Jerin and Michelle Dobson - a day in the life

My bird's smarter than your bird!

2011-12-05T13:44:00.000-08:00

I've been through the desert on a bird with no name.

2011-09-15T19:34:00.000-07:00

The summer wind, came blowin in.... from across the sea

2011-09-10T21:14:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I know but vultures have gotten a bad rap. It's all the rotten meat, it gives them bad breath.

Photographic evidence

2011-09-07T23:37:00.001-07:00

Christmas came early this year. We decided to treat ourselves to a telephoto lens.

Black and white T
T in his natural habitat

knot likin the double entendre boat names

2011-09-02T17:18:00.000-07:00

Listening to the boats calling each other on the VHF I noticed that a high percentage of boat names are double entendres. The word "knot" or "knotty" is so overused its knot funny. If I ever find myself naming a boat it won't be witty and it won't have "wind" in the name.

A few days ago Michelle sprained her ankle hiking in the woods. Its so colourful I thought I'd post a pic. We went to Sidney Spit this week. On the way south we spent Wednesday night at Genoa Bay. We've never anchored there before but we'll definitely go back. We went to the Restaurant for a drink and appies and it was quite good. They also have a breakfast bar in the morning on the dock.

Under the Lions gate

2011-08-27T13:20:00.000-07:00

We sailed over to Vancouver for three nights. We spent the first two nights at the Coal Harbour Marina and the last night we anchored in English Bay. We spent a day at the PNE, but other than that we just hung out and got drunk.

Be afraid fishies!

2011-07-24T20:33:00.000-07:00

hmmmm, tasty, ugly fish

Broughton Islands

2011-07-05T01:55:00.000-07:00

On our way North we spent a couple nights at Jedediah island. We hiked to the top of the hill at the South end of the island and had a great view of the Strait of Georgia and Lasqueti Island. Along the way we met some sheep and some goats.

Our next stop was at Gorge Harbour on Quadra Island

We made a few new friends at Current Passage. We had a lot of fun watching these Pacific White Sided Dolphins fish and play in our bow wave. The little guy looking up at the camera was very curious and watched Michelle for quite a while. We anchored for the night at Port Harvey between the Cracroft Islands.

These Dall's Porpoises joined us at Robson Bight. We enjoyed their company for ten or fifteen minutes before they decided to move on.

I can only surmise that this path was caused by a tornado. Some of the trees were snapped off above the ground and others were completely uprooted along this narrow path. It only goes a short distance into the woods, but I'm glad I wasn't there that day.

I was collecting firewood on the beach and almost stepped in a steaming pile left by this guy. We didn't meet face to face till I was in the boat though and he turned out to be a little camera shy. That night we cooked our dinner on the fire out on a barren rock.

An abandoned Indian village, I found the following on a government archive page:

"Mamalelekala [sic] is a Kwakiutl tribe on Village Island; their only town is Memkumlis, which they jointly occupy with the Koeksotenok [sic]. The population was estimated at about 2000 in 1836-41; in 1911 it numbered 90. (Boaz, F., American Geographical Society, vol XIX, no.3, 1887, reprinted in Handbook of the Indians of Canada, 1913). The name of their village, Memkumlis, means "village with rocks and islands out front". "

This guy came looking for fish guts and tried to land on our mast. He found out there were too many pointy things up there and carried on to a nearby tree.

We stayed one night at the Shawl Bay Marina and enjoyed a pancake breakfast in the morning.
This is the Sullivan Bay marina, we stopped in for fuel and groceries.

We visited and spent one night anchored at Alert Bay. Its a cute little town with a boardwalk along the water and the U'mista Cultural Centre is worth a visit.

Our trip down Johnstone Strait was uneventful and made for a long day. There was more traffic than we saw on our trip North, both commercial and pleasure craft. We dropped anchor in Gowland Harbour on Quadra Island shortly before sunset.

In the morning we passed two pods of Killer Whales in front of Campbell River.

We spent a couple nights at Pender Harbour on our way South.

New Spinnaker!

2011-05-28T22:33:00.000-07:00

We got our new spinnaker and genoa today, the Sailmaker came down this afternoon and of course we had to go for a test sail. I think we'll probably go for another tomorrow. Over the last few weeks a few people have asked what color it is, and no one seemed impressed with the idea of a green and yellow spinnaker but I think it turned out pretty good.

A little summary

2011-02-04T19:13:00.001-08:00

We're headed home tomorrow. We haven't blogged in a few days and the reason is, Bucerias just isn't all that interesting. We were looking for a quiet place to spend our last few days on the beach and we found it. Today we went to PV and drank $1.00 Margaritas all day. It was nice. We've decided that Bucerias isn't our scene and we're unlikely to return. Although I would highly recommend it if you're over 60 and like fish and chips. If you're looking for an authentic Mexican experience go somewhere else. Michelle's highlight of the trip is Patzcuaro. It was inexpensive, and far classier than the gaudy tourist areas on the coast. I am having a harder time picking a favorite, but I agree that our time inland was the highlight of our trip. If you have only been to the the zona turisticas you have never seen the real Mexico. Puerto Vallarta is far more expensive than the other places we visited as well. I also think Mananillo is underrated, and prefer it to PV.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod

Wheel barrow full of candy

2011-02-02T14:44:00.001-08:00

We were hanging out at the beach today and we got into a conversation about the venders trying to sell their wares. I noticed that the less useful the item being sold, the pushier the salesman. The guys selling jewelry seem to push the hardest, while the food venders push the least. We had to wave at the potato chip guy to get his attention. Our favorite was a lady pushing a wheel barrow full to the top with candy. We bought some.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod

Don't go out after dark! Or you may be jumped by an 80 year old from Medicine Hat

2011-02-01T17:42:00.001-08:00

We're in Bucerias, a quiet little beach town north of Puerto Vallarta mostly populated by ancient Canadians. We had a late lunch at a roof top cafe where they definitely don't under poor Their drinks. Michelle is just waking up, and it's time to kick back.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod

Empty resorts

2011-02-01T12:49:00.001-08:00

It's 7am and we're at the bus depot waiting to board our bus to Puerto Vallarta. It's a first class bus this time, complete with air conditioning, reclining seats, movie and a washroom. Manzanillo is not the prettiest city, but it has everything tourists usually seek out. Lovely beaches, deep sea fishing, shopping and all inclusive resorts. The strange thing is that the resorts are empty. Yesterday we went to a beach overlooked by an all inclusive hotel. A lady we met on the beach told us that less than half the rooms were occupied. Of the hotel guests we saw on the beach it seemed about half were Canadian and half were Mexican. The boats doing harbour cruises were flying Mexican and Canadian flags but no stars and stripes. When I think about it the last time I heard an American accent we were in Patzcuaro. I guess they just aren't traveling.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod

It's just a boat ride till you catch a fish

2011-01-30T14:32:00.001-08:00

Last night we were walking on the sea wall looking at the boats moored in the harbour. When we got to the fisherman's wharf a gentleman asked us if we wanted to go fishing. He introduced himself as captain Tello. He had all the qualities you would look for in a fishing guide. He had a gruff demeanor, sun weathered skin and a faint smell of fish about him. We had all our gear in the water before the sun came up this morning, bait skipping along behind the boat. By late morning we hadn't had a single bite and tension was growing on the Macerela. We wanted a fish and Captain Tello and his mate had a reputation to maintain. Shortly after we turned back toward Manzanillo the tip of one of our rods gave a sudden twitch. We pulled in a 20Lbs Mahi Mahi. It ended up being our only catch but the mood changed and we broke out the cerveza's. When we got back to the wharf Tello told us the restaurant at our hotel would cook our pescado for us and sent us away with an entire fillet. Turns out the restaurant is closed Sundays, but the seniorita at the front desk gave us a cooler, so we'll be having fresh fish for breakfast.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod

There's a scorpion in the shower!

2011-01-29T14:47:00.001-08:00

David dropped us off at the bus depot in Uraupan and I thought the poor guy was going to cry. He hugged us both and made us promise not to go out after dark if we stayed in Lazaro Cardenas. We decided to heed his warning, and continue on to Barra de Nexpa, a surfer hangout. The bus dropped us off on the side of the highway and we walked about a Km. in the dark with dogs barking all around us and very few signs of civilization. Just when we were starting to think we'd made a mistake we came across a surf shop with a fellow sitting out front. "Hotel porfavor?" I asked "Si, cabana's $300." Sold. The location was perfect, but the cabana left something to be desired and there was a scorpion in the shower. We stayed there Thursday and Friday nights.

This morning after getting conflicting information regarding what time the bus passes, we walked out to the highway to wait for the bus. It only took about 15 minutes and a bus that said Manzanillo came roaring around the corner. After a long sweaty bus ride on a winding mountain road we are now relaxing at the Hotel Colonial in Manzanillo.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod

"if you eat slow you can fit it all"

2011-01-26T16:29:00.001-08:00

David the taxi driver picked us up at eleven and took us to Uruapan. He explained that there was direct buses from Uruapan to Lazaro Cardenas or we could catch the bus from Patzcuaro and switch buses. We decided to stop at the bus depot and buy our tickets for tomorrow and get David to give us a ride to Uruapan in the morning. After the bus depot we went to the National park. The landscape changes between Patzcuaro and Uruapan from mountain pine forest to tropical rain forest. The National Park was a labyrinth of cobblestone paths winding through a forest and following a crystal clear creek complete with waterfalls stone bridges. There were man made canals following the paths and the odd fountain as well. In the center of the park there is a trout hatchery.

After the park we asked David to take us for lunch. He took us to a restaurant called Lindo Michoacan. He showed us a dinner for three on the menu of mostly seafood and lakefish for 480 pesos. The biggest selling feature was the 20 250ml bottles of Corona included. We finished all the beer but didn't even come close to finishing all the food. By the time the oysters showed up I was full and there was still three or four dishes to go.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod

Paradise by the lake

2011-01-25T16:01:00.001-08:00

We made it to Patzcuaro, and this place is amazing. We showed up after dark and took a cab to a hotel that we had good reviews on tripadvisor and low prices. It was closed for the season. We walked down the hill to the plaza and walked into the first hotel we found, the Mansion Iturbe. They were advertising half price for the off season and it was still beyond our budget. When I told the senior behind the counter "no gracias" he insisted we look at the room. We paid for three nights. For 1200 pesos we got a room that would likely cost $800 in Canada. So much for the budget. This morning we asked the proprietor if she new a taxi driver who speaks English. It took several minutes on the phone with the cab company, but she did it, and when the cab arrived she negotiated a price for us. David the cab driver used to live in Salem Or and San Jose Ca. He turned out to be an excellent tour guide and will be picking us up again tomorrow. We went over to Isla de Janitzio and climbed the seemingly never ending stairs to the monument of Moralos the Mexican revolutionary. There was shops selling souvenirs, clothes and food all along the winding steps. Next we went to an ancient archeological site called Tzintzuntzan.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod

Night clubs, church bells and a rock hard matress

2011-01-24T10:40:00.001-08:00

You my have already guessed that we haven't gotten much sleep the last few nights. We didn't switch hotels partly because we loved everything else about the hotel Frances and partly because we thought the night club directly below our room would be closed on Sunday. Sure enough the music was blasting till 3 am. We're at the bus terminal now waiting for the bus to Patzcuaro. When we arrive we plan on being a little more picky about accommodations.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod

Lucha Libre! Midget vs the fat man

2011-01-23T20:09:00.001-08:00

We went to Mexican wrestling. The highlight of the show was the final match. It was a three on three(actually four on three but apparently fat guys count twice as much as midgets). The midget was wearing a parrot costume and was constantly harassed by the crowd. He was a good sport though, and showed great restraint, only making the odd rude gesture.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod

Old churches and Maiachi

2011-01-22T16:01:00.001-08:00

We spent most of the day wandering in the shopping areas of Guadalajara. We found that the stores on certain streets specialize in certain things. For example on one street most of the stores sold dresses for baptisms and first communion.

State of Jalisco Government building

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod

Tequila Jalisco

2011-01-21T17:46:00.001-08:00

Today we visited the town of Tequila, which we are told came before the beverage. We were the only Ingles speakers on our tour but our tour guide Rosy had
just completed three months of English lessons and was eager to test her new skills. We had a lot of fun, and learned about distilling tequila. At first our all Mexican tour group was a little wary of us, but after a few rounds we were everyone's best friend.

Portrait in the Hombres bano at Tres Mujeres

Jose Quervo and friend

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod

Guadalajara mexico

2011-01-20T16:58:00.001-08:00

We arrived in puerto vallarta yesterday afternoon and stayed at the San Marino hotel. The location was great but the hotel was in desperate need of updating. Today we took the bus to guadalajara and booked into the francis hotel in the centro historico which was built in 1610.
Our lack of Spanish language skills is really hampering our ability to order lunch. So we ended up having mystery tacos.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod

Test post

2010-12-23T02:26:00.001-08:00

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod

Michelle's West Coast Trail Hiking Trip

2010-09-13T23:58:00.000-07:00

I finally found some friends that wanted to hike the West Coast Trail with me. I went with my Brother and two friends. We started at Port Renfrew this past Tuesday the 7th of Sept. We seen a lot of mud and great beach landscape. Everyone had a great time, we all enjoyed the crab shack at Nitinat ferry dock and the showers at pachena campsite. If you have ever said you wanted to do this trail, do it! Young or older anyone can do this trail. Some do it in less time, we took 6 days, some take more time to see more of the sites. Fun times were had by all, blood sweat and blisters. Be good to your feet that is my only advise! I am having a hard time talking my crew into going on other adventures but I will wait till they are all healed up, and have forgotten about the lack of creature comforts they did without for that week...For me I would go next week if anyone asked. What a wonderful trip!!!

Elephant root

Vancouver

2010-06-28T00:54:00.001-07:00

We sailed to Clam Bay on the far side of Kuper Isl. on Thursday, got up early Friday and carried on to False Creek. At about 7 in the morning Friday we woke to a horrible noise that as it turns out was a Heron in its final moment of life. Michelle stuck her head out of the hatch just in time to see an eagle tear out its throat! The eagle made several attempts at picking its now limp victim out of the water but the heron proved to be a little to heavy for him. On his final try he splashed into the water next to his prey. He tried to swim the heron to shore but the tide was against him so he eventually gave up and flew to a nearby tree. When we were outside English bay we were joined by some porpoises. These were the little black and white guys and they weren't shy like the ones up North. We anchored in False Creek for two nights and enjoyed a few of the jazz festival performances. On the way home we had SE wind all day and by late afternoon we were reefing the main and genoa. All in all a good weekend.

Sunshine Coast/Desolation Sound

2010-06-19T00:00:00.000-07:00

rolled out of bed around 1 pm. We found the brass screw, went to Penny's floating restaurant for lunch and got groceries. After hanging around the boat for most of the afternoon we went to the Dingy Dock Pub with an old neighbor from Page Point. Its usually pretty good but tonight they weren't very busy and shortly after being given menus we were told the kitchen was closed and it was almost last call at the bar. That was around 9:30. To their credit they were willing to make us a pizza but it doesn't seem like a good policy to close early on a slow night.

Sunshine Coast/Desolation Sound

2010-06-16T18:50:00.000-07:00

Started heading south today. We motored out into the straight of Georgia and did a little sailing. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shinning, we saw porpoises and a whale. Of course they were too shy to let us get a picture. As the day wore on we realized we weren't going to make our anchorage before dark. So we had three choices as we saw it. 1) Try to anchor in an unfamiliar anchorage after dark. 2) Motor to Powel River and take transient moorage. Or 3) Keep going and anchor in Nanaimo in the morning. We chose to carry on. After a long dark night and having a cruise ship get a little closer than we would have liked we dropped the hook in Nanaimo at around 8 in the morning.

Sunshine Coast/Desolation Sound

2010-06-15T18:49:00.000-07:00

Motored over to Refuge Cove on West Redonda and got groceries and unloaded garbage. We were told the restaurant in Squirrel Cove on Cortez Island was open so we motored over there. when we were anchored we jumped in the dingy and went to the government dock. When we arrived there was some gentlemen sitting on the beach drinking beer. We inquired with them as to wether the restaurant was open and we got non committal answers all around. As we walked on one of the fellows yelled " You can have a beer with us if its not open" We ended up having several beers with those guys, After arriving back at the boat thoroughly pissed we decided to check out the lagoon. The tide was still coming in and it was basically like white water rafting. We spent a half hour exploring the lagoon and decided to head back. When we tried to shoot back through the rapids our poor little outboard just couldn't push us through. We tried a couple times, stalled for a while and tried again. This time I didn't give up. As we sat at a standstill we tried shifting our weight in the boat and slowly, inch by inch we made headway. We finally shot through the rapids and made it back home. We spent from 10:30 pm to 11: 30 searching for a tiny brass screw that was dropped. we didn't find it.

Sunshine Coast/Desolation Sound

2010-06-14T18:48:00.000-07:00

We were up at the crack of nine, making breakfast and lounging. We left Prideaux Haven late in the morning and motored the two or so hours to Grace Harbour in Malaspina Inlet. After anchoring and getting everything squared away we threw our gear in the dingy and set out to kill some fish. We managed to get dinner for today and tomorrow so I would say our excursion was a success. After Michelle filleted our catch I tossed the leftovers overboard. As I sat in the cockpit sipping my post fishing beverage I heard a "whoosh whoosh whoosh" and turned my head just in time to see an eagle swoop in and grab one of the fish heads! He was no more than 20 feet from me. I yelled below to Michelle to look out the window and she yelled "get the camera!" but the moment had past. We had great weather in the morning but by late afternoon it was cool and overcast and in the evening it started to rain.

Sunshine Coast/Desolation Sound

2010-06-13T18:46:00.000-07:00

Today was our lazy day. We slept till 9:30 then spent most of the morning dealing with breakfast, coffee and tea. We spent a few hours exploring the area in the dingy in the afternoon, and found a real cool network of coves and lagoons. It was a minus tide so the lagoons were drying and we happened to find a baby octopus barely covered in water. He was all white and gasping, so I scooped him up and took him to deeper water. He soon recovered, turned red, shot ink and swam under a rock. I have a picture in my mind of a folklore starting in octopus society of a great land deity that saved a great octopus prophet from becoming crab bait. After that we sat in the cockpit and had a few rum and cokes. In the evening we went back to the lagoon and sat on the rocks with our feet in the water and had a few brews. I was not worshiped by any octopus.

Sunshine Coast/Desolation Sound

2010-06-12T18:45:00.000-07:00

We were away promptly at 5:15, heading toward Powell River. The sun was shining and the porpoises were swimming around us. We pulled up to the fuel dock in Powell River at around 9:30. Michelle jumped in a cab and went to the grocery store while I got fuel, took out the trash and chatted with the fuel dock man. Luckily no big boats showed up for fuel so he didn't need to kick me off the dock. We sailed North toward Desolation Sound fully stocked with a light breeze that shifted constantly. At one point as Michelle was trying to get a picture of a porpoise I noticed a 55 or 60 foot sailboat with its mast on deck strapped to the cabin top motoring up behind me. As it got closer I started to get concerned because he was heading straight for me and I couldn't see anyone in the cockpit. As he got closer I kept thinking he would change course but he didn't. Just as I fired up my motor and was about to put in gear to get out of the way, a guy ran out of the cockpit waving his arms, yelling hello! He ran back to his cockpit, put his boat in neutral and steered along side. Now the problem was I didn't have any fenders out and neither did he. At the time I was on a beam reach with a very light breeze and he came up on my lee side. At this point he's yelling some question about the marina on Cortez Island and I'm trying to steer away and Michelle is trying to fend off what we both agree is the ugliest ferro cement boat we have ever seen. As it became clear that impact was imminent unless drastic and immediate action I threw the shift lever in forward and gunned the throttle while Michelle shoved for all she was worth. Meanwhile the fellow was inquiring about marina amenities. As the gap narrowed to mere inches I could feel my grip tighten on the wheel, and then the gap began to widen. The fellow mumbled something about not thinking he was that close as the distance widened, then continued to inquire about marinas. I yelled "I don't know!" as I motored away as fast as I could. Michelle didn't get her porpoise picture, but we came out unscathed. We anchored for the night at Prideaux Haven in Desolation Sound Provincial Park. The anchorage is sheltered by a series of small islands and has a great view of the mountains. We both got sunburned for the first time this year.

Sunshine Coast/Desolation Sound

2010-06-11T18:43:00.000-07:00

We got up around 8, and lazed about for most of the morning. We headed out at about 11:15 and went through Malibu Rapids shortly before slack tide. The sun tried to show itself for most of the day and finally broke through late in the afternoon. We had a 10 - 15 Knot breeze blowing up the inlet, so we spent most of the day tacking back and forth until darkness threatened and we finally started up the motor. We anchored around 10 pm in Thunder Bay a short distance from the ferry terminal at Saltery bay and just inside the entrance to Jervis Inlet.

Sunshine Coast/Desolation Sound

2010-06-10T18:40:00.000-07:00

This morning we got up at around 4:30 and motored up Agamemnon Channel and made prawn omelet on our way to Chatterbox falls in Princess Louisa Inlet. It was cold and rainy for the first 3 or 4 hours but it warmed up a little late in the morning. We motored the whole time and I was bored out of my skull by the time we got to Malibu 7 hours later. I guess thats why power boaters always seem to be in a hurry. The tricky part is getting to Malibu Rapids at slack tide. As it turns out the beautiful tide chart I got off the internet was off by a half hour or so. I went through with a 2 or 3 knot push, which wasn't so bad. It was all worth while once we were in Princess Louisa Inlet. Shear cliffs drop to the sea as waterfalls tumble hundreds of feet. The scope is something you would expect to see at a lake high in the Rocky Mountains. Chatterbox falls was equally impressive and can be heard rumbling as you make the final turn in the inlet. We managed to get a spot at the dock near the falls and go for a short hike before cracking a few beers.

sunshine Coast/Desolation Sound

2010-06-09T18:35:00.000-07:00

We headed out at 7ish and went to retrieve our trap. It ended up taking longer than expected because with a strong current we ended up dragging the trap and got hung up on a commercial trap line, but we eventually got it untangled and left with a wopping 5 prawns. Once through Gabriola Pass we sailed northwest with a light SE breeze. Winds picked up to approx. 25Kn in the early afternoon and died as we entered Malaspina Strait. We anchored in Pender Harbour at about 6:30.

Sunshine Coast/Desolation Sound

2010-06-08T22:26:00.000-07:00

Today we motored from Ladysmith to Pirates Cove on De courcy Island. Pirates Cove is situated near Gabriola Passage so it will be a short motor to the Strait of Georgia in the morning. We dropped our prawn trap on the way in and will pick it up on our way out tomorrow. Pirates Cove is a nice anchorage but has a narrow shallow entrance that I don't like at low tides, so we will get up early to beat the 9:00 am low.

A bird's eye view

2010-05-08T22:45:00.000-07:00

Galiano Island

2010-02-19T20:59:00.000-08:00

On our days off this week we sailed over to Montague on Galiano Island.

2009-12-10T01:17:00.000-08:00

Starting to feel like home

2009-10-21T20:41:00.001-07:00

We made our new table top out of purple heart and hemlock with the help of our friend Byron. Thats it.

Random pics

2009-09-14T12:17:00.001-07:00

The big city

2009-09-14T12:09:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we sailed over to Vancouver and anchored in False Creek for a couple days

Light show in Clam Bay

2009-07-26T21:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we sailed around to Clam Bay on the far side of Thetis Island where we were met by my brother and his friend Dave. We ended up getting a pretty good light show.

Cam anchored the Elusive Lady nearby

Heart Lake Loop

2009-07-21T14:48:00.000-07:00

Michelle took a few pics while out for a stroll on the hill above Ladysmith.

Michelle and Peanut

2009-07-09T23:41:00.000-07:00

Finished salon sole

2009-06-16T20:57:00.001-07:00

Well this is our new floor. Still needs trim, and the vee berth isn't done, but for the time being its done.

The cabin is coming together

2009-05-14T12:04:00.000-07:00

We're almost ready to lay the floor. The water tanks are in and there aren't any leaks, but I don't think I'll be able to start laying the floor boards till the end of next week. I spent a small fortune on teak boards and am hoping to achieve the classic teak and holly look.

A little more progress

2009-05-08T10:37:00.000-07:00

Organized disaster

2009-05-07T11:39:00.000-07:00

As you can see in the picture below, we had to cut the floor out in the salon and remove the old aluminum water tanks to get at the keel bolts and remove the old mast step. The problem we now face is the old tanks were supporting the floor, so we are in the process of building a support structure that allows as much access to the bilge as possible.

We are trying to keep it as simple as possible without compromising strength. The solution we have arrived at is three verticle plywood supports running fore and aft with three hatches to access the bilge. The following is Michelle hard at work.

Keel hauled!

2009-03-07T15:27:00.001-08:00

Our boat Sunshine III is on the hard in Maple Bay receiving an under the waterline overhaul. We should be back in the water in a couple of weeks ready for the 2009 cruising season.

Riviera Maya

2009-02-07T15:28:00.000-08:00

From Jan 22 to Feb 5 we stayed at the Grand Sirenis resort near Tulum. The hotel was wonderful and kept very clean. We especially enjoyed the beach in front of our hotel which lives up to reputation of white sand and blue water that you expect from a caribbean paradise.

Oahu

2008-03-06T15:37:00.000-08:00

Kauai, A Poultry Paradise

2008-03-06T15:17:00.000-08:00

Touring The Big Island By Hawg

2008-03-06T14:46:00.000-08:00

Three more days at sea (made my liver hurt)

2008-03-06T14:36:00.000-08:00

Fanning Island, Kiribati

2008-03-06T14:27:00.000-08:00

Fanning Island, Kiribati

2008-03-06T14:16:00.000-08:00

Onboard the Pride of Aloha

2008-03-06T14:08:00.000-08:00

Polihale State Park, Kauai

2008-03-06T13:57:00.000-08:00

Left or right handed?

2008-01-28T21:20:00.000-08:00

Do animals favor one paw, fin, wing etc. over the other the way humans do? Birds do. I noticed some time ago that my bird peanut favors his left foot over his right. I know one bird doesn't prove anything, but I recently saw a program about parrots in Australia and they confirmed it! Cockatoos are usually left footed. But what about other animals? I can't tell if my dog is left or right pawed because his nose seems to be his primary utensil. I guess he's well centered

I didn't do it

2008-01-28T19:51:00.000-08:00

Owch!

Baked or fried?

2008-01-21T19:33:00.000-08:00

Nanaimo homes

Ho ho ho

2007-12-25T13:38:00.000-08:00

Mt Washington on Dec 24 2007

Our house earlier in Dec

In his happy place

Nanaimo homes

Michelle's new tattoo

2007-12-25T13:29:00.001-08:00

The old tattoo that will be covered over

Monday Night Football!

2007-11-16T10:26:00.000-08:00

Real Estate in Nanaimo

My Parents

2007-11-07T16:52:00.000-08:00

Long Beach Oct 20, 2007

2007-11-07T16:33:00.000-08:00

Our friends Barry and Avril came over from the mainland for the weekend, so we thought it would be fun to go the West Coast for one night. We stayed at the Long Beach Lodge on Cox Bay.

a few pics

2007-10-14T22:57:00.000-07:00

Our dragon carved by Rhonda and Chris of Cedar images on the Alberni Hwy

Norm and Jeans new puppy Lacy

Nanaimo area homes

Landscaping - part 2

2007-09-07T23:23:00.001-07:00

2007-08-28T22:47:00.000-07:00

Landscaping - part 1

2007-07-31T00:02:00.000-07:00

This is pretty exciting for us. We're in our new house, landscaping our new yard. (Andrea and Roger are doing the heavy lifting) Things are looking up.

2007-07-08T20:46:00.000-07:00

Meet Peanut the bird

2007-05-17T19:40:00.001-07:00

Help me name my new bird

2007-05-08T12:25:00.000-07:00

Nanaimo homes

Suggest a name and you could win!
click this link to enter
soldin90days.ca

My new car wrap

2007-03-22T21:25:00.000-07:00

2007-03-04T11:14:00.001-08:00

Snow again!

2007-02-28T23:48:00.000-08:00

These pictures were taken on Feb 28. Yes all of them.

Downtown Nanaimo looking East

These pictures were taken in the final hours of febuary. What happened to global warming? Don't tell me Dick Cheney was right, I don't believe it.

The Chipper!

2007-02-28T23:28:00.000-08:00

The city of Nanaimo know longer allows burning...and we have a lot of trees. Trees that needed trimming. We decided it would be more fun to rent a chipper than it would be to haul it to the dump. It was more fun I love the warning label. I wish I could meet the guy that climbed into the chipper, but sadly he is no longer with us.

.

What's going on?

2007-01-31T23:52:00.000-08:00

Until recently I was in the Trucking industry. Difficulties collecting bills and a general dislike of the business caused me to go into Real Estate. I thought it would be all polished shoes and polite behavior. I was wrong. At least in trucking the people who choose not to pay their bills on time have a healthy respect for the people they owe. I have never had to implement physical threats and find the idea repulsive, that is part of the reason I left trucking. Now I find myself dealing with ignorant, belligerent people that won't even lock a door behind them, because we are members of a "profesional organization"we have to be carefull what we say. Please choose your agent carefully. If you have a bad feeling you may be right. I'm not perfect, but I'll do my best.

VEGAS BABY!

2007-01-31T09:30:00.000-08:00

We decided to get away for a few days, so we went to Vegas! In the past we stayed at big hotels on the strip, but I thought it would be fun to stay on Fremont St. We liked it very much, the food was less expensive and you don't have to walk a mile to go to the next Casino. The down side is that most of the shows are on the strip and the bus ride can take up to an hour depending on traffic. If you like to gamble and don't care about the shows Fremont is probably the way to go.

The fountain show in front of the Ballagio is entertaining and free.

Lions at the MGM Grand

We went to a show called Follies Bergere at the Tropicana. It is the old style Vegas production with lots of toppless dancers and some acrobatics. We both liked it, and it costs a lot less than a Cirque or Magic show, if you use the buy one get one free coupon in the Vegas show guide. We also went to the Improv at Harrahs, the best part of that was the comic making fun of the drunks who past out during the show.

More Snow

2006-12-14T17:04:00.000-08:00

Bah Humbug!

Cruisin' 06 (part 8)

2006-12-05T20:35:00.000-08:00

Cruisin' 06 (part 7)

2006-12-05T08:56:00.000-08:00

We always had good company at dinner. Clockwise from me are Ben, Shirley, Julie and Joe, Susan and Clark, Pat and Dick.

Ocean front estate for goats

Welcome home, Gus likes the snow but he doesn't have to drive in it.

Cruisin' 06 (part 6)

2006-12-05T00:12:00.000-08:00

San Jaun

Santa Barbara patron saint of artillerymen

Cruisin' 06 (part 5)

2006-12-04T16:44:00.000-08:00

St. Kitts
I think this was my favorite port of call. The people were friendly and seemed to care a great deal for their island. We saw some amazing gardens and lava rock formations.

The Brimstone Hill Fortress was the highlight for me, it was constructed intermittently between the 1690's and 1790's and is built in the polygonal system with low walls angled to deflect cannon shot.

The fortress is 800 feet above sea level.

I found this guy to be an interesting character, if you look near his feet you can see one of his dogs hiding in the bush.

Cruisin' 06 (part 4)

2006-12-03T18:22:00.000-08:00

Barbados
This is the oldest church in Barbados originally built in 1698

The right size door for Michelle

Our tour guide

Huh?

Our Captain, Arrrgh!

Cruisin' 06 (part 3)

2006-12-03T08:53:00.000-08:00

Dominica

Trafalgar Falls is in the most amazing rainforest setting. There are two falls refered to as Momma and Pappa.
Hot spring pool felt like a hot tub
A hurricane blew this tree onto the school bus back in the seventies
Watch out for land crabs!
We went to this black sand beach and it was almost deserted. There was a little restaurant that served fried chicken or fish and drinks. When we arived a guy on a motorbike pulled up and asked if we wanted some of "this" and pulled out a giant bag of weed. I didn't buy any.
We enjoyed the "natural" feel of Dominica. The Island interior is almost completly covered in pristine rainforest, and even though it doesn't have those white sand beaches the caribean is famous for they haven't been overrun with resorts yet and the water is warm and clear. Some people on the ship complained about poverty and the shanty shacks in town, but it didn't seem that bad to me.

Cruisin' 06 (part 2)

2006-12-02T12:31:00.000-08:00

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas
The weather wasn't great that day but the water was warm and we enjoyed riding the horses.
Our Jamaican guide told me I ride like John Wayne. He also called me "homy" I'm not sure if thats good or bad.

St Thomas, US Virgin Islands

There were five cruise ships in St Thomas that day. We did a round the Island tour and spent a couple hours at the beach. Downtown was mostly jewlery stores and thats not our thing, but the beach was really nice but a little crowded

Cruisin' 06 (part 1)

2006-12-01T14:27:00.000-08:00

We just returned from our cruise in the Caribean, and we had a great time. We sailed out of Norfolk Va. where we had a chance to go on board the USS Wisconsin, Which I was very happy about as I had never previously viewed a Battleship up close.

This was our Ship, the MS Maasdam of Holland America line. We had six ports of call:
1)Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas 2)St Thomas USVI 3)Dominica 4)Barbados 5)St Kitts 6)San Jaun PR

I will post pictures of all our stops over the next day or two

Vancouver Trip

2006-11-10T14:01:00.000-08:00

I went to see that atrocious Canucks game last night. Even though the game was a little disappointing I managed to have a good time. The guy sitting next to me told his girlfriend at the beginning of the game, that if the Canucks lost by more than 5 points he would buy her big fake boobs. He said he would send me before and after pictures so if I get those I'll probably post them.

Bowen Island from The ferry the Queen of Oak Bay

Horseshoe Bay

Vancouver Public Library

As you can see the weather wasn't very nice over there this morning.

Fernando with Harbour Air was my pilot on my trip home. The flight was a little bumpy but Fernando was a real pro.

It cleared up about half way accross the strait

New Signs!

2006-11-08T18:04:00.000-08:00

I got my new signs today and I'm pretty happy with how they look. Michelle is working days right now and should be home from work soon, and I think she wants to go to the gym for a while. Last night we went to the office and I worked for a few hours and Michelle hung out and had a couple drinks. Doggies tests all came back negative so we changed his diet and I'm hopefully optomistic that it will solve his problem. He is enjoying his new food more than the old stuff which is a bonus.

If you like my new sign and want one on your lawn then click on my Nanaimo Homes link to the right and give me a call

Here comes the rain

2006-11-04T20:01:00.000-08:00

It finally let up after 3 wet days. I suppose we needed it but I don't have to like it. I did an open house today and had a few people through, a moderate success I suppose. Doggies last test came back negative for whatever they were looking for, so I decided to fiddle with his diet and see if he improves. I made a batch of doggy casserole for him and he liked it better than his old food. We'll see how he feels in a week. Michelle is working tonight and I'm just hanging out and watching old movies.

I think my parents are coming to visit tomorrow, they need to get some things from Costco. They're talking about going to Cuba this winter. Sounds good to me.

When animals attack

Happy Halloween

2006-11-01T17:24:00.000-08:00

This was my costume that I wore when trick-or-treaters came to the door. Michelle refused to wear a costume

The Weekend

2006-10-28T11:32:00.000-07:00

Last night Michelle and I visited with Byron and Amy, and Amy's sister Carly. We had a good time but Michelle went home early because she had to work at 5 am. The rest of us went and played pool for a couple hours. Byron and Amy's puppy, Jackson is training well and has learned to shake with both paws. Michelle has been appointed to be some kind of safety person at work, and is preparing for the big safety meeting next week. I think she should try to make everyone wear pink hard hats, but she won't do that. I am doing an open house this afternoon and the seller said she would feed me lunch, so I'm pretty happy about that.

Jackson the dog

Byron and Amy

Amy and Carly

Useless facts

2006-10-25T01:22:00.000-07:00

In 1911 according to the census 206 people living in Canada professed to be socialists under the religion column. There were 26,027 people who claimed no religious affiliation. 79.53% of males 10 years or older living in Canada were gainfully employed. 14.31% of Women were employed. In 1911 if you were born in the British Isles and a permanent resident, you were considered a citizen. Out of 752,732 people not born in the British Isles 353,588 had acquired citizenship. Between 1901 and 1911 the population of Canada grew by 1,835,328. 5,347 of those were born in "an unknown place in the British Empire" or at Sea. 839 men claimed to be divorced, as opposed to 691 women. In 1911 four Canadian cities had a population of more than 100,000, Montreal(470,480) Toronto(376,538) Winnipeg(136,035) and Vancouver(100,401).

I would like to thank all those who took part in the 1911 census for helping me to compile this information.

You drive that?

2006-10-24T23:33:00.000-07:00

Duke point looking at Nananimo
This morning doggy and I went for a walk at the park out by the duke point ferry terminal. He behaved well and didn't leap into the ocean like he would have in his younger years. He's not fond of riding in the car anymore, I guess he put on too many miles when we were trucking. At work today I mostly did follow up stuff, but I did show a house tonight and I organized a business networking group that meets for the first time tomorrow. Most of the people I invited sounded positive but I'll find out how interested they are in the morning. Michelle wanted me to mention that if anyone happens to see her filling a gas station, please don't ask if she really drives that truck. Yes its true girls can drive trucks. I can shift gears too but I don't have the patience to do her job. Real estate is far less stressful. I had a costumer ask me to inquire about a commercial property today, and when I called the listing agent he asked me if I specialize in commercial real estate. I tried to think of something witty to say but nothing came to me so I just said "I'm pretty new at this, so I'll sell anything I can." He said oh, Ok, good luck. Probably not the best answer, but sometimes the truth works. I don't really care what they think, as long as I don't get the "son let me give you some advice" thing. I don't mind advice as long as its genuine and not condescending. Michelle has the day off tomorrow and I think she's planning something for dinner. I told her I have to show houses from 6:30 to 8:00, but we should be able to have an early dinner. I'm hoping these people are serious buyers, I've showed them a bunch of stuff and they don't seem excited about buying. I think maybe they just haven't found what they want and when they see it they'll make the decision. We called the lucky winner of the DVD player from the home show, and he's coming in to collect his prize tomorrow afternoon. I told him we wanted to take a picture and he asked if his fiance could be in the picture. Sounds good to me.

Its Monday!

2006-10-23T22:04:00.000-07:00

Michelle has one more day till the weekend. She took doggy for another walk and he's all pooped out. I looked at condos all day, and wrote an offer on one of them this afternoon. I hope that works out. Ken had a root canal today so I didn't hear much from him. It was a nice sunny day and even though its getting cooler I wonder what's going on with this weather. (not that I'm complaining) The people I did the open house for on Sunday have a ferret, I thought that was a strange choice of pets but it seems friendly enough.

Michelle making lunch

Doggy

Doggy walk

2006-10-22T18:15:00.000-07:00

I got to sleep in today, then Michelle and I relaxed and had coffee till about 11:00. Michelle took Doggy for a walk to "the hill" and I showed condos. I was walking through this vacant condo with my clients and a guy just walks in and starts looking around. Then anouther guy walks in, I guess they thought it was an open house. I got one of the guys phone numbers and he wants to look at more places but the other guy said he already has an agent so I told him to take a hike. After that I did an open house and the guy across the street came and talked to me and said he wants to buy a house. Gus is all tuckered from his walk and Michelle is working the late shift so I'm by myself. (minus one sleeping dog) My client liked one of the condos but wants to see a few more before she buys anything.

The hill

Parkway trail

Foggy morning

A day in the park

2006-10-20T17:05:00.000-07:00

Well... Today we had great weather, sunshine all day. Michelle had the day off today so she took Doggy for a walk, and rode her scooter. We went for lunch at the Acme restaurant and the food was good but the service was a little slow. In their defense it was very busy. Michelle learned that you will get a ticket if you park a scooter on the sidewalk, luckily the parking police came by and told her before it was too late. I made phone calls in the morning and chased clients in the afternoon, and managed to find time to go for a walk at Sutton-maffeo park. It seems I lost the free condo in Vancouver for the Canucks game I'm going to next month. Apperently Ken had already promised it to his Mom so I guess I'll have to stay at the Sandman or someplace like that. My brother's birthday party is next week, but Michelle has to work that day so we probably won't go.
Michelle needs her coffee

Just a rainy day

2006-10-19T13:23:00.000-07:00

I got my real estate blog up and running last night, and I think it looks pretty good. If you would like to see it theres a link at the side of the page. Its damn wet out there today, it poured all night and its been drizzling all day. I've spent most of the day chasing after clients trying to get paperwork signed and taking pictures of houses. Ken thinks instead of drawing names from the show last night that we should just rent the flying club building for a day, have a pot luck and take everyone flying. Sounds good to me. We seem to be getting pretty busy at work, there was a ton of new listigs this week and there seems to be more serious buyers than there was a month ago. I have been trying to get ahold of the vet to get my dogs test results but so far we're just playing phone tag.
Thats my office.

Michelle at work

2006-10-18T21:48:00.000-07:00

Today Michelle took the camera to work so we get to see what she does all day. The offer I wrote yesterday was accepted, I showed a nice lady and her son some houses and I attended the Home Based Business Fair. The fair went well and I met a lot of people who run small businesses. The 7-10 club were there selling pasta, soup, pie, and other tasty treats to raise money for the soup kitchen they run.
Michelle on her scheduled lunch break.(yeah right)

Port Alberni at the pulp mill

Guard shack at the mill

Thats the pump that unloads the mud