MV Blackbird

January 19, 2015

The Boat Show, the Boat Show, Over Fifty Years Ago…

For some reason, the annual Seattle Boat Show feels like a turning point of sorts. Even though winter is far from over, and there is plenty of nasty weather on the way, I feel like there is light at the end of the tunnel. I start planning projects and thinking about the season’s upcoming trips.

It’s not just now – I felt the same way when I was a kid, attending the Big Seattle Boat Show in the King Dome. Our family, along with another family that we did a lot of boating with would go each year – for several years – and it was a pretty big deal.

My friend, Lisa, and I would each grab the first free bag we could get our hands on and begin our trek through all the vendors on the floor and levels of the dome. There wasn’t a brochure, button, ink pen, free sample, or sticker that didn’t end up stuffed into our, by the end of the day, jam-packed bags.

I think I wore an “I’m a boat nut” button on my jacket through a good part of third grade. Yes, I was that cool.

I’ll be there later this week. I’ll grab the first free bag I can get my hands on, but I won’t pick up every…

For a closer look at the pictures above, visit my Old Boating Literature page.

September 1, 2014September 4, 2014

Summer Cruising – Shoal Bay Music Fest

Shoal Bay is a cool little spot in the Discovery Islands. It’s the epitome of laid back – the kind of place that I’m sure you’d be just fine if you forgot your high blood pressure medicine at home.

Located on the northeast corner of East Thurlow Island, you’ll find the Shoal Bay Lodge, which lies near what once was the site of a thriving community of over 5000 inhabitants, drawn to the areas logging, mining, and fishing industries. Rather than spend too much of your time and mine telling you about the location, its past, and its future, I’ll direct you to their website, and encourage you to check out every informative and entertaining page within. If you only have time to read one page, make certain it’s The Story…

On August 9, Shoal Bay hosted their annual Music Fest, and this year’s cruising plans included this as one of the planned stops. During last year’s cruise, we were a week late, and learned of the event and how much fun it was. Being a “musician” (no claims of being a good one), I enjoy an opportunity to play and sing.

Briar Patch, Enough Time, Jolly Mon, and Little Bear arrived on Friday, the day before the Fest, to nearly-full docks with multiple boats rafted, and the anchorage filling by the hour. I found a nice spot to settle and drop my hook in about twenty feet of water.

Continue reading “Summer Cruising – Shoal Bay Music Fest”

August 21, 2014August 21, 2014

Summer Cruising – Bear on the Beach!

As we continue making our way home – currently at anchor at Tumbo / Cabbage Island – I’ll share another highlight from this year’s trip north. Since my last post, we enjoyed an uneventful crossing of the Strait of Georgia within a perfectly-timed window of light winds and spent a night in Mark Bay in Nanaimo. From there, continuing southbound, the next stop was Montague Harbor, and finally, today we’re anchored at Tumbo. I’m here with Briar Patch and Little Bear, and nobody is in any hurry to get home. You can see where we’ve been so far, by visiting my SPOT Adventures Page.

So, about the bear on the beach. On the northbound trip, we spent a night in a little anchorage in the Discovery Islands, called “Anchorage Lagoon” by some – not sure of, or if, it has an official name, but it’s located between Cameleon Harbor and Thurston Bay on Sonora Island. The narrow entrance is quite shallow and best entered at high water.

After an early morning departure from Campbell River, the fleet was resting after getting the hook down and everything settled. I had just woke from a nice little nap, and was sitting in the cockpit, shaking the post-nap cobwebs while surveying the area, thinking to myself that this was a place that one might see a bear. There, on the beach, was – a grizzly bear – munching away on berries and whatever else he was rooting for. I loudly whispered, “Bear on the beach!” to the others, and the cameras and binoculars came out.

We watched the bear make its way down the beach until it disappeared into the woods. A while later, we saw it emerge onto the beach at the head of the bay. Wanting to get a closer look, we hopped in a tender and idled in its direction. We kept our distance, but were able to get a good look and capture some great pictures.

This wasn’t the only wildlife encounter on this trip…

August 18, 2014August 18, 2014

Summer Cruise – Motoring to Tribune Bay

I’m currently out on a three week trip to Desolation Sound and the Discovery Islands. While, at this point, our little flotilla is making our way slowly in the direction of home, I’ve been away from reliable internet for a good part of the trip.

Rather than provide a day-by-day account of the trip – which takes a bit of work, and is probably not too exciting for the reader – I’ll share some of the highlights of the trip. And there are some!

So far, we’ve visited Nanaimo, Tribune Bay (Hornby Island), Campbell River, Anchorage Lagoon (Sonora Island – unsure of its “official” name, if it has one), Shoal Bay, Toba Inlet, Pendrell Sound, Refuge Cove, Squirrel Cove, Westview (Powell River), and currently at anchor in Garden Bay, Pender Harbour. It’s been a great trip, and I’ve seen and experienced a lot. You can see where the trip has taken us by checking out my Spot Adventure Page.

For this post, the first highlight I’d like to share was a few moments from the trip from Nanaimo to Tribune Bay on Hornby Island. After spending a couple of days in Nanaimo, watching the wind blow and following weather patterns, we saw a window of opportunity to move on. Leaving in the afternoon and cruising at slow speed put us into Tribune Bay after dark, but the prize for doing so was motoring into a beautiful sunset.

July 2, 2014July 2, 2014

Traveling Scandinavia

When I left for my trip, I had intended to keep up on blog entries. Not only would it be an opportunity to keep the folks at home up to date, but would allow me the chance to reflect on things I had seen and done while traveling. Well, it didn’t happen. I was simply too busy, always on the move it seemed, and at the end of the day the desire to just rest prevailed. Now that I’ve been home for well over a month now, I’m finally getting around to pulling it all together.

I fit a lot in to 2 1/2 weeks, and covered a lot of ground. In my previous post I shared my stay in Iceland, and I’ll include the rest of the trip in this one. I’ll apologize that this post is a bit long.

May 7 & 8 – Copenhagen, Denmark

I was up early to catch a 4:30 am shuttle to the airport, and a morning flight to Copehagen. On arrival at Copenhagen, the airport was packed – the city is host to the Eurovison Song Contest, which is bringing many visitors along with it. Prior to making my travel arrangements, I’m not sure I had ever heard of Eurovision, but I quickly figured out it was a pretty big deal.

After a short train ride, I arrived at Copehagen’s Central Station, and had just a short walk to my hotel, the Hotel Cabinn City. My room was small, simple, and spotless. It reminded me of a efficient ship’s cabin, which seems to be the concept for the hotel.

I didn’t come on this trip to sit in a hotel room, so after dropping my bags and settling in, I set out to see what I could see. Continue reading “Traveling Scandinavia”