1990 Canadian Sailcraft CS34 Shoal Draft
Sail #8268

1982 Catalina 22 Fin Keel
Sail #10506

1994 MUMM 36 ACE
Sail # 29206

Thursday, July 30, 2015

CS34 Cobourg to Sodus Bay

I woke up before the alarm at 5am, took the dog for a pee/poop, and off we went.

Winds were from the west 5-8 knots, very lumpy from the overnight blow from the south that had waves coming from a different direction.

Put main up to stabilize us:

Time on the photo is 5:41am
With waves, the sail was just flapping, so we motored for several hours.

I guess I rushed the dog, and he wasn't done pooping: he had chocolate thunder in his tail and it got all over the boat!  We spent over an hour cleaning it up.  Then the dog got sick in the cockpit!  Uggghhh.

Things were getting less lumpy and the winds picked up to 20 knots from the west, so I was able to set the main and jib and turn the motor off with 7+ knots of boat speed.

About 10 miles from the south shore, we called ACE on the VHF.
Michael and Mark/Christine were delivering her from National.
There estimated their arriving after 7pm.
They were sailing the south shore under spinnaker and advised us to go in shore where there are less waves.

We did so, going directly south to the shore instead of directly at Sodus Bay.
On the south shores, the winds were also less, so we dropped the sails and motored along the shore.

We wanted to duck into a bay and take the dog for a pee, but didn't want to get in trouble with US customs.

We arrived in Sodus Bay at 4pm.


Tailgater

Motoring into Sodus Bay

Approaching Sodus Bay Yacht Club

On the trip I noticed that the house batteries were run down to 10.8 volts.  This should not have happened with the motor running as much as it did.  The alternator was NOT charging the batteries.

This meant that we could not use the windlass to anchor in the bay, plus the fridge and freezed of food would spoil, so we got a slip at the nearby Kaitlyn Marina for $1 per foot.  We took a tempory slip and go Bogart off the boat for a much needed washroom stop.

Kaitlyn Marina

We walked into town (about 10 min walk) to report into US Customs:


The customs video phone was broken!

Luckily we met up with Gray and Elaine from Cobourg who were also staying on their boat in Kaitlyn Marina and say us come in.  They lent us their cell phone to call in.  Did not want to use my phone in the US because of roaming charges.  Elaine has been on the board a Cobourg Yacht Club for years!

We had some wings/beers with them at Captain Jacks.  Also met Jodi, who was competing on Kamakazi a Trip 37 from Cobourg and his crew.  Jodi used to be Commodore at Cobourg, and gave me a LOT of pointers on running LYRA next year at Whitby.

Back to the boat, and got the motor on the dinghy and went to SBYC:





Registration for ACE was closed, and would open up tomorrow at 8:30am.

Boats were rafted 10 deep:


ACE came in at dusk, and we rafted off Red Jacket, a legendary custom C&C 44 from RCYC.

We all went for dinner at Captain Jacks:

Captain Jack LOVES the ladies
The ladies LOVE Captain Jack
Long but fun day and night!


Trip Odometer: 72.03 miles
Moving Average: 6.8 knots
Moving Time: 10:48:00

Track: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/12535935/Still%20Time/2015/20150730.kmz

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

CS34 RCYC to Whitby to Cobourg

Bruce was supposed to pickup the dinghy part first thing on Wednesday morning and deliver.
When I contacted him, he didn't have a vehicle, so he couldn't do it.
Thanks anyways Bruce.

I had to make alternate arrangements.

I contacted Colin from Whitby and asked if I could borrow his dingy; no problem.

We left RCYC at 10:30, arriving in Whitby at 3:30pm.

We dropped off the broken inflatable, and pickup up Colin's Walker Bay 8 from the dinghy rack.

We did a quick provision trip to local Metro grocery store, and I did a pump out.

We left Whitby at 5pm motoring to Cobourg, arriving at 11:30pm.

We took a spot on the north wall

Still Time and Walker Bay dinghy
Toronto to Whitby:

Trip Odometer: 26.54 miles
Moving Average: 6.0 knots
Moving Time: 04:26:00

Whitby to Cobourg:

Trip Odometer: 35.74 miles
Moving Average: 5.8 knots
Moving Time: 06:07:00

Track: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/12535935/Still%20Time/2015/20150729.kmz

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

CS34 Amsterdam Brew Pub

After breakfast on the boat, I set out to get some things ready for our trip to Sodus Bay for LYRA.

When we went to BBQ last night, the BBQ would not light.  I took the unit off the back of the boat and took it apart on shore and gave it a good cleaning.  Worked fine after it dried out.

Next up was cleaning and blowing up the dinghy.  After a good cleaning, I found that I could not blow up one of the air chambers; the valve was broken off.

Good Valve

BAD Valve
Was wondering what the pieces of plastic all over the bottom of the dinghy!

Called all the local chandleries for replacement valves, and nobody had replacement valves.

FOGH Marine referred me to CO2 Inflatables in Oakville.  They had replacement valve for $35 a piece, plus another $10 for the tool to remove and install it.  TOO bad I wasn't in Oakville anymore (5km cab ride from The Oakville Club).

Arranged for my friend Bruce to pickup the replacements on Tuesday and delivery to me in Toronto.

Off we went on Still Time with Don/Jude and Wally/Grace to tour the islands:

Jon and Dude

We parked the boat right outside the Amsterdam Brew Pub for lunch:


Awesome lunch



We did a walking trip to the Dock Shoppe (and Beer Store).

New dinghy was priced at $1795.

Did pickup a new Canadian flag and a stainless fitting to put it on the stern rail:




I didn't turn the GPS on for the trip.

We went back Hanlan's Wall and said goodbye to our friends, and went on to RCYC

Rita taking Bogart for a pee

Good view from princess seat

RCYC clubhouse
OCanada, Derek Hatfield's Open 60 was moored off of RCYC.
Canadian Eric Holden is campaigning it for the single handed Vendez Globe race next year.
We had saw the boat in the Lake Ontario 300; crewing on it was Picton's Sandy McPherson.




Trip Odometer: 1.75 miles
Moving Average: 4.5 knots
Moving Time: 00:22:00

Click for bigger


Bruce could not pickup the part for the dinghy, and was hoping to do it tomorrow morning.

We need the dingy to anchor in Sodus Bay, and we have to be in Sodus Bay on Thursday evening.  Cutting it fine: 109 to Sodus Bay from Toronto.


Monday, July 27, 2015

CS34 Hanlan's Wall

We were the first to get to Hanlan's wall, and picked a spot in the shade.



We interconnected with some overhanging trees:



Don and Judy came in with Marietta (Catalina 30), as well as Wally and Grace with Whisper (CS30).

We cooked a wonderful dinner and ate on shore on the picnic tables.

We started a fire with gathered wood.


Judy and Rita
Wally and Grace

Don and I were stoking the fire


Toronto Parks charged us $55 to stay the night.
Includes power.



CS34 Oakville to Toronto

Before I left Whitby for Oakville, I had Peter cut the flagpole holder off that was preventing me from mounting the "princess seats" on Still Time:

Peter Karadi with cut-off grinder


The seats only took an hour to install before we left, and are a great place to sit:

Princess Seat

Prince Seat

The hardest part was positioning, cutting, and attaching the support legs.

Starboard

Port

We had planned to go cruising with our friends Don and Judy from Newcastle, but with LYRA and Judy having a friend come in from BC the next week, we could only get together with them for a day or two.

We sailed from Oakville to Toronto to meet them on Toronto Island.

Leaving Oakville, there wasn't much wind to sail, so we got out our cleaning buckets and scrubbed the dock and cockpit for over an hour under motor and autopilot.  When done the winds filled in from the south.  It was a sunny warm day, so I just put up the spinnaker.





Easy sailing, in 10 knots of wind just forward of the beam:

6.6 knots!

Cell phone selfie under spinnaker:


Babe on the bow:



We took a spot on Hanlan's wall.

Trip Odometer: 21.95 miles
Moving Average: 4.9 knots
Moving Time: 04:26:00

Google Earth Track: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/12535935/Still%20Time/2015/20150727.kmz

Sunday, July 26, 2015

Brother Doug's 25th Wedding Anniversay

I know this is a sailing blog, but family trumps sailing (and golf).
I had to skip the final day of the RBC Canadian Open.

25 years ago I was the best man at my brother Doug's wedding at Parkwood Estate in Oshawa.

Left to Right:

Doug and Tania
Daughter Melissa (3 years old)
Adina (Tania's sister) and me
Terry and Graham
Gina (sister) and Phil

Click for a larger version
Doug's wife Tania is having a rough time in her battle with cancer, so we wanted to re-create the moment:


My sister Gina from Ottawa could not make it, so flower girl Melissa went in her place.

What a great day!


Melissa and her beau James

Thanks Rita for taking some awesome photos!

Saturday, July 25, 2015

CS34 The Oakville Club

The Oakville Club is a great spot.

The harbour is very quiet, secluded, and the washrooms/showers are the best we have EVER seen in a yacht club.  The only downside is the Mediterranean style slips (no fingers), and they cannot accommodate boats larger then 35 ft.

Still Time in her slip
Extra fenders to keep the boat off the wall

The wall made it easier to get on/off the boat

Mediterranean style slips

Still Time was sticking way out in a slip for a 28ft boat.
Thanks harbour master Larry for accommodating us.

Rita (and Bogart) came down for Saturday night.

We had a nice glass of wine in the cockpit




We toured around downtown Oakville; BEAUTIFUL

Took some kewl shots of the harbour at night.






I like signs:



The bridge is probably 80 ft above the water/boats:

Me with Bogart