Thursday, August 19, 2010

Cruising Kluane Lake

Back to the Yukon for a few days of sunny cruising on Kluane. A wonderful breezy day sandwiched between a couple of relaxing light wind days and lots of sun and unusually warm weather. There were times we thought we were in Baja.

Things we learned: Sailing with the removable hatch off in light winds creates a lot more room. You can sit/stand on the foredeck underway when sculling. She will carry full sail upwind in 12-15 knots. Indeed, she needs the power to point. Easily handles 18 - 20 knots & chop off the wind. Very comfortable. This is a fun boat that inspires confidence in breezy weather.










1 comment:

Frugal Sailor said...

Hi George
I can see this blog is few years old now, but I googled sailing Kluane Lake and there you were. And a fine little ship you've made. Congrats. Are you still enjoying the boat?
I am a sailor working in the Yukon right now and feeling a little landlocked, well that was until I visited a friend in Burwash Landing and stood at the foot of Kluane's shore. WOW. A week later I was the owner of a nice little sailing pram, which I was delighted and surprised to find in Whitehorse. I will use it as the tender for my sailboat, which is currently in Bellingham. I will be back down living aboard this winter, but until then I would like to try to sail Kluane. My friend who lives there, tells me it's a very windy mountain valley, and can get pretty brutal. I wonder if you had any friendly advice on the weather and wave conditions I might be likely to run into out there amongst the mountains.

Cheers
Justin