Night Race 2009

I am tardy (again) with importing our GPS log, but I need to do that, in the meantime, here is a brief synopsis of this year’s night race.

At first glance I would say it wasn’t as magical as last year. Last year there was moonlight glinting off the water, this year there was lightening making clouds glow. Last year there was a light, warm breeze, this year there was a threatening tone to the winds that never let up. Certainly it was a different race, but at the same time, it held its own magic. Let’s get on with the story.

We held a short crew meeting, everyone got their stuff on the boat and introductions were made all around. On board we had Patti, who owns a boat on Georgian Bay and sailed on Iris a bunch last season, Matt who had never sailed before, but was eager to learn, Luis who owns a Grampian in our club, but as a new boat owner wanted to try other boats out, Chuck, who has been mentioned here before, and myself. 5 adults on a 25 foot boat for a night-long race. I was worried about crowding.

The race started with the shortest skippers meeting in the history of skippers meetings. Everyone was handed a set of race instructions and told to read them. As with last year there would be no shortened course, no time limit, and no shore support.

I asked what the Race Committee would do in case the weather deteriorated to thunderstorms since the forecast looked pretty bad. The answer was simple – it’s up to you to decide when conditions are no longer amenable to sailing.

The start of the race was pretty uneventful. We started off really deep to stay clear of the spin fleet, then came up to the line staying well below most of the white sail fleet who were vying for the pin. It was a beam reach off the start, and we didn’t have the best line position, but we were there early and with speed, so I was happy. The trip up K-bay to Big Bay point went without trouble, and we reached the point about halfway back in the white sail fleet. Since we were only competing with 6 other boats (one was going to retire immediately after starting just so he could hold his position in the standings, and then we would have a fleet of 6 boats including ourselves) it was easy to keep track of the competition.

On the way up the bay everyone settled into position. Patti went up on foredeck and walked Matt through trim calling, I drove, Luis rested for the late shift, and Chuck kept up lots of lively banter. We turned the corner at the top of the bay, and headed toward Fox Island, watching out for Long shoal, and keeping an eye on the boats ahead, and behind us. Ahead was Newfie Screach.

Newfie is a great sailor, and one of the guys we always try to mark our progress against, also ahead was Lake Effect. Lake Effect sails out of LCYC, and is a very good sailor. Marking our time against those two boats would be a good indication of how well we were doing. With our 155% genoa flying, we bit into the building wind and pointed like a setter, going for the island.

We had taken an inland course, more so than some of the other boats, and it seemed to be working well. As they tacked over we watched them, and soon we saw Lake Effect was going to cross us. It was going to be a tight crossing, and I began to wonder if I should fall off to avoid a collision. Then I realized that we had made time on him, and lake Effect would be crossing behind us on port tack, if we held our course on starboard. Little firecrackers went off inside me and I smiled to myself as I watched him fall just behind us. Up ahead Newfie tacked over to make the island. I decided we would follow his course.

We dove down behind the island, deep, and then tacked to follow Newfie on his approach to rounding it. Just one problem though, He had tacked over early, and wasn’t going to make it. Newfie put in extra tacks, and we held course. On the lifts it looked like we would clear the island, but when the gusts ended, we looked like we wouldn’t. If we had held our course, we may have made it with inches to spare, but we’ll never know. I put in the same tacks Newfie did, and rounded the island with room to spare.

We followed Newfie up to the weather buoy that was the northeast mark in the course. On the way the wind continued to build and we enjoyed a strong showing from the boat. As the night deepened we watched the boats behind us getting closer. Eventually the waves were too much for Iris and as she ploughed into them her speed would drop from 6.7 knots (GPS) to 2.5 knots. We were having a great ride down the waves, but didn’t have the power to climb back up them. The motion was rough, and shortly after we were passed by “The United Nations Boat” we rounded the weather buoy to take the steep seas and heavy winds on the nose, over powered.

At the speeds we were doing, I was hoping the boat would hold on and get us to K-Bay without too much trouble. I was also thinking we had too much sail up, but I didn’t want to trade off our position. We were heeled to 30° regularly, and rainwater and spray were on all of us. It wasn’t a pleasant sail. Patti was up on the rail, and chuck sitting beside her. Matt and Luis were handling the sheets back in the cockpit, and I was fighting the helm through the weather. United Nations was up ahead, and Lake Effect was bearing down on us from behind. I was pushing hard, trying to hold our position in a tough condition.

Each wave threw the boat up in the air, where she would pause for a moment before being caught by the wind, thrown violently to leeward, and land in a trough to come back up and face the next wave. The cycle repeated itself again and again, and the crew was starting to look a little green.

I don’t know why, but on one of the cycles, Patti lost her handhold on the shroud. As the boat rose up she was shaken from her seat on the cabin top, slid back across it as the boat heeled, and slammed back first into the leeward shroud. She folded in half, slid onto the side deck, and sat there in a crumpled heap.

I turned the boat into Irons, as Matt or Luis (I don’t remember which) rushed forward to help her back to the cockpit. Patti came back, in shock and pain. I am thankful that she got stuck on the shrouds and didn’t go overboard in those conditions.

We turned back toward our destination, with Lake Effect breathing down our neck, and offered Patti all sorts of painkillers. She declined and rested instead.

In short order I decided it was foolish to continue putting this strain on the boat and crew, and handing over the tiller, I went forward to do a sail change. Tethered to the shrouds, I prepared to bring down the big Genoa. Patti released the Halyards, and Chuck went below in perfectly miserable conditions to receive the sail and stow it. I don’t know how she managed not to get seasick down there. I passed down the genoa and hanked on the storm jib. In the process I lost the jib halyard, and watched it swing out over the violent water.

It took about 6 tries before we the motion of the boat brought it close enough for me to catch it, and then we went up with the storm jib. In the process, we dropped to third last place.

Chuck, like a trooper stayed below until I handed her down the old sail and got the sheets on the new one. She is such a great kid!

With the storm jib on, the boat was much better behaved, but still suffering from the motion. All the up-close work on the foredeck had got my stomach churning, and in short order we had three of our crew of 5 on the lee rail chumming the fish. Luis and Chuck ran the boat while we tried to regain control of our stomachs. With the smaller sail up, we regained our position on the United Nations, and were looking pretty good, but when we reached K-bay that all changed.

In K-Bay there was no wind.

It felt like we were sitting on a millpond. Barely ahead of us we could make out 2 boats, and behind us we could see the lights on boat that we guessed were United Nations and Lake Effect. Far behind we could see the bow light of Icarus. With no wind, and our tiny storm jib, they were gaining on us. I needed to put up more sail. I also knew that our slow-motion sail changes meant we would lose a lot of ground.

For what felt like a long time I debated it in my mind, and then I decided to just get on with it. Chuck went below again as I went up front, the big genoa went back up the forestay, and the little jib went down below. Chuck came back out of the cave, and we all huddled for the rest of the ride to Barrie. In the time we lost to the second sail change, every boat in the field passed us. We were the last boat home, 2 hours behind the first spinnaker boat.

One of the boats that got in ahead of us had notified folks that we had had an accident onboard, and Patti reached the harbourmaster on her cell phone. A spot was waiting for us against the wall, and folks came over right away to help Patti off the boat. She was in a lot of pain, and had spent much of the race with her head against the cockpit coamings trying to sleep off the hurt.

It turns out that Patti came away with a badly bruised tailbone and some bruises on her arms and back. That's a lot better than the story I would be telling gif she hadn’t gotten caught up in the shrouds. Matt (who had never sailed before) is taking lessons this week, and Luis has offered to come out on Hawkestone weekend to crew. As for Chuck, well she sailed back with me on Sunday under perfect blue skies, close reaching all the way from Kempenfelt bay to SGA. Perfect conditions.

Tommorow SWMBO and buddy and I head to Georgian Bay, so things can’t be all that bad.

Oh, and on handicap, we took 3rd place which means we hold our first overall position!!

LSIS Race 5 Stats:
Distance Covered: XX.X Statute Miles (Slip to Slip) - Tracklog incomplete
Time on course: 7:34:00
Corrected time: 6:47:31
Time out of 1st Place (Corrected Time): 0:35:21
Iris was on course 8.67% longer than the first place boat.

How to Waterproof a sleeping bag:

This is more of a Girl Guide tutorial than a normal post.... but since Guides is a big part of my life, I thought that I would share it here (And really, this will work for anyone going camping)

Materials Needed:

1. Ground sheet or tarp

2. Foam mattress
            (air mattress not recommended for two reasons:
               a. they can deflate in the night
               b. A foam mattress will keep you warmer)

3. Sleeping bag

4. Extra blanket

5. Small pillow if desired

6. Small stuffed animal if desired.

Steps:

1. Lay the groundsheet out.

2. lay the Foam mattress in the middle. The groundsheet should be slightly longer than the mattress, and should be at least twice as wide.

3. lay sleeping bag on top of mattress, then blanket

4. place your pillow and furry friend in the middle of the sleeping bag

5. fold the sides over, so that the whole bundle looks like a present.

6. Start at the head, and roll the bundle up as tightly as you can

7. Once it is rolled, use nylon cord to tie the bedroll up tightly.

a. Go around one side:

b. Then across:

C. Around the other side:

d. over one end:

e. under the rope

f. across again:

g. under the rope on the other side, then around the other end:

h. Back to where you started:

i. Now make a handle:

j. And you’re done!

And there you go. One dry sleeping bag.

Ants Having A Picnic

So you know those wooden puzzles for really little guys?


Well, Buddy has a stack of them handed down from his second cousins.  They're various themes, one has different insects, one has school things, etc.


Well, his favorite thing to to with them is turn them all upside down on the floor.  So I only usually give him one at a time.


Last night he was playing with the insect puzzle.  After he went to bed, I was picking up his things to put away, and was putting the pieces back in the puzzle.  I found all but one piece.


Me: "Honey, do you see the ants having a picnic?"
Hubby: "Ants! Where??  We have ants???  I don't see them!!"

No dear, the puzzle piece of the two ants with a sandwhich between them....

Relaxin'

On a Friday Evening.....

Happy weekend everyone!

Quick Dry Baby Pants

So I have this sewing machine, and it rarely gets used.

However, a while back I read this tutorial on Jessica's Balancing Everything blog, and I though "hey, I can do that!"

My first attempt was ok... not stellar, but ok. After ripping out the waist an re-sewing it, I could kind of put the baby in them, if we weren’t going anywhere.

Then I had this pair of pants that I had really, really loved, until I bent down one day to pick up the baby and heard a rip.

And was very thankful that I was at home when said pants ripped

That is an irreparable rip.

So I decided that I could make the baby a pair of pants out of these, and since we're heading away on our sailing vacation soon, a pair of quick dry pants would probably be beneficial anyway.

(note to Moms: The first time I wore these, the baby had a poop so explosive that it was all over them. After a couple of baby wipes, the mess was cleaned off, and within five minutes, they were already dry. That was one reason why I loved them. Quick dry is not only for canoeing / sailing).


So, a month ago I set out to make my baby a pair of pants and a pair of shorts from the legs of these pants.

I started by tracing a pair of pants and shorts onto craft paper, and then adding in a seam allowance:

Then got ready to cut:

And then promptly lost my nerve, and did nothing for a month.

So, last night I gave myself a good shake, said 'really, what do you have invested? A destroyed pair of pants, and a little time.' EVEN IF they got messed up, really, what did it cost? Nothing. A little thread, that's all.


So I got out my patterns, and traced and cut:

(you can see my print out of the tutorial in the foreground there)

Lined up the two halves:

Sewed:

And voila!

Shorts!

In Jessica's words:

"Shut up! You made pants! How awesome are you?

I do need to tighten up the elastic in the waist a smidge, but otherwise, they look ok.

After finishing the shorts, I also used the rest of the leg to make a full length pair of pants for the Buddy. If you look in the picture above of the pant legs before they're cut, you can kind of see that there's a drawstring around the ankle. There's also a button on the outside, with a tab inside to pull them into capris. I was able to leave all this styling on, so the pants can be tied at the bottom (keep mosquitoes out), or rolled into shorts. As my husband so eloquently described them "So you made cheap a** fashionable pants?" I sure did!

But wait, that does not end the frugality of the evening!! Not only did I sew a pair of shorts AND a pair of pants out of material that cost nothing and was headed to the landfill, the only part that I didn't use for Buddy was the butt part of the pants (which also had a drawstring waist). Well, the other day hubby asked me to make him a drawstring bag.... so, using the top part, I sewed up the bottom, put a quick seam where they had ripped, and... Voila! A bag for all the extra bungee cords and ropes for sailing.  (that took less than three minutes to sew)

I'm not sure if this counts as "inventive," "frugal," "environmentally firendly," or "ridiculously cheap." But whatever, I was proud of my accomplishment.  I saved all but a few scraps from the landfill, and didn't have to buy material (except thread).

Fingers Crossed for West Marine

I'm not sure how many times I've gotten soaked through while out on Iris this summer, but it is more than twice. There was the miserable sail to Barrie. The race and subsequent sail home from Cook's Bay. At least one good shower in Lagoon City, and multiple waves over the bow in heavy wind. I have gotten very wet this summer.

I'm not complaining, because a wet day on the boat is better than a dry day spent cutting the lawn, but still, it would be a little more pleasant to go sailing if I had a way to stay dry.

While doing our vacation shopping we saw that West Marine had some wet weather gear on sale for a reasonable price. Too bad the smallest they had in stock was an XL. I weigh in at a medium-small size, and it looked like I was playing dress-up in my Dad's clothes when I tried on the foulies.

I asked the clerk about smaller sizes, and she reassured me that the rain gear was available in smaller sizes, but that there would be none coming in before our vacation starts. I should try the Barrie store and pick it up before the Night Race. I called.

According to the Barrie Store, the soonest the gear would be in was the 14th. I'm slated to be basking at Doral Resort that day. Patti, who is coming on the night race said she would lend a hand with delivery to Midland, but the truck arrives on the 14th - there is no guarantee that the jacket will be offloaded that day. Harumph.

Another call to West Marine and they suggested that I mail order the jacket on a rush delivery. I called the USA distribution centre, and they think the Jacket could be ordered today to arrive at Doral Marine Resort, where we are scheduled to be on the 14th ahead of our arrival. A quick call to Doral and they said they would be willing to hold the package for me to pick up on arrival, as long as I guarantee that I will be staying there overnight.

Someplace in America, a yellow rain slicker is being put in a box with my name on it, headed for Doral Marine Resort. Let the race begin...

All Crewed Up...

Within the bounds of my frantic planning and harried manufacturing (This week I've made screen hatchboards, and anchor rode, and an A-frame - that's more industry than I've engaged in in months) there has been a nagging doubt about finding capable crew to fill in the gaps in my sailing plans over the next month.

With both a night race, and a long sail down Georgian Bay to face, I needed folks I could depend on, and feel comfortable with, and I was getting concerned that I wasn't going to get the right people. My fears are now allayed.

For the Night race I will have 3 boat-owners aboard, and Chuck to lend relief. Patti sailed the night race with me last year, and was incredible with both her spirits, camaraderie, and boat handling skills. She is taking a weekend away from "her baby" ~ a Catalina 34 ~ to come sail Iris. Luis is a member at our sailing club, and has his own Grampian 26 which he sails with his wife and kids. And then there is Chuck, who said she'd come, but only if she gets to sleep sometimes. Looks like we are set for the night race with a crew of 4, which means that there will always be at least 2 adults on deck.

Sailing G-Bay was a bigger issue. I am confident that we will reach Pointe Au Baril, however coming home alone, while being an exciting proposition was a little more sketchy. "Lost at Sea" doesn't look good on a tombstone, and my confidence was flagging somewhat. Then I found out that Eric, who was going to help me sneak through the Trent Canal back to Lake Simcoe couldn't get away for that part of the trip. I was concerned.

FIL has tentatively volunteered to come down the canal (I think he wants to see the Marine Railroad up close) but I needed a concrete stand in who was dedicated to the trip and excited to come along.

Enter Peter.

Peter is a small boat sailor, and since he is experienced as a dinghy sailor will have a keen weather-eye and be adept in handling the boat when things get dicey. He also races on a C&C 30, and so is familiar with the goings-on of a keel boat, which although easier to sail than a dinghy, has its own quirks. Peter has sailed in the Parry Sound area, and is eager to go out on Georgian Bay. It looks like I'm all set for crew!

Now I need to polish off the last of the packing list (6% to go!) while SWMBO makes up our "Boat Cards." Then its just a matter of stripping Iris down for the night race (head out tomorrow night), and repacking her for our vacation.

AN UPDATE- Another person has stepped up to lend a hand on the night race. With Mat on board we will have a full crew, and will be a power to fear!!