“I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging, and it's very difficult to find anyone.'
I should think so — in these parts! We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner!” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
The gathering of the fleet
We woke up on Sorcerer after a calm and restful sleep. The clouds were hanging low and gray over the glassy calm water.
A long distance traveller came for a visit, seeking shelter under the Sorcerer's boom tent.
According to my Dad, an expert birder, it appears to be a Blackburnian or Cape May warbler. Wet and bedraggled from wind and rain, it was ready for a break on the long journey from its breeding grounds in the north woods to winter paradise in the Caribbean or South America.
The previous evening, we had rolled in to the Village of Hilton Beach Ontario after a long drive and launched in thunder and heavy rain, late for dinner, of course.
The plan
It was the annual gathering of the Sandpiper fleet. Neil and family were hosting the fleet in their home waters. They had laid out a plan six months in advance, including sailing destinations and local sites to visit on land. But such is the life of sailors; plans are subject to change. The forecast on the VHF started out, "Gale warning ..." and finished with rain showers.
Serious deliberations ensued (note that none of the bottles were open). Neil had a Plan B in his back pocket: a short fun sail, running before the building east wind, and on to a sheltered anchorage to ride out the storm. Huzzah! A major reduction from the original plan, but still fun and adventurous nonetheless. Everyone was on board.
Better fill up the water jugs, not sure when we'll be back!
And they're off!
Festooned with flags and finery, Sandpipers scattered from the harbor entrance. It was a short downwind run with plenty of time to spare. Everyone looked forward to the Rendezvous, from the previous one a year before; it was finally time to have fun and sail!
We sailed across St Joseph Channel to the north side.
We took advantage of easy downwind sailing to work our way in among the islands along the north shore.
We ran downwind in the freshening breeze through a narrow passage between two islands.
After coming through a narrow passage and reaching the east end of Portlock Island, we turned south into the wind and joined the rest of the fleet.
Toward the middle of the afternoon, the fleet gathered at anchor for a snack and a swim. Well, just a couple of brave souls swam in the cold water!
As we enjoyed the treats that were passed from boat to boat, the rain started.
Our tent is surprisingly dry under most conditions, a blessing because we don't have headroom in our cabin like the Sandpipers. But this rain was torrential, and the wind blew it into the tent just enough that we put our sponge to use.
After the rain let up enough to gather our bearings, we came to realize that the whole fleet was drifting on our anchors, heading straight for the nearby rocky shore. It was time to break up the raft. One by one, we sought sheltered locations for the night.
Finding a sheltered anchorage was a challenge in the building wind. We all did our best to find a safe place where we hoped we would not be up all night checking our anchors or warding off drifting boats.
Soon after we settled into our anchorage, the rain started again with full force.
We kept an eye on the boats around us, and noticed SailInn drifting a bit on her anchor.
As SailInn drifted closer to us, we could see Jerry on deck wrestling with the anchor chain in the pouring rain. We later learned that he was relishing the moment of adventure, hollering at the sky, "Is that all you got???" This later inspired us to create the "Jerry Glotfelty Award for Fun in the Face of Adversity" for the 2017 Rendezvous.
It was a long, fitful night for some of the fleet, but somehow we managed to sleep.
In the morning, we crawled out of our sleeping bags and poked our heads out of the cabin to find Dave sipping his coffee aboard Trouble just yards away. He calmly wished us a good morning as we drifted by. We spotted SailInn in the distance, but the distance seemed to be getting smaller.
After we reigned in our drifting anchor, we decided to find another anchorage closer to the windward shore to wait for the rest of the fleet to chime in on their radios and discuss our next move.
The anchor appeared to be holding well, so we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast while we waited.
As discussion over plans for the day began on the VHF, we could see SailInn drifting along the length of the entire bay. Soon, Jerry got on the radio to proclaim that they had found a suitable public dock and boat ramp where they planned to pull out. Divine providence had guided their drifting vessel straight into the only public dock and boat launch on the bay! A friendly local stopped by to see what was going on and offered to take anyone who wanted to fetch their vehicle back to Hilton Beach. Over the radio, the fleet decided to gather at the dock to determine the best plan for the day.
Most of the fleet decided to pull their boats out and head back to Hilton Beach by car. That seemed like a sensible idea, so we planned to do that. But we wanted to test our heavy weather sailing a bit first by nosing out of the bay.
This was one of the strongest winds we had sailed in. We tacked back and forth a bit in the mouth of the bay to get a feel for the wind and seas. We felt that we were under control, so we attempted to radio the fleet to let them know that we would sail to Hilton Beach. Apparently, the message didn't get through, but we later learned that after we left the dock, Jerry announced to the fleet, "they aren't coming back! We'll see them at Hilton Beach!" How did he guess that we would find the downwind run from the mouth of the bay to Hilton Beach to alluring to pass up?
It was a thrilling sail back to Hilton Beach! An Eagle greeted us as we entered.
The rest of the fleet was getting ready for dinner, so we quickly docked and headed to the restaurant. Once again, we were late for dinner! We enjoyed swapping sea stories with friends. After dinner, Neil distributed a number of door prizes that had been contributed by local sponsors. He had clearly gone to significant effort to plan and promote this event.
In the morning, we didn't want to leave. The winds had calmed somewhat since the day before, but were still inviting, so we went out for a quick morning sail with Lake Effect and PipeDream.
The morning was all fun and games until we looked into the cabin and saw our flip-flops floating in a pool of water in the foot well! Just like Robert Redford in the movie All Is Lost. We determined that we weren't sinking, but that we better head for the boat ramp. At the ramp, we pumped and pumped and pumped before pulling her out. Our best guess was that the water had come in during our downwind run of the previous day through the gap between the hull and the cabin, which are moulded fiberglass units glued together. It is likely that our sailing the heavy seas from the day before had given enough opportunity for a larger than normal amount of water to enter through the gap. Further damage assessment revealed that a rivet holding the spreader on the mast had popped loose from the strain of the heavy breeze. We took a moment to reflect on our luck for having safely arrived to Hilton Beach the day before and then started a new project list. After upgrading to stronger rivets, and finding and filling gaps in the hull-deck joint, Sorcerer came through the winter stronger and more water-tight than ever.
All told, this was a memorable Rendezvous that incorporated all the best features of a good adventure: gale force winds, torrential rain, exciting sailing, beautiful scenery, and good company among sailors. Thanks, Neil, for a great event!
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