Big Blue

"Big Blue" is the pride and joy of the harbour at Britannia Yacht Club, or at least my pride and joy as the Harbour Master.  It's a 5000 kg. hydraulic stationary crane that can lift all but about a dozen boats in our fleet.  Before we bought it, we had to bring in mobile cranes and basically launched about 175 boats with three cranes in one day.  If you missed launch or haul-out, or had to pull the boat out for a repair, it meant you had to bring in a crane and pay the minimum hours charge - very expensive.

No Lack of Character

One of the things I appreciate about the harbour where I keep my sailboat are the other owners.  As you can imagine there is lots of discussion about sailing, boat maintenance and the attributes of different boats.

My friend John, bought a C & C 27 Mark III in 1975.  It was one of 10 out of 100 manufactured that year to remain in Canada. He sailed it for 40 years on Lac Deschenes, on the Ottawa River and never spent a night on it.

But here's the fun part.  The question I always like to ask these characters, is how did you learn to sail.

John grew up in Boston and as a boy, spent summers in Booth Harbour Maine. At the age of 13 he dragged an abandoned wooden dinghy out of the water and spent two summers repairing it all by himself.  He even made a sail from a bed sheet, with which he taught himself to sail.  Later on, in high school,  he owned a Dragon which he sailed on the Charles River.  All a precursor to his varied and colourful life as a graduate physician, who then became a fighter pilot and later and adviser to several Presidents.

Sadly John passed away late last year and as he did not want a funeral, I haven't used his full name.

Last Swim

We've had a beautiful warm September and I swam regularly in the Ottawa River from the Britannia Club pier, and from my boat while at anchor.  This week, however, the nights grew cold and its undeniable that summer is over.  Clearly, its time to renew my membership at the swimming pool.

It’s a morning with dew

at six on the clock.

It’s a morning for flannel,

two shirts and wool socks.

The warmth will come later

and by lunch be quite nice.

But summer is over,

soon the lake will be ice.

It’s my strange obsession.

Will this be the day?

Or have I already had,
my last swim in the bay?

Spring in the Boatyard

The ice is off the river and it's spring in the boatyard.  It's a special time  - removing tarps, polishing,  painting on anti-fouling and finally rigging.  The sketch is actually Phil rigging his Soling, "Unity".



Spring in the Boatyard

I visited my lady today
and the sight raised my pulse.
The curve of her bottom,
is like nothing else.

I remembered the joy
of our days spent together.
And how she's taken me through
both bad and good weather.

I took off her top
and we basked in the sun.
No reason to rush
this kind of fun.

Freshwater Shark

With the weather finally breaking after an usually harsh winter, tarpaulins are coming off in the boatyard daily.  This Shark must be one of the early numbers, its hull is a mottled green with faded pink tones below the gelcoat showing through.  These are great sailboats, and are still a popular racing class despite the age of the fleet, many of which date back to the mid 60's.  Many of them have been re-gelcoated and look beautiful.  I suspect that I will see the owner grinding and sanding the hull  as we wait for the ice to blow out and the river to warm up.

The Bob Ross

The Bob Ross is the "committee boat" at Britannia Yacht Club.  This means that it anchors across from race buoy at both the start and finish lines of a race so that the race officials can see along the line for false starts or to time the various classes as they finish.

She, or is it he?, is moored in a quiet corner of the harbour waiting for the first race of the year.

Harbour Stuff

Last night our sketching group met at Britannia Yacht Club.  Due to the late spring very few boats have been put into the water, so there was lots to draw.

Aside from the boats one of the things I love about harbours and boat yards are the various mechanical devices and equipment.  Most of these objects are unabashedly functional and inevitably a little dinged up and rusty.  I even like the names - bollards, winches, sponsons, davits, engine wells and the like.

Getting Ready for Launch

Tomorrow is launch, the day we bring in cranes for the bigger boats and move them off 'the hard' and into the water.  This means a flurry of polishing, anti fouling paint on the hull and a host of other repairs.

it's always a fun time of years - chatting to other boat owners and looking forward to another season of sailing.

Checking on my Baby

The days are getting longer and the snow is starting to melt.  I stopped into the harbour to check and see if my baby was still wrapped up snug.  Soon I'll be able to take of the cover and prepare her for the water.

420 fleet

I wanted to go for a short sail today but sailing requires a breeze.  Instead I took a look around the boatyard and ended up at the junior club.  The 420 dinghies were lined up awaiting abuse Monday from our junior sailors.

As a club dinghy 420's are great and perhaps more important, durable.  While 29er's are increasingly popular with racers, they would be a nightmare to maintain in a sailing school situation.