Sail with Darla

Darla and I set sail from 2 to 6.  We sailed abeam to the got and then to Baie d'urfie and back.  Gaucho followed us out.  We met Matchmaker on the way back.

A nice Sail. 

Met with Mr. Glen Levit apres. 

Frostbite 4 - NOT

Crew availability was scarce. Maud was not available.  Sylvie wanted to sail her own boat.  Bob was looking after his wife. And Christine had curling.  

Norm was available and willing, and Eric wanted to go out since Resolute II was on the hard. 

The weather was warm for October21 and sunny.

So Norm, Eric and I ventured out in almost zero wind, not really expecting to race.  

We motored past the gut and drifted around for a couple hours and then slowly motored back to the club and folded the 155 which was loosely folded in the sausage bag two weeks earlier (on the deck) and we put away the main, leaving the 135 for any opportunity to sail if David lets me stay for the last week of October.  

I cycled back for Morphe Blu's birthday.  Darla asked to go sailing.

Final Frostbite 

October sail - MAYDAY !!!

The weekend weather was supposed to be amazing for October   The week's forecasts so far have been very windy typical with 30 knots of gusts. Even at night.

So I departed Friday at 4PM in 15 knots south wind sailed to Grand Anse and started the engine to anchor in preparation for a 15-knots of a southernly windy evening at about 17:35.

Then a Mayday came in on the VHF about a couple kayakers who went overboard south of Pointe-Claire yacht club. I had passed a couple on a kayak earlier and waved at them after avoiding a collision with them.

There were not many boats on the lake and the water temperature was 12.9 C, I felt compelled to help.

I acknowledged the Mayday on VHF and headed towards PCYC  where they were reported. I kept an outlook for the MOB and reported that I had no visuals. Quebec Coast Guard Radio reports they were near AD20   

In the meantime, the Hovercraft CCGS Mamilossa was in the area and AUX 1299 was launching their boat at Cartier and it would take 20 minutes to get out.

As I go to AD22 the mayday was terminated with the recovery of the tow kayakers.  Later I monitored the recovery of the kayak and the transfer of it from the hovercraft to AUX1299.

I acknowledged and sailed to anchor at Dowkers in the sunset.  

Bellum was just as fast in 15 knots of wind as at full throttle.

Evening supper was sausages with caramelized onions, peppers and a potato all in a cast iron skillet  

Overnight Bellum gently glazed the bottom. I pulled the boat closer to the anchor.

I got up at 9 in the morning.  At 11, I manually hauled up the anchor, just to try it out. I sailed into the main lake as the winds were picking up just ahead of me glazing another rock.  Forward was me was becalmed.

I met up with Obsessive Scientist, Matchmaker and Gaucho. I sailed around chasing the other club boats, photographing them.

It was nice sailing in variable winds.  I was in no rush. sailing.  It was so warm, I took off my shirt.

Eventually, the winds lowered and I put up the whisker pole until after the gut when the winds switched from west to east and I put the whisker pole away and motored back to the club.  I was thinking of anchoring outside Dorval Island but did not. Had a drink on Gaucho, BBQ a steak on Bellum and then met up with Mike, Jason and Ed at the wine-tasting event and had a nightcap at the bar.  The night was cool (about 6 C) and glad I did not anchor out.

  

No Sailing

On Wednesday, I biked to the club to

• Help Haul out Redline
• Winterize Tara II engine
• Winterize Resolute II with Shipwright

I was planning to sail, but the weather looked wet and the overnight was going to be gusty to 30 knots.

The wind got bad at about 4 PM and was very rainy so it was not pleasant to cycle back. 

At 5:15, a sunny hole developed and Audrey and I took advantage to bike back home.  I had the trailer with me.

My bike battery died about two miles before getting home but there were no hills left!

The rest of the week was windy.

Frostbite 3

After going through my crew bank, Norm and Sylvie confirmed, However, Sylvie slept in and missed their race.

I had planned to change 135 for 155 but with just two of us, we decided to race with the 135.

As forecasted, the winds died about noon but we were able to carry out two races.  

Ghost Owl did a dick move at the first start  - tacked in front of us while we were starboard and they were port.  They pushed us and a Shark way out of our way to avoid a collision.  And she ended up having a better start than we did.

Norm helmed both races. We went for light wind sail after the race and motored back.

Evert was PRO on RC. A well-run race.

Transmission oil

I did engine and transmission oil changes.  The transmission oil was quite dirty.

Fast sailing with Sylvie and Katleen

Saturday was supposed to be windy and Sunday not so windy.  The forecast for Saturday was 13 to 18 with gusts to 25.  

I had a crew with Andreanne lined up but she cancelled last minute as I was cycling to PCYC to watch their crane day.  Sylvie texted me to say she was at the club and it was too windy for her to go out alone so I cancelled PCYC and came to the club at noon.  

We took Bellum out with an intention of just using the reefed 135.  As we exited the harbour, winds were steady at 25 to 27 knots and I decided not to deploy the sail.  I headed west and the winds declined, and we deployed the reefed 135-head sail and had a good run at 6.5 knots to the gut.  Then we tried beating and it got rough.  We beat for about 3 minutes and had to bear off to avoid some shallow spots.  Beamed to Baie'durie, sailed around and then closed haul back to the gut and beamed back to the club.  

We needed to get back before six when the winds were forecast to increase to 19 gusting 29.  

Forecasted Winds

Actual winds

30 knots overnight

Nice docking at 4h30 in a strong south wind.  

I had oysters with Audrey and Scott and then bbq sausages on Bellum at the dock.  Temp was supposed to be 5, fine with the heater.  Better than riding back home and back to the club early for the Frostbite.

Very windy night at the dock. 

Single handed mid-October two nights - Thanksgiving

Monday, I sailed to Dowkers. Sylvie had invited me to join her and Eric.  I hesitated to join as I wanted to sleep aboard Bellum.  

I stowed the 155, which was sitting in my cabin in the large and hard-to-manage sausage bag. I stowed her in the club locker.  In fact, I was glad I had not reinstalled the 155 after the Frostbite.

Winds were light and shifty from the west. I sailed from the club channel and had to veer north to Allen Hill bay and kept getting veered until I ran aground in the bay. I had to furl and motor out and headed south across the channel and sailed to the gut and then towards Grande Anse and then sailed into Dowkers doing a zero carbon anchorage.  The wind was from the west and I was well sheltered.  I was alone - even the houseboat was gone.  

Sunset was great as was the moonrise.  One day after the full moon.  The previous Sunday was too cold to anchor.

Flower pot heater

In fact, it turned out to be a very cold night.  My heating was a clay flower pot on the propane stove and the Heat Pal alcohol heater.  After I turned off all the heat and went to bed, the Carbon Monoxide detector went off.  The first time that has happened.  Appreciated the warning.  In the morning, the temperature was -1.  

Tuesday winds were from the west and light. I hauled anchor and lightly touched a rock and I started the motor to get out to a safe part of the bay and I sailed out of the bay and around the lake a couple of times.  Departure was at noon and returned to Grand Anse at 3

Saw a float plane come in toward St. Anne

Wednesday I hauled anchor and sailed back to the club. Winds were variable from zero to 13 knots back and forth.  I never had to start the motor.  Got to the club at 4.  Norm helped me dock. Sylvie was at the club, doing stuff on her boat and helping others dock, etc.

I biked to Access Electronics to return the Laptop power adapter and picked up some Samosas for the week.

I biked to Ikea and had a salmon supper there as I was famished.  Biked home.