Dances with strangers…

As 2023 winds down, I can't help but think back to calmer times; times when fun was always just around the corner. I have a memory to share with  you; I hope it makes you smile. The date was Thursday, December 31, 2015. The location was in San Carlos where we were living aboard and preparing SV Shannon's Spirit for the upcoming cruising season. The memory goes like this:

'OK, so there I was, minding my own business...tending to the folks at my end of the table and enjoying the company and the ambiance. It was today, New Years Eve, and we'd gone to La Palapa Griegga for dinner and entertainment. The show turned out to be music (by Mark et al) and while the meal was delicious (Kathy had a rack of lamb and I had steak and lobster and  we shared) the music included fabulous selections of many of my favorites... toe tapping, thigh slapping.. great music!

And, there I was... keeping up with the base on my legs and the table (and having a margarita or two :-) and wondering how it would go if I asked Kathy to dance (being Mexico and all, we try to behave),  when Mark called for a "mosh'. Not knowing what a mosh was, I watched and learned quickly.  Lots of folks stood up at their tables and began to gyrate... and so I did too; I love to dance. Then Kathy joined me and slowly the rest of our table moshed on in.

That's when I noticed a gentleman... somewhat older than myself, hanging on to his white plastic chair and letting his feet begin to move. Now, he could have been Fred Astaire or some other dancer... but me... I'm just me and I sidled over and offered him my hand. Well, didn't he take it and didn't the two of us just dance our toes off for the rest of the song. We jived and we did other steps and he was a great lead... (yes, I can follow :-) It was great!

The evening (spent mostly at Kathy's side) was terrific. But I wanted to tell you about the dance... because, much like the ferry trip from La Paz to Pichilingue (another story I'll share later) I experienced something outside my norm; a moment to remember.

I hope that each of you have experienced such a moment this year... and Kathy and I, and [then] Princess Sophie [now] wee Maddie, wish each and every one of you the blessing of peace in your life and the opportunity to enjoy dances with strangers. Reach out a hand ...in [2024]. Have a great one!  CJ'

(borrowed from the blog of SV Shannon: www.svshannon.blogspot.com )

The call of the desert is strong…

… and demands to be heard.

Having experienced the shortest vacation ever…. we will not be deterred. Nope… no pouting, no more anger, no more feeling sorry for ourselves. Life is a day by day kind of thing… and losing days is not something we desire. Oh yeah… there's also the call of the desert which is a very strong song. As you know we had big plans for this winter… and, with a little luck, we are not done yet. In fact, a rather surprising kind of miracle occurred a few days ago.

There we were, busily filling out forms and claims and making notes and taking photos of damage….and well, didn't Kathy trip over an ad she just couldn't ignore. You may recall our Lucy. She is a Spirit Deluxe Casita 17 and we sold her to a very nice fellow who absolutely loves her. That's not the miracle. What is… is the fact Kathy tripped over another one, the same model but 6 years newer, for sale in White Rock.

Of course, being sensible adults and not prone to sudden changes of direction… of course we ignored the ad. NO WE DIDN'T ! We were on the 0515 Duke Point ferry the next morning. Yes, we're probably crazy but… we're not done adventuring yet.

Lucy Too needs a little work (to bring her up to the same standards we set up with
Lucy I) and/ but she's going to be great! She is here in Duncan now - being tended to by our trailer care team (who still have the blueprints from the previous Casita work). We hope to be 'on the road again' by mid to late January and, with a bit of luck, we will amend our original route plans a bit and be able to enjoy the people and places we love to visit.

That's my report for today… I must get busy. We have lots to do. Again, I send our
love and thanks to all of you for your support. We are blessed to have you in our lives.

TTFN (ta ta for now). CJ & K. The happy wanderers.

Plans in sand...

You are all amazing.  Your supporting and loving emails have been almost over-whelming. Thank you... all of you...  I'm writing this post for a couple reasons. One is to explain that we have a lot to do with respect to insurance claims, reservation cancellations, and other such stuff connected with long vacation planning,  and we're not going to be able to respond to every email. Please know we have received and read each of your messages and feel blessed to be supported by so many.  For now, we need to focus on tidying up our affairs.

You may remember, some time ago, I used to speak about sailing plans being 'written in sand, below the high water mark'. This situation is an example of what that means.  All original plans have now been wiped out of the sand as the tide rushed in.  We now have to rebuild a new plan, complete with all the thoughts and second-thoughts and hind-site and foresight that goes along with that.

Thanks again for your support and your understanding.  Consider this as a great big hug from us to all of you. TTFN (tata for now)...  We wish you and your families all the best over the Christmas season and for 2024.  CJ, Kathy & Maddie.

PS:  Julia's Pet Spa just sent us this fun photo of our Maddie.

Closure …

 Why no living creature should be in a trailer being towed… 

…  Enough said.

Thank you…

Hi everyone… to the, over 30 at the time of this writing) people who have sent us your love and offers of support.. thank you so much. Please forgive us for not responding to your emails individually. We've only just returned from sorting through the debris and loading up a U Haul trailer… and, I must admit we are a bit numb and still going through the 're-living' of it… like you do. Thank you for your offers of help, your support and your love. We are still fine… spending the second night in our little hotel room and working out our plans to head home…towing a different trailer (a U Haul). Hope you are having a good day… and thanks again for checking in…. Sending you all big hugs… CJ and Kathy & Maddie.

PS. Once the dust has settled, we'll share some photos of this 'event'.

www.cjdaley.ca
www.ruddyduckpress.ca
www.svshannon.blogspot.com

We are fine… but, “exercise over”,



Let me say again… we are fine; but trailer- not so much. Yesterday (Thursday) was not our greatest day. Having overnighted in Shelton, WA., we left earlyish in the morning and headed south on I 5; destination the Columbia Riverfront RV Park. We didn't make it.

The weather was all over the place with rain, mist, hail and wind gusts interspersed with brilliant sunshine and patches of blue sky. We stopped in Olympia where Kathy spent hours trying to sign us up for a US phone with Verizon - to no avail. While the representative was trying to be helpful, the quagmire she was working within … well after three hours, we gave up and carried on with our trip.

Our vacation came to a slithering, life threatening, horrifying end… just north of Longview, WA. We are fine. Ricky (the truck) has dents to his left rear quarter panel and tailgate and the canopy has shifted approx. 1". The trailer did not do as well and we believe it is a write-off.

We were travelling south in the slowest lane because we were maintaining a speed of 55 MPH while most other vehicles were travelling 65-70 MPH. I chose the slower speed because, for us, given the road conditions and the wind gusts, it was the most comfortable and safer speed for us. The gusts from big transport trucks were buffeting the trailer fairly heavily at the faster speeds. Unfortunately one such truck went by so fast it sent a huge gust of wind that began a series of escalating events we could not control. The trailer was pushed away quite sharply, then swerved back, and then it swerved over again. While I yelled "hang on " and did my best to counteract the increasing forces, they continued and got worse. Every ounce of driver training from my earlier days came back and I did my very best to prevent a disaster that could well have been life threatening. Truck and trailer, joined at the hitch, spun so violently that at one point, as we were spinning out of control… I looked over and the trailer was beside me (still attached at the rear)… and then as we continued an out of control 180 - still on the highway… we were actually facing the direction we'd been coming from, looking at on coming traffic and skidding sideways. The entire, entwined mess of truck and trailer… with trailer now on it's side, slid off the highway and carried on along the verge before, finally, coming to a stop some 70' further down the road.

We were lucky. All three of us survived without injury. In fact, wee Maddie was more concerned about the location of her ball than what had just occurred.

A large truck that had been behind us very kindly pulled over and Homer, the driver, came to see if we were okay. He was expecting the worst and was very relieved when he realized we had not been injured (thank you seat belts). He stayed with us and provided a strong and calm presence for us to kind of lean on. He stayed until he was sure we were in good hands. Both a police car and officer and a State Highway Patrol car and officer attended the scene, confirmed we were okay, and stayed with us until a tow truck was able to untangle the two vehicles and roll the trailer back onto its wheels (all four somehow survived the crash). Also miraculously, Ricky (the truck) started up and was drivable so after providing paperwork, ID and statements, we followed the tow truck and trailer to the towing company yard and retrieved a few pieces of clothing from the wreck. We've taken a room at a nearby hotel and will be here tonight as well. It will take that long to sort through the inside of what's left of the trailer and retrieve what we can of what's left of our 'personal belongings'.

This has been one hell of an end to our three month vacation plans. We three are absolutely blessed to be unscathed physically and, for Kathy and I, the emotions will calm down in time. Maddie just wants to find her ball… so we will. :-)

We are also extremely glad and relieved that no other vehicles and people were involved. That would have remained a scar on our lives forever.

So for now… know we are OK and/but will be sorting this out for a little while. We should be home in a few days and will give ourselves a few days after that to calm down and sort out what the future adventures might look like.

Bless you all for caring and thank you for enjoying our blog. Sorry this post is not up to our usual standard of 'fun'.

Stay well, enjoy your winter, and always always wear your seat belt.
Until I write again…. Adios. CJ






www.cjdaley.ca
www.ruddyduckpress.ca
www.svshannon.blogspot.com

Ooops!

Ooops! Sorry about that old post of CJ’s (“A sailor would say…”)  ending up back in your Inbox again last night. We are having to make some adjustments with our Blog-to-Email service and that last post was resent to the entire list by mistake!  

Our SV Shannon's Spirit tech department (nudge, nudge, wink, wink...) is working on fixing things at this end, so hopefully we'll have things sorted out in the next day or so.

Thanks for hanging in there wth us!

More than one way to store a mainsail...

Some of you will be horrified 😱 some of you will chuckle 😆 and some of you might consider trying this for yourself. 👍

SSpirit has a large mainsail with the baton pockets sewn shut.  This makes it pretty much impossible to fold the sail neatly and into an easy to handle package... as so many 'good' sailors do.  Dealing with this challenge has inspired the intervention of 'mother nature' who is, after all, the 'mother of invention'.  And that has led me into the paths of horrification. What I do now is flake the sail down onto the boom as usual and then I truss it up like a very large sausage. In this configuration it slides off the boom quite well  and becomes a 12' monster to transport and stow for the winter.  "Leave it on!" you might holler... That my friends (and I've proven this) is a great way to open up a 'green' mainsail in the spring; all slimy with green stuff that never comes off. Sooooo, our trick, and we've done this for a couple years now, is to slide said main off the boom, dangle it out the open tailgate of our pick up truck, transport it home and carry it into the house. Turns out the sail lives very comfortably hanging from the top of the stairs to the bottom of the stairs (thankfully they have a landing and allow for this) for the winter.  It looks so natural even our friends don't comment on it any more... There goes that topic for conversation!  Anyway, it works.  Feel free to try it if you dare.

On another note, yes, winter is on its way, complete with very cold and damp air. No doubt the white stuff will appear any day now and crazy, swirling winds seem determined to stay.

It is indeed time for those of us who have developed allergies to cold and wet weather to begin preparations for heading south.  To that end we are endeavouring to do all that must be done to winterize our Maple Bay Home and SSpirit.  TT (Travel Trailer) Oscar is on his way to being ready to hit the road and T (Truck) Ricky has already been processed and given the 👍.  Our travel plans have settled into an itinerary (written in sand below the high water mark - as usual) and we will be on our way during the first week of December. I'll keep the Blog updated as much as time, adventure and happy hours allow :-) 

We'll be celebrating Christmas in Desert Hot Springs (staying at Catalina Spa and RV) and moving to Rio Bend RV in mid January.  Our 'tour' this year will be a little less scattered than previous years. Our goal is to spend longer periods of time in fewer places (with a lot less driving). We'll also be visiting a few of our favourite state parks in southern AZ as we do a big loop before heading home by the end of March.

That's all my news for now... hoping all is well with each of you and that you find a safe place to hang your sail.  :-)  CJ

Sent from my iPhone

Good grief… scrambling to get ready!

 

 

 

You've got that right!  From a colourful fall, complete with white stuff falling from the sky... it is definitely time to prepare a course (that'd be a 'route' but I prefer the nautical terms) for southern climes.  To that end we are scurrying about (perhaps some scrambling too) to deal with prepping house & gardens for winter, as well as winterizing dear old SSpirit and, oh yes, readying Oscar who has not had to deal with the likes of us before.  

Ah... I must confess something.  You remember Casper the new trailer?  Well, the name Casper was actually part of his old life and, after we got to know him a bit... Oscar seemed to suit.  Funny thing; our friend who sold us Casper (now Oscar) has named her new trailer Felix... so Oscar and Felix will be exploring southern CA about the same time... kind of fun.

So, for now, we are busily pulling our tudu lists together and doing our best to shorten the entries.  This year our course will be simpler, with longer stays in each place and fewer places (less mileage consumed).  Know we are well and hope all of you are enjoying each day.  We slip December 5th and will be back by March 31.  We will, of course, be boring you with tales of our travels via this blog. Thanks for coming along for the ride. TTFN  ('tata for now' for you newbies).  CJ

A sailor would say…

Woke up this morning to a brilliant view in the backyard. Ahhh, it's good to be home. Here's hoping the old sailors adage of 'red sky in the morning, sailors take warning' doesn't come true today. Hope you are all enjoying this lovely fall weather. Who knows what's coming next.  Have a great day.  CJ

Home is beckoning…

 Well my friends the time has come to trim our sails, adjust our course and prepare for returning to our home port.  We fly out tomorrow morning with suitcases stuffed to the brim (they certainly aren’t any lighter), somewhat weary legs (from exploring museums, historical sites, trails and beaches) and heads filled with the sights, sounds, stories, friends new and old… and memories of a wonderful exploration of Nova Scotia, Cape Breton and Prince Edward Island (at least as much as we could see in 28 days and 3000 kilometres). Our photos abound and we have been openly accepted and welcomed at every stop and points in between. We feel blessed to be Canadian (recognizing that even we Canadians haven’t set the most honourable standards at times in our history).

J

Gastronomically we have outdone ourselves. From lobster dinners fit for royalty to seafood chowders - the likes of which we had only dreamed of, we could not have asked for more. In fact (sadly) our newly expanded waistlines stand testament to our gluttony. We have some serious adjustments to make once we get home :-)

We will be returning to the west coast with a more educated respect for the people who first carved out a new life in the wild wilderness of the east coast and their descendants who continue to work with and protect the natural gifts (and challenges) delivered by Mother Nature. 

We’ll also be fighting the temptation to install miniature light houses at the bottom of our driveway, hanging colourful wooden lobster trap floats in our trees and painting our house yellow, or blue, or aquamarine with white trim. And, we’ll likely spend the rest of our life trying to create trim lawns that match the beautiful lush green of almost every where in Cape Breton. Oh, and we’re determined to dust off our bodhran and learn how to play it.

This has been an adventure we shall not easily forget. Thank you for joining us as we explored our Maritime provinces.  We hope you enjoyed the journey. We wish all of you the best and hope your own adventures unfold smoothly and with delight.

CJ and Kathy

Bread & Roses, Annapolis Royal

Our journey through the Maritimes is winding down. We arrived back in Halifax yesterday (Wed) and are staying in Trish's mom's building's guest suite until we leave on the 30th. We have driven over 3000 kms and over-nighted in 13 locations; almost all were quite acceptable. Some were exquisite and the Bread & Roses was pretty much the best. Built in the 1880's, it is a beautifully kept heritage property. Jodie and Mark have called it home for just over 9 months and are doing a great job with it. The photos below will speak for themselves. We were there for two nights and enjoyed lounging in the peaceful quiet, complete with all period furnishings. It was like stepping back into the 1800's with the only thing missing, the sound of 'horse and buggy' on the street out front.

As usual with the older Inns, there was no elevator but the stairs in this inn were easier than most having been designed for comfortable climbing with shorter treads. Breakfast was a treat too; eggs, bacon, sausage, fruit, English muffins, OJ, coffee or tea. It was lovely and all served with a smile and easy conversation.

We've stayed in several inns of this era, all quite beautiful and well appointed. The Bread and Roses takes the blue ribbon. They even sent us off with a "please write and let us know you get home safely" and a hug.
>
> We were greeted by Liam, the dog of the manor. What a beautiful historic place this is!