Month: October 2015

Bikes meet boat

by Kathleen

Since the recent acquisition of folding bikes, our set-up is now complete: two bikes (red and blue Bromptons) and a boat (S/V Kinship, a Saga 43).

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Our weekend sailing trip to Sodus Bay NY saw the bikes serve for the first time in their new role as land transportation for expeditions ashore. A ride to the beach, around town and  down the #14 bike route, exploring this lovely spot on a warm indian summer afternoon,

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before being tucked away neatly in the aft cabin till next time. Looking forward to many more adventures, discovering new places by land and by sea!

Paul and Lisa Come Sailing

by Matthew

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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.

 

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Replacing a Saga 43 Holding Tank, aka “The Poop Project”

by Matthew

When it comes to boat repairs, I am not a very lucky man.  My previous two boats have dumped “black water” into the bilge requiring significant repairs and Kinship seems to have been in on the deal and did not want to be left out.

Before

Before

During the survey we tested the holding tank and we did not see any leaks, but we did note the signs of issues and we investigated a replacement tank and planned to replace the tank over the summer.  The boat gods had other ideas.

On the delivery trip we noticed some nasty smells coming from the bilge.  At the time we had 6 people on board and a fully functional head was on the essential list.  We could not establish where the leak was coming from or when it leaked.  We pumped out at every opportunity on the trip.  Before we got back to Lake Ontario, I placed an order with Ontario Plastics  for a tank designed by Mark Tilley, owner of Saving Grace, Saga 43 #40.  Mark’s design adds volume by fitting better to the space and adding a slump.  The old tank was about 13-14 US Gal, far from the 20 US Gal often quoted, the new one is 16.9 US Gal (63.9l).  The slump also improves the emptying of the tank so that very little is left in the tank following a pumpout.  The tank was delivered to Kingston a week or so after we arrived at the end of the delivery.

Replacing the tank was a big job and as we had to stay in a hotel rather than on the boat it would likely have been cheaper to have the work done by Zahniser’s before we left on the delivery.   That said, I think it is important to fully understand the systems on our boat, I just wish it did not always have to start with this system.

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