Prize Giving Shark with Audrey

3rd place Frostbite PHRF

Major upgrades to Bellum

Saturday October 25, we took down the mast for major upgrades including



Washed all lines

installed new halyards, swapped red jib halard to become spinnaker halyard
Spinnaker halyard was shortened to become pole up

Extend back stay line, Updated Backstay adjuster blocks to harken blocks 308

Replace all boom lines

Installed Harken Mark IV Furler and SCHAEFER Halyard restrainer


Installed Lazy Jacks

Replaced Compass Cover Screw

Straightened anchor light

Replace mast halyard, electrical wires and coax and plugs

New antenna - problems - old was loose mast, new bad solder connection, short connector, used old connector

New wind instrument - Raymarine Mast Head Unit

mast top - tapped 10-32 instead of metric thread which was stripped.

reversed pole car up / down

Fixed mast head cover - new 10-32 screw

Put the mast back up Sunday, November 2 in cold weather.

Thanks very much for your help, James, Bill, Pierre and Armelle, Keith, Daniele and especially Norm for his relentlessness assistance in planning and installing the furler, PL259, demasting, masting and so much more.

Nice October Friday, no crew

Its a nice day... no crew

Tuesday with Chris

Nice warm October, 24 degrees.  Good winds.

Chris and I met at the club and we went out in about 10 knots of Southerly winds.

Nice sail to Dowkers and back.  Left about 4, back about 7. 

Installed the Actisense to interface the Standard Horizon AIS data to the Raymarine network.  The GPS sentences came through, but the AIS sentences did not come through.

Supper  at Ye Old Orchard.

Pas de deux

Daniele and I did one of our favorite races, the Pas de deux hosted by PCYC

Therapy and Chaos and Bellum represented the club.

We left the house late.  Highway 20 was closed for construction near the 20.  Had to drive to Cote St. Luc and back down.  Got to the club and raced to the boat and set off to the course.  Saw Therapy just after the GUT with motor problems.  Turned around and offered to tow her.  She declined. She was fine.

We waited about 20 minutes for the wind.

The course was

31(start gate)-33(P)-42(S)-44(S)-32(finish)

We thought we were too early for the start, gybed and we ended up quite late for the start.

Winds were light.  Later the wind was very shift (shitty).  We got to 33 and 42, but everybody had problems finding 44.  And the winds were so shifty, it was hard deciding when to tack. Sometimes the winds would bring you to the mark when you were 90 degrees off the mark.  Interesting.  It lasted 3 1/2 hours.

Got back to the club and Daniele raced to Linda's father's funeral while I changed the engine and transmission oil.  Forgot about the oil filter.

Shark Sailing

Only Dissidence needed crew... I was walking to Kelly's boat when Audrey asked if I could crew with them.  Oh well, never raced a shark so here we go..

3rd place Frostbite PHRF

Another cradle reunited with her child

I promised to help Andre bring her cradle back from Kingston.

Saturday was supposed to be a miserably rainy day so it was a good day to move the cradle.  If it was not so bad, we would both rather be sailing.

The cradle was about 3 feet bigger than Bellum's.  But we manged to get her loaded with just the two of us with crowbar and a hydraulic jack and some Egyptian engineering.
Met at 0830 and got back at 1830

Dowkers - First time in 2014

I worked Wednesday with Norm and Friday with Chris to get the boat ready.  Got the new i70 installed.  Removed the ST 60 boat speed display and installed the new SeaTalk NG network.

On Friday Maurice changed the upper rudder bushing.  Steering was much tighter. Vibration was still there.

Friday I worked on getting the boat ready until 1AM, skipping supper.  I got up Saturday morning to go to Boathouse sale.

Met Daniele at the boathouse and we went to Amir for lunch.  Big Lunch. Next time skip the platter.

We cleaned the boat and set off. Norm invited us to join them for supper.

We sailed to Dowkers and we were both tired.  So we anchored and napped on the foredeck.

Norm picked us up about 6 and we BBQ steaks and Portobello muchrooms.  I bought a bad bottle of Kirkland Shiraz.  Norm had backups.

Came back to Bellum about 9 and "slept until 10 the next morning.  Missed my breakfast since I started colonoscopy protocol at 10 AM.

We sailed back to the gut, turned around, sailed a bit more and then went back to the club and changed the hinges on the starboard lazerette.  Quite a bit of work.  Daniele left and I replaced the auto bilge switch.

Weekend - boat maintaince

Maurice came to look at the vibration issue.

He thinks the problem is with the upper rudder post bushing which is wearing.  He will machine a new bushing.

Rewired much of the boat.  Replumbed the boat.  Saturday and Sunday.

Work done:

New sink in head

New faucets in head and galley

Rewired DC Panel, epoxy board behind panel

Fixed all mast and navigation lights

Bilge blower to be done

Fixed V-berth hatch so it does not fall over and tiewrap the rod so cover does not fall back.

New AC Panel

New Outlet in galley

new fresh water system and accumulator tank and stainless steel braided hoses to water pumps

LED lights in cabin

plugged shower oulet so bilge water does not return to bilge

Adjusted winch feeder arms inboard

replaced bilge pump sensor

new hinges on starboard lazerette

Sailing with Claude

 

I took the day off work to go sailing with Claude.

Weather looked great.  Light winds going up to gusts of 20 in the evening.

Met Claude at noon.  I surprised him with the new boat.

We motored to the channel, started very slowly and as forecasted, winds picked up nicely.

Nice sailing, two loops around the lake.and returned to the club at 5







I got on Naomi for the last Wednesday night race.  A group of four were looking for crew, but they were just a few minutes too late for Bellum and Naomi had 3.

McAuslan Cup and Party

Daniele were going to go to Dowkers Friday night, but a squall came in as we were preparing our departure.  We decided to put on our bathing suit and started washing the boat.

Boomer's headsail was flapping in the wind.  We called Carson and helped him and Marie re-furl the head sail.  It was a rocky night at dock.






Norm got caught in traffic and we got to a late start. Well, almost late.

As we go to the course, the No.1 looked right.

We got our head sail up and stopped the motor as we were looking for the start line. We crossed the line starboard at the pin at the same time as Wulru V.  They were port, but they were heading for the mark and we had to tack to head for the mark. But considering our unprepariness, it was pretty good.


We came in 11 out of 17.

Good party at the club. Free Beer !

Wednesday Race - Last again

Chris and I came to the club. I knew Jose was not available so Jimmy was short handed and winds looked strong when I cycled to the club.

I was with Jimmy when Alain could not make it because he was caught in traffic.  Chris was talking to Audrey and invited her to sail with us.

We decided to take Bellum out.

Course was basically one long sausage. Winds were 12 knots and went down to 8 knots.  No puffs or knocks.

Good start, but we did not tack and got knocked down when everyone eventually tacked.

We tacked too early at the windward and had to go off course.  We kept the speed up and then used momentum to get around the mark.  We were in last place.

Most of the boats ran spinnakers so we fell further behind.  Opened some beer and wine.



Wine got spilled in cockpit on an attempted gybe.

Chris, Jimmy and I went off site for supper at  Grill Barroso Rest on St. Joseph. Chris had lamb chops, I had liver and Jimmy had the Octopus.

Labour Day sailing with Daniele

Sunday was windless and a little rainy.  I was working on my RDL file.

Monday Daniele picked me up at the office and we drove to the club.  Left the harbour and tacked up the channel, doing many tacks near the Gut. 

Sailed passed AD22 when the wind died and we drifted back.  I went for a swim and then motored back.

Back at the club I swapped the shower pump with the fresh water pump and got the water system limping to let us have running water.

Simply a pleasant day.

Last Saturday fun race with Alan and Marie

Last minute call to Alan and they were able to make it to the last Friday fun race on Saturday at 10AM

I got there early to prepare Bellum (moving safety stuff from Cygnus to Bellum) and inspect Josh's work on the anchor locker.  As always it looked good.

Pressure water pump was DEAD :(

Nigel decided on a gold cup course instead of the traditional pursuit race.  He also forecasted winds would increase from 8 knots to 11 knots.

We took off at 10:20 ish, trying to sail, but the winds were too close.  I had to get the crew up to speed with tacking and so on.  Forget explaining what a gybe was.  We go the hang of it.  We were early for the start and sailed to the pin instead of RC.  We were going fast, but in a bad position, too low down.

 At the last leg of the Gold Cup, winds died we drifted back through the finish line, loosing time to those ahead of us.  Once we finished, winds appeared to pick up.Or maybe we were no longer down wind.

We beat Nigel who had put up a small headsail in anticipation for stronger winds.

Rafted up at the sand banks.  Redline came by but could not tie up.  Tara II came by.  Party !  Lots of drinking

Supper was pork chops, with sauted mushrooms and cole slaw and macaroni salad. 

Sailed back in the dark.  Lousy lousy docking when we missed the stern docking line

Wednesday Race

Daniele picked me up at the office and grabbed a McLunch.

Redline was at the service dock, I went to say hi when the club called to tell me I had a visitor walking in the harbour.  My prospective buyer for Cygnus.

We showed Cygnus to André.  He appeared interested.

Afterwards we went to visit Redline. Chris showed up.  We set out sailing with a southeast wind out the channel.

We put up the main and No. 1.

We crossed the line early and turned back and went out again.  Tara II almost hit our aft.  There was a general recall.  We kept going.  I figured if it was a not general recall, we were in a good position.  It was a general recall and we came back to start again.

We came in last ... four minutes behind Tara II, something is wrong.

We also figured out that the jib sheets were incorrectly rigged.  We were not using the aft block.  This improved the use of the genoa track.

Sunday afternoon sail

Daniele and I got to the boat about 2PM.

Alan cancelled.  He cancelled Saturday too (it fairly rainny)

Upon arriving at the club, I talked with Jason and he showed me his boat, which had just been converted to electric drive while Daniele got the groceries and other stuff aboard Bellum.

I installed the new washers on the faucets

We got out at 3:15 PM and sailed for about 3 hours.  Ricked helped us depart the dock.  Winds were from the west so we motored out. We could have gone through the inner channel near shore and saved a bit of motoring.

 Sailed to Ile Perrot and back to the gut and back to Beaconsfield and returned to the dock.

We used No 2 and should have probably used No 3.  We reefed the main after an hour and half.  The reefing system worked well.

We successfully docked using the stern line from the piling to the spinnaker winch. The trick was to remove the lifelines.

We decided to have supper at home.  Nice Costco rib steak and a Hoya Cardenas.

Friday Persuit Race

Had a nice race with Daniele. 

Back to dual handed sailing and loving it.

Our start was 8 minutes after the Shark.  We caught up and came out 11 out of 15.  Sail was the No 1.

Would have done better with Cygnus since the winds died.

Good Raft up.  Stayed overnight and watched everyone go out for the Annual Regatta.  We had a afternoon commitment with MF.

First Wednesday race

Daniele picked me up to go to the club. Stopped at Amir for lunch.  She cleaned the new boat and cleaned the old boat.

Josh came by and we agreed to fix the anchor locker but leave the deck and traveler for later.  Should keep an eye on the deck.  Wetness there was higher around the second leg of the port hand rail.  The traveler could be protected by some stick on antiskid decal.

Chris showed up early.  We took off early and did some practice tacks.

Chris was a the helm. Daniele and I handled the sheets and traveler. 

Winds were shifty.

We  started at the wrong side of the start line, we could not get to RC at the one minute mark so we headed for the far end of the line and pinched to make the start line.

Timing of the sheets and tacking needed more precision and team work. One bad tack at the leeward mark when Therapy tacked in front of us. We tacked but should have veered around him and held our course, avoiding the incoming boats.

We came in close to last.  Boat performed well.  Crew needed tuning.

Return to Lake St. Louis

We got up early, somewhat early and started motoring to Valleyfield.  We arrived at the first bridge at 1. That was perfect.  I figured it would take two hours to get to Beauharnois just in time for the 3PM passage forecasted on the seaway site.

The first bridge opens and we all go through.  I had to slow down and tried to back up because the bridge was not all the way up.

We go to the second bridge and they opened the  bridge 10 minutes before we got there.  They closed the bridge before we got there.  They re-opened the bridge in 15 minutes.  arggg..

We go to the lock at 3 and there were no boat there. They had passed early.  F**K government workings.  Next passage 8:30.  We docked and washed the boat.  At 5, they let us through.

We rushed to meet the Friday fun race.  The fleet was just sitting around without any winds.  We circled around and headed for the club when we decided to anchor at the sandbars.  Better at anchor then the club.

Our track:

http://tinyurl.com/otkpawu

Iroquos to Lake St. Francis.

We got up and motored to Iroquois lock. After the lock, the rain started.

We motored.

We passed Drifter who was heading upwards to Iroqouis.

We motored to Snell / Iroquois. Did the locks. The sun came out and we put up the sail.

DF was undecided about where to go. St. Regis. Ile Pilon. She was concerned about some clouds north of us. Winds were calm but the current was in our favour. It was only 5PM. She mentions that he clouds looked like tornado. (her words)

 I was the Captain, She said so.

I sailed for two more hours and then motored to Somerville, near ile Mouton. Somerville was better sheltered. She calmed down when we anchored about 7. Opened the bar and had supper.

Lots of motoring today.  Lots of mileage.

Brockville onward to Toutsaints

We departed Brockville, sailed along the river in a run,

Watched a tall ship tack across the river

Tall ship tacking across river

We passed on the US side of the river.  Helicopters were circling round us.  Big helicopters !

Galop Canal South West

We toured and tried to anchor at Galop Canal South West near Iroquois Marine Services.  Nice tour of a swam, but it was too narrow for us to swing so we settled for Toutsaint.  Daniele did not like going in there, but in the end she admitted it was nice to explore.




A nice day of sailing.  Always nice sailing down current.

Nice swim at Toutsaints

. 

Brockville

Our favourite restaurant was closed until 5, so we at a pub - Buds on the Bay.

Bought some beer at the Beer Store

Watched the races at Brockville YC

Watched the races at BYC

Wet day at anchor - Grenidier Island (middle bay)

Monday, the rain came as forecast. Spent the day aboard.  Rain was constant. Cold.  Winds swung to the north as expected.

Napped a lot. Looked for leaks.  Starboard port and a drop came form galley light.

Slept some more.

We read, updated blogs... Cellular service was spotty.  Virginmobile mifi worked well.

bad day, bad night at Endymion island

We left Canoe Point to clear customs and do some provisioning.  We saw Redline and went to say hello and proceeded to Ganaoque.

Ganaoque municipal docks were full, as expected.  We grabbed a free dock and I checked in.  That went fine, but no spot was becoming available at the municipal docks.

We departed to rendezvous with Redline at Camolot Island North, but they were in a precarious anchorage.  We tried to anchor at Camelot, but were unsuccessful.  We went to Endymion Island and took a mooring, but without a dingy, we could not pay at the service dock.  We waited out some winds and took off looking for an anchorage, without success. We visited several places, but they were too rough or too full. 

Met the pearls en route in their dinghy.

We eventually anchored near the mooring we had given up.  12 fee of water and 40 to 50 feet of scope, we were close to other boats, that would be a problem if we swung in different directions.

We re anchored with similar results. 

A thunder and lightening storm started about 2;30 in the morning.We watched the fireworks.  They were spectacular. We were blow out of the bay away from the moored boats so we could "relax".  But then we noticed were were far from the other boats and the shoreline had houses.  I immediately realized something was wrong. Checked the chart plotter, depth gauge and put out more scope.

At first light, we motored and re anchored.

We decided to take off east.  Forget rendez-vous with Alan and Norm.  It was just too crowded.  We sailed to Grenadier Island, middle bay.

Day in Clayton, NY, Picton Island and Canoe Point

We left Cape Vincent to Clayton, NY.

Clayton was a nice easy going nautical town.  There was a serious free municipal dock for visitors.

Municipal Dock at Clayton

We visited the Antique Boat Museum

Antique Boat Museum

We lunched at a nice Bistro called Bella's cafe along the river, but some rye bread.  In town we bought some fudge.

Nice walk.

Afterwards, we replenished the ice and set sail to  Picton Island.  We anchored.  Nice bay.  Immigration officiers came by in Sea-Doos.  Pleasant place.


Spent the night and a good part of the next day.  Late in the day, we motored to Canoe Point, which was just a couple miles north.

It was cold. Waters were not at all as nice as it was two years ago.

 A little problem anchoring.  We drifted and had to re-anchor.

Sackets Harbor and Cape Vincent

In the morning, we left the anchorage and docked at the village of Sackets Harbor, thinking fill water tank, but on the public dock there is only electricity.

We toured the town and the historical sites.

We discovered that both water tank valves were open so we were draining from both tanks.

Nice long sail to Cape Vincent.  Motored for an hour, nice close haul north and then the winds died.

I accidentally hit MOB on GPS and spent 30 minutes trying to cancel the MOB.  Winds by then was very light.

Gased up and refilled both water tanks at Cape Vincent.

Got an unnecessary pump out to keep the GF happy.

Got liquor at the CAPE VINCENT liquor store. The owner liked Canadians.  Gave us a 10 % discount.

Had supper at  Captain Jacks.  We sat on the patio, but the scenery was not so great.  Had a big pizza and had leftovers for breakfast. Love cold pizza in the morning.

Back at the boat, it is the party with disco music and lighting. A gang of Quebec are partying. They are about 8 boats and engines are super organized. Sound system, lighting, chairs, tables, BBQ and so on. At 11:00 p.m. all over, silence settles and everyone starts to snore ...

We spent the next day at Cape Vincent.  Did Groceries, bought a long sleeve shirt.  Getting cold.

We spent the afternoon with scotch and beer at a gazebo near the washrooms charging our i-devices and Daniele's Macbook.

A CS30 came in under strong winds.  I went to help them dock.  He was from PCYC. Another CS 33 came in.  He was a friend of the first one.  A third came in afterwards.  It turned out to be Dominque.  a friend of Andre and the former owner of a CS 30 that I was looking at buying in March.

They went off for supper in town.

We went to bed and the next morning, we got up early and they were all gone.

We set off for a nice sail to Clayton.