6/30/04 Land Cruising

Lots has happened in the last month; here is a "reader's digest" version:

Ladysailor flew back to LAX from San Carlos like the true princess she is, leaving John and I to get the boat ready for a few months in the sweltering heat unattended.  We finally made the drive north with Buddy in the back, and crossed the border near Tucson about 10 PM June 7 or so.  Was it ever a shock to find everybody speaking English again!

After a few days in Casa Serena (near where we used to live) for regrouping and getting the car and 12' GRP sailboat out of storage and ready to travel, we set out on our land cruise.

First stop was the campground at Lake Cachuma, where I wire-brushed the rust off the boat trailer and got some good primer and paint on, as well as varnishing the rudder and daggerboard, new thwart and paddle with a couple of coats.  After a few days getting that stuff done, we began our wine-tasting tour north through the Santa Ynez valley and towards Paso Robles.  We cruised up Highway 1 through Big Sur, where we finally found an internet place in the middle of nowhere.  That was when we discovered my daughter Lucy was flying into Reno that very day-June 16, instead of the 18th like I had been thinking.  Oops, we had to hurry quick to Tahoe to meet her!  Luckily my sisters were there already and took care of her until  we got there the next day.

We had a blast staying with our friends Dale and Jane from Magic with whom we had cruised in Mexico.  They live in a beautiful house they appropriately call The Treehouse, situated on a hillside overlooking a pristine wooded ravine.  For three days we commuted back and forth around the lake to Homewood where the Cousins Reunioun was, in the old Choate House built in 1906.

Having fallen in love with the area, we decided to camp for a few more days at D.L. Bliss campground, with trips into Tahoe City to get Buddy groomed and use the free high speed wireless internet there.

Leaving Tahoe, we decided to opt for the scenic route, which turned out to be Route 20, all the way across the state to Clear Lake.  Since it was Barbie's Birthday, we rented the Honeymoon Cottage at a quaint old fashioned fishing lodge called Lake Place.  When we arrived Peggy the proprietress was getting a bit concerned about her husband Al who was rather unsuccessfully "trying out" a new sailboard.  He was down much more than up in the brisk 18-20 knot wind and big chop.  Finally he made it to the side of the lake pretty far downwind of where we were, and yours truly drove a few miles to pick him up.  A minor adventure, but could have been a serious situation if it had gotten dark with him out in the middle.

While in Tahoe, the boat had displayed a tendency to take on water through some old damaged spots, so we dropped her off at Downunder Marine in Kelseyville, where Malcolm the Kiwi is the best fiberglass repair guy in Lake County.  Actually the only one, but that's not to detract from his skills.

So we went south for a bit, tasting wine all the way to Napa, before heading out to the coast to camp at Bodega Bay, then Samuel P. Taylor state park near San Anselmo.  We had a nice, but quick visit with Barb's cousin Roger and his wife Liz, then headed North once again to pick up the beautifully repaired Puffer.  That afternoon we resumed following Highway 20 the rest of the way to the coast where it ends in Fort Bragg.  What a beautiful drive that was!  The next day was even more spectacular as we followed Highway 1 up the coast and back inland to 101, then north through the redwoods to Eureka, where we spent last night.  We stopped off for a quick trip down Fulmor Road outside Ferndale, and I showed Barb the old house built there on the bank of the Eel River, built by my great grandfather Nicholas Smith Fulmor, the sea captain turned dairy farmer who settled there around 1850 or so.

So today we leave California and enter Oregon, where we hope to find some property to buy.  Looking forward to seeing lots of old friends and of course my kids who live in Portland.

Whoo Hoo!

Mike, Barb, and Buddy

8/12/04

Land Cruise Month #2 (July)

After working our way up the Oregon coast, and checking in with our good friend Katherine in Yachats, we made it to Portland Airport to meet Capt. Louise July 4th morning, right on time.

With lots of choices for entertainment, like wine tasting or the three day Waterfront Blues Festival, we opted to head back down to Yachats and stay at the good ole Yachats Inn.  It hasn’t changed that much since the Webcaptain worked there as manager for several years in the 90’s.  There is still the pool and Jacuzzi with oceanfront views, and the same charming rustic quality the Inn has always had.  We had North Front one night and South Front the next- the two best suites in the place.  We helped with security the night of the 4^th, guarding the barricade that kept people away from the site where the fireworks were being launched.  What a great show it was, with the shells going off right over our location!  Barb and Louise collected almost $200 between them for the fireworks fund- Louise got a guy to put a $100 bill in there on a bet whether she could chug a beer nonstop.  He didn’t know who he was dealing with!

After bidding a fond farewell to Louise, it was time to head to Eugene and set up camp for the three-day Oregon Country Fair.  We camped at Paul Darling’s Shady Rest Campground, with our good friend Mark Dortch, AKA Buck.  The Fair was great as always, but seems to be losing some of the old magic it had back in the 70’s and 80’s.

Post-Fair it was again time to go to Yachats, and begin to look for property in earnest.  We did find a 5 acre spot we really liked, and hope our low-ball offer doesn’t offend the sellers too much!  It was overpriced, we thought.

We returned to Portland for almost a week to hang with my kids and buds some, and then a few days back in the Eugene area camped at Fern Ridge reservoir where we got the Puffer into the water and sailed some.

If it sounds like we were doing laps around the state, it’s because we were!

Guess where we went next?  Back to Yachats of course, then back to Portland for one night (daughter Lucy’s birthday), then back to Yachats one last time to actually write the offer on the land, pick up the Puffer where we’d left it at Katherine’s, and finally head north towards Washington.  It seems odd to go in a straight line!

Speaking of straight lines, we are now in Port Angeles, preparing to head up to Canada in a day or so to try to find our pals in Vancouver.  Looking forward to some good beer, good whiskey, and good friends!

See ya in a month or so.

Mike, Barb and the Bud-o-matic

So after Barb was safely on her plane south, Buddy and I cruised North and arrived at the Canadian border around 1700.  Getting into Vancouver through rush hour traffic was a challenge, but soon I was downtown, and found a good spot to drop off the Puffer near the launch ramp.  I was looking forward to seeing all the great Canadians we'd met during our time in Barra de Navidad, Mexico.

I stayed at the Sands, just a couple of blocks from Stanley Park, and right on English Bay.  Our friend Lana Ferrie was visiting a friend in Washington when I arrived, but our other friend Bonnie Gibson was singing in the bar,  accompanied by Keith Stein.  Hello Vancouver!

Had a great time sailing around English Bay, as far up as Second Beach and back to the Granville Bridge.  Perfect Puffer conditions, but unfortunately one of Kiwi Malcolm's repairs failed, and she started to take on mucho water into her floatation chambers.

Lana came back the next day, and Barb came in a couple of days later, so it was a week before we made it onto the next stage of our trip.  We opted to go across on the ferry to Nanaimo, a place I had visited many years before.  It hasn't changed much, but the weather had changed and made camping out of the question.  I had wanted to camp on Newcastle Island, but we settled for a hike around it in  a temporary pause in the rain.

After a few days in Nanaimo, we headed south to Victoria for a night, then connected with our friend Karen in Lund, so we decided to go up to see her.  Lund is at the beginning or the end of Highway 101, depending on your perspective.  The other end is in Chile somewhere.  Lund is a beautiful place, and we stayed there for several days enjoying it.  I put the Puffer in the water, but my temporary fix of the crack in the bottom failed, and she filled up again overnight.

As we left Lund, we enjoyed the Blackberry Festival in Powell River.  Everybody within miles must have been there, because the street was blocked off and full of people for 10 blocks or more.  We didn't think that many people lived there!

On our drive south again, we called Ken, another friend we'd met in Mexico,  and found out he was on his way home from Alberta.  We hung around and waited for him, and he rolled in about 2100.  Turned out he was moving into a new house the next day, so we stayed to help him warm it up!  The house is right on Cowichan Bay, two stories with it's own private boat dock.  I put some duct tape over the crack and launched the Puffer to sail across to it.  The boat ramp is in the little town of Cowichan Bay, and the house is on the opposite side of the bay, a few kilometers away.  It was a great sail over.  Coming back I got caught in a little rain squall, but luckily no lightening was associated.

Anyway, that was our month in Canada, and what a great month it was.  We don't know exactly what it is about Canada that we like so much, but the people have to be right at the top of the list, followed by the scenery and the culture in general.

We're back in Oregon for a brief while, then it's back to California for a few weeks.  Then back to Arabella!  We can't wait!

Good on Ya, Eh?

Mike, Barb, and Buddomatic

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