BTS 2008

The Year of Celebrations

Every so often, you end up taking two steps forward and ending up three steps back. 2008 seemed to be that kind of a year. We accomplished a lot. But it seemed that the job jar just got bigger. Time waits for no man to keep up his webpages, so let’s get started ....

Of course we are still doing our thing

down south and spending time tromping around Monterey/Santa Cruz in January [watching the waves crash]. The big draw is our buddy Alice who turned 101. She always makes the trip worthwhile with her huge bear hug and great belly laugh. Her mind is an absolute vault and she remembers all of our letters and conversations that we have had and almost embarrasses me,

with my mind like a

colander, trying to keep the details of our escapades straight over the year. This year we had Dave’s folks join us to meet this wonderful woman. On the way back, a stop in San Francisco almost got us in trouble with overweight luggage. There was far too many choices of salt water taffy and so we took some of each. One of the unusual sights this year was a bull elephant seal that was in with the cattle on the wrong side of the highway from the ocean. I have heard of beefalo but I’m not sure I understand what this guy had in mind. His companions were about a mile up Highway 1. Brenda and I tried to give him some direction but the barbed wire was keeping him on the wrong side of the tracks.

ruising season was adjusted to accommodate some celebrations planned later in the year. We still got our Coastal Navigation course and Intermediate course underway at the end of January. Then things got a little hectic. I have always told my students that they don’t have room for a boat in their lives if they have to share limited holidays with landlocked relatives. I got a taste of that on my own this year. We barely finished our trip south and we were out to the coast for one of the earliest starts to the season with our first Intermediate cruise on the 7th of March. Before we got started we swapped out the old furling gear for newer, safer technology [that’s the Captain’s reasoning anyway to account for the expenditure]. The weather was really great with some great winds for sailing. We even got to start Daylight savings time early. As seen at left, we didn’t share the space with many other boaters and had all of Pirate’s Cove to ourselves.

Due to the impending wedding, we missed out on our normal spring cruise during the Easter break. We moved straight into the Basic Cruising course. We started the Glenmore schedule and were just getting started and it was pack up the bags on off to the wedding. We booked sailing time off to head east to Perth, Ontario, for a small, intimate wedding of our youngest daughter, Rebekka [aka Bekka now] to a French man, Marc-Andre, from Quebec.

This was scheduled smack dab right in the middle of the Basic Cruising course on May 17th. We had a wonderful time. Bekka had always said that both her Dad, Bob, and I, the step-Dad, would walk her down the aisle. Of course based on our size we would have to go single file. Well she saved the embarrassment of that photo op by bolting down the stairs and into the waiting arms of her betrothed without the escort. Other than the extended parental units of the bride and groom, the only others in attendance was her sister and his brother. We wined and dined together on the Friday night; golfed, hit the spa and got married, wined and dined Saturday; and breakfasted, met the buddies, toasted the bride and wined and dined at Swiss Chalet on Sunday. It was super. We really got to know this new man and his family and Bek and Marc-Andre’s friends.

Then back to Calgary to get back on the water for about ten days. We taught the motoring drills and they went well. Then, we had the first of three Overboard Incidents [OB]. One which resulted in a loss at sea. The first one was probably the worst on record for Wildrose Charters and Sailing School. It was the Cap’n himself!!! Okay, let me explain .... We had just pulled the boat out the water down at Little Bow and pulled the trailer up into the parking lot after the exercises. It started to rain heavily. I excused the class and said I could handle stepping the mast. They all elected to stay and then it happened. In a rush to step the mast [lay it down so it can travel on the highway] and get to dry quarters the Cap’n tripped on his wet weather gear from a height of over ten feet. “The last thing I remember,” said the Captain, “was the pavement rushing up to my head. I reached up and by some miracle caught something with my left hand and rerouted a headfirst plunge into a foot first drop. Everyone rushed around to my aid as they saw me literally heading off the boat and to theirs and my surprise, there I was standing on the ground in the pouring rain looking quite bewildered. I then proceeded to remount Soryu and finish the task.” Although it could have been worse, the Cap’n favoured his left hand and left knee for about 3 months. Nothing seems to be permanent with the exception of his left wrist which balks at sudden or strenuous twists, laundry or general housework.

Back in Calgary we wrestled up a couple of 20 kilogram roasts and put together another western style party. This one was for both of our French Son-In-Laws, Marc-Andre and Erwan. Because Kirsten and Erwan were married in England with only Brenda in attendance from the clan in North America, we elected to introduce these two wonderful men to all of the relatives and friends here in Calgary. [Bek, Marc-Andre, Erwan and Kirsten] The theme was western and we had to take the eastern boys aside to tell them the pants go on the outside of the boots. It was hard to tell they hadn’t just got in from the range until they spoke. Kirsten and Bek are really lucky to have these cowpokes in their corrals.

We taught the Basic into mid-June and got two Intermediate and Chartering cruises in before the end of the month. A little bit of a false start with some fuel problems. We had cast off and just cleared the marina when the engine started slowing down and finally just stopped. Quickly we went below and I managed to check out the fuel system and bleed down the diesel supply while the crew hastily put up the sails and managed to buck the current and get the boat headed back to the fuel dock. Engine was bled, started and lasted for about another three minutes before quitting. We sailed back up to the fuel dock and shades of Glenmore, we managed to dock Good Idea under sail. Luck would have it, my diesel mechanic was working right on the dock and came to have a look see. The fuel filter was okay, there was plenty of fuel ...... We finally took off the supply hose to

the filter and it was plugged solid with a bunch of gunk. We blew it out and the fuel started flowing nicely. Then it stopped. After 23 years without any fuel issues, we now had a problem. We managed to get back to the dock and the next morning a mechanic came out and polished my fuel. This involved circulating the fuel through a series of gross filters and down to some extra fine filters and we pulled out all of the junk in the tank. Three hours later, we were back underway with bright and shiny fuel.

We sailed directly to Rosario and drown our sorrows in seafood. [Bill and Ann in the organ room at Rosario prior to the feast.]

The only other issue with our charters this year was a displacement problem after cruising with the Cap’n. Seems there were more provisions coming on board than those being expended. Seems like the fare in Roche Harbor, Rosario, Anacortes and Friday Harbor continues to build hearty sailors. [Some of the seafood that makes the trip worthwhile.]

ther cruises this year included our extended family of our daughter, Kirsten, her husband, Erwan, and our granddaughters, Ophelia and Greta. They met us in Anacortes and after an extended provisioning we had a wonderful cruise. Not without incident mind you. First of all, one of the Captain’s Cruising Commands was broken this year. In my defense, in the words of Richard Nixon, “When the Captain [President] does it, it is not against the law!!” Command 247 states that no one shall entertain buying anything bigger than a breadbox during a charter. In a Starbucks run, the Cap’n got involved in the local rag, Anacortes Clamdigger, and ended up buying a 2003 Ford Explorer. Found guilty, the Cap’n is now doing community service driving his grandkids from school in his SUV and is attending Starbuck’s Anonymous.

Secondly, there was another OB incident. This one was a bit more serious. We were down below having dinner and we had what has been labelled as an OOB [Object Over Board] or OOPS. We had a bike trailer for carting our granddaughters behind the bikes and it caught some good wind on the docks.

Untethered, no mooring or anchor lines and it launched itself off the end of the dock. The current at La Conner then took over. When we resurfaced, witnesses said they saw a bunch of objects floating into the marina carried by the wind which was perpendicular to the current. Further inspection by the explorers, Erwan et David, trying to justify the new underwater fish video camera, turned up a bottle of bug spray, bottle of sunscreen, two water bottles and some other floaty things scattered through the boat sheds. Still missing and presumed gone, an antique Starbucks coffee mug and the bike carrier [seen at right, kids, Kirsten and knitting were not harmed]. Once thought to be accompanying that lot was the digital camera which was later discovered to be stowed away below. It was a bit different this year what with the pink focus on footwear. The agenda included playgrounds, ice cream counters, and lots of hiking and biking.

Sights included Popeye the seal in Friday Harbor, a

Mermaid on a rock at Lopez village, and countless beautiful sunsets. One of the road trips which was set up to replace the bike carrier, was down to the Chittendon Locks in Seattle. This is a worthwhile trip wether by car or boat. You can spend an hour or two just watching the boats raft up and

head through the locks, watch the salmon, big salmon, make it up through the fish ladders or try to pry your granddaugter away as she was the team cheer leader for the little salmon trying to buck the strong current.

Our other charters which were a bit less eventful throughout August and September. Same old, same old!!!!! Take in the Organ

Concert at Rosario, fill up at the buffet and then waddle back to the boat. Things got a bit out of hand when we let the crew out on shore leave without restraint. One of the crews, Pam and Jim ended up doing a side trip into Seattle. One thing led to another and

then all of a sudden there is a new boat owner in the making.

Jim fell in love with beautiful sloop and the rest is history. [Jim brought Pam a piece of the infamous Farmhouse Lemon Meringue pie to ease the idea of the boat]. He shanghaied the Cap’n for a trip to do the survey and sea trial in October and then to move the boat up to a stone’s throw from Good Idea in North Saanich Marina timed with wintering the boats in November. All attempts to dissuade him in buying and just chartering were futile. Sounds all too familiar. Larry had been bitten by the same bug earlier in the year and is also just across the docks from GI. Anyway, the trip

up from Seattle was uneventful,

the Customs Clearance and importing smooth, the docking satisfactory and the celebration dinner was outstanding.

We can backtrack a bit and mention the fact that we got to haulout the boat, scrape off the barnacles and

again

Brenda got to do the final touches to the keel just prior to the launch.

On the second last Intermediate Cruise of the season, the last of the MOB’s happened. This one involved a student, docking and a shaky finger in the marina. In exuberance to land the dock line, a student jumped down to the

unstable dock and continued across it into the scummy red tidal waters of Maple Bay. Kudos to her for not letting line go. Demerits for picking the foulest of water to take a dive into. After rescuing her and securing Good Idea, we sent her with a bag of loonies up to the shower. Instructions were simple. Do not remove any clothing, lifejacket, shoes and get in the shower. Rinse everything off as you strip down and add more loonies until your birthday suit, and then scrub down. We washed all her clothing and rinsed her shoes thoroughly and then we had a discussion of landing lines while docking. Never leap, step down and watch out for the wobbly ones. Then find a cleat immediately and get a wrap on. All else is Martha Stewart and we can tidy up once the boat is lashed in. Photo of crew taken by the cleaned up Maple Bay swimmer.

We finis

hed off the year by adjusting the Cap’n slightly. The years of cruising in the islands had taken its toll on the Cap’n’s waistline. Before he didn’t fit on Good Idea, he elected to find a new girl back in the Port of Calgary. Her name was Jenny. With the blessing of Brenda, Jenny and Dave went steady for the rest of the year and into 2009. The end result. Cap’n Dave is trimmer, more energetic, healthier and has a new outlook on life [especially when it comes to eating]. He still knows the best places to eat, the best desserts in the port and every movie house still has that popcorn magnet that draws him in, but is holding his weight and living large watching his crews enjoy his adventures in the islands. [Jim and Brenda fine dine while poor Dave does his Jenny thing. Fact is that Bistro Suisse prepared my meal and dressed it up in style serving it like it was right off the menu. I enjoyed going to the restaurants that would accommodated my program for me.]

he end of season in Calgary had Soryu

bouncing around in a fine storm. Dave road out with the boat patrol and bought in Soryu who protested strongly. Meanwhile, Jim’s boat rests peacefully in the marina.

Note: Do as I say and not as I do.

This old adage that bot

hered me as a child, still haunts me as I watch my friends buy boats after I tell them all the work that they are. Oh well, It’s Only Money!!!! Jim had a couple of chances to back out during the survey, but look at him now, a happy boat owner.

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