The crew of Obsession
The crew of Ice Cubed The crew of Morning Glory
Well I went on the 25th annual Commissioner's Cup on the weekend. It is a 240 nautical mile sailboat race to Hay River and back. We left Friday morning and got into Hay River at about 1630 hours on Saturday, having motored the last 40 miles into Hay River due to la
ck of wind. We had a race dinner with the Commissioner of the NWT and then departed Hay River at 0900 on Sunday morning for Yellowknife. There was a brisk wind blowing in our faces as we left and we tacked into it for
about 7 hours, then it died.
The crew of Ice Cubed The crew of Morning Glory 
Well I went on the 25th annual Commissioner's Cup on the weekend. It is a 240 nautical mile sailboat race to Hay River and back. We left Friday morning and got into Hay River at about 1630 hours on Saturday, having motored the last 40 miles into Hay River due to la
ck of wind. We had a race dinner with the Commissioner of the NWT and then departed Hay River at 0900 on Sunday morning for Yellowknife. There was a brisk wind blowing in our faces as we left and we tacked into it for
about 7 hours, then it died.We motored slowly on, waiting for the rest of the fleet to catch up, then started the race again about 2100 hours and managed to sail the rest of the way into Yellowknife. It was a gorgeous sail back, spinnaker, gennaker and making 7 knots under white sails at one point. 
About 0300 on Monday the northern lights made an appearance and danced their way across the sky, shimmering pink and green shards of light morphing into broad bands of flowing colours, wonderful. About that time we had a fire drill to find out where the smell of propane was coming from. The Captain emptied all the l
ockers, throwing sails, pumps, lines and various other sailboat gear into the cabin in a frantic attempt to find out where the leak was, it was a little tense. We never did find it but the smell dissipated and we sailed on. 
About 0300 on Monday the northern lights made an appearance and danced their way across the sky, shimmering pink and green shards of light morphing into broad bands of flowing colours, wonderful. About that time we had a fire drill to find out where the smell of propane was coming from. The Captain emptied all the l
ockers, throwing sails, pumps, lines and various other sailboat gear into the cabin in a frantic attempt to find out where the leak was, it was a little tense. We never did find it but the smell dissipated and we sailed on. 
It wasn't always warm!!
Our boat won the fast placque into Hay River, which consisted of a bottle of rum and we finished first on the return leg. It remains to be seen whether or not my name will appear on the cup for a fourth time or not. I sur
e hope so. but if it doesn't a super time was had by all. During the motoring hiatus on the way back the three boats entertained themselves with challenges. We composed limericks, songs, haikus, and ballads. It was great fun, the ballad sung to the tune of on top of Old Smokie was legendary. Apparently the other 2 boats where pretty close together so they rafted up and the captain of one boat played guitar while all the other sang the
e hope so. but if it doesn't a super time was had by all. During the motoring hiatus on the way back the three boats entertained themselves with challenges. We composed limericks, songs, haikus, and ballads. It was great fun, the ballad sung to the tune of on top of Old Smokie was legendary. Apparently the other 2 boats where pretty close together so they rafted up and the captain of one boat played guitar while all the other sang the Is this Mexico or the NWT????
ballad, priceless. The Hardisty Island All Girls Marching Band once again outdid themselves and performed a spirited rendition of 76 Trombones as we sailed past. The batons were flying and the pom-pom were twirling and all was right with the world. It was just super to be back on the Big Lake and amoung friends.
