Late summer, early fall

And so Labour Day weekend came and went. We had a nice stretch of weather with some really wild sailing. Within one hour, without really changing course, we went from a lazy sail down wind, doing 3 knots, to doing 6, close hauled and reefed, heeling 20 degrees. Little wake up call there. Spent a very nice weekend at Christian Island once again, even though the first night was a bit of a roly-poly event, and looking at the picture you can see why, with the waves coming from the north and the wind from the west.

Then, back to work. Students are back and lots of new faculty. Enough to keep Bice busy and Tim busy with computer work. Weekend after that we stayed closer to home. Anchored at Beausoleil after a really good and wild sail and spent time hanging with friends, swimming (Bice), reading, talking (Tim), going for a 2 hour hike. Saw bear poop, a snake and a woodpecker. Also got acquainted with some mosquitoes. Picked quite a few juniper berries for Sauerkraut dishes and the likes. They're drying as I write this. The weather was so nice, with the sun out and the water still warm enough to swim, that nobody wanted to go back, but by 2 o'clock we, and other boats, had to leave. Really nice sail back to the marina. Steady winds, reaching, beautiful. If only it could always be like that. Good winds, 15 knots, with the occasional gust factor (but not too bad), and no waves.



This past weekend (Sept. 13/14) was wet and cold. Visited friends and had lunch together in a pub in Creemore. Cooked a nice pork roast for dinner to warm up the boat and re-bedded the forward hatch the next day. The forecast for the coming weeks looks grim. Temperatures below average and we are thinking about the Indian Summer that may not be, and that we maybe should take the sails down next time we're up.