Courtin Island, Malpeque Bay, PEI

After finishing some renovations and maintenance on the Sea Pearl (SP), I was keen for a good sail. For SP sailing in PEI, Malpeque Bay is my usual destination (assuming the winds will be moderate). The forecast was for 8-10 knots SW.  Due to the PEI landscape, a SW wind usually means it blows down the Grand River or/and across from Summerside and quickly gets choppy above 10 knots.

Cliff at Low Point

View of Courtin Island from a few kms

I launched the SP at the Bideford oyster station ramp at the mouth of the Smelt Creek.  From the Bideford ramp, it's 5 km to get past Lennox Island and into Malpeque Bay. Today, the winds were not favourable to sail, so I motored to the beach at Coopers Lane (just past the old abandoned wharf to Lennox Island).  At the beach, I rigged the sails (2 turns on the main; 1 on the mizzen) and headed on a close reach towards Courtin Island. It's about 3 km from Coopers' beach to Low Point's red cliffs, then another 6 km across open waters to Courtin Island.   At 4 to 4.5 knots, it did not take much more than an hour to get to the NW corner of Courtin Island.

NW corner of Courtin Island

On the north side, in the lee of the wind, I continued to slowly sail to the east end of the island while checking out the shoreline and cliffs for any signs of Bald Eagles.  I went ashore at the east end for a walk and a snack. No eagles, but I observed some shorebirds and a huge patch of poison ivy.  Then, I decided to walk (in the water) back towards the NW corner of the island with the SP in tow and look for a good spot for a swim and lunch.  I spotted an osprey flying on the edge of the island, but he was camera shy.  After a km or so, I did find a great spot and had a refreshing swim and lunch. Then, it was time to return to Bideford.

Osprey on the move

Poison Ivy

The sail back across Malpeque Bay was a bit more spirited. The winds were a little stronger, and I was on a beam reach rolling with the waves. I had the sails trimmed again (2 turns on the main; 0 on the mizzen) and was usually doing 4.5 to 5.5 knots. I had too much weather helm from not reefing the mizzen. For more relaxed sailing, I should probably have reefed the sails more (main 3 turns; mizzen 1 or 2 turns).  I stopped again at the Coopers' beach to switch to Honda-san and then motored the 5 km to the Bideford station ramp. 

Beautiful day at Courtin Island and great sailing on the big bay!

My lunch spot

Lunch on rocky ledge

Lunch view