hOLIDAYS, hURRICANES AND hAPPENINGS
2006 November 7 to 2007 December 14
Late on the 7th of November, Brenda was spirited away on a red-eye flight to
Toronto connecting to Orlando, Florida. This was the trip promised earlier at her surprise birthday party back in October. Dave armed with his Garmin 276 GPS and a bunch of waypoints proceeded to entertain Brenda for the next week.
Not quite sailing, but the Cap'n and Brenda managed to get out on the water very shortly after checking into their hotel in Cocoa Beach on Cape Canaveral, Florida. We took an air-boat ride up the Banana River not far from our hotel to inspect the wildlife. And there he was, our first gator!!
We felt like we were in the opening scenes for CSI, Miami. Our airboat captain gave us some history on the wildlife in the area and pointed out that the bald eagle doesn't get his white head until he matures. So, Cap'n Dave added that someone else on the boat had also recently matured and was also sporting a blonde top and the other passengers broke into a rousing version of the Hill Sister's song, Happy Birthday.
In celebration of her three score officially, we dined at a wonderful little bistro, Cafe Margaux in Cocoa Beach, on Merritt Island, Florida. [Merritt Island and Cape Canaveral are islands just off the Florida mainland sitting in the Atlantic Ocean.] The meal was outstanding. The service was fantastic and, as always, Brenda occupied the waiters with many stories of the water and her life in Gull Lake, Saskatchewan. Brenda had a mixed grill of fish that is worth the trip down south. Then, what else? It was off to a late movie, where Dave had to have his popcorn to finish off the wonderful repast.
When in Florida, you have to see Disneyland, Universal Studios and Epcot Centre. Well, not really. We only had five days to mess around, so we elected to pass on Disneyland and Epcot for this trip. Being a movie buff and knowing what they can do on the screen, we thought we could see it all anyway with a single visit to Universal Studios. We saw the Blues Brothers and Shrek, survived a fire, an earthquake and a twister. But when it came to scary, I was really worried when Brenda turned a whiter shade of pale on the Back to the Future ride. I hadn't seen her that green since the third day of our offshore trip. I have to admit that the special FX guys can really mess with your mind. They put you in a small little room, shake it up, turn you around twice and then watch the blood drain from your face and the sweat appear on your brow.
We even saw a shark close up and scary. Not to worry, it was in one of the biggest aquariums I've ever seen in a restaurant. We watched this dude swim around the tank right in front of us over lunch.
One of the highlights of the trip was the Kennedy Space Centre. Only 10 minutes north of our hotel, Cape Canaveral was a great place to spend a day. Bus tours take you from interpretive centres to launch sites, shuttle preparation areas, theatres and various museum sites of past space endeavors. The immense size of the buildings and the equipment was mind boggling. While we were there, the space shuttle was being moved to the launch site. Talk about a trailer. [Note: About two weeks later, Brenda's brother was on the west coast of Florida about 150 miles away when the shuttle was launched and they could see it from there.] We were there from opening to closing
and could have spent more time poking around.
We broke back into Canada via the wonderful security system just in time for the Cap'n to take off to the coast for an advanced cruising course. The crew arrived in Victoria by plane as that was the only mode of transport available. The Ferries had shut down due to the Hurricane Warnings. So, we provisioned and then we went shopping. Yes, seamanship rules that when there are no other boats out to play with, it is time to hit West Marine.
The boys stocked up on everything from wet weather gear to safety harnesses and binoculars. The next morning, we elected to head out as we were down to storm warnings only. We sailed on a quick close reach into the US and got to Roche Harbor where we cleared Customs in time for lunch. We completed the provisioning for the contraband materials like potatoes, meat, chicken, eggs, lemons, limes and oranges. Then we set out to cross Juan de Fuca. Well!!!! So much for Plan A. With doubled watches due to the extreme weather, we had only covered about 18 miles and were unable to get into the strait. The wind was right on our nose. It was dark, and a really tough slug into the wind so we turned in through Cattle Pass and headed up between San Juan and Lopez Islands. Through the night we continued to sail up and around Lopez and finally out Thatcher Pass. We had some interesting seas on our bow but elected to head to Deception Pass. Through the night we beat down Rosario Strait and finally got to the Deception Pass entrance about 02:00, which was about 90 minutes past slack water. We powered up and, against the ebb current, fought our way through under the bridge. We were finally clear by about 03:00. The Cap'n and crew went off watch with Ian and his crew taking over. Not wanting to waste fuel and unable to sail in the tight waters with the current still running against us, we backed off on the throttle to maintain some headway up and around the north end of Whidbey. Well!!!! Again who would have imaged that four hours later we would be just barely past the entrance to the Swinomish Channel. The Cap'n came on duty and as we rounded the corner he attempted to make breakfast for the crew.
Under a double reefed main and a hanky jib the boat was pitching so badly that we had to turn around to get out of the headwind. The stove is gimbaled but not for pitching. Just for rolling. So as the crew tacked back and forth in the lee of the land, breakfast made it from the stove and into the crew. Then back into the fray. The crew tacked and tacked and tacked and tacked. We covered about 45 miles between 08:30 and 16:30 but had only made about eight miles upwind towards our target. Change of target. We are not going to make it around Whidbey, a distance of over 80 miles. Instead we plotted to put into Honeymoon Bay for a rest against the 40 plus knot winds. We had to use main and motor to get aggressive against the wind and we finally dropped the hook at about 19:00 hours. Under anchor a fine repast was prepared and the crew rested after being underway for more than 35 hours.
The next morning with weather reporting more that 45 knots to 55 across the island from where we were, we did some of our advanced anchoring techniques and finally got underway about 11:00. We planned to get back out through Deception Pass and make our way over to Friday Harbor for the night. It was already dark by the time we cleared the pass and surprise, surprise, the storm had knocked out three of our important navigation lights. Using GPS and our hand bearing compasses we discovered the rocks where the lights were mounted but someone had not paid the hydro so they were unlit. We managed to sail all the way to Friday Harbor with Lou cooking a mighty fine dinner while en route.
He was disappointed that nobody would join him below for the meal so we dined on the patio. There is something about meals in the dark of night under starry skies in blustery winds that just stick in your mind forever.
We got to Friday Harbor in time to close down the micro-brewery and partake of two of the largest desserts I think I have ever seen.
After we hoisted Darren aloft for a brief repair of the radar reflector, we were homeward bound. On the last day we had very little wind and it was dry so we elected to strip off the canvas and bag the sails. (Part of the winterizing regime for Good Idea.) We pulled into Van Isle Marina to clear customs. Then we took advantage of their new (to me) oil change pump out which works really slick. Pull up to the fuel dock, drop down the suction tube directly into the dipstick tube and remove all the oil in a flash. Spin off the filter and you are done. No muss, no fuss. The only down side was the poor crew that had to stand in the rain now that the dodger and canvas was removed. With fresh oil and a new filter, the Cap'n appeared back on deck and the rain stopped. We motored back to the marina, docked and while some of the crew cleaned topsides, in the rain that started when Dave went below, the crew below tidied up for the winter stay. Dave appeared on deck one more time and the rain stopped for us to transport all the goodies to the awaiting van. The Cap'n doesn't do rain!
Back in Calgary, we finished up our Coastal Nav class and got set for the Christmas rush. Of course it included our St. Lucia Day and all the other parties. An added complication was Brenda and her commitment to the singing group, That's Entertainment. Between her gigs and our getting ready for Christmas, time disappeared. On Boxing Day Brenda and Dave crossed the Atlantic and spent a week with our kids in Nottingham, England for a nice relaxing time with the grandkids. After a pit stop at home, we headed to California to help ring in our dear friend Alice's 100 birthday. What a special lady!
Our winter Nav class got underway about the same time as our travel bills started arriving in the mailbox. Cap'n Dave had a hard time turning away students with a fistful of money and so ended up with a record 24 in the class. We divided the class into two nights after the fifth week and got all the students through the exam successfully. That resulted in a fresh bunch of bodies for Basic and Intermediate Cruising so those classes also expanded greatly over the past year's attendance.
On a sad note, Brenda's father passed on this spring and we celebrated his life in Gull Lake in April. We had all of his belongings stored in our garage and we were sorting through them just as the Basic Cruising course got underway. We had just finished the Basic theory portion and had started the practical on the water sailings when the inconceivable happened. Saturday morning I arose, got ready to head out to teach and, lo' and behold, my van had been stolen from in front of the house. All my teaching resources, lifejackets, GPS, electronic chargers, adaptors, mounts, ropes, cleats et al disappeared.
In addition, I had moved my camera out to the car to take a picture of Soryu as she was the only boat launched at the time, so I also lost all the pictures of the Nav grad, my grandson, Nicolas' Birthday, and sadly the pictures of the funeral and celebrations in Gull Lake. The rotters!!! They should catch them all and kneecap them so you can recognize them on the street by their limp. [Soryu down at Little Bow for motoring exercises.]
The good news was that after attending a FACS meeting and announcing that I had misplaced my van, our friend, Ernie's son, said "I know where Dave's van is." Later that same day while I was teaching down at Little Bow, the police phoned and reported our van found. Two weeks later it was back clean and sparkly but without a trace of any thing of value left in it. At least there was no damage to it. They tried to remove the signs on the window without success which probably saved it being driven too much. Add playing the insurance game of recovery of gear to our busy schedule.
Glenmore threw a couple of curves at us with the usual spring snowfall and a couple of high wind days. Everybody was well advanced by the time the high winds occurred so we even managed to show off one of our keels as we sailed by the moorings. One day we dropped off the crew just as a front came in. We had to pick up our mooring. Monique, a mere snip of a thing, rode the bow while the Cap'n flew a keel through the moorings. We made about six or seven passes while people who were storm stayed on their boats at their moorings looked on. Finally the conditions were right and we slid up to the mooring. Monique grabbed the line and wrapped it around the bow cleat while the Cap'n ran forward and dropped the sails. A cheer came up from those on their boats and from the dock and shoreline crowd.
We continued to introduce new people to the sport of sailing by offering our skippered charters on Glenmore. A couple of birthday presents resulted in our cruising around the lake with some light to moderate breezes, just enough to inject the cruising bug into the newly converted sailors. [Two of the cruise parties shown here.]
One of the students bought a new large (for these waters) Catalina and we managed to get up to Sylvan Lake to teach them motoring on their own boat. The Cap'n even got to set a new speed record. No it wasn't on the the Catalina but on one of
the son's car. Yes, the Cap'n rode in his first Lamborghini from the front of his house around to the pub, through the school zone at 30 kilometers per hour. Yes, I believe that is the slowest test drive that car has ever done. Well, the day we arrived in Sylvan, a nice thunderstorm came up and shut down our intended lesson.
We dined at the Smuggler's Inn waiting for the storm to pass. We managed to get out after the lightning had stopped but the wind was still up. We came in for a docking which turned out to be beyond the Basic level so the Cap'n took over the helm and did a 'Hail Mary' docking in the very tight marina, managing to miss outboard motors and other docked craft by millimeters and swinging the bow up into the wind for a one time only practice. The crew mutinied before Dave could cancel the rest of the lesson. We returned four days later and managed to get the crew up to speed in much more manageable winds.
We started our first Intermediate Cruise in the first week of July and had a super time. Although we only a small crew, Rob and Gord, we managed to complete the standard in some great sunshine and winds. [Gord and Rob sounding their way to shore in Pirate's Cove.]
Summer at the West Coast:
A couple of on-line bookings started off the summer. First of all these people had not sent in any down payments and then they didn't send any balances. Then, on arrival, they announced they wanted to be fed and entertained. What can you do with charterers like that? The first group was all the way from Britain -- Nottingham, to be exact. Turned out to be our daughter, Kirsten and her daughters, Ophelia and Greta. Because we were having Good Idea fitted with new canvas, we stayed on the dock for most of the time but managed to get over to Sidney Spit, the Port of Sidney and a dinghy trip to Port Sidney. During the trip back from Port Sidney Ophelia (5) and Greta (3) fell asleep in their mother's arms and missed the whole trip. Talk about an Attitude Adjustment Cruise, that was the fastest the Cap'n has ever put passengers to sleep. The weather was phenomenal and a heat record was set. Hence, the little ones found Big Moo's Ice Cream Palace in Sidney to be the main attraction.
The second group, from Ottawa, arrived on the heels of Kirsten's departure again with nothing down, nothing paid but with high interest. Turned out to be our other daughter, Rebekka and her fiancé, Marc-Andre. We took off from Sidney, trying to outrun the rain they had brought with them from down east. First stop was at the Roche Harbor Customs Dock where the Cap'n took the crew's passports ashore for clearance. "Who you travellin' with today?" grunted the Customs Officer, complete with heavy duty sidearm. I explained I was with my wife, my daughter and a relatively new stranger that I had just met that I wanted him to check out thoroughly. After he gave us the green light, I welcomed Marc-Andre aboard the family. The Customs Officer said he gets a lot of requests like that. Although it was cloudy and overcast for most of the four days that Bekka and Marc-Andre were with Brenda and I, we only registered one rain day. We had to slug it out with full wet-weather gear the one passage whereas the rest of the precipitation happened at night, like Camelot, and during times we were at rest, some of us more than others. Other than the poor planning to pack the Ottawa humidity, we had a great time with our kids.
Brenda then left to head back to Calgary to get Kirsten and kids set up in our home while they completed their immigration back to Canada. Unfortunately, she had my passport. We do not have enough space on our website to go into the details, but she lost the passport and I managed to get a new one in less than a day!! 23 hours later I had ID and was legal for our next trip into the States. A HHHHHUUUUGGGGEEEEE THANKS to the Passport People in Victoria and especially Wade and Family for helping me to expedite the system.
The weather was great and we had a great cruise with Barb, Wade, Matt and Mike. Without the constraints of the first mate along, the Cap'n managed to do it up right (translation: more calorific desserts -- the Barista Sundae shown here is still a favorite) with the new crew with absolutely fantastic meals in Roche, Anacortes and Friday Harbor. Good Idea got shut out of Deception Pass due to a tardy departure from
LaConner and so we went back into Cornet Bay to wait for the next slack. While there, we got some licenses for the boys who managed to catch about 10 crabs over the hour we were docked.
Only one small keeper and we won't mention who the best one on the crab line was, but Mike sure had a great time! [Crabbing on the State Park dock waiting for slack water at left.] When we got to Friday Harbor late, we all snared a great dessert. If you want to have the best chocolate cake in the Islands, go to the little brew pub on the main drag of Friday Harbor. Okay, so we didn't manage to sail a lot on the trip; there were no complaints!!!
Dave made a hasty retreat back to Calgary to help celebrate his father, Hugh's, 85thDave made a hasty retreat back to Calgary to help celebrate his father, Hugh's, 85th birthday. Keeping with the seafood theme from the coast we had a gala feast of scampi, shrimp, lobster tails and to top it off a huge four pound lobster for Dad. Another highlight was the birthday cake toss where Brenda, tripping on the way to the table, launched a whole slab of black forest cake into Dad's chest and lap. "Would you like some ice cream with your handful of cake?" was the questioned posed as we cleaned up the mess.
Back to the coast to entertain our friends again as Brad, Mary and Dylan joined the Cap'n for their second annual San Juan cruise. [Always a treat is the organ concert seen from the balcony in the Mansion at Rosario.] We had a super supper cruise with Dylan leading the pack in the calorie consumption. Although pretty well a repeat of the stops last year, this time Dylan didn't get skunked and managed to catch a crab.
Back to teaching, the Cap'n tutored Joshua, Monique, Rachelle, Danielle and Tara who along with their father and other siblings are preparing for an offshore adventure. This crew arrived in Anacortes and we did a San Juan version of the Intermediate Cruising course. One of the unwelcome guests on this voyage was the bug they brought along which resulted in the Cap'n and Tara not being up to par for the last day. A highlight though was scoring the prime table at Rosario where the crew went nuts for the Friday night seafood buffet. I'm not sure the resort saw much profit with this group. The group mutinied in Anacortes and the Cap'n sailed back solo to Sidney with a stop in Roche Harbor. After dark under the cover of darkness and under the influence of his lemon cold medications, he managed to anchor between all the other boats without incident. Early in the morning with stuffed sinuses, he retrieved the anchor and finished the cruise home.
The last Intermediate Cruise was later in September and due to forecasted high winds and a very unfavorable ebb tide, we holed up in Telegraph Harbour instead of our usual route. The crew, Bob, Ethel and Terry, [seen consulting the charts] did have one of the best sails of the year though as we returned back to Sidney.
Due to some complications this year, two of the student couples ended up cancelling their cruises. We'll fit them in next year.
Back in Calgary, Tisha imported a crew from Chicago and took the Cap'n on the last Glenmore cruise of the season. It had always been a ambition of her father to go sailing with her and so her Mom and Dad took time to drive out west to enjoy a very pleasant sail around the fall colours on Glenmore.
Shortly after that the Cap'n pulled Soryu out of the dam (before the snow flew) and dragged it home. While he busied himself teaching a radio class, good old
Brenda was once again saddled with running the boat out for her winter storage. What can I say, she has a talent that shouldn't be wasted!!
Then the last of the cruises, an Advanc
ed course where Brad along with David (the father of the tribe heading offshore) returned to the coast and joined the Cap'n and Ian. What a contrast from last year's Advanced cruise. [While the crew is offwatch
and below, on deck we dodge the traffic through the night and onto sunrise.] There was no wind and with the current we were under power for the majority of the time.
One of the highlights was that we locked up into the channel in Seattle. Due to the rush hour traffic we weren't able to pass by the first draw bridge, but the experience was great for the crew. Locking back down we then set out at sunset for a sail back north while we prepared supper. By midnight the wind had died and we were back on power. Our first real stop and landfall was at Oak Harbor where we cooked a nice meal aboard, showered and then enjoyed the hospitality of the Yacht Club for nightcaps. On the next morning after some complex anchoring maneuvers i
n the middle of a regatta, we set off for the chocolate cake in Friday Harbor which continues to be a must make destination. Although the weather was a bit cool, there was no rain and the boat made a safe passage back to Sidney for the end of the season. [Heading back to Sidney earlier in the year and catching another super sunset.]
Brenda and Dave took a mini holiday out to Sidney late November to tear off the new canvas, bag the sails and put Good Idea to bed for another season. Then in December, after the Nav Class had finished and the Wildrose was wrapping up activities for the year, our son-in-law, Erwan, seen here enjoying another day at Starbucks, finally got his Visa and was able to join his family under our roof here in Calgary. From empty nesters to having our wonderful kids and grandkids close (real close) at hand has certainly enriched our lives.
Just to finish the year we combined our St. Lucia Christmas celebration party with an anniversary party on the 13th of December. It is hard to believe that Brenda has been putting up with the Cap’n for over 30 years now. 30 years on the 15th and we had people there already chowing down on the Swedish fare like pork pancakes, pickled herring, hard bread etc, anyway, so we just threw in a cake and added a quick speech and called it a day. It was great. And only one party to clean up after.
Then there was just enough time to put together our family newsletter, start our Christmas shopping, and get ready for the year end.
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