Whitecap's Cruising Log

Notes and Remarks:

Tuesday, October 12, 1999. Here we are sitting "on the hard", in Midland Ont., once called "Ste-Marie-sur-Les Hurons", most famous as the location where the Iroquois massacred Frs. Jean de Brebeuf, Lalemant and 6 other Jesuit priests, who were working amongst the Huron Indians in 1649. There is a lot of history here.

Started working on the bottom, ground off all around the damage and put propane heater on it, has to be dry to fiberglass... We have built a shrinkwrap "skirt" around the boat bottom to contain the heat for the fiberglass repairs, it was a real mess, that granite shark must have been real hungry!!!, the hull is 1 ½ inches thick at that point, and we can see the encapsulated lead through the hole!!! He took several bites, but only one went all the way through. And some people from home were worried about pirates!!! We will repair all of the damage here. The water we were getting in the bilge was through a void between the hull and the lead and came out through a pin hole where the top of the lead was glassed to the hull

Wednesday, October 13, 1999. It rained very hard all last night and all day today with much lightning, impossible to do any fiber glassing or dry the hull, another lost day!!!. Because of the lightning we are thankful that there are many stepped masts all around us!!. The Bay Port Marina people are very nice, they have quite an operation here, their travel lift lifted out 32 boats yesterday and is out there doing another 28 today in the rain. After the boats are out they pressure clean them all down, and have a self propelled yard trailer machine which picks each one up and parks them about two feet apart. All the boats are parked by category, power up to 25ft in one place, 25 to 37 in another area then larger ones 37 and up, closest to the office building. Sailboats are done the same way, each size or make together, they keep a plot plan showing where each boat is located, then they shrink wrap some with a blue plastic material using a propane torch, by then they all look like big blue "cocoons". Hard to tell them apart once they are covered !!!. The winter boat park area is about 15 acres, and they store about1000 boats here, a 30 ft boat costs about $2300 to lift, store and put back in. Shrink wrap is extra @ $20/ft.

We have become kind of celebrities around here, some people cannot imagine doing a trip north to Manitoulin Island at this time of year, when many sailors only go out on sunny warm days, if there happens to be one on a weekend!!! We hope to be finished repairs by tomorrow (Friday), then back in the water, put the masts back on and be on our way. We only plan to daylight sail in Georgian Bay and North Channel, as the charts show rocks under each wave. To quote from Gordon Lightfoot's song "Silversides" She's a good old ship 'n' she'll make the trip, from the lee of Christian Island". Christian Island is only 10 miles west of Midland.

Thursday, Oct 14, 1999. Br r r r r. It was a cold night last night, but the skies cleared and the rain stopped around 03:00hrs. This morning we have clear skies and a real sunrise, the first in 3 days!!!

We are enjoying the trip, eating and drinking well (in Trenton, John Benson introduced us to Mount Gay rum), and are pretty well on schedule, although this week is a drag, but better where we are here than out there in this weather. The trip through the Trent-Severn waterway was something else! 45 locks, 597 feet up and 450km in less than 7 days! The next locks will be in Chicago, where we have to take the masts off again, for 2 bridges, then put them back up in Preoria on the Illinois River and from then on everything will be new to us....

Hopefully, our next stop, about 35 miles, will be at "Fryingpan Island" the location of "Henry's Fish House" for a good fresh Georgian Bay fish meal, and where we plan to spend a night at the wharf in "Sans Souci" (meaning "without care"), a hamlet founded be Samuel de Champlain in 1600 something... and... wait for weather. Hopefully, again depending on the weather, Little Current (1^st choice) or Killarney (2^nd) or maybe Byng Inlet (3^rd) will be the next stop and then one - two more sailing days in North Channel , after that we will be at the top of Lake Michigan. From that point on, everything is south for Whitecap.

Friday, Oct 15, 1999. More of the same, work progressing on the repairs, building up the layers of mat and roving woving, keeping the propane heater on to cure, then add more and fair it out. Mike the fiberglass repair man, broke his ankle last summer so he is limping around, and driving a golf cart back to the shop for supplies. Now if the weather holds!!

Saturday, Oct 16, 1999. Mike reports all is well with the glass job, we do the final fairing and bottom paint over the patch. Today was visitors day, the office sent a message that Marg Mansell was coming over from Collingwood for a visit but she came while Bill and I were out to breakfast , sorry we missed her but she left a nice note of encouragement. Marg and Jack were on the Supercruise to PEI in 1973 on their C&c Frigate "La Manche", which sadly we understand is now for sale. Cheryl's sister Janet and Dana also arrived for the day, and a former Summerside resident, Frank, son of Fred and grandson of Art MacEwen, from MacEwen Road fame, stopped by to reminisce. We readjusted the prop and by 1600hrs we are back in the water. We immediately realized that the prop was incorrectly adjusted as we could not get any more than 500 RPM from the engine. We decided she had to come back out which could not be done until Monday morning.

Sunday, Oct 17, 1999. Spent the day putting the masts back up, and re adjusting all the stays. Changed tie new primary wire halyard to the upper port sheave and had to cut off and replace the ferule and re-nicropress, the jamming had already chafed of some wire strands. Rest of the day reading, doing laundry, general cleanup and talking to other boaters who are getting to take their boats out for the season. Bill's back is bothering him, didn't sleep well again last night. We make arrangements to get hauled first thing Monday AM for the prop. Talk to Dave Perry several times on the cell to try and figure this out, finally figured out what we did wrong, slipped a cog. Too bad, we lost 2 more days darn!! Frank MacEwen drives all the way back, a 200 mile round trip, to take more pictures of Whitecap and crew.

Whitecap's Cruising Log

Notes and Remarks:

Got in the line-up for travel lift at 07:00hrs and we carefully re-adjusted the prop pitch to 14, which is about 6.9". We also realized what happened on Saturday, on re-assembling the prop, she slipped one cog, just 1, which gave us a pitch of 28, poor old Mercedes just couldn't turn her fast enough!! On re-launch, we immediately knew she was ok now. Bill left for a 10:00 bus to Toronto, many thanks Bill!!! it was fun having you along planning and doing this thing.

Refueled at the Bay Port Fuel dock, 117 litres $72..35.

11:00hrs Left Bay Port, winds on nose 5 - 8 kts. No black smoke!

11:30hrs Rounded midland Pt, altered course to 330M to pass between Beausoleil Island and the mouth of Penetanguishene Outer harbour.

12:00 adjusted course to 255M to pass between Sawlog Pt. and Giant's Tomb Island, set main and jib, close hauled at 6.4kts.

13:00hrs Abeam Giant's Tomb Shoal, cleared shoal at 13:28 and altered course to 320M which leaves Hope island and Lottie Wolf Rock buoy to stbd. Winds increase to 16 TWS, seas 3 ft, roll in jib and motor sail with main at 6.2 kts.

16:00 Christian Island and Giant's Tomb Island clearly visible astern, Double Top Island light on the Western group clearly visible at 3 O'clock about 5 miles away.

17:45hrs Cape Rich on Lake Huron south shore, visible at 9 O'clock, also the TV tower at Owen Sound

19:45 Cape Croker Light on port beam, SOG down to5.5 must be some kind of current here, slowed us down and is setting us off to the north.

21:00 abeam Surprise Shoal buoy, decided to stay outside just in case. Changed course to 260M and headed for Lion's Head harbour.

24:01hrs tied up to fuel dock, no electric, everything abandoned here, going to be a cold night tonight!!!

Woke at 03:00 cold, checked around, went back to bed and covered up my head...

Whitecap's Cruising Log

Notes and Remarks:

07:30 Walked up to local village restaurant for breakfast, and constitutional.

08:30 no one around to pay, local flyfisher says closed for season.

10: 10 abeam Dyer's Bay, home of Ted Baskerville.

11:00 abeam Cabot Head, 4' swell motor sailing with full main. Being short handed, decided not to do the 30,000 islands in Georgian Bay and the North Channel, instead head off directly to Lake Huron.

11:30 pulled into Windfield Basin, for a look see, did a turnaround and heated up the fricot. Nice little hurricane hole, well marked and lit day markers. Old sunken tug "Garguantua" on the west side of basin, deck and part of wheel house showing, two cottages along shore on south side and lighthouse on north side.

We have now cleared the top of the Bruce Peninsula!!!

11:40 set course to 300M keeping Bear's Rump Island to port. Our paper charts now have run out, relying on Richardson's" chart book.

13:30 changed course to pass between Bear's Rump Isl. and Flowerpot Island, gets it's name from large rocks which look like giant flower pots, with trees and shrubs on them all around the east and north side. Went back to 300M to head for Main Channel, Yeo Isl, Lucas Isl and Fitzwilliam Islands are visible at 1 o'clock in distance. Looks like there are nice sandy beaches on Flowerpot shore, but on closer look it is gravel and white rocks. Beautiful lighthouse on side of cliff, called the "Castle" the lighthouse keeper houses are along the shore, well manicured lawns and volley ball net.

14:00 Cove Island lighthouse on Gig Point, clearly visible at 11 o'clock several pink roofed buildings looks like a resort or something. When they get closer, it turns out to be lighthouse keepers houses and buildings, this is one of the more important lighthouses on the lake.

We are now officially in Lake Huron!!!

14:40 spot Sister Shoals on nose, must pass between them and Bad Neighbour Rock, at 15:20 we can see the rock, just barely awash on the surface, no wonder they named it "Bad Neighbour"

15:35 Club Island clear through Fitzwilliam Channel.

16:15 Rabbit island clear through Owen Channel, starting to blow up 12-15 kts on the port stern quarter, nice sail with jib only.

18:00 sail into South Baymouth Harbour, Manitoulin Island at 8kts, dock at marina, only 2 boats there one Jim Hutt is a CCGA boat. Invited up to Jim's and Lucie's house for supper. He is from New Glasgow NS, she from Sudbury.

Whitecap's Cruising Log

Notes and Remarks:

Left home one month ago today!! Walked around village, not very big 40 people here, village is arrival point for the ferry from Tobermory on the Bruce Peninsula in summer, but now shut down for winter. One store, owned by the Brown Family, they also own the restaurant which is closed for the season. Got key to facilities, but it is cold in there, the shower has a push button to make the water flow ug!! Ug!! One shower is enough this week, Frank's "bird bath" feels better. Most of the trees here are cedar and spruce.

From here, the coast of Manitoulin Isl is 60+ miles long and not many friendly harbours,

Walked around village, did laundry, read, got lift with Danny Leeson to nearest town, hooked up new holding tank, checked engine oil and transmission fluid.

Winds still at 20-30, walked out to point, still pretty ugly out there...

John Benson called from Australia at 24:00hrs, says weather there is beautiful, says all the boats there are cats and tri's no mono's, John is on the East Timor contingent on a contract from Canada serving on a ship.

Thursday Oct 21, small craft warning, upgraded from storm to gales warning. Whitecap bouncing around from backwash. Watch movie Titanic, on video, read and sleep. Dockmaster came along today, the rate here is $10.00/day +$3.00 for electric, the price is right, paid $40.00 for 3 days.

15:40hrs winds change to southerly and increase to 40kts. Hope they drop to 10-15 and stay in that direction!!!

Danny Leeson's house across the road, has a tombstone on the front lawn inscribed: "Here lies the body, cold and hard, of the last damn dog to shit in my yard", must have had trouble with the people waiting for the ferry in summer. Danny owns the "Wigwam" motel and gift shop, the largest on Manitoulin, in the village, and therefore has the winters off, he says, they simply put the summer toys away and take out the winter ones...

Barometer at 29.45 and going down even more. Storm warning downgraded to gale warning!!! Big Deal!! Cannot walk the streets anymore, people will think I'm looking in the windows...

Friday Oct 22 Weather warm enough to leave hatch open... But winds still up, Danny's wife went off to Toronto for visits, so Jim, Danny and I watch TV for the evening, and drink some rum... and chat.

Whitecap's Cruising Log

Notes and Remarks:

09:30 abeam Michael's Pt. Stand well clear, Advance Rock stands 2 mile offshore.

10:00 abeam Advance Rk. Winds increase to 30 on nose ... Damm... Up and Down we go again!!!

10:30 abeam Jenkins Pt. we are now 3 miles offshore.

11:15 Providence Pt lighthouse visible At 2 o'clock, winds gusting to 48 kt,, not nice outside... raining also but that means the winds will calm down over the next 24 hrs. Waves to 3 metres on fwd port quarter, not fun anymore, every wave is a breaker over the deck and me, decide to hit for Providence Bay, Hester cannot hold course, have to manually steer.

12:00clear entrance to Providence Bay, wharf is on stbd, someone forgot to spend money on it. Distance today 17.2 M over ground on ly 15 miles, must have done the rest up and down!!! Water temp 47F . Strange day, sun out , raining, arrived at small wharf, no one around to catch lines, wharf needs repair no electricity therefore no heat tonight...5.7ft water. Turned on Propane to warm up cabin, had to switch to tank #2, first one lasted 1 month at least now we know... 5 list at dock from winds, village is about 1 mile away across a crescent beach with a boardwalk along a sand beach, real tourist area...

VHF ch 8 forecasting SW winds tomorrow Hurrah!!! But for tonight, the win is whistling through the rigging, sounds like a winter storm....

Local fisherman came down to talk, took me on tour of village, a 2 sheet curling rink is the winter hot spot here, a pharmacy, grocery and LBCO, and they are v proud of it. Nice community of about 450 people, cannot believe someone is out there in a sailboat this time of year... in fact they have not seen one for over 3 years.

Whitecap's Cruising Log

Notes and Remarks:

03:30 had to move bow line, high winds have gone down and shifted, outside temp 2C. Blew hard during night, but our location is well protected... back to bed.

07:30 Barometer 31" winds forecast for Great Duck at11kts. Time to go, Transmission fluid OK, added ½ qt engine oil, and pint to cooling water. Fuel tank at ½ about 20 gals good for at least 30 hrs.

08:05 left port Air temp 2C , sun trying to come out, ducks and geese everywhere, yesterday none at all, good sign, visibility about 2 miles, 2 metre waves slow us down...

09:45 waves at about 1 metre, as forecast for noon today... Melville Pt. at 1 o'clock, approx 4 miles, bold rock face.

10:20 abeam Melville Pt. 2 miles offshore, TG (thank God) for GPS. Adjusted course to 280M to pass between Inner Duck and Middle Duck Islands. Greater Duck the largest has a height of 485' and should be visible at 11 o'clock but is not.

11:15 Passed Thistle Shoal, about 2 miles inside of us, sun comes out at last... still no sign of Great Duck at 16 miles...

11:45 finally see Great Duck Isl. Hester doing the steering, watching "Blue Moon in Blue water" on VCR, with Gene Hackman, as we go along...

13:00 abeam Misery Bay, 1.5 mile offshore, under power only. Adjust course to pass between Inner Duck and Greene Pt.

14:20 Cleared outside Gaspesia Shoal in 34 ft water

15:15 Passed between Inner Duck Island and Greene Pt in 26' kind of dicey, but I can see the different colour water on the shallow places, there are rocks here at about 4 ft, just alongside of us, can see them about 300'' to port... Glad to pass through here!!! Starting to gust up again, 30 - 35 kt AWS seas up to 2 -3 metres, only doing 2 kts SOG, decide to head for Burnt Island wharf, a lonely fishing port .

16:25 pulled into Burnt Island wharf, it really is a lonely place, 2 fishing boats, a closed for the season Purvis Bros fish factory, a working fish hatchery and about 3 staff houses... And 7.7 ft water. This is a small fishery wharf,

For some reason the engine hour meter started working by itself...

Blew really hard overnight but this is a comfortable spot. But tomorrow will definitely be a two burner morning.

Whitecap's Cruising Log

Notes and Remarks:

07:15 depart, got up at 06:40, definitely a two burner morning!!! It is 1C outside, looks like a beautiful day coming up, not a cloud in the sky, sun should be up in an hour or so. Under power, will have to refuel sometime today.

2 - 3 metre swell left over from yesterday, light winds, cannot get our speed up over 4.5 SOG.

09:25 cleared Greene Island in 49 ft of water, speed is picking up as the swell goes down AVG 4.11 so far today, very sloppy day so far, rolled out half jib,

10:10 cleared SW corner of Manitoulin Island, decide to change course to go up Mississagi Strait, between Manitoulin and Cockburn (pronounced Coo-burn) Islands, full jib, speed 7.1kts. Mercedes on idle, charging the batteries. off shore wind and no swell in here!!!.

10:35 abeam Dolomite wharf, large quarry, they blast it off the side of the hill, crush it and have 2 large mountains of the stuff. Wonder what it is used for? Water depth 247', batteries at 14.1V course 004M, full jib, speed 7.5kts... This is hopefully the last time we will be heading north for a long while!!!

11:05 rounded Channel Pt. on Cockburn Isl. Water depth too deep to measure so it is over 500', still doing over 7kts and comfortable, warm enough for wool sweater no jacket... Can see mountains on the north shore in the distance across North Channel, glad I picked this route. Manitoulin Island is very bold on the north side behind us, see one other boat, must be fishing out of Meldum Bay.

11:45 rolled in jib, abeam Thompson Pt. speed down to 5.75kts, crossing False DeTour Channel on port, small tug and barge came out of Cockburn Harbour wharf behind, looks like they are going to a work site somewhere.

12:30 Large ore carrier at 1 o'clock, looks like she is heading for Bruce mines on the Ontario shore.

13:00 Sulphur Island at 1 o'clock, we are now in the US, will clear customs at Drummond Island Yacht Haven, took down the Ontario flag and raised the "stars and stripes" on the stbd spreader.

14:10 Arrived Drummond Island Yacht Haven, cleared customs and got a 6 month US cruising permit $25.00US, picked up chart of MacKinac strait, checked fuel level, only 2" left in tank. Refueled 41.7 US gallons cost $55.85. Attendant said he never ever saw a sailboat take on so much fuel!!! Took about 1 ½ hour to do all this.

15:30 wind way between islands heading for De Tour Village, want to get there before dark, there are no lit buoys around here. St. Joseph's Island, Canada is to just to stbd. Crossed paths with very large empty freighter, heading for Soo.

16:03 docked at DeTour Marina, only one other boat but electric is on. 7.3 ft depth Walked up to restaurant for supper Whitefish and a glass of Chablis, better than my cooking...

Whitecap's Cruising Log

Notes and Remarks:

Weather announcer predicting 50F for the next few days, and a sunrise today at 08:08 we shall see...

06:45 left marina, met dock master last night at restaurant, says not to worry about dock fees as he is closed for season.

Drummond Island III passed by stern, this is the same ferry which picked up the downed Cessna 182 float plane off Mont Carmel, about 10 years ago, RCC in Halifax asked for TeAmo to go out and tow the plane to shore. When we arrived on the scene, the Drummond Island III ferry was holding up the tail of the airplane with his loading ramp, we took her in tow pulling from the back of the floats. The drowned pilot had been taken off by a helicopter from 413 at Summerside. The airplane was full of smuggled cigarettes, we took on 2400 cartons to deliver them to the RCMP .

07:31 rounded De Tour Reef Lighthouse, a stand alone about 1 mile from shore, changed course to 266M, going to be sloppy today!!! Winds on nose at 22 -28 kts TWS UG!!!

08:08 sunrise, the weather forecaster was right on that one, now what about the winds...

08:15 large ore carrier cleared De Tour Passage just behind us.

09:15 Two very large carriers at 11 o'clock looks like they are in a race, 3^rd one appears behind coming from the east, they are all heading into De Tour Passage, lots of traffic today.

09:30 winds up to 38kts TWS, seas 10 ft SOG is only 1.5 kts, going nowhere fast, only halfway to Martins Reef light, and the MacKinac Bridge is 23 miles further on. Decide to turn back for the first time...

10:36 DeTour Marina, tied up, plugged in and went back to bed. Came back to port in less than 1 hour, what took 3 hours to do...

Walked around the village, in afternoon, very tourist oriented village, but most things are now closed for the season. Went out to Topsail for supper, steak and red wine. Back to bed at 19:00hrs.

Whitecap's Cruising Log

Notes and Remarks:

03:00hrs Talked with ore carrier "RIA" in bound to St Mary's River / Lake Superior, he says lake conditions are flat calm.

03:30 passed "RIA" and another vessel in De Tour Passage, cleared the lighthouse at 04:02 so far so good. Altered course to 266M for Martin's Reef Light, flashing light (Alt RW 10s) clearly visible at 13 miles. Clear night, full moon, scattered clouds. Barometer at 30.4" 6.39kts SOG good!!!

04:45 Spectacle Reef light (Fl R 5s) visible at 10:30 o'clock about 10 miles away. Covered in 45 minutes today what took 3 hours yesterday!!! Today's light breeze is on the stern, Mercedes at 1950RPM speed 6.45kts.

05:45 abeam Martin's Reef light .on a small rock island, difficult to tell in the dark alter course to 261M for MacKinac Island at 23 miles.

06:00 see Bois Blanc Island light (Fl 2 5s), it is a large long low island on port side, clusters of red lights on bow, with gap in between, must be the passage between Round Island and MacKinac Isl. Notice about ½ " of water in the fuel filter, must get rid of that next stop...

07:00 The lights I was seeing are actually the lights on the MacKinac Strait bridge, beyond the passage. The two islands stand out clearly in the moonlight.

08:45 Stopped at marina, only 1 other boat, on MacKinac Island, beautiful spot, no vehicles. Gentleman comes down to greet me on bicycle. He is Hilt Fraser, a retired sailor, songwriter and raconteur, originally from Sarnia Ontario, and he came down to greet our Canadian flag. We walk uptown for breakfast at the Village Inn, I get a complete history of the Island, there are no vehicles here, call a taxi, and you get a horse and buggy!! There are people here who walk around with wheel barrows cleaning up after the horses... The locals travel by bike. There is an American fort on the side of the hill, during the war of 1812, 20 British soldiers and some Indians came over the back of the island one night carrying a cannon. At dawn, they fired a single shot from the hill above into the fort, the 90 Americans surrendered, because they had no idea how many British were up there. After the war the British gave the island back to the Americans (awful nice of them) John Jacob Astor had a fur trading post here, there are mostly large expensive mansions all around the island. There is only 1 road, 9 miles long, and Hilt says it never ends, just goes around and around the island!!! The shops were mostly closed and empty, all had signs saying "see you at Christmas". Hilt tells me that Christmas and New Years are big holidays here, people come from everywhere for the holidays, so all the stores re-stock for the 3 weeks and open up again.... imagine!!! Hilt has 2 sons and a son-in-law in the NHL, system as players and officials.

10:15 cast off, and headed for the bridge, full jib and motor.

11:55 passed under the MacKinac Strait Bridge. We are now in Lake Michigan, set course for 285M and White Shoal light . Called old friends Ruth and Bud Sweeney in Traverse City, they are to pick up Richard and Ben in Traverse City airport, and deliver them to Charlevoix. Bud recommends we stop at Irish Boat House Marina on the inner lake, and he calls to make arrangements.

13:10 turned to 203M 30 more miles to Charlevoix.

14:45 abeam Iles aux Galets, a sneaky little low island with a lighthouse and no water all around it. Changed course to 200M for Dalhia Shoal buoy, see smokestack belching smoke dead ahead, Charlevoix should be to stbd of that.

18:15 arrived at Charlevoix "run" Have to wait for the bridge to open, to let us into Round Lake, then another narrow channel and we are in Lake Charlevoix ,

19:30 Arrived at Irish Boat Yard, just getting dark. 5.55 avg speed including stop. Water temp 50F.

Had long chat with the owner manager Cliff Biddick, he stayed with the Sweeneys in Traverse City while attending university. Cliff's father and Bud were childhood friends. Cliff took me on a tour of the facility, they have 3 buildings about the size of our curling rink, where they store boats inside for the winter, the temperature is kept at 65F, they can put 3 70' boats one ahead of the other. We looked at one British built cruiser, they were repairing, it went aground on that sneaky little island I passed earlier, "Iles aux Galet" at 39kts!!! Tore off the rudders, shafts struts and then sank. The repair bill will be over 1 1/2million dollars. The owner told them to fix it...

The Sweeneys arrive at 03:00 with Richard and Ben

Whitecap's Cruising Log

Notes and Remarks:

03:00 Bud and Ruth Sweeney arrive with Richard and Ben, have nice visit, they both look well, and are still sailing, Hebat was sold in Gibralter, and they returned to Traverse City and bought a Tartan 37. We bid them farewell, and are very thankful for their kindness, they still have to drive 60 miles back to their home.... Many Thanks Bud and Ruth.

0950 left Lake Charlevoix, had to wait at lift bridge, for half hour, finally got through, Ferry "Emerald Isle" from Beaver Island, coming in the run, not much room for the both of us.

13:48: Abeam Grand Traverse Light.

14:29 Abeam Cats Head Point

16:00 abeam of Manitou shoal light, a lighthouse in the middle of the channel

17:15 Abeam Sleeping Bear Pt with 40 feet of water .sand dunes 1069 ft high!!!

19:50 abeam Betsey Point

2120 Arrived in Frankford, when we put the motor in reverse to stop, there was a loud screeching sound from the engine room, no forward and no reverse OH OH!!!

Walked up to a restaurant and had late supper, the town seems abandoned, there are very few people around and very few cars.

Whitecap's Cruising Log

Notes and Remarks:

07:30 left Frankfort, seems to be some problem with transmission!!! put up jib, sailed out of harbour, set main and mizzen, doing 6.09kt. the name we gave the new computer, is an amalgam of 2 names "Ig" Noble who was an exchange officer in Summerside, and the name of the nav software we are using, "Ignoble" tells us we presently have16 hrs32 minutes to Milwaukee at this speed.

Sailed all day, crossed the lake, 60 miles wide at this point, no sight of land, and we are going down at an angle, but at least there are no more islands to watch out for.

Decided to keep going all night, it was not a nice night out there, winds came up to 20 - 25kts and we had 8 ft seas, but with no motor it would be difficult to find the way in to any harbour,

Richard took the before midnight shift, I took the mid-night to 5 AM. Whitecap was steering herself simply by locking the autohelm lever, without using electricity.

23:00 tacked offshore between Two Rivers and Sheboygan, better off out in the middle of the lake away from shore.

04:30 tacked back to 230, about half way between Milwaukee and Sheboygan, seas 8 ft winds 18-20 SE.

At daylight, we decided to go into Sheboygan, to check out our engine problem.

09:30 Arrived Sheboygan marina all closed, no one around, walked over to city boardwalk, there is electric there along the wall have to get dinghy and motor out to tow her over. Was able to roll out jib, and sail up the river, Richard pushed us the last few yards with the dink.

After 26 hours the batteries were still at 11.4V, charge for wall space here is $12.00 per day including electric and water. In summer this place is crowded, you have to reserve space.

There is a Kroler plant here which employs 4500 people

Whitecap's Cruising Log

Notes and Remarks:

People are very friendly here, all kinds of walkers on the boardwalk, a Roger Miller and his wife Virginia stopped for a chat, he is a local sailor, when we told him of our problem, he phoned a fellow sailor, Peter Kronich who I talked with on the phone, his suggestion/recommendation is to sail to Manitowac to get the repairs done there, he says Chicago is impossible to get work done. Peter says to see Rich Larson at the Marina, and he will be able to fix us up.

We thank him very much, and get ready to leave. Peter arrives at the dock, we have further discussion and he thinks the problem is the clutch plate, which makes sense, he says if it was the transmission, we would not have had any noise, we had a loud screeching sound, which was metal rubbing on metal. Anyway we still have to pull the transmission to fix the problem. He asked me what kind of engine, and I said Mercedes. He asked: an OM636? I responded: Yes.

Peter then informed me that this engine was built in Spain, (which I already knew), and that it was only available from Mercedes of England (which is where we bought the engine), so he knows what he is talking about.

12:30 manually turn boat around in river and set jib, clear the harbour, set the main, and we are having a glorious sail downwind on a sunny day doing 4.9kts "Ignoble" says ETA in Manitowac is 17:37 Beautiful day, sunny warm and... a run of all things!!!. Too bad we have to back track, but it is not the end of the world

17:33 Arrive at Manitowac Marina just at dark, sail in and tie up to gas dock. There are 15 or so boats in the water here.

Peter Kronich, is up here doing some business, he comes down to the boat, thinks we can remove the transmission without lifting the engine out, hope so. Rich Larson is to send his mechanic down this afternoon for a look see. We will rent a car and I will drive Richard and Ben to Chicago, a 2 1/2hr drive, tomorrow afternoon, Tuesday, and come back on Wednesday after they fly out. Richard was able to have the tickets changed from St Louis to Chicago. The mechanic, cannot start until Thursday morning, and we will round up the new clutch plate, which will take a day or so, if that is really the problem.

Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov 2 and 3, 1999.. Weather very cold today,. We are on the west side of the lake, last night the east side got 6" of snow!!! only 60 miles away.... Nothing else to do here, we decide to Rent a car to drive to Chicago and deliver Richard and Ben to the airport. We stayed at the "Inn of Chicago" Best Western near the waterfront, visited the Columbia Yacht Club, which is actually the old "Abby" the ferry which plowed our home water Northumberland Strait for 30 years, she has not changed much, and they are using her well, we were given a "temporary" membership card, the run of the club, and a tour of the ship by the club manager Tom Aherne, and had dinner in the "formal" dining room. Thank you Tom!!! Whitecap will be there by next Sunday or Monday or Tuesday.... We (Hester and I) are scheduled/booked to go through the Chicago "Sanitary and Barge Canal" on Wednesday November 10 at 10:00hrs, with 4 other boats... This part of the trip takes 4 hours, each bridge is scheduled to open in sequence, boats are not allowed to "dilly-dally" along. We will end up at the Crawley Boat Yard, where we have to un-step the masts for the next 60 miles. We found out that last week there were 23 boats were ahead of us. If we cannot make that schedule, the next flotilla will be on Saturday, November 13 at 10:00hrs Hope we can make Wednesday one!!! We know that It takes approximately 30 days from Chicago to Mobile Alabama in the summer months, which means with luck, we will be in the Gulf of Mexico around December 10, a week or more behind our original schedule... In the morning, on the way from the hotel to the airport, we did a run all along the "Sanitary and Barge" canal, looks like a real experience, one lock and 26 bridges, and all this in downtown Chicago Wow!! If all my friends could see me now!!! ... Cannot wait... Now to the clutch plate problem... Drove up to Two Rivers last night just to look around, had supper at the "Inn on the Bay". Bought a used Video camera for $100. , can record the trip again... back in business.

Thursday, November 4, 1999. Fred the mechanic arrived at 09:30, and by noon we had Mercedes completely disconnected, after lunch we will move her forward, and disconnect the Velvet Drive transmission.

15:00 Well I am not alone anymore, Mercedes is here in the cabin with me.... and we are removing the transmission.

16:00 Transmission off, we found the culprit, just as our friend Peter Kronick diagnosed, the clutch plate, this one has the inner female spline all chewed up, the transmission spline is OK. Checked around it is not a standard auto/truck part,, Called Peter, he is coming up here at 07:00 tomorrow to take a look. Peter has turned out to be a great source, and we sure appreciate his help. There is a possibility, a machine shop may be able to replace the chewed up spline, if we cannot find the whole clutch plate. Got everything (the engine lift straps) disconnected, can now shut up the hatch at night, so we are livable again... but I cannot get to the stove for cooking, lots of restaurant nearby. Sure would not want guests in high heels to try climbing over Mercedes...

Friday Nov 5, 1999. 07:00 Manitowac, is a nice city, a Budwieser brewery here and several "Mirro" factories making "Wearever" and "AirBake" aluminum cookwear. Peter stopped by on his way up state, says we should take the masts off here, then we will not have to wait for the/any flotilla at Chicago, we can go through anytime at our leisure. The two bridges which do not lift are railway bridges and they are further along in the Illinois River, not in downtown Chicago at all, as we previously thought. We chase around town all morning, looking for the replacement part, no one has ever seen it before, they all ask: "what is it??". Decide to drive 26 miles to Sheboygan, to the fish market (I did not know the name of the fish market only the location) to get the name of the charter boat captain I had previously talked to, and who has the same transmission as ours. Gary Even (many thanks Gary) tells me to call Jim at Federal Transmissions in Countryside, Illinois. I drive all the way back to Manitowac, 26 miles again, get the transmission info and call Jim at Federal (708-349-3556), give him the model # of the transmission (71C) and describe the part, he wants to know the dimensions, rivet and mounting hole distances, etc... when we tell him the engine is 42HP, he wonders why we have a clutch plate which withstands 400 ft/lbs of pressure when we only require one for 110 ft/lbs, away overkill!! Jim tells me that the part is made in England and we confirm that the part must have come with the engine. He has the correct part, $189.00 and will ship it out today, we should receive it on Monday. Since we are here anyway, we make arrangements to take on fuel, 29.29 gallons $40.02 and remove the masts as suggested by Peter Kronick.

16:00 Masts are off and tied down to their "gallows", it took 1.5 hours, I had everything ready in advance. Tomorrow I will finish securing everything...

18:30 Invited over to the "Manitowac Yacht club", for supper. It is a self help club much like ours, they use the facilities at the public marina next door. They only serve dinners on Friday nights, there were 150 members and guests there, Friday is the only night they have hired staff on duty. All other days and nights, the members are on an honor system, serve your self, mark your tab... The rule here is "if there is a car in the lot, the club is open". O'Doulls is only $1.00.

Saturday, Nov 6, 1999. Slept in until 08:45, played with digital camera, looked around for a replacement light for the foredeck, the tiny halogen bulbs just will not stay in, looking for Joe Gillis's solution, found the new sealed beam bulbs, but have not located the pigtails yet, the masts will be down for the next 12 days or so, someone will have them...

Tonight I walked over to the Yacht Club for a 0.5, lots of cars, turns out there was a party between the church and wedding reception, they asked me to join in. all kinds of food. The father of the bride Bob tells me his daughter is 31, about time to get married, see Cindy, there were others out there... A lot of people cannot imagine where PEI is, but they have a chart on the wall which shows the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence R. up to Quebec City, so I can show them our route and where PEI is on the bare wall. People here are very football crazy, everything is Green Bay Packers (NFL), or Badgers (college), everyone, even great grand mothers!!, go around wearing the latest Green Bay clothing. Nike does not have a chance around here, everything is green and gold...

20:10 hrs Back to Whitecap, watched "Texas" on video, Sam Houston, Steven Austin, Jim Bowie Davey Crockett and all that stuff, hope to be there in a month....

Sunday, Nov 7, 1999 07:45, Beautiful day out there, flat calm. Barometer at 30.52". Oh what a day to be steaming for that illusive Chicago, still 137 miles away. Slept in, nothing to wake me up, the marina is now down to 5 boats, besides Whitecap, there is a 64' aluminum Burgher here for refinishing over the winter, a C&C 41 custom, a New York 45 race boat, and an 80' custom Palmer-Johnson aluminum sloop, which will be bubbled along the steel wall for the winter, as it is too big to be hauled with this travel lift, the mast extrusion is so large a 10 year old can climb up inside as far as the spreaders!!! . There are no humans around after the shop closes for the day, but each evening, when I come back from supper, I see a small rabbit hopping around and hiding under the trees by the Yacht Shop, no sign of him during the day. Not much to do today, going to the Yacht Club to take in today's Packers football game. Turns out they also have lunch, for $6. ribs and chicken!!! the Packers lose 14 - 13, especially after Chicago blocked a 3 point kick with 26 seconds to go, what a downer..

Monday, Nov 8, 1999 06:30, another beautiful day, flat calm again!!! barometer dropping, now at 30.1", winds are forecast for the afternoon. Shirt sleeve weather most of the day, gets cooler in the afternoon. Two more boats out of the water today, only the C&C, the custom 80 footer (wow!! the size of the winches) and us now...

13:00 No sign of the part yet hopefully tomorrow. Went out and rented some movies, cannot get the local stuff, everything is cable here.

Tuesday Nov 9, 1999. 06:35 Barometer at 30.0" Very warm, had to turn off the heater during the night. Been here 9 days already, but to be fair, really only started working on the engine on the 5^th day. Very windy outside.

09:15 Jim called from Federal, says the part will be here today for sure. Outside temperature 67F, prediction today is a high of 74.!!! Yes it really did....

11:05 Part has arrived, starting reassembly this afternoon, by 16:00 Mercedes is back in her hole, tomorrow we will line her up and bolt her down... Came back from the shower without a shirt, cannot do that at home on Nov 9, watching "BOC Knockdown" on VCR again...

19:00 Went to the "Inn on Maritime Bay" for steak , sacked in at 21:00 .Turned off heat, too warm...

Wednesday, Nov 10, 1999. Had visit from the local cops at 01:30, seems two people had broken into some boats up on the hard, they caught one but the other one slipped away... Glad it wasn't me they were after, they had guns and flack jackets!!

07:00 outside temp 66 F. By 09:30 outside temp 44 F, start bolting down the engine and hooking up wiring, winds NE up to 40kts, the lake is white out there

14:10 installation finished, and we have reverse and forward!!!, now to get the cabinetry back together, and pay the bill!!!

Tomorrow they will be taking out the 60' Burgher, a little over the travel lift capacity, think I will stay around to watch, Peter Kronich will be here, he is consulting with the owners for the refit. Bought him a bottle of wine, for his kind help and advice...

18:00 Barometer 30.2" and rising, watching "GI Jane" on VCR.

Whitecap's Cruising Log

Notes and Remarks:07:10 Up and about, shower and laundry, watch the big haul-out, the 35 ton travel lift hauled "Odyssey" the 62' aluminum Burger at 08:30, they estimate she weighs in at near 90,000lbs about 10 ton over the limit.... She is a beautiful boat, built 35 years ago here in Manitowac, where they still build but do not repair them . The Marina will be putting her in their building, adding a temporary extension to completely enclose her, and will be completely refurbishing, and painting her. This will keep the staff busy for the winter. Peter Kronick is consulting on the job. Many thanks to Rich Larsen, Bob, Gary Kelly and everyone, and to Randy for the use of his land line. Returned the rent a car. Had a long chat with Peter about the Illinois River and beyond.

11:30 Cleared marina breakwater, still a 4 ft swell on the beam from yesterday's storm. Headed towards Sheboygan, due south, the two smokestacks at the cement plant are visible 24 miles away. RPM 1900, 5.8 kts everything sounds good in the engine room.

15:30 abeam Sheboygan light, still daylight, decide to keep going, head for Port Washington ETA 19:45 at this speed.

19:40 arrive at Port Washington marina,, Not a boat anywhere, place is abandoned. Their docks are fixed, not floating, and the lake is 3' down, therefore the fenders have to be hung from the top lifeline... Not a comfortable way to spend the night, marina well protected, behind two breakwaters..., 7.1 ft water at the dock. Barometer 30.45

Whitecap's Cruising Log

Notes and Remarks

06:14 Definately a 2 burner morning!!! Followed a coal carrier out of harbour, there are 2 mountains of coal on the pier, wondered about the noise was during the night.

06:45 sun up, clear sky, but very hazy and cold, Hester not working properly, have to hand steer, rig up two lines to turn wheel from under dodger. Think Hester needs a new belt, just happen to have one somewhere down below.

07:24 "Ignoble" tells me we are 2 hours from Milwaukee light.

08:30 abeam north limits of Milwaukee shore is bold, cliffs 200' + high, as opposed to the shoreline further north, cannot see city downtown yet very hazy

08:55 abeam Fox Point, now the shoreline is lower, houses all along shoreline, visibility about 6 m, getting warmer.

09:05 we are 1hr out of Milwaukee, about 6 miles away, still cannot see anything

09:30 see 5 very high TV towers, and 1 large skyscraper over the top of Shorewood Pt. Rounded point and there is the city.

Large group of yellow brick buildings with red roofs, turns out to be a Schlitz brewery

Passed through northern entry into harbour, there is a breakwater about 5 miles long, which encloses the whole harbour, many commercial docks but not one ship... Passed the city by boat faster than I did it by rent a car the other day.

10:45 stopped at South Shore YC to change steering belt. That fixed the Hester problem, turns out she broke her belt... we had a spare. Now we will have to buy another. Walked around the yard, they sure pack boats in tight, about 6" between each one, space is a problem here.

11:30 underway again, have to go backtrack 2 miles to the southern pass, to get back into the lake

1400 passed between Wind Point light and Wind Pt North shoal in 38 ft

14:32 abeam Racine harbour buoy, too early to stop for the day, decide to head to Waukegan, another 20 miles

15:00 air temp 60 F, we had a high of 68 today, just wearing a sweater, no jacket.

16:14 crossed the border into Illinois, lake now almost flat calm.

18:25 tied up at municipal Marina, only one other boat here and they have 1000 slips. Walk up town for pizza, but passing by the Yacht Club, two gentlemen invited me to join them for supper, Bob Killiam and Don, we had a great discussion about our economies, dollars, yacht clubs and travel. The "Margarita Salmon" on pin pasta meal was delicious, as was Bob's choice of dessert, (chocolate on chocolate). What I thought were outfalls for the electric plant were really a test facility here for OMC, Johnson and Evenrude, Don a Trinidadian, used to work there, explains they leave the engines running in gear, in the water. Bob and Don are retired and are leaving for Florida on Monday until next June!!! Barometer 30.25"

Hope to get an early start, Chicago is about 35 miles from here.

Whitecap's Cruising Log

Notes and Remarks:

05:48 Left Waukegan. Barometer steady at 30.2" winds W @ 3 -4

06:23:06 Chicago is 29.935 miles at 159 degrees ETA noon today

06:24:14 outside temp 49 F

08:30 abeam Highland Park but cannot see anything

08:50 abeam WR2 Wilmette Ill, see condos on shoreline, air temp 60 F Chicago 14.049 miles dead ahead, SOG6.0

COG 159M VMG 6.2 we have a small current in our favor!!!

09:10 abeam Crossepoint, very large dome church on land Wilmette city

09:30 downtown Chicago 10.027 miles away, cannot see anything yet , new ETA 1hr 39 min

09:40 starting to see some very large buildings, but no sign of the Sears tower only3.4 miles away.... too much haze and we are only 1.4 miles offshore

10:20 can just barely make out the Trade Mart building tower, really a lot bigger than the others... we are 4.5 miles away7, so the vis is not good, no sign of the Sears Tower and it is the largest of them all, over 100,000 people work in the building, almost the population of PEI!!!!.

11:34 arrived at Columbia YC dock, 22ft water.