End of First Summer with our Mirage 24

From launch on August 3rd to haul out on October 12, we sailed our new boat 9 times (8 for me) and enjoyed it very much. Contrary to our Mutineer, we can sail this one in 20 knots without fear. Each time we went out, we spent 3-4 hours sailing up to Aylmer Island and back and up again until it was time to come home. We took more people for rides on this boat in two months than on the other boat in four years! We are learning all that is involved with boat ownership: raise and lower the mast, clean the hull when it comes out, bring everything home from the cabin, cover it for the winter, etc. Our basement is now full of boat stuff that I don't know where to put.

Dave at the helm on our last sail, Sept. 29.

There she is after we put the mast down.

Dangling in the air, Oct. 12.

Since she is been on land, we have power-washed the hull, built some ribs that will hopefully hold the tarp over the winter, winterized the engine then covered her. Our tarp is way too big so she looks like a big Christmas gift! I am sure we will go every other week to the club to check on the snow on her during the winter. Can't wait till next season, our full one with River Kat II. Oh and her name may change as this one does not mean anything to us. Any suggestions?

Homemade ribs with electrical pvc pipes.

Ready for winter!

Road Trip to Sandbanks, September 10-12, 2012

We love to go to Prince Edward County to camp and windsurf. This summer came and went without us going but we had a window of opportunity in September. Since it was going to be a short trip, I found a Bed and Breakfast on the shores of West Lake with easy access to the water to windsurf and nice grassy rigging area. We were not disappointed.

B&B and beach with our own chairs!

On Monday, we traveled via the scenic routes. From the 401 we took the Loyalist Parkway along the St. Lawrence, then a bit more on the 401 to after Kingston, where we took highway 33 (still Loyalist Parkway) along the river towards the ferry that will take us across to Picton. Once across, we went up to the Lake on the Mountain. From there, I discovered that we were close to some wineries so we drove around the point and found the Waupoos Estate Winery. What a nice place! We walked around then I tasted one wine and bought two bottles.

Lake on the Mountain

Waupoos Estate Winery

View of the winery

We continued our trek towards the B&B with a stop at the Black River Cheese Factory. By the time we arrived at the B&B, it was check-in time, i.e. after 4 p.m. After settling in, we head back to Bloomfield for dinner at Dave's Roadhouse. The place is deserted but dinner is good.

Tuesday starts with calm waters on West Lake. Armed with a Provincial Park pass provided by the B&B, we head out to visit parts of the park we never saw before. We found another beach, Sandbanks Beach, as opposed to Outlet Beach which is the most popular in the summer I think. Around noon, the wind starts to pick-up so we head back to the B&B for lunch and a windsurfing afternoon. It looks pretty windy but once on the water, not so much but we sail for a couple of hours. Dave can hug the shore as his fin is not very long but I have to go further out. The water is still warm! For dinner, we found a great pub at the Waring House, called the Barley Room Pub. They have their own beer called Barley Days (the next day we stopped at the brewery and bought a 6 pack). Always noticed that nice house but never dared go in. Now I think it will become part of our trip each time we go to the area.

Dave in action!

On Wednesday, it's time to go back home. First stop is at a farmer's market along the road for some fresh corn and vegetables. Then it's off to Picton to visit the cemetery where Dave's aunt and uncle are buried. On to the ferry again and a pick-nick in a park along highway 33.

All in all, it was a nice short vacation away from home!

Launch and Maiden Voyage of our Mirage 24

She floats! The rudder was fixed and put back on August 2nd and we launched on August 3rd. At that point we did not even know if the motor would start. It's a 1979 Evinrude 9.9 that came with the boat and is as old as the boat. So Dave connects everything and it started! So now we are off to the crane to raise the mast. As we don't know what we are doing, my skipper Kirk (I race on his Tanzer 26 every week) has come to help us. He runs the crane while Dave and I are on the boat doing the work. It's a good way to learn! Once the mast is up and secured, it's time to go find our mooring and put our tie on ropes. It's a pretty tight fit between the 2 boats but we manage. After that, we are hot and exhausted so the three of us head to the club for a cold beer.

On her way to the water.

She floats!

Suzanne and Kirk after raising the mast.

August 4th is the maiden voyage event! Dave has invited his sister Wendy and her husband Mike to be part of the voyage. But first we have to finish rigging the boat. I have to figure out where the halyards go and what all the lines are. Once I think I have the main figured out, and perhaps even the genoa, we head out. It is blowing about 10 knots with gusts of about 15. We raise the main and sail with just that for a while. Then Dave wants to try the genoa. So I do my foredeck job and hoist that but at the back end, it does not look right. Still have to figure some things out I guess. And the gust are too strong so I take the sail down and we continue with main only for a few hours. Back in the harbour sometime after 5 p.m. We put everything away then go to the bar again. I look like a lobster! It was so hot out there, about 40 degrees with the humidex. All in all, a pretty good first day on the water!

Mike, Dave and Wendy.

Me with my body armor and still managed to get a huge bruise on the knee.

Sailboat News

Towards the end of June, I decided to put up my old Superlight II for sale, as well as my 7.5 racing rig. So I was browsing on Kijiji to see what was there for sale already. Then I decided to search for sailboats. To my great surprise, I find some keelboats that are really affordable. On a whim, I show Dave a picture of a Mirage 24 for sale at a club across the lake from ours. He's interested and starts asking questions. In the meantime, I post my equipment for sale and sell all except the sail in only 2 weeks. I also go to 2 sailboard regattas so no time to explore the Mirage 24. In the end, we looked at the boat on July 8th and 12th and bought her on July 17th! We had it moved to Britannia Yacht Club, just a few kilometers down the road on Friday, July 20th and worked at cleaning and waxing the hull and cleaning the cabin during the weekend. Now we have to have the rudder fixed and she should be ready to hit the water for August.

And this means that we have a Mutineer 15 for sale as we can't keep all these boats!

Ready to leave NSC.

In her new home at BYC.

All waxed and shined!

Full view.

CMWA Championships at Rondeau Yacht Club & Road Trip

Another road trip, very close to the last one! This time the destination is Rondeau Yacht Club located inside the Rondeau Provincial Park, close to Chatham on Lake Erie. A friend of mine, Jocelyne, accompanies me on this trip. Jocelyne also windsurfs so she hopes to get her board wet for the first time in two years. We drive to Cambridge on Wednesday, June 27 and do the rest of the trip the next day.

The windsurfing area is in a bay as opposed to the open waters on the big lake. However, there are a lot, and I mean a lot, of weeds. But the organizer had warned us and we came prepared with weed fins. I had bought a Makani weed fin and it worked very well.

On Thursday, June 28, we arrived early afternoon, checked out the site and rigged to go sailing. We had a pleasant afternoon getting used to the waters. Jocelyne went out too and enjoyed herself.

Friday was day one of our masters championships. We did two races in the morning then one long distance race in the afternoon. I managed to finish all three! The wind was not too strong, just my speed. Jocelyne also spent time on the water.

Saturday brought a lot more wind. We held our AGM from 9 am to 10 am then got out on the water for three races. I managed to finish the first one, with one fall only and a scary downwind leg. I finished last but was happy that I was able to hold on. I did not do the other two races as I was sure I would not be able to hold on. So I made a bee line towards the beach and that was long enough.

After lunch on Saturday, everyone wanted to take out their shortboards so there were no more racing. I decided to take a break and went to see the beach on the other side with Jocelyne and Carole, Denis's wife. Nice sandy beach but water was colder than in the bay.

That night we had our last dinner and awards ceremony at the local golf club.  I ended up finishing 2nd in my age category (only 2 of us)! And overall last out of 8 kona racers!

Sunset on the bay, from restaurant.

Launch area.

Me trying to avoid a collision!

On the way back we stopped for the night in Port Hope and saw some of the Canada Day celebrations downtown. One of the band playing happened to be my step-daughter's uncle. They were pretty good. The next day, Monday, July 2, we went to visit Presqu'ile Provincial Park, located just west of Belleville. We walked around trying to find camping sites with water access for future windsurfing/camping trips. We found a few. What a nice park. We also walked a trail in the woods and checked out the beach where there were about 5 kite sailors. There is also a nice Bed & Breakfast on the side of the bay and we visited for possible future trips.

One of Ontario's oldest lighthouses at Presqu'ile.

Beach at Presqu'ile.

Managed to catch a butterfly!

All in all, a very nice short vacation (6 days on the road) with great company.

Kona racing in Trois-Rivières, Québec

Friday, June 22, I hit the road towards Club Multivoile in Trois-Rivières for the East Coast Championship. Going by myself but my friend Denis will be there and Andrée Gauthier from Toronto and a few others that I met along the way windsurfing.

What a great weekend we had! Fourteen Kona racers! We did 4 races each day, Saturday and Sunday. Saturday, the wind was gusty and irregular but it changed direction for Sunday and was pretty steady. Just my strength of wind too! Saturday I had two 7th and two 8th but Sunday brought one 8th then two 5th and another 8th. I could not believe those 5th. I was right behind the best in our group! I ended up with a bronze medal in the women's division. I finished 7th overall. My fellow Ontarians and I did pretty well overall.

Club Multivoile is also the site of the 2013 World Kona Championship so that was a good practice race for us. We will be back next year! Thank you Dominique Vallée and her army of volunteers for organizing a great weekend on the water. 

Photo of the site (Denis sailing).

Summer 2012 Kona Racing

Last week (May 23) was our first Wednesday night racing at the Britannia Yacht Club. I use my Kona equipment even if I have trouble keeping up with the guys on bigger sails. At least I'm out there! Saturday, May 26, we hosted the first Ontario Sailing race of the 2012 season. We had 6 racers in the open class and 7 in the Kona class. The day was sunny, temperature comfortable and light winds. We managed to do 5 races. The results are compiled on the Kona Website on this page.

This is me pursuing Tom Mae!

The three eternal opponents - Suzanne, Stephanie Todd and Andrée Gauthier now all on Konas.

Ormond Beach, March 5 to 12, 2012

I did not think I would write anything about this portion of my vacation but today something happened not far that I thought I'd share. A 12-15 foot whale was found beached this morning. So after I had done my work (yes I had to work today) I took a walk to go see it. Took me 20 minutes to get there so it was a good walk there and back on the beach! Here are a few pictures of what I could see.

Tail end of the whale.

Nose end.

View of the action.

The view from where I am staying. The whale was a the top of the picture.

The whale had to be euthanized. See article in the local paper.

Calema Midwinters March 1-4, 2012

Traveling to Florida with Denis Dagenais to participate in the Calema Midwinters. This is my first race outside of Canada and I will be racing in the Kona One Design Class.

We flew in to Orlando on February 29th, took our rental car and drove to Cocoa Beach where we are staying. The trip went smoothly. 

March 1st was a day to set up our rental equipment to our liking and take it out for a test run. I decided to install an outhaul system on my boom so that took a while. Once I went out, I realized that I had not put any lubricant on the daggerboard so came back to find some. Then out again, one of my cleats on the boom slid so I had to come back in to fix it. Finally I was able to go out and test everything and it seemed to work fine. The big test will be tomorrow.

The beach and some of the area where we are sailing.

March 2 - First day of the regatta
This morning the sun is shining and the winds are light. Konas are sent out at 10 a.m. to start the racing. We do one race in light wind then go to the beach for a few minutes before we are told to go back out for another race. But now the wind has picked up to around 15 knots. I start the second race, do the upwind leg and manage to start the downwind leg and then I drop my sail. It took me about 10 minutes if not more to manage to lift it up again and get going. By then, I am tired and I know I won't be able to finish that race so I head back to the beach. Lunch is served! We are called out for one more race but I decided not to do it but to just go out and play and practice. Denis is having a better day and in the third race, he finishes 5th overall, his best international race finish ever.

March 3 - Second day
It is blowing and the sun is shining! Oops but a bit much for me to race so I am beached (with John Darling). Last night I bought a cheap beach chair so I can at least be comfortable while I watch the others race. There are 4 women in the Kona race: Andrée Gauthier from Toronto who I can never beat, Joachim Larsson's daughter who is 18 and raised on a Kona, a woman named Joanna Merritt from Colorado who is older than me and moi. Joanna did all the races. So I feel a bit bad that I was not able to hold on in heavier winds with 7.4 sail. I may have been able to just play but I did not risk it. I know I can do it with a smaller sail on the Kona in higher winds but I did not have such a sail in Florida. This pushes me to hit the gym even more upon my return home. Gotta be in better shape for the summer!

Denis reflecting before a race.

The spread of equipment.

March 4 - Third and final day
It is blowing and raining but the rain stops early and eventually the sun comes out. However, it is a tad cold. The sweater and the jacket and the long pants come out of hiding. Everybody hangs out while the organizers decide if they are going to run races in high winds and in a direction that would take the racers farther out. We have lunch then we are told that racing is finished for the weekend. The awards are handed out and then everybody gets ready to go home. Denis is staying an extra day and I get a ride with Andrée and John who are heading back to Toronto and they drop me at a Walmart close to the 95 where my mother picks me up and I will stay the week with her in Ormond Beach. Even if I did not get to race much, I am happy that I came to the Calema Midwinters to live the experience of a big regatta with more than 2 fleets. (And I got to meet some of windsurfing's big names!!) There were 27 people registered in the Kona fleet and the whole event was very well organized.

A blue heron standing just there.

My old and new idols: Nevin Sayre, Joachim Larsson, Steve Gottlieb.

Me battling with John Darling at the upwind mark! (He won as he pushed me up and I could not turn!)