Don’t have to type February anymore and, in Canada, the weather is showing signs of warming.
This is a bit of a big day. We’re going to move Milu onto the dock after doing a bit of a sea trial. The sails are up and working, the motor is maintained and seems to be purring, let’s go.
I get up at 4 am to drain the bilge, dry it and turn off the auto bilge pump to see how much water accumulates in 2 hours. Take a video before we go, then dry it again to see if sailing makes any difference.
We’re up and off George’s mooring by 8:00 am – winds are very calm so that helps for docking and undocking. In fact, when we get out into the ocean and put up the sails there’s not enough wind to fill them! This on the windward side of the ocean. Oh well, better not enough than too much.
Bring the sails in and motor in to the dock where we park “side on”, both of us happy to make the maneuver fairly easy. However, it quickly becomes apparent we need to move since the wind pressure is strong enough to almost burst 3 of our fenders. But we can’t move to a Med moor with just the two of us. We’ll get ready and wait for Martin who is coming to shine up Milu today.
He’s a bit late but when he arrives he stays on the dock while Christy and I take Milu around to the other side of the pier. Just getting off the dock in this now strong wind is a challenge. On the other side, I make 3 passes in the tight space before Christy is able to successfully toss the key docking line to Martin on the dock. Once that’s secured, it’s a pretty straightforward process to tie up two forward mooring balls and a second dock line, back to the wind.
Still we’ll adjust lines fairly often over the next couple days and really come to detest this spot. It’s very rocky, the wind blows hard in from the back of the boat and the lines are always bucking and snapping uncomfortably.
Watch out, that plank is cracked!
I manage to get off it just in time and find a much better one down the pier.
I was a little concerned we looked like beginners out there but we have a couple of respectable sailors, including Martin comment on how well we handled it. Enough I guess that our new neighbour, Donita, asks me to help her move her friend Dave’s boat tomorrow morning.
I find Keiran (?) the dock master who turns on water and power for us. I plug us in but am never quite sure it’s working, batteries seem fine even though Martin is using a bit of juice.
I do some computer work while Christy walks to some of the groceries along Lanse aux Epines and Martin works on the boat. Later, we take turns using the workout facilities, go for a swim and have hot showers at Secret Harbour Marina – we can use their stuff while we’re on the dock.
Folks ask us if we want to walk to the Container Park for vindaloo but it’s a long way and I’m not walking anywhere, thanks very much.