Life In The Slow Lane

I've noticed a pattern in many of the sailors that I've met...we all seem to enjoy life in the slow lane. What I mean is that we all seem to like things that are peaceful and unhurried. We all seem to like quiet things like kayaking and cycling. As a circumstance of sailing, and always wanting to explore new ports, we seem to enjoy walking as well.

The video above, I took while sailing my boat home from the Mimico Yacht Club on the day I bought it. I managed to sail at 5.8 knots with about 12 knots of wind from behind. The waves gave me an extra push and helped get me to Whitby in about 7 hrs. I took the boat home in two jumps...the first was singlehanded from Mimico Yacht Club to Whitby Marina. I was having guests over for dinner that evening so had to leave the boat and pick it up again the next day!! The second jump was from Whitby Marina to Newcastle Marina but on this jump I had my daughter with me which was great. I know that for me, there is nothing as sweet as the moment I turn off the motor. The only sound I hear is the water as it gurgles past the hull and the wind in the sails...at about walking speed. It doesn't get any better than that...That is my heaven!


 Kayaking does the same thing... you hear the paddles dipping rhythmically into the water ....you hear the waves lapping along the shore...as you move along at about walking speed. Cycling gives you the same feeling. Although you can pedal your bike at a fast speed...because of the gearing on the bike..your legs are only moving at walking speed :)

 I like the silent way a sailboat moves through the water and I like the way that a kayak can let you experience nature because there isn't a noisy motor to scare all the wildlife away. I like cycling because it is quiet and it lets you travel distances in a shorter time than walking, doesn't add pollution to our already polluted planet and it's great exercise. I have met a lot of cyclist's who are sailors....or is it sailors who are cyclists...either way, and I've met many sailors who enjoy kayaking and it seems more than a coincidence that we have these hobby's in common.

Kayaking and cycling are examples of life in the slow lane....they are very similar to sailing in that they are done at a nice relaxed pace and most times they let you explore new places. The picture above is of my buddy Adam,  fishing from a kayak while we were kayak camping on Wolf Lake in the Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park.

It's nice to remember these sunny summer days when it's -20 outside and snowing...brrr..I can't wait for summer...and more life in the slow lane :)

See you on the water

Tom
S/V Cork

To Furl or not to Furl....that is the question

I've decided to remove the roller furling unit from Cork and to be honest it's an easy decision for me because I've had a very bad experience with roller furling in the past and ever since then I just don't trust them.

This is the first glimpse of Bermuda you'll see when and if you sail there but the picture shows why I will never trust a roller furling unit. If you look closely you can see that the furling unit has no sail on it...as a matter of fact , if you look closer you will notice that it also has no furling line. That's because while in a storm 200 miles west of Bermuda the furling line broke under the strain of the wind on the furled sail. Now this may seem like a "no biggie" ...so the furling line broke. Let me explain what happens when the furling line lets go in a 50 knot wind. All of the sail comes out and pulls the jib sheets completely out to the ends until they stop on the figure eight knots ( called stopper knots) that are now jammed in the fairleads...requiring the sailor to cut the stopper knots to allow the sheets to run free before the flogging sail takes down the entire mast. Then ...as the sheets run free...they wrap themselves around the sail and furler unit and tie themselves in knots that a boy scout would be proud of...which leaves the sailor with the top half of the sail full of wind...while the bottom is tied around the furler. Picture a balloon on a stick in 50 knots of wind....Oh and did I mention that this happens at the worst possible time 3:00am and pitch black , with rain and in 30 foot seas!! To make a long story short we ended up cutting the sheets and the sail off the furling unit and didn't lose the mast or any people overboard, but it took two of us a long time on the pitching bow with waves washing over us.

If this was just a one time incident I would pass it off as bad luck but we had a buddy boat sailing 24 hrs behind us who had the same experience. The owners son Rob, was washed overboard while trying to work on the furler that blew out and luckily he was wearing a harness and was recovered although he was badly shaken

Sooooo I've taken my sails to the sail loft to have good old hanks put on. I've adopted the KISS principal Keep It Simple Stupid. Hanks are easy and the sail comes down whenever you want it down. Release the halyard and the sail falls to the deck.

The Toronto Boat Show just finished up and the store had "Boat Show" pricing still in effect so I got some good deals on boat stuff...

I've purchased a new anchor...a  "Rocna 10" because a good anchor lets you sleep at night and I've heard good things about these anchors. I'll let you know this summer how well it works. I now have 2 anchors a Rocna and a Danforth.

I was looking at replacing the broken tiller pilot  that came with my boat so I picked up a Raymarine ST100 plus tiller pilot as the tiller is already set up for this make and model and I won't have to do any modifications to the boat to install it.

The sailmaker also does canvas work so I ordered a new dodger for Cork. She doesn't have one and it gets pretty warm out on the lake and makes great cover when it's raining or when spray is flying.

It's -20 outside and snowing......I'm sure looking forward to summer!!

See you on the water

Tom
S/V Cork

Beginnings Winter of 2014

I guess I'm not like most sailors because I never stepped foot on a sailboat until I was 36 years old, none of my family were sailors and I never grew up on the ocean. I'd always wanted to sail so I did things as I usually do and took Nike's advice...I just did it!! That was 2003 and I've been sailing ever since.

I sailed from Toronto ,Ontario, Canada to Bermuda in 2004 with two other guys and had an adventure that most people will never get to have in their lifetime. I sailed over 1000 miles inland through Lake Ontario, The St. Lawrence Seaway, Lake Champlain in New York , down The Hudson River and 750 miles  out into the Atlantic Ocean that summer. We had cold weather ( 0 degrees Celcius) and rain to start our trip and a 3 1/2 day storm on the Atlantic Ocean 200 miles west of Bermuda with winds blowing 50 -60 knots and 30 foot waves...that's when I knew I was a cruiser!

I am a cruiser. A cruiser loves to travel by water whether it's under sail or by motor we don't care! Because it's the trip that is important. We don't concern ourselves with having the sails adjusted perfectly or try to tweak an extra 1/4 knot of boat speed out of the sails we just love being out there and to feel the boat moving in the direction of wherever we dream of going.

This blog is going to chronicle my adventures in the sailing vessel "Cork". Cork is my 1981 Bayfield 25 sailboat and we sail out of "Newcastle Marina" on Lake Ontario. Now having mentioned that  "I'm a cruiser" for those of you that have heard of a Bayfield 25 sailboat you will understand why I named her " Cork" but for those who do not know of the Bayfield 25 I will enlighten you. Bayfields are not racing boats....they do not look like a racing boat and they do not sail like a racing boat. They need 10 -20 knots of wind to keep them moving...below that ... they have an engine :)

Above is a picture of a beautiful Bayfield 25 ...not mine! Mine is pretty plain jane at the moment. I wanted to give you a look at what a Bayfield 25 can look like until mine is pretty enough for a picture. That is me sailing her on Lake ontario in the late summer of 2013 when I bought her. No dodger, bimini, nice looking teak trim...nope none of that...just a good cruising boat .... and cheap!

I hope to update this blog as I sail and fix up my boat. I wanted to blog about everyday life on a boat so that people can see that sailing isn't difficult and boats are not dangerous. Too often we hear about the big storms and such and it seems that people want new sailors to be scared. I'm not saying that stuff doesn't happen... it does... but some common sense and basic safety will see you through it.

See you on the water

Tom
S/V Cork