An Amazing Nighttime Shift

Tonight is our third overnight in the past four night, where we take shifts on watch and continue all night to try make good progress. Thanks to our friend Owen coming along on this leg of the trip, we are able to push ourselves farther than with just the two of us.

On these overnight shifts, we take turns, two hours at a time, and they are usually pretty boring. But tonight turned out to be special.

My first watch was from 10 until midnight. At the start of my shift, my alarm went off, and I pulled on multiple layers of clothes and groggily climbed up to the cockpit. There was a warm breeze, making it fairly comfortable, and Michelle went down below and I settled down and watched the last remnants of the sunset in the northern sky.

A few seconds later, my brain registered that the sun doesn't set in the north.

I moved forward to peek around the bimini to get a better look, and quickly realized that I was seeing one of the best displays of Northern Lights that I've ever seen in my life.

The entire sky to the north was encircled with a band of light. Above that there was another band, pulsing with light. Shooting up into the sky were streamers, going all the way up to the zenith and beyond.

For the next 90 minutes, I was mesmerized by the sky constantly glowing and shifting. Needles of ligh would punch upwards across half the sky. Then glowing clouds would start in the northern band and start pulsing upwards, taking less than a second to fly up and dissipate only to be followed by more, ever brighter pulses.

Then the band around the north would glow brighter and brighter, and start twisting and turning around itself, with light and dark streaks appearing and disappearing, finally releasing its energy with clouds of light flying upwards.

Never has an overnight shift passed so quicky. I was almost sorry when Owen came up to take over. My next shift is from 4 to 6, and it gets bright very early here, so they may be invisible by then. But the past two hours were incredible and unforgettable.
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Night Watch

So it is 11:20 EST on Sunday. We passed into Quebec waters not long ago as we approach Gaspe. My cell phone has switched time zones and that is why that although my night watch does not start for another 40 minutes, I am typing out a blog post on my BlackBerry in my darkened cabin as I cuddle under the covers rather than catching a few more winks of sleep.
The wind calmed considerably this morning as did the seas so we set out from the friendly little marina of Richibucto around 9am. I was on first watch. The wind was light and on our nose so we motored. It was an uneventful day. We saw a few fishing vessels in the distance and the odd bird, but that was it. We were too far off land to even see that.
Jay and Owen tried their hand at fishing to occupy themselved. Of course the most caught was a few pieces of seaweed. The day was sunny and generally pleasant though we still needed layers of clothing. The Carribean it is not!
Earlier this evening I was to watch from 6 to 9pm AST. At 9, Owen had not yet appeared to relieve me so I called down to him. A few minutes later he arrived on deck and I went below to crawl into our bunk where Jay was already sleeping. I barely moved when Jay left the bunk for his turn at watch at 11:00pm AST. But a few minutes ago I was awoken from sleep, convinced Owen had been knocking on my door that I was overdue above.
I sat up with a start and grabbed my cell to see why my alarm had failed to go off. A message said a new time zone was detected. I clicked ok and tried to wipe the sleep from my fuzzy brain, leaping to the conclusion this is why my alarm failed. I droipped my phone and struggled to find my clothes and change out of my PJs. The overhead light refused to turn on so I scrambled in the dark, knowing that the light from the cabin is a signal to the person on watch that their relief is coming. Feeling badly I couldn't signal I was awake and knowing shouting was futile over the engine, I groped in the dark for my multiple layers. I contemplated sticking my head out to assure everyone I was awake, but I really don't know Owen well enough to appear before him in my pink long johns so I scrambled on.
After I was semi decent I opened the cabin door to find it dark. Owen was curled under his sleeping bag. I quickly identified the cause of the cabin light not working, the breaker had been flipped off. I opened the hatch to assure Jay I was coming. At which time he pointed out he had only been on watch an hour! Not two as I had assumed. I had only dreamed Owen waking me, he had been asleep for an hour!The time change had really tripped up my sleepy brain. Of course now I am awake. Soon it will be my turn on the helm under the starry night sky. A beautiful evening, yes, but I will still need my tuque. I wonder if Owen accounted for the time change when he set his alarm to replace me in a few hours?
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A new sailing season, a new adventure

We have been a bit silent on this blog recently, but we have a very good reason. We have uprooted our lives in Prince Edward Island and are moving to Kingston, Ontario. In April, I was offered a new job in Kingston starting in May and couldn't say no. Of course, there are two things I could not move without, Jay and My Obsession. Ironically, we had always planned to make the trip up the St. Lawrence this summer and then over the next few years follow the Eerie Canal and move the boat south. Now, we are sailing the boat to Kingston where we will live aboard for the summer. The past two months have been a flurry of activity getting the boat ready, cleaning out the house so it can be rented to vactioners over the summer, finishing up consulting contracts, starting a new job from afar and making plans for The Turret Bell and Jay's business. Getting the boat ready always has its little challenges every year. This is our first year with My Obsession as Lia and Bob took care of everything rigging the boat for the season last year. I am happy to report we didn't face anything too major. Jay did have a challenge with getting the water heater reconnected. He missed closing the valve he had opened to drain the heater in the fall and had to pump out several of gallons of water from the bilge. A few weeks later, a clamp let go and we had to again pump hot water out of the bilge. The upside is, I am happy to say we have a very clean bilge now. It only took 5 days and visits to 12 different stores to find a replacement bulb for the reading light over the chart table and thanks to my Dad we identified someone nearby who could weld a replacement bracket for the small solar panel that powers 4 small cabin lights. Jay also took his first trip to the top of the mast. Unfortunately he left the camera on deck so he has no cool photos of the boat from on high. I do have one of his bottom side as he is aloft though. It isn't the most flattering photo of him, so I won't post it. Now most people don't move to a new job by sailing their boat over 900 nautical miles, but that is what we are doing. A friend is driving our car up and we are sailing the boat up. After weeks of packing, planning, provisioning and prepping (and a few tears of goodbye with family and friends), we finally cast off the docklines yesterday morning at 10am bound for Kingston. Our friend, Owen, is along for the first few days of the trip as additional crew. The morning was warm and sunny with only a light breeze. We had planned to round the eastern tip of PEI and beeline across the Gulf of St. Lawrence for the Gaspe. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't favourable, so we decided to follow the Strait instead. It added distance, but as we hadn't really had enough time for a shakedown cruise, we knew this route was prudent as the south of PEI offers many more possible anchorages. We ended up motoring most of the day as the wind was either too light or on our nose. We travelled through the night, the three of us taking turns on watch. The seas were fairly calm and the night was cloudy, but peaceful. We spent a lot of the night motorsailing, averaging about 6.5 knots. I pulled the night watch crossing under the Confederation Bridge. It looked amazing all lit up at night. I also pulled the early morning shift and got to watch the sun come up over PEI as we passed the iconic West Point Lighthouse. Jay was on watch at 7am, just after me. Within a half hour, the wind and waves increased substantially. I bounced around in the bunk as I tried to sleep as the boat was pitching and rolling. The seas built to about 2 metres. Bashing into 25 knots of wind, it soon became apparent we were making no progress at all. Jay decided to alter course and head for Richibucto to wait out the weather. At 11am this morning, we pulled into Richibucto, having covered 146 nautical miles, with less than two hours under sail alone - a disapointment for sure as we all love being under sail. So, we spent the better part of the day in port. It gave me a great opportunity to work. Tomorrow, if the weather is better we will resume our journey.

Spring has arrived

Well it was an unseasonably warm 16 degrees Celcius today - the first day of Spring. With the snow melting and the warmer weather, we decided to go check on My Obsession to make sure the warmer weather hadn't softened the ground and compromised the stability of the boat on her jackstands. Happily, all is well. Unfortunately, a nearby boat in the storage yard fell over at the beginning of the winter causing itself some serious damage. It has made me a bit paranoid I confess.

The harbour was clear of ice and with the balmy weather, I couldn't help but feel the itch to get going on the little boat projects necessary to get the boat ready to be launched. Alas, it is still too early, but my mind is already churning with plans for the upcoming sailing season. A season which can't start soon enough for me! The countdown is officially on I think.

Sailing in Hawaii

It has been way too long since we posted to this blog. Once My Obsession was put up on the hard for the winter, we have been very focussed on work and not so much on on all things sailing. We did have an opportunity to go sailing on a 53 foot catamaran while in Hawaii this winter. Somehow, it seemed strange to be sailing along at 10 knots, but not heeled over! The weather was beautiful. The whales and dolphins were plentiful. The sun was warm. Wonder if we will ever sail in the pacific on our own boat?