A welcomed break from the mess
If there’s one thing that is worse than living on a boat in a boatyard, it’s living on a boat that is torn apart in a boatyard. Since we arrived back from the Galapagos about 10 days ago, that’s pretty much what we’ve been dealing with, trying to fix, among other things, our fresh water issues. When we received a message from our friend Pip asking if we’d be interested in an on-the-water break from the boatyard yesterday, it took no more than a second for me to reply in the affirmative.
I hate living in the boat when it’s torn apart!
Sunday was race day at TTSA, and Rebecca and I were invited to accompany our friend Harry on the boat Sea Wyf. Neither one of us have any real racing experience, but I like to think that we’re quick learners, and follow directions well. In other words, we can be good crew.
Even though the sky was overcast, with dark rain clouds threatening squally weather, we had very light winds for the entire race. In fact, with only 100m to go to the finish line, with several boats in the fleet bearing down on us, we were virtually becalmed! As you might imagine, it made for a nerve-wracking end to the race.
How did we fare at the end of the day? I am happy to report that Sea Wyf was the first boat around every mark that day (a first, we were told), second boat across the finish line, and came in third in her class. We thoroughly enjoyed the day. Big thanks to Harry for bringing us along, and to Enrique and Natalie for having us about their boat. We really appreciated the break!
When I first moved to Toronto I lived on Queens Quay, 200m south of the Skydome and 50m north of Queens Quay Sailing. In addition to be able to take one of QQS’s J24’s out for 3 hours every day I also joined their race night. It was all in good fun with a mixture of newbies and die hard racers who were a tad fanatical on racing rules that were argued over the beer and burgers that each team took turns preparing. The 15 minutes on the start line and the turn at every mark was where I, only a crew member, learned a lot about sailing.
What was really great was the organizer sent out a race summary within 24 hours and he included a wealth of info on sail trim, light wind sailing, spinnaker launches, course selection, ferry avoidance (we were in Toronto’s inner harbour) and it was all tailored to the conditions that were fresh in our minds. I still have all of those Word docs that he sent out 15 years ago.
I highly recommend racing as a learning experience…just not on your own boat. 😉
I agree, there is a lot to learn from racing, especially about sail trim. Is it necessary to have that background? No, we’ve made out OK without it. It’s definitely a plus though, and for those who don’t yet own a boat, volunteering as crew is a great way to gain experience.
Sometimes when you’re working hard and start to feel claustrophobic its nice to just get outside!
Awesome website! Looking forward to following along on your new adventures…
Climber, Mountain Biker, Snowboarder and Adventurer.
Newbie G
Hi Gabe. You are so right!
I like how you describe yourself. I wonder when I can start to describe myself as an adventurer. 🙂
🙂
Your website pretty much does that for you…big time!
You guys are definitely living the dream! Patagonia is on my list. Can’t wait to follow along from a seaside prospective. Wondering why you switched from a cat to a mono? Im sure you have it in a blog log…?
Adventure on brother,
G
Thanks!
I have crewed for some races on the Great Lakes, and learned a ton, but if you REALLY want to learn a lot, volunteer to work on the committee boat! You get to be close to all the action. I was able to do it for a few local Hobie races and the Race Chairperson is a very experienced national champion who took the time to explain to me everything that was going on during the race from start to finish.
They ALWAYS need help on the committee boats, and it is really an enjoyable way to spend a day on the water.
You may get yelled at less on the committee boat too. 🙂