WHITECAP's

SAILING

EXCURSION

Summerside, PEI to Bobcaygeon, ON

September 20th, 1999 - October 8th, 1999

1. 10 BC (Days Before Cruise) - No, this was not a tornado... it was the workshop after WHITECAP was pulled out and taken to the paint shop
2. 7 BC - WHITECAP after paint shop
3. 6 BC - The Launch of WHITECAP after 10 years on TERRE FIRME
4. 6 BC - WHITECAP's starting crew; Dick Wedge, Bill Fullerton & Frank Boudreau
5. 5 BC - Dick checking and loading necessary provisions
6. Day 1 - Departure at 6AM, 20 Sept 99. Friends and family bidding farewell.
7. Day 1 - Sept 20, 99 Dick preparing to set out. We spent the night sailing and arrived at Percé Rock at 9:00Am the next day.
8. Day 2 - Sept 21, 99 Percé Rock early in the morning We pulled into Riviere au Renard about 3PM to look at some electrical charging problems. Hopefully we'll depart again bright and early in the morning.
9. Day 3 - Sept 22, 99 WHITECAP has spent the day in Riviere au Renard, QC to iron out a fuel/water problem. It has been rainy and foggy all day with very little wind. Frank, however has found himself a dream boat and is plying it with Captain M.
10. Day 4 - Sept 23, 99 We are still in Riviere au Renard and it is still raining chats et chiens and passing the time gorging ourselves on fresh shrimp which is the local fishery. Frank preparing the shrimp. One of the other visiting boaters had bought a garbage bag full of shrimp, so he dropped off about 2-3 pounds to us last night. We even have shrimp in our raw water intake filter. Picture is of Dick catching up on his correspondence.
11. Day 5 - Sept 24, 99 With Frank at the helm WHITECAP departed Riviere au Renard at 5:50 AM, 24th Sept under clear weather and a brisk breeze. The engine problem seems to be fixed and all is well. At noon we put in at a small port called Cloredorme, QC to get out of a nose wind en plus de 30kts and seas in excess of 10 feet. The weather made a rapid change from earlier. As you can see however, we have all the comforts of home and Dick's nav station is his pride and joy. By evening the winds had abated and the sea calmed, so having had a great supper we slipped our bonds at 21:30 and headed out on the briny deep.
12. Day 6 - Sept 25, 99 Well we motored all night and watched a beautiful "moonset" just before sunrise, but the picture does not do it justice. We are just off Marsouie, QC at 06:30. At 12:30PM we put in at Saint Anne du Mont to recharge our batteries (on the boat) and fuel up. The winds come up quite strong everyday at noon it seems, so it's better to put in and do chores than to fight the head wind and tide.
13. Day 7 - Sept 26, 99 WHITECAP (Dick at the helm) left Saint Anne du Mont at 8:00 last night and motor-sailed on the tide all night making Matane, QC at 5:00 this morning. We rested for awhile and departed Matane (Frank at the helm) at 11:00PM heading for Rimouski, QC hoping to get the benefits of the ingoing tide. We stopped for fuel at Sainte Luce at about 19:00 and were under way again at 19:30. We bypassed Rimouski and continued on all night. Sighted whales again during the night.
14. Day 8 - Sept 27, 99 Arrived at Tadousac at 06:45 (WHITECAP at the Dock.) Departed Tadousac at 09:00. Watched many whales playing about, but none too close.
15. Day 9 - Sept 28, 99 WHITECAP arrived at the north east end of Ile d'Orleans where we stopped and rested for a while on a dock de sable at about 01:00 ("I've never seen sand at the water line before with the boat upright!!!")to get out of the current, then finally we moved along and anchored along the south side of the island due to an engine overheat caused by sable in the water intake, until a large freighter gave us a "wake" up call at 06:30 which really didn't arouse us until one of the tea cups in the sink shattered in two (literally). We then headed out and approached Quebec City in the mist at 11:00. We replenished fuel and water and cleansed everything else, then set out again at 15:30 heading for Trois Rivieres on the tide. We passed Trois Riviere around midnight.
16. Day 10 - Sept 29, 99 We passed Sorel at 09:00 in the mist and then carried on towards Montreal as a light drizzle started. The drizzle abated and the day progressed very drearily; we finally arrived at Marina de la Ronde on Ile St Helenes at 18:00. At 18:30 Dick's boyhood (lifelong) friend (schoolmate/best man) Pierre Baillargeon, along with his wife, Micheline picked us up and treated us to dinner in Iberville. After dinner Pierre and Micheline extended their hospitality by taking us to their home for which the only word I can find is magnificent. It is a Georgian Style House built circa 1835, known as the Manoir Christie. They are in the process of completing renovations/restorations for which their pride is most evident. For the enjoyable evening, we again pass on many thanks.
17. Day 11 - Sept 30, 99 We awoke to torrential rains and high winds. Montreal is not pretty in these conditions, but then few places are. One can only imagine a bone chilling, damp day. Oh well, on y va. The rain eventually let up but the wind continued to rise (to 50 kts). WHITECAP locked through the Lachine Lock system, picked up her anchor chain at the Sainte Catherine Lock, continued out of the canal into Lac Saint Louis for about two miles, turned into the Chateauguay river and finally dropped anchor at the bridge up the river. Dick and Frank got to try the dingy out for the first time. The new dingy air pump worked as advertised and all is going well.
18. Day 12 - Oct 1, 99 WHITECAP got underway at 08:00 and after picking her way back down the Chateauguay River, she found herself back in Lac Saint Louis and heading west for Ontario. Weather is cool but dry and winds are much lighter than yesterday. Made our way through the locks at Beauharnois and out into Lake St Francis. The winds were again up to 40 kts, so we turned in to Valleyfield, QC. It's a nice little city with docks right down town and a nice marina just at the edge of town.
19. Day 13 - Oct 2, 99 WHITECAP slipped her moorings at 06:30 and departed Valleyfield quietly with little or no fanfare. Hester (the autopilot) strayed slightly off the channel on the way out and WHITECAP rubbed the zebra muscles off the bottom of her keel (several times). She travels much faster after cleaning her keel. Little by little WHITECAP is taking on her character scars as the trip progresses; docking in 40 kt winds the other day with the wind on the stern caused a mark on the port bow. As good as Bob Gavin's paint job was, it just can't stand up to some of the rigors we've put it to. As a furtherance to this mornings bottom cleaning, we have since noticed a small amount of water accumulating in the bilge; it would seem that WHITECAP has suffered a minor infliction (puncture or crack) below the water line. Nothing to be terribly concerned about, but we are making arrangements to have her lifted at Belleville, ON to check the hull and adjust the prop. WHITECAP waited patiently from 13:00 to 18:00 for permission to lock through the Snell/Eisenhower Lock System. Finally under way by 18:30.
20. Day 14 - Oct 3, 99 We slipped through the Iroquois Lock at midnight last night. Iroquois is the last lock from Montreal to the Great Lakes. Sunrise finds us slipping through 1000 Islands. This is no exaggeration, especially if you include every place where more than two rocks stick up together. Any more than 3 rocks and somebody has built a cottage on it. Most of these seem to be summer estates; there are very few cabins or camps as such. One island, across from Alexandria Bay, has a castle on it where all the stone is said to have been brought in from Europe. WHITECAP is now approaching Kingston, ON where we will stop for a minute and pick up fuel and a passenger. Picked up John Benson and continued on toward Belleville. Stopped for supper about 10 miles short of Belleville at a cottage belonging to Ruth and Jim (friends of Dick's from Summerside); continued on at 22:30 and arrived at CFB Trenton Yacht Club at 02:30, Oct 4, 99 - almost exactly 2 weeks after our departure from Summerside.
21. Day 15 - Oct 4, 99 Awoke this morning to cold and cloudy weather, about 5 degrees C. Trying hard to rain (maybe snow) and winds are high and biting (chill factor probably sub 0). Dick and John gone to search out much needed repair materials and supplies. Did chore around boat all day. Unstepped the mast. Had supper with John Benson and Martine and Mike and Dawn Johnston. Relaxed and looked over charts with John and Martine before turning in.
22. Day 16 - Oct 5, 99 Departed Trenton Yacht Club at 08:30, Heading for the first lock of the Trent-Severn Canal System. Weather is cool again today but with little wind, so doesn't seem as bad as yesterday. Warmed up a bit as the day progressed. Traveled through 9 locks and spent the night on the up stream side of Lock 9 at Myersburg.
23. Day 17 - Oct 6, 99 We awoke at 07:30 to cool clear weather, had breakfast, then motored to lock 10. The cottage country here is beautiful, especially with the early morning light. We have to wait now for the Lockmaster to arrive and lock us through. All the personnel that work at the locks have been very helpful and pleasant; they obviously enjoy their work and the contact with all the different people who go up and down the canal. WHITECAP was making her way up the Otonabee River in the early evening, but found that as night fell it became too dark to navigate, so she turned into Bensfort Bridge and tied up for the night. Still 12 to 15 miles to Peterborough.
24. Day 18 - Oct 7, 99 Up at 06:30, had breakfast and readied WHITECAP to leave Bensfort Bridge. Frost on the deck, lines were frozen in their tied position to the docks; had to wrestle them free. Departed at 07:45. Locked through several locks and stopped at 10:00 in Peterborough for fuel and do laundry. Carried on at noon; took the lift lock just outside Peterborough - fantastic - two "bath tubs" side by side; they put a little extra water in the upper one and it descends bringing the other to the top, then they reverse the procedure; made it through lock 24 by 15:30. Tied up on up-stream side of lock 24 for the night. The canal men all go off shift at 15:30 and you can't lock through again till 09:00 the next morning.
25. Day 19 - Oct 8, 99 Up at 07:00, no rush, the next lock is only a mile or so up-stream and we can't get through till 09:00. Weather is a little warmer this morning, no frost. There's a moose across the canal from us; there goes three more shots. We heard the moose blowing first, then one shot a half hour ago, now three more; maybe somebody got lucky; on second thought, maybe the moose got lucky - let's hope so. The canal men didn't show up at Lock 25 until 09:45, so WHITECAP waited patiently. Finally locked through and continued on. Arrived at Bobcaygeon at 17:00. Franks wife, Jean and her brother Don Leger and his wife Heather showed up at the boat around 19:00 at precisely the time when all our friends called from the Summerside Yacht Club. It was nice to hear all the familiar voices and have their support; thanks guys and gals.