Day 2, Sunday, Lake Ontario 300 Update

We we did a good job going out to the middle of the lake, had good wind all night, and did not get wet at all. The boats that stayed in had similar wind, but got rained on. We gybed in, and around the scotch rocks. At about 3:30 AM, A sail boat in the race, almost hit us mid ship. He was about a boat length away, and heading bow into our mid ship. We were yelling starboard, since we had the right of way. He must have seen us, as we had our blue spreader lights on which light up the whole boat, and  running lights of course. It was a close call, I thought we were going to get holed, and sink the boat.

We made all right time in the rounding of Main Duck Island this morning at around 8 AM. This is 12 hours ahead of our time last year. However the wind has been amazing this year. It was blowing 18 knots true from a stern, about 12 knots apparent. Then the spinnaker just blew out. We ripped it in half. I wonder if it caught on something on the spreaders through the night. It was luffing against the radar reflector all night, and its the only thing we did not tape off.

At this point Folichon was right behind us at about 1 mile. We rounded Main Duck Island, and then it was an up wind close haul leg to Oswego, Ford Shoal Mark. The wind was 15 to 20 knots, close hauled, and 5- 8 foot waves beating. Actually our boat loves this. We took off from Folichon and the fleet behind us. Between Main Duck and Oswego, we put about 3 miles between us, and passed 3 boats in the race, and caught up to our fleet again.

We are now still in an upwind close haul to Niagara, we should slowly gain on some boats. The wind forecast is showing it will die down by this evening, at which time I will try to upload some photos.

** Hoping most of this race is an upwind race, so we won’t lose time by not having our spinnaker any more. **

** Second year in a row we blew a spinnaker, read about last year on this blog. **

** Lost the SPot, updates through this site, on FIS Tracking only **

s/v Black Diamond

With almost 30,000 Nautical miles of experience and 1,800+ sea days and nights on the water. (1,800 sea days is like 5 years on the water, 365 days a year!) I am an RYA Skipper and ICC International Competent Captain, currently working on my RYA Yacht Master with a Commercial endorsement for a 200 ton vessel. My qualifications include; MED A2 Emergency Safety at Sea, Helicopter Rescue, Life raft deployment and use, Offshore Rescue and Fire Fighting at Sea, etc, STCW Code A-VI/1-3, Canadian Equivalent Marine First Aid and CPR/AED. I am an Open Water Certified diver and completed various CYA & Canadian Power and Sail Squadron certifications which include Power/Sailboat handling, Seamanship Sail, Piloting/charting, CYA Coastal Navigation, GPS Navigation, Extended Offshore Cruising, VHF Radio operation license and a Toronto Harbour License. I am now providing skippered charters and yacht deliveries globally, including crew positions for offshore passages. However, my specialities are the Bahamas, US East Coast, The Great Lakes, Welland Canal, Erie Canal and the Adriatic Sea, Croatia, looking to add Greece. Feel free to contact me at [email protected]

You may also like...

2 Responses

  1. john spencer says:

    Kate and crew. looks like you have another sail to replace.
    have you tried ebay? good luck on the rest of the race,\.
    Your Mom and Dad are here showing us the site complete with a bottle of red, are you surprised?.
    again good luck.
    John

  2. The Kerrigans says:

    The Kerrigan clan is at the cottage following every update and tracking Black Diamond’s progress. Sounds like an eventful race so far! Glad to hear it is going well ….too bad about the spinnaker. Looking forward to seeing pictures.
    Buena Suerte!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Follow Me