Thursday was a non sail day highlighted by a 10 km walk along the Summerside boardwalk and a dinner theatre. It was a beautiful day and it felt good to get out and get some physical exercise. That evening we celebrated my birthday at the local dinner theatre which was fun.
We departed Summerside at 0800 on Friday for the 10 hour trip back to Barrachois Harbour. Our timing was to leave 2 hours before low tide and have the rising tide push us down the Strait. We estimated that we gained 0.5 – 1 knot most of the way.
The trip out of Summerside was difficult however, with huge swells right on our bows. We were running the engine hard and after a couple of hours, Judy noticed a lot of black smoke. We shut it down completely and continued under sail, which actually made the trip more comfortable. About 5 hours into the trip the wind died so we motored sailed at 2200 rpms and made great progress and didn`t have any engine issues.
In the middle of the Strait, we were assaulted by the strangest hordes of flies and bugs. Given that we were 8 miles for either shore we were at a loss to explain their presence. The combination of a long day, dropping winds, extremely hot temperatures and insects created a few tense moments for us. However, one of our local Skippers who I called earlier to ask about my engine called back to see how we were doing. He was surprised that we had no wind since he was enjoying strong winds in Tatamagouche Bay.
Luckily, as we got closer to Malagash Point to winds picked up. Our fellow Redwing was there to escort us in BHYC. As we sailed along taking pictures of one another, Judy got on the radio and commented on what a pretty boat they had, to which they replied so do you!
We made port at just over 10 hours. Just before we docked I got a message from Mark that he was coming to the cottage to make supper so not to worry about getting anything!
What a perfect end to a perfect trip.
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