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September 21, 2009
Sweet Sailing Bliss
True to our passion for sailing, Chis and I have pushed the edge of the season once again this year. But it seems to be paying off with unbelievable wind conditions. Last year we sailed right through to the end of October. I doubt we’ll go that far this year because I can still feel the chill in my toes and see the breath in the air from one fine morning on anchor in Oyster Bay last fall. Brrrr.
Last Saturday, it was drizzling rain with very poor visibility. The hearty Canadians that we are, we donned our foul weather gear and headed over to Oyster Bay. The wind was blowing all of 2 knots in the marina, but once we were out of Stamford’s breakwater, we found east 12-15 knots of wind! As we were heading out the channel we saw a sailboat that had just exited the harbour, rolling around like a rubber duck in a washing machine. East winds build up quite a fetch in Long Island Sound, and this was no exception. We left a single reef in the main and pulled out the full genoa. We flew across the sound so fast. It was magical, even thought it was pretty rough. The visibility was awful, so we headed in and dropped the anchor. It rained all night, and by Sunday morning the clouds were breaking and the wind was diminishing.
In no hurry to motor back across the sound, we decided to have a leisurely morning. Around noon, the skies had cleared and we decided to head back. Once we were out of Oyster Bay’s inner harbour, the wind picked up out of the north to 12 knots! It was fantastic! We had an incredible sail back to Stamford. Two awesome days in a row. I can’t remember the last time we sailed both days on a weekend. Usually one day is windless, sometimes both.
This past Saturday, the forecast was for northwest 10-15 knots. Woohoo! We decided to make a longer journey out of it and head west to Port Jefferson. Well, we were bombing along under full sail. As the wind started to slacken, we decided to hoist our French colours genneker. Like a spinnaker but without the need for a pole. It was fantastic. We picked up about 3 knots of speed and continued to fire out the sound.
It was too good to last. Sunday we woke to very light northerly winds and beautiful sunshine. We motored back to Stamford as the wind dropped from 4 knots, to 3, to 2, then finally shifted to the southwest. A tedious trip, but well worth Saturday’s sail.
I wish I had taken photos, but I’m not sure that they would capture the exhilaration. Sailing often can only be explained in words, and even then, words often don’t do the experience justice. It was, without a doubt, two of the best weekends of sailing we have had in Long Island Sound.
Posted by dave at September 21, 2009 05:37 PM