Sunday arrived with spectacular skies and bright sun. Chris and Diane wandered off in the AM to do some Giant Tiger shopping leaving me time to do a leisurely engine work up and clean up after the water pump install. Diane wanted to go for a little boot on Defiance and Sea Trials were in order so I got Defiance ready to go on their return.

We got under way with very little fuss with the dinghy in tow motor down and were soon powered up headed out the south channel. The OPP were out in force checking the masses of boaters but were doing their job well considering the numbers of small craft scooting about. Outside of a fleet part I have never seen so many 8' & 10' dinghys with 4 or more people in it ever. I don't know but I would pretty much bet on a good tired of the boats being well over capacity.

As we cleared the little stuff and powered up a glitch in the plan became apparent in that with the motor down the dinghy would only tow safely at 6.7 knots far below cruising speed. At 6.7 the poor little thing is surfing along at pretty much its maximum speed for stability. By the time we were clear of the channel it became apparent that this was not an open water configuration so we hove two and hauled the dinghy up on the roof into its passage position. Once clear we came back under power and set course for the north side of timber Island and the open lake with a speed of 8.75 knots.

All ran very nicely until just past Timber Island when I discovered an oil leak probably as a result of all the clanking and banging of the water pump work. All the purposes of sea trials, Murphy just loves when you change major systems. In any case discretion is always the better part of valor so we turned around and returned to my mooring to hang out and use that real estate.

Life on the Cruising Canada Mooring is good.

Life outside the marina is quite different and a constantly changing vista of boats.

Marine Forecast issued for Lake Ontario. Issued: 3.00 AM EDT Monday 6 August 2007 for the period ending at 3.00 AM Tuesday with an outlook for the following 24 hours. Forecast: Wind southwest 10 to 15 knots veering to west near noon and to northwest 15 this evening. Mist patches and chance of a shower or thunderstorm early this morning otherwise fair. Waves 1 metre or less. Outlook..Light to moderate northwesterlies becoming light and variable then southeasterlies.

The thunder did not arrive but we woke to a good drenching that has given way to a misty gray day with light winds. The young uns are still working on recovery from last night and Rufus is asleep on his porch. This will be a lay day as far as the skiff as it is far too wet to attempt any coatings. We will go by and perhaps fit the rudder and runners as they are ready to bed and 5200 does not care if the humidity is a little high so long as it is dry.

Marine Forecast issued for Eastern Lake Ontario. Issued: 3.00 AM EDT Wednesday 8 August 2007 for the period ending at 3.00 AM Thursday with an outlook for the following 24 hours. Forecast: ..Small craft wind warning in effect.. Wind southwest 20 knots veering to west 20 to 25 knots this morning then diminishing to 15 this afternoon. Wind veering to northwest early this evening and to northeast near midnight. Mist or fog patches dissipating this morning then fair. Waves less than 1 metre building to 1 to 2 this morning. Outlook..Light northeasterlies.

14:45 EDT, Wednesday, August 8, 2007

We have been waiting days for the weather to cooperate with lower humidity and now we have 62% humidity and still dropping with 29C temperature. The farmer is cutting the clover field and the air is sweet with its sent. The time is here for the “KEY FINAL COATS” of both the Endura two part Clear on the hull, and the Brightside Polyurethane Hatteras Off-White 4208 on the inside. It will all be quite a dance as we will flip the boat after doing the interior and go straight to the Endura. The whole event will be done in 3 or 4 hours culminating over 260 hours of work leading to this moment.

Friday, August 10, 2007

Marine Forecast issued for Lake Ontario. Issued: 3.00 AM EDT Friday 10 August 2007 for the period ending at 3.00 AM Saturday with an outlook for the following 24 hours. Forecast: Wind northeast 15 knots diminishing to light and variable this afternoon. Chance of a shower ending this evening. Waves near 1 Metre lowering to less than 1 this afternoon. Outlook..Light and variable.

Friday was all about a little touch up and prepating for a test launch. The most signifigant achievement was I mannaged to find a PVC extrusion that I hope to use to secure the floorboards.