Event Details
Sunday November 15, 2026
10 am to 2 pm
Best Western Plus Rose City Suites
300 Prince Charles Dr S, Welland, ON L3C 7B3, Canada
Attendance
The event is open to all SOS Members and their guests. For those unable to attend in person, there will be a Zoom Meeting link available.
To attend in-person or on-line, you must RSVP to durrell@saveontarioshipwrecks.ca by Monday November 9th
Liability Release Agreement
If attending in-person, you will also need to complete the Communicable Disease Liability Release and Assumption of Risk Agreement
Note, if you have already done this earlier in the year you do not need to complete it again.
Agenda
Welcome
Land Acknowledgement – Kayla Martin
Review of Voting Procedures (in-person and On-line)
Approval of Agenda
Secretary Report – Kimberly Zawaly
Approval of 2025 AGM Minutes
Treasurer Report – Matthew Charlesworth
Approval of 2025 Auditor Statement
Approve Auditors for 2026/27
Presidents Report – Durrell Martin
Buoy Chair Report – Raimund J. Krob
Membership Report – Jennifer Gould
Webmaster Report – David Mekker
Approve Membership Rates for 2027
Heritage Ambassador – Kayla Martin
Ottawa Chapter Report – John Ratcliffe
Thousand Islands Chapter Report – Stephan Senecal
Picton Chapter Report – Helen Cooper
Toronto Chapter Report – Ted Endean
Niagara Chapter Report – Trent Zawaly
Southern Georgian Bay Chapter Report – Bill Martin
Tobermory Chapter Report – Szilvia Jones Mervyn
Preserve our Wreck Kingston (Affiliate) Report – Guillaume Courcy
Board Election for 2026/27
Motion for Adjournment
Coffee Break
Presentation
We have two guest speakers this year!
Kayla Martin – Explorer & Photographer
Kayla Martin is a Wilfrid Laurier graduate in Water Science and Environmental Health (BSc). She is very active in Great Lakes conservation and education. Her interests lie in examining our interactions with water, the environmental impacts and ways to achieve sustainability for future generations.
Kayla represents the upcoming generation of shipwreck divers and since 2014 has shared her passion at conferences across North America. She promotes preserving historic shipwrecks as the Heritage Ambassador for Save Ontario Shipwrecks and serves on the board of the Ontario Marine Heritage Committee.
Kayla was selected as a 2023 Royal Canadian Geographical Society Expedition Grantee, where she led a flag expedition to the OLIVER MOWAT, an intact Great Lakes Schooner.
Seven Curses, the Fate of the Waome
From black cats to ghosts, sailors have always been very superstitious.
Located in the beautiful Lake Muskoka region of Ontario, Canada. Come with Kayla as she dives into the lakes deep, cold and dark waters and takes you into the realm of the supernatural.
Cruising down the bottom of the Lake, the wreck of the “Water Lily” is zebra mussel free and fully intact. One of Canada’s greatest shipwrecks to explore!
David Gilchrist – Marine Historian
David Gilchrist, an Niagara Diver Association member, is a former presenter and Master of Ceremonies at the annual NDA Shipwrecks Symposium.
2026 marks his 56th year diving, with his initial training with the Aqua Knights of Hamilton, in 1970. He is a former ACUC,CMAS,DAN and PADI MSDT Instructor. He has been an active member of the Ontario Marine Heritage Committee (OMHC), participating in numerous archaeological programs with this group.
An avid underwater photographer, his award winning photographs have been displayed at Underwater Canada, the Vancouver Aquarium, the Ontario Science Centre, libraries and galleries. They have also been published accompanying articles in several magazines and also in children’s books.
After a first diving program at Resolute Bay in 1987, in 1989 he was the recipient of a Canada Council grant, through the Arctic Awareness Program, to complete an underwater photography project in Canada’s High Arctic. He is more prone nowadays to be found in warmer waters having enjoyed trips to the islands of the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, Chuuk Lagoon and the Red Sea.
Exploring Sherkston Quarry
The Empire Limestone Quarry – An underwater industrial archaeological site at Sherkston, Ontario
A look at the development, history and demise of this late 19th early 20th century limestone quarry that has been a popular recreational dive site for several decades.
If you are interested in serving on the Board of Directors then please email durrell@saveontarioshipwrecks.ca
