And we're off!!!!

Samedi nous avons eu une journée très très chaude, poivrée de deux beaux orages. C’était humide et collant, mais malgré tout nous avons tout chargé et rangé afin de ne pas “vivre dans les bagages” pendant 3 semaines. Nous avons même pris le temps d’ajouter une couche de foam dans les coussins de la couchette pour Caro et Thomas (major improvement sur le confort!). Marjo et Mimi sont venues nous aider en amusant les garçons (et elles ont même apporté le diner!)  afin que moi et Sébastien avons pu tout préparer pour le départ.  Merci mesdames, vous êtes géniales! Après un souper tôt, nous avons quitté SYC vers 17h30.

We made it into Waddington (NY), just after sunset, around 9:30pm, and what a greeting we got! We were welcomed by the fellow SYC members already there for the Commodre’s cruise  and they helped us dock. Thanks to Brian and Joy, Brian, Mike and Mike and Cindy. It’s not every day you have 6 people, including 3 current or former commodores, help catch you on the dock :) We had a good night, and this morning Liam let us sleep until 6:45. Yeah :)  We went for a nice walk; what a pretty main street, lovely architecture, especially the library and the town hall. We joined up with Mike and Cindy and Mike and Colleen at a creperie-art gallery for a lovely (albeit little pricey) delicious Sunday brunch. And lots of beautiful art made it a really great start to our vacation!

We left Waddington around 10 am this morning (a little worried that were behind our planned schedule),  but we made it to the Iroquoi locks just as it was letting thru some boaters, and the ever so desired green light came on! And so at 11h30, we were across and on our way. Long day for sure motoring against the current, lots of trafic, and Ray acting up (Ray is our autohelm. It used to be George, but he gave up on the job early this spring, so we got a new Raymarine autohelm, hence, Ray....) But Ray is not as smooth as George was, and today Ray gave me the willys....erk....left right, sharp left, sharp right, never mind....

We made it to Brockville late this afternoon, cleared customs, and anchored at one of our favorite spots, behind Smith island. We had a great swim, delicious supper, and we are looking forward to a nice calm night...it was a long day, but hey, it's all good!  Sweet dreams!

Yesssss!!!!!!

Finalement!
Nous sommes en vacances!
Grand départ demain :)

Suivez nos aventures et surtout, laissez nous des commentaires ou des messages,
À bientôt!

Finally!
We are officially on vacation!
We leave tomorrow :)

Follow our adventures and leave us comments or messages,
See you soon!

Plus qu'une semaine!

Eh oui le moment que nous attendons toute l'année approche et nous sommes presque prêts.

Après avoir déchiré le génois il y a 2 semaines, nous avons reçu cette semaine notre nouveau génois (qui est en fait une voile usagée qui a été retaillée pour nous), Sébastien est en train de réparer notre moustiquaire, le hatch, et samedi il ira faire l'entretien du moteur, de celui de Scream (notre zodiac) aussi, et changer le câble de la transmission. La popotte va bon train aussi, les conserves sont presque completées, il ne reste que quelques emplettes de dernière minute, ainsi que faire le plein de lecture à la bibliothèque.

Le weekend dernier était pluvieux mais nous avons démarré notre saison de pêche avec plusieurs perchaudes (dont une de presque 2 lbs pêchée par Liam).

Alors on commence à compter les dodos avant le départ: 8 dodos!

Canada Day long weekend

Happy Canada Day! We spent it at SYC; in the morning Sebastien did some repairs and in the afternoon we took out the laser. The wind dropped and the sky was getting pretty dark (setting itself up for the traditional Canada Day downpour) so Thomas and I towed the laser with Seb and Liam back to the club safely. Then we went for a nice swim to cool down, and once we got back, that’s when the sky ripped open! But it stopped raining in time for the supper BBQ, which was great fun.

A little bit pf photo fun with the lighthouse the boys helped paint last week.

 We went out to the mooring balls and got a great spot to watch the fireworks. We had 2 other boats raft up with us, and Liam even got to try our neighbor’s  vacuum (yup he still loves to vacuum)!  The waiting game was made a little interesting by tracking a pretty good storm with thunder and lightning; it essentially went around Long Sault and kept on its way. Thanks!  The fireworks were really good, but we all thought they were a little shorter than usual. Budget cuts are everywhere I guess…

The night was peppered with a few episodes of indigestion for Liam (not cool on a boat), upset stomach for Sebastien, and strong winds. So we made it back to our slip in the harbor, and slept the rest of the night quite comfortably.

On saturday morning all seemed fine, so Sebastien hit the laundromat (must have a clean Coco Lapin) and we got ready to head out for the Borland race upriver to Crysler Park (Upper Canada Village). Forecast was calling for 15-20 knot winds so we were looking forward to a great sail, but we weren't racing since we left well after the rest of the fleet. 

More like 20+ knots… We finally left around 11:30 and made it up the very difficult cut under sail, tacking like mad, we worked so hard, but we made it! And right when it widens and we were in good shape the foresail ripped. And unlike more modern boats, our power is in the foresail, not the main. So rather than motor up, we decided to head back to SYC. 

The sail is a goner :( But there may be an opportunity for a good deal on a sail so fingers crossed….in the meantime, Seb went home to get the other set of sails Saturday night.

Dimanche

Quelle magnifique journée! De la belle voile le matin, de la belle visite pour diner (Marjo, Pierre et Amelie) et une sortie de voile en apres midi que je qualifierais de rien de moins que parfaite. Environ 15 nds de vent, du beau soleil, magique. Et Whisper aime beaucoup ces voiles qui etaient les voiles de rechange, et qui maintenant sont les voiles principales, puisque nous partons dans 3 semaines. Ça sent les vacances et on a bien hâte!

June long weekend

Sunday June 26

Bonne fête à ma maman, l'artiste, Jocelyne :)

A 3day weekend, glorious sunshine, it’s starting to really feel like vacation time…

We had a wonderful day friday with Natasha and PA, Leo and Sophya. No wind to sail but a great time at the beach, campfire after a delicious supper. Thomas even caught a firefly! We went to bed pretty late but we got to sleep in until 8 the next morning. Thanks Liam :)

Saturday we had a nice sail, motored a bit, and we dropped the hook past Farran’s point. We had a nice swim and have decided to stay the night.

After supper we checked that everything was ok, having decided to stay the night, and found that the only thing holding us was the weight of the anchor chain on the bottom....so we decided to move. But we were stuck! The bottom is kind of sandy and muddy. Seb jumped in and simply pushed us off - only 5 or 6 feet of water helps!

Off we went and we anchored off Croil island. 2 other boats from SYC were there as well. The boys got a little ride rowing Anton and Robin's dinghy. Look at that gorgeous firy sunset!

It's a great anchorage for the night, we had a great sleep.

It’s great to be back on the water and spending time aboard. So far we have only had little day outings or bad weather weekends spent mostly at the club.  This weekend is a great opportunity to get used to spending lots of  time on the boat, organizing everything and making lists of things to do, things to get, things to bring, etc.  in preparation for our vacation.

Which, by the way, we are really looking forward to. 

Another practice next week, as we will be heading up river for the Borland race! But only after we get to enjoy the Canada Day fireworks!

Stay tuned for more adventures!

Sail Past

On Saturday May 21st, the season officially began with the SYC Sail Past.

It was the first time we were ready and able to participate - usually Sébastien is still working very hard at fixing, changing, improving something on Whisper to get us ready for the season. But not this year, we were ready! Feels really good to start a season only with a good cleanup, oil change, and off we go!

For those of you wondering, Sail Past is kind of like a parade; the Commodore drops the anchor in the bay, and all the club boats sail by, and we salute each other. Then of course, we eat :)

Liam got a real kick out of saluting.

7 weeks until our vacation!

Une autre saison qui commence!

Lundi, 9 mai 2016

Après un hiver en dents de scie, sans ski, mais avec beaucoup de pelletage, voici enfin l'arrivée du printemps.
Pour la plupart des gens, l'arrivée du printemps rime avec le nettoyage du terrain, la préparation du jardin, l'éveil de la nature. Pour nous aussi, mais pour nous, ce qui est le plus important au printemps, c'est la mise à l'eau de notre beau Whisper!
Et d'une main de maître, Sébastien (qui est le maître du port au yacht club cette année) a gentiment guidé les 80 bateaux à l'eau vendredi dernier, chacun dans son petit nid douillet.
Les bers sont rangés, le club s'anime, les mâts se dressent, les voiles ne sauraient tarder!
À quand notre première sortie? Seule Dame Nature le sait, mais on se doute que ce sera pour bientôt!

Suivez-nous cet été encore, nous aurons certainement plein d'aventures à partager avec vous. Et cette année, pour la première fois, j'ai deux nouveaux contributeurs au blog! Eh oui, Liam qui termine bientôt sa première année développe ses talents de conteurs depuis quelques mois, et Thomas a toujours une bonne histoire à nous raconter. Qui sait, ils vous les feront peut-être découvrir.

Bon été!
Les Arsenault en bateau