Oh my Blog - How I have neglected you

Today's date - 5th February 2019 - Its hard to believe that I have not visited this blogsite since 2015.  I remember so well at the beginning of our adventure aboard MoondancerX how vital it was that I write and publish posts even when the internet connections were so bad that it would take hours to post just a couple of photographs and a little bit of text.
In September 2008 when Tony, my son Johnny and I left Sidney North Saanich Yacht Club we were so 'fresh' and excited about what was to come - Oh did I forget to say 'nervous'.   The preparations Tony and I made to MoondancerX took 2 years.  She was already an ocean going boat but needed a few major repairs and updates and we needed education, most of which we got through the Bluewater Cruising Association, a great organization to belong to if planning to go offshore.  And now that I am back I still value the company and sharing of common experiences with other 'doners' - and what is as important to the 'planners' as it was to us I am happy to pass on those experiences when asked.
MoondancerX and I are home now, I'm back in my house in Parksville and MoonancerX is moored in the Fairwinds Marina in Schooner Cove, Nanoose about 20 minute drive from me.  I shipped her home with Raven Marine this time last year and have taken a year to reinstate myself in my home. I'm now preparing MoondancerX for her first season as the vessel I use for my new charter/instruction business www.salishseasail.net, a Cruise and Learn operation which will be the vehicle I use to pass on my extensive knowledge to sailors of whatever level or just take enthusiastic adventurers on the ride of a lifetime.

As time allows I will fill in the blogs of the years I missed since my last post.  A lot of change happened in those years - though some of it didn't seem good at the time it has contributed to what is now!

This is a Haiku which was written for me many years ago by an old friend:

HAIKU - WHAT IS NEW? - IT IS YOU NANCY REW.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saint Lucia - Sint Maarten - 23rd - 26th April 2015 SHAKEDOWN

Image
Saint Lucia – Sint Maarten 23 rd – 26 th April 2015 3 days in St. Lucia and we worked very hard while there – the genoa halyard was very difficult to re-wind onto the drum, with all three of us putting our  heads together, Adam and I dismantling the lower drum several times – all of us taking turns to read and attempt to understand why we kept getting it wrong.  Now and again I think that I might be dyslexic, this was one of those times – no matter how many times we re-wound the furling line onto  that drum it was backwards. Debra and I working on sewing the sun strip back on the genoa We got it on eventually,  and furled and unfurled it while on our mooring and all seemed well – It wasn’t, it plagued us throughout the rest of the trip – we were constantly reefing and unreefing it – the unreefing was the problem and I broke another rule I usually adhere to – ‘if you have to use brute force to make something work, something’s obviously wrong and you have to stop
Read more

Moored in Sausalito - San Francisco Bay

Image
Eureka is a very nice town/city. It has an old town section which is very picturesque, mostly 'Victorian', 'Edwardian' hotels, business buildings, houses dating back to the late 1800's. Its amazing to walk around the town and think that in its heyday men were still riding the ranges shooting each other - and now it all looks so sedate and very beautiful. There is already the feel of California in the type of shops and the way the young people look. Its hard to describe that look - kinda rasta/hippy/yuppy, dunno - it's alot like San Francisco. We were told that we must see a particular Victorian house - "the most photographed Victorian in the world" - quite the statement, which of course we were cynical about. Because we forgot our map, we were instantly lost but were helped by a friendly barber who knew exactly which building we meant by the description "the most........". He gave us directions and we took off - just a few blocks away - and w
Read more

March 31st - Grand Cayman - Very Welcoming

Image
Its hard to believe that we've been here 4 days. It is very strange to go from Spanish speaking latin countries where we knew we would get good ceviche and good local beer, because we knew 2 Spanish words, cervesa and ceviche, to Grand Cayman where we are tied up to a mooring just offshore of a Burger King fast food restaurant. I guiltily admit that we have already had 2 burger and fries meals in 4 days. Arriving and checking in here has been such a pleasant experience. The greeting and welcome from the Port Captain was so professional and 'welcoming', the first Port Captain who has welcomed us into their port. The Customs and Immigration Officers came to our boat to fill in the forms, which they brought with them and would have been happy to photocopy our documents if needed, but we already had that taken care of. The 2 officers, a man and a women kept up a lively conversation in patois we had trouble following, but they included us and we had conversations about our teena
Read more