Owen Symington

Beautiful day on the water with Derek and Venus bringing their new boat home to Whitby. Light winds to pull the sails out and sail out the eastern gap after a quiet trip through the inner harbour. Turning east the wind died, too light for downwind so motored home. Great day on a beautiful boat with great people!

Gusty NW winds, waves picking up the further we went off shore. Started out with reefed main and Genoa. After a 30kt gust we reefed the Genoa even more. Winds were 10-15kts with gusts around 20 and reported .5m waves which seemed closer to 1m. Pretty quick sail considering we were heavily reefed.

Winds very light, lake flat. Clear skies. Anchored off the yacht club beach.

Nice sail with North West wind, flat sea state. About 8-10kts, some gusts up to 18kts. Relaxing afternoon.

Left Seal Bay in light winds and clear skies and saw many seals and pups sunning themselves. Motored toward the channel between Vinylhaven and North Haven and through some fog that cleared before the narrower channel. Once out in West Penobscot Bay we sailed downwind in 12Kts from the south flying the spinnaker. Then we headed back to Rockland on a close reach. Sailed through some more fog as we approached the harbor but it cleared again as we passed the break wall. Had a little trouble staring the engine due to poor connection but Joe was able to fix the problem quickly. After tying up to the mooring ball heavy fog rolled in and we spent the evening on board enjoying another delicious meal prepared by Suzanne and playing Sequence.

Left Castine Town dock in very light winds after pump out and filling water tanks. Deep water at town dock and easy walk to gas station to fill Jerry can for the dinghy. Reviewed some safety equipment and the life raft procedures with Joe as we motored in light winds. Winds picked up to about 15kts and we had a great sail tacking through a maze of lobster pots. We took advantage of the conditions to get familiar with the sail set ups, sailed under full main, Genoa and staysail then reefed main. Suzanne on the helm successfully avoided all lobster pots. Arrived in Seal Bay to see a colony of seals with several very young pups sunning on the rocks. Beautiful anchorage near Haye Island.

As we headed further north up the bay to our anchorage winds increased gradually from about 10 to 18kts from behind. Great sail on Genoa alone, became a little sporty as we turned upwind to head toward our anchorage. Beautiful first day sailing aboard Patience. Anchored in a spectacular bay, Holbrook Island. Next day hiked around Holbrook Island, well marked easy trails. Enjoyed a second night at anchor here in very calm conditions. On Sunday we visited Castine by dinghy going over a very shallow cut which is dry land at low tide. Walked all around town, to the light house, ate lunch a The Breeze & Castine Variety (diner style quirky restaurant) and visited the museum. AI Wikipedia description: Castine is a historic port town in Hancock County, Maine, situated on Penobscot Bay. It is famous for being one of the oldest communities in North America, serving as home to the Maine Maritime Academy, and featuring landmarks like the Dyce Head Lighthouse and Wilson Museum.

Left Rockland in light winds and calm seas, sunny blue skies. Sailed for a short while on beam reach then motored to our destination when winds were too light for our downwind direction. Good opportunity for getting to know Joe & Suzanne’s boat. We arrived at Warren Island State park with the plan to hike on the 70 acre island but the mooring balls were only suitable for smaller boats and there wasn’t room to anchor comfortably. So the decision was made to carry on to Holbrook Island. As we passed Camden we saw a huge fleet of vintage and classic yachts in the area for the Camden Classic Cup Regatta this weekend.

Beautiful clear skies compared to the previous two days of poor air quality due to smoke. Clear views of Toronto. Lovely beam to close reach sail all the way home. Winds were east 10-12 knots and waves maybe 2, less wind and waves about 3 miles from Whitby. Ended recorded track to attempt calibration of autopilot again but still having issues with it. Great time in NOTL, went to the Shaw Festival to see One For the Pot which was very funny. Met up with Joanna,Ross, Wendy & Al for lunch and the show.

Very light winds 6-7kts at most. Skies were very hazy due to smoke from northern Ontario. Motored across Lake Ontario from Whitby after driving in circles to calibrate our new autopilot. Mainsail up maybe assisted a little. Staying on a mooring ball at the sailing club. The mooring balls here are almost always available but they are very difficult to pick up. No painters and just a large shackle on the end of a very short chain which we can only reach aft of mid ship. We had someone in a dinghy come out and offer to thread our lines through for us after three attempts 🙏 ⛵️Dassy’s Dream