Photo: Natalie Menacho
These are photos of some of my favorite moments, so far, from our trip around the San Juan and Gulf Islands this summer. Click any photo for a larger view. I hope you enjoy them. Read the rest of this entry »
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OK, I may be biased, but my fiance, Natalie, writes a great blog over at The West County Bramble. She’s been doing a much better job than I have posting about our day-to-day travels.
Here’s a link to her post about our stop in the little town of Chemainus, BC, on Vancouver Island, where we happened upon a First Nations (Canadian native peoples) ceremony as well as a very well done musical. Both were quite unexpected.
The town is full of murals. Below, Natalie sneaks into the scene of one of my favorites.
In the top photo, our boat, Carmana, lies just offshore in gorgeous twilight.
Link Trail: The West County Bramble > Chemainus, Vancouver Island, BC Read the rest of this entry »
Well, a few weeks ago we were on relatively remote Wallace Island. It’s a 200-acre silver of land in the Gulf Islands in British Columbia. It’s not on the ferry route so you have to get there of your own devices.
We stern-tied our boat, Carmana in tiny Conover Cove and had a walk around. We’d read about this place in the book Once Upon an Island, at home in West County last winter, so it was nice to finally make it up here and see it on a glorious summer day. Then, come evening, we rowed to watch the setting sun, and made something extraordinary happen… we got engaged.
You may have seen Natalie in posts of our trips or seen her photos. She’s amazing. I’m looking forward to life of adventure together. Woo-hoo!
Natalie wrote about it on her West County Bramble blog. Check out the Wallace Island post in two parts. Part 1 and Part 2.
Natalie walking on Turn Island near Friday Harbor.
If you’re regular reader of this blog, you may know that WCXC has taken to the water. We’re spending the summer and fall exploring the Pacific Northwest by sea. We’re sailing around the San Juan Islands in Washington State and the Gulf Islands in Canada.
I’ve gotten pretty behind in posting about the trip but my girlfriend, Natalie, has been posting about our travels on her lovely blog, The West County Bramble.
Here are some recent posts of hers you might like:
Wooden Boats! – Our trip to Seattle’s Wooden Boat Festival
Hurray for Birthdays! – We took a trip aboard the Virginia V to Bainbridge for Natalie’s birthday.
A Beautiful Sound. – We moor our boat in downtown Seattle for the afternoon, go swimming in Lake Union, then head out Bainbridge Island on our own.
I’ll post more about our trip but I hope you’ll enjoy Natalie’s post as well.
Happy travels,
Nik
About a month ago, we bought a mid-sized sailboat, an Aloha 32 named Carmana and sailed her down from Friday Harbor to Seattle for our first shake-down cruise. We’ve been moored here for the last couple of weeks, hanging out in Ballard (Seattle’s version of Brooklyn), and getting to know the local marine suppliers as we address mechanical, safety, and comfort issues before we head out again: a new chart plotter, battery charger, a new pump for the head, some stuff to keep the holding tank from smelling (Go Noflex Digester! That stuff works.) new fenders, stern anchor… You get the idea.
Despite all of the little projects, we’re really happy with the boat. She’s roomy for a 32-footer, sails well, and gets admiring looks up and down the dock. And she makes a good home for Natalie and I.
That’s the quick low down on the boat. We’ll be up here exploring all summer and give you the low down on the places we visit. Also, if you’d like to read and see pictures of our trip in more detail, Natalie’s blogging about it over at her site, The West County Bramble. Check it out!
OK, here’s the low down. For in-depth low down, we’ve been using the Waggoner Cruising Guide. Not only does it cover everything about every harbor we’ll ever visit, it’s a primer on Northwest cruising. I wished I’d bought it before I even bought the boat as it would have informed some of my choices.
Here’s our take on things though. Every town has been cuter, cooler, and more scenic than the last.
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