As Fate Would Have It

In 2005, our personal year from hell, we decided, for various reasons, to move our boat to another marina. After spending a season there, we dealt with a few challenges, and so, at the end of that summer, we decided to move back to our favoured marina, only to find that there were slim pickings for slips. We wanted to go back to the same dock, which, at the time, had only one slip available....a channel slip. This meant that we would be open to the water traffic within the marina. Having little choice, we took that slip, and were there for two seasons.

Having a channel slip can be both a blessing and a curse. It is more open, and you can see more. There is constant boat traffic, but there is less foot traffic at end of a dock. As a negative, you are the recipient of exhaust and gas fumes, and you are open to potentially unfavourable winds.

In previous years, we had always been on an inside slip (which means additional tie-off options, a little more privacy, and a space for a dock box), so we had put our name onto a waiting list for an opening.

With our luck, that opening came this year, and we moved the boat three weeks ago.

This turned out to be a stroke of luck for us.

This past weekend saw high winds with higher gusts. Our trip back to the marina was challenging, but the most challenging was docking in high winds. We had assistance waiting for us at the dock and were able to arrive safely, but once we were tucked in, our friend and former "channel-side" neighbour told us his story.

He was packing up his boat from his weekend out, and saw this huge Sea Ray power boat coming down the channel having great control problems. It turns out that one of the Sea Ray's engines had failed, and this resulted in the boat losing control and hitting our friend's Prowler, leaving deep gouges in his hull, BUT if we had still been parked in the channel slip, we would have been taken out. The Sea Ray sideswiped our friend's boat then proceeded to crash into the empty dock......that we used to occupy until three weeks ago....HARD!!! Nearby boaters heard a tremendous crash as the Sea Ray hit the dock and were surprised that the dock wasn't demolished by the impact! Our boat, heavy construction though it is, would likely have been heavily damaged had it still been in the channel slip.

Sometimes fate works in mysterious ways. In this case, it was certainly in our favour.

Boat Show Countdown

For some time now, I have had the Boat Show Countdown on my sidebar. It's finally here....tomorrow!

This is a big schmooze day for us. We usually meet up with fellow sailors (well mostly sailors....there might be a few stink potters there).

It'll be a long day for sure, with lots of walking and ogling of pretty vessels. I'd like to find a new sit-on kayak if there are any to be had. Usually there are a number of companies that show up with their 'stuff'.

The Boat Show is also the time when we begin our countdown to launch day, based on the number of garbage days left. So, from tomorrow then, til say April 25th, there will be 15 garbage days left.

Pretty stinky way of looking at things, but keeps us going.

Happy sailing!

Reminiscing

What a weekend! Saturday was haulout day, and, in keeping with past haulout weather, it was cruddy. It was cold. It was very windy. It rained.











Now, Sunday was an entirely different story. The boat was out of the water, and of course it was splendiforous outside. Like 70 degrees or something silly like that.










Anyway, I had a bit of down-time, and observed a few things:
- various people sailing on the bay
- the grouping of eight Muskoka chairs around an imitation fire pit
- various boaters offloading their boats, in preparation for their upcoming haulout
- the glowing highlight effect that the sun had on the islands in the distance

And of course, I always sit and think about:
- how can we just cash it all in and sail south, and live on the boat indefinitely

That last one is the biggest threat to personal security for me. It takes a huge leap to actually be able to throw the docklines and head south for the BIG adventure. It certainly takes some planning and some money.


It would also mean that BJ would have to learn to sail very quickly.

I Heard the Sound Of.......

It was a typical sailing weekend. We went to find a sheltered bay, to protect us from winds and waves. Instead of going to one of our usual spots, we decided to try a new spot, which was located near a camp. It was a nice anchorage, big enough so that not many boats could enter.

We settled in for the evening, listening to the sounds of the kiddie campers, singing their campfire songs, and banging on tribe-like drums. It was pretty magical to hear this at night, as the sounds echoed through the forest.

The next morning, we lazed around after breakfast. We were comfy in the cockpit, having breakfast, watching the kiddie campers go sailing in their Pico sailboats and Hobie-cats. While some of the campers were sailing, there were other campers on shore, singing typical camp songs, and once again, banging in unison on the camp drums. The sound of the thumping was again very tribe-like; almost as though these kiddies were going to war or something.

Then we heard it.

One lone voice in the woods.

"No! I don't want to!"

"No! I don't want to!"

When we first heard this, we thought really bad things, like someone was being forced to do something that they didn't want to. With that in mind, we were preparing to go ashore to the camp to see if assistance was required.

Then we heard more.

"I want to go home."

"I want you to come and get me NOW!"

"I don't want to stay here!"

"Get me the F*** out of her....NOW!"

These were the sounds of some poor young, spoiled lady, who desperately wanted to go home. She was either a counsellor, or a camper, we did not know which, but one thing was certain....SHE WAS NOT VERY HAPPY, and did not want to be where she was!

From what we could make out, she was on her cell phone or a pay phone, probably talking to her parents, and the call lasted a good 20 minutes.

We continued to hear these cries from the woods, and wondered when she would be escorted out of the forest and back to civilization (gosh why would someone want to have that?). We also don't know if she ever made it off the island (hello Gilligan?)

What we do know is that eventually, her telephone cries were drowned out by the sounds of the campers, singing their camp songs in loud unison.....and the woods continued to echo with the sound of tribe-like drums.

The Typical Flying Dinghy

We are sailors. We spend our time around many types of vessels, but predominantly, sailboats. All shapes, sizes, and colours of sailboats. It's a marvelous world. Most of these vessels have an additional boat that is towed either from the stern, or hoisted in davits at the stern.

Little boats called dinghies. These little, and some not-so-little rubber boats can get you into some really special coves and spots that the bigger boats can't get into. They can get you to a town dock for shopping. Or they can get you to the next boat-neighbour for afternoon tea.

But we have one special fellow who has a dinghy of a different colour you could say. This is what we call the Flying Dinghy. The flying dinghy is fitted with a motor and a sail, and can glide through the air, high above us, and then, when ready, can come in for a landing on a piece of open water.

"Click on the images to enlarge"

Circling the runway...um waterway.

Preparing for take off.

And we have lift-off...just look at those trees.

High above the clouds now...heh heh.

Helloooooo down there.

Coming down for a landing....beside this big boat. Maybe they want a new dinghy!

Little flying dinghy...happy at last.