the 2007 North American Rally
Wednesday 24 July - 3
photos: Dave/Carol Hansman, Julia/Al Schonborn, Bill Harkins, Alan Asselstine, Don Tod
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Lovely sand in which to ...
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... anchor
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Quite an impressive fleet we are!
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Julia and Al come ...
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... spinnakering in a couple of minutes later.
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Wayfarers always add that ...   - click here for full-size pic
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... little je ne sais quoi to any maritime setting.
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Group shot taken by a fellow sailor, Don Tod, whom we met that day.
(l to r) Julia, Bill, Margie, Tony, Mary, Dick, Joan, Tom, Al, Carol, Dave, Andrew, Nel, Lori, Mary Asselstine, Alan
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Looking back the way we came: beautiful but the water looks awfully calm in the distance!   - click here for full-size pic
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And not too far in the distance, either!
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Still it is, overall, an uplifting sight - unless, of course, you're contemplating
paddling all the way home, which is as far as you can see, and then that far again!   - click here for full-size pic
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Ready to be refreshed on another hot day: (l to r) Lori, Mary and Joan
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More ladies' talk?
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Also a bit concerned about the winds gasping their last for the day,
is Tony who patiently waits for Mary to finish getting refreshed.
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Duly refreshed ...
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... Margie gets ready for the sail back.
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Fingers crossed, there's still a bit of breeze as Tony and ...
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... Alan set off.
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While the others more or less retraced their route from the way here (red), Al took the green route, being thoroughly horrified at the thought of any prolonged paddling with his "emergencies only" two-foot-long paddle.    - click here for full-size chart
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Dead as a doornail. Though a closer look shows SHADES leaving a wake of sorts (l).
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While the open water remained flat calm, we did get the occasional little breeze nearer the land.   - click here for full-size pic
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Looking ahead from Windshaker, you can just see SHADES (r) ready to turn left into the Canoe Channel.
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Alan enjoys the moment, but ...
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... the further they get off shore, the less wind there will be.
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A barge zips on by, and ...
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... Dave and Carol seem to be wishing a tow might be on offer?
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the short-cut? Not only was the green route that Julia and I sailed, a short-cut of sorts, but it also kept us near shore should the winds cut out entirely. Moreover, the wind tends to funnel and be stronger near the shore when it blows (more or less) parallel to it. Fear of paddling certainly was a great motivator to Julia and me, and we pulled out all the stops - including our faded but trusty old Mike Mac chute as we neared the Channel!!
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Committed! We think the chart shows an exit to what we would later discover is ...
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... the Canoe Channel. If nothing else, it was very pretty,
and the breeze certainly funnelled through every bit as nicely as we could have hoped!!
- click here for full-size pic
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Fingers crossed! The breeze holds as we emerge from the Channel into ...
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... Jacknife Harbour. The curve of our wake reflects the fact that we went down with the puffs but up in the lulls.
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Passing into the wind funnel between Pleasant Point (background) and Pleasant Island, Uncle Al has ...
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... pulled another trick out of the drifter sailor's repertoire:
Sailing topless lets him feel the direction of what little breeze there is.
Serious, serious concentration here!