Sunday, August 19, 2018

Sailing Vacation!

Yondering leaving Stella
Long awaited holiday on the lake! Three weeks!

A palette of blues. Big sky, open water. Uncluttered horizon. Change of perspective.

The cruising portion of the holiday lasted 17 nights, with most of the time spent at anchor (12 nights!).  I love being at anchor, just swinging with the wind and a nice breeze going through the boat. 

Dockside at Newcastle and the tiny municipal docks at Brighton, and marinas in Clayton and Belleville. Anchored at Cobourg, Half Moon Bay (2 nights), Waupoos Island (3 nights) and Stella (2 nights), CFB Kingston (2 nights),  Glenn Island (1 night), and again at Cobourg. Then it was home to Bluffers for a couple of days before a short stay on Toronto Island.

We managed to visit some new spots along the lake and returned to others we haven't visited in years. This was also the first time we travelled ‘outside’ from Brighton docks straight to Waupoos. Usually if we are travelling on the north shore we meander the Bay of Quinte, and it takes us 5 days - this route brought us to Waupoos in 3 (Newcastle, Cobourg, Brighton). Conditions were favourable, light winds and a flat lake. 


sunset views in Cobourg
We started out the trip in tandem with Caroline who was single-handed, and dropped anchor with other Bluffers as we coddiwompled about the lake.

An afternoon visit to Picton with Lynn and Mike to provision. They had a car in Waupoos, so we were also able to lunch at the Waupoos Cidery and stop at Black Creek for ice cream. And in Stella, we enjoyed another tasty meal with them at the ‘Back Kitchen,’ a non-profit enterprise on Amherst Island that is run by volunteers and staffed by paid students-in-training.

After Waupoos we crossed over to Clayton USA and began the trek back again. 

One of the highlights was definitely the visit to Clayton and the Antique Boat Museum, along with Boldt castle and the tour of the 1000 Islands. La Duchesse was Boldt's houseboat, acquired by the Lifesaver King and then became the Rand McNalley's summer home. So light, airy and breezy! They would tie La Duchesse up in front of their palatial island property and spend most of their time on board.

The only downside to the Clayton visit was the having to tie up. In sweltering heat there was no breeze and the view was a bit industrial from the transient boat dock. Otherwise the historic town itself was quite picturesque, with lots of great restaurants and restored homes.

We also returned to CFB Kingston and moored there. A short swim to the beach on shore and what a lovely view.

Jumping in the lake at least once or twice a day, floating in the chair or noodling about. The water in the Bay of Quinte / Glenn Island was a bit weedy and green, but otherwise the water was clear and refreshing. 
Clear sailing (or motorsailing) most days. The engine conked out on the way in to Belleville and Bill came to give us a tow into Crates marina (great service at the marina!). We went out to the Boat House restaurant there and enjoyed a nice meal that evening. Next morning,  the engine was a quick fix - nothing that a full tank of gas and proper fuel conditioning didn't solve. Another Catalina 30 was towed in that morning and not so lucky - their engine totally blew.

Then back to home waters again, from Belleville to Cobourg to Bluffers to Toronto Island.

On Toronto Island, we tied up to the wall so we could easily take our bikes ashore. Cycling is always a pleasure, checking out the beaches, pier, boardwalk, city and home gardens, lunch at the Rectory. 

We've had our summer vacations on the lake since 2005 when we got our first boat. Chatting with Mais Lis and Don back at our dock, she said sailing was 80% bliss. It's true, there are definitely moments of frustration and irritability and danger, but overall I can't imagine a summer without a sailboat now. 

We may do some renovations on Yondering to prepare for summers ahead. Ice isn’t lasting very long in the cooler which has us considering adding refrigeration to the boat. We wouldn’t be so dependent on replenishing and could stay longer without a visit to shore. The list of renovations grew on this trip: new upholstery, new deck seating, potential paint job, propane, some solar panels… 


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