Steve Delong & Deirdre Farrell
Steve: From the foggy shores of Lake Superior to the reefs of Anageda, Steve has accumulated over 10 years of sailing experience on boats from 20′ to 51′ ft. His initial experiences were gained sailing the 20′ trailerable, ‘Lil Mischief,’ along with partner Dwayne O’Neill. In winds of 40 knots, they learned to shout “fish in the port hole” and why you reef the main.
Adventures followed for Steve around the Sunshine Coast and San Juan Islands of British Columbia with sailing master Don Maness of Class Act and the gang from the Calgary FACS Club.
A member of Canadian Power Squadron & Sail, Steve embraces any opportunity to prepare he and his crew for the next voyage. A keen weather watcher and navigator, he looks forward to testing his skills in southern waters.
De: On a cool November day, Steve took Deirdre out on ‘Dair,’ his C&C ‘27 into Lake Huron. The winds were reaching 25 knots and whitecaps were forming. As they heeled over and water poured over the rail, De asked “is this normal?” It was their second date and Steve knew his novice sailor companion was in for the long haul.
Aubrey Delong
Sixteen-year-old Aubrey has been sailing with her dad for 10 years and is a proven member of crew. Her experiences include Abbot 11 sail training at the Sarnia Yacht Club, Sandpiper sailing in Ghost Lake, Alberta, cruising the North Channel, Georgian Bay, and numerous sails in Lake Huron.
Jackie Delong
Jackie had her first sailing experiences while taking a Librarianship Course in Hamilton in the 1980’s. The classes would go until 1:30 and then the instructor would take the interested members out for a sail on Lake Ontario.
She took it up again when Steve became interested in sailing, first on Lil Mischief in Sarnia and Calgary and then on DAIR in Sarnia. In February, 2005, she sailed with Steve and De and 5 others on a rented 50 foot Beneteau for 11 days in the BVI’s. In July, she crewed for 2 weeks for Ray Pierce, owner of Whitestar and former owner, Bob Lilley from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia to Sydney.
In 2006, she passed the Power Squadron Boating Course and crewed for Don Manness with Bill from Deep Bay to Port Sydney on Vancouver Island. When Whitestar came on the market, she and Bill became partners with Steve and De. She spent the summer sailing from Tobermory to the North Channel, from Sarnia to Goderich and from Sarnia across Lake Erie and Ontario to Waupoos where Whitestar was prepared for the journey south.
Bill Weir
Bill sailed in Port Maitland on Lake Erie on a Sunfish and Catamaran in his high school years and did a little crewing in the Port Maitland Sailing Club. The Weirs owned a 16 foot runabout power boat.When Bill and Jackie met in the fall of 2004, it was evident that sailing was important in Jackie’s life and if they were going to do things together, Bill was going to take up sailing. After a few trips in the summer of 2005 on DAIR, 27 foot CNC, owned by Steve and a partner, Bill felt that a good way to get into sailing was the Power Squadron Boating Course. He was the top graduating student of that class!
In 2006, he and Jackie sailed on Lil Mischief, 19 foot Sandpiper, owned by the four of us out of Port Dover Marina and crewed for Don Manness from Deep Bay to Port Sydney on Vancouver Island. When Whitestar came on the market, he and Jackie became partners with Steve and De. In the summer of 2006, he crewed on Whitestar from Sarnia to the North Channel to Goderich and from Port Whitby to Waupoos Marina. Stepping the mast at Waupoos for the trek down the Erie Canal was a challenging experience! Bill is looking forward to the Piloting Course with Power Squadron and catching up with Whitestar in Jacksonville in December.
Chance
