Thursday, December 19, 2024
We motored for seven hours today under cloudy skies and through fields of wood debris, scattered over the sea’s surface by a windstorm on Tuesday might, to get to Montague Harbour in the Canadian Gulf Islands from Anacortes after a somewhat frustrating Wednesday that began with the dropping and breaking of a bottle of very good wine while loading the Prius! Walt and I had planned to leave for a stay of three weeks in the Canadian Gulf Islands (with a stop in Vancouver, BC, for a Christmas visit with our son Martin) on Monday or Tuesday, but Walt (trying to adjust to the effects of diabetes medications) was not feeling well on Monday, and a strong wind-and-rain storm swept through the area on Tuesday, so we delayed our departure until Wednesday, our 53rd wedding anniversary and the 9th anniversary of our purchase of Braesail.
We loaded some 20 bags of food, clothing, and boat gear onto Braesail on Wednesday afternoon (after returning home from somewhere not too far north of Everett to retrieve some milk and some leftovers from a nice Thai dinner on Tuesday night that we realized had been left in the refrigerator). I organized and stored provisions on the boat while Walt drove the 32-mile round trip from Anacortes to the city of Burlington and back to re-certify and fill our two propane bottles. After eating our tasty leftover Thai food for supper on Braesail, we decided to drive the 50 miles back home again after Walt discovered that he had forgotten a number of items that he needed and couldn’t easily buy during our trip. I rode along in case Walt found himself too tired to drive safely, and enjoyed seeing the many holiday light displays along the way. We arrived back on the boat with our retrieved items at around 10:30 pm and went straight to bed.
On Thursday morning, after sleeping fitfully on the boat due to the rushing of the wind and the roiling of the water inside the Anacortes Marina where Braesail is moored, Walt forgot to lift and secure one of the metal boarding ladders on the side of the boat and crushed it against a piling at the dock and bent it, probably irreparably, as he was pulling the boat out of our slip in the blustery wind and rough water. A significant gouge was left along the side of hull as well—OUCH!
We bumped into some small floating pieces of wood during our journey through the San Juan and Gulf islands to Montague Harbour when the swaths of storm debris were too wide and dense to allow Braesail to avoid hitting all of the logs and “loglets,” but some startling noises were the only results of the collisions, fortunately. We had no difficulties clearing Canadian Customs by phone when crossing the border, we found many unoccupied mooring buoys in commodious Montague Harbour and Provincial Marine Park, and we had no trouble hooking a buoy in a sheltered spot. We napped to the accompaniment of raindrops tap-dancing on the aft cabin roof, enjoyed a good supper (Walt now has no appetite due to his medications, but still enjoys cooking), played a close game of Backgammon (I lost very narrowly), and retired early, hoping for a better sleep.
Braesail - A grand yacht in the Salish Sea 
Wow! We sincerely hope the rest of the trip more than compensates for all the glitches you have experienced! A very Merry Christmas to you both!!!
Sue and Ralph
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Thanks so much for your good wishes, Sue and Ralph! We have had some “adventures,” but also a terrific time overall. May God bless you with peace, joy, hope, good health, beauty, wonderful music, and lots of love in the new year!
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Lorelette and Walt, Thanks for keeping us in your Braesail loop. I trust that the beginning of your winter journey is not an omen of things to come.
Lynda and I as well as our ages will allow. I survived my surgery in May. The latest tests show no signs of cancer. I have recovered as much as I will recover. Hours of anesthesia take their toll. The brain fog is still diminishing. However, daily practice at the piano is good therapy. I will play a concert for my neighbors in January: J. S. Bach: Allamand from French Suite in F. Chopin: Nocturne Op. 27 No. 2, Ballade No 1, Etude No.1 Book 2. Debussy: 3rd movement of Suite Bergamasque (Clair de Lune).
Lynda is well. Her pacemaker keeps on ticking. We are traveling little. She has fully recovered from the Flu. As chair of the Altar Guild she has no want of things to do.
The family is all well. Kathryn continues to serve Sewanee Elementary in several roles: librarian, testing, reading specialist. Alex continues as the associate academic dean at the college and English professor. Allison (grand daughter) is a fun raiser and grant writer for United Way. Allison (granddaughter) is finishing her master’s in English literature at N. C. State and serves as the Professor of Record as a teaching assistant. Daniel (son) is director of Engineering at Miltope in Huntsville, AL. His new wife (Alexis) of a year raises exotic plants and is a partner in a local organic farm. Waden, grandson, is in his first year of high school and is a member of the Lacrosse team. Jameson (grandson) lives with his mother in Fort Collins, CO. Hr finishes high school this year and is busy repairing his first car. He likes working with his hands and answering a challenge.
I pray that your present journey is filled with joy fitting the season, the New Year is the best to come, filled with grace, and that you continue to keep us in the loop.
Merry Christmas Happy New Year
Grace and peace, Ray+
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Thanks so much for the update on your family, Ray! Sounds like a wonderful lot of folks! We will be back in Anacortes tomorrow to dock the boat. May God bless you and Lynda with good health, strength, beauty, joy, hope, and LOTS of love in the new year!
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