2015 Sailing Season
Pam and Shawn Maloney
2015 was a great season for us, although it did take us away from SYC for most of it! A few days after Adult Sail Weekend, we flew to Athens for a 10-day adventure aboard Tilly Mint, an Oyster 82. Pam’s cousin, Howard Smith, is yachtmaster and captain of this beautiful boat, based in the Mediterranean. Howard and his wife Trish work as captain and hostess for charter guests, and maintain the boat in top condition for the owner. We were invited to join them in the Greek Islands while they prepped for a charter cruise. It was an amazing experience, fantastic sailing, beautiful scenery, and great company. We were impressed with the performance and grace of such a large boat, as we regularly clocked 10+ knots of boat speed under sail in 12-15 knots of wind, and no squeaks or creaks whatsoever – the boat, I mean! Surprisingly, the four of us handled the boat quite easily, with automatic furling, auto-winches, auto-windlass…the only thing we did the old-fashioned way was steer the boat! Attached are a couple of photos, including one with the SYC burgee flying proudly next to the Greek flag on the mast.
The weekend after we returned home, we moved Chinook upriver to Treasure Island Marina, near Kingston. Shawn spent a weekend in Kingston doing the on-water testing for the International Certificate of Competency (ICC) – this is a qualification required by most charter companies for bareboat chartering in areas other than the Caribbean.
We spent the month of July and first week of August cruising the 1000 Islands and Lake Ontario on weekends and ended with a one week cruising holiday in the same area and back to SYC. We were happy to visit our favourite restaurant in Sackett’s Harbour and several stops in Kingston for summer festivals, etc. Back in time for fall racing and some glorious September weather made the season complete. During our 6 weeks away from SYC and many nautical miles, we are proud to say that we only put 20 hours on our engine all summer, which meant lots of time sailing!
