August 1: De Tour Village to Thessalon, Canada
The North Channel part of our cruise started with perfect sailing weather, steady 10-15 knot wind on a broad beam reach. I had resolved to make the trip as comfortable as possible for Dana and left a reef in the main from the beginning. As the winds picked up, we also reduced the jib to eventually 50%, but we still achieved 5 knots average, and with a heeling angle of just 5-10 degrees max.
We had just one small adventure when just before Thessalon we were forced to execute a HOB (hat over board) procedure. We took about 2 minutes to turn the boat around and almost gave up on finding the hat again. We hadn't promptly pressed the 'mark' button on the GPS and had also failed to throw a life ring. But luck had it that we found it after a few more minutes of searching! A good omen.
We anchored in the bay at Thessalon and actually didn't even set foot on land. We were tired and hungry, and after dinner went to bed early.
August 2: Thessalon to Blind River
Thessalon in the morning
The weather prediction had been dire for today, with rains and thunderstorms in the offing. However, we were instead greeted by a incredibly calm and balmy morning. After breakfast we set off by motor and headed east. It was so calm that Dana decided to take a nap on deck while I read and let the autopilot do the steering. Later Dana went below and started knitting one of her projects, something she would not have done days ago.
Eventually the predicted weather caught up with us, and rain started pouring on us and eventually through some of the still leaky windows. When we reached Blind River the rain was so bad that we decided to stay out on the lake a little longer to avoid getting drenched, but when there was no improvement we headed in.
No comments:
Post a Comment