Between the Sheets   

Older News

2001  November 15

From Cruising to Chaos

Having listened to all of our colleagues who have returned from the sea before us, there emerged a common theme, 'How glorious our time away was and how shocking it has been to get back into the day by day rat race'.  Amid our memories is the wonderful cruising this past summer in Puget Sound where we revisited old haunts and found new ports of interest.  Since our return, September 1, we have managed to set up a Coastal Navigation course[above], an Intermediate course [seen at the right] and some limited cruises locally and at the west coast.  Below are pictures of the Johnsons [left] who bid and won the Silent Auction Cruise for St. David's Church and Jack and Tracy [below right] on an outing with the fall colors on Glenmore. 

Brenda has returned to her post at the front of the classroom teaching Social Studies at Chinook College.  Most of the spare time involved has been used to resettle into our house in Calgary, trying desperately not to use the total available space.  Having lived in our 300 feet of space for a year, we are trying to consolidate our day to day activities to as few rooms as possible.  Complicate the task by adding the 1680 pounds of cruising/training materials removed from Good Idea and brought back to Calgary to make her more compatible with Skippered Coastal Charters.  Then add to that the mega boxes of files, archives and literature stored in our garage.  Alas, we are losing the struggle and have expanded into almost all the spaces in the house.  We have decided that we won't put any of the clothes that have returned with us or that were previously stored into the closet unless we have worn them first.  As a result, the closets are the least cluttered space in our home.  

Then there has been the relocation of Brenda's parents from Medicine Hat to Calgary after her mother broke her hip this summer.  Hint:  Be kind to your kids, for they will pick your nursing home.  After several heavy discussions it now sounds as if it was their idea to move here and they can't understand our reluctance.  Her recovery is going well and they both enjoy the assisted living in the condo with superb suppers supplied.  

Part of the wind down for the season was putting Soryu, our 23 foot Clipper, to bed for the season.  [Seen here on one of the last 2001 cruises.]  We pulled her out of the water along with her mooring on a warm and sunny day a week before storage.  Then we were off to the car wash where Ian Leitch and I got most intimate with her bottom.  Because we don't use antifouling on Soryu, she sits in Glenmore collecting all sorts of colonies of critters which we had to discourage from spending any further time with us.  Boat Bottom Cleaner, available at Canadian Tire, does a magnificent job of scrubbing of returning the boat to pristine condition.  Then we waited for the traditional snowfall to bless the end of the season.  We didn't have to wait long; in the seven days prior to the  move-in with the Foothills Association of Cruiser Sailors (FACS) boats in their covered winter storage, Soryu managed to host several inches of the white fluffy stuff!  October 28th, sixteen boats [above left] converged on the quonset east of Calgary and the group proceeded to roll the flotilla into place until spring.  [Right and below left] 

Focus then turned to readying Good Idea for the winter.  We drove out on Rememberance Day weekend to bid farewell to her for the winter.  Although there is sailing year round in the Gulf Islands, an unattended boat is better off being winterized.  We stripped the sails off and got them over to Leitch McBride for maintenance and repairs.  Then we removed the canvas dodger and boom tent.  The southern climes were tough on the stitching so we brought the canvas to Calgary for some repairs.  The UV rays really do like to weaken the fibres and the throughout last year we effected repairs on a monthly basis.  Having the sewing machine aboard (part of the tonnage that came home) saved nine when it came to stitching in time.   We turned Good Idea around in her berth so that she'd be ready for the winter sou' easters.  We made sure there were no provisions aboard that might surprise us in the spring.  We drained the water down below and out of the Paloma Hot Water Heater so that should a freezing temperature occur in Victoria, the copper tubing would be safe.  After a fitful sleep thinking of the finality of the season, we arose, plugged in the dehumidifiers and the small ceramic heater,  upset all the cushions to provide maximum circulation and skulked away in darkness to line up at six to catch the seven o'clock ferry.  We imported a crew from Britain's Decathlon Sporting Centre to assist in our adventure.  Our daughter Kirsten and her friend, Erwan,  visiting from Nottingham, England, [seen above right aboard Good Idea]  joined us by ferry November 10th and accompanied us back to Calgary.   

Now all we have left are the hundreds of photos, APS, 35 mm, and digital, the FACS and Blue Water Cruising socials to comfort us over the winter.  I suspect at some time we will have to do some explaining to the multitudes as to our curtailed adventure.  Stay tuned and we'll tell you the date and venue.  

2001 August 8

WE'RE BACK!! We've left the land of Latitude 38 and are Cruisin' in latitude 48.

Yes, Good Idea is back in Puget Sound and heading north.  We have had Good Idea trucked north from Monterey, California, up to Tacoma, Washington.  We elected to truck rather than sail/motor against the current and winds and recover the summer cruising schedule.  We have had a super time in the Sound and should be back in the Gulf Islands and in a slip in North Saanich Marina in Sidney, BC, by mid-August.  

Way back when the earth was cooling ....   Not quite that far, but when I was on the executive for Glenmore YC we brought in Hal and Margaret Roth, world renowned authors, photographers and cruisers.  Brenda and I had the privilege of hosting them for a dinner before their presentation of Two Against the Horn.  During the supper conversation, we posed the question to them as to where would you go cruising if it was the last cruise you could do?  They replied, "The Gulf Islands and the west coast of BC."  Whoa!! What about the South Pacific, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean and, heaven forbid, 'the Horn'?  No, Hal and Margaret said that there was more to see and do in our home waters than anywhere else.  They said that if you've seen one atoll, you've seen them all, a pointy rock surrounded by a reef with a nice clear lagoon.  So did we believe them? No. 

Don't get me wrong, we did only get as far as California, and really didn't get too far along our original planned adventure.  We did find out what we really liked and what we didn't.  Due to some unforeseen events back in Calgary which curtailed some of our budget, we held up in San Francisco and Monterey.  By the time things had sorted out back home, we were too comfortable in Monterey and elected not to push onto Mexico.  Reports of added expenses started coming out of the reports sent back by some of our colleagues that had gone to Mexico and beyond.  Having experienced a push north against the winds and seas, from Morro  Bay to Monterey and winter cruising in Monterey Bay, we did not relish pushing against the ocean all the way back to the cruising grounds that we had deserted.  The alternative of sailing to Hawaii and then back north-- which is the sensible way to take advantage of currents and winds -- also ate up the summer and left us making passages instead of cruising.  So .....  We decided on the option that would give us the most cruising along with all the other things that we enjoyed while we were in the southern ports.  Good Idea would hop on an eighteen wheeler and head north.  [GI hopping out at Monterey Boat Yard]

Committed, we now had a lot to do.  On June 20th after removing the sails, boom, the radar post, the solar panel, the Ham Radio tuner and GPS, we moved the boat over to the Monterey Boat Yard.  We planned on taking our time and had about a week before we had to be ready.  We straightened all the shackle cotter pins and loosened up the shroud turnbuckles.  Jim, Yard Manager, on the 70 ton boat hoist, lashed onto the mast with a line just below the spreaders.  Roy, jack of all trades, and I unpinned the shrouds, while Good Idea surged back and forth in the water under the crane.  All the pins out, Jim hoisted the mast up and out of the boat and laid it down in the yard.  Then Good Idea was lifted out, pressure washed to remove the waterline grunge and set up in the yard where our work began.  First we stripped off the spreaders, VHF antenna, and Windex.  [Mast being laid down, bubble wrapped, above and below]  Then we bubble wrapped the whole mast and tied all the shrouds fast to it.  [View from our swim grid while on the hard]  Next we had to get GI from her normal 57 foot 11 inch height down to less than 14 feet.  [Dave with the magic 14 foot mark] Taking the 51 foot keel stepped mast and the VHF radio antenna down to horizontal reduced her significantly.  But now the stern arch was too tall.  The tricky part was already done --  removing all those nuts, washers, bolts, wires and equipment while still on the water back in the marina to save yard time. (Kah-ching!! Kah-ching!!)  So it was just a matter of unscrewing the arch and dropping it down to the ground.  Next we had to remove everything on deck that would rattle, flap and couldn't take the 90 knot winds for the trip up to Tacoma.  Ninety knots you say?  I thought you'd drive up through Oregon and Washington not through high speed Montana?  Well, you have to figure that the truck and Good Idea are doing 60 to 65 knots, but if you add in a head wind of 30 to 35 knots, the apparent wind really climbs.  So we protected the windscreen, removed the anchors and taped up all the ports and hatches.  Then we waited for the truck to arrive.  And we waited.  We were caught in a catch-22 position.  We needed to sleep and have room in GI but have everything packed and sealed when the truck arrived.  [Salon with mast missing]  We picked up 3 large garbage bags of discarded styrofoam from a nearby craftstore to pack in and around stuff inside to prevent anything from moving while enroute.  We waited until confirmation of definite arrival prior to putting the boom, radar mast, dinghy, and all the other deck gear down below and packing all the foam around it. During the week we did take time to play.  We had to say our goodbyes to Alice, First Presbyterian Church,  to the fine staff at the Harbor Office, Kinko's and our many acquaintances on the docks and in town.   We took time off to go to our friend Charlotte's play.  [Cap'n mingling with Charlotte after the show]  The following night, Saturday, we went to the Dock 'B' Gilligan's Island party.  [Needed a lot of coconut juice to make Marianne at the party look good]   

Expecting the truck on Tuesday was optimistic because we had seen our friend Art's boat shipped on Friday instead of his expected Wednesday a week earlier.  Our driver, Bill, from Dudley Boat Transportation finally arrived as they were closing the yard down on Friday afternoon.  Rather than waste time waiting until Monday when the yard reopened, Dudley elected to pay the overtime to get Good Idea on the road.  Jim and Roy worked until 7:00 getting our boat ready for shipment and pulling out another boat that had been waiting for our spot on the hard for the last two days.  [Above, Bill adjusting the pads prior to the sling coming off]  At 7:30 GI was pulled out of the yard and we joined Bill for dinner and found out he had a boat up in La Conner.  We took him on a brief ride through town so he could plan his exit.  The trailer rides only 6 inches off the road and he didn't want to get high centered.   Bill then made the final adjustments to signage, straps, lights, pins and chains for the trip north.  [Pins, cotter pins and chains in place]  Brenda and I had rented a SUV to assist in the running around for our last week in Monterey rather than relying on scooters to get back and forth.  We headed up to Kinko's to check email for the last time before following GI up the road.  While we were downloading, Good Idea got a jump start down the highway and we played a bit of catchup trying to see what she looked like doing 55 knots.  We finally caught up to her just short of highway 101 and passed her.  Watching her twist and wind around the corners at high speed made us too nervous to follow for long.  We headed north and finally pulled off the road overlooking the San Luis Reservoir.  We converted our Blazer into sleep mode and just as we were turning in, Good Idea went cruising by us on the highway and slid away into the darkness heading to the I-5.  We took off early in the morning and got as far as Mount St. Helen's.  We touched base with Bill and found out the truck was still in California and due to by-laws regarding oversize loads (greater than 8 foot 6 inches wide, less than 12 feet) he couldn't move through Oregon on the weekend.  We took time off and spent the day at the three interpretive centres at the Mt. St. Helen's site.  What a phenomenal tour!!  It was well worth the six bucks and six hours.  

The next day we moseyed up to Tacoma and checked out the marinas that had been suggested by Dudley.  We elected to go to Pick's Cove Marina because they allowed liveaboards, even while on the hard which is what we required.  We contacted Dudley and advised Bill who had been on the road since Sunday midnight.  At 3:00 Monday, Good Idea pulled into the lot at Pick's and by 4:30, we were sitting on Good Idea on top of her own 50 by 20 foot environmental tarp all braced up and ready to reverse the Monterey dismantling.  First we had to clear out the aft cabin so we could sleep in our own bed instead of the back of the Blazer.  

Tuesday, we worked down below cleaning up the boat so we could cook, and have a space to live again.  That night it was warm and balmy and we got ready for bed but decided before we turned in we'd do one last task.  We hoisted the stern arch up on deck.  Brenda in her jammys was trying to carry a decent conversation with a helpful passerby while trying to remain modest in spite of rather exposed parts that were ten feet in the air.  [Next morning with stern arch on deck]

Wednesday, we started with pulling string through the stern arch wire ways.  Then we set up the stern arch in place and caulked and bolted it back on the stern.  The strings then helped us to feed the GPS wire back down the arch and through the boat to the nav station and pull all the radio and solar panel cables back up to the equipment.  [Strings through the arch for wire pulling, above.  Below, the connection of the GPS after the 30 feet of cable had snaked down the arch, through the aft cabin, head, and up to the nav station]  We connected the wires, ham radio and solar panel.  We stepped the radar mast and ran its cable up the post and attached it to the radar.  On a rest period and after a movie, we dropped into a fabric store and found some new upholstery for the main salon and V-berth.  At the same time, we priced out some foam.  

Thursday, our attention was directed to getting the mast ready to be put back in place.  We reattached the spreaders and reran the shrouds through the ends.  We checked out the electricals and had to replace wiring on the deck light and replace the bulb for the anchor light.  We attached the VHF antenna.  The only thing we had to replace was the Windex mount.  After flying aloft since 1981, it took exception to being dismantled in Monterey and crumbled under the vice grips.  With a brand new mount and all electricals on the mast in working order we were ready to step the mast.  Dave, the yard jockey, grabbed the mast with a huge crane [seen below] and soon had it aloft as another yard man helped me guide it through the deck, through the dining room table and down onto the mast step [seen below]. Brenda stood by again to video the process.  Then we ran around and pinned all the shrouds and the furling gear into place.  Good Idea was starting to look like a sailboat again.  We put the boom back on and furled the main and jib.  Then we painted on the antifouling and got ready for a Friday launch.  Friday morning Dave lifted the boat up so Brenda could put the final touches on the bottom of the keel, on her pants and one sleeve of her shirt.  [Brenda touching up the bottom of the keel]  Then it was back to the Pacific for Good Idea and we motored around the corner and stayed for three days in a slip right beside the launch.  

All the while we were most impressed with the location of Pick's Cove Marina, right downtown Tacoma, across from their brand new museum and just down the hill from the Freighthouse Square which is a delightful mall of restaurants and curio shops.  Herb, our brother-in-law, joined us in Tacoma with our Ford Explorer and we were once again mobile on land and water.  We ran Herb back up to Seattle and he escaped the work detail here on the Victoria Clipper.  

We then moseyed from Pick's up to the Tacoma Yacht Club, over to Gig Harbor Yacht Club, and the Quarter Master's YC taking advantage of our reciprocal rights and spending a couple of days in each of the three ports.  In Gig Harbor, we set up our sewing machine and recovered the V-berth cushions.  

We moved over to Des Moines YC and Good Idea was still short in the water.  With all of the gear we had laden on board for our offshore adventure we still didn't have a water line.  So... While friends came out from Calgary and took Good Idea for a tour of the south sound, Brenda and I took an opportunity to run 575 pounds of surplus gear back to Calgary, visit the parents, kids and grandkids in Alberta.  We weighed the Ford coming into and leaving town and probably had more gear than calculated because we may have taken on more weight with the additional runs we made to Swiss Chalet.  

We picked up some new foam in Calgary at the same cost as what we were quoted in Tacoma.  The difference was that it was tax free and in Canadian dollars.  The following Wednesday we met the Leitches and Good Idea back in Des Moines and moved the new foam on board.  Brenda and I then set off to Port Orchard YC where we set up a cushion factory and set to work on reupholstering the 15 other cushions in the salon and replacing the foam in the V-berth cushions.  

We had met a Past Commodore on the dock and they had invited us to a wedding at the Yacht Club on Sunday.  So, what the heck..  Drinks, meal and dancing..... Why not?  Brenda and I put on our best bib and tucker and headed off to the wedding filled with people we didn't know.  It didn't matter; we sat with the daughter of the bride and her husband and the girlfriend of the son of the bride.  We took digital photos of the ceremony, dance and reception and put together a nice little computer presentation for Karen and Mike, the bride and groom. [Karen and Mike, at the Port Orchard YC] 

During the festivities, we phoned home only to find out that Brenda's mother had fallen at the Weston Reunion in Gull Lake, Saskatchewan, and broken her hip.  She was moved to Calgary and on Monday had an operation. She is now sporting some new stainless plates and pins and was up and walking on Tuesday.  What a wonderful Medical System we have!  

Monday, Brenda and I moved the Explorer up to Poulsbo.  We stayed one night at the city marina and then moved to the Poulsbo YC for the next three days.  And we finished the cushions.  We then moved our vehicles to Port Madison YC, a delightful place we'd not been to before. It is a beautiful, serene and quiet little harbor tucked in on the north side of Bainbridge Island just west of Seattle.  [Brenda on the docks after moving the Explorer from Poulsbo to Port Orchard, awaiting the Cap'n and Good Idea.  On time due to the lack of Value Villages between departure and destination.]  Two days in this little harbour brings us up to Sunday, August 5, when GI moved to Kingston YC, across from Edmonds on the Olympic Peninsula for a couple of days.  Our daughter, Bekki(a), joined us all the way from Japan via the Edmonds/Kingston ferry on Monday.  The three of us, in our two vehicles then headed north back up into familiar territory for a two day stay in Oak Harbor.  Today we took a short trip over to La Conner and are currently downloading the web page in Bellingham.    

Stay tuned and we'll fill you in on our new adventures. 

2001 June 15

Here and There and Back Here Again

What have we been up to since February?  We have had a super winter in Monterey, if that is what you call this season.  We had visitors down to Monterey for an Intermediate Cruising Course at the end of March.  We had a trip back to family and friends in Calgary to welcome in spring.  We advertised and set up a Basic Cruising Course, and ran it from April through June.  And finally we headed back down to Monterey and are currently getting set up to truck the boat back up to Puget Sound.  Now the details.

The seasons in Monterey really do blend together.  When you have flowers year round and green grass, it is difficult for a born and raised Calgarian to understand where one season ends and the next one starts.  (Winter Flowers in Monterey)  Our spring equinox came with relatively little change in our surroundings in Monterey.  Oh, the street fair on Tuesdays seemed to have more displays and more people on the street.  The weather was still shirt-sleeve until about 15:00 when it cooled off slightly, and then about 17:00 you can still go out and not worry about a warm jacket.  Unless you are a local that is, in which case you would wear a winter ski jacket.  

When our guests arrived for the Intermediate Cruising Course at the end of March, Good Idea had to be converted from live-aboard to livable.  We rounded up all the material in the V-berth, about 47 bags and boxes, mostly black, filled with essentials for our offshore adventure, and stored them in a hold aboard our next door neighbor's fish boat.  Essentials like our sewing machine, extra tool boxes, sleeping bags, leeclothes, swim suits, swim gear, knitting supplies, sextants and Celestial tables, and of course all of the necessary files on banking, student records, course materials, cruising compendiums, previously read novels and such.  We cleaned out the aft storage area, formerly known as a cockpit which had all the spare lines, gennaker, windvane and rudder assembly, stern line, scooters and other objects not necessary for the five day course.  No sooner had we removed all of our gear, the boys, Dave, Ray and Dan arrived with their huuuge bags which then made good idea bow heavy once more.  

Winds were exceptionally high for the course and we set out almost daily into six to seven foot seas.  For the most part everyone faired well in the sloppy seas after a day of acclimatization.  One nice thing about this course is the requirement for the students to do the cooking.  Man, did we eat well!  Our normal fish monger was closed the day of provisioning, so we hit an alternative.  We ended up with a ton of frozen Mexican prawns which we pried apart, boiled up and then ran through a garlic-pepper-butter bath.   The five of us devoured at least a dozen each.  Later that week, we finished off the other three or four dozen as appetizers for our snapper dinner.  We had a great chicken dish and finished off the course cooking requirements with a chili dinner.  (Ray chasing the prawns around the galley) First Mate Brenda got into the act and beefed up the ballast with a special stick to the ribs Seafood Chowder made up of the leftover snapper, prawns and clams.  A lot of the course maneuvering content had to be run inside the breakwater due to the high winds and rollers outside the protected harbor.  We took off with the opening of the Salmon Season and about 300 other boats for an adventure down to Moss Landing.  We had dinner there and then left about 18:00 to do a night passage back to Monterey.  Brenda, who was not participating in the course, went below and tried to read in the aft cabin.  Although the wind had abated, the seas were still rolling pretty good.  As we made our way back to Monterey, Brenda, resting athwartships started counting the number of times that her head dipped below her knees as we piloted back in the slop.  By the time we hit the harbor entrance, she had been stood on her head 1037 times.  Monterey is an interesting harbor to hit after dark with all the light pollution in the background.  One of the students trying to get a bearing on the occulting red light at the entrance, thought that he had it when all of a sudden it turned green.  What with brake lights, traffic lights, street lights and the downtown vista, it makes for a challenging piloting exercise.  

April 5, we departed the sunny climes of California and headed to the snowy north country.  Why?  Two days earlier, Calgary, had had a major front do its snow dump.  Well, we had a little bit of an incentive.  Our Brother-in law and Sister-in-law, Rob and Bryanne, had had a beautiful little baby girl, Chloe Grace and Brenda hadn't had a chance to hold her little neice yet.  (Brenda and Chloe on arrival in Calgary)  More importantly, our son and daughter-in-law, Rob and Jen, were expecting imminently.  As it turned out, the magic day was April 10th and at 08:58 we became proud grandparents to Nicolas Bryan weighing in at 6 pounds 14 ounces.   (Proud Grandparents, Dave and Brenda, with Nicolas)  By noon, the first of 30 digital pictures were wired around the world to our daughters, Bek in Japan, Kirsten in France and the brand new Great Grandparents on both sides in Medicine Hat.  Since then there has been gigabytes of memory dedicated to the new one which we won't bore you with here.  Just don't ask us for pictures personally unless you have a lot of time.  

We then set up at Market Mall in Calgary to market our Basic Cruising course for Spring 2001.  Over the Easter week we ended up recruiting a dozen sailors.  Soryu, our 23 foot sloop was dragged out of storage and shone up for the new season.  Of course, as per schedule, we never have her out of storage without getting at least one good late spring snowfall.  We even had a doozie of a blizzard on May 19th halfway through the sailing schedule on Glenmore.  This year we had phenomenal winds out there giving the students some great heavy weather experience from time to time.  On the May longweekend, some of the FACS (Foothills Association of Cruiser Sailors) group, about five boats, went down to Little Bow Provincial Park and Travers Reservoir and were holed up for 48 hours in Wolf Coulee waiting for the storm winds and blizzard conditions to die down.  Yes, a super snowstorm in Southern Alberta which cut our lesson short back on Glenmore in Calgary.  A week later our Basic students were off to Little Bow to do the motoring components of the standard under bright blue skies.  (Motoring down at Little Bow on Soryu)  Then back to Calgary to complete the sailing portion.  The grad party wrapped up this year's Basic Course on June 8th.  

The Calgary visit wasn't all business, as we took time out to get together with our Vic-San Fran crew, Heather and Tish, (seen on the right below) to remember and possibly embellish our trip recollections. We took in musical concerts and a play at St. David's United Church and harp and flute recital at St. Matthew's United Church.  (Tish on Harp, Gwen on Flute)  We took an assortment of good and bad movies using Canadian money.  We fine dined at the Swiss Chalet, once or twice. Seriously, we did fine dine with our good friends, Nicholas and Ildiko, at the Euro-Canadian Club.  Thanks again guys for the wonderful evening and hope your convalescence is going well.   Of course there were the trips east to Medicine Hat to check out the new Great Grandparents and get spoiled some more.  Locally in Calgary we would like to thank Thelma who put up with us for nine weeks and all our coming and goings on.  And all the while Brenda was busy crocheting an afghan for our dear friend Alice back in Monterey.  

Then came the hustle and bustle of packing up the essentials for our trip back to Monterey.  (Taking over Thelma's living room for sorting out essentials.  PS Thelma are you missing a chair?) Our son, his wife and our new (two month old, seen below) grandson ran us out to the plane at 06:00 on June 11th.  

By mid-afternoon, we were wending our way from the bus plaza back to the marina with all of our essential baggage.  Right!!  It was good thing that we had picked up our new super model, inflated tire scooters.  They came in handy for moving the five blocks from downtown Monterey to the Marina.  (Sherpa Brenda with the Scooters pressed into duty for the essentials)  

Since then we have arranged for the pulling of the boat and unstepping of the mast on the 20th.  So far we have done about six of the 214 tasks that need to be done when Good Idea is loaded up a truck bound for Tacoma on the 26th of June.  (Check out the photos below and see if you can see the differences)  By the 29th of June we will be back in the familiar waters of South Puget Sound.  Watch for the huge fireworks display announcing our mast stepping and arrival in the area about July 4th.

Of course we have taken some time off for the usual, movies, munchies and a visit up to Alice's for dinner.  (Brenda and Alice with the new afghan) We've been scooting around town for groceries and now it's time to head up to Kinko's for the long awaited update to Between the Sheets.  Take care and stay tuned.  

Cap'n Dave