Toroto Bound

Docked at Marina Quay West, Toronto

I am currently writing this post docked safely at Marina Quay West in downtown Toronto with a looming CN tower off our bow. It feels great to finally arrive here as it was a trip we wanted to do to test out the boat, and consequently was a test for us.

We had few days of slow cruising with some great sailing from Gananoque to Kingston to Bath to Waupoos. It was a great pace and we did some definite learning on how the boat works, how she handles and what works for us. I had been checking the weather forecasts regularly and saw we had some nice weather coming up with winds in a somewhat favourable direction. 

Sal reading

We headed out of our protected anchorage in Waupoos at around 6:30 in the morning on Wednesday, September 3^rd, 2014. Winds were light but expected to be from the west changing to the southwest early in the morning. We knew we would have to do a few tacks but once the wind swung around to the south it would be an easy reach from there. That was the theory. We set our Cape Horn self-steering (which ended up being named Gilles) and headed as close to the wind as we could. It was all going well, the boat was moving well through the water and waves and averaging about 4.5-5 knots. Unfortunately when we were doing our navigation checks on the chart the sinking feeling that we weren’t making any westward progress hit, and in fact it looked like we were actually going backwards! Our GPS kept telling us we had 111 nautical miles to go, for about 4 hours. We did make some good southward direction and would use that to our advantage on the next tack. The waves had built to around 3 feet and we adjusted the wind vane to tack. Unfortunately it didn’t last long before the rudder kicked up sideways and the boat fell away from the wind. It was too rough to try to adjust the rudder of the wind vane as it’s very difficult to do when the boat sailing, not to mention in the waves, so we hand steered for the next few hours.

We made significantly better mileage in the right direction on the next tack and were able to get the wind vane going again, as the waves had calmed. I headed into the wind as Sal leaned over the back of the boat and turned the rudder so it was back in the water. Once set we had no further issues during the day. The wind had finally come around to the south by evening. In fact, it was the best sailing of our trip. We were finally making good progress, in the right direction and very comfortable. I was even able to cook dinner in relative comfort, as the boat wasn’t heeled over significantly. We enjoyed a beautiful evening, and were literally sailing into a gorgeous sunset. The wind died slightly but after Sal went down to sleep, (I was taking first watch from 8pm-1am) it picked up and had a steady 8 knot wind from the south for almost my entire watch. There were only a few lights spotted 15 miles away along shore and a bright, half moon lighting the way. It was very peaceful. I only saw 2 freighters pass by in the distance. I alternated reading with stargazing, and overall would rate my watch as rather boring. At about 1230 the wind vane rudder kicked up again, so I got Sal up and we set it again. He took over his watch a little early as I went below to sleep. He didn’t have quite the greatest winds and it completely died around 5am, leaving us rolling around uncomfortably in the remaining swell. We decided to motor for a bit until we found wind, which we did a couple hours later. The boat coasted along in very light winds and we had breakfast together at around 10ish. We were left in completely windless conditions around noon. We took turns swimming off the boat to cool down as it we very hot in the sun. We motored again for an hour and then found the lightest of winds, which we took advantage of. The wind was picking up by late afternoon, and again we were moving along great. The miles were really ticking by having reached our halfway point by Thursday afternoon. At around 6pm we first spotted the skyline of Toronto! I started my watch before sundown, but had Sal take down the staysail before he went to try to get some sleep, as the wind seemed to be strengthening. A couple hours after sunset we were really having a wild ride and Gilles failed (always at the most inconvenient times!) so I had to hand-steer. Sal came up and we reefed the mainsail. The wind was really whipping up but the boat was sailing comfortably (I on the other hand was slightly terrified). Some waves were breaking around us but Nymeria was taking them in stride. Then, all of the sudden, nothing, the wind abruptly died, leaving us rolling around in the large swell. The very, very light wind had shifted around but we were having a difficult time moving forward directly into waves with such minimal wind. All this time we had a great view of Toronto, so close, yet so far away. Exhausted and frustrated, we started up the motor and made our way through the waves.

 

Sailing into the sunset

We had a few contingency plans but decided since it was about 3am and we wanted to get some sleep, we would dock at the fuel dock at Ontario place which had a seemingly easy entrance and we wouldn’t have to enter Toronto harbour in the dark. We lowered the sails and guided by the buoys and our GPS slowly worked our way close to shore. I can’t describe how nervous I was as we approached the entrance and the shore and the breakwater, but we slowly entered the breakwater and emerged into the harbour. It was slightly lit but still difficult to see, luckily the gas dock was illuminated and we pulled alongside. We tied up and I can say that my legs were weak and wobbly as we secured the boat, from a combination of nerves and relief. We went below and got into bed. Unfortunately the swell made its way inside the breakwater so we were rolling a little but, exhausted, we both fell immediately asleep.

No one was around in the morning so we left early and made our way to Marina Quay West, which was not only closer to the downtown, but it was significantly calmer. We tied up, checked in and found a pizza joint. Ate, and had the best nap ever!

A Start to Our Adventure

Anchored off Grenadier Island

Sal finished his last night shift and headed to Brockville Monday evening after cleaning the house and getting all the last minute things from home that I had forgotten. The boat was docked at Brockville City Marina after a three day shake down cruise with my mom. We had a great sail out of Brockville Friday afternoon with an east wind giving us a smooth run past Mallorytown. We anchored on the North Side of Grenadier Island for the night. Neither of us slept well the first night as we were not used to the sounds and the feel of the boat. But up at 8 am we did a few chores, mostly finishing the plumbing on the holding tank so we could finally use the head (our cedar bucket was not going to do the trick much longer!). Our wind had all but died as we vainly tried to sail past Rockport. A busy Saturday morning on the water forced us to drop our sails and motor through the narrow cut under the bridge to the USA and past Ivy Lea. We anchored off Cedar Island by four and the heat gave us incentive to see how the water temperature was. Refreshing but a perfect way to cool off after a sunny, hot busy afternoon. Another quiet night anchored all by ourselves. We left Sunday afternoon having to start our journey back home as we needed to be back in Brockville Monday morning to do the exchange. Not quite as busy on Sunday we quickly made our way back under the bridge thanks to the strong current, and this time anchored on the South Shore of Grenadier Island. We were just starting to get into the cruising groove and our trip was almost over. Unfortunately another dead calm day led us to motoring back to Brockville.

Mom doing dishes

A little unwanted excitement in Brockville as I found out the hard way that this boat does not turn so well. Only a little scrape on the tip our bowsprit but a well-learned lesson: A full keel has a wide turning radius. I filled up with diesel, water and got our first pump out which must have irritated my plumbing job as I discovered an unwanted leak the next morning.

Sal at the helm

Monday morning had us doing a lot of running around as we did some final groceries and stowage of all the gear that Sal had brought from home. A last minute plumbing job, fingers crossed, looks to have fixed our leak. We headed out of the harbour without any further destruction and pointed our bow southwest, right into a 10-15 knot wind. We motored through the Brockville Narrows and once past, raised the sails. Time to test how close she sails into the wind. It took a few tacks to get the feel of the boat when I head an unwanted pop from overhead followed by a slight splash. A quick look up and down into the water confirmed we had lost in the water the “boot” holding our upper shroud to the spreader. Not a catastrophe but we decided we had better stop sailing as the top part of the mast had an ominous bend to it and though it wasn’t super windy we decided we better not risk it.

Under full sails

We anchored again off Grenadier Island for the night in hopes of a calm morning so I could go up the mast and see if I could figure out a way to secure the stay to the spreader.

Phil came to our rescue again in the morning and was able to go up the mast and use some wire to secure the stay, then did a quick check on the mast head then showed us how our self steering system works. We headed out shortly after with renewed enthusiasm and wishful thinking that it would be the last of our issues.

We're Back!!!!

We're back to sailing after a short hiatus

After a 2 year hiatus we are finally back in the water! I’ve been looking forward to contributing to the blog now that I have things to write about again. I was thinking about where to start last night and remembering how easy it was to write a blog post when I was doing it regularly on our last trip down to the Bahamas. I could probably whip up one in under an hour. I hope to get back into the groove as I find it a great way to collect memories and I still reference our old blog when I need to remember a place or time on our Bahamas trip.

It has been about 3 years since we returned on the trip down to the Bahamas and back. I’ve only done a tiny bit of sailing 2 years ago when we did a small test voyage on Senta in Lake Champlain. Since then she has been on a trailer in various locations, most recently in the front yard of our new house. I have been slowly plugging away on various tasks. It took about a summer to complete all the outdoor teak work, scraping, sanding and various coats of Cetol. That was a busy summer though with moving into our first house, getting married, and being away on our honeymoon. I didn’t have a lot of extra time for much else. This summer I was a lot more productive as I had a deadline. This boat was GOING to go in the water this year, and I was going sailing. I sanded and applied a satin varnish to all the interior teak work, changed the name from Senta to Nymeria, painted a new water line, added a raw water foot pump, ran new VHF wire, installed a holding tank, painted all the lockers, and did a few smaller projects. Looking back now it was quite a feat but I felt I was progressing very slowly.

Boat on the trailer ready to go

Following behind in the rain

Originally I had wanted the launch date to be the 4^th of August, but of course delays in receiving some parts and myself having to work a few more shifts before my vacation started, we settled for August 19^th, which turned quickly into August 21^st because my membership approval for the yacht club where I would be launching and hauling out the boat would not be voted on until the 20^th of August. It was all very stressful as there were a few projects not finished, most importantly the holding tank was not installed and I was waiting for a few fittings and hosing to be delivered. But there’s always something, and without further delay we secured the boat to the trailer and moved her from her parking spot on a rainy Thursday morning. I followed as my dad pulled her down the road to Brockville. The drive went very smoothly and we arrived in Brockville as the skies were clearing. Up and into the water she went and up the mast went without a hitch. A bit of difficulty figuring out and adjusting the turnbuckles to the stays but with a bit of help from the passerby’s at the Yacht Club we eventually sorted everything out. Sal headed to Kingston as our sanitation hose had come in and I sorted out a few things on the boat. Phil (our sailing mentor and guide) came by to have a look at the engine. It started up right away but a horrible discovery of our fuel tank leaking led to total destruction of the starboard locker as we removed the bilge pump and eventually the fuel tank. I was more than a little dejected but it just so happened that Phil had a spare diesel tank that just might work! It had been a long but exciting day. Tomorrow would also be another long day as the new tank got installed, finding out the engine worked PERFECTLY, installing most of the holding tank, and setting sail with my mom for a 3 day trail. Sal had 3 more shifts of work before his vacation began.