Tripping South for the month

1/31/11           

Well, long time, no write. 

The last 4 weeks have been uneventful as far as Blue Bossa exploration is concerned, with lots of driving, and lots of time in my bunk. 

Lindsay, Tyler, and Ryan, the newest member of the Wright clan

Yes, I did visit the beautiful desert mountains of Bend, enjoying Christmas with my brother Rick and all of his family, going to Santa Cruz to visit friends and celebrate New Years and play a little music with the my old WAMO group, and drive down to Long Beach, for the last labors of dealing with what was in my parents house, which was in the last week of escrow.  During that whole time, plus the last week back in Friday Harbor, I had a good case of bronchitis, which refused to go away until I finally had a doc prescribe me some antibiotics to make it go away.

The old man, catching his breath

What stands out on my tripping south was mainly in Bend.  Beside enjoying the Christmas celebration with all of Rick and Chris’s relatives and friends, I had a wonderful day with my niece Maryn, first getting sort of lost trying to find a waterfall, then having a great hike in a desert canyon (which name completely escapes me - I swear I should keep a daily journal...).  Watching rock climbers pulling themselves up 90 degree cliffs was thrilling and scary, since I’m such a wuss when it comes to heights.

Bend Guide: Maryn

Just hanging around

After a big snowfall the day before (I was actually going to go skiing that day, but it was canceled due to bad weather), I headed my “anti-SUV” Prius south to Santa Cruz…but very shortly ran into another snow storm which cruelly tested my ability to drive in extreme snowy weather in an urban vehicle with no chains.  The visibility was almost zero with the white-out, the temperature was such that the snow would hit the windshield, melt, then turn to ice, firmly sticking to the windshield.  That meant that driving was hazardous at best, if not suicidal; some of the times I would be sticking my head out of the side windows just to see where I was going, and, when I could, stopping the car to scrape the ice off.  Most of the time, the speed was less than 20mph.  I found the best way to keep going was to hang out in back of a semi and just let it guide me.  I wouldn’t want to do that again, although amazingly, I still got 51 miles per gallon during that whole trip!

One other spot on my trip stood out, stopping by on my way back to Friday Harbor, to Bill and Kathy Cole’s house in Seabeck, Washington, to spend the night.  They had just completed building a beautiful house on the Hood Canal looking out at the Olympic Mountains.  A most majestic view and a great visit.  I was sorry that I didn't have a camera for my visit.

So here I’m back in Friday Harbor, having spent the last 2 weeks on my back and finally feeling better…enough that last Friday I did a gig at the Rumour Mill playing piano with the San Juan big band, feeling good about some good solos that I was able to punch out, and feeling good about sight-reading some difficult charts – big band is much harder than the normal small combo bands, as the arrangements are much more complicated and controlled.

Today I was able to have enough energy to install a big 12” x 3 foot pipe in my anchor locker, where I’m hoping that this will solve my chain from getting snagged.  Doing some anchoring drills will tell. It felt good finally getting some work done on the boat.  I think tomorrow I’ll do a major cleanup for BB.

I’ve also finally received an EPIRB and a satellite phone which significantly but a dent in my finances.  I will let everyone know what my sat phone number will be as soon as I figure it out and register.  Suffice to say, when I talk on it, it will have to be short and sweet, since it costs $1.60 per minute.  But, I can talk anywhere in the world, so it’s a great safety item. I'm also hoping that I can use it to receive and send e-mails as well as get weather reports. 

The EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon) is a great safety tool too.  When I register it, I will give a telephone number for the Coast Guard to call.  If I have to set it off, it will give out a message of where I’m at (it has a GPS built into it), as well as the telephone number I register with so the the CG can confirm that it’s not a false alarm, and then they will come and rescue me.

My friend Tom Moellering sent me an e-mail today with some great pictures of his trip to New Zealand.  That’s a place definitely on my bucket list, and I am definitely jealous.  It would be sweet to sail Blue Bossa to New Zealand…maybe someday, although most likely it’ll be an airplane flight that gets me there.