Another note on weather ...

When we were out sailing yesterday, we were reminded just how quickly things can change. One important note on the weather is to always keep a watch on the weather around you!

When we left the harbour, the weather was beautiful. It was sunny but not hot (about 19 deg C), and the winds were about 10 knots. Nice and steady but not strong enough for chop. The weather was perfect for sailing the Sonar under full sail.

The first hour of our trip progressed nicely. We tacked our way up river, enjoying the peacefulness that you can only experience when the engine is off and you are traveling under wind power alone.

The "hourly" forecast did call for a short bout of rain at about 7pm. It was to last less than half an hour, so we figured we would just sail through it. In looking up river, you could see a horrible black area over Kanata, but to the right (over the river and Quebec shore) you could see the sun through a small amount of rain. When you looked downriver (towards Ottawa), it was a beautiful sunny day with only a few small spotted clouds. The contrast was commented upon many times during the early part of the sailing trip.

The weather in Lac Deschenes typically comes from up-river. When you see a squall up-river you have 15-30 minutes before the squall hits. We were up near Aylmer Yacht Club and the weather was pretty calm (probably about 5-7 knot winds). The river turn to the East a little just passed the yacht club. We were planning on heading up past Aylmer Island and hopefully miss most of the rain, before turning back towards Nepean Sailing Club to conclude our evening sail.

Getting a little close to Aylmer, I tacked the boat to head into deeper waters. The wind very quickly started to pick up. After about a minute, it went from flat (about 5 knot winds) to a more steady 15 knot wind. The boat started to heal over, but not uncomfortably so. I believe my comment to our guests was "this is what I love about sailing!". It as truly a wonderful feeling ... then ... the wind kept picking up. Next thing I new the boat was starting to heal too much. I loosed the traveler all the way. That provided temporary relief, but soon the heal was again too much. I loosed the main. It became clear very quickly that the wind was too strong for the amount of sail we had up. We needed to reduce sail area. I immediately hove to.

Unfortunately, the waves had picked up and the wind was still blowing. We started to take down the main sail, but were having difficultly because the winds were too strong. When you are hove to, you sit 60 deg off the waves, which is pretty close to broad side. One big wave hit with an accompanying gust of wind and the boat started to heal and take in water over the side. It was time to run with the storm. I turned down wind, and things calmed down for a few moments. We tried to get the main down, but from that position, it wasn't going to happen. We needed to head into the wind (to remove the tension from the main) in order to get the sail down. I turned the boat up briefly, we pulled the sail down, and then ran with the wind under Jib only. Fortunately, this was not a long lived storm, and we were far enough up-river that we had lots of river downwind of us.

Upon returning, I took a look at the wind report. The wind had spiked from a sustained 10 knots to a sustained 28 knots, with peak just around 42 knots. Good thing we were in the Ottawa river and not a larger body of water.











There were several lessons learned in this experience:

• Always keep an eye on the current weather.
• Black clouds are not a good thing!
• The weather can change VERY quickly.
• When heavy winds hit suddenly, keep a cool head and remember your training.

Here is a picture of the beautiful rainbows we saw on our way downwind. At one point, you could seen the entire rainbow from end-to-end. Unfortunately, the camera on my phone couldn't capture it.