Weekend Cruise to NOTL

On the weekend of 28 and 29 May 2016, John and I will be sailing across the west end of Lake Ontario out of Port Credit to Niagara-on-the-Lake. It is about a 30 nm passage. Franklin has kindly let us use his boat Rona Cara as he will be away. Hopefully we can do this kind of cruise with him another time.

Proposed Route

The plan is to provision, prepare, stay on the boat on Friday night for an earlyish departure on Saturday morning. Depending on winds, it might be a 6 hour crossing. An overnight berth has been reserved at the Niagara-on-the-Lake Sailing Club. We have a spot on the wall next to the Niagara River. Supposedly there is a decent current that will need to be navigated on approach to the wall.

Niagara-on-the-Lake Sailing Club

Day One - Saturday, 28 May 2016

After gathering John at his condo it was off to the No Frills store in Port Credit for some basic provisioning. Checkouts on the boat, engine and stowing of gear, food and belongings took us to an 0945 departure - earlier than anticipated.

Leaving PCM Behind

Winds were forecast to be light (6 to 8 Kts from the SSW), sails were hoisted and it was a leisurely 4 to 5 Kt ride across to the other side of the Lake. Our course was not direct and we tacked once closer to the south shore to get to NOTL.

After the tack, winds very light and progress would be slow so we decided to motor sail the rest of the way. After a short time, all sails were dropped as no benefit was being provided.

On approach to NOTL, we crossed the Niagara Bar using the chartplotter to weave between some low spots of 8 to 10 feet of depth. Tide rips and current were met at the mouth of the Niagara River. Coming into the wall of the NOTL Sailing Club was less of an experience than anticipated - there was minimal current to contend with.

Niagara-on-the-Lake Sailing Club

Docking was routine, on tie up with shore power and a look around to find the officer in charge - it quickly became time for a beer. It was a cool ride over the Lake with a bit of wind but on arrival the heat became evident and the need to take on fluids was strong.

NOTL Sailing Club were in party mood as some function at their club house was in full swing. For us it was off to the pub (The Old Angel Inn) in town for a fish and chips dinner and a beer. Downtown NOTL was quite busy with lots of people about in the warm weather.

Returning back to the club brought us to a party in full swing with dance band and music. It was a leisurely night sitting in the cockpit relaxing and watching boats on the river. The Youngstown fort was clearly visible on the point across the river from NOTL.

Youngstown Fort Across the Niagara River

Local Water Craft

Off to bed for an early 0800 start back to PCM in the morning. Winds were expected to be good for the crossing.

Day Two - Sunday, 29 May 2016

We woke up to bright sunshine, it was another beautiful day. After an engine check and other preparations - had some coffee and yoghurt to get started. We would have breakfast out on the water a bit later.

A Very Fine Sailing Vessel at NOTL Sailing Club, a Valiant 32

The Light Beacon at NOTL Sailing Club

Rona Cara on the Wall

Leaving the dock was an easy departure - there hadn't been a lot of visitors on the wall with us. We motored downstream in the river and out to cross the bar once again. Went out the same route in reverse and once over increased to cruising speed. There was no wind, water was glassy smooth.

A Flock of Cormorants Crossing Our Bow Mid Lake

After a while, we put up the sails to motor sail and get some benefit. Most of the crossing was made with little to no wind until we get closer to Port Credit. Wind ripples started to appear on the water and we decided to finish the trip with a nice sail back.

Getting closer to Port Credit at 1300 made us decide to stay out longer and just sail around as the winds were light but getting a bit stronger. After awhile, skies were starting to cloud over and get misty and we thought to finish the trip. Sails were dropped and we motored into the berth.

A quick tidy up, stowage, packing and cleaning of the boat - and it was off and back to our homes.

The weather had been very nice, warm and light wind conditions for the trip which yielded more motoring than sailing. Fun nonetheless. Many thanks to Franklin for the use of Rona Cara, which sails effortlessly when underway.

Our GPS track for the 71.6 nm passage...

Actual GPS Track to NOTL and Return

Belleville to Port Credit Boat Delivery

On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of 9 to 11 May 2016 I will be Skippering the delivery of Franklin's newly acquired 1989 CS 36 Merlin named Rona Cara from the Bay of Quinte Yacht Club to the Port Credit Marina.

Proposed Route for 170 Nm Passage

Not sure of the route yet as there was a rumour of an early opening of the Murray Canal for this weekend which would help immensely in the trip duration. Instead of 170 nm via the Bay of Quinte and Adolphus Reach - it would only be about 130 nm via the Canal and Presqu'ile Bay.

Monday will be commissioning and trials with evening port destination to be determined. If weather permits we might make a night sail of it.

Day One...

After getting picked by Pat Sturgeon at my house, it was a 2 hour drive to Belleville and the Bay of Quinte Yacht Club where Rona Cara was moored.
 
Some adjustments and installation of the Auto Helm - we were off for the Town of Picton where we would be dropping Sharon and Pat for their retrun home by independent cars. Franklin and I would carry on to Prinyer's Cove where we could dock at a small marina.

We had a great sail downwind, flying the cruising chute for a bit before reaching down to Picton. There was a nice 20 Kt wind that blew a bit cold and then was on the nose. The channel was too narrow to be tacking so the sails went down and we motored along into port.

A good motor along Adolphus Reach brought us into Prinyer's Cove - no one answered our radio call so we just put into dock. It was a short berth which would have been better to be transom in rather than bow in.

Franklin made a great dinner and before you knew it our heads were on the pillow.

Day Two...

 

Prinyer's Cove

We woke up to very calm conditions. It confirmed our intentions of going the long route around Prince Edward County rather than waiting for the Murray Canal to open 10 days from now. Franklin had gotten much advice about how ill conceived our plan was to deal with this nasty bit of water and shoreline.

Docked at Prinyer's Cove Marina

The whole day was spent motoring with some motor sailing. There was consideration to sail through the night but I was concerned that we did not have a confident read on fuel consumption to risk another 12+ hours of engine use without refueling.

Shipping Traffic in the Shipping Channel South of Prince Edward County

The Glassy Smooth Waters Below Scotch Bonnet Island

About 15 mile out of Cobourg we decide to put in at the marina and refuel in the morning. It had been a long day anyways.

Franklin treated me to a fish and chips dinner and a beer at the Cat and Fiddle in Cobourg - a nice treat.

To bed early  again - a full day doing nothing on the water is also very tiring.

Day Three...

 

Refueling in Cobourg Marina

Another clear and sunny day greeted us. After breakfast of pancakes and it was off to the Fuel Dock for refueling. Engine was checked, a little oil in the bilge. Weather was checked and off we went for a final day's 12 hour passage to Port Credit Marina.

Being closer to the north shore of the lake made it more interesting to observe the rolling hills of the nearby landscape.

I was able to take 3 sets of sextant sights for a S - R - S - R - S and accurate enough to be within 10 nm of actual GPS position - not too bad but could be better. I might need to be more accurate in determining DIP and IE. The sight reductions were all done on my StarPilot calculator - no tables - so it was done fairly quickly - about 10 minutes per sight.

We made good progress back to Toronto and PCM in getting to our final destination just before dark.

Approaching Skyline of Toronto

All in all an enjoyable experience on a very solid boat. Using Auto Helm made it all a very easy driving experience. And of course having agreeable weather was in our favour as well.

GPS Track...

 

It ended up being a 188 nm passage.

3 Day GPS Track

ISPA Instructor Clinic in Comox, BC

I will be in Comox for the week taking part in a Method of Instruction and Practical Sailing Evaluation Clinic in order to become an ISPA certified Instructor for the ISPA Competent Crew and Day Skipper sail programs.

ISPA (International Sail and Power Association) is a western Canada based Sail and Power instruction program -  http://www.ispassociation.ca/
 

View from the DSYC dock...

Monday and Tuesday was spent preparing Lesson Plans on various sailing topics and then presenting to the group. Feedback was provided by all.

S/V Gloman Magic - our Instruction vessel for the Clinic

Wednesday was spent on the boat and on the water, again in instruction mode - topics such as engine start-up procedure, standing and running rigging, and knots. On the water topics included the sailing circle. We did quite a few heave-to COB's - some of us with questionable success.

Comox Valley Marina

Thursday was spent maneuvering the boat under power and doing several single line dockings. This a great technique for a short or single handed crew, then it was out to do more heave-to COB with much better success.

View towards Vancouver Island and the Comox Glacier

At the conclusion of the day it was announced that we had all passed the Clinic - it was a sigh of relief after the last 2 strenuous days.

ISPA Instructor Class of 2016

Two Bilge Keeled Boats at CVM - Purposely Aground

Sextant Accessories...

Here is what my kids think that I look like when I am using my sextant...

Guerrilla Celestial Navigation

Probably not too different from what blue water navigators have had to do to catch a sight and determine a fix - I coin the term Guerrilla Celestial Navigation not so much as replicating or performing to an art form but to do what you might have to do to the best of your abilities or circumstances - to get the job done.

I have used the same term when making sushi at home - the art form is not practiced just the raw production of most times very tasty sushi.

So what constitutes Guerrilla Celestial Navigation? Here goes...

- taking a sun sight against a near shore horizon because that is all you have
- waiting for an opening in the cloud cover to get a sun sight while you can before losing it to the next cloud
- catching a sun sight when you have light cloud cover
- trying to guess where the limb of the sun is during an obscured sight

Take what you can when you have it - while you have it.

Worksheet and Tables vs. StarPilot TI 89 Calculator

For the past few days I have been working with the StarPilot TI 89 Calculator and comparing process and results. The plan to work with the calculator was to keep working to find a quick and accurate way to process sights so that while on a boat under varying conditions I could develop an accurate fix in as brief a processing period possible - for the purpose of continuing to develop the toolkit towards an 'acoustic' and practical approach to Celestial Navigation.

I don't want to see myself spending 15 to 30 minutes determining a fix, while thumbing through multiple tables, making mistakes and getting sea sick while below.

All sights were taken with a Davis Mark 25 plastic sextant through an artificial horizon - under near perfect viewing conditions. All sights were taken at local time and adjusted for watch error. Each sight session consisted of 3 sights and averaged.

All worksheet sights were reduced via Pub 249 Vol 3 Tables.

From the following:

Course and Speed:        000d 0Kn (Stone Frigate)
Actual Position:            N43d43.0'   W079d24.0'
DR:                               N43d           W079d
Date:                             1 Feb 2016

Sight #1                        Sun UL
                                      UTC = 15:50:09
                                      Hs = 25d16.8'
                                      Lon AP = 079d09.7'

Sight #2                        Sun LL
                                      UTC = 18:23:11
                                      Hs = 27d50.1'
                                      Lon AP = 079d24.9'

Sight #3                        Sun LL
                                      UTC = 20:10:15
                                      Hs = 19d00.1'

The results:                   Worksheet              StarPilot

Sight #1                         Zn = 153d T           Zn = 153.5d T
                                       Int = 39' A              Int = 42.3 A

Sight #2                         Zn = 194d T          Zn = 194.6d T
                                        Int = 38' A             Int = 34.2 A

Sight #3                          Zn = 221d T          Zn = 220.9d T
                                       Int = 21' A              Int = 16.6' A

Fix                                  N 43d 38.0'            N 43d 38.9'
                                       W 079d 27.0'          W 079d 24.9'

Accuracy                        within 7 nm            within 5 nm

With StarPilot...
- DR is the AP
- a bit more accurate
- takes about 2 minutes versus 15 to 20 minutes to determine a fix
- keep spare batteries and sea water out - no solar power

Clearly the Starpilot approach is very accurate and very quick to produce a fix and I can't wait to do the real thing on the water.

Here are the Worksheets and the Plot...

Sun Sight #1

Sun Sight #2

Sun Sight #3

Plotting Sheet Comparing Worksheet and StarPilot (in Red)

Tables versus Calculator - Who Wins?

In my quest to develop a practical and pragmatic approach to celestial navigation, I have been exploring the use of a calculator to perform sight reductions. This doesn't eliminate the need for worksheets yet but does open further opportunities to get into the mathematical background of celestial navigation. I don't intend to become a mathematician but to understand as much as I can the workings and solutions of the navigational triangle. So far two formulas form the basis of sight reductions by calculator. They are...

sin Hc = (sin d x sin L) + (cos L x cos d x cos LHA)

and

cos A = (sin d - (sin L x sin Hc)) / (cos L x cos Hc)

where...
Hc = Computed Altitude
d = declination
L = Latitude
LHA = Local Hour Angle

A programmable scientific calculator is needed to store programs and retrieve the variables. Not too expensive - if you end up going this way on a long ocean passage, a backup or two would be wanted.

These two formulas are just the tip of the spherical trigonometry ice berg. I will explore others that are at least as approachable - remember I'm not a mathematician, or an astrophysicist - yet.

The results have been interested and add another dimension to all of this. In my wish to be able to take real sights and perform real navigation on the water during a passage, the following benefits are observations come to bear:

- Need only the Nautical Almanac
- No need to carry Pub 249 (Vol 2 and 3) Tables
- Vol 1 is needed for preplanning of star sights
- No need to carry Pub 229 Tables
- No need to apply Precession and Nutation corrections
- Assumed position can be the exact DR for Lat and Long - which allows for an increased level of accuracy because whole numbers for Lat and LHA are no longer required
- Azimuth correction is achieved
- Must use a stars SHA to determine the stars LHA for Hc
- Accuracy of fixes can be better by calculator - but by tables could sometimes be more accurate than  calculator - I will need to do a bunch to see how this holds up and possibly to determine why

Sight reduction by calculator doesn't dismiss the paperwork done by worksheet but it does allow you to be a bit quicker in performing the work to arrive at a fix - without having to leaf through multiple pages of tables and entries. There are lots of opportunities to make a mistake and the calculator takes away a few of these opportunities.

The worksheets are still key to arriving at Ho, LHA and dec - which are the entry points to the Pub 249 and 229 tables.

I accept the use of a calculator as part of the 'acoustic' environment because the calculator doesn't rely totally on battery power but is also solar powered. Exposure to salt water spray or being dropped overboard will negate any attempt to be entirely self reliant in the goal of navigating through human and natural power.