Thursday, January 7, 2021
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From the Board of Directors, Management, and Staff of Rocmaura Nursing Home, caring thoughts are with you. May the sympathy of those who share in your loss be of comfort. Hazel made waves ahead of her time, and she will be fondly remembered by many. Here is the story that was published in the Rocmaura newsletter in Feb. 2020. "Smooth Sailing "
97-year-old Hazel McNamara is number one on the coveted list of over 420 members at the RKYC. She has been sailing since she was a teenager. Her Niece, Glenda Belyea, says, “Hazel’s mother died when she was just 8 years old and so her father brought her up until he remarried. Gramp was very strict but she was independent and generally had free reign.”
Perhaps it was that combination of discipline and freedom that fostered Hazel’s fearlessness and sense of adventure.
Hazel and her best friend Audrey Sweeney owned a 14’ SNIPE says avid yachtsman Ernest Hamilton. “My father owned a power boat and I was dying to go sailing. They were the first to take me.”
Audrey and Hazel were the first to join the yacht club as Flag Members, a special membership class for women. There were only 34 members in the club at the time. They ventured up river every weekend, rain or shine. The season would start on the Victoria long weekend in May, and end after Labour Day with the Gagetown fair.
Hazel met her husband Russell who became a Commodore. He built their boat “Siboney” in 1948. They won races on the 28-foot yacht (there is a 1st Class “A” Evening Series 1968 trophy on display at the yacht club) and they plotted courses across the Bay of Fundy, cruising to Grand Manan. It was not a luxurious getaway like it is today. The couple didn’t own a car, so they would take the bus to Millidgeville carrying all their gear. Sometimes they would venture up river to Fredericton, stopping in Gagetown and the Washedomak. Some remember the swing bridge in Jemseg that rotated to let the boats go into Grand Lake. It was a wonderful time, with big potluck suppers, bonfires and singsongs on the beach.
Hazel worked as a civil servant for CN Rail as a stenographer. She loved to travel and went across Canada, to Alaska, through the Panama Canal, Australia, New Zealand, England, Scotland, Ireland, and even sailed down the Danube River. In later years, Hazel and Audrey were both named Honourary Members of the RKYC and are fondly admired for their spunk.
