CS34 Fall Regatta

The Whitby Yacht Club's Fall Regatta, was re-scheduled from last weekend, when we had nasty weather with 35 knot winds.

Could not get crew, so at the skipper's meeting I recruited Steve Moffat from the club.  Steve has been crewing for years on a C&C 38 called Frenzy.  He also has crewed for Dave Sandford on Skana.

Steve and I went out to the race course on big Still Time (CS34).  The first thing we did was drop the dodger forward to get it out of the way.  The second thing we did was take the bimini canvas and frame off.  Completely different boat.

Winds were as high as 20 knots, and as low as 8 knots from the south.  Lumpy out there, so you needed to crack the sheets off for close reach power to get through the waves.

Race 1: 5 Short

The 135% genoa is in decent shape, but the UV cover has shrunk causing a big hook on the leech of the sail: SLOW.

Race 2: 5 short

In the 2nd race, we had a terrible start, but had a good race.

Race 3: 6 shortened short

In the middle of this race, we noticed a batten had poked a hole in the batten pocket and was sticking out about a foot. Between races, we furled the genoa, started the motor, dropped the main, and fixed the batten.

Race 4: 6 shortened short

The last race was out best race, and we finish 4th of six boats.

We came near to last in all races, but had fun.

There are three things I have learned:

1. That when you type "miles" with your right hand over one position, you get "nukes"
2. Still Time is NOT a racer
3. Steve Moffat is good crew

Thanks for coming out with me Steve.

Trip Odometer: 24.45 miles

Moving Average: 4.5 knots

Moving Time: 05:28:00

Track not posted because it is a mess of data points.

CS34 Moonlight Cruise

The club does a moonlight cruise every Friday before a full moon.  Full moon was Sunday.

We had four boats go out:

• Still Time
• Bananas
• Pro Patria
• Illusion

Winds were 12-18 knots from the east and supposed to swing to the NE (and did).

The plan was to sail to Oshawa harbour entrance and back (maybe 6 miles each way).

Rita and I went out with our sailing friend Jenny

We went out with a reefed main and full genoa.  It was a little lumpy, and it was difficult to beat towards Oshawa, and we just went out into the lake on a close reach and back.

The moon was awesome.; thanks for coming Jenny!

Trip Odometer: 7.42 miles

Moving Average: 4.2 knots

Moving Time: 01:45:00

Track: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/12535935/Still%20Time/2015/20150925.kmz

C22 WYC Stonehaven Cup Race

Last race of the year counting towards overall.

Could not round up any crew, so I went out single handed.

Winds were supposed to be 6-8 from the NE and diminish after noon.  We purposely started the race an hour early to avoid this.

Course was set to windward leg from Mark 9 then west to Moore's Point off the Picking Nuclear Generating station and back.  If the winds died, Tanker would move to Moore's Point mark and finish the race there.

Oddly, the wind filled in at 6-7 knots from the south.

Close reach to the west, then beam reach back.  Easy sail.

Finished 5th of 6 boats, not too far behind in corrected time.

Sailed way into the channel!

Trip Odomter: 15.47 miles
Moving Average: 3.5 knots
Moving Time: 04:21:00

Track:https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/12535935/Still%20Time/2015/20150920.kmz

CS34 Commute to Work

Dockmate Scott and I work for the same company, building, and floor in Pickering at Liverpool and 401.

We looked at the weather yesterday (sunny and hot) and decided we would commute into work by boat. I emailed, and arranged for a slip at Fairport Yacht Club on Frenchman's Bay.

Met at the club at 8am, and left the dock shortly after.

Only 2-3 knots of wind, so, we didn't bother with the sails, and motored the entire way.

We pulled into our slip, and called for a ride from one of our co-workers.  Otherwise it would have been about a 20 minute walk to our office.


Trip Odometer: 8.52 miles
Moving Average: 6.3 knots
Moving Time: 01:21:00

Track: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/12535935/Still%20Time/2015/20150918-1.kmz

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We got a ride back from work to the boat at 4pm.
We took a tour over to the west side of Frenchman's Bay:

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Wind was on the nose at 4 knots, so we motored back.

Trip Odometer: 9.88 miles
Moving Average: 5.4 kots
Moving Time: 01:22:00

Track: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/12535935/Still%20Time/2015/20150918-2.kmz

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C22 Whitby Single Handed

Now that regular Wednesday night racing is done, Whitby is having a single handed series.

We had six boats out:

• Still Time
• Cheeky Monkey
• Mickey
• Foxtrot
• Firebird
• Bananas

Before going out, I re-terminated the autohelm electrical connections that have been giving me trouble.  

Winds were forecasted for 6-8 from the south.  Out on the water, different story; only 2 knots max.

We tried to start at 18:00 as it is getting dark before 20:00.  We delayed until 18:45 bobbing around mark 9, and called the race.

Firebird near mark 9

Another incredible sunset!

Sometimes after 7pm, the winds did fill in to 5 or 6 knots, so I went out into the lake to try and catch up with the new 1D35 at the club:

Had to start the outboard to keep up with them!

Going so fast flames were coming from her!

The flames are an aberration of the sun with the cell phone camera.

I did not have my GPS, so no track data, however, I was able to download the track from the Velocitek Pro Start

Google Earth Track: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/12535935/Still%20Time/2015/20150916.kmz

ACE Whitby 100

Could not go on ACE for the Whitby 100, I had a family funeral to attend on Saturday afternoon.

ACE had seven people on it:

• Mike (driver)
• Jenny 
• Ashley
• Peter
• Mark
• Tony
• John Scurr (from WYC)

Said good-bye to them at the dock at 7:30pm:

It was blowing close to 20 knots from the north west, and was going to build all night.

When I wrote the sailing instructions, I didn't consider that the fleet would be starting in the dark.  Will avoid this next time.

Looking at the GPS track, ACE goto to ABYC at 22:30; under two and half hours to over 19 miles!

That's over 8 knot average!

Talking with Mike, Peter, and John, they passed the ABYC mark without seeing it, hoisting the spinnaker on a starboard tack.  After 35 minutes and 5 miles, they gybed the spinnaker to port.  They were screaming along at over 10 knots sustained, maxing out at 13.6 knots.

It was a very dark night, cloudy, no moon, and rain.

They got around Niagara at 01:17.  Thats a little over 2 1/2 hours to cover 24 miles.  That is a 9.6 knot average!

They hoisted at #2 after the douse.  Too much sail for the wind, but were screaming along close hauled at 7 knots.  They carried it for 3 miles (25 minutes).  They decided to to a head sail change from the #2 to the #4  They would allow them to drive the main more.  Peter was on the bow organizing the dropped headsail on the deck, when Michael had the tiller knocked out of his hands, and the boat did a crash tack and almost broached.  Michael did a head count, and found the boat VERY slow and no steerage.   The boat crash tack 6 or 7 times, no steerage.

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They were wandering all over the place!

It was dark, everyone was wet, the boat was soaked (mast collar, leaking windows and jib tracks), and many were sea sick, especially below.

Michael figured something hit the rudder and damaged it, so he started motor and withdrewl, motoring back to National.  After a couple miles, the debris on the rudder cleared.

Everyone figures, we ran in to a large patch of weeds from the Niagara river.  It wrapped around the keel, and when it came off, it hit the rudder, causing ACE to lose steerage.  Plus there was a 5-6 knot current coming out of Niagara that was counter acting the rudder.

Out of seven boats entering the Whiity 100, four withdrew.

It was a tough race, but a good test of offshore sailing.

Trip Odometer: 113.8 miles

Moving Average: 6.2 knots

Moving Time: 18:18;39

Max Speed: 13.6 knots

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ACE Delivery for Whitby 100

Went by GO Train to National Yacht Club to deliver ACE for the Whitby 100.

Had two people bail on me, so I did the delivery single handed.

Not much wind (maybe 4 knots).

ACE is impossible to sail single handed or for that matter double handed.  Without an autohelm, you cannot leave the tiller for more than 10 seconds, or the boat wanders excessively.

I didn't even bother with the sails.

Even to go below, I throttled the motor back to nothing, got a water or whatever, then resumed when I got back to the tiller.

Leaving National

Selfie off Toronto Island

In flat water, ACE will do 6.0 knots at 2,900 RPM comfortably.

Off Ajax, I passed Tom and Marge's Belize Magic (Jeanneau 40) who were sailing home:

Approximately 0.6 miles from the mouth of the Whitby Harbour, the engine started sputtering.  I immediately when into neutral, and went below to get the jerry can that had 5 litres of diesel in it.  The engine died as I was putting it in.

Whitby Yacht Club in the back ground

Call the Whitby Yacht Club, and Tony and Joe towed me in using the club's workboat (took about half an hour for them to get out to me):

They towed me into Port Whitby Marina to get some fuel.  After fueling, the guys helped me bleed the air our of the fuel lines, water separator, and fuel filter.  We towed the boat back to the visitor's dock and completed bleeding the lines.  The motor started and ran for about 10 minutes.  We bleed it again, same result: started, and stalled again after 10 minutes.

ACE crew member Tony is a diesel mechanic.  He discovered that the fuel pickup in the tank was blocked with sediment stopping the fuel flow.  Had to disconnect the line and blow forefully to clear it.

In restrospec, I should have immediately shut the engine down, and the fuel system would not have need bleeding and not have sucked sediment into the intake tube.

C22 Final Whitby Wednesday Night Race

Tonight was the final Wednesday night race in Whitby.

We had a full crew, Melissa, John, Chris, and me.

Windfinder was saying 16-20 from the NW:

We rigged up a #3 and reefed main at the dock.  However, we could not find the reefing hook, so we hoisted the racing main sans reef.

Going out the harbour winds were much less, more like 6-8 from the North; no waves.
We swapped out the #3 for the #1.
Just the perfect amount of sail.
Course was 1 short.

We had a great start on starboard tack, running the line, and hardening up at the gun.  We had the 3 Sharks and the T-Bird below and behind us.

On a starboard tack the large spinnaker boats were already coming from mark one, so we tacked to avoid them.  We thought we were being lifted to the mark, but AGAIN were last the mark.  Looking at the track, we sailed a LOT more distance.  We should have continued on starboard.  Also, we did NOT detect the knock immediately after the tack.

We did well on the next two legs.

The winds shifted to allow us to do a close reach to the finish (supposed to be an upwind beat).
We had to throw a short tack near Tanker Jones to finish.

Coming back in we witnessed the most amazing sunset:

We came in last, but had a fantastic sail.

Trip Odometer: 8.32 miles
Moving Average: 3.9 knots
Moving Time: 02:09:00

Track: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/12535935/Still%20Time/2015/20150909.kmz

CS34 Bowmanville

Rita and I got to the boat and left the dock at 11:30am.

Went over to get a pump out, and see Peter Smith, Leon, Dave, Brent, and Jenny prepping the mast on their new 1D35 race rocket.

We went out of the harbour at around noon, headed east to Bowmanville.

Winds were 12-16 knots from the south (just past a beam), too much for a spinnaker, so we hoisted a full main and unfurled the full genoa, getting us moving to Bowmanville between 5 and 6+ knots.

Very comfortable, the dog even slept in the cockpit at our feet.

We passed a 700+ ft freighter at the St. Marys cement plant:

We pulled into Wiggers Custom Yachts docks in Bowmanville harbour and met up with Rita's brother Lloyd and his fiance Keeks.

Looks like a Sea B Que

We had a nice visit for over an hour before saying goodbye and heading out to anchor off the nice homes off Cedar Crest Beach Rd

We anchored in 10ft of water and let out 80ft of chain.  The boat was anchored securely.

Girl and her 3 dogs on a stand up paddle board

Rita and I know a couple Will and Lynn who live on that street, so we took the dingy ashore to visit them.  Had some snacks and drinks with Will and Lynn's next door neighbours Bill and Marion.

Winds were building and swinging to the west, and Rita/Bogart were leary of the pound home.

Will is sailor and agreed to sail back with me, Lynn would take Rita and Bogart back to the house.

I put Will on the helm and we hoisted anchor around 7pm

Winds were 25-30 knots from the WSW.
I hoisted the main and put in a reef.
We were able to motor sail close hauled 30 degrees to the wind until we got around St Marys cement plant.  Bearing off slighly, we unfurled the genoa, turned the motor off and were sailing over 6 knots.

Towards Oshawa, we were getting into shallow water so we furled in the genoa and motor sailed the rest of the way in deeper water.

Near Whitby, winds swung right on the nose, so we dropped the main and motored the last two miles,getting to the dock at 9:30pm in the dark.

I drove Will back home and thanked him.

Trip Odometer:26.64 miles
Moving Average: 5.1 knots
Moving Time: 05:16:00
Stopped Time: 04:38:00

Track: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/12535935/Still%20Time/2015/20150907.kmz

CS34 Sunday

Spend the rest of the morning getting the dinghy fixed.

http://svstilltime.blogspot.ca/2015/07/cs34-amsterdam-brew-pub.html

On Thursday I went to CO2 Inflatables in Oakville to pickup the replacement valves.

New valve (left)
Broken valve (right)
Removal tool (far right)

Took about half an hour to install, then another hour or so to cleanup the dingy.

Also cleaned up the dinghy I borrowed from Colin and put it back on the racks.

Next Rita and I spend a couple of hours cleaning the deck of the boat.

We left the dock at 2pm and headed out for sail: destination unknown.
We hoisted the main and genoa and headed west toward Frenchman's Bay on a close reach.
Winds were 8-10 knots from the south, we were able to get the boat moving between 2-3 knots.

Not much fun.

We turned around and hoisted the spinnaker and got the boat going over 4 knots the other way.
After about 10 minutes of sailing, the winds completely died!
We doused the spinnaker in the forward hatch and motored inshore to pickup a mooring ball.

Well didn't a localized rainstorm hit us!  It rained hard for about 10 minutes.  We were dry underneath the bimini.  It was then I realized that I had left the front hatch open after the spinnaker douse.  The spinnaker and all our bedding the V-Birth was SOAKED.

We took a mooring ball, and relaxed for the afternoon.

We had a swim
Bogart had a swim.
We floated around on pool noodles

I cleaned the hull on the boat from the dingy.

We took Bogart to shore for a pee on the dingy and walked the beach for a while.

We had a nice BBQ, and headed into the dock close to 8pm.

Getting back to the dock, it was sticky hot and humid.
Our bedding was still wet, so we decided to head home to sleep

Trip Odometer: 2.84 miles
Moving Average: 2.3 knots
Moving Time: 01;12:00
Stopped Time: 04:51:00

Track:https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/12535935/Still%20Time/2015/20150906.kmz