'll be posting a Membership page on www.projectojibwa.ca with instructions on how to join up soon.  Please bear with us, some things take a bit of time

A good day at Project Ojibwa

Today I  did something I hadn't done in over 40 years...spent some quality time with another submariner.  Bill Horn, former Sonar Rating and crew member of HMCS Ojibwa came by the Elgin Military Museum and we spent some time getting acquainted and talking about the project.  Bill's coming aboard as a member of the team...with two ex submariners actively involved some good things are going to happen!

Welcome aboard Bill!

Action Stations!!

The Navy says "All spares and replacement for Ojibwa to be removed from Okanagan, Olympus and the spare, Yesterday.   Any volunteers for a work party??

Hey.....cool caps!

We have it on good authority that the Navy is FINALLY getting close to signing off on the release for Ojibwa and our application for  funding to cover the cost of the move to Port Burwell is advancing. 

The project will be going into membership campaign mode soon.  Just received our initial order of sample caps from the embroidery shop today....WOW!    These will be available to members of our "Ships Company" only.  The campain will be rolling hopefully next week or as soon as our web developers can get the site ready.

Funds will be used to  fund a promotional video to help the fundraising team. and of course buy more caps to help grow the membership.

It will be expensive to get the Museum building constructed and in operation.   We are still about 40% to 50% away from our projected target.    In any event we have secured a temporary building in Port Burwell  that will serve as an operations base and at least allow us to run tours and generate cash next season. Hopefully we will be able to get her down here and mounted before too much of the tourist season is lost.

  Things will move quickly once the navy signs off

Delays expected

One might think with the winter weather fast approaching that Project Ojibwa is dying on the vine.  No Such luck mates.  No doubt OJ will not make it home before freeze up,  A major complication is that OJ's draft far exceeds safe navigation depths on the South Shore of Lake Erie so she will have to be barged at some point. With a rumoured lack of drydock space on the east coast, there may be delays in getting her home if the work has to be done in Hamilton, since we will have to wait for the seaway to open before work can begin.  Hopefully some yard on the salt can be found to do the work over the winter.  I'll let you know when I know   Meanwhile we will continue to crank up the fundraising

Artifacts for Sub Museum wanted

WANTED FOR PORT BURWELL SUBMARINE MUSEUM - 

 One Jr Rank or PO Number 1 uniform circa 1965, complete w RN Style dolphin badge & cap w/ OJ tally. Non pusser enhancements ie Dragon Motif inside cuff patches and ultra Med blue collar a bonus. Extra points for tiddly tally bow. Will pay shipping and provide tax receipt ... reply to me if you can help 

Any other related artifacts or photos will be appreciated

 

 

Time to get serious about this Blog thing

I set up this blog because I was hearing quite a bit of negative commentary from sources that have no real knowledge of what's happening with the project.

Now that I'm working with the team as a project consultant I think I'm in a good position to let you dear reader, in on the real poop!

Where are we now???  a long way from the finish line but there is a lot of activity and momentum is building.  We have major grants in process, although money has yet to start flowing....we have the Navy's blessing, although they have yet to throw us the keys and say "Good Luck Mates"   When dealing with bureaucracies you learn to hurry up and wait.... Well anyone who ever spent anytime in the military knows that story very well.

Stay tuned in shipmates, the next few months are gonna be real interesting.  I cant wait!!

Video post from Port Burwell - Oct 11, 2010

"A" Channel feature on Project Ojibwa Part Two

http://www.atv.ca/london/news_73736.aspx

"A" Channel report on Project Ojibwa

http://www.atv.ca/london/news_73735.aspx

This blog is under construction. ...please check back soon