http://youtu.be/1_AiPTKmGjA

Single handed Saturday night

Manon cancelled on me Saturday so I started cleaning the boat locker and doing some work on Cygnus. Bought a bunch of stuff at the marine flea market.

About 7 PM, I decided to set sail.  I got to Dowers on a single tack about 8:15.  Not bad considering the winds were supposed to be light.

Dowkers was pretty crowded, so I tucked in south of Dowkers, north of  Iles Sainte Geneviève.


Slept and got up at 7 and sailed back to the club to help Norm on his tank and propeller. Saw tall ship Fair Jane motor down the channel and head for the zig-zag channel.  Pretty nice.

Stuff I bought at the flea-market

Boat heater / de-humidifier
Solar Vent
Chart holders
Search Light
Throw Line
Burgees - RSt.LYC, CPS
100 feet of mooring line for tying to a tree

Wednesday Race - NOT

Elda and Fiona and I went out, not expecting much from the Wind Gods.

We got out at 5, motored passed the gut in lightly rippled water.   Put up the 170 and waited for the RC and fleets to come out. 



Waited with the shad flies until the race was abandoned about 7PM.

We drifted back and watched the sun set.  We did sail a little in the channel but then motored back.

Motor behaved very well.  Low RPM of 1600 and doing 5.5 knots.  Temp touched 180 and stayed mostly 1550-160. 

As we entered the harbour, we found our dock to be available so we moved the fenders around and docked.

Long weekend at Dowkers and road trip to Kingston

I bought the kayaks to the club beforehand.

We arrived at the club about 2 PM on Saturday, set up the fridge and 3 big bottles of frozen water. 

I wanted to clean the main sail track and mast head but the crane was very busy.

We packed the 170 as winds were light.

We took the kayaks out to Dorval island and back.  Unfortunately I forgot the camera so no pics.  I found new muscles I had not used for a very long time.  This lasted for about an hour.  Winds were light.

We took off on the big boat at 5 PM and got to Dowkers about 7:30 with one tack and the 170.

As we approached, we saw a very blue bimini.  I thought it was Andre.  As we got closer, I was sure it was Andre.  It was Andre with is wife.  We anchored ahead of him and he snapped this picture of us.

We set up the BBQ and had Angus burgers;

Next day Andre came by dinghy and visited. They were heading to St. Anne for lunch.

We stayed at Dowkers the rest of the day.  It was 30 degrees.  We had to put up a trap.There was a brown tarp that I had never used.

Supper was ribs and roasted peppers.

Next day - Monday - Victoria Day, we got up late and headed out under sail.  Winds were light so we put up the main and 170.  But by the time we got near the sandbars,winds were 17 knots with white caps.  I took down the genoa and then reefed the main. It was good to show Dan how one reefs a main.  (It was her idea to reef). It was relatively easy to reef since the reef was not necessary ** yet **. 

Winds came up to 22 knots.  We saw a fender in the water and attempted several buoy overboard recovery ... without success.  We need to practice some more.

Engine was hot but water was flowing.  Some white steam. 

Got back to the club and there was a blue boat in our dock.  Winds were from south which caused some havoc.  The blue boat could not reverse and somehow ended up at our dock.  We headed for a pump out and Gerry patiently waited for us to help us dock at the blue boat's dock, which turned out to need us to move fenders from starboard to port.

Other boats had lots of docking problems.

Dan decided to skip her Salsa lesson.  We BBQ some left-overs and we spent the night aboard.

Next day were were supposed to go to Kingston to check out the thousand islands.  It would have been easier if I had not lost my keys.

We drove to Valleyfield and then highway 35 on the south shore.  We got to Ogensburg, got our I-68 and decided to return to Montreal touring the north shore, deciding to skip Kingston. We met Jordan, got our main sail and visited Stormont Yacht Club, where I first met Cygnus.

 Lots of rain most of the day.

Reverse flush of Atomic IV

To resolve the engine overheating problem last weekend, I inspected the new impeller.  It was fine.

I started doing the reverse flushing of the engine.

The exhaust manifold has good free flow.  I pulled the thermostat and heated in water using the Origo Peat Pal.  It opened like a charm.

I reverse flushed the block and a fair bit of rust particles came out.  The picture on the right showed about 1/5th of what I flushed out.

I put everything back together.  I tried putting in the thermostat without any gasket sealant and it leaked.  Put in the sealant and let it set.

I decided to change the hose between the thermostat and exhaust manifold.

All seemed fine.  I could not get her to overheat. in the harbour.  I could not get it past 160F.

Planning a long Victoria Day weekend on the lake.

Bought they Kayaks to the club.  Dave did not look pleased.  In fact he was not pleased. 

Left the boat cluttered so I could return the kayak carriers to Katrine.

First trip out for 2012

Danièle, Fiona and I went to the club.  Danièle and I  to do final set up and cleaning of  the boat.  Fiona and I rigged the Sharks.

We went out about 12:30.  As we left the channel, the engine started overheating.  No water was coming out of exhaust.  I let it cool down and tried priming the water strainer.  It worked and we headed out to the gut.  Put up the sail, and a boat in the channel was not paying attention and cut ahead of us.  She never even noticed us there.

Engine behaved well.  We sailed until 5PM. Did two trips up to Ile Perrot.  17 miles.

As we turned near the club to bring down the sail, the engine overheated again.  We sailed back into the harbour and sparingly used the engine to a fairly good docking.

It was pretty warm ashore, but fairly crisp on the lake.  Internet said it was 23 degrees ashore.

We took off for Becket Players afterwards.

Sunday I did some inspection and water pump and strainer seemed okay.  I think it  needs a back wash or new thermostat.

Wash and Wax

Danièle and I came and washed the deck, cockpit and starboard hull. Started about 1 and finished about 6. 

Last week we removed the cover at Easter.

Next week we hope to get the port side polished waxed and anti-fouled.

Nice work ! Very tired. 

Launch Date May 4 2012

Haul Out

Came to the club at 7:15 and she was already hauled out.

I was hoping to put the frame aboard, but that was okay.  I had more time to give her a good hull cleaning before coming to work.

Summary for Year

Hobbs 2938.7 

Mileage3387.6

54.8 Hours on motor

708.6 nMiles

49 trips

never more ten 9 miles from base.

Winter Frame

Halloween run

I went to winterize Cygnus and the weather was nice and warm but windless.  I saw Taku go out without sails so I decided to go warm up the engine oil too.  Motored to AS15 and put up the main sail and drifted for a while.  Wind picked up a bit and I sailed a bit and then took down the main sail. 




Came back to the club, did a pump out and winterized the boat and took out the head pump home for a full rebuild.

And there was wind.  (get that chris)

October Oyster and sleep aboard

Slept aboard after the Oyster party at the club,

Thanksgiving weekend

After the fabulous PCYC pas-de-deux race, we set sail across the lake meandering around until 6 when we set anchor in the sunset. We covered the main and put away the 170 and 135.  That made the night a little more quiet.

The chili from PCYC was heavy, so we just had some grilled shrimp and went to bed.  Nice windy night. The other boats left and we were alone at Dowkers.

Next day we were having breakfast of 7 eggs, when this Tanzer 7.5 sailed across our stern, scaring Danièle a bit.  I came out and saw it was Andre taking down his main and "throwing" out his anchor (underhand).  He had not recognized us as we were completing his breakfast.  The he looked and noticed us.

We rafted up with Andre and had a beer and then took off for a few hours of nice sailing with the new 140 eBay sail.  Nice sailing from about 3 to 6 and came back in to Dowkers.  We had one bavette from Arkavan and called it a night.

Next day we had toast and ran back to the club in about 1 1/2 hour, did a good pump out and we ran out of time to do an oil change.

 

 An incredible fabulous long weekend !

Pas de deux race

Danièle and I went to the club early to make sure we make it for the annual Pointe Claire Pas de deux.  We ran out to Beaconsfield to find the RC boat at 10:30. They told us the race started at 10 AM.  They said that there was a change of schedule.  We were very disappointed.

I tried calling the RC on Channel 68 as stated in the Sailing Instructions.  No answer.

A chase boat came and told us that we were at the Beaconsfield race.  We looked back at the lake and saw a bunch of boats near SLVYA 31 and decided to "gun" it for there.  They never answered their radio. 

We got there just in time for the start and then waited 6 minutes 45 seconds for our start and we hand an excellent port start.  We raced to SL26, back to the eastern part of the lake.  On the way back we were in a beam reach with winds exceeding 20 knots.  At one point I considered resigning from the race.  We did a "chicken gybe" at one of the marks.

Cygnus from Fugu after she passes us

Fugu had a broader tack and passed us as we were approaching the finish line. We were probably 15 out of 19, but this is not confirmed.

Race lasted almost 3 fabulous hours.

We docked and had Chili and beer at PCYC and then went for a walk in the Pointe Claire village looking for propane and watched kiters.

Friday evening last september sail

September is almost over ..Danièle and I went out for one last sail in September.

Winds were foretasted to be about 8 knots from the south and it was 16 +.from the west.  We motored out to the gut as I change sail plan from the new 150 ebay sail to the 135 and decided to practice my reefing.

Tacked to Dowkers and ran back san reef.

Temperature was about 20.  Nice.

Supper at Harmony d'Asia.

September weekend

Danièle and I went out Friday after work to go sailing for the weekend.  After doing some house work like folding the dinghy and eliminating unnecessary sails, we set out down the channel with full sails (170) and with a full tank of gas and sans pump-out. We only did some test flush on the head after last trips malfunctions.

After half an hour going down the channel, it was going to be 10 PM before we got to Dowkers so we set sail for Ile St Bernard ... one of our favorite spots.  Got there about sunset and BBQ some Kefta and got up the next morning to a very gray day.  Some winds, but they died shortly. Spent the day at anchor watching the  duck hunters nearby...   Head pump had lots of resistance and some leaking from the bushing nut.  But we decided it was tolerable.  The day was very grey and a little cool ... maybe 17 degrees .  That night we had some nice lamb chops for Arkavan.

Next day winds were good and we took down the 170 and got ready to put up the 135.  As we sailed to the seaway, the winds died and we did not put up the 135 and redeployed the 170.  Winds were right down the seaway so we went east, going through the zig-zag channel and sailed the main lake about 5 times from 11 to 5, coming back for a pump out and supper at the club. Sunday weather was about 25 degrees, very nice winds ... we are at the end of September.

Sailing was more fun then going to the boathouse sail this weekend.

4 hours September sailing with Chris

Chris and I took off work early and set sail about 4 to 7:30.  Nice sail in 6 to 10 knot winds from the south east.  Sails were main and 135.  Boat speed 4.5 to 6 knots.

First day of Fall.

Single handed bliss

It has been six weeks since I have sailed single handed so I went out at 10 and gassed up the boat and went out for 5 hours of single handed sailing with the 170.

Watched the first Frostbite race.

I had some problems with tacking and lost the Genoa sheets cos I did not tie knots at the ends. 

With an east wind down the channel, I came in through the "inner gut"

It is nice to bond again with Cygnus.

Enema of my boat

Last weekend, the holding tank was overfull but nothing seemed to come out the vent. 

Yesterday I cleaned and checked the holding tank vent with a water hose and she seem clear now !

I guess the vent was always fine... since I smelled the aroma outside the boat. But fortunately not from inside the boat.

For the love of boat ownership.

Head malfunction on weekend with Danièle

Friday, Danièle and I set out to Dowkers for the weekend.

Nice supper of Salmon Trout and a nice almost full moon.  Next day winds were light and variable so we sat at anchor all day swimming and Danièle's homework. I did some mundane boat maintenance such as stanchions and boom.  boring...

As evening came, the head started smelling bad (outside).  I tried putting some head freshener chemical and as I pumped, the holding tank made a buckling sound and the teak board behind the head "poped"  oH Shit

Went outside to slowly open the pump-out deck fitting ... very slowly and liquid started squirting out.  Yikes.  It was 9PM and we decided to motor back to the club to do a pump-out.  Nice evening sail with an brilliant almost full moon, it took us just over an hour to get back.  Did the pump out and all seemed fine. Even Danièle took the incident very well.  We determined that the holding tank can hold 5 days of poop.

We stayed on board at the harbour and on Sunday we sailed the lake with Jimmy after we gave Cygnus a good wash.

We watched the single-handed pursuit race finish.  I had some regrets not doing my favorite race of the year, but enjoyed sailing with Danièle just as much.

Race Results

4 nice days @ Dowkers

Just spent 4 days at Dowkers waiting out the storms.

Happy labour day weekend.

Wednesday Race - Chris and Connie

I washed the boat and de-rigged post Irene. Looked like zero winds.

Chris arrived early.  Connie came late.  We were departing when Connie showed up.

There was a SouthWest wind of about six knots and we put up the sail and motor sailed in a broad/beam reach. 

Reasonably good start.  I started at the helm and Connie took over as Chris and I rigged the spinnaker.  Chris did foredeck for the first time. Did very well. I heard him say drop the pole, I was busy and when I dropped the pole, I hit him in the head.

Connie and I folded the spinnaker, while Chris took the boat windward

Second spinnaker twisted but Chris unsnapped the tack guy and fixed the twist.


We finished last.  Varuna in the white fleet finished a few seconds ahead of us.  But the crew was engaged.

Lots of RC and crash boat traffic in the channel in the dark san lites.  They were rescuing a powerboat to tow her back to the club.

Irene

Forecast winds

Actual winds