I have had many interruptions over the summer that stalled the work on the new tandem. Problems developed in two areas. First the hydraulic brake line for the rear wheel was too short. The tubing is very exclusive and very expensive. Also the replacement pieces seemed to come only in the same length as the one I had. I enlisted the aid of long time friend and bicycle “wrench” extraordinaire, Ray Scholl, and he directed me to Universal Cycles in Portland. I found just what I needed there. Continue reading Tandem Progress:
The Great Sailing Adventure – Epilog:
As I think back over the past 12 days I have to wonder: What should you expect when you take a family of seven people and cram them into a smallish 40 foot boat for nearly two weeks? A “National Lampoon” style family vacation with big ugly old land yacht? A “Captain Ron” style sea cruise with pirates chasing us? Perhaps a Robin Williams style RV movie with a disaster at every corner where the RV, (boat,) winds up perched precariously on a rock. Of course not! Continue reading The Great Sailing Adventure – Epilog:
The Great Sailing Adventure – Anchor Drill:
For our next destination we chose Mill Bay on Saanich Inlet. We got there and the marina was bran new and the floats were beautiful. We went up to sign in and asked about the showers. Well would you believe that the marina was so new there were no showers, no restrooms (oops I mean washrooms, we are in Canada). Well we still had enough daylight left to pick an alternate. Cowichan Bay was only about eight miles further on and we had never stayed there before. Continue reading The Great Sailing Adventure – Anchor Drill:
The Great Sailing Adventure – The New Skipper:
Today dawned bright and clear in Tsehum Harbor. (Go ahead, pronounce it!) There wasn’t a hint of breeze, however. Not a problem, we will motor until the breeze sets in. Meanwhile we will look for opportunities to practice landings. We were looking for a nice piece of driftwood to act as a surrogate for a dock. Well we finally settled on a rather wimpy stalk of floating kelp. Continue reading The Great Sailing Adventure – The New Skipper:
The Great Sailing Adventure – Sailing:
What a beautiful day. Under way from Clam Bay, Thetis Island by 9:30 and under sail by 10:00. We were able to sail almost continuously for the whole 23 nautical miles and nine wonderful hours. The breezes were perfect at about 10 knots and only failed us briefly near the end of Athol Peninsula on Saltspring Island. Continue reading The Great Sailing Adventure – Sailing: