With fifteen knots of wind on her port quarter, Maverick V is whipping along nicely, the vane gear keeping her to within a few degrees of true north.
A 60-mile fetch and a growing weather system to the southwest are starting to churn up the kind of short, sharp waves whose period is uncomfortably close to the boat’s natural roll.
Most, if not all, cruising sailors know that feeling—the not-so-subtle message from stomach to brain demanding, “Sell the damn boat and go buy a cottage with a nice solid concrete foundation.” But the feeling is fleeting.
Two hours later, we’ve cleared the Lower Gap and gybed to a starboard-tack broad reach. With the islands and shoals now absorbing the worst of the wave action, the 49-year-old boat is flaunting the “racer” part of her cruiser-racer classification as this late-July cruise nears its end.
The latter part of this site’s title: Adventure Cruising evokes visions of glacier-lined fjords in Norway, or of the rocky cliffs of Patagonia, or of unspoiled white sand beaches stretching halfway to the Pacific horizon. The qualifier, though: Attainable, brings us closer to home:
- To a passage we can squeeze into a few days away from the office.
- To a destination just over the horizon.
- To a place that most of the residents of the nearest city, just twenty miles away, have never heard of and couldn’t find on a map.
Beautiful writing. It appears your home port -in the photo of your boat showing the transom- is Narnia? Is there a wardrobe onboard?
Thanks, Brian.
We have found a few oddities in the boat’s hanging locker; alas, a weird recursive heaven ruled by a metaphor-heavy Jesus Lion was not among them. No, the registered home port is Sarnia, a rather forgettable city best known for its large chemical factories and its short Customs queue.
Beautifully written story. Adventure doesn’t need to be far from home!
The best adventures are often close to home. For people in my situation – full time careers, kids, bills, considerable sweet-talking of the boss required to get a two-consecutive-week vacation – voyaging for months on end simply isn’t feasible. But you can squeeze a lot of cruising into five or ten days.
Thanks for evoking a beautiful memory Matt. As it happens I’m sitting with two of my daughters, now all grown up, who spent many childhood summer days exploring Main Duck. A wonderful spot and our favourite destination on lake Ontario.
I’m hoping our kids will keep similar memories once they’re grown up. In an era when constant connectivity and perpetual urgency are the new urban norm, there’s something to be said for disconnecting and shifting to a slower, simpler pace of life for a bit.
Matt, thank you for sharing this reminder of what it’s all about!
As a Lake Erie sailor, I love reading stories of Great Lakes cruisies for future destinations. I also have a similar appreciation for the steep chop you described. Thanks for sharing!
Wonderful story. I have raced past Main Duck several times (Lake Ontario 300) but have never stopped in. On my next trip to Gananoque I’ll make a point to do so.
On another note, you have wind vane steering on Maverick. I had heard that it does not work well on the Great Lakes. How have you found using it in your area?
Colin Post
CS 30 Top Hat,
Niagara on the Lake.