Lake Eirie Interclub Canada, Committee Boat - Day 4 (Point Abino Bay) and Day 5 (Point Abino to Port Colborne)

 I wasn't on the Committee Boat for the fourth race as I had signed up for a workshop on that day, prior to the announcement of the Interclub dates. C'est la Vie was again the Committee Boat and Jacqui and Karen reported that it all went well. There was a problem for some of the slower boats as the course was too long for them to complete in the designated time frame and they were scored as DNC which resulted in a penalty.

On the final day, Day 5, I left home early (another sunrise!) and arrived at Point Abino

in time to take a few photos of the boats "at rest".

Don't those towels say it all - "Keep Calm", but they are upside down!

The resident Kingfisher.

Most of the sailors were still having breakfast on the patio at the Bertie Boat Club, next door. The club had opened its restaurant specifically for the event, providing dinners, breakfasts and box lunches for the Interclub participants.

When I joined Steve and Hadley I heard the beginnings of the "Dumpster Diving" story

Over the course of the day I heard bits and pieces, often 3rd or 4th hand. As near as I can make out Jacqui gave the time sheets to someone who gave them to the statistician. When he got to his hotel he realized he didn't have them and may have left them on the table. There were phone calls. One call was to Jacqui, but she was already asleep. Of course all the tables had been cleared and then the "Dumpster Diving" began. I heard in graffic detail about disgusting garbage bags, noses being held, maggots shaken off etc etc. I am not sure how much was reality and how much added for dramatic effect but the piece of paper was finally found in the garbage can behind the bar. It hadn't even made it to the dumpster.

If they had been able to get through to Jacqui they would have found out that she always takes a photo of the results and keeps the scratch sheet.

I believe there are photos of these events but I don't have them. Maybe they are being saved for bribery purposes.

The Tetrahedron had been left out over night so we didn't have to place it in the morning.

We just had to anchor C'est la Vie in position and

sent the two fleets off

without any difficulty. There had been mention that it was difficult to see the flags the previous day so this time we worked out how to post them from the Flybridge.

The fleet this time was racing a much shorter course and in consultation with the Coarse Committee it was realized that we could not get the tetra, go in, load up, drive to Port Colborne and get out, in the next Committee Boat and set a line before the first of the boats got there. Therefor the fleet was instructed to take their own times and the time of the boat behind them and relay that to the Committee Boat. We were able to do those chores and drive to Port Colborne in a leisurely fashion and ultimately set up on the deck of the Marina restaurant. We were not able to see the boats finishing from there but could see them as they headed in to the marina and could ask their times if they had not already radioed it in. Quick lunch and we went down to the pavilion for the flag ceremonies.

Flags were awarded in both fleets (Jeff from Enigma and Race Chair, Andy)

Brad from Sequence

Crew of Dolce Vita

Crew of Sheets and Giggles

Only one kiss, Angie from Relentless.

There was acknowledgement of this young couple who raced Belafonte together for the 5 days, spinnaker and all.

Paul (Vision skipper), Karen, Carol and Jaquie (Committee Boat Crew) and Norm (Blue Pearl skipper)

Everyone experienced windless periods, water gun fights, biting flies, tacking and gybing, big wind, duels, frustrations, hot nights, pushing for another knot of boat speed, docking in new slips and the camaraderie of racing together over 5 days. On the Committee boat we met helpful and interesting people, worked together well, found the work physically taxing, shared some laughs and were really glad that Jacquie had a truck to haul the paraphernalia.

And this is what happens when I am away for a few days. I thought it was the compost smelling until I found this large dead fish on the back lawn. ?????? Must have been dropped by an Eagle and then the heat and Turkey Vultures left it like this.

Lake Erie Interclub Cruise, Canada, Committee Boat - Day 3, Port Colborne to Point Abino

There are no photos of the start from Port Colborne because somewhere in the rush to pack up from the hotel, get to the marina, grab a coffee and muffin at the pavilion and get the gear moved on to Vision (the Committee boat of the day), I miss placed my camera. Norm came along with us again and Paul was the skipper of this lovely sailboat (larger than the "crabber" from the previous day). We motored out 2 miles to a navigation buoy and set the tetrahedron. Flew the "come within hail" flag and checked that we had everyone. Canace was no longer racing having only planned to race the 2 days.  Both fleets had a clean start, Paul and Norm pulled up Visions anchor, we retrieved and deflated the Tetra, and headed back in to Sugarloaf. Thanked the guys and loaded everything on to a buggy and took it to Jacjui's truck. After a quick stop at Tims for coffee I drove straight to Port Abino (about 30min away). Karen and Jacqui had to pick up some supplies for a couple of the boats. At Point Abino I found Ruth (in charge of maintenance for the Buffalo Yacht Club Summer Station) just finishing power washing the docks so that our racers would not have to deal with the "goose poo". She let the 3 vehicles in and contacted "C'est la Vie", our next Committee Boat.

C'est la Vie. Her owners Del and Kate are not sailors and were excited about their involvement. They were willing, helpful and constantly curious about the race process and sailing in general.

The wind had built during the day and it was quite choppy setting the Tetra

and anchoring the boat.

The wind had increased and shifted so I could no longer easily have a good view of the finish line. Kate insisted on tieing me to the ladder to the fly bridge when I put one leg over the side of the boat to get a good view. The finish line is technically from the race committee flag to the tetrahedron and I had to be able to see the exact second that each boat crossed that line.

And here they come, Sheets and Giggles,

some under Spinnaker (Sequence and AElektra, I think)

and some not. (Pegasus maybe or perhaps Messenger, the photos are not clear enough for me to be sure)

Taking photos into the sun makes the water look like polished silver. Enigma

Sea of Dreams ?

The last thing a sailor wants to see - a ripped Spinnaker. Promise

Not easy to get down

They looked like they were headed for Buffalo.

By the time we had finished all the boats (Islay did not finish) the waves were about 6ft high. The electric windlass struggled to get the anchor up, making ominous clanking noises. Retrieving the Tetra was also a struggle and we bent C'est la Vie's boat hook in the process. There were bumps and bruises and 3 of us nearly went over board in an effort to bring the Tetra onboard by deflating it.

Inside, the cabin was a mess. Doors had sprung open and their contents littered the floor. Kate and Del were both dismissive of it saying they had been out in worse.

Because I had a workshop to go to the next day I missed the Point Abino Bay race. I drove home, happy to feed Rasta and sleep in my own bed, returning to the fleet for the final day.

Lake Erie Interclub Cruise Canada, Committee Boat - Day 2, Port Dover to Port Colborne.

 

The Sunday race was to start at 8am, we had to be at the start by 7am, which meant leaving the dock shortly after 6am. The fox I met as I drove down to the marina seemed pretty surprised to see anyone up at that time.

There was a little more wind than the previous day

but not enough to start what would be an all day race

So the Committee Boat, Dream Girl again, and the fleet

started motoring east.

The windmills were barely turning.

For Canace that meant time for coffee

and for Pegasus it meant time for breakfast.

At the Nanicoke Shoal marker it was decided that they would keep motoring, looking for wind, and we, on Dream Girl, would return to Dover as we had to pack up the Committee Boat paraphernalia and drive to port Colborne to set up a finish line there. Canace acted as Committee Boat when the race started further down the lake.

Upon arriving at Port Colborne, I checked into Canalside, where we were staying that night. The room was above a restaurant of the same name. I had time, so ate lunch on their patio, while watching the lakers go through the canal.

At Sugarloaf Marina we made contact with Norm, our next Committee Boat skipper, and loaded our gear on to his 24ft Cornish Crabber, "Blue Pearl".

It was a lovely boat, roomy and comfortable with lots of woodwork.

We set off with Norm and his crew, Mark.

Out past the grain elevators. The Blue Pearl has wooden mast and spars (varnished and gleaming), is a gaff rig and has the rusty red sails that set it apart.

A bit like a pirate ship so, of course, Norm has a parrot.

We motored out to the designated GPS position and set the Tetrahedron for the finish line. We didn't have to wait long for the first two boats to arrive and we could see others on the horizon.

Sheets and Giggles and Relentless still dueling it out to the end.

Messenger. As each boat crossed the finish line we blew the horn and noted down their time.

The times would later be entered in to a computer program that would perform the math needed to deal with the handicapping system,

necessary because of the wide variety of boats involved.

Enigma with Erie Witch in the background.

Sequence

Sea of Dreams

Islay and Shaibu

Belafonte

AElektra. After all 15 boats had finished and were heading for the marina, Norm pulled up Blue Pearl's anchor, motored over to the tetrahedron, we pulled up that anchor and headed in ourselves. A rather rocky, rolly, ride as the wind had built.

We motored in to a round of applause from the, already docked, racers. After a few grumbles on the first day, they were all very appreciative of our efforts.

 

We ate dinner with the crew of Sequence, at Canalside, and I went to be early. Up early and a full day on the water knocked me out.