September 2021
We attempted another Gentleman’s cruise, but with several crew changes and last minute cancellations, it was just Rufus, Malcolm and me. With a forecast for rain and 20knots of wind we decided it was a great weekend to head out, we weren’t wrong. After all, preparations and arrangements had been made. As a sign of encouragement we were greeted with a beautiful rainbow as we headed out of Midland Bay on Friday night.
Heading for Frying Pan Bay, we sailed up Beausoleil Island with a nice south west wind that filled the cruising chute making a perfect run up to Big Dog Channel. We arrived at an almost empty Frying Pan Bay just after sunset and dropped the hook in the middle of the bay. We were snarked at by a power-boater when we entered because we didn’t have our VHF on… and he wanted to discuss anchoring arrangements – which we did off our bows anyway!
We had an awesome dinner of burgers and enjoyed the evening. The new Chinese diesel heater was awesome, keeping the boat a toasty 18 ° all night.
Saturday morning we went for a short hike and headed up to Hockey Stick Bay. After that we headed out on a good run ending in a small tear on the cruising chute from a spit-pin sticking out of the spreader turnbuckle. An easy fix. Winds were in the high teens but our route was almost straight north so it was a great sail. We were greeted by a completely empty Bay – a nice treat!
After lunch the rains arrived, cats & dogs rain! Then Barry and Cedar arrived in the monsoon. They had suffered a blown-out main sail in the high winds, but not after enjoying a fast reach, hitting 7.5kn of boat speed!
Saturday morning was bright and sunny, with high winds. We took down Barry’s main sail and packed it up for me to stitch over the winter. Then we explored the small lake next to the bay and finally headed out for our afternoon sail home.
We parted ways with Leading Edge at Penetang Bay and continued on a perfect 60° reach back to Midland Bay. A quick pump out and we were ready for a final feast of lamb kabobs at MBSC.
