Archive for July, 2010
All stern tied-up
So I mentioned previously that one of the koans my cruising Zen master, Sturt Bay, gave me was about stern-ties. Also called shore-ties, this common Pacific Northwest practice involves dropping one’s anchor in the desired water depth off-shore, then backing down on it toward the shoreline and running a second line to a convenient anchoring [...]
Full StoryDesolation Sound: Not so desolate
Desolate adj. 1. Devoid of inhabitants or visitors; deserted 2. Joyless, disconsolate, and sorrowful, through or as if through separation from a loved one 3. a. Showing the effects of abandonment or neglect b. Barren, lifeless c. Devoid of warmth, comfort, or hope Mandy and I come to Desolation Sound to find, as previous generations [...]
Full StorySturt Bay Zen
I am starting to look on Sturt Bay, a smallish indentation toward the top end of Texada Island near the little mining town of Van Anda, as a sort of Zen master of boating. Every time I visit there, I think I am learning something, but the next time, it turns out the lesson wasn’t [...]
Full StoryPender Harbour, same as ever
We haven’t been through Pender Harbour in a couple of years, but it is pretty much the same as we remember it… beautiful homes lining the snaking bays and inlets, lovely little parks and patches of otherwise inaccessible terrain rendered unbuildable to prevent the place from feeling overcrowded and urbanized. The same seals sunning themselves [...]
Full StoryThe end of the road is the beginning
The last bastion of civilization can be any number of places depending on where you are heading and what your standards for civilization are. At various times in the past, I’ve felt like my last touch with civilized society before a departure to wander in the wilderness has been at Campbell River, at Port McNeill, [...]
Full StoryA sad night in Ganges
Sadness permeates the boat here at anchor in Ganges, even as the rollicking background noise of a hundred happy fellow vacationers drifts in the open hatches. Four people are dead, though not here. Only one we knew, and we knew his passing might be soon, but the other three have added to the already oppressive [...]
Full StoryOpening night jitters
As I was standing around on the torn-apart back deck of his antique wooden tugboat chatting with the man who put my cat to sleep, as one does, he mentioned casually that his daughter was flying back soon from Paris. With vacations on the mind, as we were just beginning our own, I expressed admiration [...]
Full StoryThe anxiety of joy
There seems to be a tipping point before any significant or lengthy sailing trip we make, a point before which I go to bed eager each night for the next day to pass, happy to be that much closer to the date of departure and looking forward to leaving everything behind in favor of brisk [...]
Full StoryThe Joys of a Dry Boat
Damp is a constant condition for most boats, or at least a condition that owners constantly must fight with in order to maintain a dry and pleasant aspect aboard their vessel. Everything, understandably, is stacked against a boat being dry (and I don’t mean dry in the alcoholic sense; indeed, the wetter your boat is [...]
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Marty McOmber
Scott Wilson