Sailing Cambio

Category: Lake Ontario

  • I have to catch up yesterday because it wasn’t an easy day

    I have to catch up yesterday because it wasn’t an easy day

    Thursday, August  25, 2022, Belleville

    I have to catch up yesterday because it wasn’t an easy day.  Up relatively early to attack the problem of the line wrapped around the propellor shaft and this meant diving into the cold, dark water (my perception…kids were playing in it not 100 meters from shore) and submerse myself without hitting my head on the boat’s hull or the ‘support’  dinghy. 

    After the previous day I was a bit shell shocked at what could go wrong but this had to be done and only I could do it.  That didn’t make me feel good about proceeding.

    I hemmed and hawed, and finally stepped onto the dinghy and then dove into the water.  This is not a big thing for a lot of people but I haven’t swum since I was washed off my sailboat in a storm in 1991 and had to swim 8 miles to the shore.  Since then my mantra has always been, “do what it takes to stay on the boat!!”  

    It was a rather weird sensation.  I waved my hands  and then I remembered my father, 60 years ago,  telling me that I should keep my fingers together and cup my hands slightly.  I had remembered this in 1991 but it took that flashback from my father to remind me to cup my hands when paddling.  In retrospect, I like that.

    So I hit the water.  I grabbed the handle on the dinghy and held on, breathing deeply.   Pierre was above me on the boat and he said, while my ears were above water, “assess the situation and then make a plan”. 

    This grounded me and I dove down to see the propellor.    I didn’t have goggles so It was all fuzzy but I followed the line down and felt around the shaft for a piece of the line that would move.  Then go up for air and try and avoid hitting my head on the dinghy.   I dove maybe 15 times till the rope was off.  I cut my hands on the sharp blades that should have cut the line I was trying to free.   Several times. 

    There is no comfortable way to get onto Cambio from the water.  Eventually I got the line loose and then…I couldn’t climb into the dinghy from the water, which would have made getting onto the ladder much easier.

    The ladder has steps that only go about 1 foot under the water and I remember being able to do pullups to get out of the water but decades of deskwork had atrophied my arm strength. I just couldn’t do it. When I get home I’ll prioritize getting a deeper, longer ladder. But I didn’t have one then.

    Pierre suggested putting a line around my chest to help pull me up, or at least take some weight off.  Great idea.  And it worked.

    You have to understand that we spent more time climbing on the boat than I did clearing the line around the propeller shaft.  Such is the nature of sailboat maintenance.  It always take more time to prep, or to recover from the maintenance.  An hour’s job becomes 3 hours of hard and frustrating work hopefully followed by a wonderful sail.  

    We weren’t sailing from Waupoos to Picton.  Our Genoa furler was still broken and the genoa, which took two men to carry, was tied to the deck, and not practical to hoist unless there were an emergency.  As well, Pierre and I would not have the strength to use the genoa anyway.  

    So we motored at about 5 knots and I recovered slowly from the stress of freeing the dinghy line from the shaft.  It took a lot of processing over several days to understand what this had done to my head.  On one hand I was victorious on the mission.  On the other, I was humbled by the lack of strength and wind I had.  Humility won, over a couple of days afterwards.

    Once I had an hour nap, we motored to Picton and caught a mooring for the night.  We had o energy to use the dinghy to leave the boat and just went to bed,  which was an excellent choice.

    Today we motored to Belleville in about 6 hours and everything, including the skipper and crew (me and Pierre) worked out perfectly.   Great motor and we got to BQCY just before some rather interesting people showed up. 

    Joanne is single handing her 36 foot boat towards Hamilton.  Patti Jo and Doug are from my home club, Dalhousie Yacht Club, and the other three crew on a Beneteau 40 I think, were going back to the National Yacht Club.    We had dinner together and wonderful chatter that set me up with 3 beers in the BQYC bar and a bottle of Mr. Reif’s famous Riesling wine.   I lost at Rummy to Pierre, which was an unusual thing. Both of us look forward to the play, rather than the outcome.

    Tomorrow the forecast is for thunderstorms in the morning and aTurkey festival in the evening at BQYC which we are looking forward to.

  • Well I’ve been here before

    Well I’ve been here before

    Thursday September 2, 2022 Whitby to Toronto

    We were up early, with the dinghy stowed and the boat prepared for a bumpy and slanty ride. 

    Leaving Whitby was an adventure.  I followed the red buoys to the left to get out and then turned left to head for the marina.  There is a lot of mud on either side of the channels and I had been warned to follow the buoys carefully.   So I kept to the right, where the red buoys were, and promptly grounded in muck. 

    It took a call to the marina where Brian and Bob came out and pulled us out into the clear and we were pulled over the tow line which got caught under the boat. 

    Well I’ve been here before.

    They took us to the gas dock and I refueled and did a pump out while mentally preparing to dive under the boat in very murky waters.   I didn’t like the idea of diving to clear the propeller again when the water was very, very brown.   Brian came back and had an idea.  He took the stern line that was caught and worked it around the stern, pulling it along the way.   He had this idea that it wasn’t hooked on the propellor but it was stuck in the gap between the rudder and the hull.  

    The line came loose and it turned out Brian was right.   I was relieved from having to dive in dirty, murky, skuzzy water to clear the rope!!  

    We left Whitby very carefully using the centre of the channel and got on our way to Port Dalhousie.

    We got perhaps 2 hours out, and we were rocking a lot and sometimes burying the bow into oncoming waves.   I wasn’t worried about Cambio. She handles this stuff well, but both Pierre and my stomachs became a bit queasy and neither one of us wanted to go through another 10 hours of this to get to Port Dalhousie when Friday’s weather was supposed to be calm and sunny.  

    Pierre hinted that we had talked about going to Toronto and I thought that was a bang up great idea, so I instructed Otto to turn right and head for the Eastern Headlands, about 3 hours away.  The wind built to 30 knots and I was looking forward to getting into the Toronto Harbour where presumably the water would be smooth. 

    I phoned the National Yacht Club, searching for a reciprocal berth for the night.  It took me 8 tries before the Officer of the Day answered the phone.  Apparently they are more reliant on VHF radio for communication.  I am more reliant on the phone because the VHF is down below in the cabin and I’m not so comfortable going below in high winds and leaving Otto alone to manage.   But the phone is in my pocket and National is on my speed dial.

    When we got into the Toronto Harbour, I did put Otto in charge under Pierre’s supervision while I went forward and stowed the main properly.  I had started to raise it when we were thinking we were going to Port Dalhousie and found that the halyard was wrapped around the lazy jacks a few times.   After the July 20 storm, Jeff and I had fixed all the lines but I must have forgotten to check the main halyard.  I was pooped after straightening it out.  Shortly after we adjusted course towards Toronto and there was no need for the mainsail anymore.   However I did have to wrap the sail tighter on the boom to reduce the windage when we went into the National Yacht Club basin.    

    NYC is a very well protected harbour,  protected by an ancient break wall that has an entrance that seems to be about 36 feet across. Cambio has a 13 foot width.   The winds were gusting to 30 knots on the beam (from the side) and the waves made it a rather interesting challenge to get through this gap.   To restate that, going through the gap required a high pucker factor.

    So we didn’t know where the dock they had assigned was.  We came into a section of the basin where the wall set in front of the clubhouse and there was space on the wall. I headed for it, with the wind behind me.  I used forward and reverse gears many times before I got the boat alongside, between another boat and the small boat crane.   We had 3 people helping us dock, thankfully.  

    Then they wanted me to move to the assigned dock.   There was no way, in my opinion, to do this given the high wind, the small space we were in, and the surrounding boats.   So I suggested moving the first boat back about 12 feet, and my boat forward about 12 feet.  This would be safer and we’d clear the crane, because it was race night and the crane had to be cleared for the Sharks and J’s to launch.  It was a negotiation but the NYC person in charge understood that it would be bad for my 41’, 25,000 pound boat to hit other boats in that kind of weather. 

    So we tied up, caught our breaths and had a passage drink. 

    Dinner at the National was a buffet, and we were ready for a great meal.  It was good, and we gorged.   Then we realized that the table beside us were the same people that we had met in Belleville.  Actually they recognized us first.  We exchanged short stories and pleasantries, and they left. 

    We went to play Rummy on the boat.   

  • Leaving Brighton, I paid very close attention to Ray, and kept to the narrow track

    Leaving Brighton, I paid very close attention to Ray, and kept to the narrow track

    Leaving Brighton, I paid very close attention to Ray, and kept to the narrow track based on a combination of depth reports on the Raymarine plotter and the navigation buoys.   After the collision yesterday it was a nailbiter but I didn’t hit the ground at all.

    There is a government dock at the end of the canal that has bollards or cleats attached to massive concrete blocks.  All three of us boats in our tiny flotilla stopped there for the night.  The other two boat crews went to the motor racetrack which is about a 200 meter dinghy ride followed by almost a kilometer walk through the bush.  

    Pierre and I did not go to the races.  We made dinner and played Rummy, and before we turned in for the night, I turned the anchor and spreader lights on in case the kids were late and lost in the pitch dark.  They didn’t mention that they got lost, but they did acknowledge that the lights were a help.     

    Just before Presqu’ile Point my Raymarine plotter went wonky and displayed a test pattern of drivel.  (We called the Raymarine, “Ray” and the Autopilot, “Otto” so Ray and Otto guided us most of the time.)

    I turned it off and on many times and pulled out my phone to message my brother who is a guru when it comes to such things.   He messaged me back a few minutes later.  I had already pulled up Navionics on the phone and would have done just fine without Ray.  His advice was “wiggle the wires in back of Ray”.   I did this and Ray was fixed, in time to show me that I should go way out into the lake before turning right towards Cobourg.   

    It was a relatively easy upwind motor to Cobourg.  

  • I’ve Grounded Too Often

    I’ve Grounded Too Often

    Saturday August 27, 2022, Belleville to Murray Canal

    The convoy of 3 boats left Belleville with the intention of going through the Murray Canal.   The Murray canal has very narrow entrances, with shallow areas on each side of the ‘ditch’ under water.  In one area there is a shallow 3 feet on the north side and less than 6 feet on the other side.  The available width is just 60 feet or less. 

    We were told by the swing bridge crew to hold position in this underwater canyon.   I started getting close to the less than 6 feet north side and tried to turn around in narrow space.  I hit Doug’s dinghy, and broke a couple of expensive fittings.  He yelled at me to reverse and I tried, but failed to do so in time and ultimately hit his boat.   I’m very angry at myself for being intimidated by the shallow water and screwing up Doug’s day.    It was completely my fault and it haunts me even when I write this a week later.  He got a quote for the broken pieces and I reimbursed him immediately, but it was a pittance for my ruining both our days.  I was so shaken I got grounded on the south side and plowed through soft mud that was about 5.5 feet deep (I draw 6 feet).  We left 30 foot trail of muddy water behind us before we got clear.    I’ve grounded too often lately and I still have to go through the dreaded Presqu’iIe Bay tomorrow where the navigation buoys don’t necessarily keep you from running aground. 

    It is at the second swing bridge that boats must pay $5.50 for passage through the Murray Canal.  As you approach the open bridge, a person passes a long stick with a bucket on the end and boaters are supposed to drop the money into the bucket as payment.   It is a quaint custom, but it is their way and it works, I guess.  Pierre dropped the money in and we passed through.

  • Belleville: Wayne is definitely a fantastic host

    Belleville: Wayne is definitely a fantastic host

    Friday August 26, 2022, Belleville

    Nothing happened today except had a great evening with Dalhousie friends Doug and Patti Jo, Whitby friend Klaus who just bought a house in Seeley’s Bay, and Joanne the fearless single hander in Nonsuch 36 number one and Tony, who watched the Ticat game for most of the night.

    It was supposed to rain and thunderstorm but all it did at the dock was rain a bit.   No sign of thunderstorms but that’s just fine.   It was a day of rest.   

    I tried to figure out the sewage smell in the aft cabin but couldn’t find the leak.  The compartment was painted with gloss white paint and there were no signs of dirt in the compartment.  The holding tank looks brand new.  Doug suggested that it might be the pipes that are leaking through their skins after being old.  When I get home, I’ll swap them out and see if it fixes it.  Until then, hold your nose.

    This club, Bay of Quinty Yacht Club is very friendly.   A fellow named Wayne took me up to the local Metro to get provisions.   Provisions is always grub and booze and they had both at this Metro.  Wayne is the club host, for lack of a better word.  He maintains the flower gardens, manages the guest docks and generally works around the club.  Wayne was good enough to plant tomatoes for the public and we picked one to make a real treat on a cruising boat: a bacon and tomato sandwich.  Wayne is definitely a fantastic host, and the club is also very comfortable.

  • The tow line was caught tight in the propellor

    The tow line was caught tight in the propellor

    Tuesday August 23, 2022, Waupoos

    Geezus I thought the boat was in perfect condition, but I seem to have spent the day screwing it  up all by myself.  I did non of the 3 things I meant to do today that I listed yesterday. 

    Pierre and I motored from Kingston Yacht Club in a very heavy rainstorm that had no thunder or lightening.  It was wet in every crack of the boat and every crack of the two of us.   But it was exhilarating, even so.  The weather lightened up at 1pm and we arrived at Waupoos Winery at about 3:30.  

    My contact at the winery said to anchor about 50 feet off the dock.  I saw a big white building and thought it was Waupoos Winery.   It wasn’t.  It was about a half km east of the winery but we hadn’t figured that out. 

    The chart said 12 feet, and I draw 6 so of course I ran aground in the sand.  My first grounding, albeit a soft one. The depth meter said 5.9 feet and we were going very slowly so there was only a slight change in velocity.   No problem.  I’ll just back up.  

    So I did.

    I had forgotten that the dinghy was being towed behind me.  I ran it over.  It ended up wrapped around the bow.   The dinghy brand spanking new tow line caught the brand spanking new propellor and the engine died.  I ran forward and dropped the anchor.  It worked wonderfully.

    The tow line was caught tight in the propellor, even though it has a cutter, and was attached fast so I couldn’t pull it out.  

    Oh well.  We have to clear the dinghy and put the motor on anyway to go visit the winery. 

    There is a design flaw on the block and tackle mechanism that raises and lowers the dinghy motor from its perch to the back of the dinghy.    A cleat is up top that is practically unusable.  We had to take the cleat out of the equation and lower the motor onto the dinghy.  I’ll move the cleat down someday but until then it really can’t be used easily.  

    By the time we had dinghy and motor in place it was too late to dive on the propellor and cut the line away.  So I’ll do that tomorrow morning.  The flaw in that thinking is that if I end up on a lee shore in a blow tonight, I’ll be up the creek with no motor.   All I can do is sleep lightly and well and do the dive early. Stay tuned.  This was poor foresight on my part.

    We got to the winery, got a tour, and a tasting, bought a couple bottles of wine…yadda yadda  Actually Waupoos Winery has a whole farm to table program with cattle, pig, sheep, and other food animal farms.  They feed the leftover grapes, apples, peanuts, hazelnuts, and other leftovers from their processes to the animals, which you can dine on at the restaurant.  It is one of the most complex and well thought out farm to table programs and it is clear that they are very proud of the program.   I hope that it is sustainable.

    Tomorrow it is:

    • Dive on the propellor
    • Breakfast
    • Motor to Deseronto and decide whether to try for Belleville or not.
    • Do one of the three things I didn’t do today. 

    Long day.

    Oh yea.  As I open the coach hatches the pain in my shoulders reminds me of the goddam dinghy motor that wouldn’t start.  It’s only been run one time before and I am not fucking impressed.  It should have started on the first pull, not after many that gives me bruises and strained muscles.  I wanna scream at the salesman because that’s all I know.  It’s a..  aw sheet, I forget.

  • We’ve had enough of storms

    We’ve had enough of storms

    Monday, August 22, 2022, Kingston Yacht Club

    So lots has been solved and some new problems have popped up, but I haven’t been here in Kingston since maybe August 13.  There just hasn’t been anything I need to do on Cambio and I was committed to photograph the 2022 Canada Games in Niagara.    

    The lads from Kiwi (Canada) came by in my absence and dove on the boat to replace the propellor blades.   That, I believe at this writing is the only thing that is doable to make the boat safe and transportable back to Niagara.

    I talked with Cody at South Shore Yachts about the furler and he will inspect it when I get it to him in Niagara on the Lake.  I have confidence that he’s the right guy after a conversation with him at the Niagara on the Lake Sailing Club during the Canada Games.

    New issues which I discovered when I got back to the boat yesterday include:

    • A battery drain on the windlass battery or a problem with the charging system.  It is down to 9.45V and that’s too low.  Work for tomorrow.
    • There is a kybo smell in the aft quarterberth, which probably means that there is a leaky pipe near the waste tank, as there is no undue smell in the head.  Work for tomorrow. 
    • The salon table is loose.  This is definitely due to the storm, but I think I only need to reseat some screws or to tighten them.  Work for tomorrow.

    Now which one is the priority?  Which one has the greatest chance of success?  I’ll sleep on it and work on the smelly one first.  

    The original plan was to head out on Monday for Wapoose, then through the Adolphus Reach, then along the north shore to Toronto, then cut South to Port Dalhousie.  Monday rained all day with thunder storm warnings all day.   The same is called for Tuesday morning to we’re playing it cautiously.  Wapoose is only 4 hours so that’s a good shakedown for the newly repaired Cambio.  But we’ve had enough of storms.   

  • It was a bumpy ride from Cobourg to Whitby.

    It was a bumpy ride from Cobourg to Whitby.

    Tuesday August 30, 2022, Cobourg to Whitby

    It was a bumpy ride from Cobourg to Whitby.  The wind was on the nose and we motored through messy sets of waves.

    About 5 hours later we arrived at the dock in Whitby, just a few docks down from where I had taken possession of Cambio in early May.  I felt badly that the topsides showed new scratches which happened while I had been learning how to dock.  Most of them will buff out but I haven’t done that yet and probably won’t until spring commissioning. 

  • I’m still dockbound

    I’m still dockbound

    Tuesday August 2, 2022, Kingston Yacht Club

    I’m still dockbound. 

    I’m still dockbound.  We left this morning to head to Rochester and then along the southern shore.  The forecast was perfect for a 3 day sail.  However, 4 feet from the dock it was apparent that the motor was not working in forward, so Matt leapt nimbly to get us back tied to the dock.   I called Kevin, the motor mechanic and he arrived about an hour later and certified that the motor was working fine but that the propellor had an issue.  When he was fixing the motor last week it seemed ok, but we didn’t fully test the whole system and I feel now that I should have taken him for an ‘end to end’ test on the lake.   But that’s spilt milk. 

    The problem is that nobody has a complete solution.  I need a tow.  I need a haulout. I need someone to check the propellor (which means removing the propellor and taking it to “The Prop Shop” for fixing “because they don’t leave the store”.  So numerous calls later with the insurance folks, a towing company, and the prop shop and I was no further ahead for having solutions to each step of the process.   The guy who tows broke down and needed a tow himself.  Another towing guy offered to tow us tomorrow, but the guy who lifts the boats out of the water was not in the shop today, and may not be tomorrow.  And he has no workers who can take a propellor off.   Confused?  I sure am.

    So 4:30 rolls around without a full game plan and I decide to have a rum and coke and try to look at the whole process.   I look up the KiwiProp Canadian dealer and discover he is in Picton, about an hour away.   He promptly returns my call on his answering machine and we talk about the process and the fix.    So the best news is that he asked his service guy, Bernard, to take a day off his vacation in Waupus and drive down with snorkel and mask and look the propellor under water.  If the solution is to replace blades, then chances are we are able to leave tomorrow afternoon.  If the solution is to replace the whole prop, then it has to be ordered from New Zealand and will take a few weeks. 

    Here’s hoping for luck tomorrow.

    The Kingston Yacht Club has been very understanding but I’m starting to feel uncomfortable after 11 days here.  They are so nice and accommodating but I don’t wish to be the guest who stays too long.   Here’s hoping for the second time in 4 tries for luck tomorrow. 

  • Another storm hit last night.

    Another storm hit last night.

    Monday July 25, 2022  Kingston Yacht Club

    So another storm hit last night.  I measured winds at 43knots, or 80 km/h.  Fortunately, I was at the dock in KYC but it still shook the boat enough to wake us up and check the lines.

    Today Bob came back and climbed the 65’ mast again to reinstall the genoa furler. Where do such people come from.  The morning after I arrived he showed up and helped, no, led the takedown of the furler, gave information on what might be wrong with it, and went up the mast to take the furler down for inspection.  It is up now but won’t turn.  When we get the sail back, we can raise it manually but can’t furl it and it is so heavy that it will be a 2 person job on a boat with 2 man crew.  I’m thrilled that Matt is coming back for the return trip.  He was awesome crew during the storm and aftermath.  Did I say that already?