Character building weather

For the most part we are following Gerry’s rule to relax in the lake. We slept in till 8, breakfast was finished at 10, but then we kind of felt rushed since we were asked to vacate the mooring by 11.

The launch picked us up from the mooring and took us to the marina where Dima, Alina and Anya took a shower. Julia, Diego and Andres went to the grocery store. I ran to the hardware store to get the teflon tape for propane fittings. While there, I realized that the cheap forks with red handles that periodically fall out annoy me more and more, so once I saw stainless silverware, I got 8 forks and 4 spoons to throw away the ones that I don’t like. There was also the important mission of getting some white wine and beer for the next 4 days before we leave Salty Ginger in St Peter’s.

The last task for the day was to pump out the holding tank. The launch took Alina, Anya and myself to the boat and the guy said he will be on the dock to take our lines. We put on the fenders, prepared the dock lines and left the mooring. Getting to the dock was easy: all I needed was to stop the boat behind a very beamy 50-footer and the wind blew us onto the dock. The fenders absorbed the shock and we tied up.

The guys at the dock told us that we have some time before the next boat pulls in, so we prepared lunch while still tied up. The wind would build up and then let go. Given the forecast of 15 knots or so, I was sure we would end up having a nice beam reach followed by a run into St Andrews Bay.

Out on the water

Getting Salty Ginger peeled off the dock was more intense than I expected. The stern did not want to point upwind. I tried to use the forward cleat to fix the bow and reverse, but then saw that we wouldn’t clear the boat behind us and abandoned that attempt. The marina guy tried to push the stern off the dock, but I knew that it wouldn’t work. He suggested to get his buddy and do that together, but there was no way the two of them could overpower the side wind. Ultimately, we threw a line to a dock upwind, cleated it there and attached the other end to a winch on the stern. A marina guy was on stand-by, ready to untie the line from the cleat. Diego winched the stern which did get Salty Ginger’s stern pointing off the doc, I put the engine in reverse, line was released from the dock, and to a clear appreciation of the crew standing on the 50-footer we motored out.

Once we turned around the island that protects Baddeck from the open waters of the lake, the wind picked up. 15 knots from the forecast? No, no, it was 20. A bit further out it was solid 25, which was not in any of the forecasts that I checked. I was prepared for 15-20 and had the dinghy in tow. We had a tiny little jib flying and even then, on the beam reach Salty Ginger easily accelerated to 7 knots.

Nice and easy fast sailing did not last for long. The wind was now solid 30, gusting to 35, and it shifted a bit forward, so we were on a close reach. The waves were not just breaking over the bow, a few waves splashed onto the dodger full on. I was steering on the windward side, and got splashed, not just sprayed, actually splashed by a wave. After 3 more such waves I was completely soaked.

Andres wanted to try to steer. I didn’t object: the steering was light, we were not overpowered, but the waves kept turning the boat right and left. He lasted a few minutes. Then Alina took a turn and was terrified of the boat’s motion through the seas. The wheel was back in my hands. Alex joined Alina and Andres on the windward side in the cockpit to look at the 2-3 foot waves and all 4 of us got splashed a lot to excited cheers of the kids.

Dima looked pretty excited, but calm. Diego and Julia were observing the whole thing with slight concern in their looks. Anya was terrified. She did not like the boat rolling through the waves and had tears in her eyes.

Dinghy rescue operation

Then it was time to bear off to round the land and point downwind into St Andrews Bay. Suddenly I hear Diego and Julia yell, “the dinghy!” They were looking back at the little thing being thrown around by the waves and the wind, and later Diego told me that he was surprised that it could keep up without overturning. Well, ultimately its luck ran out: it toppled over. The scoop that we use to get the water out was floating behind, and I knew right away that there was no way for us to retrieve it.

The poor thing was being dragged by the mothership upside down. Obviously the force on the lines was enormous and getting anything done by hand was out of the question. I shortened the jib to slow the boat down and pointed the rudder to turn us to windward. Pointing into the waves would have made the motion ridiculously unpleasant and dropping the sail would roll the boat way too much. Perhaps there was a better way to slow us down, but this was definitely good enough.

We have a block that is typically used to raise heavy dinghy motors, so it seemed to me that we could use it to lift the bow out of the water. Luckily, there are two lines running to the bow of the dinghy, so alternatively shifting the load from one line to another we were able to winch the dinghy closer to Salty Ginger and the height of the angle was enough to get it up. That way it lost a lot of water and was light enough to be righted. Amazingly enough, the oars were still there! All of us had a fearful certainty that they were floating somewhere in the bay.

Since this operation took a while, we were now ready to point dead downwind and down the rolling seas. The motion became much more comfortable, the dinghy was riding on the stern with its bow way up. I wasn’t sure how much water it would have inside, so lowering it fully into the water did not seem like a good option.

Once we were ready to turn into Island Point Harbour, the side wind flopped the dinghy to the side of Salty Ginger, and it was clear that it had to be flat on the water. The jib was rolled in, the dinghy lowered and under motor I could point the bow to the southwest and enter the harbour. The 3-foot waves ended very quickly: the mile-long harbour did not allow for large seas to build. The further in we went, the quieter the water. The wind was still solid 25-29 knots and it started to drizzle. The anchor held right away and now we could take the life vests off and relax.

Julia bailed the water out of the dinghy and I helped her get ashore to walk the dog. We picked just the right time window between periods of rain: on the way back to Salty Ginger it started to pour.

Should we have stayed in port?

Had I seen a forecast of 30 knots of wind, I don’t think we would have ventured out of the protection of a harbour. There is a place to anchor and we could have let the kids run around in the village. Even offshore the forecast called for 25 knots, so I figured it would not be heavier in the lake.

Once I saw how easily the boat handled the seas and knowing that we will not have to beat up wind, I didn’t have a sense of emergency to turn around and seek shelter. In a lighter boat, perhaps, but Salty Ginger was solid. In fact, the only miscalculation was towing the dinghy. I always fold it when we go out into the ocean, but I was sure it wouldn’t get turned over in 20 knots of wind — I’ve seen it manage such seas before. Perhaps, I could have tied it even closer to the mothership, although I’m not sure that would have been enough to keep it upright. Losing the bailing scoop is a small price to pay for this adventure and knowing that at least in somewhat protected waters, 35 knots is quite alright for Salty Ginger.

The weather system that brought the wind is clearly tropical: it has been very humid and warm the entire day. And Julia’s kids found that perfectly amenable for swimming despite the chill of howling wind.

The heavy weather did not end at 9pm, as was forecast. But by 1am it was perfectly still. Even the wind generator stopped humming. We had a very peaceful night at anchor and we are ready for a new adventure. Perhaps this time a slightly less exciting one.

Open water, where the phones work

There was absolutely no signal in the cove. In some ways it was actually nice. We took in the views of the gypsum rocks on the peninsula that hides the harbour from the lake.

As soon as we pulled out, a tower was visible and the cell phones came back online. We are heading to Maskell’s harbour where we enjoyed the eagles and a lovely sunrise with the previous crew. Again, there won’t be any cell signal there.

Amazingly enough, even though it’s a perfect day for sailing, while we were still inside St Andrews Bay, we were the only boat. The lake was all ours.

Sailing into 5-15 knots of wind is way easier than handling 30+, so Julia cooked a chicken soup and now that we are all fed, we are enjoying a lovely day on the water. Andres and Alex have been steering pretty much all the way and are getting better at handling gusts on a close-hauled course. Everyone is relaxed in the cockpit, quite a contrast to yesterday’s experience!