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| photo courtesy of Brad Quinn |
There are times in life when events come together to build a positive and long-lasting memory that will bring a smile to your face whenever you recall that moment. August 25th, was one of those times. We had been approached by one of our boater neighbors and friends earlier this season about volunteering our time and boats to host a number of couples for a day trip. These couples are all part of the Canadian Forces Family. Personally I know what it is like to be part of this family of acting, retired and veteran service members.
There are many times however; when it feels like anything but a family, and you feel like you are left alone to deal with situations that you may have been exposed to. Although I have served within the Canadian Forces for a time, I don't always feel part of the family, but every once in a while, I meet someone who reminds me that no matter how long my service was, I am still part of that family. One of those people is our boat neighbor.
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| photo courtesy of Brad Quinn |
This isn't about me however; this is about others, who carry with them the unseen and often discounted burden of their service. Until recently these burdens, that are carried individually and can often make someone feel very alone, have gone ignored by society in general. It is only in the past decade that strides have been made in dealing with the unseen injuries of active duty. What I know, is that sometimes a simple act of kindness can go a long way to help someone.
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| Off to the anchorage! |
The day started off with a quiet sail from the marina to an anchorage some 15 nm away. We started off as 4 boats in all, two power flybridge cruisers and two sailboats, all in the 40 ft range. The sailboats set off first and we made our way out last on the short journey to Sandy's Cove just past Massasauga Point. The sailing was just a little too quiet for us. Without any real wind to speak of, the sailboats were moving along at about 3 kts while the power boats would have to shift into neutral and just drift along with the sailboats. After a bit of the "drive and drift" routine, we decided to head up ahead of the pack so that we could find an appropriate location to anchor and set our anchor properly in order to hold the boats that would be rafting off of our boat.
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| Approaching Sandy's Cove. |
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the practice of rafting, here is a short explanation of how it is done. One boat, generally the heaviest, will drop and set their anchor. The same boat then sets out fenders on both sides and prepares to receive other boats that will tie up to that boat as if it were a wharf. Other boats that will become part of the raft up will then tie to the anchored boat trying to keep an equal load on both sides of the anchored boat. Ultimately a raft of boats is formed and depending on how many boats make up the raft, other boats may also put out their anchors to help hold the raft in place.
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| Final approach to the raft up! |
This is a very communal experience as people congregate on the different boats to share food, drinks, stories, go for a swim, soak up some Vitamin D, and just enjoy each other's company. I enjoy rafting for just that reason. Karen and I have done this in the past when we were sailors and this was a first for us as power cruisers. Normally we are tied to a wall or in a marina and we have people over to our boat to socialize. This brings us to the point of a raft up, it's a very social activity and after a while tends to bring people out of their shells and with so many boats, there are so many areas for people to meet up and break off into smaller groups if so desired.
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Glad the anchor was holding.
photo courtesy of Brad Quinn |
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| Alegria and her crew. |
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| "Yet Another Adventure" and "Elysium V" |
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| Smiles all around! |
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Time Traveler and Tropical Horizons
photo courtesy of Brad Quinn |
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| Some last minute additions dropped in from shore |
We spent the day in Sandy's Cove and as the grey clouds started to approach and the air temperature was dropping, we made the decision to head back to the marina for dinner on the dock. As the boats left the raft one by one, we would be the last boat left and we focused on retrieving our anchor. During the raft up we had two other boats join us and the winds picked up which did have me concerned at one point paying out more chain. At that point we figured that we had over 100,000 lbs pulling on the anchor! Needless to say the anchor had dug itself deep into the ground, we worked for about 30 minutes to retrieve it! (note to self here....set trip line from now on) This was a real test for our ground tackle being all chain rode with a 25 kg Rocna anchor at the end.
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| See you back at the dock! |
We made our way back to the marina and tied up waiting on the two sailboats to arrive before we joined fellow boaters on their boat for drinks and supper. Some of the photos on this post were taken by Brad of "Yet Another Adventure" who also made an amazing smoked pasta salad, coleslaw, and cooked some sausages for the entire crew. Even though the military couples who were at this event appreciated and were ever so thankful that we were there, I am just as thankful to them and our boater friends for allowing us to be part of this event. It was a great deal of fun and we enjoyed ourselves immensely. Thanks to Norm and Katherine for organizing the event and inviting us to take part in it. This was a fun and rewarding event for all.
