On My Way To Macinac

[M275sailer]

Wish me fair winds, three days sail to Macinac Island then race back in the MacMan yaught race. First race, first time sailing to US, first time night sailing etc., nervous and excited too. I am a very green sailer and this is only my third season of sailing but I get out solo often and I recruited a very experinced friend to crew. Here is a video of me getting to the North Channel and to NCYC where I am leaving from today.
YouTube - North Channel Sailing Solo

[canadianseamonkey]

Good luck in the race my friend...my old sailing grounds. The North Channel is the best!

[M275sailer]

Well I had quite the ride over night on lake Huron! Bad weather set in before dark on the first leg of the MacMan race between Macinac and Gore Bay. I was sailing with only one crew member so we put in our second reef before dark to be safe. it was a good thing we did. The anvil shaped clouds also had us wondering what kind of night to expect.

My boat sails well at 15 to 20 degrees heel. We spent a big chunk of time at 30 and at times 35. It got so black out that all you could see in the cockpit was the compass light and the rain going sideways past the Nav lights. We also had to dodge a freighter in the shipping channel to Detour Passage and then find the the gap at False Detour virtually blind and in very rough condintions and no navaids marking the channel! We were also getting tired from being short handed after racing for 13 hours already. Tired yes, sleepy no, too much adreniline going.

Getting pushed by the waves in that passage in the dark was incredible. It was the first time I felt the boat surf. The only reference was the compass for keeping the boat on course with speeds of 9kts, 7 is really fast for my boat! Turning east again at the top of the passage was where the heavy winds started again coming through the North Channel. It was even rougher here because of the short chop to the waves. This continued to about 10 am when we started to shake the reefs out. By 11 it was dead calm and 15 mile to the finnish in Gore Bay. I tried for 5 hours to make 2 miles. At that point even if a wind came we wouldn't beat the cut off time. On came the engine and our heart ache after going through so much to get that far.

Saturday made up for everything on the second leg from Gore Bay to Little current. The route passes around and through islands in the North channel which calls for good navigation. Winds were moderate and we had miles and miles of broad reaches with some surf on quartering seas and fast speeds. Our little boat kept the big boat fleet in sight for the whole day. Overall with our handicap we had the 14th best time for leg 2. Something two very tired sailors can be proud of in our first ever race in very challenging conditions.

[tomandchris]

Sounds like you had a great sail and experience. What race exactly are you in? The Port Huron to Mackinac ended last Monday and the Chicago Mackinac is ending as we speak. Your race sounds interesting, What is it?

[M275sailer]

It's called The International MacMan(Mackinac/Manitoulin Islands) Challenge put on by the Little Current and Mackinac YC's, ie between US and Canada. Some of the Macman racers do the round the Mac Island race before the MacMan and I believe one of them won it this year. I also saw the Port Huron fleet in the harbour when I arrived there on Tuesday.

Macman is only 7years old and trying to mesh with the other races there and promote cruising in the North Channel. Since it was all new to me and needing directions around Macinac, almost nobody heard of it there either.

With this my first race it was a good start. It is all very low key and a very social event with functions on shore over the multi day race. Check out the LCYC website under MacMan.

[tomandchris]

Thanks, I had heard of that race but did not recognize the name. Enjoy the N. Channel.