Sometimes it nice to just go for a cruise instead of race. On Thursday the weather looked perfect for a trip out to The Pancakes: two small islands about 7.5 km due west of Harold Point. Aleid showed the way for those who weren't familiar with the route.
We made good time and reached the Pancakes around lunch time.
If you hadn't been there before, it was best to approach the rocky shore slowly.
We lifted the boats out onto the rocks so they wouldn't get scratched by wave action.
Once everyone was safely ashore, we had a picnic lunch.
Wim and Alison waved hello as they passed on their way home, but they didn't stop to join us for lunch.
We all went for a walk to explore round the island.
We decided to take the scenic route back and go through the Canoe Channel. It's a pretty tight squeeze. Good thing we didn't have to tack upwind!
Derek gave some latecomers a lift in Charger so they could join us for the picnic. Unfortunately for them, they arrived just after we departed the Pancakes, so they missed the picnic. It turned out to be very lucky the rest of us that they came. When we came out the Canoe Channel there wasn't much wind to be found (and what we did found kept getting lost again). We gratefully accepted a tow.
By 4:00 pm the water was like glass, and Derek made a few more friends by
offering then a tow as well!
Thanks to Randy Beaumont, and Stephen and Katrina Steel for the photos.
© 2006 Ontario Mirror Dinghy Association