Nov 072019
 

 

 

This is the year, 2019, we would close our circumnavigation of Newfoundland that we begun on Phantasia in 2013.

Departing from Cobourg on Lake Ontario we sailed east through our familiar cruising grounds of eastern Lake Ontario to the 1000 Islands, and then made our third transit of the St Lawrence Seaway. It seemed more difficult than our two previous trips, perhaps we’re just getting older. It’s still great fun to break free from the lakes and find your self anchoring near downtown Montreal and then running the rapids to Quebec City.

Once clear of the lock at Quebec City’s Basin Louise it’s clear sailing. Under spinnaker we’d visit Tadoussac in the company of belugas, humpback and minke whales then cross to Bic, Rimouski, Matane and St Anne Des Monts on the St Lawrence south shore. 

The St Lawrence current, and summer westerlies would move us quickly from Riviere au Renard into Gaspe, where we stopped to provision and enjoy the local colour. Our 220 nautical miles crossing of the Gulf of Madeleine to Port Aux Basques Newfoundland proved to be challenging, as we entered Cabot Strait followed by squall after squall.

Newfoundland’s South Coast is sparsely populated and extends east from Port Aux Basques to Cape Race, steep coastal cliffs are punctuated by deep inlets, lined with creeks and rivers. We planned to visit as many of it’s famous harbours as we could. Isle A Morts, Garia Bay, Rose Blanche, Grand Bruit, Cinq Cerf, Burgeo, Grey River, Francois and Hare Bay.

From Hare Bay we crossed to St Pierre, France to enjoy French food, wine and culture before sailing back to beautiful Little St Lawrence Harbour on Newfoundland’s Burin Peninsula .

We tied up with the fishing fleet in St Brides Harbour on the Avalon Peninsula to investigate rugged Cape St Mary, and the sea bird colony there. Rounding Cape Race at the south east corner of Newfoundland, in dense fog, we hurry up to Fermeuse then into St John’s just ahead of hurricane Dorian. 

After riding out the storm at Royal Newfoundland Yacht Club in Conception Bay we’d visit Bay de Verde, Bonavista, Lumsden, Seldom, Change & Exploits Islands before bringing the boat into welcoming Lewisporte Marina to haulout for the winter of 2019/2020. 

In the upcoming 2021 (due to Newfoundland’s Covid 19 lock down we’re not sailing this year) season we may sail Loon’s Lace across the Atlantic, that’s the plan, we’ll have to see if we can get organized and make it happen.

And we will be doing several days of “Sailing Newfoundland’s South Coast” presentations at the 2020 Toronto Boat Show. As soon as we have the schedule we’ll publish it here, hope to see you there !

Best Sailing,

Mike & Jayne

Nov 042019
 

We spent our first season doing some fun and easy sailing around Lake Ontario and getting to know how our Najad 405 handles, a world of difference from our Niagara 35 Phantasia. Because Loon’s Lace had been primarily used as a day sailor effort was needed to get ready for Atlantic sailing. We decided although it was quite costly, we would move the boat indoors and  work all winter of 2018/19 on these major & minor upgrades in the shop:

  • Mast off – we needed to learn the un-rigging process for our fancy triple spreader furling mast
  • Boat in the shop and on the cradle
  • Sails in for service
  • Fly screens for 6 opening windows
  • Saloon lee clothes
  • Stern cabin lee clothes
  • SeatalkNG network upgrade
  • DC house battery bank upgrade to 675 amps
  • Cutter stay fittings added to the mast
  • New cutter sail from UK Sweden
  • Genoa cars rebuilt
  • Genoa tracks resealed
  • Bimini frame and canvas designed and installed 
  • 4 x 100 watt solar panels added
  • Propane upgraded from 2 x 5 lb bow to 2 x 20 lb stern tanks
  • Saildrive repainted 
  • Maxprop Easy installed
  • New fenders
  • Spade 140 and 275 feet of Magi G43 chain 
  • Matress lifts for the stern cabin
  • Waxed hull and bottom painted
  • Launched – June 2019 and almost ready to sail !

That way we could be well prepared for our first extended cruise to Newfoundland.

The big plan is to take the boat across the Atlantic to the Azores, Ireland, Scotland and Scandinavia. That’s still being discussed…   

  

                                                             

Jan 172018
 

Jayne and I are just back from doing our “Sailing South Labrador” presentation at the Toronto Boat Show. Thanks to Kim, Cynthia, Chris, Richard, all the other show staff, and everyone who came to our show! We had a great time, what a fun way to start this new 2018 season, even though it was -25C ! Other presenters Andy & Mia are off to the Arctic this summer in their refit swan, Paul and Sheryl have a gorgeous new boat and we have big news too!

One of our slides in the show is “Phantasia is for sale” but we didn’t have time to elaborate on why, the reason is we’ve bought a new boat! We’re very excited, it’s a big step for us after spending 17 seasons sailing Phantasia our 1978 Niagara 35. 

We’ve moved up 5 feet in length and 28 years in design and build to a 2006 Najad 405.

“Loon’s Lace” is a Judel/Vrolijk designed centre cockpit sloop built in Sweden. Triple spreader mast, furling main, solent head sails, stern cabin and large walk in engine room with Volvo sail drive, there is even a bow thruster!

Loon is in basically new condition with only a few hundred hours of use, but in need of some TLC. A good clean up and some system upgrades to make her ready to sail offshore.

For our first season we plan to enjoy the summer cruising grounds of eastern Lake Ontario and perhaps sail back to Newfoundland and Labrador late in the summer, where we’ve spent the last 5 seasons on Phantasia.

With Loons longer waterline, larger sail area and increased storage capacity we can travel faster, farther and carry more gear and supplies, at least thats what we’re telling our selves are good reasons to move up. That said we have so many fond memories of  adventures and happy times spent on Phantasia its a bitter sweet undertaking, we’re determined to find “Phanty” loving new owners.

We can’t get on the Loon until spring and have sailed a sister ship only one sunny afternoon in Seattle so there’s lots to learn yet. 

Loon’s Specs are:
LOA: 40’ / 12.19m
Year: 2006
LWL: 34’2” / 10.41m
Beam: 12’6” / 3.81m
Draft: 6’11” / 2.15m
Displacement: 12,199kg / 26,896lb
Hull Material: GRP
Engine: 1 x Volvo Penta D2 55hp
Designer: Judel/Vrolijk & Co & Dick Young Designs/Najad
Accommodation: 4 berths in 2 cabins
Builder: Najad Sweden

Loons are water birds like ducks, geese, and grebes, but they are classified separately by scientists. The five species are Red-throated Loon Gavia stellata, Pacific Loon Gavia pacifica, Arctic Loon Gavia arctica, Yellow-billed Loon Gavia adamsii, and Common Loon Gavia immer. The Common Loon is the species best known to most of us, as its breeding range lies across most of Canada.

The Common Loon in summer is very striking with its black-and-white checkered back, glossy black head, white belly and wing lining, and characteristic white necklace around the throat (loon’s lace). All loons have greyish feathers in the winter, and immature birds tend to resemble adult birds in winter plumage. The white feathers of the belly and wing linings are present year-round.