2015 Sailing Vacation begins in Mimico

This year, we started our vacation close to home.  We didn't have far to go to get to the Mimico Cruising Club, so the light rain which was falling on our departure didn't worry us.  We motored out the western gap, and then enjoyed a downwind sail to the entrance to the the yacht club.  
By the time we arrived, the rain was pretty steady, but we were settled before the possible thunderstorms which were forecast for later in the day.  Thankfully, thunderstorms didn't materialize, and we spent a cool, rainy afternoon watching the PanAm Games on TV.  Katie is working in the kitchen at MCC, so we had dinner at the club.
Later, (much later - well after dark) Andrew and his friend Chris arrived from Bronte aboard Wild at Heart, and we joined them for a nightcap and snacks. 

Let the games begin

Ed and I went out for a sail on one of the first really warm, nice summer days.  We saw several boats heading out onto the lake to take part in the first of the PanAm Games sailing events.  There were three different courses out on the lake.  Lots of spectator boats were heading out to watch, but with such nice sailing conditions, we opted to sail.

TD team goes for a sail

One of Ed's colleagues was visiting from London, ON, so Ed invited a group from work out for a sail. Tim, his girlfriend Marta, Doug and John joined us.

We had a nice evening with enough wind to have a good sail, but not so much to make new sailors nervous.

A couple of days later, Tim and Marta were riding their bikes on the island and stopped by for a visit and refreshment.  It was a welcome break from our boat job that day - refinishing the teak toe rail on a hot day.

And we're off....

Sailpast 2015 turned out to be a lovely warm day, with minimal wind. After a short outing in the harbour, we enjoyed refreshments with Roel and Amy aboard their new boat, Amelia, along with Keith and Madeleine from Elan.  Amy and Roel had actually owned Amelia for many years, and sold it before moving abroad.  It came up for sale again, and they bought her back!

Woman driver!

A couple of weeks ago, as we were heading over to the island to prep the boat for launch, Jim asked Ed if he'd like to learn to drive the winch.  Jim looks after training new drivers, and with an aging membership, he's looking for 'young' drivers.  Nice to hear that in our 50's, we're young!  Anyway, Ed wasn't too keen, but I said I'd like to learn.  After a short silence, Jim asked whether I was serious.  Of course I was serious.  My only concern was whether it required a lot of physical strength.  Jim assured me that it didn't really require strength - just some coordination.  

I wondered how the training would go, since I wouldn't be at the club until launch day.  Early on the first day of launch, Eriks gave me the very serious safety briefing, and explained how the transmission on the engine works and what to watch for when I was driving.  Then Jim called me into the winch house to watch the driver, and to show me around the huge diesel engine. Next shift, it was my turn.  At first, I just drove the boats towards the water, and as we got close, I would stop the car, and Jim would actually launch the boat.  Then it was my turn.  I launched three boats that shift, then got to drive again later in the afternoon.  The next day, I signed up for another shift to practice my new skills.  I can understand why drivers only work in 1 hour shifts.  It takes a lot of concentration, and is a little stressful, but what a cool thing to learn to do.  My training will continue at haul out.