Sideways Sally is back at it!! Here she is at letter C.

Last year this time I was teeing up plans to sail to Alaska, then spent the summer between Boats, and now I’ve been sailing in Croatia!! I can’t wait to see what D brings.

At the end of March I took a heavenly flight to Casablanca, Morocco. I treated myself for my 65th birthday to a business class flight so I could sleep lying down. OH, the luxury!! The service, the food, the “hot mixed nuts,” toiletry bag, and comfort was something I’d never experienced.

I love flying, and returning to travelling the world again was thrilling. My favorite place to write is from the seat of airplane, 30,000 feet in the air with a window between me and -40 degree temp, going 600 mph. There’s nothing to do about anything except adjust the vent and the light above my head, kick my shoes off and explore the movies offered. I occasionally switch to flight mode to see our progress across the Atlantic Ocean.

I have to start this story with telling you about Yumna, without whom it would never have been possible to have such an enjoyable trip. We met while working at our community mental health team in Vancouver. She was raised in Canada, her family is from Egypt, therefore she speaks Arabic. When she announced that she was going to Morocco to study French for three months, I announced, “I’m going to visit you there.” Then I invited her to come sailing in Croatia. You may recognize her from previous posts where she came sailing on OMOO out of Horseshoe Bay into Howe Sound.

Yumna became familiar with the culture and researched the most amazing places to visit on our one week road trip around northern Morocco. She is an exceptionally smart, fun and “go with the flow” travel companion.

Arriving in Casablanca, Yumna met me at the airport where she had rented a car. Being in another country, everything is a different. Yumna was able to navigate the language, the destinations she had chosen, and the culture. It looked like she did this with ease, but I know it take an extreme amount of energy and concentration.

We left Casablanca on the coast of the North Atlantic Ocean to drive to Fez, approximately a 4 hour drive inland. The “Riad” Yumna booked was a warm introduction to the culture of Morocco. The Riad is a hostel where the hospitality is an extension of the Moroccan culture. As we were driving toward the Riad and looking for parking, two young men met us and led us to a spot nearby, they were eager to meet us again the next day to guide us through the city, but we declined as they were a little too eager.

The hosts of the Riad were observing Ramadan, and laid out a lovely spread “to break the fast” at sunset. After meeting some of the other guests whom we became fast friends with, we retired to our small but clean and comfortable room to rest up for the adventure of exploring the city the next day. My only worry that evening was “is there morning coffee during Ramadan?”

Casablance – Fez – Al Hoceima – Chefchouen – Tangier – Split, Croatia

In the morning Fez welcomed us with morning prayers broadcast from the Mosque. Then the pigeon outside the window sounded a little sick. Yumna was oblivious with her earplugs in and her eye cover on. I got up to greet the day and see what happens in the wee hours with the sun creeping up over the city. There was no movement in the Riad for an hour but then the kitchen got busy preparing breakfast which was served on the terrace, outside on the rooftop.

Although our hosts did not eat after sunrise, the breakfast they provided was delicious, fruit, yogurt, eggs, slices of meat and bread was enough to get us going, along with bottemless coffee or tea.

The same friends we made the night before joined together for breakfast and we were invited to join them for the day. The plan was to go to a lovely garden, then wander through the medina, visit a leather factory and eat out after sunset.

The Medina or City Center was an interesting collection of shops, craftsmanship and food. The outdoor markets with produce of fruit, beans, vegetables, olives and spices were colorful and so aromatic!

I could not get enough of all of it. We walked and walked, stopping for a break of fresh juice or cold drinks on a terrace we would climb 4 stories high. The views, sounds and smells, along with the friendly, sometimes “assertive” attention of the shop keepers all vying for our business was fun, entertaining and overwhelming all at the same time.

The link below is a One Drive video from the cloud of many photos and videos of our travels through Morocco. Next post will visit the country side and the blue city of Chefchaouen before heading off to sail in Croatia!!

https://1drv.ms/a/s!AlahcUwgc4FuqyOS9ageY_fsp30k

The evening sun casts a glow on the home of the owners of Lagoon Cove, overlooking the marina and surrounding bay. The next day we woke up to low cloud and fog, which would determine when and if Sideways Sally was able to fly out to catch a connecting flight to Vancouver. When will she stop this madness? Never, cause she loves wandering and if she has to stay in one place too long she gets pretty antsy!!

I called the Wilderness Seaplanes as instructed when I booked with them, to confirm the flight the day of. The report on the weather in Port Hardy wasn’t too promising so the dispatcher asked me to take picture of Lagoon Cove so they could see what conditions looked like there.

Sea planes fly visually so they cannot be safe if fog and low clouds obstruct the view of the many mountains they fly between. Around 11:00 the clouds lifted slightly and some warmth started shining through, chasing the fog away. I sent another photo of the bay to dispatch and an hour later they messaged that they were leaving Port Hardy to pick me up.

Paul helped me lug my bags to an adjacent dock that was free for seaplanes to land. We sat and waited for the sound of buzzing coming from the sky.

A plane came into sight and circled the area a couple of times, not unusual as they look for the best place to land. The plane would have to land on the outer basin of the bay and taxi in to the protected cove. As he started to descend it became obvious it was a goose. I’d only ever seen one land before and it was way up north on Haikai Island, bringing passengers to the Haikai Institute, a research center.

The plane landed on it’s belly and slowly made it’s way in between crab traps, turning to “belly up” to the dock. The pilot leaned out his window as he got close and yelled, “grab the wing and turn me in.” Not knowing exactly what he meant, Paul and I grabbed the wing where we could reach it and dragged the goose closer to the dock. The pilot jumped out with a big smile on his face and stated, “I haven’t been in here for 25 years!”

Neil informed us that he’d been living in Thailand for the last few decades, and since he couldn’t work after age 65 there, he came back to Canada to fly for Wilderness Seaplanes. He also said the longer they waited for the clouds to lift, the fewer options there were so he jumped in the Goose and headed over to Lagoon Cove.

Click the link below for the history of this amazing plane.

https://ingeniumcanada.org/aviation/artifact/grumman-g-21a-goose-ii

What a totally unexpected thrill this was for me!! I climbed into the jump seat and away we went, over the many islands of the Broughtons, past Alert Bay and into Port Hardy.

“Wilderness Seaplanes is the last commercial operator world wide of this famous amphibious aircraft, the classic ‘boats’ from a glorious era of travel. Folks come from all over the world just to ride around for a few hours in the Goose!”

Your adventure awaits…with Wilderness Seaplanes

“This was a once in a life time trip,” I was thinking to myself, or not!!

Come along on Sideways Sally adventures wherever they take her.

Hauling anchor and setting off from Port Neville in the morning light with the many forested hillsides and in the foreground a commercial oyster farm.

The skipper likes layers, and the crew likes to be naked. Well, he does keep his pants on. What a hoot these two are, and Sideways Sally is so happy that it worked out with crew so the Skipper could wander this summer.

We had a short jaunt on Johnstone Strait to take us into Chatham Channel between West Cracroft Island and the mainland, past Minstrel Island and into Lagoon Cove nestled between Farquharson Island a East Cracroft.

The marina staff are prompt to answer the VHF and guide us to our slip. Kelly welcomed us back and Dan was busy on the docks which were lively with docked boats and more on the way. This is a welcome contrast to our last visit in 2020 when the pandemic had restricted American boaters from entering Canada, and visitors in general were discouraged to travel to remote destinations.

In 2020 I featured Lagoon Cove Marina in a series of three articles titled “Small Marina, Big Personality,” published in 48North. Visitors were trickling in and most made a point of stopping at Lagoon Cove to support the new owners. Click on link to read the article.

Small Marina, Big Personality: Lagoon Cove

In 2022 Lagoon Cove was back in full swing, and what a delightful site to see. By the end of the day the docks were full and vibrant with activity.

The traditional potluck happy hour was happening at 5PM and people were headed up the ramp with armfuls of food and drink. Dan and Kelly provided delicious fresh prawns, along with tasty treats from everyone. Meeting and chatting with new friends is exactly what boaters look forward to. I chatted with four gentlemen from Oregon, who take their Hunter 34 boat from the Columbia River to points north. They called themselves the Cinnamon Seekers. The were on the hunt for the best cinnamon buns on the West Coast. So far they voted Nancy’s Bakery in Lund at the top of the list, along with a close second bakery in Powell River. What a time!!

Sandwiched between the scenic back drop of the surrounding islands on one side and the rustic workshop and docks high on the pilings on the other made for an afternoon of happiness and sunshine.

Click on an image below and scroll through for full frame.

Thanks so much Dan and Kelly for making this place special and providing boaters with a return to the great sense of community on the water. You took over a marina during the challenges of the pandemic and stuck it out for a couple of tough years. OMOO and crew are so happy to be back and see Lagoon Cove back in full swing.

2022 May, YEAH!!

Spring has sprung and Sideways Sally is jumping between boats, So many boats!!

Plans change like the weather, so it is with sailors, we adjust, and adjust, and adjust we must!!

It’s been a long slog getting through to spring, winter did not want to let go. AND the world is a crazier than ever. My Community Mental Health team and I were desperate to blow out the cobwebs. We work, we play, we cry… no need to explain the obvious!

Plan A:

We planned on sailing OMOO to Howe Sound but she got stuck to land when the Skipper ended up waiting on a repair for his ticker.

SS had schemed for May Long weekend for months. I wanted to get as many people as possible on a sailboat and go chase some wind. It’s the biggest kick ever to introduce newbies to sailing. My wonderful work crew were so excited, and I could not bare to disappoint.

Instead of wandering across the Salish Sea, SS stayed in the Big Stink adjusting her schemes. So…

Plan B:

Eleven people signed on for an afternoon sail, and SS makes an even dozen. Suz and Oscar on TARKA – home port Horseshoe Bay, were also available for a rendezvous!

OH YAAA, we made it happen. Suz found a charter company out of Squamish and viola, the new sailing plan evolved. We all get by with a little help from our friends. The BIG boat was booked and we all headed to Squamish. We piled into TARKA after everyone arrived for serapy (no that is not a typo) and giggles.

We got so lucky with Mother Nature granting us a reprieve from a cold rainy spring. We jumped on the Catalina 41′ with crew Harli, Dave and Alison from Canadian Coastal Sailing.

Without a doubt we had the best wind on a sunny day, in beautiful Howe Sound, with a safe and educational crew. Anyone that wanted to take the wheel or winch were welcome to pitch in.

We tied up to a log boom for some snacks and some “crazy kids” jumped into the ocean. It’s most refreshing when youth and exuberance splashes onto those around them.

SS sat back and enjoyed every minute, watching the excitement and pleasure on everyone’s faces. It was a completely delightful afternoon full of rich moments and deep satisfaction.

Grab a fav bevvy and come along!!

Thank you so much, Harli, Dave and Alison, Canadian Coastal Sailing!!

Next trip is Prince Rupert to Petersburg, Alaska. I will join Hermitage who is currently in Port Hardy and waiting to round Cape Caution and proceed north on the Inside Passage.

SS will be jumping aboard soon, Here we come June!!

“The clouds are like headlines, on a new front page sky. Many before me have been called to the sea, up in the crows nest, shiver me timbers, I’m sailing away…”

Song is by Tom Waite. (link below)

Crimson clouds in the evening sky

give me a happy sigh

The Ocean is my anchor

cat paws ruffle

Sails fill, lines snap

she may falter

But comes to life,

top of the mast to the keel.

Shade stretches

below the boom

Sun splotches

where there is room.

Sideways Sally will be jumping aboard for a sail into Alaska this summer on a sailboat called “Hermitage.” She is a Maple Leaf 42′, home port is Shelter Island on the Fraser River, South Vancouver, B.C.

Sunday, May 8 2022

The dock lines are off and so are we!! The river at Shelter Island is shallow, and at 8 am there is a falling tide. It’s a narrow channel between the long dock and the land, requiring Don to navigate the Hermitage carefully, inching past the other boats tied to the dock.

It’s a challenge, but one that the Skipper succeeded in overcoming when the boat neighbors sprung to life, throwing us lines and pulling us away from the muddy banks that threatened to trap us. We all get by with a little help from our friends!!

We stop at Steveston for fuel and I get yacking while filling the tank with diesel. Sure enough, I overfill and spill. An early morning lesson, DON’T GET DISTRACTED!! We clean that mess up with an arm full of spill rags and carry on out the mouth of the Fraser on a chilly morning with no wind.

We catch the ebb across the Salish Sea and head for Active Pass.

The rendezvous with Knotty Buoy in Montague Harbor on Galiano Island. OMOO will catch up with us to meet the crew and take me back to Maple Bay. I will be flying to Prince Rupert later in June to join for the Alaska loop into Petersburg. YEAH!!

Grab your fav bevvy and have a listen, it’s so good!!

Finally… back to a lazy Saturday morning, coffee is on.

It’s been a slog, Sideways Sally is no longer friends with March. She’s been sliding into depression from too much bad stuff going on in the world. Trying to write, over and over, but negativity translates poorly.

She needed a stern talking to herself. She’s been there before. So the conversation goes like this: You’re tough, you know what to do. You know how to chunk it down, put one foot in front of the other. You know eventually you get there. You’ve never been patient. You do things too fast. You make a plan and get it done. There’s too much that’s been out of control for too long. The external world does not get an invitation to the internal world, so it sneaks in a secret door. The spirit is strong, but the mind is a freak. Emotions unleashed, words come out wrong. Learn to be quiet, and listen. Stop talking. Be strong. You’re tired.

So, back to endless cups of coffee on a Saturday morning, laundry is in. Perch on your bed munching Saturday morning snacks. The window is open and the air is refreshing. The good news is…

The west coast is in bloom, the sun is shining, daffodils are softly dancing in the spring breeze, boats are getting ready for summer sailing.

SS, FOCUS and turn to the sea!! Patiently wait for it to take you away, to that peaceful place where your mind is free.

I’m sitting out on the patio in a sunbeam. It’s March 5 in Vancouver, the sounds of children laughing and calling out to each other in the park across the street drift up to me with raucous joy.

The sun is bright and sparkles ripple off the water in False Creek. Boats at anchor gently swirl with the tide’s ebb and flow. Summer Sailing is enticing me to escape my land home and to join the wind and waves.

The best life, the best job, the best people in my life. The best is very humbling at this time in the world. I never have had the suffering of war or civil unrest that so many in the rest of the world have experienced. It’s a double edged sword, feeling helpless to change the world, when all I want is for humanity to be at our collective best, while careening recklessly into our collective worst.

STOP, make it all stop. Stop and listen, stop and think, stop and extend your hand to those who have been left behind to starve, to suffer illness, to die in the night from a bomb, a bullet, an overdose, a silent cancer.

I can’t let all the hurt in the world live in my head, and do the job I have of caring for the mentally ill, and supporting them in a caring, effective manner. To keep my wits about me when the world is exhausting requires a constant shift in focus.

So I swivel, focusing on today, on the task in front of me, and save the news for the end of the day, the week. So much of what is happening is history of what has gone before. To educate myself I turn to the records of the wars, learning so much more makes it worse, awareness of so much senseless suffering.

Feeling lucky to live where we live, yet with an uneasy anxiety of what is ahead. Watching the world dynamics, how quick it all can change. The price of oil soars and how quick it effects us all. As we groan under the increased cost, what will happen if it all is lost. When we have no fuel to keep us warm and no power to keep us cool.

The future of the world is now, is it too late? Ok I can’t go there and be OK, but I can’t stop looking and learning. From BBC today: “It is often tempting to look upon Vladimir Putin as the millennium bug in a human and deadly form.” How does one man get to inflict so much suffering on innocent people, how does he obtain so much power. Why, WHY, why??

Another writer Victoria Erickson, posted this poem:

Mundanity: noun, plural mun·dan·i·ties. the condition or quality of being mundane; mundaneness. an instance of being mundane: one of the mundanities of everyday life.

In response this so described my lucky, uneasy happiness:

Lee Ann Bunn Gonzalez

And so it always has been..I think this is what poetry does for us, it unites us in our differences. It allows us to feel (or at least try to feel) each other’s heartaches . It stirs the unique, and the collective humanness in all of us. As we pray for Ukraine, so we pray for ourselves..lest any evil should make us numb to the suffering of others.

I want to be numb, but the angst does not let me.

This lucky, uneasy happiness persists.

The house is on fire

we’re fighting

who’s changing the cat litter

Cat doesn’t care

while pouncing on the dare

oblivious

soft kitten snare

making a mess

purring along

so strong

bed is warm

belly is full

stretching

one eye open

half asleep

waiting to creep

fresh cat litter

I know this is the weirdest analogy, but prose work when normal words don’t. It feels like there is an invasion of insanity, mornings are more bizarre everyday. People’s nerves are frayed, and we are irritable. We’re tired and have had enough, we quibble over nothing, or everything.

It gives me a need to make a list. What really matters, and what is noise for no reason. To be together again after two years this spring, in the best season. This is my focus, family, friends, love and peace, and staying away from fighting about cat litter. That is my list.

Canada, my home land strong and free. Never have I felt that I took that for granted. But when nothing makes sense, I look to our people, our leaders and the renewed strength during any crisis, any challenge.

And I can breath again.

PS. I don’t have a cat.

Sigh…

My brain hurts from overload. Some days it feels broken. Between a few flights, I’m back on the ocean, full of emotion. Taking to the skies early last week I landed in winter.

From +10 on the west coast to -20 in the Canadian praires… brrrr. I was hiding in a hotel from snow and bitter cold winds. I was in a kid bubble. It was a good place to be.

Flying into Winnipeg, Manitoba and driving to my family in Brandon took me on a two hour stretch of highway through the flat white prairies. The four lane #1 Highway was full of big semi trucks and rigs delivering the goods that keep this country going.

I thanked them silently, knowing there’s good people behind the wheel working hard every day. Keeping going, mile after many miles through blustery blizzards and frozen nights, stopping long enough to grab a hot meal or a shower, far away from their families and the comforts most of us enjoy after a long day of work. These are the reliable truckers I am proud of. I respect and admire their fortitude through the last two years more than ever.

Getting back to the trenches in Vancouver for a few days of brain drain, I’m working in community mental health. The world feels topsy tirvy, on one hand we feel the lightening of restrictions and the return to normalcy in our communities. On the other hand we watch in shock as the city of Ottawa struggles to deal with “Freedom Protests” and the assault on our collective common sense. The additional stress on top of the last two years is the final straw for some folks.

The question I can’t stop thinking about is “WHY NOW?” Why in the middle of a long, cold winter? Why now, after two long years, when numbers of hospitalizations and deaths are trending down, and restrictions are lifting? Why now, when we are getting closer and closer to endemic? What changed that all hell breaks loose with these unvaccinated thousands protesting the mandates that have brought us this close?

The question is unanswered. It’s Friday and I’m back to the sky and the soothing sunset. Landing in Maple Bay on Vancouver Island, the smell of salt air mixed with the cedar forest is intoxicating. Relaxing from a demanding job and the travelling I’m tucked into a cozy spot by the soothing ocean. It gives me time to reflect…

We all want to get to freedom, free from the pandemic and free from covid restrictions. Our rates of infection and death are much lower than many countries, especially our close neighbors to the south. Here is why according to an article from the BBC:

Canada has a universal, decentralised and publicly funded healthcare system administered by its 13 provinces and territories.

“That means that people, regardless of their socioeconomic status, have access to healthcare,” said Dr Donald Vinh, an infectious disease specialist at McGill University Health Centre in Montreal. “What makes that an important factor is that, regardless of where you are in your phase of illness, you will still be able to get healthcare.”

The last two + years we have learned how to look after each other and how to cope with the isolation, physical distancing in all venues, loss of income, health challenges, losing loved ones, and “managing expectations.”

Home… our true north strong and free. We’ve had an assault on our common senses. The “Freedom Truck Convoy” has spread a new virus of distrust in our communities, the pandemic of disinformation has resulted in a movement that has led to the disturbing disruption of progress in our great peaceful country.

How this affects us as a society is shocking. The shear power and noise of unhappy people behind the wheels of huge machinery has paralysed our capitol city, has gotten into our communities and in our face. Our drive into sleepy small town Duncan was totally plugged by huge trucks with flags flying, heading to Victoria to surround the Parliament Building, and disrupt another city. How do we manage our expectations around the force of roughly 10-15% of our population having the entire focus of our country and our government tied up to manage this ridiculous uproar?

All I know is this:

Victims of the Covid disease deserve much more. Our citizens who have been stricken with illness and loss of loved ones deserve so much more. The medical community, businesses that have lost income, people who have lost work, or worked all day in a mask all day, every day deserve more. Teachers and students in our education systems that have dealt with adjusting and readjusting constantly, to keep each other safe deserve more, much more. Our seniors who have faced horrendous illness, death and isolation deserve so much more.

According to MacLeans:

“They Were Loved”

“The magnitude of COVID-19’s impact on Canadians’ lives is difficult to fathom. Canada has already lost more than 20,000 people to the pandemic, with the number ticking steadily upwards; each of those losses has cascaded through families and communities, leaving many more thousands bereaved. Public health guidance around social distancing has resulted in restrictions around traditional mourning customs and rituals—heart-wrenchingly, many were unable even to say goodbye.” (https://www.macleans.ca/they-were-loved/)

NOTE: Feb, 2022 – Total number of deaths exceed 36,000.

I can’t help but think of my Medical Professional Colleagues on a daily basis. The front line nurses who have endured this horrible pandemic, some of whom have been overcome by the fight. The job is the most difficult it has ever been.

The crass behavior of those who brazenly demand their way of ending mandates while doing nothing to help end this pandemic, adds insult to injury. Medical staff have been warned in my city of Vancouver to refrain from wearing our scrubs to work, or to show our hospital ID while out on the street trying to get to work.

It’s absurd, and unfathomable. I understand the frustration with having to comply with medical protocols in order to work. I’ve had to do that for 30 years in order to keep my job as a nurse, I get flu shots every year, or wear a mask. It’s my choice.

Just as it is our choice to be vaccinated or not, in the interest of the public health to make us all safe, we choose, we work, or we lose our jobs.

These mobsters are not that special, anarchists have existed throughout history. They deserve what has now complicated their lives. We do not deserve how they have complicated other’s lives. It all comes down to simply making choices. Part of being a responsible citizen is taking responsibility for the choices we make, paying taxes, insuring homes and vehicles, abiding by the rules of the road, and using our voice at the voting polls. That’s who Canadians are. We wait and we watch, peacefully but horrified by the bad behavior of a very small minority.

We stand together for “OH CANADA, THE TRUE NORTH STRONG AND FREE.” I am a nurse. I proudly fly this flag.