Visit to Bronte

Ed and I were hoping to have some guests aboard this weekend, but as that didn't work out, were were just planning to go out for a day sail.  Since the weather forecast was excellent for both Saturday and Sunday, we made a last minute decision to head over to Bronte.  Along the way, I called Andrew, and we were glad that he and Deb could join us for dinner.  Later, we dropped by Blue Wing and enjoyed a visit with Ian and Shauna.  We saw what appeared to be a stuffed dog on a dock when we entered Bronte Outer Harbour Marina - strange.  It turns out that these decoys are effective at discouraging Canada geese from taking over the docks.

Sailing Day

We had some friends aboard today for a wonderful sailing day.  I know Susan and Michael from the curling club, and it turns out that Susan also works at Scotiabank.  Derek & Hayley, also from the curling club, were able to join us.  After our sail, as we were enjoying a refreshment in the cockpit, we saw both Allure and Silver Fox II set out on their adventures, and joined in tooting our horn to send them safely on their way.  Tapas left the following day, and we are now following each boat's blog, as they make their way south. 

2012 Women Skippers Race

Sue and Tina came to Toronto from Belleville to join us in the Women Skippers Race.  Unfortunately, it was raining with high winds and big waves, so we made the decision to stay at the dock and enjoy a visit, rather than brave the elements.  As we sat in the cockpit, we saw a small boat coming in without its mast.  We quickly realized that the situation was not good.  Knot J.A.F.S. was still in the harbour when the rudder broke off, which caused the boat to lose control, and the forestay parted, and the mast came down.  Fortunately, neither Heather nor her crew, Dana, were hurt.  Dana managed to get the boat back into the lagoon, steering with the outboard.  After we helped them dock, Ed made a cup of tea for Heather, and Katie kept her company, then Ed, Tina and I helped Dana undo the shrouds, remove the boom and mast from the boat, and get the sail off.  Once Dana and Ed moored the boat in its usual spot, we had some lunch, and a drink to calm nerves.  We listened to VHF 69 to hear a number of boats retiring from the race, including two other boats which lost their rudders. We also heard a mayday on VHF 16, and three men were removed from a boat awash at the western gap.  We were glad that we hadn't ventured out, and enjoyed good company for the afternoon, before heading to the clubhouse for Ribfest dinner.

A Different Point of View

This morning before we left HYC, I ran into Robin from Hidden Agenda.  We first met them in Belleville.  She and Mark arrived yesterday after making the long trip from Cobourg.  We chatted about next stops, and I encouraged her to stop at QCYC.  On leaving HYC, I was at the helm when the engine suddenly stopped.  I was able to restart it, and slip into and dock, where we checked that the water was flowing.  We likely got a bunch of weeds wrapped around the prop.  When we made it back home, there was a visiting boat in our slip.  They had been at the haul out slip, but someone wanted to put in their mast, and the work was not complete by the time we got back.  No harm - we pulled into CityView 4, since Saudades had just gone out for a sail.  We got a different view of the club than we usually enjoy.  As we walked around the club, we was that Hidden Agenda did get a spot  at QCYC. 

Scarborough Bluffs

Another calm day with flat water.  Motored all the way to Scarborough Bluffs.  It was a short trip, so along the way, we took some time to measure the deviation on our compass.  This helps determine the difference between a true course (as plotted on a chart) and the magnetic course (that you steer at the helm).  We did this by steering courses from 010 degrees through 360 degrees - basically making a large circle.  At each 10 degree mark, Ed would hold the compass course for a couple of minutes, and I would record our true course based on GPS reading.  When we approached the Bluffs area, we called the Catherdral Bluffs Yacht Club, but they were unsure whether they'd have space.  Instead, Ed and I went to Highland Yacht Club.  Lovely little club, with great wifi.  David and Linda on Dalina were docked here, but left a short time after we arrived.  We called home to warn the girls we'd be home soon, and then QCYC to make sure our slip would be available tomorrow.  We gave the boat a good scrub, so that she'd be beautiful upon her return to QCYC.

Whitby

After an early morning trip to the nearby bakery for bread fresh out of the oven, we headed out, bound for Whitby.  It was calm and flat, so we had a quick motor for most of the morning, with about an hour of sailing just before we got to Whitby.  By the time we got there, the winds were whipping up, and the waves were 2-3 feet.  At dinner the previous night, Keith had  commented on how few people have actually tried using their emergency tiller, so while we were motoring this morning, we did try it.  Nothing like calm conditions to try out emergency procedures.  We'd hate to be doing it for the first time when it was an emergency.  In Whitby, we took a walk to the nearby Tim Horton's - our first Tim's of the trip.  This was a quiet evening for reading and a movie.

Cobourg

Today started out a little foggy, with calm water in the Bay of Quinte.  We motored through the Murray Canal, and through Presqu'ile Bay.  We did get a couple of hours of sailing in, but the wind was again coming from the direction we wanted to go, and was picking up a lot.  By the time we started the engine, the wind was getting close to 20 knots with 3 foot waves.  In Cobourg, we looked for QCYC burgees, as this is a popular stop for both eastbound and westbound boats.  We found Elan, and as we were on our way to say hello, Eric from Alpha Omega came in to dock with his family.  We joined Madelaine and Keith for dinner at Oasis, a popular local restaurant.  Tomorrow we are heading off in opposite directions.  Wednesday is race night here, and we stopped by the Cobourg Yacht Club after dinner to day hello to Tony Pitts, who sails Abigail III.  Tony is a past commodore from QCYC, and moved out here a few years ago.