This 2 minute vieo illustrates how quickly humans can be adopted and trained.  This human wants to sharpen his amateur audio/video/editing skills, and there is nothing better than a true story close to home.  It is posted on YouTube and since it is in HD, it is viewable in full screen mode.  Enjoy.

Part 2 …….. Part 3 ………. Part 4 ………… Part 5

Do Freak Waves occur in the Great NorthWet? You bet! Check out page 211 of Extreme Waves by Craig B. Smith.

Click the image for the BIG picture.

The day before Superbowl Sunday was fabulous. Calm, sunny, warm….a taste of Spring. Of course, Velkommen went for an island cruise the following day. I’m pleased to say that all systems worked perfectly.  But he list of projects is still longer than my allowance. I’ve come to accept that, however. The day all projects are complete, is the day we do the really BIG upgrade.

Click image to see flyleaf.

Cheryl Strayed.  Never heard of her.  But WILD came my way and her writing blew me acrosss the room with its power, beauty and honesty.  I don’t think I’ve read a book of this quality since Jerzy Kosinski’s The Painted Bird.  (I’m glad I didn’t let Oprah’s Book Club recommendation put me off.)

When I began, if I had known what was between the covers, I would have held on more tightly.  Cheryl wastes no time.  Chapter one:  ‘Ten Thousand Things’ is written with surgical precision. The throbbing intensity grows with each page until it must be fed.  It must be bled for.  Sobbed for until gasps replace breathing, until unconciousness provides a drop of relief. There is power in pain. The words vibrate with accuracy.  Each one perfectly chosen for one particular place on the page.  Doubtless she is her own editor, tirelessly playing each refrain until it is without flaw.  The mechanics are perfect.  Every word fits, every phrase passes smoothly to the next, every page builds the story, the book, the journey. But….wait until you get caught up in the content.

Not many years ago, Chery’s mother died.  Cheryl’s inner void filled with despair and it grew.  Getting off track took time and getting back on track would be no different.  The first few chapters set the stage. The remaining chapters journey along the Pacific Crest Trail telling a bittersweet personal story, unusually raw, always focused.  Hiking toward a better place:  Oregon.   The Columbia River.  The Bridge of the Gods.

WILD must be your next read.  It is Steak Tartare for the reader, Caviar for the soul.

Not particularly maritime related, but a salty journey, nonetheless. And as Melville wrote in Moby Dick: “Yes, the world’s a ship on its passage out, and not a voyage complete”.

A little taste by way of a few vids. Now what is she going to do for an encore?
Vid-1 Vid-2 Vid-3 Vid-4

It’s the spring of 2007.  Small changes are growing too large to ignore.  The mirror reflects youth and vigor, while the newspaper photo shows age advancing with wrinkles and gray.  An overarching force is moving.  It demands recognition, but doesn’t say when. Some things on the forever list need to happen now or not at all.

Begin and end at Lituya Bay. Hike around Mount Fairweather. Physically challenging and mentally focusing. The individual requires companions to mirror thoughts; to sharpen and steel the mind, lest it run amuck and race toward the void. After long miles, the companions are Beauty and Pain. They spar as they search for a grand design.  Two deaths repeat the duality of Beauty and Pain.  Markers beside the trail:  a close friend and a marriage.

Lituya Bay is a place I dream of visiting.  My time for aggressive hiking is gone, but magical places will always exert their pull.  And Lituya Bay must have BIG Magic.  Mout Fairweather, perhaps more.  An incredible place for an adventure, a journey into history, into nature and into the soul.  They are as different as they are the same.  Just read the book. You can thank me later.

Video 1 — Video 2 — Video 3

Click the front cover to see the back.

On Saturday, Jan.12, 2013 I participated in a Flotilla 17 (Coast Guard Auxillary) Drysuit exercise at Campbell Lake.  The temperature, for coastal Western Washington, was chilly:  25º F.  Water temperature, perhaps:  40º F.  My suit worked well, although the zipper needs some lube.  Wool gloves, when wet, are almost worthless.  I wish I had brought my neoprene scuba gloves.  The sun shined on us, geese flew overhead honking at us and a single-engine plane gave us a close inspection.  It was a good time.  Afterward, breakfast at the Bowling Alley in Anacortes was manditory.  The french toast was delicious!  BIG Fun and…..not your usual Saturday morning.

What common thread binds the story together?  The use of Dynamite.  Do I see raised eywbrows?  If you are going to carve out a life on a rock what else would you use to level a bit of the playing field?  Character development is begun early with interesting vignettes of the Refuge Cove residents.  The reader starts to feel a sense of community and continuity.  Toss in a few pages about the history of dynamite and the Nobel Peace Prize.  Then bounce back to the Ripple Rock explosion, not Refuge Cove, but it is Desolation Sound.  By now the character development is fading and the reader starts feeling bounced around.  Well, if disjointed is king, let’s run to the Fraser River and Hell’s Gate Canyon then Chatterbox Falls.  Now it’s time to get back on Redonda Island for more character development.  Characters must be scarce so toss in a dead cougar and a dead bear.  Still searching for a conclusion let’s see if Bute Wax and gold prospecting can tidy up the ending.  An interesting read. Make Judith do a rewrite and fire Terry Glavin the editor.  It will never be a prizewinner, but Dynamite Stories deserved to be better.

Click the front cover to see the back.

Enlarge the image with a click.

The entire length of the Inside Passage, from Seattle to Skagway, is Joe Upton’s poem.  Like you might imagine the ancestral stories of a native people passed down for generations.   Journeys Through the Inside Passage cannot be captured with a clever word or phrase.  Joe Upton paints a picture with his words.  He shows a sea with without eyes and conscience, only rhythm.  Ebb and flow, storm and calm.  A piece of music.  He illustrates the lives that sway to this rhythm:  A melody.  Each chapter is a movement in a symphony.

Totally marvelous – highest praise.

Click the front cover to see the back.

The dialog is a treat.  It is spoken right from the deck and right from the dock.  It will have you laughing until your glasses fog over.  The story is told so honestly that the characters quickly become  friends.  A rare bond develops.

Most will never experience SE firsthand.  The turned pages of a book will have to substitute for the roll of the boat, the aroma of strong coffee and the sound of fresh caught salmon sizzling in the pan.    Please…….give yourself a wonderful gift.  Buy Hand Troller.  Share it.  Read it to your spouse, read it to your kids.

This is the real deal.  Don’t hesitate.  Don’t let it be the one that got away.

Click the front cover to see the back.

Exhaustive research and excellent organization are the key elements that make this book so readable.  It begins with a couple of maps, an area map and a settlement map. The local geography constrains the settlements with mountains and saltwater.  Next is a short section on the early inhabitants and early explorers.  The meat of the book is found in part 2:  European Settlers.  The sundry areas that comprise Desolation Sound are seen through the stories and interviews of the rugged and unique folks that settled each area.  As the events of their lives unfold the book becomes warm and personal rather than a cold compilation of historical facts.  The stories of the early pioneers are priceless; their hardscrabble lives a constant adventure.  Definitely rugged, but as dramatic as the surroundings.  Some of them…..well, you just couldn’t make them up.

Eulogizing about the Coastal Indian tribes is kelp to a minimum.  And that is really delightful.  Too many books drool with fantasies of the “Noble Savage”  living in harmony with nature and one another.  Total Bravo Sierra.

There is an extensive bibliography and timeline, but most appreciated is the pronunciation guide.  Many of the place names are not pronounced at all like they are spelled.  Read it……you’ll see what I mean.

June Cameron’s memoir, 1979 to 1983, built around a  relationship with Paul, aboard, or exploring from, his 26 foot wooden sloop, Wood Duck.  The time frame is 1979 to 1983; a good story, predominantly a summer ’83 chronicle of their  journey to the Queen Charlottes.  The descriptions of people, places and events provide good mental imagery and establish a nice flow, but the dynamic between June and Paul is missing.  It is the glue that holds the pages together and June has mysteriously hidden it away.  Obviously, they are quite close; extended periods aboard a small boat, of course.  Perhaps she is more smitten than he is.  There is some glitter to the tone of the early years, but the tone is surprisingly flat throughout the Queen Charlotte section, which is most of the book, as though the relationship is nearing exaustion.  “They both knew it was over”,  only mentioned once during the trip back from the Charlottes. Then there is the curious beachcombing note:  June spots all the little treasures that Paul manages to pass by, as though his mind is somewhere else.  The tone becomes more formal and stiff in the last few pages.  Goodbyes can be so difficult; June took it pretty hard.  June is the better sailor; Paul is the quintessential sailor.  So the book provides a small glimpse into June Cameron’s psyche.  She conceals herself well.  Why has she stonewalled her feelings?  Big hurt, maybe?  Has it taken 26 years (1983 to 2009) for her to begin to touch them with this book?  Interesting.  That’s the current beneath the pages.

Descriptions of unnamed sheltered anchorages, little coves shared by two lovers aboard a little wooden sailboat.  Who wouldn’t build mental castles?  And if you have a charting program on your computer you can follow along with June and Paul, marking the various nooks amoung the islands for future visits.

Extended periods aboard a 26 foot sloop………Is planet Earth a 26 foot sloop?  Then, how sure is the Captain; how steadfast the crew?  Read it.  See the Charlottes.

Cap Sante and Guemes Island are in the background of pic #1.  Mount Baker rises above Hat Island in pic #2.

Enlarge the images with a click.

Enlarge the pic with a click.

It’s time for an update on Velkommen’s water tank project. Mid August of last year was ‘Phase 5′ and then there was the little exhaust elbow repair in January.The last couple of months have been dedicated to the Hurricane heater. It was upgraded to 2012 standards by Gordon Jensen of Latitude Maritime.  The heat sheild exhaust blanket was done by National Marine Exhaust.  The installation positions the heater partially under the port exhaust elbow (the former problem child) with just enough room for the hydronic lines and the Hurricane exhaust to pass beside the  engine exhaust.  Both the inboard and aft panels of the heater are removable for service, so the current placement gives as much access as possible within the challenging confines of a lazarette.  Everything is mounted on rubber pads to isolate vibration and minimize chafing.  I puzzled a while on the placement and containment of the start batteries.  I think I came up with a creative solution.  It is simple and effective and I’ve never seen another like it.

I even got Ray Robinson’s “seal of approval”, and that’s really tough to get.  He slid through the hatch, inspected everything thoroughly, frowned and said, “Damn thing’s overbuilt”.  SWEET!  That is just the way I want it.

Allegorically speaking, The Man Who Would Stop at Nothing is as nautical as Moby Dick.  The human spirit against the elements.  Courage.  Determination. Pushing the envelope.  Man and the machine that propells him through time and space.  Oh yes, there must be a damsel nearby  or the whole thing unravels.

So what do you get when you choose to spend time with this book?  For one, you get an inside look at the IBA.  This is different from the AMA (American Motorcyclist Asso.)  These are doers, not just believers.  A tightly knit group, in a very loose knit sort of way.   If you are a rider, you are likely to understand the concept.  Second, you get to enjoy the writing of Melissa Holbrook Pierson.  It is academic and “ivy league”…..but so very eloquent.  It is a total joy to read.  Don’t let out the clutch too fast; this is several grade levels above the newspaper.

It would be a gift to the nautical community if Melissa were to do the Great Loop.  What a fine read that woud be.

In memory of Bill McAvan, a 2003 Iron Butt Rally competitor and a great friend.  RIP

Five years separates Secret Coastline from Secret Coastline 2.  The topics/chapters are divided into four groups:  natural history, kayaking, communities and islands.  The style is informative and friendly; Scott is having a conversation with the reader.  His art is the ability to take a large subject, like an island, and walk through the flora and fauna, terrestrial and aquatic, and mix in the history and the imagery of the coastline.  Without being preachy or teachy the reader is befriended.  Scott is a romantic and would be excellent as B.C.’s Minister of Tourism.  He is saddened to see the aging of the B.C. coast.  Bits and pieces of her glory floating away.  Diversity replaced with uniformity.  He makes a plea for ecotourism to save the day.  Even though it may only prolong the inevitable…..why not celebrate optimism?  You know it’s infectious.

Secret Coastline 2 is wonderful.  There may not be any higher praise for B.C.’s salty shores.  It is impossible to read these articles and and not be captivated: motivated to break free, visit, taste, experience.  Maybe try an extended stay:  a moveable feast……just a long way from Paris.  But worth every minute.

Coastal B.C. vistas are bold and rugged.  Big trees, bigger mountains, massive cliffs dropping to an island studded expanse of sea.  All the boldness is balanced by a delicate and fragile side, so it is natural to include an environmental component.  Instead of in-your-face activism, Andrew Scott shows respect for the coastal landscape by gliding his kayak and his words ever so gently along the shoreline and through the coves and inlets.  Andrew Scott’s storytelling is captivating and his descriptive imagery softly persuasive.  Asking the reader to see the coastline as Andrew Scott sees it.  An exquisite view.  Sometimes bittersweet, challenging and marked with only small successes, but Scott finds joy and optimism wherever he looks, projecting the promise of a positive tomorrow.  What a healthy perspective.  Refreshing!

Through the words of Secret Coastline, I have seen many places and met many people.  It is soon time to do that in person; be part of the history.  If you enjoy boating and have a fondness for the Northwest…..you can’t afford to be without this book.  Read  Secret Coastline your Northwest experience will be so enriched.

Denise Frisino has all the components on her screen to weave a really good literary tapestry.  But she is her own worst enemy.  She has all the skills of a good writer, but editing is not among them.  Descriptions are too verbose and repetitive, not compact and tight.  She is in love with her own writing, as if she were her own audience.  Then, when the really good stuff is about to happen, high tide with Nate and Jean locked in a hungry tongue-touching kiss…….. Denise turns on the cold shower and the narrative leaps to the next day.   Hey, the juicy in-between stuff is what’s important.  Turn up the heat.   What happened to all the romantic descriptive prose?  Shy?

An editor would have cut the fat from Whiskey Cove and replaced it with PASSION.

Good book, but it is really a first draft.  A good first draft; lots of potential.  The adult and adolescent themes need to expand and join like the flavors of a fine meal.  The history of Northwest rumrunning is fascinating and colorful, but it’s really background.  The dance of two young lovers is the expansive, but sadly underdeveloped, theme.  Expand on the romance and prune the prose mercilessly.  Please.

OK, let’s change the subject.

What did I learn? I need a wider range of exposure values and I need to reduce the noise in complied pic.

I had no idea, but I had just purchased an expensive bottle of olive oil with an artistic label from the grocery store.  It didn’t tast any different from the bargain brand I had just finished.

Extra Virginity is an interesting story, well worth the price and time.   Tom Mueller is an exceptionally good writer and an equally good researcher.  Extra Virginity explores the fascinating history of olive oil and the current state of a changing industry.  I had no idea of the dollars involved and the corruption attracted.  I had no idea that huge ocean tankers transported the commodity around the globe.  So I came away with an expanded view of the world economy and a new appreciation of botique venders.  I found Paradiso Olive Oil and Vinegar just a few miles away in Redmond.  Now I can better appreciate the flavors from mild to bold and the blends that accent specific foods.

You wouldn’t use inferior components on your boat.  Put the right olive oil in your galley, and on your table at home, too.  It is so worth the effort.  You can taste the difference.  Extra Virginity will put you on the right course.

Here lies the Blue Dolphin on 3-11-2012. A sad ending to a once nice boat.
Below is a Google Earth image from 8-25-2011. You can see the Blue Dolphin tied to the end of the dock. A few informative hotspots have been added.

So what is the mystery? Well, why does the Department of Ecology claim the vessel sank at Shannon Point? She obviously sank right where she has been tied up for a long time……about 200 yards west of the Anacortes terminal of the Guemes Ferry. Shannon Point is 2.3 NM to the west.

I often think of history as  boring and dull.  A musty collection of dry facts and figures that have little relevance to the 21st century.  Who cares?  Well, now I know.  Mark K. Ragan cares.  The Hunley is fanatically well researched but assembled so it is interesting and easy to read.  The Confederate story comes alive with a new invention out of Mobile, Alabama.  Submarine warfare is born.  Charleston, South Carolina is the proving ground.

The sea trials were a little rough.  She sank twice before completing her one successful mission, sinking the USS Housatonic, on February 14, 1864.  And then she vanished for 131 years.

Her story is absolutely fascinating, as are the many old photographs and copies of documents found in naval archives and elsewhere.  I would never have believed that so much information could be pieced together after all that time.  The story and the glory of the Hunley are exhaustively researched and well told.

The discovery, salvage and preservation of the Hunley occupy only a small segment of this book. For the ongoing story of the Hunley in the 21st century, a bit of personal research is in order.   She now rests in a museum.  She has a fabulous website and a high profile list of friends.  Please, do surf the Hunley website, since you are already on the web.  It is well done, interactive and so worthwhile.  Should I ever get to Charleston, S.C. a visit to the Warren Lasch Conservation Center at the Old Navy Base is a top priority.  Should you have even a faint flicker of interest in submarines or Civil War history…..this book is the definitve statement.

Google has an image gallery, that gives a visual taste of the fascinating world of marine archeology and forensics applied to the Hunley.  Don’t miss it.  The paperback edition this book is inexpensive and would make for a whale of a read on a rainy blustery night at anchor.

What do you say to a young couple intent on rebuilding an 80+ year old boat?  You give ‘em all the encouragement you can.  And a big smile, because they are following their dream.  Do you think dreams run More Faster Backwards?

Good book.  Fun read.  Best if you are a Northwest type.  Severely in need of an editor.  Christine throws in an awkward F-bomb occasionally.  I talked to her about it at the 2012 Seattle Boat Show.  She bristled and said she was trying to be authentic.  I call BS.  Authentic dock language is much stronger than her writing.  That’s why I take exception to this detail.  She is trying to sell a book and promote a fledgeling cruise buisness.  No need for gratuitous language.  No need to alienate potential customers.  Polish the brightwork, pump the bilges over the side.

A romantic’s words:  “I want to be authentic.”  Quite lovely, often bittersweet.  The David B needs constant maintenance, the cruise buisness is crowded and competive, the economy is soggy, the weather more soggy.  Following a dream in a niche market.  AHOY.  I wish you luck and a sharp eye.  Long live your love.  Long live the David B.

Web sites for the David B:  http://northwestnavigation.com/ or http://morefasterbackwards.com/

The 45′ fishing boat Heather Lynne II was run down by a 272′ barge under tow  just 10 miles off Cape Ann Massachusetts just before dawn in September of 1996.  She capsized but remained afloat with the crew trapped inside.  Tapping…..pounding, clawing on the inside of the hull.  Dead men tapping.

The courtroom struggles are an oversized chess game with strategies unfolding as  both sides vie for position. Intensely dramatic, blow by blow testimony.  At the end of t he day everyone gets up and goes home.  Not so for the crew of the Heather Lynne II.

Big thanks to Ray Robinson for the loan of this book.

all images are hyperlinks, click on them for a more expansive view

On a motorcycle ya just gotta go west on NW 85th and down the switchbacks on Golden Gardens Drive.  Near the entrance to Golden Gardens my curiosity meter hit red line.  What is it?  Of course it’s yellow so it’s gotta be a Yellow Submarine. Right?

It is a Seaglider.  Trina is a marine chemist with the UW Fisheries and Sean McPeak is an electrical engineer with the UW Applied Physics Lab. What great luck to meet two marine scientists and learn about their research.  One of their research tools is the Seaglider.  OK, so where is the propeller?  Surprizingly, there is no propeller; it’s a bouyancy drive.  Not particularly fast at 1 to 1.5 kts,  it can run for a long time and accomodate an interesting array of sensors.  Temperature, depth, salinity, disolved oxygen or even acoustical sensors to listen to the whales or the Sirens or perhaps………Red October.

The technology is fascinating. Far beyond what I expected, and it is showcased on the Applied Physics Seaglider website. The animations are great.  At first I thought the pointy end was the nose, but it is the antenna on the tail of the craft and it allows data to be transmitted and received via satelite.  The fins are not attached in the above photos.  It only weighs about 100 lbs but it can dive to over 3,000 ft.  BIG Thanks to Trina and Sean for being so personable and taking the time to to talk to a total stranger on a motorcycle.  This stuff was science fiction when I was their age.  Hats off to the UW, too.  It makes me dang proud to see my alma mater on the cutting edge of marine science.

I didn’t want to leave Trina and Sean and their cool toys, but I didn’t want to be a total pest, either. So I jumped on the Dakar and motored over to the Ballard Locks, expecting to find a few boats moving through.

My theory about capturing some video of boats in the locks just didn’t hold water. I wandered around on the locks for over an hour and every boat in the area was having a nice afternoon nap. But what really stood out was the architecture. That kind of attention to detail is so rare these days…probably we can’t afford it…..but it is really exquisite, nonetheless. In winter the gardens are mostly in hibernation except for a couple of dogwoods and a rhody, but in a month or two or three the grounds will be showing off all their finery. Only a few acres, but a splendid oasis in the middle of a growing city. And so worth visiting.

A visit to the Ballard Locks demands a pint at the deadliest bar (and cafe), the Lockspot.  Maritime Pacific’s Old Seattle Lager this time…..Mmmmm.  refreshing.  And then a visit to big ol’ Leif Erikson, just standing around over at Shilshole.  Keeping an eye on a long list of Scandinavian emigrants.  It’s nice to see so many of the names written down, even it they were….just passin’ through.

All maritime motorcycle stories have an ending. And what finer ending than a couple of pounds of fresh ling cod along with some big gulf prawns from the Fresh Fish Company near 24th Ave NW and NW 80th,  right next door to Larsen’s Danish Bakery. Larsen’s is incomparable, but, sadly, not on my diet. This time I was gnarly and strong. I resisted the force. Too often I’m weak…. The Fresh Fish Co. fits my diet much better, just a bit of olive oil and lemon. Easy on the Panco and peanut oil.

Peter Limberg

Read the book.  You will enjoy every page if you are intrigued by the depths.  The indie bookstores have it for bargain prices.  Buy two and surprise a friend.

Girl Hunter: instantly the neurons flash — cool-stud-out-cruisin’-on-a-hot-summer……whoa!! There’s a picture of a girl with a shotgun and a skillet on the cover. That nano-second disconnect is the first clue. This book is wicked good! Beautiful writing, fabulous recipes and very unique perspective on hunting and eating and……….on life. This is a book that your hunting buddy will enjoy and his wife will enjoy even more. My recommendation: order several copies. By the time you have finished a few chapters you will want your friends to be reading this one, too.

Sometimes a book comes along that is so good I just have to blog on it, even though it does not have a maritime bias. So read it on your boat or just put on your watch cap and reading glasses. Georgia Pellegrini has moved the conversation to the next level.

Fascinating trip. Welsley College, Investment Banker, Lehmann Bros. – boring or perhaps she saw the writing on the wall. Food is good – French Culinary Institute. Restaurants in France and New York. So if you want the finest vegtables you grow them, but if you want the finest meats they won’t come from the organic garden. They are found in a more rugged backyard and must be harvested and prepared on a more personal level, one on one. Grab the Over-and-Under.

Eleven delicious chapters with prose so compact and rich you can taste the tenderloin. This book is a great read just for the eloquence and imagery, not to mention the uncommon theme and rare perspective. And the recipes……Mmmmmm!!

I recieved generous permission to include two of Georgia’s recipes. Click on the thumbnail for the recipe as a pdf.

Buttermilk Fried Rabbit

Moroccan Elk Stew

Be sure to check out Georgia’s web site: http://georgiapellegrini.com/ and her saucy YouTube vid. I hope she visits the Pacific NorthWet and gives us a Seafood Sequel.

It’s a great time to be tuned in to Beachcombers’ Alert. The first wave of flotsam from the Japanese tsunami of 3/11/2011 has found its way to Northwest shores.  Some early predictions said it would take two years; why is it arriving so soon? How about a lost underwater camera covering 2,700 miles to be found on a Florida beach. Its adventures include a ride on a sea turtle. How is it possible to know this? How is it possible to find the camera’s owner?  Wonderful detective work. And there is more in this issue. Ever heard of alalone bilster pearls?

I suggest you get your subscription right away.

Be sure to check out Curt’s lastet blog posting, too.  And the companion site:  Flotsametrics and the Floating World.

I didn’t relish the unanticipated job of removing the elbow.  The exhaust hoses are short and stiff and not very forgiving or flexible.   So everything got put on hold until the New Year arrived.  The starboard exhaust elbow came off  easier than expected, but when the exhaust elbow gets removed all the water that is in the muffler spills into the bilge……and I had it so dang clean, too.   Just so you know:  a muffler that looks like it might hold 5 gallons of water spills about 10 gallons of water into the bilge.  Trust me.

National Marine Exhaust was excellent.  Scott built the elbow about 18 months ago.  He polished the weld with a wire wheel and it looked fine, but when he put the torch to it , a big crevasse opened up.  So it got rewelded (extra-beefy) and we added a bonding tab for good measure.

Reinstallation was a joy.  There are not many places to get leverage or to pry against.  But with help from Mark Hanger of Mark’s Marine Repair the elbow finally gave  up and slid into place.  Usually it’s “two steps forward and one step back”; this was probably “one step forward and two steps back”.  But it emphasizes the value of doing business with good local folks who treat ya right, long after the check has cleared.

So it’s easy to understand David Conover’s love of Wallace Island and his desire to share that love.  What unfolds is a large pallette of the Gulf Islands, rich with character and characters.  All seen through the lens of a love story, between David and Jeanne, between David and Wallace Island.

In addition to being well written and nicely crafted, Once Upon an Island is a true story.  No doubt there is a bit of “artistic-license” woven in; but it never detracts.  The old black and white photos really lock down the imagery, revealing David Conover’s photographic artistry face to face with his romantic prose.
All images enlarge with a click.

This book will make you smile and laugh and enrich your Gulf Island experience.  Whatever you do…..read this book right away!
Then dig deeper. This book has contains added treasures for those who dare to seek them out. Perhaps a subject for a future post.

This is what Dutch Harbor might  have looked like in the early morning hours of Valentine’s Day, 1983.

Images of the Altair and Americus are not easy to find. But if you scour the web you can find these old black and whites, taken before the trawling gear was added. Their Valentine’s Day voyage was truncated; the locations well known. No doubt they were overloaded and top heavy, but the seas were nearly calm, probably a modest swell, but no unusual conditions were noted by other vessels in the same general area.

Dakota Creek shipyard is the birthplace of the A-boats; a long walk down Commercial Avenue is the Anchor Inn and the salty characters found therein. In particular, George Nations gets painted with a dark, moody and jealous brush. Perhaps Dillon felt his story needed a dark hero, an antagonist, of sorts. In any event, by trying to describe people he does not know, Patrick Dillon looks like a carpetbagger and a lightweight.  The more polite fisherman would call him a puke.

So, without delay, read Lost at Sea. Patrick Dillon lays out the story along with plenty of facts and figures; names and places. And for that I commend him. But Patrick Dillon is all about Patrick Dillon. He missed the real story; the great and universal story; the human and empathetic story. Yes, it’s a tragedy. So many of them are.

If you look closely, You can see Jay in the third pic in his green sweater between the first two pilings taking charge of the situation. (Better pics next time. All I had handy was an iPhone.)

Jim’s little Porter-Cable compressor did a fine job as his hookah setup.  It made me think….I’ve got a compressor just like that in the garage.  All I need is the proper filter. Hmmmmm.  And when its time to swap props, change zincs, or maybe just harvest the lettuce off yer hull……give Jim a call. He does a great job and he’s always got a good story to tell.

Hot DANG! The latest copy of Beachcombers’ Alert just arrived in the mail. Great articles and info on upcoming Beachcombers Fairs. Of course you are familiar with Flotsametrics and Curtis Ebbesmeyer, but if you have not subscribed to his great quarterly newsletter you are missing out. Keep current with the Beaufort Gyre, Black Guillemots and tsunami debris. A whole evening of reading coming your way four times a year.   A bargain……here’s how to subscribe.

Here is a book you can wrap all eight arms around.  Plenty of local connections, even a local (Portland, Ore.) publisher.  The octopus world is science fiction right at your swimstep.  Dare to be enlightened and amazed; discover a new universe……read it.

I’ve been considering augmenting my maritime education by studying for a Captain’s License. Richard Rodriguez with Zenith Maritime gets wonderful reviews and is an all around nice guy. I have also looked into U. S. Maritime and the class offered by Jeff Sanders. A big attraction to Jeff’s class is a page on his web site: In Memory of Fred.   Now I’ve never met Jeff, but anyone with a heart big enough to form that kind of bond is OK by me.

Click on the image to find out how your boat can be featured in Sea Magazine.   Maybe they can devote a whole section to ‘B’ dock?  Now that would be Way Cool.  Lord knows ‘B’ dock is the most eclectic in the whole marina.  And that’s the truth and ya know it.

We are looking forward at the port-side space between the hull and the aft deck, approx. 9′ x 9′ x 2′.  The third coat of primer is dry and ready to be painted over.  On the left is the muffler, temporarily supported by a 1″ x 4″.  The black hoses are for the hydraulic steering and coolant routed through the Hurricane Heater.  The lines coming out of the hole in the engine room bulkhead run to the remote Sea Freeze compressor mounted high and center on a shelf bent from 1/4″ aluminum plate.  It is partly visible on the right edge.  Adjacent to the compressor, also partly visible, is the one of the new SS exhaust elbows.  The replacement of this particular elbow began the renovations and alterations that you see.

All images enlarge with a click.

The second pic shows the first fitting of the Hurricane heater platform and the battery platform.  The starboard side is actually farther along; the painting is complete and the water tank platform and the battery platform have been installed.  Besides the battery cables, the water tank fill hoses are wrapped around the red bucket, and then there is the green bonding wire,  held up out of the paint by vise grip clamps.

Pic number three shows the first coat of Kirby’s #25 Light Gray gloss coat while it is still nice and fresh.  Three coats of primer and three coats of gloss.  That’s the treatment.  Thankfully, Kirby’s paint does not require special application proceedures. In this case a 4″ nappy-headed roller works pretty well.

No, I’m not going to paint the overhead.  Sure, it would be a nice touch, but enough is enough.  I’m looking toward ending this project not augmenting it.

BIG Thanks to Ray Robinson (Robinson Woodworking) and Mark Hanger (Mark’s Marine Repair) whose encouragement and advise have been invaluable.  And also to Travis Hanson (Hanson’s Marine Services) who matched the gelcoat around the locker doors.

Especially nice is a more scientific, data based approach, with only a tiny amount of begging for increased funding and a tiny amount of liberal eco hand wringing.  (I’m a global warming denyer, and references to Obama and AlGore definitely turn me off.)

Ellen has lived Marine Biology, and she has all the credentials, too.  Don’t settle for a book by a stuffy desk jockey.  This is the real deal.

Don’t miss it. Order it together with Chasing Science at Sea. Tell your friends……read it twice before you pass it on.

Chasing Science at Sea

The stories and anecdotes are wonderful.  I began to think she must have lived her life in double-time to collect so many.  From living in undersea habitats to ooids, to sea slugs, Ellen Prager emphasizes that science can be both really interesting and really fun. 

At the end of the book there is a section titled, Related Web Sites and another section titled Recommended and Related Reading.  Either one of these sections is worth the price of admission.  Having both is a bargain.

Don’t miss this book, even though it seems targeted at the younger audience, it’s good stuff.  Read it then pass it on to your favorite student; in particular, your favorite student fishing for a career path.

Puget Sound Thunder, her Captain and crew were quite accomodating.

It’s not often a pod of killers dances around your boat and your pots.  It’s an enchanting experience that most folks will never have.  Add an overnight at Port Browning, a little sightseeing and some beachcombing on Cabbage.  A weekend packed to the gunnels.  But even before it’s over, I want more. 

Even though the images are a couple of years old, I think you will enjoy them…..and the guitar of Buckethead.

Within this little self published volume are an amazing amount of tips, tricks and product recommendations for just about every sanding and painting task you you might find on a boat.  It won’t give you Joni’s years of experience, but it will put you on the right track.  At $23.00 it’s a bargain.  For that price, it’s a bargain just for the pics of some stunningly beautiful boats.

I’m not fond of the current trend away from exterior wood on boats.  Sure, wood is maintenance intense, but it doesn’t take much well cared for teak to highlight and enhance a boats character.  Perhaps it makes a statement that the boat owner is a “character“, too.  If so, I plead guilty, but I think the subject is worth discussing over a pint or two.

Send a check for $23.00 to Joni Blanchard, P.O. Box 1561, Port Townsend, WA 98368    jonijobone@hotmail.com  

She will mail you a book that has more care and craftsmanship between the covers than you are likely to find on any mega-yacht.

As I’ve said before….there are few absolute truths in this world, but one of them most certainly is:  ALL BOATS LOVE MAINTENANCE.  Leveraging the knowledge of a real pro is always a wise investment.

Don’t wait.  Buy Maritime Memories and dive into it.  Don’t feel like reading?  Buy it for the pics.  You will love it.  It would make a wonderful gift for your favorite bookophile with a taste for the salt of Puget Sound.  If I were King, this book would be required reading in Northwest History 101.

Big thanks to Ray Robinson for the loan of his 1st edition copy.