Team Russia Chinese Gybe (17/11/08) - VOLVO OCEAN RACE 2008/9

Happy Thanksgiving from the Vi's

It is U.S. Thanksgiving today. We are anchored (on a mooring ball) in Soper's Hole in the BVI's. It is a big day for our fellow U.S. friends. More like our Christmas celebrations to them. So on Nana Maria, we are cooking a turkey, stuffing and all the fixings. We have Captains Mark & Janel, crew Kelly, Howard, Rod & Marianne & Fozzie the dog. Pamela and her partner JP have joined us from St. Thomas. (Pamela has crewed on Nana Maria several times on past Carib 1500's.)

Since we finished the race to the Vi's, we have had a great time. We had several days at Village Cay Marina after we finished the race. Time to wash down the salt, do laundry and re-provision and of course trade stories with the rest of the racers. The fleet was taunted with nightly parties courtesy of Mount Gay Rum. The last night was the final dinner. Nana Maria placed 5th in our division which was great. We were all quite proud of our accomplishment.

After the awards dinner in Tortola last week it was time to get out of the marina and see some other things. On Wednesday we headed to Monkey Point to do some swimming and snorkeling. We anchored for the night at Trellis Bay right beside the airport. Trellis Bay works out great for crew arriving to or leaving from Beef Island. You can take them by dingy to shore and a short walk across a field gets you to the airport. We had a tour of shore and many unique shops with lunch at a beach bar.

The next day we headed to Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour. For the past few years, they have hosted the Phat Virgin party. A great party. The marina provided drinks and hors d' oeuvres for the party at the beach bar. Good music and lots of fun. Ask Mark about Kelly dragging him off a bar stool to take him home. . . Lots of rumors make for a much better story than the truth. The next day we stayed at the marina and had dinner that night at The Rock. A great restaurant on top of a hill. Our table is surrounded by huge rocks. Good food and good company and a beautiful setting.

The next day we left for Anegada which is a relatively unpopulated island compared to the others in the area. It is very shallow and surrounded by reefs. It is off limits to most of the charter boats and probably rightfully so. Not easy to get into.

Bill & Linda on Sapphire (Friends of Mark & Janels), suggested renting a vehicle to tour the island. So Bill arranged a truck with seat benches on the back. So 12 of us toured the island on the truck/taxi. Lots of fun. Bill drove and 10 of us sat in the back of the truck. The first stop was Cow Wreck beach. Lots of cow pies as we got out of the truck and Joy managed to step in one and took lots of abuse. Unfortunately the wind was howling and it wasn't a great day for swimming and snorkeling. But given given the right conditions - the snorkeling would have been phenomenal. The island is very flat and has miles and miles and beautiful beaches. You can walk for miles on the beach and never see another person or footstep in the sand. The anchorage at Anegenda is shallow. The first night we anchored the depth sounder showed 6.5 feet which is what Nana Maria draws and as the tide dropped we were aground. We did move the next day to a slightly deeper spot. That night we had a great dinner at Neptune's Treasure. The next night we had a pot luck dinner with a few neighbors on Nana Maria.

On Tuesday we went to Leverick Bay. We toured shore and then drinks on Joy for All - a Farr 50. Gill & Joy are lots of fun. On Wednesday we headed for Sophers Hole. A great sail with the bag of terror (new AKA Beauty & the Beast)

Our time is starting to run out. Tomorrow Kelly & Howard fly home. On Monday, we take Nana Maria to Nanny Key Marina. Mark & Janel have arranged to have the boat pulled and It will be painted Claret Red while they are gone. On Tuesday the four of us will fly to Washington DC. Then the drive home and back to reality. Oh well . . .

Take care. See you soon

Marianne & Rod Nuttall

Movie Morning Light Comming to Winnipeg

The Disney Movie ‘Morning Light’ will be screened in Winnipeg at the Globe Theatre December 12th at 8:00pm. The Globe is located at 393 Portage Avenue in Portage Place on the 3rd floor right across from the IMAX Theatre.

This is not a film about sailboat racing but rather a story about a group of young adults sailing across the ocean and the obstacles they encounter. Fifteen young sailors... six months of intense training... one chance at the brass ring. This exciting True-Life documentary tells the inspiring story of a group of intrepid and determined young men and women on the cusp of adulthood, as they embark on life’s first great adventure. Racing a high-performance 52-foot sloop in the TRANSPAC, the most revered of open-ocean sailing competitions, the crew of "Morning Light" matches wits and skills in a dramatic 2500 mile showdown against top professionals.

Nana Maria - We've Arrived!

Just a quick note to let you know we arrived Saturday. We crossed the finish line at 11:01. We spent the rest of the day desalting the boat, a dinner ashore and then to bed early.

We all slept very well since we were all very tired. The last 3 days were tough. Great sailing but the boat was healing at 15 to 25 degrees with lots of pitching back and forth. It was not condusive to sitting below and trying to type emails. That is why you did not hear from us at all.

There is WiFi at the marina but none of us can get on so far. Will write more once we get better access.

Marianne & Rod, Mark & Janel, Kelly & Howard & Fozzie

Update from Rod & Marianne & Janel & Mark

Hello All

It is now Wednesday 10:00 pm and Rod and I are on watch. Captain Mark isdozing in the cockpit, waiting for the watermaker to finish making a few more gallons of fresh water. The rest of the crew is hopefully sleeping as well but likely as last night no one will get a great sleep. It continues to blow 30 to 35 knots with gusts to 40 and the waves up to 10 feet. Last night was the same and the waves pounding the side of the hull and the constant bouncing made it very difficult to sleep. But we have a full moon and that made the sail last night quite pleasant beforethe winds kicked up again. We have seen very little other boat traffic over the past few days.

Tonights weather report wasn't what we were hoping for. The winds are expected to continue to increase even more along with squalls over the next few days. Then Friday the winds should drop a little but clock to South east which is the direction we are going (not good in sailing).
So it won't be as enjoyable as we may have hoped but Nana Maria has proven herself to be able to handle heavy winds. It just proves to be abit of a challenge to move around or do anything because of the healing and pitching of the boat. As was pointed out at one of the seminars before we left, majority of the accidents and injuries to people on the Caribbean 1500 happen below decks. And I can believe it. It is a big challenge to walk within the cabin, get something to drink etc. If you aren't hanging on when the boat pitches or rolss you can be tossed around.

See Janel's notes below.

If all goes well we should arive in Tortola this week-end, may be Saturday.

Time to go and finish my watch. Take care. Hoping our emails have been reaching you but not sure since we have heard little from anyone??

Marianne & Rod

. . . I am forwarding Janel's email below which she wrote earlier today.

Hi All,

Today is Wednesday November 12 and the wind is blowing 25 to 30 knots,the waves are 12 feet and rising. The boat is heeled over 15 to 30degrees and the simpilest chores become gargantuan.. Picture your selvestanding up on a roller coaster, try to boil water in order to make coffee etc etc, I am sure you get the idea of what kind of effort it is. So dinner tonight might just be all the wraps and sandwiches that Marianne made or a whole lot of junk food. You can NOT put anthing down or it will become a missile flying thru the air. Ourselves included if not properly hanging on. The waves that are continuesly breaking over the bow are allowing us to find leaks that are new and to refresh our memories as to where the old ones are. We are keeping dry from the sea water because of the enclosure, but the temperature inside is like a very sunny sauna. All the sweating is good for the skin we are told... Poor Foz is not liking this too much but we do have a spray bottle in the cockpit filled withcold water so we can all try to keep cool. I guess I shouldn't complain to much, I could be knee deep in snow back home, instead of shorts and tank tops. Kelly was just moments ago exclaiming Holy Cow, look at thesize of that wave we just surfed down and from where I sit or rather from where I am perched, it looked much bigger than the ones before it. Nana Maria had her first and last (I hope) break down. Our aft head(aka bathroom) has become in operable.. A huge breakdown, as there are six of us on board sharing one tiny tiny bath. Mark and Howard spent yesterday trying to fix the problem, but alas it has eluded them. Asper usual with 5 or 6 somewhat bored adults, we did have to tease them, with phrases such as : You are such a Head Banger, Are you two Playing Head Games, Two Heads are better than one, Shi--y Job but someone has to do it, Mark is the big Shi- and Howard is the Little Shi-etc. etc . Marianne is now giving Kelly her Head Dressing recipe, in order to prevent any problems on her own boat Sunsets and as Kelly doesn't cook ( by her own admission I might add) she has been instructed NOT to use it for salads. At this point I will say that this is enough potty talk and I am getting tired of bracing myself against a wall in order to try and type. Thank goodness for spell check !!!Bye for now, as it is nap time and I am hoping not to be tossed out of my bunk this time.

Janel Mark Rod Marianne Howard Kelly and of course the Foz (aka thedog)

2008 Awards

Novice Sailor: Bill and Yvonne Thompson

Family Award: Peter and Anna Fuller

Racing Family: Wendy and Blair Magnus

Super Cruiser: Dave Christianson and Vera Steinberger

Volunteer of the Year: Rob Eby

Single Handed Sailor: David Luke

Tea Cup - May 31st 2008:
1st Black Pearl
2nd Borderline
3rd Deja Blue

Summer Solstice Pursuit Race - June 21st 2008:
1st Sloop Du Jour
2nd Black Pearl
3rd Sorcerer

Warroad Race - June 28th – July 2nd 2008:
1st Bird Bath
2nd Vixen
3rd Fogger

Commodore’s Cup Pursuit Race - July 19th 2008:
1st Black Pearl
2nd Sorcerer
3rd Raven

Rear Commodore’s Cup Pursuit Race - Aug 23rd 2008:
1st Raven
2nd Black Pearl
3rd Borderline

Club Championships 2008:
1st Black Pearl
2nd Borderline
3rd Sorcerer

Update from Nana Maria

Well, we're still out here, but I swear to you, we are the only ones. I haven't seen another boat in days. I'm exaggerating a little, because there was the odd light at night on the horizon every once in a while. But that's about it. In other years, we'd see a boat here and a boat there throughout the day and night. So I keep wondering, did we make a wrong turn somewhere? Where is everyone?

A couple of the boats in our fleet have had to divert to Bermuda because of damage to sails and rigging. Fortunately, it was not too far for them since most had headed towards Bermuda at the start in case they needed a place to hunker down if Paloma became a problem. Sunday we were able to sail most of the day. The winds were pretty light and behind us, so we got out Captain Mark's favorite sail-a flasher that he affectionately calls "The Whomper!! " (Janel refers to it as "His Bag of Terror!") The Whomper looks like a big kite flying on the front of the boat. It is just too big and powerful to be used safely in heavy winds, so Sunday was a good day to try it out while making progress towards Tortola at the same time.

Unfortunately, we have not seen any wildlife yet, other than a Tropic Bird, which is a white bird with a long tail that is common in Bermuda. On prior trips we've caught lovely fishmahi mahi, tuna, and white marlin. This time we haven't even had a strike. Fisago and Glass Slipper are reporting the same results.

Janel is determined to catch fish for dinner. She has resorted to her final trick-she is spraying the lure with a secret recipe of WD-40 and a secret ingredient. But just in case we're skunked again, she has started working on Plan B-she has pulled a homemade meatloaf dinner from the freezer Necessity is the mother of invention so we've found a new use for the engine. The Yanmar 160 Turbo now has secondary duty as food defroster as well. Janel is working on getting Mark to let her cook on it too.

Today, the engine is back on as we try get some "easting" done before the winds shift. The seas were still very rolly-polly on Sunday, but today they are smooth as glass. All day, we were surrounded by some very ominous looking large and dark clouds. Apparently it is some sort of Trof or Ridge that is being or will be fed by the remnants of Paloma. The sun is about to set and the cloud ridge is getting closer and uglier, so we've battened down everything and are about to have a hurried dinner in case we are up all night. To add to the excitement, we just saw a small pod of whales not too far off the starboard side of the boat. That was a nice treat. I guess we are NOT out here all by ourselves.

More Later.

Kelly & Howard

Life at Sea on Nana Maria

Our first day at sea was Friday. Winds were light and variable so almost all the boats spent the day motoring out of the Chesapeake Bay instead of sailing out of it. Norfolk is a very high traffic area for ships. Big tankers come into the are and wait for a pilot to escort them up the bay to their final destinations. There also plenty of tugs moving vessels as well as a huge fleet of Navy Warships and the like. As we were trying to leave the bay, one of these warships started down the channel. It was an aircraft carrier with a plane on its deck. It was being escorted by a helicopter. The helicopter kept buzzing the fleet to make sure we were not posing a threat. We waited for the warship to pass so Howard and Rodney could get a good look and some pics. It was HUGE.

In this race, you can run your engines, but there is a penalty. They add on 1 hour to your time for every hour you run your engine. So our rule of thumb is this: If one hour of engine time gets us further than 2 hours of sailing time, we run the engine. Up until Friday night, the fastest we could get the boat to sail was 3 knots so turned on the engine. By about 7pm, the wind picked up, we were singing along at 8-9knots in 17-20knots of wind. Not too shabby!

This race is “handicapped” also. Each boat has a certain number of hours that will be deducted from its time. The ratings come from the size and shape of the boat as well as the size and shape of the sails each ship is equipped with One of the fastest boats is called 1700Somewhere, a Macgregor 65 just like our Sunsets. 1700Somewhere will only have about 5 hours deducted from his final time. We will have about 23 hours deducted. Some of the smaller boats will have a much more than that deducted. This is how they even the playing field. Additionally, the Racing Fleet is broken up into 3 divisions. There is an overall winner as well as a winner for each division. We are in Division 2 and we are one of the fastest boats in that division. So if you are tracking our progress on www.Carib1500.com, keep in mind that the boats that are further south may have more engine hours or a smaller handicap so they still may not win for their divisions. (That’s my way of saying—No matter how bad it looks, we are not losing!!)

Janel is a wonderful chef and has prepared and frozen several lovely meals that we can eat on the crossing. Friday night, was her fabulous homemade Lasagna for dinner. The sails were set for the evening and it was a lovely dinner followed by a beautiful sunset. Howard and I covered the Midnight to 4M shift. It was very precarious because a thick fog settled in around 10pm. We could not see a thing. Thank goodness we have radar to keep an eye on things. The fog was fully lifted by the end of shift at 4am.

By daybreak we were well into the Gulfstream with its choppy waves, Saturday’s wind lasted all the way into the night and we spent the day plowing through the stream. Being in the Stream certainly makes things uncomfortable. The boat is tossed about and you have to hang on to do anything. The Stream runs up the coast of the US and then veers off to Europe. It carries very warm water with it. We watched water temperatures jump from 68 to 82 in a matter of a few hoursl By the end of Saturday, we were out of the Gulfstream, thank goodness. The confused and choppy seas not only contribute to seasickness but also make it hard to do the simplest tasks.

On Saturday. Marianne and I both came down with the 24hour flu that has been going around the fleet. Marianne felt it coming on all day Saturday and I joined her in her misery on Saturday night. We think Howard may have it too, or he has another bad case of seasickness. (We may not have found the right combination of drugs to keep his seasickness under control) With 3 crew members down and out, the “weak” cold front that the weather folks had been predicting blew through. It slammed with us with sustained winds at 30knots, gusts of 45knots, rain and 10’ seas. The winds were so strong that they sheared the foam off of the violently breaking waves. Sails were reefed in and out all night in an attempt to keep control of the boat. Unfortunately, Marianne and I were useless. I spent the evening tucked into the bottom berth with the lee cloth in place. (A lee cloth is a piece canvas that is strung up across the entrance to your bunk so you don’t get pitched out of bed. Believe me, it was a necessary piece of equipment last night.) Marianne wedged herself across the V-berth in an attempt to stay still. At times, I expect that she was airborne a couple times through the night as the boat lurched and slammed into the oncoming waves. When a wave crashes into the boat just right, it sounds like gunshots. Everyone was up all night and totally exhausted by daybreak. Even into the morning, we would watch the squalls gather on the radar screen as the proceeded to hammer us. Finally, the weather calmed down around 7am on Sunday.

Sunday looks like it’s going to be a beautiful day. Just don’t know if we’ll have wind.

Take care all.
Kelly & Howard on NanaMaria

Update from Rod & Marianne on Nana Maria

So it looks like it’s a go for departure on Friday morning. We had a weather briefing today at 4:00 pm and a final briefing is planned for Friday 8:00 am. Then a quick exit out of the marina to the start line for an 11:00 am start on the Chesapeake outside of Hampton & Norfolk Virginia.

Our crew Kelly says "Even though Tropical Storm/Hurricane Paloma will be brewing, all of the experienced weather folks say that the cold waters around Bahamas and Bermuda should keep it from developing into anything other than bad weather by the time we’re near. If it comes to it, we can always divert to Bermuda until it passes. (Bermuda is about 4 days out.) The lows that were off the Carolinas have worked their way up the coast and since Tuesday it has been “blowing like stink” (that’s a nautical term) here. The weather is supposed to move off today and tomorrow things should be a little calmer out there."

There has been a 24 hour flu going around the fleet. Captain Mark had it on Tuesday. Captain Janel has it today. Our biggest regret is that she may not be up to preparing the frittata that has become a tradition for breakfast on departure day. We’ll have to save that for arrival day in Tortola.

So today was our last trip for provisioning and a last trip to West Marine. Rod is now cooking us a Roast Pork dinner that we are all looking forward to.

The last major job is to start stowing gear so nothing can fly around while we are underway.

We just had the draw for our watch times. For those not familiar with crossings - Someone must be watching, navigating, steering the boat etc. 24 hours a day for the next 7 to 10 days - we drew the 8 to 12 watch (am & pm). So Rod & I will be on watch from 8 am to 12 pm and then again 8 pm to mid-night. I think we got the best watch!

Remember, you can track the fleet and get more info at www.carib1500.com. Our boat is Nana Maria. Kelly - one of our crew, has been sending updates to this web-site so watch it to hear more.

If you want to reach us, we will not have access to our email after early Friday am until we get to the BVI's but you can email us at Mark & Janel's email address: nanamaria@ocens.com. Please put your emails in “text” format, no pictures or attachments and keep them short and sweet. We are using a Sat Phone and it is SLOOOOOW and expensive. Also, if you respond back to one of our messages, please delete our original message.

Update from Rod and Marianne on Nana Maria for the Caribean 1500

I think that some of you did not receive our first update so I am resending the first part and have updated to date. Our emails have been delivered sporadically it seems.
We finally left Winnipeg on Tuesday morning and made it to Annapolis in 3 days. When we arrived the boat - Nana Maria was torn apart by fridge repairmen and the Satellite TV repairs guys. No room on the boat so we had a picnic lunch on the dock. Both repairmen left without finishing their jobs. Captain and admiral not happy!

Janel & Marianne were for busy for several days cooking and provisioning the boat. Rod and Mark were busy with other various boat projects. The weather has been quite cool (cold in fact) for most of time. Saturday night was a pot luck dinner & going away party for Mark & Janel on a 58 foot Hatteras motor vessel.

Tuesday morning we left Herrington Harbour (south of Annapolis) to sail down to Hampton. We were up early and ready to go at first light. The weather on Tuesday was really lousy. As we were leaving it was very cold and pouring rain. The tide was extremely low and we grounded going out the channel. Didn't look encouraging but we backed up and tried another spot and made it through with more light bumps. The weather forecast had been for winds of 25 gusting to 35 knots. But not so. It continued to build and we were seeing sustained winds of 45 with gusts to the 60's with following seas. The conditions were worse when we went across the mouth of the Potomac River which is 5 miles wide (10 to 12 foot swells). It really was an ugly day but Nana Maria handled it quite well. Our next concern was getting into the anchorage in those high winds but the winds dropped as we got close to land again and we were sheltered so it was uneventful and we had great dinner of steak and lobster.

Up early again the next day and headed to the marina at Hampton, Virginia. The winds weren't quite as high (35 - 45 knots) but it was cold again. Thank God Nana Maria has a full enclosure to keep us dry and a bit warmer.

Howard and Kelly, our other crew joined us on Thursday. The past few days have been spent attending a few seminars, boat checks, a bit more provisioning and social get tog ethers). Part of the rally events was a Women's Roundtable. Janel, Kelly & Marianne attended. They were quite interesting and would be very useful for many of the women who had not done any crossings before and/or had limited experience. Lots of good ideas and tips.

But, Friday, they announced that start of the race will be delayed from a Sunday start to Thursday (and now delayed until Friday). There is a nasty low that is building out at sea of Florida that would make heading out into the Gulf Stream not wise. (The Gulf Stream can be extremely rough when there is a north wind). A sailboat off Atlantic City, New Jersy had 40 -50 foot waves and winds and one person died and 2 were air lifted by the coast guard to safety.

The delay has caused a lot of unhappiness in boats that do not have flexibility in time. Many of the boats have (had) crew that had specific time lines and flights booked out of the Virgin Islands that they will not be able to meet. Apparently quite a few crew members have had to back out of their plans to crew, leaving boats scrambling to find new crewmembers or sail short handed.

West Marine does run a shuttle service from the marina to their store. Rod has walked up and down each aisle several times. We decided to share a car rental with another cruiser so we could get around over the next few days. So yesterday we went shopping and Rod walked around West Marine again and then Boaters World. Last night we had a great pot luck dinner up in the tent organized by Janel. Tons of great food. The sip and socialize events continue to run every night at 5:30 however seem to be running low on rum and wine. A good chance to meet the other cruisers. Today is rainy and overcast. We have 3 computers on the boat and all are in use. Marianne bought a new wifi antennae/booster so can pick up free wifi access in the marina slip. I have managed to keep working. Did a few business card orders.

Many boat people seem to be happy that their elections are over and they have a new President with new changes to come. We are going up to the tent shortly for the morning weather meeting, communication strategy, crossing the gulf stream and the Gulf stream current which is a huge issue with to regards to moving south .

If you want to see a few photos, you can check the web-site http://www.carib1500.com You will find one of Rod, another of Janel and a third one with Mark, Marianne & Rod along with 2 others and another of Fozzie.

Take care.

Rod & Marianne

PS: I have also included Kelly's update since she has a great sense of humor. . .
As you can imagine, sailors are often faced with unknowns and challenges. Frequently we have to change sails, adjust course, or make decisions that ultimately can affect the comfort and well being of everyone on board. We are in just such a situation aboard Nana Maria. Our exciting adventure out to sea aboard Nana Maria has been delayed by weather. An ugly Low Pressure system has started working its way off the Carolina coast. If we were out there today, we’d be facing 20-30 knot winds on our nose and 12-15foot waves. Not a pleasant experience. So, we’re “hove-to” in Hampton until Friday!!!
To prepare ourselves for this harrowing part of our journey, we’ve reprovisioned so that we’re sure to have enough to eat and drink during this precarious time. We’ve found some wonderful homemade chips at a local grocery and we’ve restocked our supply of Jack Daniels for our captain and Diet Coke for Rodney and Howard and white wine for the girls. With those sorts of fundamental staples on hand, we should be okay for a while, I think.

Some of the boats are losing crew who cannot wait for the weather delay, As it turns out, my cousin Mary Jane’s husband, (Ed Giannattasio) has decided to drive down from Pennsylvania and crew aboard s/vFruition, a Palmer Johnson/Peterson 43 that is docked just behind Nana Maria. In fact, Fruition and Nana Maria are in the same racing class so there will be a bit of a competition going on in the Reed-extended family. Ed’s shipmates are Bill, Bill and Bill. I can’t wait to hear what happens when Ed yells, “Hey, Bill, it’s your watch!”

Many of the boats are finishing up on projects that they didn’t think they’d have time to complete. With the known delay, they’ve been able to have parts shipped in and have workers come aboard. The staff of West Marine organized daily shuttles back and forth from the Marina to their store so that the participants can get any last minute items that they may need.

On Friday (Halloween), we had our “Farewell Dinner” even though we’re not leaving for another week. There are a lot of kids coming on the trip and they were all decked out in their scariest outfits as they collected candy from the boaters. Since then, the Rally has been sponsoring nightly “Sip & Socials” for everyone. Last night, there was a great Pot Luck Dinner. All of the boaters brought up food to share. Roast beef, sausage & peppers, ham, scalloped potatoes, pasta salads, pear cobbler with lime whipped cream, spinach salad with pomegranate, cabbage slaw, General Tsos chicken, rice salads, steamed shrimp, stews, cakes, pyrogies, brownies, chile, cornbread, and on and on. It was great. There was too much food to taste everything, but it sure was fun looking at it all. There were at least 3 or 4 tables full of food. Tomorrow night, there is an Appetizer contest and Davis (one of the race organizers) will be judging the winner. Rodney will be making his famous honey-garlic meatballs.

Lots of folks have rented cars to take the opportunity to explore the area. A few went to Fort Monroe and the Mariner’s Museum with a local resident and had an exceptional experience. Another local rally participant was able to bring some fresh rosemary, basil and bay leaves from her home garden to share with everyone. Howard and Rodney are at the new Air & Space Museum in downtown Hampton.

Normally, without the weather delay, you spend all your time at this end rushing around finishing tasks, stowing gear and doing your final provisioning. One of the nice things about this delay is that you get the chance to really talk to people and get to know them before the race starts. And you learn so many interesting things from other boaters. One entertaining tidbit: Do not swallow your cherry pits if you live aboard your boat. They end up making a horrible rattling noise in your LectraSan for an indefinite period of time. (For those of you who don’t know, the LectraSan is the sewage treatment system found on many boats… sort of a cross between a pool chlorine generator system and a garbage disposal.) The conversation gave a whole new meaning to the phrase “That’s the pits!”

MSA Learn to Cruise Winter Schedule

The new winter learn to cruise schedule is out and the MSA is offering 11 courses from January – April 2009.

Contact Manitoba Sailing Association, 406-200 Main Street, Winnipeg, MB, R3C 4M2
Phone: (204) 925-5650 Fax: 925-5624
sailing@sport.mb.ca

Basic Cruising $180

1. Wednesdays, January 14 - March 4 6:30pm – 9:30pm George Bush

2. Saturdays, March 7, 14, 21 9:00am – 5:00pm Wolfe Smythe

3. Wednesdays, April 8 - May 27 6:30pm – 9:30pm Gary Hebert

4. Saturdays, April 11, 18, 25 9:00am – 5:00pm Jim Robinson

Coastal Navigation - $250

Wednesdays, January 14 - March 4 6:30pm – 9:30pm Davis Daycock

Celestial Navigation - $270

Wednesdays, March 18 - May 6 6:30pm – 9:30pm Davis Daycock

VHF - $80

1. Wednesdays, March 18 & 25 6:30pm – 9:30pm George Bush

2. Tuesdays, April 14 & 21 6:30pm – 9:30pm Jim Robinson

Weather - $80

Saturday, March 21 9:00am – 5:00pm Bob Modrcin

GPS - $80

Tuesdays, April 28, May 5 6:30pm – 9:30pm Wolfe Smythe