Sailing With the Privateer LYNX. Destination: 2010 Schooner Days, Portsmouth, Virginia

Privateer LYNX under sail. Visit her at Schooner Days, Portsmouth, Virginia.

 Sail along with the Privateer LYNX as she makes her way south to Baltimore, Maryland to participate in the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race and then to Portsmouth, Virginia for the 2010 Schooner Days. You can follow her daily travels by visiting the track finder site at http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/shipposition.phtml?call=WDA988  Please enjoy reading a few recent ship reports written since her departure from Montreal. You can also visit the Privateer LYNX website at  http://www.privateerlynx.com/

17 September 2010
Old Port, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Wx NW F2, 17 Degrees (Celsius) 2/8 Cumulus

Lynx is snug in at the Jacques Carthier Basin in the historic Old Port District of Montreal. Our Transit of the St. Lawrence Seaway is complete, and we transited 12 of the 15 locks in company of other Tallships. On Monday night and Tuesday morning, we transited the Welland with our sister Privateer, Pride of Baltimore II, but entered the river ahead of her on Wednesday morning, passing through the 1000 Islands area of New York just as darkness was giving way to daylight.

A brisk, bright day and a swift current allowed Lynx to clear the first locks by late afternoon – well ahead of schedule and allowing for a night at anchor, somewhere. Ultimately deciding on Lake St. Francis, we found ourselves joined by Pride II and the German Brig Roald Amundsen. Weighing anchor at dawn Thursday, the three of us continued the “stepping down” process through the last four locks together, reaching the final St. Lambert Lock together just after three. After boarding Pilots, we joined Bounty and Unicorn in the entrance Parade of Sail.

Even though the weather turned to a gloomy rain, a few hearty hundreds braved the showers to watch the ships as we fought the impressive current of the St. Lawrence river into the old port.

This marks the end our Great Lakes tour in terms of both itinerary and geography: Not only is this the last port before we head back to the East Coast of America, Montreal marks the lowest elevation Lynx has been at in nearly three months. All the locks are behind us, now only the swift current of the St. Lawrence remains to carry us back to sea.

Bonjournee from Capitan Jamie Trost et la equipage de Lynx

The Privateer LYNX off the coast of Greenport, New York.

 160 NM Run since Departure 1530, 20 September.
Barometer at 1022Mb and falling slowly
Breeze at Force 4, SW
Seas: 1-2'.
MotorSailing between 7-8.5 at 1400 RPM with Foretops'l set. Breeze dead astern

Montreal is a hard port to leave. Not for any real logistic reason, but for the personal reasons of the crew. The Old Port venue for the Tallships Festival was perfect, natural tourist draw just a block from the Old City itself, and except for a cold and rainy parade of sail, the weather was absolutely spectacular - clear and warm sunny days that brought throngs of people down to the event. Lynx
saw nearly 7000 people across the deck in three days.

And for the crew, there was plenty to do in their short time off. Montreal is a very old-world city despite being decidedly in Canada. It is often used as a stand in for European back drops in American movies. So simply walking the town was quite a pleasure. Add to that a lively night-life and it's a wonder we got all the crew back aboard Monday morning.

But now, nearly 200 miles down the river, we are experiencing the edge of autumn. What a difference from when we made our inbound passage exactly three months ago. Then the days were as long as they could be, and only the midnight to four watch was totally in darkness. Now the season is decidedly changing. Along the riverside the trees are showing swaths of color in the green, and the
rainy, cool weather that greeted us coming in to Montreal has returned from its weekend off.  Once again we are traveling out with our sister Privateer, Pride of Baltimore II, and Captain Miles and I will be in close contact to discuss the weather and share resources.

The breeze is building, and promises to stay favorable for a while, but it is definitely time to head South. Unfortunately, we must head north to nearly 50 degrees latitude in order to round Gaspe and do so. So off we go toward the Northeast - almost exactly the wrong direction to get to Gloucester, but the only way to do it by water.

All best,
Jamie Trost and the bundled up crew of Lynx.

The Privateer LYNX anchored at Appledore Island, Maine.

 
22 September, 2010
Day Two: Montreal, Quebec to Gloucester, MA
48°52.8'N x 067° 46.1'W, St. Lawrence River
150 NM Run since 1200, 21 September.
Barometer at 1014Mb and falling slowly
Breeze at Force 5, WSW
Seas: 3-4'.
Sailing between 8-9.5 Foretops'l, Weather Course, Fores'l and Stays'l set.

This passage might best be broken down into several stages. The first being the motoring from Montreal to Quebec city, with all its narrow channels, and still more motoring with a peppering of sail for the slightly wider section of river between Quebec and Escoumins, where the pilot station is. That section is behind us, and Lynx is again full length - we shipped the mainboom on to deck in Montreal, so that we would measure under 35 meters and not require the expense of a pilot.

But there has been plenty of river since, and since last night at 2300 we have been sailing it, with the breeze filling in from astern. Even our conservative sail plan has us skipping right along, and should have us into the Gulf of St. Lawrence by tomorrow at dawn. From there the next section starts, taking us down to the Strait of Canso, and one last lock before we can put the lock gear away. The Canso Lock is a control lock for the water between the Gulf and Chedabucto Bay on the south side of Nova Scotia, so it is not quite as daunting as the 15 we saw in the seaway.

But for tonight they are giving a gale watch in our waters approaching Anticosti Island, and favorable or not, a gale is a gale. So with the last of the sparse daylight here, we're going to tuck some reefs in and snug down for weather.

All best,
Jamie Trost and the crew of Lynx wishing you a Happy Autumnal Equinox.

The Privateer LYNX under sail with the City of Chicago, Illinois in the background.

 23 September, 2010
Day Three: Montreal, Quebec to Gloucester, MA
48°04.6'N x 063° 21.3'W, Gulf of St. Lawrence
192 NM Run since 1200, 22 September.
Barometer at 1027Mb and rising slowly
Breeze at Force 6, WNW
Seas: 5-7'.
Sailing between 8-9 under Reefed Foretops'l, Fores'l, Stays'l & Jib.

Out of the river and into the Gulf, and at great speed. Through a combination of currents and brisk wind, Lynx is onto the next stage of the passage, the transit across the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It is a bit lumpy and quite confused out here, but we should make it across the Gulf and into the Strait of Canso by tomorrow morning, and possibly anchor in that area to wait out the next weather system before pressing on along the South Shore of Nova Scotia.

It has been a surging 36 hours of sailing, and promises to continue through this evening. It might not be the most comfortable, but it is getting us in the right direction without using any more of our fuel - Lynx carries 1000 gallons, but the mileage from Montreal to Gloucester is roughly 1300, and we'd be hard pressed to motor that far if the wind didn't cooperate.

And, as has happened so often along our routes this summer, we were again within sight of Pride of Baltimore II exactly at noon today. With the same sail plan, but a longer waterline, she crept up on us steadily through the morning and is now fading away on the Southern horizon. They will get down to Canso before we do, but we hope to share the same anchorage together over the weekend.

All best,
Jamie Trost and the rocking and rolling crew of Lynx.

A bull's eye view of the LYNX sails and flying the American flag. Photo by Jim Sabiston.

The Privateer LYNX is the Recipient of the American Sail Training Association's

2008 SAIL TRAINING PROGRAM OF THE YEAR AWARD
2008 TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE PERRY BOWL AWARD
Transpacific Yacht Club's
2009 TRANSPACIFIC YACHT RACE - 1ST SPLIT RIG CORRECTED

The Lynx Educational Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, educational organization, dedicated to hands-on educational programs that teach the history of America's struggle to preserve its independence. For donation information, please contact the Lynx Educational Foundation 1-866-446-5969 509 29th Street, Newport Beach, CA 92663