Marysia and Ela were our first guests this season. We had a brisk sail on Saturday, and both the ladies were great at the helm.
On Sunday, it was the first really hot and humid day of summer. We had a 'snow' storm with the fluffies out in full force as the wind picked up before a thunder storm. While it was still raining, we were treated to a beautiful full rainbow.
The Queen City Yacht Club is celebrating it's 125th anniversary this year, and there are lots of special events planned throughout the season, starting with Sailpast. The grand niece of the club's first commodore (Thomas World) was in attendance for the day, along with her son.
We've ordered special burgees for this year, but the company sewing them made a mistake and printed the wrong dates - not once, but twice - so we don't have our new burgee yet.
The weather for Sailpast was cool, but there was enough wind for us to sail without being overpowered. I always find it stressful being in the harbour with so many boats in close quarters, especially for the first sail of the season. Afterwards, Roel and Amy from Amelie, and JB from Eventide, came by to enjoy some refreshments. We sat in the cockpit until the review of the fleet, then went below to warm up before going to the Commodore's Punch reception.
We launched on Saturday, April 26. With the cold weather and late launch date, we were working to get all the boats launched in one weekend. We had a couple of good days, and managed to get them all in, with the exception of a couple of smaller boats which still had work to be done.
Ed removed the old stuffing from the stuffing box a couple of weeks ago. This is the stuff which fills the little gap where the propeller shaft goes through the hull, so is basically keeping the lake out of our boat. Changing the stuffing is a hard job because the old stuffing is jammed in pretty tightly, and you have to work by feel because the opening faces aft. Once the old stuffing is all removed, it's time to replace it with fresh stuffing, and tighten the locking nut to jam it in place.
Once we launched, Ed immediately checked the stuffing box and found a pretty steady stream of water coming in, which even I could hear when I poked my head in the companionway. Out came the tools, as Ed worked to tightened the nut some more. Since the bilge pump was able to easily keep up with the amount of water coming in, we decided that we'd be OK moving on to the dock, rather than asking to be hauled out again. It took Ed an hour or so, and a good borrowed wrench, to tighten the nut enough to slow the flow down to a normal drip. The boat was still floating when we arrived on Sunday to launch the remaining boats :-)
With Easter falling late in the spring this year, launch weekend was originally scheduled for April 12-13. Unfortunately, the long winter has stretched into spring, with thick ice in the harbour well into March. The decision was made to delay launch to the weekend after Easter, giving the ice time to melt, and us time to prepare the boat. Good thing, as there was still ice in the lagoon on the 12th. Somehow, the ice was gone by Sunday.
On Saturday, Ed got the cover off the boat before I arrived, I took the frame apart, and we took turns sanding the bottom with the orbital sander. We got the bottom painted on Sunday, with almost as much paint on ourselves as on the boat. Thanks for the photo, Bev.
All that's left is getting the engine hoses reconnected, and we're ready to launch!
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| Approx 43.62 N 079.35 W |
Over the last 2 weeks, we've been on the water both north and south of home - and both places were warmer than Toronto, where we've had a long harsh winter, and the harbour is still frozen over.
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| Approx 64.17 N 021.84 W |
In Reykjavik, Iceland we went out on Andrea (on the North Atlantic, at night, in February) just far enough from town to get away from the lights of the city, in search of the Aurora Borealis. We saw an arch of light in the sky, but not what you'd really think of as Northern Lights. Iceland was a fascinating mix of the modern urban, and barren expanses outside of town. I'd love to go back in the summer, and maybe go for a real sail out of the Brokey Yacht Club. We did see a few boats docked at the club with their sails still on, and one which looked like someone preparing for a serious expedition.
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| Approx 22.65 N 079.13 W |
We were home for 36 hours - just long enough to switch luggage, and see Matt Andersen in concert - then headed off to Cuba where we sat on a beach for a week at the Playa Cayo Santa Maria. In addition to a few outings on the Hobie Cats at the resort, we went out on a BIG cat, Centauro, for a day of snorkelling and a "dolphin interaction". We did actually sail for about 15 minutes, but the winds were pretty light, and the engine came back on pretty soon.
