Montreal

having a bit of trouble with these postings so some things are a bit out of phase (text vs. photos) but you get the idea.

In Montreal we had the Loopers come aboard for a visit with their lovely little girls. Then we enjoyed the Montreal version of the Symphony of Fire.


Tomorrow, (Friday) MOKUM will reach Quebec City and Elmer will finally have a chance to do some touring as they wait for Rainer (who will carry on to St. John's) to join them.



Along the way to Montreal we were entertained one morning with rowing club from Brockville.






Martin enjoyed an amazing breakfast specially prepared by Pim - I ordered, he delivered - an amazing chef!

the photos of MOKUM were taken by Mike and Jan Hutchinson as we entered the 1,000 islands on Sunday afternoon. We had a great morning in Kingston visiting with Mike and Jan and Fred Charlene Shiedel who had travelled all the way to Kingston to wish us well (they missed us at the departure party by just a few minutes!)



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The ride from Stoney Creek to Kingson was a fabulous spinnaker run. Peter Tietz accompanied us to instruct us in the use of his "wind vane" autopilot. He also provided a great deal of humour. We covered the 165 nautical miles in 25 hours!!


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The Sunday afternoon cruise through the 1000 Islands was spectacular with a gentle spinnaker run, afternoon lighting and a beautiful clear sky.





When we got to Montreal we had a visit from Lisa and Carl Looper and their daughters who delighted in the tour of MOKUM complete with lessons on binocular use, steering practice and going in and out of the companionway. Mom and Dad were kind enough to donate a case of our favourite flavour.

By Thursday night (tonight) MOKUM is in Trois Rivieres after a fabulous sail (with NO locks to slow her down). The crew is doing well and are very happy. Elmer is pretty sunburned and he and Pim have had a couple of rough nights battling mosquitos but they are having a great time.

Mary and Martin returned to Kitchener today to return to the humdrum real world for a week or two.

Montreal

I received a call late last night that Mokum had arrived in Montreal. Dad (Martin) is getting off the boat there, and coming home to work for a week before flying to St. John's (with David Meijer) for the crossing mid-July. I am sure he will update the blog when he gets home to tell how the adventure has been so far from the boat.

For those who have asked, the boat will have a satellite phone from St. John's to Amsterdam. During that time, the crew is hoping to be able to update the blog themselves from Mokum, so we can all follow the adventure.

Ahead of schedule!

The sailing so far has been mainly downwind, so the crew flew the spinnaker for much of the day. Weather has been great- some were even in for a swim today (although it was chilly). They have been through 3 locks, and tonight, they are anchored just past Cornwall (north of tiny "Hamilton Island").

For those who missed the Record article on Saturday (or are not in the KW area), here is a link to see the article about the trip. http://www.therecord.com/home_page_front_story/home_page_front_story_1080408.html

The crew is hoping to arrive in Montreal tomorrow or Wednesday morning. Will continue to keep you posted!

The crew

The crew for the voyage (left to right) Jan Pieter, Pim, Martin (red shirt), Erik and David

Rainer Leipscher photo

The Crew

2 days in... all is well!

Thanks to all who attended the send off party in Stoney Creek on Friday night, and to all who sent their well wishes! It was a great way to start the journey.

So far, the weather has been great, and we managed to sail 165 miles on our first day. As of tonight (Sunday), we are anchored just south of Brockville, and are settling in for a night's rest.

Everything is going very well. We will be in touch again over the next couple days.

Martin (via daughter Bonney)

the " party" -photos

Rainer Leipscher photos
Our "shove off" party is Friday evening, June 22, at 7:30 at Jan Pieter's cottage ( a few short blocks from the 50 Point Marina. We will depart just after midnight (bad luck to depart on a Friday). Bring your own lawn chair and expect to have a great evening as we say goodbye to our friends. Tours of MOKUM will be a feature event of the evening. Details of the location of the cottage will follow.

Mokum, 3 weeks before getting underway.

The crew is working industriously at outfitting...

We have two new members of the team in the past week. Rainer Leipsher will be joining the team from Quebec City to St. John's and David Meijer will be on board for the crossing from St. John's. We are now within 3 weeks of departure and, thanks to Erik's persistence and creativity and the skipper's continuing efforts to organize us, we are actually pretty much ready for the voyage! We are currently dealing with the details of menu, medications and minutia. Pim recently found a wonderful website about icebergs which will be a great assistance in avoidance: http://www.icebergfinder.com/. Hopefully, we are all capable now of posting our own updates and the story will soon begin to unfold in "real time" (I think that's the trendy term for "what's happening now".)