No race - tack to Grand Anse Cira, freeze and a run back

On Saturday, we agreed to cancel the Sunday Frostbite due to cold and lack of wind; it was too cold and busy.  

Sunday turned out to be rather nice, cold and windless.  The race cancelled due to lack of wind.

I unpacked the car and loaded it.

At 4PM, I departed into the channel, passed Bonita, who took a nice photo of BELLUM touching the cloud.  I subsequently put up the 155 head sail, tacked around the lighthouse and zig-zagged to Grand Anse using less than 15 minutes of diesel power.  It took3 1/2 hours to get to Grand Anse

Supper was liver and onions. 

I gave up trying to enter Grand Anse, but the wind was reasonable, so I anchored outside the Anse.

Anchorage

Well dressed

The next morning was cold, 4 at 7AM, but it warmed up fast. Winds were 15 knots.  I hauled anchor and drifted very safely into Lake St. Louis, unfouled a reefed genny and sailed back to the club to haul out Sedna VIII, Tara II, Redline and winterize Astri.

The track

 

Thanksgiving weekend, Frostbite NOT

Saturday afternoon, I did Yoga at 3, Arkavan and then headed to the club.  I had the car packed with winter cover and more, getting ready for haul-out at the end of the month.

I got off to a start a little past 18:00. I motored to the club channel and set sail for PCYC.   Tried out my new iPhone 18 PRO camera.  Night mode was great.

PCYC was empty and closed around 20:00.

I didn't feel like cooking, so I picked up a submarine sandwich at GiGi.  They were closing, so I took it back to the boat. 

I connected to shore power and got a good night's sleep.  Not too cold.

For the Sunday Frostbite, Nathalie joined us since Matthew decided not to race.  Maud was in Gaspe.  Mark and Shawn came out too.  We changed from 135 to 155 at the dock and set sail to the race area.  After over an hour, they cancelled the race due to a lack of wind.

For McGill Sailing, compliments of PCYC

We returned to the harbour, and I went out again. The winds were pretty much dead.  After 2 hours, I started the motor and couldn't decide whether to head back to the club or the Sandbars.  I went to the sandbars, anchored, and napped for a couple of hours.

I weighed anchor and started sailing to Dowkers. I anchored in the dark, made my pork chop and potatoes and garlic bulb.  I was out of aluminum paper; the roll I had was welded into a single aluminum core.  Arg.

I got up early and made a zero-carbon departure back to the club to haul out Redline and Tara II.  It was a very nice sail back to the club in a dead run.

 

Diesel from water separator

I got to the club at 9:15, pumped out, and fueled up.  I realized the haul-out was for Monday the 19th.

I serviced the main and spinnaker winches. It was messy.  I drained some diesel as a solvent/lubricant.  There were some small particles from the fuel separator, but no water.  Nothing major.

I tidied up the boat and removed some stuff.  I departed the club for Costco as the rain started.

Frostbite Norm, Scarlett and Maud.

The crew met at 8:45 and set sail to the Frostbite race. We tried to raise the main, but one sail tie was still attached, tightly knotted to a reef point.  Took a bit of effort to untie it as we sailed between Dorval and Dorval Island.  Once we released it, we tacked and motor-sailed to the race area.

Norm helmed the first two races, and we beat Slow Dancer in the second race. Maud helmed the third race, which was shortened to one loop.

We sailed back to the club with some brew, and I did an oil change after 67 hours since the last one.

 

I also tried to rig the boom kicker to keep it from falling out again.

Evening short sail

I biked and Exo to Kirkland for the Melanoma Canada Mobile tour.  It was disappointing because I had registered, but on Friday I got an email saying it was first-come, first-serve.  I arrived ten minutes after it opened and waited 3 1/2 hours to be checked.  Very few people came after me; I was always near the end of the line, and if I came 3 hours after it opened, I would have waited less than half an hour.

The inspection was very fast, and I didn't feel it at all through.  Last year the doctor was much better.

Afterwards, I dropped by Addison and then flew my FPV Neo drone in an empty soccer field in Pointe Claire. Not too fond of the FPV.

I biked to the club, put some stuff from the boat away in the locker, repumped the high-pressure floor (it had deflated), pumped out the water, and took her out for a spin.  Started very nicely.  The bottom of the boat was pretty dirty.  Needs a good cleaning after I winterize the motor.

At 5:30, I decided to go out for a sail with a south wind.  Nice beam reach past the gut; passed Fugu and Zig-Zag on the way out, then tacked for another beam reach to the club and met Norm and MLM for drinks. 

Frostbite No 1

It was quite a windy day for a race.  Shawn and Nathalie were available. 

We set out to sail, first with a reefed main and then a reefed jib.

Shawn helmed the first race, and Natalie helmed the second and third races.

The boom kicker fell off as the string holding it broke.  It had held for many years.  Upon research, the boom kicker looks like it is supposed to release if the boom is raised too high.

https://tylaska.com/product/boom-kicker-sizing-and-general-information/

We did all three races with a limited crew.  It would have been good to have the No. 3 headsail.

The forecast wasn't easing up, and we agreed to return to the Royal and find a way to get the crew back to their car in PCYC.  Nathalie's daughter drove them back. The return was straight upwind.  Gentlemen do not sail into the wind. I was not encouraged to do this alone.

Everybody was happy with the day.

After the race, BELLUM's interior was quite a mess!