I don’t know which we enjoy more, visiting our friend Alice or the fact that she has such a wonderful neighbourhood.  We made our annual trek back to California to see Alice who turned 102 this year.  She adopted us as boat people when we met her while we were on our offshore trip in 2000-2001.  We visit her annually at her new digs in Santa Cruz.  We stay in Capitola around the corner and laze about waiting for the sunrises and sunsets to help paint the town [seen below]. 

Besides teaching the winter courses to try and stave off winter, we also get out annually to the Calgary Boat and Sportsman’s Show.  This is an attempt to drum up more business to help support the habit that the Cap’n has.  We ran our usual Navigation, Radio and GPS courses and awaited the spring. 

Another course was set up for the Cap’n to help him extend his cruising seasons.  Dave got involved with Jenny over the winter and elected to trim some off his bilges.  For anyone who has not seen him for a while, he is a healthy and happier now that he has shed over 60 pounds.  Jenny was good to him, her food was great and he has developed a new life style which should extend his sailing long into the future.  [Dave seen here with his granddaughters, Ophelia and Greta cheering him on when he reached his Jenny Craig weight goal.]   Then the cruising season was underway.  

Okay, so you have heard it before.“My Name is Dave, and I have been aground.”  Just when you think that you are doing alright and you have the world by the tail you discover that your are not invulnerable.  OOPS!!!  So there we were cruising in the Gulf Islands, teaching a lesson in navigation while en route under auto pilot.  Then crunch.  Apparently the Cap’n had not completed the real navigation and he took Good Idea up on the rocks.  [Hindsight.  Crew double checking Navigation AFTER  the bump.]  What happened?  Teaching Advanced Bearings to the crew the Cap’n adjusted the course slightly to take advantage of the upcoming light on Danger Reef [on a passage that we have done a hundred times].  Mistake #1 --Complacency.  On the new course the Cap’n took a bow bearing [45’ off the bow] and then directed the crew’s attention to the process of getting the beam bearing [90‘ off the bow].  Mistake #2 -- Focusing Poorly.  Then, with all eyes on him, facing 90‘ to the course the crew not wanting to interrupt the lesson with the strange sighting off the bow, waited.    Mistake #3. -- Not Questioning the Cap’n’s Wisdom and Choice of Course.  BANG!!!!   All attention then shifted to the new exercise, Grounding The Boat.  After the initial shock and having some colour return to Cap’n Dave’s face, the crew leapt to action.  Determining no personal injuries, Dave and Brian flew to the cabin and checked for any hole damage and water pouring in.  At the same time the crew leapt to the aft cockpit and released Otto from the helm who had decided that with a little effort he might be able to still chew his way through the reef.  Having then turned the autopilot off and putting the engine in neutral, it was determined that, with no leaks , we could back off the reef.  [Not a great idea if you do have a leak to back into deeper water.]  Still watching for any signs of leaking which there wasn’t, we set a new course for a harbour that may assist us if we did need help.  We arrived in Thetis Marina without incident about 40 minutes later and with a tight, but shaken ship and crew called it a day.  

Thank goodness for the Yamaha Co. in building Good Idea as strong as she is as the damage to the boat was minor [see before and after repair pics above]. The crew said the Cap’n was a bit ashen after the crash and were more worried about him. We managed to get the $700 repair done just in time for a charter.  Sandy S, [above left] an old friend of Good Idea, even came down from Nanaimo to help move GI back to her berth. Next day, the Chicago women, Tisha and Claire, [seen above right] and Calgarian Wendy and her family, Jill and Inez, [left] went out for a day cruise with seals, porpoises and our favourite outhouse tour. 

For the second time in about 25 years, we got shut out of our May 1st launch.  Glenmore was still stiff and the ice did not come off until the second week of May.  [Soryu managed to be first and only out there again at the first opportunity.]

Spring and summer holidays last year yielded more than just memories. This May our daughter who resides in Ottawa doubled our grandsons to two.  Our daughter, Rebekka, and her husband, Marc-Andre, under Brenda’s coaching presented us a beautiful little boy, Oskar.  He fought his way into this world May 28th with a 23.5 hour labour.  Without saying, this impacted the attendance of First Mate Brenda as she fliped back and forth across the country to help with deliveries, packing, and moving to a more kid friendly home.  That and arm wrestling the new arrival from other interested parties that reside in the area.  Not to be one upped and lose her mother on a more permanent basis, Kirsten, the daughter who lives with us with her family in Calgary, also got into the act, tripling our grandsons to three.  After 8 minutes of labour on August 5th, she presented us with our third grandson, Hugo. Seven days later, Hugo with his family joined us for a summer cruise.  I think his mother wasn’t going to miss the cruise this year even if she had to deliver en route.  Thank goodness that didn’t happen.  [Brenda with Oskar, Dave with Hugo.]

Basic and Intermediate Cruising saw us back and forth from Glenmore to the Gulf/San Juan Islands.  Cap’n was on his own for most of the cruising this summer as his First Mate was still flipping back and forth between the new grandsons.  You know you are getting old when you start teaching the adult children of your former adult students.  Ben and Karen joined me to start down the path their father[in-law] had taken twenty years earlier and took their Intermediate with me in the San Juans. [Karen piloting up the Swnnomish Channel.] It was most memorable as Ben’s late father, Francis, joined us for one last cruise on Good Idea.  We said a few words and cast some of his ashes on his favourite point of sail and on one of the many passages that he had cruised years before. 

One of the best charters this year was with Bill and Anne as they took the Cap’n over to the Wooden Boat Festival in Port Townsend.  This was their third cruise with Dave and the best one so far.  It started a bit shaky when they arrived in Sidney and Bill announced he was looking at a wooden boat for sale for $5000.  An intervention was initiated and Anne and Dave pointed out the inherent problems with this particular boat  [Bill inspecting the boat left.]  Booking well in advance and not knowing what the weather may bring, we planned different scenarios that had us arriving on foot by ferry for a one day tour of the show through  to battling high seas and arriving in Port Townsend with a sick crew that would have to anchor out in a crowded bouncy bay.  As it turned out, the weather was perfect and we scored a reciprocal dock space in the Marina and got to spend 2 great days at the show.  We crawled over and through a bunch of boats, power and sail; arm wrestled Bill away from a bunch of wooden boat kits; resisted buying a wooden bicycle; reminded Anne about our ‘Nothing Bigger Than A Breadbox Purchases Policy’ and picked up our limit on Festival T-Shirts.   The only thing we let the reins out on was the wonderful seafood fare that was offered about town.  Dave had to do an extra lap or two around the Wii Fit Board for the next few days.  Way too much wood for my liking [I mean really a wooden bicycle!!] but it was a great time with great guests.  Not going to be easy to top this one, Bill. 

I can not stress enough that you have to vigilant at all times.  Do as I say and not as I do.  Do the Navigation before you do the exercises.  One of my students did not listen and elected to follow the Cap’n’s poor example and ran his boat up on the rocks as well.  His damage was substantially more.  Be vigilant OR Use a low draft rubber raft. 

We had to put out a Distress Call this year.  We were approached by a fishing vessel that thought we were messing with their crab traps and threatened us not once, but three times.  When it approached us the last time, and we did not know if they were armed or not, we put out a Mayday Call.  The Coast Guard stood by along with a Washington State Ferry to ensure that nothing happened.  The boat left with its deranged skipper and the Sheriff followed up with a report once we reached port.  All the people who heard the call apologized on behalf of the  weird welcoming committee.