Frostbite Norm, Scarlett and Maud.

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

Pas de DEUX with Skipper Maud and Captain Scarlett - St. Anne and Vaclav’s mechoui

I came up with the idea for Maud and Scarlett to do the Pas de Deux without me.  They were thrilled.  I came along as a safety officer.

On Friday night, I arrived at the Royal late, too late to sail into the sunset. Met Scott and paid him for the air horn.  Norm and Chris were going to have supper at the club for MMHA.  I had a drink with them at their dinner and departed for PCYC in the dark, with an almost full Hunter Moon.

Anchored just outside PCYC.  I wasn't hungry, so I only nibbled on some nuts.  I went to sleep, and the next morning was quite windy, making it a little challenging to haul anchor single-handed. Winds and current were opposing. 

I came into PCYC at 8; Maud was early, and Scarlett was a little late.  We quickly changed the 155 for 135 headsail and tried to depart with a strong east wind pushing me into the dock.  I almost backed into the steel breakwater, but I got her into forward just as I screamed at Maud, who was about to use her feet to avoid collision.

We had a great race.  It was a fast race.  The course was No 2.

Photos

23 out of 31

The race ended about 1, and there was a North wind, and we were abeam heading to the west, so I suggested we sail to St. Anne, which Scalett had wanted to do during her vacation, but never did, and Maud had never been there.

Harvest Moon of BELLUM

Nice walk, and I saw the new owner of Nautically Hip docking behind us as we returned to BELLUM.

We motored back to Dowkers and sailed back to PCYC for supper.  I was disappointed with the pork; the skin was burnt, the portion was small, and one piece was undercooked.  They gave me another plate. 

Vaclav was there at the Pig Roast, but he was not really cooking or supervising.  Roasting a pig is quite an art.  Vaclav was in a walker.  We smiled at each other; he seemed happy but not very responsive.  Very sad.

I slept aboard and didn't go anchor with the Harvest Moon, but I had a good view of it from the dock.

Final GNS fall series with Chloe and Norm - NOT - No RC

I got up at 7:30 at the PCYC dock, and there was wind.

I had breakfast, flew the Mavric Mini drone, and changed two sets of propellers.

Prop Error

 

Norm and Chloe showed up at 10:10.  We set sail and could not find the RC.  AJAX was managing the Fireball races.

In the end, we determined the Royal RC didn't show up.  Later, I found out Marius couldn't find the Orange marks; all 4 coloured flags and the mark-setter didn't show up.  He was going to take Mink to do a cancellation procedure, but Mink was low on fuel.  A.. The Royal have certainly lost commitment to excellence in racing,

We sailed around for a bit, returned to the PCYC dock, and Chloe docked BELLUM perfectly.  I managed the throttle and shifter.  Norm and Chloe departed, and I hung around.  We went to BYC for the GNS flag ceremony, and I surveyed BYC, which I hadn't done in a while.  Saw Naomie.

After returning to PCYC, I hung around for the Fireball ceremony and then departed for Dowkers South.  It was much warmer than the night before.

Morning morning, I did a zero-carbon departure, sailed closed-haul back to the club, packed up and biked home on an almost dead bike battery. And then attended a meet-the-candidate for housing issues.

Night at Grand Anse and Sailing with Carole

I biked to the club and took off shortly after Redline departed. 

Biked to the club

I anchored at Grand Anse. It was cold for mid-September. I didn't bring my down comforter or electric blanket.

-4 in the morning

Sunrise over Montreal

The next morning, I did a zero-carbon departure to PCYC to pick up Carole.  I arrived at 12:15 and chatted with Richard and Andre.  Andre was recovering from melanoma and was doing fine.  The last time I saw him was when he brought his C&C 30 back to PCYC in 2024.  link

We chatted a lot, especially Richard,  He had an audience. Last time Carole was on BELLUM was August 10th, 2025

Carole came at 2:15, and we chatted with Richard for another hour before departing for an easy sail around the lake without any direction, returning at 7:30, just as it was getting dark.

We BBQ'd on the PCYC lawn and then joined John McGuiness's 60th birthday party at the club.

Carole went home about 12:30, and I slept at the dock.

GNS fall series

 Norm, Maud, and I raced the Sunday fall GNS. Nice winds with the 155.  We sailed from the club channel to the race area and checked in.

Norm helmed the first race, and Maud helmed the second race

On the way back, we got rained on, but it ended when we got back to the harbour.  Maud docked the boat.

From Nathalie