The part isn't going to be here until October 3rd so we might as well go home. We waited for a few days waiting for the right wind to sail across the lake. Today is supposed to be great so off we go. It's 9:00am and the sails are up and we're off. Almost immediately the wind gets stronger then it is supposed to but the wind direction is good so all it means is we will go faster than we expected. Since it's a trip home faster is better. It's the end of the cruise so no matter how good the sail is I really just want it to be done. I'm too focused now on fixing the problems with the boat. We arrive back at QCYC about 4:00pm and spend the next few hours putting the boat back in "floating cottage" mode and chatting to friends about the trip. Now it's just a matter of getting the sails off and the mast down. The boats all get hauled out in two weeks. We'll actually stay until the end of October and live on the boat while it's up in the cradle. The weather is still good at that time of year and it will be a great opportunity to get some of the spring jobs done ahead of time. Oh.... the part I had been waiting for that wasn't supposed to arrive until October 3rd actually arrived three hours after we left.
So it's back to reality. Fix the boat and do what I can to get ahead of the repair list and of course time to find somebody that needs my particular talent and has a modest budget to cover having me deal with their issues.

Well the engine cooling system is apart. There were weeds clogging the heat exchanger but there must also be a leak in the exchanger because the antifreeze is actually pure lake water. I found one on eBay so I hope I can get it here quickly. If not I will just sail back home and do the full repair after the boat hauls out.
Back in July I was the Tactician on Gypsy Wind out of Tuscarora Yacht Club here in Wilson. This is the third year I've done this race with these guys. Last year we won our division. This year we not only won our division but on corrected time we actually won overall. The owner of the boat (Ernie) wanted me to go to the awards banquet and had made reservations for Michele and I. We emailed him a few weeks ago to let him know that we would be away cruising so wouldn't be able to go to the awards night. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the engine failure brought us to Wilson and we are moored right next to Gypsy Wind so off we go by car to Port Credit to the Lake Ontario 300 awards banquet with the rest of the crew and then back to Wilson that night.

Another all night sail done. We finally arrive in Wilson Harbour at about 1:30 in the afternoon. The sail was actually pretty good but for hours we were only drifting along at 2 knots (mph more or less). We REALLY need to get auto helm on this boat. These 30 hour trips would be so much more comfortable if I could walk away from the helm occasionally. Michele takes the helm when I need a break but if neither of us had to steer (which gets pretty boring in calm weather) it would allow us to relax more and stay warmer. Next year I guess (it's about $3,500). Besides... right now I have a more pressing issue. I have to fix this engine. The boat is just too heavy and hard to handle to rely on just the sails. Right now though it's just time to put my feet up and relax. Tomorrow I'll get into the engine.

Now we're just a mile from Pultneyville. The entrance is tricky and I am very concerned about sailing into this harbour. Michele and I decide not to even attempt it. Now we have to pick a new destination that I am comfortable sailing into. We look through the Ports guide and one by one eliminate every port from here to Wilson New York. Wilson we know well. We have plenty of friends there that can come and tow us in if we need it and if the wind is right I can sail in there. The problem is it's 70 or 80 miles to Wilson. We are doing about 5 miles an hour right now but that depends on wind. For some reason we never considered turning east to Sodus or Little Sodus bay. I probably could have sailed into either one but we've never been to either and heading West towards home just seemed logical. We could also have simply sailed home but I wasn't quite ready to give up our trip. So off to Wilson it is. A quick phone call to our friends Eddie and Linda to let them know what is happening and we're set.

Since we really didn't have the time to work our way around the lake we needed to do a big hop across the lake. We decided yesterday that we would go to Prinyer's Cove for the night as our "jump off point" across the lake. We wanted to head to Little Sodus (Fairhaven is the name of the town). We pulled up the anchor and started on our way at 8:00am. I thought the engine seemed to be smoking more than it should but it seemed to be functioning properly otherwise. As usual for this time of year the weather prediction was wrong. This trip should be about 50 miles if we can do it in one tack. The seas were heavier than expected and the wind direction wasn't cooperating. It wasn't really bad but it put us on a path to Pultneyville which is about 20 miles west of our goal. When we were at a point where Pultneyville was 20 miles away and so was Little Sodus we decided not to do the extra miles it would take to tack back to Little Sodus. Now Pultneyville was our destination. Of course the wind shifted a little more and now we were actually heading just west of Pultneyville with 5 miles left to go. I'm not a purist. I will motor if I need to so at 5:30pm with 5 miles left to go I dropped the sails and started the engine and turned towards the entrance. No more than five minutes went by and the engine overheated. It had to be shutdown immediately. Of course the sails are down and to get them back up we really need to have the engine to point us into the wind. I worked to get the main sail back up and succeeded in jamming it two thirds of the way up. It won't go up and I can't get it to come down either. Perfect. After a bit of time we started the engine again and turned the boat around. That unjammed the sail and I managed to get it all the way up. Now we're sailing to Pultneyville and it's dead into the wind so this is going to take a bit of time and it's going to get dark before we get there

Well we left Picton and decided that the Murray Canal route might not work out. There are some pretty shallow sections in the Bay of Quinte but the biggest issue we might encounter would be the weedy Presquile Bay as we exit the Murray Canal. We decided that since we've already done all the Canadian ports (although many years ago) that we would go back out to Prinyer's COve for the night and then head to Little Sodus (USA). That means today will be a whole three hours of travel!
We arrived at Prinyer's Cove where we need to anchor. The wind predictions are for southwest winds and then switching to southeast. We anchored close to the south shore so Murphy's law sets in and the wind comes from the Northwest. So far we haven't gone aground but we are hovering about 50 feet from shore in 7 feet of water. We need 6 feet of water to stay afloat. We're so close that if the home owner came out into his backyard I am certain we could have a normal conversation. I suppose I could move but what would be the fun in that. Tomorrow will be a long day. It will take me ten or twelve hours to get to Little Sodus so tonight we will cook our Waupoos lamb and then go to bed early. I need to get moving by 7:00am tomorrow.