[Public-List] Last, last Misery Trip of 2011

Mon Jan 9 07:40:39 PST 2012

5/8", at least mine are, with a roughly 45 degree inset all around.

________________________________
 From: "toorn at rogers.com" <toorn at rogers.com>
To: Marianne King-Wilson <mkw at cogeco.ca>; Alberg 30 Public List -- open to all <public-list at lists.alberg30.org> 
Sent: Sunday, January 8, 2012 3:38:45 PM
Subject: Re: [Public-List] Last, last Misery Trip of 2011

Marianne I thought that was such a nice Alberger simpatico moment (even though we didn't know it until later). It was Gord after all who introduced me to you and WINDWARD.
I wonder if anyone on the list  knows the depth of the recess in the lids of the cockpit lockers? It's meant to have marine ply inserts but WINDWARDS's are absent. I have a lead on either 1/2 or 3/8 marine ply (thanks Gord). I'm thinking 3/8 but would love confirmation. I'd measure myself but WINDWARD is 3 hours away, tarped, and likely under a blanket of  snow. Thanks!
Pim
#369
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

-----Original Message-----
From: "Marianne King-Wilson" <mkw at cogeco.ca>
Sender: public-list-bounces at lists.alberg30.org
Date: Fri, 6 Jan 2012 19:12:20 
To: Alberg 30 Public List -- open to all<public-list at lists.alberg30.org>
Reply-To: Marianne King-Wilson <mkw at cogeco.ca>,
    Alberg 30 Public List -- open to all <public-list at lists.alberg30.org>
Subject: Re: [Public-List] Last, last Misery Trip of 2011

You fellows and WINDWARD are having wayyy too much fun!
Loved the story, Gord!  And the repartee that followed.
So glad I happened to see you returning to port on that blustery day, 
November 20.
She is a beautiful ship even from afar.

Marianne
former skipper of WINDWARD 369

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gordon Laco" <mainstay at csolve.net>
To: "PIM VAN DER TOORN" <toorn at rogers.com>; "Alberg 30 Public List -- open 
to all" <public-list at lists.alberg30.org>
Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2012 6:50 PM
Subject: Re: [Public-List] Last, last Misery Trip of 2011

> Oh I wasn't worried about the snow obscuring visibility... You know the 
> old
> saying "there's nothing for a tight spot like somebody else's boat".
>
>
>
>
> On 05/01/12 6:43 PM, "PIM VAN DER TOORN" <toorn at rogers.com> wrote:
>
>> Thanks Gord, a great read, it's like i was there! oh wait....I was!
>
> I'll
>> just add that the daytime high on Saturday was 9c/48f and on Sunday 
>> 3c/37f
>> before any windchill factor, and there was plenty of wind. It was true 
>> Misery
>> Cruise weather and the best sail of the season for me.
> Gord's mention of the
>> uncharted-yet-massively-visible navigation aid reminded me that as we
>> approached this particularly nasty, shoal-laden stretch of the Bay we had 
>> a
>> snow squall off our port quarter that continually threatened to overtake 
>> us -
>> advance guard snowflakes streaked horizontally through the cockpit -
>> visibility would have been reduced significantly, it had completely
>> obscured the shoreline in that direction. It being my boat, and Gord 
>> being the
>> Navigator (he bills himself too humbly as "simple crewperson"), I'm sure 
>> he
>> would have encouraged a DR through the hazards had the squall caught us. 
>> And
>> being half-frozen and eager to get somewhere warm I might have
>> acquiesced! I'm glad it eventually passed astern.
> Can't wait until
>> spring.
> Pim
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Gordon Laco
>> <mainstay at csolve.net>
> To: Alberg 30 Public List -- open to all
>> <public-list at lists.alberg30.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 4, 2012 10:14:12
>> PM
> Subject: [Public-List] Last, last Misery Trip of 2011
>
> Friends,
>
> I will
>> start this by pointing out that I know how irregular it is for a
> simple
>> crewperson to assume the responsibility of writing up a ship¹s log.
> I was not
>> in command on the Last, Last Misery Trip of 2011. The
> owner/skipper of the
>> yacht we made the trip aboard was  yes, I¹m referring
> to the owner of
>> WINDWARD.
>
> It occurs to me to be kind to him; after all he was served
>> SURPRISE well on
> many occasions, usually in terrible weather because I rarely
>> remembered to
> invite him sailing until after the end of September.
>> Furthermore, he was
> one of the leading men weilding hammer and saw after the
>> call went out for
> the barn-raising bee that threw the building up over TOUCH
>> WOOD. And he
> came back repeatadly both to touch up the building, and to work
>> on TW
> herself. Only three days ago he was working beside me cutting out
>> and
> fitting her decks (what a morale-boosting moment that was, seeing her
>> bare
> bones covered again at last). Yes, I should be kind to him. But for
>> one
> thing. I threatened that if he didn¹t write to you about the Last,
>> Last
> Misery Trip.... I would. So here I am. There was a time when a
>> shipmate
> could throw a fair challenge down before a shipmate, and expect
>> that
> challenge to be taken up. Well looked upon in that manner, what choice
>> have
> I but to assume that the challenge was thrown back to me. Aye, I¹ll take
>> it
> up. So here we go.
>
> This fall, after much toiing and froing, Pim,
>> WINDWARD¹s owner/skipper, and
> I settled upon a date for the Last, Last Misery
>> Trip of 2011. For a time
> it appeared that it would be possible for WINDWARD
>> and SURPRISE to meet in
> the cold Canadian autumn but something made me
>> organize a business trip to
> southern California, consequently I had to have
>> SURPRISE hauled out early
> this year so I wouldn¹t be distracted from what I
>> was accidentally seeing on
> the beaches around San Diego and Los Angeles by
>> worrying about SURPRISE
> freezing something off and sinking on me.
>
> Also for a
>> time, it appeared that WINDWARD¹s co-owner/skipper, Pim¹s brother
> in law John,
>> was going to join us, but somehow at the last moment he had to
> do something
>> like trim a hedge or winterize his lawnmower and he couldn¹t
> come. We
>> reckoned that two might not be enough for a crew so I fell to
> casting about
>> for a scratch third to join the expedition on short notice.
> Our friend Jon was
>> snapped up like a fresh trout with the lure of Guinness
> beer obscuring the
>> reality of what he was really volunteering for.
>
> It was important to apply
>> subterfuge for a very good reason. Earlier Misery
> Trips the three of us had
>> done on various occasions aboard SURPRISE had all
> begun and ended in the balmy
>> southern reaches of Georgian Bay in 44 degrees
> north latitude. WINDWARD makes
>> her home in the port of Parry Sound, many
> tenths of a degree north of us 
>> much much closer to the pole, polar bears
> and other indications of late season
>> misery. By the time Jon clewed in to
> the peril he was locked onto, it was too
>> late to back out because I
> volunteered to drive him in my car.
>
> So, on a
>> Friday evening we bid farewell to our families and drove north on
> Highway
>> 400... Called by some the Highway of Adventure due to the fact that
> it skirts
>> one of the finest cruising coasts in the world. We set and made
> a rendezvous
>> at Wellington¹s Pub in Parry Sound, where the comely waitresses
> sling foaming
>> jars of Kilkenny and Guinness beer and serve the best prime
> rib between
>> Toronto and Baffin Island. As the prime rib, the beer and
> whatever else I
>> could get my hands on was sliding down my throat, I noticed
> a slight
>> nervousness in our skipper. (Pim, I did threaten that my version
> of this
>> story might cast you in a different light than you might prefer)
> Clearly, he
>> wanted to cast off lines and set sail for the Œoutside¹ as
> sailors of our
>> coast refer to The Void. Thinking swiftly, I reckoned he¹d
> cottoned onto my
>> plan to stay in a hotel the first night and sail in the
> morning rather than
>> spend a night at the marina in an unheated Alberg 30
> with the frigid air
>> misted with the snoring breath of my companions. Even
> more urgently, I wished
>> to avoid the horror of the morning visit to the
> head, where the close confines
>> of an A30¹s head compartment would create one
> of the most fear fogs known to
>> northern sailors.... I¹m referring to the
> rising mist create by hot urine
>> hitting a toilet bowl whose temperature is
> just about freezing...a malignant
>> mist that has no place to go but up into
> it¹s creator¹s face. Urgh.
>
> We
>> didn¹t go to a hotel. We went back to the boat. After much grumbling we
> all
>> turned in. I slept well but I heard complaints in the morning about
> snoring.
>> I can¹t imagine where that came from.
>
> In the morning we were driven from our
>> sleeping bags by the cold, each
> braved the horrid rising mist, then set about
>> preparing WINDWARD for her
> expedition. Pim displayed admirable courage
>> letting us drive into town to
> have a hearty breakfast in a restaurant  I
>> could have bolted and headed for
> home and warm wife in a bed, but although the
>> prospect was hard to resist i
> stayed with the project and went back to
>> WINDWARD.
>
> Away we went Saturday morning, casting furtive glances at the
>> Canadian Coast
> Guard establishment at the entrance to the harbour half
>> expecting (hoping?)
> that an aggressively handled red vessel would come
>> charging out and demand
> where the heck we thought we were going this late in
>> the season....it didn¹t
> happen, alas.
>
> We set a course across Parry Sound
>> itself, heading for Killbear Point and
> soon enough Red Rock came into sight.
>> Red Rock deserves some description.
> It¹s huge, built like a Martello Tower
>> (google it) surmounted by a
> helicopter landing pad. It¹s one of the great
>> lighthouses of the Great
> Lakes  visible for miles and a comfort to
>> generations of anxious mariners.
> Sadly for us it is preceded, on the course we
>> were steering, by a derelict
> lighthouse no longer considered a working aid to
>> navigation, that for the
> last twenty five odd years has panicked me as I tried
>> to find this clearly
> visible land mark on the chart. Some day I will remember
>> to mark it
> manually so that next time I don¹t feel that clenching sphincter of
>> Œmaybe
> we¹re not were I think we are¹ fear that all sailors know at one time
>> or
> other, some more often than others.
>
> Once well out of the Sound, we eased
>> sheets somewhat and bore away for
> Franklin Island. Does that name sound
>> familiar? It should. Franklin
> Island was named in 1821 for Sir John
>> Franklin, who in or about that year
> passed through these waters on his way
>> overland to the arctic looking for
> the North West Passage on foot. Yes, he
>> had nearly two thousand miles to
> walk and canoe before he got up there, but he
>> gave it the old Royal Navy
> try. (google his name, you¹ll see what happened to
>> him on his next try...)
>
> Franklin Island, the name and the connotation chilled
>> us as much as the
> freezing rain that had begun to fall. WINDWARD close
>> reached at over 6
> knots under working jib and full main, savaging the waves
>> that were marching
> in from the Outside past Red Rock, every second or third
>> pitching up over us
> in the form of freezing cold spray. This wasn¹t a
>> problem, however.
> WINDWARD is equipped with a fine dodger and that sheltered
>> us completely.
> One of the features of this dodger is that it is made with
>> circular
> Œwindows¹ port and starboard. Jon, sitting to leeward in complete
>> ease,
> commented that lounging there with all the discomfort missing him was
>> like
> sitting in an air liner looking out the port.
>
> This saddened me. I
>> reflected on the decline my principals have made in the
> past ten years. There
>> was a time when I despised fibre glass hulls,
> standing headroom, inboard
>> engines, wheel steering, aluminium spars, heads,
> full length bunks with
>> mattresses... And now here I was with all those
> things with a dodger added in
>> to make my comfort complete. I opened my
> jacket and stood up to face the
>> reality of sailing in the fall in Georgian
> Bay.... I didn¹t like it and sat
>> down behind it again; trying to cope with
> the secret coveting for one of these
>> things for SURPRISE.
>
> By mid afternoon we¹d reached up leaving Franklin to
>> starboard and began the
> all to familiar second guessing of the eye-ball
>> navigator sailing in the
> Thirty Thousand Islands. The night before I¹d
>> declared Œdon¹t worry Pim,
> it¹ll be easy as pie. We¹ll just reach up till
>> Hannah Rock is abeam, turn
> ninety degrees to starboard and run down into the
>> apparently blind dead end
> cove with waves breaking on rocks all around. At
>> the last minute the
> channel leading south will appear and we¹ll slip in easy
>> as pie.... We¹ll be
> at anchor sipping Demerara Rum before you know it¹.
>> Well now here we were
> in the reality of reaching at high speed in biggish
>> waves past black rocks
> being covered and uncovered with big waves. Is that
>> one Lowther Rock or
> Hannah? No, that one must be Hannah. Are you sure? It
>> has to be.... We
> all tried not to think too much about how often conversations
>> like that must
> have gone on just before shipwrecks...
>
> We made our turn, and
>> surfed down running into what always appears to be
> certain disaster... But low
>> and behold the channel appeared just when our
> nerves were ready to break
>> (ŒLet¹s go back and try the next cove¹ was I¹m
> sure just on all our lips). We
>> dumped the sails and glided into the
> absolute magic of one of the most secure
>> anchorages I¹ve ever seen. Gone
> was the howling wind, grey waves and black
>> rocks. We ghosted in through
> crystal clear water (yes those are house sized
>> rocks sliding by beneath us)
> with knarled jack pine trees and Georgian Bay
>> Rock. We went in through the
> narrower narrows and into the pool at the end,
>> there dropping two hooks. My
> cell phone caught a signal so I phoned Caroline
>> to tell her we¹d got there
> safely. A good sailor herself, she¹d already been
>> looking at the weather
> radar on line and was able to confirm that the west
>> wind was going to go
> north by morning. We put the second anchor to the north
>> and sure enough
> that¹s the one we were swinging by in the morning.
>
> Pim served
>> drinks all round and we toasted the end of the 2011 sailing
> season. We sat
>> admiring the savage beauty of the rock and pine... Jon said
> loudly ŒI want to
>> see penguins¹.
>
> It got cold that night, it rained, and for a time the wind
>> howled, but we
> were quite comfortable after our feast and story telling
>> session. In the
> morning, Pim produced scrambled eggs with hot sausage and
>> coffee 
> wonderful. It was a shame to leave but after recovering our anchors
>> we
> glided out toward the tumoult.
>
> The sail home was everything we hoped for.
>> The wind had enough north in it
> that after we turned east below the southern
>> end of Franklin we were still
> reaching. We dipped the rail occasionally but
>> to put it simply we galloped
> home to Sound Boatworks. We stripped her rig for
>> haul out, packed our gear
> then drove home down to Midland. I soaked in the
>> bathtub for 45 minutes
> before I fully thawed out.
>
> What a terrific end to the
>> 2011 sailing season  can¹t wait for spring.
> Thanks Pim - your WINDWARD is a
>> great boat and I can¹t wait to try SURPRISE
> out pacing her.
>
> Gord #426
>> Surprise
>
>
>
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