In common with many nascent cruising couples we have a lot of enablers, but chief among our enablers are Paul and Lisa. Paul and Lisa were the folks that invited us on the fateful trip to the Annapolis boat show. Paul and Lisa are also planning to run away to sea, but a year later than our plans so they have been living vicariously through our adventures.
A couple of weeks ago, we had the chance to take them out on Kinship for a good sail. We met them at Prince Edward Yacht Club in Picton on Saturday night and sailed back to Kingston on Sunday. PEYC is a great little club in an amazing location. Picton harbour is a narrow inlet that leads right into the centre of Picton, PEYC has great access to the town and the water, friendly staff and great docks. We were on the wall on the town docks, a bit tight to get in and out but very sheltered and very quiet at night.
The sail, down the Adolphus Reach and the North channel was great, winds were 10-15 knots from the South and in the shelter of Prince Edward County and Amherst Island the water was quite flat. We started with full sails on a beam reach and Kinship was barrelling along with the lee rail a few inches above the water. We reduced sail when crossed the gap between Indian Point and Amherst, the boat was more upright but nearly as fast. We were pleasantly surprised that the reacher/genoa kept a reasonable shape when furled by about a third. Just about the perfect fall sail with bright sun, blue skies and just a hint of chill in the air. A friendly race with Gord on Wandlust just added to the fun.
After a pump out at Portsmouth and heading back to Confed, we drove Paul and Lisa back to Picton to collect their car. We had dinner together at the County Canteen, a new-ish restaurant on the main strip in Picton. The food was very good and the beer selection was great including some home brews from a tiny on-site brewery, sadly we passed on the beer as we had a long drive back to Ottawa. Next time!
Paul and Lisa have had the Saga on their list of boats since before we bought Kinship, but this is the first time they had sailed one. They might just be hooked.