Horseshoe Bay Bound

Heather, the kids and I headed out for Horseshoe Bay last weekend aboard Morning Star. There was a pretty healthy wind blowing across the bay, an easterly, unusual for Yellowknife Bay which is situated in a north/south direction, this means you can beam reach up and down the 12 mile long bay without tacking, a sailors dream. It was a tad difficult getting off the dock, if you want the full story on that you will have to ask in person, but once underway we just flew. What a ride, all we had up was the jib, and Morning Star was booting along at 6 knots, it is a very stable boat so there was very little weather helm and everyone was able to enjoy the ride without chanting the sailors lament, "Oh my God, we're all going to die!"
Once we had the anchor down, the kids were clamoring to get off the boat so a shore party was arranged. Heather valiantly rowed her family to a nearby island and they safely disembarked from the dinghy and did some fishing. 3 other boats showed up a bit later and we had a little community going.
The next morning was very dull and dreary, after we indulged in French toast Al La Cassidy, we played card games, a partial game of Scrabble and a lively game of
Canadian dice. ELIJAH'S MUMMY STARE Elijah at 8 didn't quite grasp the subtleties of the game of chance and would shake one die when he had 1500 points on the go. It was all fun especially when the game ended with Heather shaking a large score, me stealing it after shaking 2 die and then Cassidy winning the game on a lone die which rolled to a winning 5! The afternoon was spent trying to catch the elusive jack fish which would torment the kids by following their hooks right toshore. The kids also learned how to row, but Mom wisely nixed their wish to head off in the dinghy on their own, we weren't sure where they might end up. We lunched aboard diesel furnace heated Yola, an Ericson 34, scarfing down Diveky pancakes by the fork full.
I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend and we finished it off this morning with another beam reach home. I was in my element while Heather and the kids snuggled below and read. Eagle eyed Elijah spied the nest where the resident bald eagle looked after her young as we left Horseshoe Bay. The call of the loon is still echoing in my mind.