New digs

July 10 I came into possession of a new (to me) trailer and then sweated buckets until my old one was sold. I think we now have the best site at Wildwood, we can even sail the boat up to it!







My new view, much much much better than the old view.

My old yard.

Woulda, Shoulda, Coulda

August 7 - Race Day at Wildwood





A miracle has happened - despite telling me, more than once, that the only way I would be skipper would be to own the boat, Gerry has let me have a go at the helm. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that the wind indicator is broken or that the handicap reverts back to the original with a new skipper. I don't care what the reason is I was itching to get my hands on the tiller. Winds appeared to be perfect - at least in my opinion - strong winds would have caused me to chicken out for sure.

Eight boats jockeying for a good start position caused a lot of congestion and it didn't make things any better when the winds completely and utterly died as soon as the starting horn went off. I don't know about the other boats but Blazing Matilda (Gerry and I), Sea Sprite (Steve & Anita) and 18 Carat (Christina) were all floundering and just about on top of each other. Word has it that 18 Carat actually made contact with Sea Sprite (was that a push back Anita?). Fortunately winds picked up and we were off to the first buoy. There were only 2 boats ahead of us when all of a sudden Airborne (George & Lorne) comes out of nowhere and passes us - and there they were - gone!

Winds were tricky - here for a few minutes, gone for more. Airborne caught all the right ones (finishing first time wise) and Sea Sprite & 18 Carat missed them (finishing..... well what can I say?). We were in the middle most of the way and I think I only screwed up once, being caught in irons (not moving) for a few seconds - and as Gerry says a few seconds can win or lose a race.

With the finish line slowly approaching I was hoping for more favourable gusts to push us further to the left side of the lake where the finish line was. If we didn't get over far enough we would have to tack - not a good thing. Well as luck would have it we were almost on top of the finish line when we had to make a quick tack, or at least attempted to but the wind shifted and we were in imminent danger of hitting the buoy which would mean we would have to go around and cross the line again - definitely not a good thing. The wind slackened off and we had little control over our destiny and were about to hit the buoy when fate stepped in, the horn blew, indicating the bow had crossed the line, and less than a second later we hit the buoy and I could breathe again.

Remember the comment "a few seconds can win or lose a race"? We came in 2nd (when you count the handicap, by about 10 seconds!!!!!!!!!!!). Needless to say, I'm a little disappointed that I'm not the first woman to win the cup (yet) but actually very surprised that I finished as well as we did. Guess I had a good teacher!

Photo of us and Donal (winner) neck and neck.

How Wet is Wet?

July 17 - Race Day!

Dark clouds looming over the sailing club and the race coordinator says: "You don't mind getting wet do you?"

Our answers should have been a loud and resounding YES! We mind getting wet.

The course was one of the longest ever and the clouds were the darkest ever. We got off to a middlin' start but by the time we rounded the 2nd buoy we were doing pretty darn good. Had Mother Nature not interfered we might have finished 2nd or 3rd or dare we hope? First? But as luck would have it the sky burst open soaking us to the skin in about 5 seconds. The wind hurled itself at us and we heeled over the farthest Blazing Matilda has ever heeled, water coming over the gunwales by the gallon. I was convinced that I was going for a swim and the boat was going to capsize. I was very thankful that I was wearing a life jacket and of course thankful that Gerry was at the helm and not me! He managed to right the boat and fought the winds and waves fearlessly for what seemed like a very long time but of course wasn't. I was so focussed on hanging on and staying inside the boat that I didn't notice the lightning surrounding the lake but Steve and Anita did and took down their sails. We thought they were calling it quits but the only thing they quit was racing - they took it upon themselves to go back up the lake to make sure that everyone else was alright and that no one needed rescuing, our hats off to them. It was amazing that all 11 boats made it through that storm without mishap. We rounded the next buoy intent on catching up to the leaders but noticed that almost everyone had lowered their sails and were heading back in. We assumed that the race had been called and we just didn't hear the signal. Much to our surprise it hadn't officially been called and 3 crazy (or fearless) boat captains had continued the race braving another storm, this one complete with rain, high winds and hail, chunks of hail. I have no complaints that we weren't out in that.

Using the times at the halfway point it appeared we came in 2nd but when the final handicap calculations were computed we came in 4th. Our handicap was decreased because we won the Wildwood Cup last year. Perhaps we should change captains and get the old handicap back. Wonder if I could win a race.

What a pity there weren't more photos taken. Thanks to Lorne for the top one, Steve for the bottom.

PS - Upon further calculations with the handicap we came in 3rd.

oops

So now we're on rudder #3 (original, 1st replacement rolled aluminum, 2nd replacement cast aluminum) and all is well, or so I thought. The rudder didn't fail last time we sailed but back at the dock I sort of accidentally didn't fasten the halyard shackle to the mast. Thought I had closed it but apparently not. A halyard is a "rope" that you use to haul the sails up and when you neglect to fasten it securely after dropping the sails guess what happens? The unfastened end goes sailing right up to the top of the mast and will not come back down without some persuasion so you can't go out sailing till the problem is rectified. Fortunately Gerry is not one to lose his cool, all he said was "good thing I love you!" "Now how are you going to get it back down?"

So now what? Can't sail till I fix it. Going up the mast is not an option, tipping the boat way over might be a solution but there's a chance we tip it too far and we take in water. Fortunately George told us of a long pole with a hook available to club members to retrieve lost halyards. I guess others have done this, imagine that! So I get the pole, it's a windy day, the boat is rocking, the dock is rocking, the pole is long and is swaying and I'm going blind from looking into the sun, I give up. Luckily Les was on the docks and after about a minute he snagged it and saved the day. Remember Les? The guy who might have run us aground? Well today he saved the day - thanks Les!

Photo is an example - see the pin? It has to be fastened SECURELY around something to prevent escape.

A few Wildwood Tales

Still looking for the culprit who stapled this to the dock between Les and Gerry's boats. No one has fessed up.



Rudy and Ellen finally made it out to Wildwood again (they used to be members). The six of us had a terrific time on Les and Chris's new boat Kinsale - another Edel but bigger, faster and prettier.











One day last week I was at the helm coming down the lake when Gerry made a comment about my helmsmanship or is that helmswomanship? "Why are you steering with the tiller over so far?" You're supposed to be steering straight, the boat is going straight." I told him that's the only way I can get the boat to go straight! Nothing else was said. A few days later we were almost in the exact same spot with Gerry at the helm when he said "I wonder why the tiller is over so far, it shouldn't be." Of course I might have said something like "yeah, why aren't you steering straight, the boat is going straight?" We get back to the dock and the first thing he does is try to figure out why. Strange he didn't try to figure out why when I was doing it. He assumed pilot error I'm sure. Anyway, as you can see the problem was not me or him it was the rudder. It's difficult to steer with the rudder bent out of shape. Sorry I cut half your head off in the photo, well maybe I am......



The sad news is that the rudder was replaced but the same damn thing happened - it managed to get bent again, during the Vanexan Cup Race and just as we were gaining on Anita and Steve!!

Bits and Pieces

1. Dinner with Richard and Leslie revealed that washing machine drums can be deadly. I didn't mention the fireworks that ensued when we first lit the washing machine fire pit in the Bahamas because we all thought it must have been something in the wood but when my brother told his tale of the same thing happening here in Ontario I thought I should issue a public service bulletin and tell everyone to beware of the black powdery stuff that can spew forth like fireworks from one of these things. We were luckier than Richard and Leslie - we weren't trying to have dinner around it - they were and needless to say their food was covered in a lovely film of black toxicity.

2. Would you believe someone from my 6 Grade class (Northdale Public School, Waterloo) managed to get almost 20 of us together for lunch a few weeks ago - including one of the teachers - Mr. MacMillan. I discovered that stating what's on my mind, sometimes less than tactfully has been part of my charm for a long time.


3. It's just like dumpster diving - getting free stuff is great. A few trailers up the row someone was building a new shed and left the old one on the curb with a "free" sign on it. Was 2' bigger and in better shape than mine so of course we snapped that baby up in a hurry. Gerry and I must have been a funny sight, inside the shed, walking it down the road. Would you believe they also had a perfectly good deck they wanted gone! The photo shows where some strong guys dropped it and the other one shows where my good friends Gerry, Rudy, Ellen, Chris and Les planted it while I was at dance class - thanks soooo much! Was a great surprise.

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.