Wing Night at the Docks

Susanne and Laura showing off the wing menu. The summer is almost over...Susanne finally made it up for wings.

Today Susanne, her sister Laura, Mark and I spent the afternoon at Bayfield. This was actually Mark's first time up to our boat at it's new location. On the way up we stopped by GBYC to check out our old dock. Mark and I shared the same dock for years. As usual the club was a quite place for a weekday. The plans for the evening was for us to meet up with Brad, Jill and their daughter Caroline for wing night at the Docks Restaurant. We all had a great meal and drinks while catching up on what's new. All and all a great time...now for the main event the long weekend...George

Caroline was our group photographer for the evening.

Mark and I enjoying our girls and the beers.

The Last Long Weekend

Grace fills her pail while Susanne, Ruby Nicole and Owen enjoy the beach on the Civic Holiday weekend in the warm sunshine. The weather was the best in a while as most of  June and July was either rainy or cool.

It will be interesting to see how this Labour Day weekend unfolds. Will it rain or be nice, will all the kids show up at the lake, or maybe not. I just never know. But that is a nice thing...every long weekend is different and that keeps things fresh. I posted a few of my photos from the Civic Holiday weekend past. Enjoy your long weekend in any form it takes...I sure hope to with whoever shows up at the lake...George

Grace works on filling the pail. Along the shore in Bayfield there is a good amount of smaller stones. The water has a sandy base and just above the water line (above the stones) sand begins once again. The kids seem to enjoy the stones more than the sand.

Danielle Grace and Nicole stroll the beach. Not far down from where we sat a beach wedding renewal was taking place. They could not have picked a better day. We could hear the band play through the evening on our boat as the cottages are not far off.

Nathan gives Owen some stones to play with...just have to watch that he does not try to eat them...Owen has a very healthy appetite.

Happy A-R-R-R-R...in the North Channel

The gang gathers...that is Brad to the far left.

Last summer ( 2012) near the end of my visit with Brad on board Wavelength up in the North Channel we stopped for a night at Mosquito Island about an hour`s sail out of Little Current. We had arrived very early. At that time there was only one other boat in the bay. By mid afternoon there was a good group of boats anchored throughout the bay. One of the boater from Sarnia dingy`s around the bay planning a happy hour for 3pm on a tiny sandy beach. Well everyone showed up with a few cold ones and a snack. One of the boaters brought along a small folding table that was really handy. The group was an interesting one including a couple from Toronto that was looking after a friends boat for a couple of weeks to a Looper from the Boston area aboard a trawler. They were heading west through the North Channel, then down to Chicago and hopefully to the Florida Keys before it got cold. What a great experience that was meeting a fun bunch of boaters. I think that might have been the highlight of last years trip north...George

The gang gathers for a few cold ones and snacks. It was kind of nice to even have a table arrive by dingy.

Not everyone arrived in dingy`s some arrived by kayaks...inflatable ones to boot.

Mosquito has two sandy spots to land your dingy. This is a view from the second location looking out into the bay. The island has some really nice places to explore. We spend a good part of one day hiking the trails...will post some photos from our hike later on.

Off to Haywood Island - North Channel 2013

Strawberry Island Lighthouse located near Little Current.

On my trip with Brad we left Logan Bay early in the morning making a stop in Little Current for the usual pump-out, fuel, some fresh steaks and a shower. It was off to Haywood Island for the night passing the lighthouse on Strawberry Island. This lighthouse is of particular interest to me as the GBYC club house is patterned after this structure. I had to get a few photos as we passed by. We spent the late afternoon at Haywood Island in the dingy around the harbour and downing some Stonewall Light ales with salsa and chips. A bottle of red wine and steaks finished off our day...George

One can see a fishing boat near the lighthouse. Off to the far left is the lighthouse docks were a group of kids are spending some time swimming. Not sure how they could swim as the water temp Brad recorded later in the day in Haywood harbour as only 67 degrees.

As one can see the action around the dock at Strawberry Island. It appears the lighthouse is still used as a summer residence. At this point most of the kids are out of the water...wonder why.

Brad digs into the salsa during our version of happy hour.

Found a new beer called Stonewall Light which tastes a lot like Corona and at half the price...the meaning being we can drink twice as much.

GBYC, Grand Bend Lighthouse

This is the GBYC version of the Strawberry Island lighthouse.

I had been down on the main beach taking sunset photos in early June 2009 when on the way back to my boat I noted the after effects. I decided to get a few extra photos of our club house with this neat looking sky. This is about 10 minutes or more after the sun had set into the lake...enjoy...George

Kendall and Brandy - Tie the Knot

Left to right Michelle, Kendall, Amber and Nicole.

This past weekend Susanne and I attended the wedding of Brandy and Kendall. Kendall and his sister Amber, our family have known for years. Our kids have become very good friend through the years beginning back in 2001 when we launched our sailboat for the first time at the GBYC in Grand Bend. Shortly after we launched our boat a gentleman walked up to us saying, hey I think I know you...well it was Kendall and Amber's dad Micky who we had known from our youth. We had not seen him in decades and an old friendship began once again including our children.

Brandy and Kendall are both sailors that kept a 24' Shark sailboat on Lake Erie. This year they sold the Shark and purchased a Catalina 30. A great boat with twice the room. With the marine heritage of the two they added to their vows the actual "tie the knot"...an actual sailors knot.

At the wedding it was also great to see two  past GBYC kids included in the wedding party, Jason Brown, son of GBYC member and friend Randy Brown and Andrew who I had not seen since his time at the club as a sailing instructor in the early 2000's. It was great to connect with all the kids and see how they have all grown up from teenagers to adults...George Dutka

Left to right, Nicole, Jason, Michelle and the groom Kendall. Hard to believe they are all grown up.

Bayfield Beach Geese

I usually carry a camera while walking the beach, my Canon rebel or my pocket Olympus tough. On this weekday during June 2013 the local geese seem have the run of the beach....at least till I arrived...George

GBYC Race Day 2004

I took this photo from Copout our Tanzer 26 during a Fall 2004 GBYC race in Grand Bend, Ont.. Well as you can see no one is going anywhere fast. The whole fleet was hanging around the start line just drifting along...better days ahead...George

Boat House

I found these photos on an Australian designer's blog site which covers waterside locations and fashion from around the world. The boat house caught ones attention as a bright, fresh and clever mix of Scandinavian and Hampton style. As noted in the blog the boat mooring as part of the house is amazing...and the location, Muskoka...George

Kincardine Sunset

The music plays on during the daily sunset. On this day a female bagpiper was on hand.

The last stop on the way down the lake on Brad's boat Wavelength was a night in Kincardine. It was a Sunday in early August. We had got in early enough to have a nice fish dinner at the Erie Belle. Actually Brad planned it that way, we had left Tobermory at daybreak. This was the second day in a row that I had got each a sunrise and sunset photo. Brad's wife Jill drove up from Goderich to join us for supper. By the time dinner was over it was time to watch the sunset. We positioned ourselves up on the bridge next to the lighthouse for a good view of both the setting sun and the nightly bag piper who on this night was female...George

The sun begins to dip into Lake Huron in Kincardine.

Moments after the above photo was taken the sun  is actually seen dropping into the quick rising clouds from the horizon making a really nice looking sky.

A minute later the clouds have taken over the sunset but adding a nice reflection into the sky. By morning the whole sky was overcast and a light drizzle appears.

The nightly bagpiper is seen playing on the lighthouse platform in Kincardine.

Beach evenings in July

Susanne and Ruby stay over mid-week in early July. Michelle is also along this evening and took the photo near sunset.

 One of the great things about being in the lakefront basin in Bayfield is the few short steps to the beach. We spend most days at sunset there. It is kind of nice to make a coffee on the boat or grab a beer and head down to catch the end of the day. On occasion we even build a fire out of the driftwood found in abundance. The following are a few of our views from this past July...George.

Sunset on Bayfield beach with beers and a fire.

Michelle and Devin came up for a couple of days in July. We got in two nice days of sailing. We spent an evening on the beach having a fire and a few frosties. We viewed a great sunset followed by some fireworks near the pier. Near Deer Park Lodge a group of Chinese lanterns had been sent off into the darkness. A real nice scene for us to view.

As the last day of July ends Susanne and Ruby are seen collecting some stones and beach glass.

Beach Boat

On Tuesday Brad and I went out for a sail on his boat, a CS36. We alternate boats. The day before we headed out on Trekker. Anyhow while out in a light SW wind we noted a small boat with a really large main and small jib heeling well over. The size of the sails seemed much larger than what one would think a boat that small should have. The boat was flying along. The next morning while walking the beach I found the boat we had watched beached near Deer Park Lodge. It is a smaller day-sailer which looks like something one could have fun on...George

Sunset and Full Moon

The full moon over the Bayfield lakefront basin on Monday night.

On Monday night while watching the sunset I noted behind me a full moon coming up. On my way back to my boat I had some fun with the moon. At the end of the floating docks one can view the moon over one of the smaller boats. Well it looks like it has a nice size mast light. I thought of taking a few more photos the next night as they called for a blue moon. The sky had a lot of haze which kind of ruined that evenings sunset and was also hiding the moon from view...so is life on the beach.

A full moon rests on top of a mast on Monday evening.

Each evening during the early portion of this week the lake has been calm at sunset. A young lad with his paddle board could be found sitting on the beach watching the sunset with the rest of us. I took this photo which captures him well while heading down the path from the marina...George

A young lad that has been spending the last few nights catching the sunset on the beach after a boat ride on his paddle board.

This is the same sunset as above taken from the top of the berm prior to walking down to the Bayfield beach.

Saturday Afternoon Sail

Nathan is currently in charge of steering  our sailboat even though he has no idea about sailing or boating. Michelle is there just in case. He did do a really good job for his first time.

On a nice warm and sunny day this past weekend Susanne, Ruby, Michelle, Nicole and Nathan arrived shortly after noon for a day on the beach and a sail. In light variable winds we had a easy sail while having lunch in the cockpit. The water was still cool out in the lake but we got in for a swim on the beach later in the day...George

Susanne and Ruby...not quite sure what Ruby is thinking at this moment.

Nathan is hamming it up with the racing fleet in the background. This photo is for you Devin, see what you missed.

Michelle getting some sun Devin-less.

As you can see the wind is light. The boat is sailing itself while I am up near the bow taking this photo of the kids...that's Nathan and Nicole.

Saturday's Annual William Given Race - Bayfield

The spinnaker fleet of over a dozen boats start the race shortly after 11am.

This Saturday the winds started the day very light and variable. The race was changed from the usual  Goderich and return to around the set marks a couple of times. The wind did build through the day and it appears all the boats did complete the race. I had planned on participating in the race myself, but with the light winds and some of my kids and wife coming up around noon I decided to stay put and have a nice afternoon sail with the family. I did though take a group of photos of what one could see of the race at the start from the hill in the lake basin. The bottom three photos are GBYC members sailboats past and present...enjoy...George Dutka

A few minutes after the start one can see the smaller ripples on the water as the wind builds during the morning.

The white sail fleet of 7 boats begins the race five minutes after the spinnaker group.

I could still get a good view of the first group about 30 minutes after the start. 

GBYC boat and crew aboard  C&C 30

ex-GBYC boat - Summer Heat

Believe it or not this GBYC 35 footer is tiller steering.