One of those days

It's been awhile..... busy dancing and danced so much that now I'm injured and ordered to not dance for a month! So sailing and cross stitching is my thing these days.

Saturday started cloudy but cleared up and off we went to the sailing club. The flag was hardly moving so we put on the really big jib sail, the one whose sheets run all the way to the back of the boat which makes tacking harder than usual. For those who don't know "sheets" are the ropes attached to the sail that you use to pull the sail in on either side of the boat. I think they're called sheets because they control the sheets (sails). Anyway, going downwind was uneventful, as usual, however coming back not so much. The winds had really picked up and were fickle too. So why did I decide I needed a turn at the helm? Probably because I was getting damned tired of hauling in the sheets every time we tacked and the sheets got snagged on the junk on the bottom of the mast (needs to be removed - junk not mast), then on the cleat on one side of the mast, then on the other. Cleats that the halyards are attached to (yes, they're ropes but they're called halyards, they haul up the sails). Anyway, winds were crazy and I was zigzagging all over the place but sort of in control when all of a sudden the tiller flew out of my hand and we did a 360 - not my fault, I swear, and fortunately Gerry had 360'd earlier and then again later (sorry, Gerry). Moments later we heeled over way too far, I attempted to let the main sheet out but didn't yank it hard enough so we rounded up. I should have gone back to being crew but no, I hung in a while longer, long enough to almost run into a power boat that did not give way, I didn't either and fortunately we missed each other. I think about then I said "had enough - you drive!" So Gerry's at the tiller, I'm busy hauling on the damn sheet once again and wham - my elbow and the tiller collided - OUCH, right in the funny bone, lost all feeling in my arm and couldn't complete the tack. It would probably not be hurting today if I hadn't hit it twice later that evening.


Fortunately you can't get too injured cross stitching.

Wildwood April 5, 2010

Another beautiful day, and really windy. Les and Chris joined us on the inaugural sail on the lake. Yesterday there was some discussion on how we never reef the main sail. Well guess what - we double reefed it today, waves estimated at 2 feet! Good thing the Matilda has a large cockpit - four us needed to be on the same side of the boat almost all the time.










A photo to prove we made it all the way to the bridge, just a-racing down the lake, or is that up the lake? Lots of time left for Chris to make it back to town - or was it?




I'm not allowed to say who was at the helm (wasn't Gerry, Chris or me) but we got a little too close to the edge of the lake. For those non-sailors that means we ran aground.

Chris and Gerry scrambling to get the sails down.











The unknown helmsman trying to move the boat with the paddle.












Gerry pushing with the other paddle. Women and children were relegated to the V-berth below (weight distribution or just so we were out of the way?) hence the shots from inside the boat.










Les went up to fix the jib. He wasn't smiling a few minutes later when he got totally soaked from the spray.










Made it back just in time for Chris to make it back to town for her 3 o'clock appointment.
BTW - here's the meaning of relegated:
verb [ trans. ]
consign or dismiss to an inferior rank or position. Example: they aim to prevent women from being relegated to a secondary role.

Wildwood April 4, 2010

Another beautiful spring day. Took advantage of the weather to put the Matilda (gotta name the boat someday) in the water. First one in!!! Would you believe I'm putting Penaten on the bottom of the boat?

Crazier

April 3, 2010
Some people are crazier than me. Today was a very very windy day, but warm. A member of the sailing club decided to take advantage of the wind and go windsurfing. The air was warm but can you imagine how cold the water must be? And he unfortunately spent some time in it.








At one point he disappeared after taking a spill so we went to see if he needed rescuing. This is what we found:




If you look very closely you can see him whizzing along on the other side of the lake. On this side of the lake you can see how gusty it is.

Ontari ari ari O

Back to incredibly warm weather in Ontario after leaving Freeport in the aftermath of a tornado! Funny thing happened on the way to the plane. On the bus from one terminal to another I spoke briefly to someone from France with a reasonable command of English and as we're climbing the stairs to the plane he says "Pardon me, I don't wish to be rude but I think your pants are on upside down." I managed not to laugh hysterically and said, "no they're not, they're reversible." They're my favourite pants and since they are reversible the seam is noticeable.

So that's all the news - except yes indeed there was a tornado, something rather rare in the Bahamas. Port Lucaya (near us) suffered somewhat but the biggest tragedy was at the container port where 3 people died.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100329/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_bahamas_tornado

This and That

Pirates of the Caribbean - a member of the extras had a birthday party and invited all the other extras.



Would you believe it's so cold at "Happy Hour," between 4 and 5 that we went shopping for a washing machine down the deserted roads so we could make a fire pit.

A Two Hour Tour - or - Cheated Death Once Again

Tuesday, March 3, 2010. We had to move Dulcinea from where she was back to where she usually is (long story, don't ask). The wind forecast was bad, but it would be bad for a week so what the hell, it's only 7 miles. Three of us set out, John was conscripted, I was too stupid to know any better and Gerry wanted her moved. We set out at 10:40, just going up the coast, piece of cake LOL. The trip through the canal went well, but then we had get past the big rocks at the jetty and wow, were those waves big (approx. 14 feet). I naively asked if we'd get wet! The boat (44 foot) bounced up so high and crashed down so fiercely the waves came right over the bow to the cockpit and totally soaked us. I had a rain coat on but it did no good, drenched to the skin in 30 seconds.

So there we are bouncing through the surf, no way to turn around safely and the Bahamian Air Sea Rescue radios us to tell us we were crazy. I looked around and noticed that there were no boats on the water. That should have told us something. I also noticed that I wasn't wearing a life jacket! Unfortunately they were in the locker at the very back of the boat behind the steering wheel. I couldn't ask Gerry to get them he was battling the ocean and I was sure I couldn't get back there without being washed overboard. As for John, he was standing in the hatchway (keeping watch on the radar/chart plotter) and he sure wasn't going to move from that safe haven. Ah well, I've lived a good life.

After about an hour it wasn't fun any more and I didn't know if I'd ever be able to straighten my fingers out - they were permanently affixed to the bimini frame that had fallen down in front of me 2 seconds after the first wave. So there we are being knocked around but making good progress when all of a sudden an alarm goes off and there's steam coming out of the hatchway! The engine has overheated, not good, without an engine we'll be on the reef! Gerry jumps down into the back compartment to check out the cooling water - what a break for me because he tossed up the life jackets. Before I had a chance to put one on I'm ordered into the boat to fetch a jug of water - is he nuts I think? I can't let go, I'll fall overboard. As you can see I didn't but despite my valiant action in fetching water (getting knocked around down below), nothing could be done from that compartment so Gerry jumps down into the boat, removes the engine cover and tries to figure out where exactly the steam is coming from and how to fix it. Meanwhile without power we're drifting sideways towards the reef. I could only hope that when we crashed I'd be washed up on a sandy beach and not on any rocks.

But wait, the steam has stopped, the alarm is quiet. I risk moving to peer down into the hatchway. There's Gerry with a hose going from the galley tap to somewhere in the engine - what a MacGyver! We could now rev up the engine (which fortunately never actually died) and get into the canal. There were a few people on both sides of the jetty, apparently some had been watching and wondering who these idiots out there were. We got cheers and applause as we made our way into Port Lucaya. Cheating death once again as John likes to say.

The boat in the photo? Not us, someone who bounced over the reef at 4:30 this morning and washed up on shore, could have been us (the lone 74 year old sailor was unhurt). The picture of the water doesn't really show how high the waves are beyond the reef. Other photo is the "road" they knocked out to get to the boat to drag it out of the water. Wonder if they got a permit?