May 14 2011 - Stag Race to Center Bay

Looks like I was the baby in this race; all other boats were a lot larger than me... unfortunately, I came in 6th out of 7. At least I beat out a 46' ketch!

The winds were very light, even motored for part of the way over. There was a wind puff of 15 - 20 knots for a short period. On the way home... it rained with no wind:)
Jason, his dad, their friend Tony, and Hank had a great time! steak dinner was perfect with Hank at the BBQ. Jason caught 7 legal size crabs, which came lunch on the following day.

My cleaned hull looks and felt great!!

Looking forward to  my next race!
Tarka.

May 13 2011 - Haul out time

It has been almost a year now, that I was put on the hard (that's sailor's talk for taking the boat out of the water).
 I was put on the Club's elevator with the help of Hank and Jason... no problems going up or down!

There was not too much to clean off, mainly around the propeller and rudder. Jason installed two new zincs on the prop shalf, and Hank power washed  my black bottom. After-wards Hank applied another coat of Joton bottom paint around the water line.... looking good eh!

Also, we had Performance Yachts do an inspection on the keel, rudder and bottom... we got the GREEN light... all is well. :) Only goes to show that I can ram a few logs now and then. (rammed into two last season) and get away with it.

Now sitting at the club overnight, waiting of Hank to take me out, doing the Stag race to Center Bay tomorrow.

May 11 2011 - Race Day!

Well I survived! another race over! This was one of the best race I ever had! The winds were at least 20 knots, gusting to 25 or more, for the complete race. Foolishly Hank sailed me with full sails! no reefing for him! Needless to say, we were heeled over to my rails most of the race, ever buried them at times. There were six boats in our division... We came in Third!!
We had a perfect start for once... it looks like Hank is learning how to be at the line on time at the start line!
Back at the club, Hank spoke to the sailor who came in Second... he was reefed... a single reef in the main and reefed the jib to 60%.

Hank's lesson learned... read the winds and adjust according; you can sail just as fast reefed, without the excessive heel and excitement? :))

Average speed:... Tacking: 5.5 - 6 knots... Broad reach: 7 - 8.4 knots!... running: 6 - 7.0 knots!

May 04 2011 - Wednesday Night Race

Well, the first race of this season is over, with Paul as trimmer and Hank at the helm.

Thanks to Hank, we can in 5th out of 7 boats entered! We have 5 Sailing divisions in our club, I am in the Division that does not fly a sail...only allowed to use working sails. He missed the starting time... he assumed that our Division 5 was starting last (as it normally is). .However... our Division started in the middle, so Hank was off sailing away from the start line. By the time he realized his mistake, we were at least 5 minutes behind... this means we would be last no matter how I sailed... we lost before we even started! BUT, we did make up for lost time due to my fine lines... but still came in last. (6th DNF (did not finish) and 7th was DNC (did not compete).
The winds were light... started at Atkinson Point with the rounding mark near Stanley Park. By the time we got at the club house is was 8:30 pm.

Things Learnt... ALWAYS watch the Committee boat flags!! at all time... with the binoculars!

Oh,one more thing... Hank had my boom only repaired, moved the reefing lines to the proper setting to match my new main sail and adjusted the sail battens to make my sail work and look good!

Till the next race...

April Sailing 2011

Hi all, Just to let you know what happened this month so far... in point form:
April 2 - sailed Hank and Caroline over to Snug Cove, they had a great time... long walks, good food and ran into some sailing friends (Lynn , Dave and their boat "MY GIRL", nice boat, great lines with a wide beam stern).
April 17,18 and 19th - sailed Jeannette McDonald and Hank around English Bay, then to Snug Cove, next day to Gibson and back - great great winds on the return. Jeannette wanted to stay one more night at Snug Cove.
April 19 - sailed through a strong hail storm... fun eh?

April 07 2011 - Mast Tower Visit @ WVYC

When you now see me now, I have a brand new wind-vane mounted a top my mast, in-addition I have two new spinnaker pulleys mounted in the PROPER place. After 38 years, I finally have them mounted properly... on the outside of my mast, not on the front rail, separate by black tape. (see previous Blog of March 23 2011).

When Hank was finished remounted the pulleys, he thought he was finished. As he was lifting the catwalk away from the mast, the wind-vane got hung up on the catwalk. By the time he realize it, my wind-vane broke in two.  $65 later and a lot of work, I now have a brand new shiny wind-vane, complete with a top pin to stop those dam seagulls from getting a free "merry-go-round" ride.

I watched Hank climb the mast tower at least a dozen times before he was done. He had to move the boat a few times to line it up, then the tide was too low and my keel was in the mud, forgot a tool, new vane, new fore-stay cotter pin, etc. Lets see... 12 times up and 12 times down at 60 ft for each trip = 1,440 ft (440m) climb on a metal ladder. No wonder he was happy the job was done.

I guess all things happen for a reason... While Hank was replacing my wind-vane, he noticed that the fore-stay top pin was missing the cotter pin. This is not good... if the pin wiggled out, the mast would come crashing down! Also he noticed that the Jib track had slipped down and has to be moved up by 6".

All done! I stayed overnight at the club, to be sailed back home the following day, with Hank, Jason and Jason's dad, Dave. It was a nice sail , ok we motored :(  back home.

Snug Cove weekend get away

Well, another great weekend at Snug Cove... weather was sunny for Saturday, but clouding and windy on sunday.
Caroline and Hank went out for short walks along the boardwalks and mountain trails with lunch / supper at Miska's place. They rented two movies at the local Video store and watched them on-board.
Hank ran into his friend who was working on his sailboat "Friendship" at the marina... nice.. :)
Sailing back to Horseshoe bay under full sail was great! Our friend Aaron was out sailing too! He has a Catalina 27., named "Puddin" a very light sailboat. She is faster than me in light winds, due to my robust figure. :)

 We docked without any problems, except I did have to push a few logs out of the way. Our marina is presently full of drift wood and logs.

Worked needed to be done... install two new cockpit drains, my existing ones are leaking and I have to get my bottom done next week, I think.

Til then...