Sep 8, 2013 | Adventures 2013
“[…] just remember, the storm doesn’t last forever.
It can scare you; it can shake you to your core. But it never lasts.
The rain subsides, the thunder dies, and the winds calm to a soft whisper.
And that moment after the storm clouds pass,
when all is silent and still, you find peace.
Quiet, gentle peace.”
― S.L. Jennings, Fear of Falling
After our day from hell
we have tried to evaluate if we could have or should have continued…
…at the height of the storm
40 knot winds
2-3 metre waves
one local boater said he had never seen it this bad
a large motor cruiser took over twice as long to return home
another said it would have been worse ahead…
And then there is the matter of our crashing emergency stop for the night.
the wind was so forceful while docking
fenders got pushed aside
I heard a crackle crunch sound,
we quickly cleated bow and stern lines
then checked for any damage but saw none
At that point we were just thankful to be secure for the night.
…drenched to the skin,
it took most of the night with the help of our little cabin heater to dry out…
Back at Trois-Rivières Marina we saw the crack…
…we called a local shipwright to evaluate the damage…
he concluded it was just superficial…
JUST?… I thought.
I guess it was bound to happen sometime.
…first big storm
…first scratch
…won’t be our last
…it all adds to our collective experience
We have concluded that we did the right thing by stopping when we did.
Things learned from our Seamanship Course:
Always plan for a safe harbour along your route in advance.
But it didn’t take a Seamanship Course for us to know that
safety, above all else, is the first rule of the road.
and things can be fixed.
Sep 7, 2013 | Adventures 2013
We left Québec City on a beautiful sunny clear but cold day
trying to time our departure with low tide….
…out through the lock at Port of Québec Marina…
…past the beautiful Château Frontenac…
…keeping track of more BFB’s…
…slack tide at 1145 hr.
What we didn’t count on was the force of the incoming tides and current
combined with strong Easterly winds
The expression ‘fair winds and following seas’ has a different meaning for us now
Fair winds – yes,
but waves increased dramatically to a good 4 feet as the tide came in…
…and matching the speed of the boat along the crest of the wave
proved difficult and made for constant adjustments.
It reminded me of the ride at my home town fairgrounds:
Wild Mouse: crazy fast turns, ups and downs at high speeds.
And Formula One
…surfing at 10 knots one minute, up on the tidal wave
then bobbing back and forth another…
It was an exhausting day.
We decided not to try the full distance back to Trois-Rivières
and stopped once again at Portneuf for the night.
Little did we know our next would be truly a day from hell…
Sep 6, 2013 | Adventures 2013
but this was the Captain’s birthday so I added a few extras to the mix…
Drunken Lemon Orzo
4 servings
2 cups water
1 cup white wine
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp salt
Zest of one lemon
Juice from 1/2 same lemon
Pinch of paprika
1 1/2 cups orzo pasta
2 tbsp butter
2 scallions finely chopped
Place a medium sized sauce pan over high heat and add the water, white wine, olive oil, salt, lemon zest, lemon juice, and paprika.
Once the mixture has come to a boil, add the orzo and stir.
When it comes to a boil again, reduce heat to medium and stir once more.
Allow to boil until the pasta is al dente or as preferred.
Strain the orzo into a bowl discarding the liquid – do not rinse.
Never rinse pasta, by the way.
Add the butter to the orzo and stir to combine.
Gently fold in the scallions.
Garnish with a tiny bit of lemon zest or more scallions if desired.
some pretty amazing crab legs…
…and some pastries from an Old Québec pâtisserie
for dessert…
