Figure things out

These past two months on the boat have been fun, and amazing, and at times frustrating.

I have enjoyed so much of this but always held a lonely spot inside me missing my grand children.

Mornings like this are fresh and quiet, damp and lately very cold.
Most days are of potential for where we will go next or what we will do that day
We really knocked out a lot of places maybe too many all at once.
Next summer we want to try and go to Desolation Sound and then explore islands up the inside passage until we make Alaska. I can't get excited right now, I just need to get home and see everyone.

Ill be more prepared, maybe, for pay showers, crazy laundry room set ups, and general stores that look like something my kids used to set up when they played store as children, bigger grocery stores that have prices through the sky with product names and ingredients written in French and English.

Sheesh. What will happen if I get someplace and can't read the language at all. David has been fairly demanding about food needs, it's hard to take time and learn the lay of a place when time is short and folks are expecting familiar goodies.

I keep thinking I'll just go to Costco and stock up everything so I don't have to worry about how to find stuff  while we are traveling.  I mistakenly thought retirement was going to be relaxing.
Silly girl.

Visit Shaw Island

It is so completely beautiful right now. The sun has presented the gift of warmth and we are parked out of the wind (and unfortunately the phone reception) and life out on the back porch is glorious.

We heard of. some whale sittings over the radio but we haven't seen any today. Yesterday there were several pods of porpoises playing around as we crossed to our destinations.


We spent last night at Rosario marina in Cascade Harbor, (Orcas Island) it was an amazing place very old but full of great amenities. We actually got to use the hot tub and take showers without quarters...there was a nice lounge with good draft and a guitar player named Robbie Christmas who could do nearly all of Eric Clapton's hits.

Nights have been quite cold sometimes even the days are as well. We met some really nice people at Rosario and learned about a small diesel powered heater Espar that we might be able to fit on our boat, that would make it so nice heading to Alaska next summer. The condensation inside the boat for now stays on the windows, but we have heard horror tales of the whole interior sweating making everything inside wet, that really becomes a problem in the cold up in Alaska . Either way We are definitely getting at least one electric blanket to warm up the bed before we get into it.

Across the bay is a beautiful dark red barn style home with bright red and gold trees around it. The seasons are very real here, even if the evergreens dominate there is still places you can find color.  The weather is supposed to dip below freezing this week. So tonight or tomorrow night ( oct 13-14) may be our last before we shoot across the Straight of Juan de Fuca  to Port Angeles. David can't quite bring himself to say goodbye to this cruise.


There seems to be no open Internet here right now on Shaw Is. I am writing this in draft for now, will send ASAP. The store here is closed Sunday's so tomorrow we will hopefully get there for milk. Some things never change. We are trying to get creative and make dishes that use what is currently in the pantry, it is challenging.

Where is that water coming from?

Words that strike fear deep in the heart of any boat owner, not unlike hearing a 2 year old saying "uh oh" from the next room, a preteen out side yelling "mom" in a panicked voice. Or your adult son calling and opening the conversation with "hi mom I need to talk to dad!"

Experience can be a great teacher but doesn't always perform as well as a preventer. Roof tops and boat bottoms hold the same mysterious ability to let water into the tiniest crack and send it on a circuitous route before it shows itself inside.

So far during this particular quest water has slipped in via the daggerboard cases, both rain water and sea water. Through the depth sounder that one was just plain scarey.  Through the prop shaft ( don't even ask) through several windows left open and one fixed window thought to be sealed.  Shower water has been caught sneaking into the bilge.... And at least one mystery place believed to be above the waterline, where water shows up intermittently, that is still under investigation.

We have coined phrases like nuisance rainwater, bilge condensation, window condensation ok almost any thing we are more than happy to attribute to condensation. I am happy to report we are learning to take this in stride, well sort of.

What day is it anyway?

It is cloudy and cold today, :( not too hard to take tho after the 2 glorious days we just had. The trip back from Princess Louisa only took 5 hours instead of the predicted 8 yay.  Back Eddy Marina is a nice " local" place, full of good people. Food at the local pub was very yummy.

The hope today was to walk up to Skookum Natrows where high tide brings rapids and there is a place up on the hills to watch the kayakers play in the water; but the current weather predictions of 30-40 knot winds for tomorrow mean we need to get out of here and head to Buccaneer Bay for the night and maybe all day Friday. Not leaving until Sat to get to Nanaimo. Not sure there will be wifi or phone service.
Hmmm I think today might be Friday, I'm really confused!

David has a yacht club friend ( Bay Peterson) coming into Nanaimo Sunday to spend 4 days with us heading to the San Juan's. 

People ask how many people the boat sleeps, the real question is how many "heads" do you have, reality check, folks can sleep just about anywhere. :)

David is now the headmaster, we are all chief poopas, rules say if you didn't eat or drink it it. Can't go in the head. Makes that window really handy....sorry but that's the way it is. Needless

 to say any chance we have to get off and use facilities we do.

This is Freddie Bonilla, a Seminarian from Columbia, he just finished his time in service to the parish St Mary's Star of the Sea.  What a privilege to have been present the day he was introduced to the parish and to again see him on the day he is saying goodbye. He played a tune on a flute, the tune and the flute are both from his area of Columbia. Freddie is now in Idaho serving in a hospital.

Fr. Ken Samson will be leaving too, the end of June, probably around the same time we leave Astoria. I first heard him speak on the feast of Immaculate Conception when we came up here to see the boat build as it was just starting.  I don't know why but to me it seemed at the time, like this was one of the first homilies to this parish.  He spoke of Mary as the Queen Mother, we as the bride of Christ owed it to our "mother in Law" to get to know her.

Every step of the way, in building the boat has been in Gods hands, I never really could wrap my head around the outcome, but now it is really very close.  Last Summer we were sure we would be out of here by September or maybe October that was 2012 it didn't happen.  Now it is May 2013... David took over full responsibility for the project finish when Johns business fell apart over the Christmas holiday.  David and Brad,  Mark, Russel and Dennis, have been the support and sustainer's for the boat paart of the project, the spiritual part of the journey has been supported by Father Ken and The Holy Spirit.

Too big to describe

Thursday,

A fellow pulled in yesterday and parked right in front of us, his boat was named "Some Luck"
He kept going on and on about the beautiful day, indeed it was, apparently this area is heading into a rainey season and people are milking the weather for all it's worth.

He joked it was hard to see that beautiful sky with all that 10,000 year old granite in the way, that cracked everyone up.
What indeed could hide the sky so magnificently but 10,000 year old canyon walls.


Another lady made the comment "I just didn't know that I needed to see this." Really true.





Chatterbox Falls. The noise from the water was huge, the spray went out about 100 yards past the bottom. Warning signs said do not try to climb the falls, 12 people have lost their lives trying to do just that. Hmmm I must be getting old because it never occurred to me to even try.




The boat is great, a few little issues but nothing is ever perfect. It is cold ......    David is doing a fabulous job as captain.  Larry is wonderful crew, he is often much more patient showing me how to do things. :).

Sunday we pick up another of David's yacht club friends Bay Peterson and his girl friend, Donna,  and sail for another week in the Gulf Islands and maybe down in the San Juan Islands (USA)

Yes you are welcome to come visit us on the boat next summer, we are probably heading home to Austin the end of October. We will be back to finish sailing the Canadian islands and maybe try to make it to Alaska.

Princess Louisa

It's Wednesday morning and only 52' but the humidity is hi 86% so it is
really cold feeling.  I think I am wearing 3 layers just to sit and sip tea
inside the boat, there isn't a defroster so I put the fans on to the clear
the windows and that makes it feel cooler....sheesh I might need my gloves.


We are anchored in Princess Louisa Inlet. Mainland Canada,  basically all
these inlets are glacier cut canyons with water over 1000 feet deep.  The
walls are several hundreds feet high and I can see by the brightness in the
cloudy sky that the sun is up but hasn't reached down into the canyon yet.
We'll stay here for two days, thank heavens because David really needs some
down time;  So I won't be able to send this until we get back in the world
of wifi signals.


There are waterfalls everywhere, it's a constant white noise festival....

It's funny, there are four boats here total,  we all have radios but the
only other radios we can reach are each others , ie the ones right here, the
4 of us right now are it.  

One boat is a big power boat named ToyBox II and there are lots of toys on
that boat. He helped us anchor last evening so we figure him to be a good
guy. There is another very small sailboat, and a trawler that looks like a
home to its occupants. Their name is " evening star" they seem to be doing
the same thing we are.


Last night we tried to call Evan and report in to him on the sat phone but
it cut off right after we said hello. It must have scared Evan, I am proud
to say that rather than worry, he followed the protocol in the float plan
and called the coast guard they were able to get in touch with us and verify
that we were ok, then through a circuitous route we managed to call Evan
back and let Jim know we were ok. The coast guard guy was great, he said I
am so glad you have a float plan and that everything worked out as it should
have. It made me wonder if maybe not all cruisers have them.   David
informed me the float plan was only for the designated two, Neal and Evan,
the rest of the world can just get a list of places we are going....sorry
folks themselves da rules. We do have a voyage plan it's really boring just
ticks off the things we'll pass as we get to where we are going, we need to
mark the time on that.

The ships log is kind of fun, once an hour someone writes where we are and
what we are doing weather etc, not as good as a diary but close.

I miss you guys but I am totally dying to see my grand kids. William is 7.
He was just born when the mcCormick mt house first went on the mkt. sheesh
where does time go.


beauty and awe join worship with people i may never see again but who became
my friends just by standing with me in prayer and praise.

Please keep us in your prayers as we continue through the month of October
then we will tuck this baby in ( probably in Port Angeles Wa ) for the
winter and head back to Austin out of Seattle.

We are not alone. Ha ha ha sounds like something from the 60's horror genre. But I realize briefly from time to time that even though I know and truly believe God is with me, I don't live it, act like it , trust like it is true.

Who steals this or do I just let it flop to the floor beside me like a toddler absent mindedly drops a blanket for the treat of the day.

I do just assume I can pick up Gods grace and use it when I think I need it.

Problem is I do not know how when or much I need it.  When I am thinking " I need to leave this place" or person, or situation I need Gods love and support the most. If departure is what is called for it will happen appropriately, if however I am called to face something how can I do this? I have already decided I can't.  If I do t want to deal with someone, or some situation I avoid it.    But God can and will help me handle it  And i do not have to figure it out first.  Indeed I need to give Him a chance to show his stuff.

Open my eyes Lord, let me not miss your face.

Get out of here

It seems like we could be finished with the major parts of the boat and we would be on the water in a month.  Oh how many times we have thought this was possible.  Only to have our plans doused in a brutal reality.  Checklists and checklists are being made looked over, detailed.... Bad people out, good people in.....What is going to happen now?

I want to have hope, to move forward, one minute I am up then I'm shutting down. Ugh! David has himself on a crazy autopilot regime. 6 days of working on the boat. Paying the people who work, buying the stuff that is needed. I want to believe, we both need to have faith.

come around

Somedays I just want to fall on my face and cry.  I'm not really sure why because I have a lot to be so thankful for.

My angst lies in just knowing there will be yet another iteration of the same process of problem solving, one side saying it can't be done, we tried that etc. etc. The other side saying what they say and on and on....

Were we not told back in that garden that our work would be hard and we would never feel resolved, it sure doesn't make it any easier.

I want a new outlook , one that says "yes! here we go again lets see how this group handles things"....bright faces encouraged by experienced people who know at least to some extent, that there will be repetition; but, that there will also be breakthrough, and prayers that someone is alert enough to notice.

Lord
Give me confidence,
Let my insecurity rest with you.
I do not have to win or worry about loss,
Just let me reach out and
maybe make contact.

A lesson from my two crazy dogs today!

First off I am one of those pet owners that occasionally  let's food Drop on the floor. okay okay I give food to them.

The end result is that they are often under foot or under the table begging.   Today was interesting...I came in with two rotisserie cooked chickens.   They both sat near by looking hopeful, but there wasn't the usual underfoot stuff.  When the piece of chicken skin came their way they accepted with a slow graceful reverence.

I laughed to myself as I washed my hands how they were so patient because they knew this treat was indeed worth the wait. The treat was so good they didn't snatch it they allowed it to slip from my fingers into their mouths.


Can I think of something so worth the wait, that i might receive it with that same grateful reverence. Certainly nothing of this earth, (sorry pups). I think of how Mary said yes to the angel and at that moment received fullness  of grace for her life journey.   I know that in my own life I am in saying yes to God receiving grace sufficient for my challenges to handle what ever comes my way. Do I wait as patiently and receive so graciously? Did I just get a lesson from my dogs?

I used to catch myself being impatient with people who always lost their phones or forgot to change it back after they had silenced it.  I am now catching myself in these small social crimes. The poem says,  "Oh to see ourselves as others see us" but I wonder if it isn't more to the point to catch ourselves as others have been. Is that to see a speck while looking past a log? Or to find the log on the way back from cataloging the speck...

Many years ago there was an Ad for Drug Free America or some such group that said "This is your brain, This is your brain on drugs" Many funny memes and posters were made after that like your brain in school, your brain on the ski slopes...

My house is the same today as yesterday; but everything I look at looks different to me. My husband left to go to Oregon, and back to the boat. That is all.

In some ways I will be terribly lonely, but I will also have more flexibility and maybe in other ways less....He had fun with his grandchildren and they really enjoyed him.

I don't know why someone can make a place feel so different just by coming in or by leaving.

The sun wasn't here very long, but lately, as I am holding up indoors, I have been directed to look more at the windows. I have to admit it is a challenge to find anything interesting there, I just have to work at it.

Maybe this year will be just as challenging to see the value beyond the obvious.

I wonder?

This morning we were challenged to remember what Moses taught Aaron and the priests and their children to Bless the people of Israel, in the name of the Lord.

Aaron’s Benediction
      Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them:

The LORD bless you, and keep you;

The LORD make His face shine on you,
         And be gracious to you;

The LORD lift up His countenance on you,
         And give you peace.’

“So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them.”

I ask that this New Year be blessed in the name of the Lord.