Archive for September, 2010
Surprise, Surprise
It’s not exactly the highest compliment that one can pay one’s own navigational abilities to admit surprise at finding oneself in a port, or indeed an entire country, where one had not intended to be at the beginning of the day’s journey. Nonetheless, I stand here before you to admit that I am vaguely surprised [...]
Full StoryStaying Dry, Staying Sane
If September can sometimes provide a lovely Indian summer postscript to our delicious northwest summers, it can also bring a dismal foreshadowing of our mild, but wet, winters. We’ve been getting a little of both here in the Gulf Islands this year. While you’re tied up at a dock somewhere it’s easy to crank the [...]
Full StorySwans and Warships
Swans and warships are incongruous companions in an anchorage, but that’s what we have here in Ganges right now. Apparently the late season in cruising brings out all the oddballs, ourselves warmly included. Contrary to type, the young naval trainees from the three or four Orca class training boats that come in and tie up [...]
Full StoryAt home on the water
I wrote recently about the increasing prevalence of fixed moorings in many popular Pacific Northwest anchorages, and touched briefly on the matter of permanently moored residents in those same areas. In particular, I highlighted the debate now taking place in Nanaimo regarding the Mark Bay anchorage, where the city is attempting to impose a time [...]
Full StoryPlaces you sail past: Whytecliff Park
You’ve sailed past this lovely little park if you have dodged the ferry traffic out of Horseshoe Bay on your way to or from destinations deeper in Howe Sound, north of Vancouver. You may have noticed a large and distinctive white rock, jutting six stories out of the water, forming an island joined by a [...]
Full StoryFall for sure
The first of September was like flipping a switch; suddenly, it’s fall in the Salish Sea. Blustery winds, rain, and that characteristic damp chill in the air all came in out of nowhere to suddenly displace our idyllic August summer days. The change hit us as we were ending our stay in Vancouver swiftly but [...]
Full StorySwinging Room
I believe I have mentioned previously that my idea of a good night on board involves a lot of scope on the anchor rode and plenty of swinging room. It turns out that “lots” and “plenty” are variables with a wide range of possible values depending on the person assigning them. Most of the cruising [...]
Full StoryOn Laziness
It’s a truism that there is nothing easy on a boat. There are a hundred reasons for this but I think in the end it usually boils down to the unforgiving nature of, well, nature. True, some of it has to do with compromises inherent in small living spaces, but why are those spaces small? [...]
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Marty McOmber
Scott Wilson