2012 Plan
What a year
… whales, gales, icebergs and a blown head gasket. Our trip from Scotland … Faroes … Iceland … Labrador … Newfoundland was close to but
not exactly like the Brendan track. We had to end our trip in Lewisporte, Newfoundland in mid August due to engine
problems. That means that 2012 will be spent exploring Newfoundland and Nova
Scotia … slowly. There is a lot to see in Newfoundland and we plan to revisit
some of our favorite anchorages in Nova Scotia. Our 2012 wintering over spot will
be in Chester, Nova Scotia.
2011 Plan
In 2010 we
survived the northern latitudes in Norway and are now set to head back to North
America via the northern route. We have been inspired by the Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abbtis (Voyage of Brendan) … the voyages of Saint Brendan
an Irish monk who sailed from Ireland to North America and back in a leather
sailboat. The voyage was repeated in 1976 by Tim Severin
in a replica craft documented in film and his book The Brendan Voyage. We hope
to experience the same sense of awe and magic of the environment, wild life and
people (am I being redundant?).
If we can
survive the northern latitudes in 2010 then an attractive option is to head
north from Scotland to Iceland, Greenland and back to Canada via Newfoundland …
back down the east coast to the warmer climates. The Med has lost its appeal …
sad to say but I think we have had our fill of EU bureaucracy.
2006 will
be the year for our departure from North America. We plan to leave Whitby in
late April, heading out the St Lawrence River.
The best time of the year to cross the North Atlantic is late June and
July, after most of the icebergs have melted and before the hurricane season
begins. Our destination will be the west
coast of Ireland. In early August,
assuming we have landed successfully in Ireland, we plan to fly back to Toronto
and then on to San Francisco for the wedding of Jane’s daughter, Erica Peltz,
to Kris Spraker. We will then return to
Ireland and cruise the west coast of Ireland and the south coast of England
during the Fall.
We plan to winter the boat in England and spend the cold months
returning to Canada and the US and land-traveling in Europe.
Jane is an
intrepid “seat of the pants” sailor that views every other sailboat on the
horizon as a challenge. Brian is the technical sailor, who studied the theory
of sail long before ever venturing forth. Jane knew instinctively when the sail
trim was right, Brian could derive the vectors and formulate an approximate
sheet offset.
Jane began
sailing as crew in dinghy races in Charlevoix, Michigan, graduating to cruising
when her parents bought a 44-foot wooden cutter-rigged sailboat
(Bangalore). Her first extensive cruise
was in 1960 with Larry and Midge Perkins aboard their 44-foot wooden schooner,
Allegro in the North Channel (Ontario).
The Perkins told of their adventures with Irving and Alexy
Johnson (on their boat Yankee), sailing up the Nile River and across the
Atlantic. The seed was planted.
Brian began
sailing on an 8-foot punt on which he fashioned a sail with a broomstick and a
beach towel. The following wind took him
several miles out into Lake Superior before the coast guard rescued him. Perhaps it was this tenuous beginning that
has made Brian the more cautious, studious sailor.
We both
held a dream of an extended voyage in salt water but only had short cruising
experience in the Great Lakes. Lack of experience, lack of time and lack of a
suitable boat became the obstacles that needed to be overcome. We developed a
ten-year plan that first focused on training and gaining experience maintaining
and sailing a boat together. The house
was soon filled with books describing circumnavigating, sinking, how to survive
storms, extended voyage planning, personal accounts of circumnavigators. We
attended lectures, took courses, went to boat shows, participated in
rendezvous’, managed OSA/CYA events, became Port Captains, taught sailing
courses, spent a year as Commanders of the Toronto Power Squadron, bought some
boats and even went sailing.
Club racing
and race management gave us experience with fast decision making in adverse
weather conditions, boat performance on all points of sail and close quarters
boat handling. The racing experience provided insight into our own
personalities, what we were best at and how duties would be best divided and
shared to maximize our own specific abilities and talents. Sailing is a natural
activity to Jane. Sailing is becoming an intuitive activity for Brian. We both
react properly to a given situation but have come to appreciate how different
our thought/reaction process is. It takes a while during a debrief to
understand each others point of view of what happened since we get to the same
solution in such different ways.
Teaching
sailing courses is the best way to cement all of the theoretical principles
involved, rules of the road, sailing terms, navigation, electronics, weather and develop the long term relationships that will
provide comfort during the long passages and friends in distant ports.
Brian’s
first boat, acquired in 1986, was a fixed-keel racing dinghy designed by Uffa Fox. “PUFF” our Flying Fifteen 2807 gave us the
pleasure of weekday club racing at minimal cost. PUFF had all of the sail shape
controls available and required skilled use of them in order to plane at 17
knots. Second in 1988 was a quarter ton
racer designed by Sparkman/Stevens, a North Star 500.
She carried a family of four and two cats in her 25 feet to many adventures on
Lake Ontario. We tried racing her but even with a folding prop and new sails
she could not compete with the rest of the fleet. “Swan Queen” a CS33 acquired
in 1993 came with a shoal draft keel gave us the ability to race in Lake
Ontario and cruise in Georgian Bay. Once we discovered the benefits of interior
space, pressurized hot water, propane appliances and a hull we could trust it
became easier to establish a set of parameters for our final boat. Sailing was
no longer a struggle but became a part of life. Cruising with cats and kids
became a vacation. Based on our years of cruising with the CS33 we developed a
set of requirements for our next boat that could handle years of blue water
sailing..
Brian saw his first Whitby 42 at the 1983 Toronto Boat Show. At the time
I didn’t even have a rowboat but he was determined that a Whitby 42 would be
his retirement home. The dream of owning a Whitby 42 started to become a
reality in 2002 when we docked our CS33 at Bayport Marina in Midland. We had been cruising in the North Channel for
3 weeks, and were preparing to be hauled out for truck transport back to Toronto.
Two docks away was a ketch with strangely familiar lines. A check at the office
resulted in a tour of the boat in the company of Douglas Stephenson (douglas.stephenson@sympatico.ca)
the world-renowned expert in Whitby 42s. Douglas owns Trawlers and
Sailing Yachts http://yachtsls.com/ . During the fall we
reviewed a number of potential listings but settled on hull #304 stored in
Sodus Bay New York. She was in original shape with no equipment upgrades but
had been sailed in fresh water for all but two years. A survey uncovered some
standard problems with hoses, belts and wire connections but was satisfactory
overall. A very cold delivery in the spring of 2002 back to Toronto stared an
upgrade process that will be complete in April 2006. We took a couple of weeks
to cruise the 1,000 Islands in 2002 and Lake Ontario in 2003. In late 2003 we delivered Pilgrim to Bayport
Marina in Midland via Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, Lake Huron and Georgian Bay.
2004 was the year of our 5-week cruise in the North Channel. All major systems
have now been replaced and we are currently adding equipment required for
offshore cruising and safety.
A partial list of systems
added/replaced
2002 – Canadian safety equipment,
SOLAS flairs, MOB ring, Lifesling, PFDs, VHF radio
(ICOM 4200), House batteries (4xTrojan T20) and enclosures (Blue Wave), some
wiring, CO and fire detectors, fire extinguishers, bilge pump and switch,
heads, sink and head hoses, engine mounts, engine hoses, engine anodes, wind
speed/direction (AutoHelm ST-40), ST-600 remote
control, depth (Hummingbird), GPS (Garmin), computer (Shuttle),
2003 - Fuel system reworked, fuel
tanks cleaned, centre tank inspection plate modification, fuel polisher,
propeller replaced (Veriprop), bottom sanded to gel
coat, epoxy moisture barrier on bottom, teak refinished, radar (JRC1200), full
enclosure (Island Canvas), new staysail (Quantum) , smart charger, inverter,
2004/2005 – ground tackle upgraded
with chain rode, added a 60 lb. CQR to the existing 45 lb. CQR, second anchor
hawser added, stern anchor mount, wind generator (Kiss), SSB radio (Icom 706MkIIG), TNC (Pactor),
Antenna tuner (ICOM), SSB 23 foot whip antenna, second VHF radio and backup
antenna, boarding ladder moved, wind steering (auto-helm), smart controller and
high power alternator, 240-120 transformer, refrigeration, new main sail
(Quantum), new 130% Genoa (Quantum), modified mizzen (Quantum), boom modified
to “Park Avenue” style, inflatable dinghy (Achillies)
which we did not like and therefore added a Boatex
hard dinghy, which we love, outboard motor (Mercury) 5 HP, Two 865 watt solar
panels (BP), survival suits, new cushions in main cabin and 2 solar panels.
2006
Added 406 EPIRB/GPS, ICOM M800
marine SSB, ICOM 422 VHF, life raft,
replaced stern life line with s/s tube, inspected chainplates
and standing rigging (4 shrouds replaced), added bookshelves, replaced
portholes with stainless steel, added handholds in main cabin, reinforcing
fiberglass on the keel, removed the forward water tank and reworked the area
for the main anchor chain, a spare anchor and a water maker / desalinator, grounding the mizzen and main shrouds, replace
windlass and rebuilt the rudder, added structural reinforcement to mizzen
support, added “zincs-in-a-bag” for use in hot marinas, replaced Kingston
davits with ones made by Kato.
And a bunch of other stuff to make
life easier …
enjoy life … we plan to …
2007
Added a transparent vent tube to the
centre fuel tank to allow visual inspection of fill level while refueling,
added additional stanchion supported 3 inch tubes to provide storage for boat
hooks/rods etc., made a fish cleaning platform that overhangs the transom, made
sun screens for the full enclosure, AIS receiver, Standard Horizon chart
plotter,
2008
Added 2 new 12 volt deep cycle
batteries for refrigeration, new printer, two new starter batteries, Finnish
propane tank and fittings, propane tank switch over unit, hook for use with
stern moorings, installed hooks on bow and stern mooring lines, cut mizzen
boom, new mizzen sail, replaced sliders on main, new transmission
2009
Added electric fuel pump to centre
tank to speed up fuel transfer rate, new printer, new T43 since both 600s are
broken, Yagi antenna for Internet, Nikon D170S, two
new 6 volt batteries to replace damaged Trojans, new standoffs for main sheet
blocks, redesigned aft mooring line arrangement to ease deployment , new
refurbished GPS, new enclosure, new cushions