Les Saisons

Elizabeth Rutledge is an artist whose work I greatly admire. Her paintings are currently on display at Les Saisons in Old Chelsea, Quebec. There is very little information online about the artist, but a brief description is available at Tour Des Ateliers.

Lake O'Hara.

It is time for an update. I've been away in the Canadian Rockies, spending a week at Lake O'Hara to do mountaineering. In the end, we didn't get to the top of anything other than Mt. Schaffer (in the picture). The weather wasn't great, and the night we spent at the Abbot Pass hut between Mts. Victoria and Lefroy left about two feet of fresh powder snow all over everything; climbing Victoria was out of the question. Ironically it was a lack of snow on Mt. Huber that put us off. Having been on Huber a few times, I decided not to go the last few pitches to the summit. My partners Markus and Marcel attempted it, but found the last section impassable. At least I felt my judgement was confirmed.

Since the climbing trip, Aura has gone out a few times. Unfortunately, one of those times we tore the Genoa. It's now in need of a major repair. I've purchased sail thread, needles, and a leather sail-makers palm (so you don't stab yourself). I'm working up the courage to attempt the repair. My knowledge of sewing is quite limited. Okay, its zero.

Also in the repair department, whilst flying the spinnaker with Jimmy last Tuesday, we went onto a beam reach, swung the pole ahead, and somehow broke the hook on the end of the spinnaker guy. I have no idea how this is possible, but it broke clean off at the swivel, so the sheet is in need of a new hook and what looks like some tricky rope lashing technique to reattach it all. I thought I'd be writing here about major improvements to my boat, but so far it's all been minor upkeep... it's a lot of work! Fortunately, it's also a lot of fun!

PHRF Racing

No better way to learn a new boat that to race her, I guess. We've been racing Aura for a couple of weeks now. The first trip out was to take a look at the course and try not to hit anybody. A bonus was that we met up with Dwight, skipper of Gabrielle, and his crew out on Lac Duschenes, and gave him a proper rock-star salute. This is a picture of Markus sailing back to harbor after the race.

PHRF is a handicapping system that allows boats of different makes and models to race together, and the faster boats have a "handicap" that causes them to "owe time" to the slower boats... they get a few seconds shaved off their score and when the results are tabulated, its not necessarily the first boat across the line who wins, but the boat with the fastest time after adjusting for the PHRF rating.

Last Tuesday we sailed out and no wind was blowing. We found about six Tanzer 22's all roped up together, however, and decided to pull alongside and raft up. Everyone was sitting around in the late afternoon sun, drinking and having a party, hopping from one boat to the next. One of the fellows came over and gave us some pointers on rigging up the boat to go faster. I took one suggestion and raised the boom gooseneck about six inches to get the sail higher in the air.

On Thursday we had a really good race. We were not the first to cross the line but we were to windward of the other boats and tacked early to beat for the windward mark. All was going great until we came upon the mark and found that we weren't high enough to round it. We went immediately onto a port tack and unfortunately forced the boat behind us to tack as well. Apparently, in that situation you're supposed to jibe and go around the mark again. On the downwind leg, Markus did a perfect spinnaker launch and we sailed well, passing a Shark (slightly smaller sailboat) that seemed to be standing still. As the wind died down more and more, the horn signaled a shortened course, and we limped around the leeward mark for one last tack in the light air. As we came to the finish line we beat out a couple of other, larger boats, much to our surpise.

Tonight we raced PHRF JAM (Jib and Main). No spinnaker. Most of the boats were flying full genoas, but we put up a #1 jib. Initially it was plenty enough sail as the winds were high, but as the race played out, the wind settled right down and left us badly under powered compared to the other boats. We might have opted to change sails mid-race, perhaps on the downwind leg, but we didn't. Anyway, we got a reasonable start, sailed well, made the lay-lines to the marks, and finished the race in the middle of a beautiful sunset and one last puff of warm summer breeze. Can't complain about that!

Aura

Here are a few pictures of Aura. The harbor at BYC has 'Mediterranean' style moorings rather than finger docks. I admit the finger docks at Nepean Sailing Club are really nice. On the other hand, you can put many more boats in the harbor without all the docks. It makes boarding a bit challenging, so I think I'll construct a gangplank of sorts.

This first picture is Aura laying at Britannia Yacht Club. There are a lot of Tanzer 22's at the club, but I think she's one of the nicer looking ones. For a boat that was built in 1979 it's in surprisingly good condition.

The first major project undertaken on Aura was sorting out the electrical system. Although the depth meter was working, almost nothing else was: AM/FM radio, VHF radio, anchor light, running lights or cabin lights. I started by recharging the two 12volt gel batteries and then got first mate Markus in with his soldering iron. Markus set to work on the fuse panel and after some creative soldering we had everything wired and working. In fixing the electrical, we dislodged the depth meter's solenoid, so I bought some Marine Gloozit for sticking it back on the inside of the hull.

The last picture is just a shot of the inside of the cabin showing the am/fm radio, wet locker, and part of the quarter berth that can transform into a small table for two. Definitely cozy in there. A part of the v-berth can also be seen, and the porta-potty stuck underneath. I haven't overnighted on this boat yet, but I expect it to be basically a floating camping trip.

As for sailing, I've been out on Aura quite a lot, starting with some easy day-sails with friends and picnics off Aylmer island, up to a PHRF Jib-and-Main (JAM) race last Thursday. The plan is to race Tuesdays and Thursdays from now through fall, so I'm working on getting a couple race crews together. It's a great boat to sail and the fun factor is way high! I really like this boat.

Boom!

We went out on Aura on Saturday, and the wind was really blowing. We sailed up to Aylmer Island and anchored for a picnic, and then headed downriver wing-on-wing, blowing down towards BYC with our wake boiling. A dinghy with a 3-man crew went flying past, heeled over on a port tack, and the skipper yelled over to us, "This is AMAZING!!!". Seconds later, we heard a huge BOOM!!! and looked back just in time to see his mast collapse into the water.

Amazing, indeed.

Getting Wet

Aura went in the water on Tuesday morning. On Wednesday evening we stepped the mast and motored over to BYC. She now lays in the inner harbor alongside a bunch of other T22's. BYC has a phenomenal number of these boats.

One burly older guy in the yard strolled past scowling. Club security. A younger guy, happy and friendly, came by to chat about the high water and boat stuff. I suspect there might be a mix of the old guard and yuppies at BYC.

Now, here is a webcam of BYC. Hope it works:

The BYC

Today I became a member of the Brittania Yacht Club. It is the oldest yacht club in Canada. This is where Aura will be moored for the summer.


The boat is "on the hard" at Nepean Sailing Club. I'll launch her there and sail her down to Brittania. The cradle she sits on will have to be dismantled and hauled over to the BYC yard by truck.

I like the Brittania club. It has a reputation for being a bit elitist, but I found them to be very friendly and helpful, interested in new members. Thanks to Mark Walton at BYC. If all goes well, I'll keep Aura at the BYC. It's close enough to reach by a pleasant bicycle ride along the canal and river-front pathways.