Saturday, August 17, 2013

Bronte

The weather was nice with a light wind, so we sailed to Bronte.  We left at about the same time as a long distance race was starting, I turned around at one point, and there were a bunch of spinnakers heading the same way we were.  I think they were heading for the Burlington mark.  In Bronte,   Deb was able to meet us for dinner at The Firehall, but we missed Andrew, as he was on his way eastbound, taking Horton to Kingston, where he'd pick it up the next week to sail the Thousand Islands.  We had another good sail back home on Sunday, once again coming across a race as we approached the western gap.

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Women Skippers Race 2013

We didn't make plans to have anyone over for the Women Skippers Race this year, so I was asking around the club, and someone suggested that Amanda might be able to join us, but she didn't think she'd be staying for the race.  Our boat neighbours, Maria & Tony, were doing chores around the boat, but were willing to give that up to join us in the race.  Just before we left, Amanda came by to see whether we were still looking for crew - perfect!  

Tony and Amanda are both 'racers', so kept us competitive.  We finished 6th out of 11 boats in our division - our best finish ever.  Ribs for dinner were great, and we even stayed for the party.

Saturday, August 03, 2013

@ Home Again

We didn't have far to go from Whitby, so we sailed most of the way, even though the wind was a little light.  Just as we approached the Leslie Street Spit, we noticed a QCYC boat called @ Home Again.  How appropriate. 

Friday, August 02, 2013

Weather

After a couple of really pleasant days in Cobourg, it was time to move on.  The weather forecast for Friday was calling for thunderstorms in the afternoon, so we got an early start  for the trip to Whitby.  We had no wind, so were able to make good time motoring.  We saw rain to the north of us, and another big cloud heading southeast.  We got a little sprinkle of rain, but most of it passed us.  It did look dramatic though, and we saw a couple of power boats hurrying along to avoid the weather.  Just as we arrived at Port Whitby Marina, the sky to the west got quite dark.  We were safely docked by the time the heavy rain, thunder and lightning came by.

Thursday, August 01, 2013

Cobourg

We left CFB Trenton YC, and with absolutely no wind, we once again motored all the way to Cobourg.  We had to slow down a couple of times, reverse the engine, and do all sorts of circles, to get rid of the weeds we picked up in the Bay of Quinte and Presqu`ile Bay, and were dragging on our rudder.  The Murray Canal had a number of weed mats floating right across, that we had no choice but to power through.  You`d think someone could keep those few kilometers of channel clear.   Cobourg Marina was busy, so we tied up to the north wall, with no water or power.  Just behind us docked an Island Packet 38.  Ed met Nigel and Patricia on Dancing Brolga, from the Lakeshore Yacht Club, and invited them aboard.  Then we got to tour the IP.   Beautiful boat, and huge compared to ours.  We went for dinner at Oasis Bar & Grill, and invited Nigel and Patricia to join us.  It poured rain overnight, and into the morning, so we decided to stay put for another day.  A dock opened up once the rain stopped, when a group of Americans on power boats headed out.  A couple of them ended up returning, because conditions were apparently pretty rough on the lake.