| 20050902 |
It's now September and pretty obvious that summer is no longer here. Nights are quite cold, there is more winds coming from the north, and sunny days are hard to come by. My wife and kids have informed me they are done for the season, although it is suppose to be warm and sunny this weekend so hopefully we can spend it on the lake. After our trip I ordered a Raymarine Tiller Pilot for our Cordon Bleu. I was originally going to add hardware to bring all the lines to the cockpit but for just a bit more $$$ I can have "Tilly" do the steering while I raise or lower the sails. It can also handle those boring times where you must point the boat in a straight line for many hours... now I can admire the scenery and maybe take more photos. I will post the Tiller Pilot installation in the "Tech Stuff" section of this website once all the parts arrive. I had also been looking at hardware for the spinnaker (blocks, ropes, poles) all summer and just recently opened the spinnaker bag to check some dimensions. Turns out we have an asymetrical spinnaker which does not require a pole. It also turns out all the required hardware was in the bottom of the bag... doh! Maybe will can fly it this weekend.
|
|
| 20050903 |
Today we woke up to sun and wind... what a great combination! The only drawback was that the wind was from the south, which meant we would be fighting it until after Keewatin Channel. We picked a destination and headed on our way. My wife was hoping to do some tanning but the wind was quite cold. Soon everyone was bundled up under blankets in the cockpit admiring the scenery. Once we hit our destination (literally since our keel bumped an unmarked 5 foot shallow reef) we turned around and started to head home. In order to make better time, I continued to sail as the kids eagerly watched my wife fill the alcohol stove in preperation of some hot Alphaghetti. By the time we finished supper, we were heading north and the wind was right behind us. Good conditions to try out the spinnaker. I'm not sure what I was expecting but once it was finally flying, it was somewhat anticlimatic. Maybe I was flying it wrong? Oh well, will have to try again another time. At least it looked really nice. As the day came to a close and the sun slowly set on the horizon, we flipped on our running lights and made our way back to the dock.
|
|
| 20050904 |
Yet another sunny, windy day. The wind was still coming from the south but this time it's very warm. We made our way down to the channel but we had left quite a bit later than the day before, so by the time we came out of the channel it was time to return. We took the "Devil's Gap" route back and stopped at a small island to check out an abandon cabin and a small beach. After the small break, we made out way to Coney Island where we had supper and the kids played... stopping to feed the local wildlife. Upon returning, my wife jumped onto the dock to pull in the lines but at some point miscalculated and ended up in the lake! The youngest one was quite upset that mom fell in, but pretty soon we were all having a good laugh. Interesting way to end the day.
|
|
| 20050910 |
Today is very hot and the kids want to find a beach to play at. My wife also wants to get in some tanning. With Fall just around the corner, those days are certainly numbered. We packed up the cooler and headed out with a strong southeast wind under our sail. The Main was reefed but I still felt overpowered with the steady gusts so I decided to take down the jib. As I prepared to bring it in, another gust caught our sails and I had to point us into the wind. We swung right around and I loosened the jib... this is where I made a bad mistake. My brain decided not to let the line go and my hand tightened down on it. Let it be known that you cannot hold tight when a gust has hold of your jib! After yelling out in pain from rope burn, I brought down the jib, which was now flapping violently in front of the boat. We made our way to a beach while I soaked my burning hand in cold water for the rest of the afternoon. By late afternoon my hand was no longer burning and I was able to solder some wires into place for Tilley (our new autopilot). After supper we headed home in a much lighter breeze. This seemed like a great opportunity to try out our new toy. I turned on Tilley and set a heading. It was fascinating to see this device in action, keeping a perfect course.
|
|
| 20050929 |
After finishing up supper, I decided I needed a quick "sailing fix". My wife and kids refused to join me although I assured them it was quite pleasant if you dressed warm enough. The evening before was quite cold due to a strong north wind but this evening the wind was from the south. Regardless of no crew members, there is always the ever reliable "Tilly" who will join me without question... as long as I supply it with a constant 12 volts. Tilly is not much for conversation so I spent my "quiet time" taking pictures of a beautiful sunset, which made the sky look like it was on fire and at the same time lit the sail up a bright pink. Unfortunately the sun sets quite quickly now and by 7:30pm it was black out.
|
|
| 20051002 |
What a day to be on the lake!! Warm winds blowing in from the south at 15 knots gusting to 25 knots and whitecaps everywhere. I called up a couple of friends to join me and we set sail. I had reefed the main but the first gust set us 45 degrees to the water. Cold spray shot up over the bow as we crashed through each wave and we made it down to Keewatin bridge in record time. Suddenly I noticed one of the dock bumpers floating away from us. The strap holding it to the side rail had broken. Not wanting to lose this $30 piece of equipment, I turned around to attempt a recovery. After 5 or 6 passes the wind and current had pushed it too close to shore and I had to give up. I even lowered the jib to gain more control but the winds were just to strong. We continued on under only a reefed main and still registered 5.2 knots. Since daylight is so much shorter these days and we had left at 3pm, we decided to head back around 5pm. Returning took little effort since we were now running with the wind, and it was also a chance to relax (not worrying about any heeling). We returned at 6pm and I hopped in the car, heading straight to the shoreline of Keewatin bridge where the bumper had floated with the current. I took a quick look along the shoreline and sure enough, there was the bumper resting up on shore. Not only did we have a great sail today... I recovered the bumper!
|
|
| 20051004 |
Rumor has it we will be hit with snow tomorrow. Not wanting snow and ice to build up on the sail or sailcover, I took a quick trip down to the dock to remove all the canvas. The poor Cordon Bleu looks almost naked without the sail or cover.
|
|
| 20051005 |
Ahhhrrgggg!!! Snow!!!! Sure am glad there is no material out to get wet. Looks like I must turn my attention to the trailer. There is some work I must do to get it ready for hauling out our beloved Cordon Bleu.
|
|
| 20051008 |
Although the weather has cleared up and the temperature has risen a bit (enough to rid us of that horrible snow) and the day had a nice strong breeze, I stayed home and worked on the trailer. First job was to install new skids, which went much quicker than expected. Next came the wiring in of new tail lights. Finally the testing of the motorized winch which I will have to leave till tomorrow. All the repairs took the entire afternoon and I'm now out of light.
|
|
| 20051009 |
Hmm, bad news... electric winch is shot. After trying a number of things I realized there was no bringing it back from the dead, so I headed downtown to price out a new one. Ok, this is not good. Replacement electric winch rated at 2500lbs is about $650. Replacement hand crank winch rated at 2600lbs is a little over $100. Well, that settles that! Time to install our new hand crank winch. I had to fabricate a couple of small pieces but the installation went pretty quick. The plus side (apart from the price) is that we won't have to lug a heavy battery around to run the winch.
|
|
| 20051010 |
With the trailer now prepared for taking the boat out for the season, I decided to make use of what little time was left on the lake and headed for the dock. Hosting the sails, I set out towards Keewatin bridge. After just passing Coney Island, what little wind there was completely vanished, leaving me to float and drift in a small circle. Accepting that the entire day would be like this, I packed up the sails and motored back. Not all was lost... this gave me a great idea! My wife and kids had declared quite some time ago sailing season was over and they would not be setting foot aboard the Cordon Bleu until next summer. I suggested picking up sub sandwiches, motoring over to Coney Island and having supper on the beach. This could be our final family voyage until next year. The idea was a hit and everyone hopped aboard. The kids played on the beach, we searched for buried treasure with a metal detector and enjoyed our last supper. The day ended with us slowly motoring back to dock while the sun set on the horizon.
|
|
| 20051014 |
Gail force winds and no time to sail... except maybe for 30 minutes over lunch. I talked a friend from work into joining me and off we went. I reefed the mainsail because of such high winds but silly me, decided on raising the jib. The Cordon Bleu heeled over right away and we shot down the bay towards Norman beach. It was a very quick 10 minutes then time to turn back. Unfortunately the wind was somewhat overpowering the sails and the jib had to go. Hmm, not such an easy task with gail force winds. After some major heeling, a little confusion and a big adrenaline rush, the jib was dowsed. We swiftly returned to dock achieving a personal best of 6.0 knots under only a reefed mainsail.
|
|
| 20051015 |
Another windy day but not as crazy as the day before. My friend from work was quite willing to hit the lake again and this time brought her daughter. The only restriction was she had to be back by 1:00pm to grocery shop, so we hit the lake around 10am. Our destination was a small island just southwest of the Yacht Club. As we approached I inquired about the depth at the dock and was told 8 to 10 feet. My new rule is now "always raise keel if you've never docked somewhere before" because as we approached, the depth sounders alarm sounded and a few seconds later the keel bumped bottom. I quickly reversed and raised the keel... ah, much better! We did a quick walk around of the island and returned to set sail once again. Doing "the loop" around Coney Island, we returned at exactly 1pm.
|
|
| 20051016 |
Today we had a very strong south wind which of course one simply cannot pass up. I grabbed my list of phone numbers and started searching for a "sailing buddy". I was finally able to get another friend from work (along with his girlfriend) to join me. He had sailed a bit when he was younger, in a small 7 foot with a daggerboard, so he was somewhat cautious about tipping. We took it easy to start with and as they became comfortable with the heeling, I went on to show that the Cordon Bleu could not tip over. It was great fun and everyone loved the heeling sensation. I let him take over the tiller and pointed out where to sail to have the boat heel over the most. Of course no matter how hard you push it, the Cordon Bleu simply cannot tip over. I would suggest for anyone with a weighted keel to push it right to its limits. It is a very comforting and reassuring feeling to see with your own eyes that your vessel is safe and cannot tip... even though it feels like it will.
|
|
| 20051022 |
As I drove into town today, I gazed out at the lake and wondered how chilly it might be if I were out sailing... a question I would soon have an answer to. My trip home was nothing more than an annoying wait in traffic. The town decided to pave the highway on a Saturday (and right through lunch hour) which caused traffic to backup through town. I figured if I was going to sit for a long period of time I might as well be enjoying it, so I drove down the side of the road past the traffic and turned off to our dock. It was quite chilly so I put on my winter jacket and mitts... and just happened to have some snow pants in the trunk. All bundled up, I set sail. I was quite warm and comfortable and sailed town to Keewatin Bridge. I decided to pull into Two Bears Marina and call home, letting my wife know that I took an unplanned detour. I also stopped in at my parents place for a quick hot chocolate before continuing on. By the time I sailed back to our dock, the wind had died down and the lineup of traffic had also gotten smaller. The amount of fellow sailors at our dock has also gotten smaller. Seems our Cordon Bleu is the last boat to come out this season, yet I'm sure there are still a few sailing says left... but I feel I will need a warm winter hat on my next outing.
|
|
| 20051023 |
Planned to spend the entire day out on the lake sailing but.... no wind!!! Day cancelled!
|
|
| 20051025 |
Friend at work wanted to shoot a TV promo outside today over lunch hour. Hmm, there is wind today. What better scenery for TV than water, shoreline and sailboat! Another worker volunteered to be cameraman (can you blame him) and we all headed down to the dock. I thought the wind was much stronger than it actually was but none the less, a good opportunity to try out my new (and very bright orange which my wife hates) winter hat. The sun even broke though making for a very pleasant sail. We found it quite hard to finally accept the fact we had to return to work.
|
|
| 20051028 |
A friend from work had a friend visiting from out of town and asked if I could take them for a quick sail over lunch hour. The winds were strong so of course I said yes. There is nothing more entertaining than a couple of girls screaming every time the boat starts to heel. Regardless of how often you assure your guests the boat will not tip over, it seems they will always have a hard time believing you.
|
|
| 20051029 |
Today the sky was overcast and the weather channel forecast rain later in the day. The wind seemed fairly strong so there was no point in sitting at home. Once onboard I bundled up in my winter jacket and snow pants (not to forget my bright orange winter hat) and set sail. There was no destination or return time, simply the pleasure of cutting through the waves with the wind in my sails. It gave me a chance to reflect on the past few months... the times shared as a family in the warmer months, as well as the times spent by myself and with friends in the not so warm months. So much has been learned and much comfort can be taken in knowing that our Cordon Bleu is a strong, well built boat capable of safely taking us through any type of condition. As my day on the lake came to an end, I couldn't help but think this may be my last sail for the season.
|
|
| 20051101 |
Well, we made it to November 1st and it looks like the sailing season is over. With snow forecast in the very near future I decided it was finally time to throw in the towel and pull our Cordon Bleu from the now ice waters of Lake of the Woods. While "Tilley" manned the helm I started to remove the boom and other items that were not needed while motoring the half hour or so to the boat launch. With the fall time change it back darker an hour quicker and I arrived at the launch in total darkness... well at least there were street lights so we could see what was going on. I would have loved to take photos of the entire process that followed but it was simply to dark. Although my biggest concern was how to lower the mast, it turned out the hardest task was actually getting the boat lined up to the trailer. Once our Bleu was out of the water I attached about 75 feet of rope to the jib halyard with a plan to slowly lower the mast from the bow while catching it at the stern. To our surprise, the mast was so well balanced that the extra weight on all the added rope actually held the mast in place and we had to pull the mast back to get it down. It turned out to be incredibly easy! The final task was to back the trailer in next to our house. Unfortunately for someone (me) who has not had much experience in this area, it took about half an hour to accomplish this... and I do not look forward to doing this again a year from now.
|
|
| 20051105 |
With our Cordon Bleu out of the water just in time, it spent the next few days snowing. Once the weekend came it cleared up enough for me to pull absolutely everything out of the boat and store it in our garage. I raised the trailer onto stands to take the pressure off the tires and finally built the snow tent that would protect against the cold winter months to come. Now that our beloved Bleu has been tucked in for the winter, there is not much else to do but dream of what adventures await for us 5 or 6 months from now.
|
|
