David Butcher

A brief stop in Bermuda to re-provision, re-fuel and add some fresh crew members. We welcomed Pierre, Simon and Adam to our salty crew to make seven. We set sail from Bermuda with high hopes, fresh winds and choppy seas. Some needed a bit of time to get their sea legs. Funny thing about sailing, you pick a destination then sail in any other direction. That’s what we did for a few days then the winds faded and we did a whole lot of motoring. We weren’t making much progress but the fishing was good. Days went by without even seeing another boat. We were totally cut off from the world…well, except for Starlink. We still had wi-fi (except when the dish fell over) The crew dug right into Celestial Navigation and pretty soon everyone was talking about LHA, Declinations and a bunch of other words we had probably never spoken before. Finally, we passed by Anguilla in the night. The islands started passing by quickly and soon we would reach our destination. We were treated to a spectacular experience when a pod of dolphins swam with the boat for about 25 minutes. It was amazing! But, we had burned through most of our 600 litres of fuel, so we pulled into Guadaloupe to get enough diesel to make our destination. We sailed into Le Marin under sunny skies with a great sense of accomplishment. Great work everyone!

With the weather and seas settling we set off from Great Kills with a crew of four. Kevin had gone home and Pierre not able to get away yet. Winds took us in a southeasterly direction for a few days then began to increase. Predictions were for 25 knots but we found ourselves in sustained 40-50 knot winds with gusts up to 57 knots. Waves were about 3 metres on our stern with the occasional wave rolling us from the starboard beam. One wave broke over the stern flooding the cockpit and whisking loose items overboard. The crew was awoken and came rushing to help but there wasn’t much to do. A bit of damage to the solar panels which needed to be tied down and picking up the loose items on deck. After a long and windy night the wind settled and veered rapidly to the south. Warm humid air replaced the cool air from the north and we turned to a beam reach heading east. We crossed the Gulf Stream and sailed into Bermuda in the early morning hours, passing through the cut and dropping anchor in Convict’s Bay.

Set sail from Halifax in rough seas. Heading southwest toward the US coast in case Hurricane Melissa causes us any problems. Some motoring but a lot of good sailing. A few days out we turned west toward New York as Melissa is getting nasty. Sailed into Lower Bay, passing by Manhattan and Verrazzano Bridge, arriving at Great Kills Yacht Club just after dark. The crew enjoyed a much deserved beer at the bar and great service from Trish, the bartender.

Set sail from Rimouski with fair winds but not for long. We motored around the Gaspé Peninsula and sailed south to Percé Rock. Very light winds so we motored to the Northumberland Strait and under the Confederation Bridge at 4 am. Fair winds out of the strait and into the Canso Strait. Passed through the lock at 4 am. Winds picked up coming out of the strait. Following winds at 20-25 knots and 1-3 metre waves ended the trip with some great sailing.

Motored under the Pont de Québec at 3:30 am with full crew on deck. Sails up with 20-25 knots of following wind. Broad reach with a preventer making 10 knots. Sailed through the night arriving in Rimouski in the morning for fuel, provisions, shower and sail repairs.

Beautiful day! Underway at 4 am, 4 degrees outside. Motored for a bit but sails up before daylight. Good winds and currents most of the day, top speed of 11.5 knots through Richelieu Rapids. Beautiful sunshine all day. Cheerful crew settling into the tasks.

Very little wind < 3kts. Practiced docking, anchoring, Mediterranean Mooring, springing on/off

Very little wind today. Motored from Christian Island to Thornbury. Did some manoeuvring under power skills in Sandy Bay and wrote our ASS 104 test while motoring. Practiced docking at Thornbury harbour. Thanks Daniel for a great course and weekend.