A new adventure
12/09/23 02:07
Friends, My regular journal posts will not appear on time for the next couple of days. Susan and I will be on a short journey where we will not be taking our computers. Our access to cell service may be limited. I will continue to write my journal using a paper journal and will copy and upload my entries sometime late Thursday or early Friday. As was the case earlier this summer when we went camping with our grandchildren and were away from our computers the length of my journal entries may vary from the usual. It is all part of the change of pace of our retirement. Thank you for your understanding.
I have long had a fascination with sailboats. When I was growing up my aunt and uncle had a cabin on the shore of Flathead Lake in Montana. Our extended family would gather at the lake for a few days from time to time. One summer someone in our family rented a small Hobie Cat sailboat. I had the opportunity to sail the boat and thoroughly enjoyed it. A few years later my uncle purchased a fairly small cabin sailboat that they kept at the lake for several years. I got to go for a couple of sails on that boat and really enjoyed it. Once, when we were newly wed, we visited the lake and used the sailboat as a guest bedroom and were able to sleep in the small v-berth on board.
When we moved to Idaho, I worked with others to develop a water sports camp at Pilgrim Cove, our Association’s camp site. The camp had a few old fiberglass canoes and a single small sailboat. Over the next several years, we developed the camp and added to the fleet of boats at the camp. Fueled by strong attendance, I horse traded for used boats and sought donations to support the program. First I helped the camp obtain a few newer and more lightweight canoes. Then I found two Hobie Cat sailboats and brokered donations. A couple more small sailboats followed. Watching how teens learned about sailing we next ventured into windsurf boards. I made a deal on 5 or 6 boards and rigs and hauled them to the camp on the roof of our family van. After a half dozen years of development the camp offered a wonderful week for teens. On the first full day of camp every teen became CPR certified and learned about basic water safety. For the next three days they participated in small groups that focused on wind surfing, small craft sailing, and lake canoeing. We had certified instructors for each group. On the final full day of camp the entire group participated in a whitewater rafting adventure on a nearby river. The camp was such a success that we chartered busses to transport youth from Portland Oregon to the camp in central Idaho.
As I observed the youth learning, I was learning as well and I enjoyed opportunities to sail on the craft of the camp. Alongside, I found an abandoned sailboat that I was able to obtain and re-work with a second hand mast and sail. We were able to sail it some before our move to South Dakota became the occasion to sell the boat. By that time I had begun to build strip plank canoes and after moving to South Dakota I fashioned a sail for a 16 foot canoe and continued to explore sailing.
As a canoe builder, I got interested in publications about boat building and began to subscribe to Wooden Boat Magazine. I read dozens of articles about sailboat restorations large and small and when we travel, I have visited wooden boat shows and festivals and have observed many sailboats. A few years ago, while attending a meeting of the International Conference of Police Chaplains held that year in Norfolk, Virginia, I had a free evening and took a two hour cruise on American Rover. It is a modern sailing ship fashioned in the style of historic tall ships.
This week we have the opportunity to explore another ship and learn more about sailing. The Schooner Zodiac sports the largest sail on the West Coast. It was commissioned, designed and built as a private yacht for the owners of the Johnson and Johnson Company in the 1920s and served a storied career that included sailing in the Canadian Maritimes and serving as a medical ship in Labrador and Newfoundland and becoming a pilot schooner in San Francisco Bay. It was the last American pilot schooner in service, retired in 1972. At that point it was purchased and restored by a non profit organization of shipwrights, sailors, and historians and now is operated by the Vessel Zodiac Corporation. The boat is on the National Register of Historic Places. You can click this link for more information about Schooner Zodiac.
Susan and I will be participating in a three-day “Books a-sail” cruise that combines our love of books and authors with my interest in sailing and historic boats. We will be able to participate with the crew of the boat in a variety of sailing tasks including hoisting sails, riding the bow to look for obstructions, navigation duties in the chart room, and even a bit of time at the helm. Along with us on the tour will be novelist Erica Bauermeister and natural historian David B. Williams. We have read their books and will be able to discuss selected works throughout the adventure in the San Juan Islands. The cruise is significantly more costly than we normally spend on ourselves, but we justified the expense as a 50th anniversary gift to each other.
Susan and I have always loved adventures. We once heard someone say that one of the keys to successful aging is being willing to visit at least one new place every year. We’ve kept that practice for all of our married lives. Three days and two nights aboard an historic sailing vessel will take us to new places and give us a new adventure. Let the adventure begin!
I have long had a fascination with sailboats. When I was growing up my aunt and uncle had a cabin on the shore of Flathead Lake in Montana. Our extended family would gather at the lake for a few days from time to time. One summer someone in our family rented a small Hobie Cat sailboat. I had the opportunity to sail the boat and thoroughly enjoyed it. A few years later my uncle purchased a fairly small cabin sailboat that they kept at the lake for several years. I got to go for a couple of sails on that boat and really enjoyed it. Once, when we were newly wed, we visited the lake and used the sailboat as a guest bedroom and were able to sleep in the small v-berth on board.
When we moved to Idaho, I worked with others to develop a water sports camp at Pilgrim Cove, our Association’s camp site. The camp had a few old fiberglass canoes and a single small sailboat. Over the next several years, we developed the camp and added to the fleet of boats at the camp. Fueled by strong attendance, I horse traded for used boats and sought donations to support the program. First I helped the camp obtain a few newer and more lightweight canoes. Then I found two Hobie Cat sailboats and brokered donations. A couple more small sailboats followed. Watching how teens learned about sailing we next ventured into windsurf boards. I made a deal on 5 or 6 boards and rigs and hauled them to the camp on the roof of our family van. After a half dozen years of development the camp offered a wonderful week for teens. On the first full day of camp every teen became CPR certified and learned about basic water safety. For the next three days they participated in small groups that focused on wind surfing, small craft sailing, and lake canoeing. We had certified instructors for each group. On the final full day of camp the entire group participated in a whitewater rafting adventure on a nearby river. The camp was such a success that we chartered busses to transport youth from Portland Oregon to the camp in central Idaho.
As I observed the youth learning, I was learning as well and I enjoyed opportunities to sail on the craft of the camp. Alongside, I found an abandoned sailboat that I was able to obtain and re-work with a second hand mast and sail. We were able to sail it some before our move to South Dakota became the occasion to sell the boat. By that time I had begun to build strip plank canoes and after moving to South Dakota I fashioned a sail for a 16 foot canoe and continued to explore sailing.
As a canoe builder, I got interested in publications about boat building and began to subscribe to Wooden Boat Magazine. I read dozens of articles about sailboat restorations large and small and when we travel, I have visited wooden boat shows and festivals and have observed many sailboats. A few years ago, while attending a meeting of the International Conference of Police Chaplains held that year in Norfolk, Virginia, I had a free evening and took a two hour cruise on American Rover. It is a modern sailing ship fashioned in the style of historic tall ships.
This week we have the opportunity to explore another ship and learn more about sailing. The Schooner Zodiac sports the largest sail on the West Coast. It was commissioned, designed and built as a private yacht for the owners of the Johnson and Johnson Company in the 1920s and served a storied career that included sailing in the Canadian Maritimes and serving as a medical ship in Labrador and Newfoundland and becoming a pilot schooner in San Francisco Bay. It was the last American pilot schooner in service, retired in 1972. At that point it was purchased and restored by a non profit organization of shipwrights, sailors, and historians and now is operated by the Vessel Zodiac Corporation. The boat is on the National Register of Historic Places. You can click this link for more information about Schooner Zodiac.
Susan and I will be participating in a three-day “Books a-sail” cruise that combines our love of books and authors with my interest in sailing and historic boats. We will be able to participate with the crew of the boat in a variety of sailing tasks including hoisting sails, riding the bow to look for obstructions, navigation duties in the chart room, and even a bit of time at the helm. Along with us on the tour will be novelist Erica Bauermeister and natural historian David B. Williams. We have read their books and will be able to discuss selected works throughout the adventure in the San Juan Islands. The cruise is significantly more costly than we normally spend on ourselves, but we justified the expense as a 50th anniversary gift to each other.
Susan and I have always loved adventures. We once heard someone say that one of the keys to successful aging is being willing to visit at least one new place every year. We’ve kept that practice for all of our married lives. Three days and two nights aboard an historic sailing vessel will take us to new places and give us a new adventure. Let the adventure begin!
