Sitting at Anchor

Condensation

One rather unexpected, but in hindsight obvious, effect that we observed when we pulled into Lunenburg was water on pretty much all the surfaces. The floor boards in particular were forming puddles. We sailed in from waters that were 9-10C and we arrived into a harbour where the air was 20C. Of course all the moisture in the air started to condense.

This reminded me of the story of Mark and Stephanie, our dock neighbors in Portland. They spent the winter on the boat tied to the dock. They continued with their routine: boys in the school, they at work, while living aboard. No amount of dehumidification helped. The boards under their mattresses rotted in the course of the winter. This fall they are headed south, so next winter will be much better for them.

With this in mind, the first thing that I checked on Saturday morning was condensation under the mattresses. All 3 mattresses were wet. Some more, some less, but definitely standing in water. We turned all of them vertically, all the fans inside the boat were on to help air circulation. In the evening the boards and the mattresses looked a lot drier, but on Sunday morning I still found moisture under my mattress, so the we repeated the procedure.

Laundry adventures

Compared to my stay in Lunenburg 7 years ago, the harbour has changed. It feels like there are more moorings, so the anchorage is a lot more limited. But the marina has laundry and shower facilities. Initially we were confused about how to get the code for the laundry room, but it turned out to be very easy. Five CAD gets the whole boat access to the shower and laundry, and the machines just work as opposed to be coin operated. Even though the machines were a bit finicky, we got the laundry done between walking around the town and having lunch aboard. Thank you, Lunenburg!

When I went to check on the drying laundry, I saw a tall ship sailing into the harbour and a huge crowd on the pier excitedly greeting the ship. Picton Castle was coming back to her home base after a 14-month circumnavigation. The ships in the harbour were blowing their horns and the whole atmosphere was very festive.

Later in the afternoon, when the 4 of us went ashore we barely missed the time when we could have gotten aboard the square rigger. Would have been a great one-time opportunity.

Next crew arriving

Anton’s wife Catherine picked up Mark at the Halifax airport on her way to Lunenburg from Montreal. There was (and as of this writing still is) a little issue: Mark’s passport expires a week before he intends to fly back to the US next Sunday, so that’s something we’ll have to sort out.

Alla and David were also on their way, so we expected quite a crowd for the dinner. Frank seasoned the chicken wings for grilling, we boiled corn and had a little party in the cockpit.

In the evening Anton, Catherine, the kids and Frank packed very tightly into a car and off they were to Halifax. Frank flew back to NYC early in the morning and my cousin with his family will spend another week in this part of Canada, slowly meandering back to Montreal.

Sail repair

Over breakfast we made a shopping list and then headed to shore. Mark wanted to run, I wanted to get started examining the extend of the damage on the spinnaker. Alla and David took on the responsibility for getting groceries and picking up Irina and Peter from the airport.

I laid out the sail on the grass. The damage was more or less what I expected: the ripped line along the foot, a couple of small tears in the middle. The only additional finding was a short section of a ripped leech line. The opening of the sock also got crushed, but the burrs can be smoothed out with tape.

I packed the sail and headed back to Salty Ginger to set up the sewing shop. The foot line could definitely be reused, so first I removed all the stitches and examined how the corners were reinforced.

The sewing machine could not go through the thicker, reinforced parts, but nylon and sailcloth presented no problems.

Removing the stitches took almost more time than sewing that 10 meter stitch along the foot.

The next step was easier done on the ground: spread out the spinnaker and apply sail tape to the small tears so that they can’t get ripped under pressure. Mark was already back from his run and lunch, and with 2 people that task was much easier. Spinnaker packed into its sock and then into the bag, we headed back to the boat for a swim.

Spain-England: 2-1

One of Peter’s priorities for the day was to watch the final of the Euro Cup. Mark and I found a table in Greater Banker. Outside it was hot. Finally we are experiencing the Nova Scotia heat wave. Inside was quite pleasant. Shortly before the start of the game the rest of the crew arrived from Halifax airport. David went to get groceries while the 5 of us were watching the game.

Most of the other guests were not interested in the game, so the vibe was nothing like one would experience in Europe. Peter wearing a Pickford T-shirt, so it was clear who he was rooting for and took the game very emotionally. He was outraged by the referee, alluding that the Spanish should have been penalized a lot more than they were.

Ship stores organized

I delegated getting the food into drawers and fridges to the crew. There were a few opinions on how to do that, so someone had to stay out.

Peter wanted to go up the mast and that fit me because I wanted to remove the SSB antenna that was attached to the backstay. I haven’t used it, and with satellite becoming cheaper, it’s unlikely that I will ever use it. Going 3 meters into the air satisfied Peter’s curiosity about going up, so with the job completed we brought him down and he wanted to fish. With one rod, with another, with different setups, but the fish were elusive and weren’t biting.

David went for a swim and found the water quite invigorating, just like Mark and I a few hours earlier. Water temperature was 15C, not nearly as pleasant as the water from the day before.

Later in the evening we heard the neighbouring boat yell “Look, porpoise!” The animal showed us its fins a few times and then swam out of the harbor. A nice touch to a peaceful evening.