The journey out of Napanee felt quicker this morning. Once we were out in wider water, we tried to sail but not enough wind. We have a 2 knot rule. If the wind consistently keeps us under 2 knots, time to motor.

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I was suffering from a migraine so Lori took the wheel for most of the trip to Picton.

I like my personal space around the boat, and we had a second power boat come close by us (like the fish boat under the bridge on our way to Napanee). Now this boat was heading straight towards us and then passes 20 meters off our starboard going full out. At this point we had the sails up without much wind so the boom started flapping back and forth as we get hit by the wake.

Called ahead to Prince Edward Yacht club in Picton. We cheated and used the cell phone, not the VHF. Prices were reasonable at $25 for first night and second night is free.

We navigated into our spot smoothly, with the help of a club member. We noticed they are having the same issue as other marinas, high water levels have submerged most of their docks and they had put up temporary walkways on stilts. This also meant that we wouldn’t have any electricity during our stay.

The Price Edward Yacht Club has a nice club house that typically opens at 3pm. It has a decent hall, seating both inside and outside, and most importantly… a staffed bar.

Showers are part of a separate building outside and are decent. Bathrooms are inside the club house.

We were early, the club house wasn’t open yet so we walked to town. It’s about a 20 minute walk, first up the steep hill and then following the roads to the left. I didn’t know what to expect, but I was really surprised with the nice architecture and the main street in town was busy with tourists.

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We spent some time in an interesting  book store with music and art work. Coffee bar on one side and restaurant on the other. Lori found a great card for Bri n Riley. After exploring town we headed back to the yacht club. It was race night with $2 pizza slices. Kids were excited about that. Rob at the bar introduced me to a nice local cream ale, I was excited about that.

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Lori is concerned that the trip has been a bust for the kids and they are bored. Water has been warm, 21c but not appealing for swimming. It’s nothing like the clear water in the Thousand Islands.  Some of the options we started to consider:

  • Sand banks
  • Stella Bay p 155
  • Stay in Picton
  • Wapoos
  • Start slowly heading back

We’ve started discussing different sailboats, we are finding the Macgregor is a great boat for the family to go out for 1-2 nights but it’s feeling crowded and difficult to cook on with four of us on board. So I’ve started bugging anyone who’s willing to talk about their sailboat, which is really easy to find. Everyone’s willing to talk about their boat. But I’m finding everyone will tell you that their boat is the best.

Had a lengthy discussion with a guy with a CS36 traditional at PEYC. He brought up these points:

  • CS36 traditional is more solid than a CS36 Merlin. A traditional is a solid dependable boat. A Merlin has a balsa core which can rot out and be expensive to fix.
  • The amount of space for holding gear is amazing.
  • You are setup for all of your sail plans. A Catalina can’t even take a spinaker, it only has four winches.
  • If you want a fast boat, the CNC is the fastest for its hull size.
  • But you need to be a competent mechanic. Recently had to dig into the engine to replace a broken bolt on the alternator.

Lessons Learned

  • Don’t let motor boats coming too close into your personal space ruin your sailing zen.
  • Always explore the local towns when you stay at a marina, there’s always things to find!
  • Everyone who owns a boat has the best boat there is to have. And they will be willing to tell you at length why. Except they will admit that it’s 2 feet too short and they are thinking of upgrading.

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