WINTER vs BARBADOS

With the boat hauled out of the water for the winter it's time for a little sojourn in the sunny south........ so off we went to Barbados. It was terrible...... yeah right !! Sunny, lush green everywhere and beautiful warm, clear waters.

The seas off north point were fantastic with waves around 35 feet crashing against the 80 foot cliffs in sharp contrast to the calm waters we experienced on the south coast.

On one of our day trips we happened upon a bunch of green monkeys. That was a lot of fun.

Hope you enjoy some of the pics and a video that we took.

ENOUGH ALREADY !!!

Man, is this rain ever going to stop? After 5 days of solid rain we've had over 200mm down and

it's not suppose to stop for another 2 days. Our normally lazy and nearly dried up Sackville River is a raging torent and all the low lying areas are now awash. If this keeps up we'll have to change the name of the boat to "NOAH'S ARC".
Baseball Anyone??? or would you prefer a game of Water Soccer?

Take a look....... it sure makes for some crappy sailing days.

Hurricane Earl

Last week was exciting with the onset of Hurricane Earl. It was suppose to miss us in Halifax but at the last minute took an unexpected turn straight at us. Most of the bigger boats at DYC were either hauled out of taken to a mooring. With sustained winds of 65 knots the marina system held out well. Here's a little video clip of the conditions. Glad I wasn't on this boat.

"Our Cape Breton Cruise"

We spent most of the month of August on a cruise to Cape Breton Island and ejoyed the Bras D'or Lakes. The swimming at Clark Cove was exceptional with 80 degree water.
Our trip up the Eastern shore was very picturesque as we following the well marked inshore route for a good portion of the trip and stopping at Shelter Cove, Liscombe, and Port Howe enroute to St. Peter's Canal via Canso. What a shock we got when crossing the Chedabucto Bay in 25 knot winds and 7 ft seas that made things a little tricky.
Our 2 weeks in the lakes were extremely enjoyable with fantastic weather and warm waters. We visited such places as Clark Cove, Marble Mountain, Little Harbour Baddeck, and Seal Island before leaving the Lakes to the north for a weekend visit to Sydney. Boy did I calculate the tides wrong. Did you know that running the engine at 3000 RPM against a current caused by the entire Atlantic Ocean trying to flood the Lakes will only get you about 1 knot in the vicinity of Big Bras D'or? That's right.... it took us an hour to pass through the 1 mile narrows.
Sydney was very relaxing..... and what a site to see the giant fiddle on the Cruise ship dock. How Cape Breton can you get?
After a nice weekend at the Royal CB Yacht Club we made the run back into the Lakes and hit the incoming tide just right..... 9.5 knots in the right direction this time.
A few more lovely anchorages found us again at St. Peters Marina to re-suppy and fuel up for our trip home.
Four days of Easterly winds and high seas brought us back to Halifax to end a wonderful cruise with friends Don & Heather of Meridian.

The Navy's in Halifax

This week marks the 100th aniversary of the Canadian Navy and will end with a full review of the fleet by Queen Elizabeth II and an overhead airshow. Here's some pics.
Here's an energetic imaginative fellow who designed his boat to be completely powered by the wind. The prop is connected to the windmill and turns faster as the wind speed increases. Costs absolutely nothing to enjoy a nice day on the water.
The work on the boat is still continuing but at a slowing rate. I replace the galley countertop to match the rest and update the look of things.
Enjoy

LOOK..... WAAAAYYYYY DOWN !!!!

Today a trip to the top of the mast was warranted. I had to replace the old VHF antenna wire as the shielding was quite rotten. This was SUPPOSE to only take a half hour or so..... YEAH RIGHT!!
While Dave went over to his boat to get some twine to fish the new wire through the mast I thought I'd grab some pics of the marina.... from a birds eye perspective.
Enjoy.....

Finally Done..... Time to get Sailing

With the interior work completed it's time to get sailing. Everything is up and running perfectly.

Keeps on Ticking & Ticking

Yesterday we installed the new stack-pack with the mainsail. Looks good but we haven't used it yet. Our new propane stove also arrived and is now in the boat.
With a little time on the rest of the wiring everything will be set to go away next weekend.

The Boat is Back

We launched the boat yesterday and she looks great. Nearly everything is back together after a long winter and it finally looks habitable again.
The yacht club has installed the new breakwater extension and everything is moving forward to the summer.

It's All Coming Together....... Finally !!

Nothing makes a boat owner feel better than to see the final product as it all comes together. The nav station has been re-built along with the entire starboard side of the cabin.

The hull has been compounded and waxed up and she looks like new.

Just a few more cosmetics to go and we'll be ready to launch next week.

I Love New Wood

FINALLY, I get around to creating the long overdue settee-back and bulkhead. The new 3/4" teak plywood is a dream to work with and will sure make a difference after everything is back together.

Why Own A Boat

We as boaters must accept that our homes will never be the same again.... Teak.... Teak... and more Teak. However, after it's all done we get the satisfaction of knowing that we've done our best and that the boat looks good as a result of our time and hard work.