Singlehanding to Mahone Bay

Another overdue post to catch up on the summer's events.
Imagine it's August 28th...

With Dee back at work we'd been home for two nights when I was wishing I was still in Mahone Bay. Then I remembered... I'm retired! I could still be in Mahone Bay. I told Dee the plan and she quickly agreed. I'd single-hand Kiskadee back to Mahone Bay and she could drive back and forth as work permitted.

On Tuesday, August 28th, I spent much of the morning loading provisions and prepping the boat. I slipped from SYC at 1030, hoping to make it to a mooring at Backman's Island before dark. The wind was light from the south and was expected to come up to SW-15 in the afternoon. I still had some blockage in the heat exchanger so couldn't run much above 5 knots without overheating after 30 minutes, so a long motor sail was out of the question. I expected to spend much of the day tacking into the SW wind. I ended up sailing out of the harbour with every tourist boat afloat. I should be charging tourists to be in so many of their vacation albums. I made it to Chebucto Head by 1245 and ran Sambro Channel, only needing the engine for 30 minutes once past Sambro. The wind was up and down so I made several trips to the mast to put in or remove mainsail reefs.

The GPS trip computer was showing my ETA as 2330 hrs so I decided to open her up under full sail. With winds SW 15-20, and 35 degrees of heal, she averaged 7.5 knots heading west towards East Ironbound Island. I kept my offshore harness hooked on for the entire trip. (If I'd fallen overboard Kiskadee would have let her auto-pilot guide her most of the way there without me.) Here's a short video of the trip.

The wind veered WSW just as I turned WNW to pass between East Ironbound and Flat Islands, again making for an easy sail without having to do much trimming. The trip computer was now telling me that I'd arrive at Backman's just before sunset... Could this day be any better? Well yes... I dropped sail about a mile from Backman's Island and started to motor in. Looking ahead I saw a beautiful sunset and looking astern I saw a more beautiful moonrise with a full moon. Unfortunately I deleted the sunset picture but here's the moonrise:

I tied to a mooring ball in Backman's Island at 2038 hrs and secured the boat for the night. I tossed a steak on the BBQ, poured myself a Goslings dark rum and coke, then settled back in the cockpit to unwind. Damn this is a good life and I'm a very lucky man to have enjoyed the gift of such a great day. A couple other boats shared the cove but it was a very quiet night, and after the long sail there I slept like a log. I did feel a bit greedy about enjoying the day so much and not having shared it with Dee... But we'll share others.

This is a panoramic composite picture of the cove at Backman's Island, a favoured spot.