Lake Nipissing July 31 – August 1, 2011

This Blog is for sharing our experience in the undertaking of preparing our boat (Sirius 21) for spending a night on Lake Nipissing and our actual trip log.  We are hoping that you will benefit from our story and that you’ll rise up to the challenge.

Leading up to our trip, we had to convert our day sail boat into a floating cottage.  We already have an extensive experience in wilderness canoe tripping so the preparation for this trip was more mechanical then compressed/light weight packing.  We won’t be doing any portages with our sailboat anytime soon so weight was not a concern.  The primary basics to prepare for were shelter, sleeping, cooking, hygiene, clothing, safety and travel.  We have done several day sails with a packed lunch but now we had to start thinking for the long term.

Shelter and sleeping was an easy challenge as the boat is equipped with a berth and galley.  We had our sleeping bags and cook set so we just had to look after the small things (dish washing stuff, etc.).  Our boat wasn’t wired so we installed a battery, LED cabin lights, navigation lights and a stereo.  We purchased a 30 watt solar panel (installed it onto our hatch) to keep the battery topped up.  The head was a portable unit that we could take home after the trip.

Cooking was organized between a small one burner butane stove and marine propane BBQ.  Both units were used so we cleaned and check them carefully before the trip.  Meals were kept simple with most of the preparation done at home.

Hygiene was our basic canoe tripping bathroom kit.  A face cloth showers is the typical routine in the bush.  A solar shower was suggested during the trip that would have been a nice luxury especially if the lake was too cool for swimming.  A small basin in the sink would serve as a washing station as needed.

Clothing during this trip is selected for two seasons (Summer and Fall).  There is no heating on the boat so the temperatures are what Mother Nature throws at you.  From sweltering heat to low temperatures with a wind chill.  Head to foot rain suit is also a must.  Besides this, you need basic changes of clothes for each day out.

Safety included a fire extinguisher, a good first aid kit, cell phone and radio.  The boat was equipped earlier by us as recommended by the boating guide (no flares yet). 

Travel was completed by the purchase of marine maps from our local sporting goods store.  Its 3 km to the islands and we had the option to check out other locations on the eastern end of the lake.  The depths were OK except around the Manitou islands.

We launched at 13:15 on July 31, 2011.  Winds F1 to calm and no waves.  By 14:30 we had only achieved 0.5 km.  A dark gray line was observed on the lake heading out of the west.  By 14:45 we had 10 knot winds from the south west.  We headed northwest to begin tacking to reach the group of the Manitou Islands located in the eastern end of Lake Nipissing.

16:30 we reached the north shore of the Greater Manitou Island (8 km distance).  We had to tack several times to reach this point.  There are two bays on the north shore (one small/sand beach and one large/reeds along shore).  We observed that both had a power boat anchored in them.  We decided to swing east again and head between the greater Manitou and Calder Island.  Winds were gusting over 20 knots (SW) by this time so we pulled in the Genoa before we entered back into the wind off the island.  As we were getting close to Calder Island, we decided to tack and the boat became frozen in irons.  The two islands (Calder and Greater Manitou) were tunnelling the wind through the channel so the wind became very concentrated.  We fell out of irons back onto the original tack but we drifting backwards (it was blowing that hard).  About 30 seconds later, bang, crunch, grind and we swung 180 degrees in two seconds.  We hit and got stuck on the bottom off the south east point of Greater Manitou Island.  Our first actions were to shut down the main sail by luffing it and pulling it down.  Not easy as the boom is now swinging out over the starboard beam with strong winds and pivoting on the bottom.  As we brought down the main sail the crunching had stopped and we were now stuck fast.  Once the main was mostly down, we dropped the motor and fired it up.  With the motor slightly forward we winched up the keel until we were free and then motored over to the south side of the Greater Manitou Island where there is a sand beach.  It is interesting to note that I installed a keel shear bolt that morning (never had one before).  It snapped into two pieces which may have allowed us to raise an otherwise frozen keel due to the weight of the boat on it pushing it into the bottom of the lake (future debate with fellow sailors).

There were over 10 power boats anchored along the beach so we nosed into the corner and dropped anchor (Danforth).  We were going to have a bite to eat and a rest (from a little bit of excitement) but we noticed that we were dragging our anchor slowly being in such a strong wind and one metre waves.  It was too much like suburbia for our tastes anyways so we pulled up (it was a clay bottom) and motored back to the north side.

An interesting note, we observed that we were picking up flesh flies as we were crossing over to the Manitou Islands.  Nasty biting little buggers.  By the time we anchored on the north side, they were into the hundreds.  We went swimming to check if the keel was damaged (none observed) and the stern hull was covered in flesh flies (hitch hiking freaks).  (note to self: put a fly swatter on boat!).  Had to go for a swim a second time as a pair of shorts flew off the boat.

We found the small bay empty so we anchored there for the night (17:30).  The bottom was a mixture of clay and stone.  We had a light breeze and some rolling waves that drifted from around the northwest point of the bay.  After dinner, we relaxed with a glass of Cabernet - Merlot (Ontario 2008) and watched the storm clouds build just north of the escarpment.  Six ducks came to visit around the boat and it obvious that they had been hand fed by the power boats (showed no fear, a little bold actually). 

 

By night fall, we had an awesome light show with heat lightning every 15 seconds yet directly above us we could see the Milky Way and satellites drifting by.  The wind continued throughout the night which made sleeping challenging as we kept getting up to tie down, prop up various items that were banging or making a rocking noise.

We woke up at sunrise and had a full breakfast.  We saw a wonderful display of flying skills as three Ospreys were chasing a fourth with a fish.  They flew right over the boat (note to self – have camera ready at all times).  We hoisted the anchor at around 10:00 and headed out to the northwest with winds from SW at about 4-5 knots.  We sailed between the Greater Manitou and Little Manitou with no problem except with the lee sides of the islands the wind dropped considerably.  We observed that four large power boats had stayed overnight at the sand beach on the south side of the Greater Manitou Island.  We passed to the northeast of Newman Island and got a good view of the abandoned mine shaft head frame.  We stayed north of Rankin Island and then pointed our boat towards the main channel into Callander Bay (12 km distance).  The winds then dropped right off (a repeat of yesterday).  By 13:45 we reached the J5 green marker which is located near Tillicum Bay (south shore Nipissing).  A dark gray line became evident on the lake heading out of the west.  In a matter of minutes the winds were up to 13 knots gusting to 17 knots. As we approached the area off the mouth of the LaVase River it looked like it was raining in North Bay (gray sky and the escarpment was obscured and couldn’t see anything to the northwest).  As we got closer it was evident by the smell it was smoke (learned later it was from the fires in North western Ontario). On a beam reach we entered the North Bay Marina at 15:15 (11 km distance). 

In summary, we have added to our sailing experience several new skills.  We saw many things you just won’t see standing on the shore.  Over the last few nights, we reviewed in our sailing manuals if we’ve followed the recommended techniques for the different challenges we had faced on this trip.  We also made a list of items of things we should have if it was a longer trip.  Our goal is to sail to the upper French River this fall over a one week period.