These are the adventures of the MosieGrimm family. We started sailing dinghy boats (Laser and Albacore) in 2011. We purchased our first, almost real, sailboat in 2016, a 2002 Macgregor 26X, Criss-Cross.
In June 2018 we sold our Macgregor and moved to a larger CS34 Sailboat, Foghorn Lullaby.
If you are looking for expert advice on how to sail or maintain a boat, please move on, these are not the stories you are looking for. This site will show you our typical approach to learning anything new. We like to first explore all of the wrong ways it can be done and then we usually try doing it wrong at least one more time just to make sure we fully understand it. Eventually, we get it figured out and move on to the next new thing to mess up.
Please comment on this blog as much as you can! We are still learning and always interested in hearing your opinions on how things should be done.
Twenty Years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
Mark Twain
Foghorn Lullaby Sailing Log
Haul Out
Cobourg to Bath
Tobermory Aboard Vitae
Thousand Islands 2021
Lori and I spend two weeks in the Thousand Islands.
Welland Canal
Helped our friends aboard SV Vitae transit the Welland Canal from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie.
Tow Another Sailboat
Launch
Late launch with limited options to get to Foggy amid another Covid lockdown. We spend a couple days sailing back to Cobourg.
Haul Out
We take Foggy to Loyalist Cove in Bath, ON for haul out. Friends warned us that the entrance to Wiggers Custom Yachts hasn’t been dredged and they are having to drag boats into the lift sideways to get them in.
Two Weeks in Thousand Islands
It’s been over two years since we’ve been able to get back to our favourite place to sail and anchor, the Thousand Islands. It was just as beautiful and amazing as last time.
Late Launch
With limited access to marina we debated not even launching this year. Fortunately things opened up. There were a lot of restrictions, but we felt self isolating on the boat was safe.
Hi there, I too started off sailing dinghy’s and sailboards. We also had a Macgregor, We had the 26M 2010. Last summer we bought a 1990 CS 34 and sold the Macgregor. I am enjoying your blog. we have come across all the same problems as you so far!
Hey guys! Looking at following in your CS34 footsteps but have a few questions if you’d email back svp?
Replied via e-mail.
Hello, I am looking at buying a CS 34 and was wondering if I could ask you a few questions?
Thank you
Lesley
Replied via e-mail.
Hi guys, very interesting blog! I’m looking for a CS34 and was wondering if I could ask you a couple of questions. There is so little info on this boat available. Can you send me an email?
Replied via e-mail.
Same here! I’d really like to understand this boat a bit better, as I’m looking in this foot range.
Can you give me a shout at the email provided?
Really like your blog though! It’s to read about adventures with a particular boat.
Replied via email.
Hey Shane,
I’m thinking about getting a Macgregor 26 and had some questions! Do you mind giving me a shout on the email provided?
Best,
Andrew
Responded via email.
Hi there! Just wanted to give you both a quick thank you for writing this blog and chronicaling your successes and your hard lessons learned in such detail. I’m in the middle stages of possibly buying a CS34 and have found this blog to be invaluable. I’m sure I’m in over my head with this boat, but the maintenance posts are really helping me prepare for CS34 specific issues and to calm my nerves (enough to keep me proceeding with the offer process)! Much appreciated!
Hi John, thank you so much for the kind message! We both really appreciate the feedback.
It is scary buying a boat like this, I still remember the panic that set in the moment the previous owner stepped off the boat saying “she’s all yours now, keep good care of her”. I went down below, looked at the electrical panel, poked in a few cabinets to look at all the pipes going everywhere, went back and took another look at the engine and had no idea what most of it did. My mind was screaming, “what have you done!?”. But the good news is that most of it seems simple now. It’s overwhelming at first. My suggestion, which came from a fellow sailor, is get a quick overview of everything and then each season pick one or two systems to focus on and learn everything you can about it. Rely on the experts to help you with those systems you are not comfortable with, we paid for someone to winterize and de-winterize our engine since we had no clue what to do.
And yes, like us, you will probably make some mistakes. Hopefully those mistakes don’t cost too much and you will learn with each one. Don’t take it too badly, learn to laugh at the mistake and then figure out a way to prevent it from happening again.
Hi Shane….Further to my post back in May, I went ahead and foolishly bought (insert make and model of any sailboat ever made in the history of humankind) a CS34 at the end of June. I had to sail her home from a marina near Kingston and ended up spending a night in Cobourg. I spotted Foggy in her slip (on or about Canada Day) and I have to admit I was a bit star struck! As expected, I’m overwhelmed, but I’m taking your advice and getting an overview of all the systems, with a plan of engaging in an in-depth study of a different major system on the boat each year, and I continue to use your blog as a major resource. The previous owners of the boat kept a lot of the literature for the various systems that were either original or added on after market. I’m going to sit down and go through it this week – if I find anything that might be useful to you I’ll send it along. In the meantime, I hope you’re enjoying Foggy as a getaway this summer!
Hey John, that is amazing. Too bad we didn’t see you. But glad you got to see Foggy! We are very proud of her. 🙂
We’re happy this blog is helping. I’m still always learning so looking forward to hearing your stories and advice. Feel free to reach out with any questions at any time. The online CS owners forum at csoa.groups.io is also very helpful, that’s where I get most of my information!
Enjoying your blog! I have a CS 36T in Bluffers Park. I have a question for you re your rebuild of the isomat boom. Do you experience a lot of friction when reefing? Does the clew lie tight against the boom and the luff come down nicely to the gooseneck? I have heard that it is problematic to get a good sail shape and effective reef with this system. I currently have bull horns on the boom and rings on the sail and go forward to reef. I would appreciate your insights when using it before I set about to take the boom apart
Hi Chris, thank you for the comment! Our boat was based in Bluffers when we bought her. Great marina.
We are happy with the reefing system, took us a bit to get it setup right but we find we can quickly reef and get a decent sail shape. We do find raising the main difficult with the friction of the reefing lines. Our method now includes partially raising and then grabbing both reef lines from the end of the boom and pulling out as much line as we can before we continue raising the sail. Other than that we like the system.
Thanks, I hadn’t considered the additional friction on the way up. I wonder if it would be lessened with only the first reef run through the shuttle blocks in the boom. In my current set up I only rig the 1st reef normally, and add a second leech line if the conditions look like they may deteriorate further. That is relatively simple as it is just a triangle from a deadhead at the end of the boom up through the second cringle in the leech and then back down and hitched around the boom like a strop.
Hi Shane,
Great website. My wife and I sailed Sunkissed to Coburg several years ago where we met your wife on Foghorn Lullaby. I see from your photos that we also nearly crossed paths in Belleville.
Since you are compiling a database, I wanted to let you know that we bought Sunkissed in the summer of 2016 for $61K. We keep her at Fifty Point.
Orest
Hi Orest,
thanks for the comment and great to cross paths again. It’s amazing how your boat really inspired us to get a CS34 so long ago in Belleville.
https://www.foghornlullaby.com/2017/08/picton-to-belleville/
I recall my wife mentioning that encounter in Cobourg, I didn’t realize it was Sunkissed.
I haven’t been doing a great job keeping my database up to date. There is a better listing on CS Owners Association forum, you can find it here:
https://groups.io/g/csoa
Slowly getting the boat ready for another season, hopefully we will see you out on the water soon!
Nice enclosure! Ive got a few questions about your set up. My dodger and Bimini are getting a little worn and I am debating replacing the existing kit, or going for the full enclosure.
Great to see how passionate you are about sailing and sharing your experiences. I love my CS-34.
Hi JT,
thanks, we were very fortunate that the previous owner had put in such a nice enclosure we get constant positive feedback on it. It’s produced by an Ontario company called Dreamcast Marine Canvas. We’ve spoke with them a few times and they did a patch for us, they are great to work with.
https://goo.gl/maps/P4HfQD5w1LRwMxbV7
As for your question about full vs just dodger. Lori and I will have different answers.
I don’t like the enclosure when sailing. I want to be out in the wind. I want to see the sails. I want to be able lift my hand up and feel the boom. I don’t even like having the bimini up.
My wife loves the coziness and warmth of the full enclosure. It’s like a greenhouse. And bug free after the sun goes down. I admit I like it too when we are not moving. It gives us a lot more usable space on the boat.
So you are going to have to decide what you prefer. If only there was some sort of automatic full enclosure button like on a convertible car… hmmmm
Feel free to reach out anytime if you have any questions (or search here, I try to share as much as I can here).
Shane
Hi Shane, I’m with you re: full enclosures – a mixed blessing. I’m making the move to cruising coming from many years of dinghy sailing – even with just a bimini I feel somewhat disconnected from the sails. Speaking of moving up, I’m looking for a boat and the CS34 ticks a lot of the boxes – solid hull, old enough to be afforable but new enough to have some the creature comforts of newer designs, and sufficiently lively in the often light breezes of the Great Lakes. Your site is terrific – thank you for all of the effort you have put in. I have gone through most of the site, but haven’t found a section where you describe why you settled on the CS34, likes and dislikes, and what other candidate boats were on your list when you were looking. Could I drop you an email to pick your brain on that topic. Many thanks, Eric
Hi Eric, thank you for the comment. Will connect with you directly via e-mail. Always willing to talk about boats, anytime!
This page lists out all of the features and specs on the CS34:
https://www.foghornlullaby.com/about/cs34-sailboat/
Unfortunately it’s the last model that CS built and they never had the chance to create an owners manual before they closed down. When we first started looking we were drawn towards the more common manufacturers: Catalina, Beneteau, Jenneau, … We stumbled across the CS34 and have quickly discovered that both CS and C&C are great Canadian built boats.
Hello, I read your blog about the traveler maintenance. I have the same on my Etap 38i that has the same exact traveler system.
Do you happen to know the part number or where I can buy replacement parts? this system seem to be outdated and I m not able to find parts so far.