Bye to September, hello to October

Driving up I-5 I was frustrated by the sequence of events.  My plan to catch the 8:25pm ferry the previous evening was thwarted by the attempted theft of Vera’s car parked in front of the house.  Vera and Leigh are still in Ireland and at some point, probably Wednesday night, some kids taking the “Kia Challenge” .  I had planned to leave after work and get up I-5, but instead was filing a police report, meeting a sheriff deputy, cleaning up glass in the street, and, well, I didn’t make the ferry.

Friday looked like I might have a window during a long lunch to boogie up to the ferry and then work from the car, but some long winded conversations pushed my departure to the brink of missing the ferry.  So I raced up I5, did a bit of urgent work from the ferry line and then discovered that lingering fog and the usual Washington State Ferry shenanigans had resulted in a two hour ferry delay. 

At this point, I had to choose.  Continue to be frustrated by the sequence of events or be thankful that I was going to the islands on a gorgeous fall weekend to a family property that my father and mother bought 60 years ago.  I chose the latter approach and relaxed.

Getting to the islands was never easy.  Over the years we’ve had hours long waits and delays and other times when you never stop in line – you arrive and seamlessly drive on to the ferry.  This trip slots about in the middle.  A first world problem.

Arriving at the island I walked into the little cabin, donned a dress shirt and about a minute later was driving mom over to Roche Harbor for dinner.  Despite no reservations on a Friday night we scored a window table in the bar, Manhattans were served and we caught up on recent events and reminisced about older events. 

Roche Harbor Hotel at night

My father first visited Roche in the late 50’s and was met at the dock by Rube Tarte, the gentleman who, along with his wife Clara, bought the property, then a played-out Limestone Quarry, in 1956.  As my father described it, he was approaching the dock in the inside towards the end when an older fellow was walking quickly down the dock to take the lines.  He visibly slowed and by the time he got out to the end of the dock, dad was tied up.  Mr. Tarte offered he was going to help, but when he saw one of my father’s crew taking soundings with a lead line, he figured the skipper knew what he was doing.

Dad came to the islands in the mid 40’s.   He was in the Navy, was in the early stages of training to be a fighter pilot in WWII (he said he and his friends were somewhat fatalistic about the war.  They figured they were going to die and where would they want that event to happen.  In the air or in a trench?  They decided the air would be better).  Based at NAS Alameda, he had gone through basic training in Stearman biplanes, but the war was coming to an end and the thousands of pilots in various stages of training were no longer needed.  He and 2 other young fellows decided, apparently without much thought, to visit the northwest and ended up at the parents' house of one of the guys in Medina, Washington.  The house was owned by Frank and Ellen Helsell.  After a long weekend, the 3 young guys were pulled aside by the elder Mrs. Helsell and informed that she was aware of a camp on Orcas Island, Four Winds, and they were in need of counselors.  She encouraged them to ‘go’. 

Dad had grown up in Pennsylvania, was ‘engaged to be engaged’, and after a brief stint in the Navy found himself in the San Juan Islands asking himself ‘why would I want to go anywhere else’?

That summer he vowed to do 3 things.  Become a doctor, get a small cabin in the islands, and buy a boat.  He did all three.  60 years later I maintain the boat he and I co-owned for 30 years and I’m writing this from the small cabin he built by hand. 

Bringing events back to the current day, this weekend would follow a very familiar pattern repeated in various forms over the past 60 years.  A not always smooth trip up to the islands, a weekend mixture of chores, food, conversation, and advancement of projects followed by the inevitable trip back to the city.

One of the nice things about this time of year is that it’s pitch black at 6am, so the sunrise is at a time when you can sip coffee, write, and simply enjoy earth’s spin as the new day dawns.

About 6:30am or so

The day has begun!

So while in Iceland last week, we saw a simple early Iceland house reconstructed for a museum display.  Notice any similarities?

Early Icelandic living

Present day in the little cabin

Today started out with Omar taking car of some of the outside chores and I helped inside getting her fall decorations out of storage.  Mom busied herself redecorating for Fall and completely out of the blue Dana called with her sister, father and aunt and uncle in tow.  Turns out her aunt and her husband live just up the road.  A quick tour of the place was followed by some story telling.  Too many to mention here, but Dana's husband, currently on Wake Island, had a grandmother who was close friends of Ruth Brown, likely in the 30's or early 40's.  That same Ruth Brown ran the camp that my father was encouraged to go to by Mrs Helsell as the Helsells were also friends of Ruth Brown.  Small world and here we were, just shy of a century later and a couple of generations removed chatting in the same islands.

And, true to island life, just as stories were being told in the living room of the house, transient Orca Whales went by, right in front.  Along with the predictable entourage of harassment boats.   At some point, whale watching as an industry needs to go away,  My views on that have hardened over the years, but whales rely on echo location to find their food and having a bunch of screws turning in the water can't help.  After living aboard for several years and from SCUBA diving, the sound a propellor makes in the water is loud.  I suspect it'd be like hiking with huge mosquitos.  The industry needs a bit regulatory swat.

After the visit I set to chores.  Car, hanging a picture, running to town to get some concrete for tomorrow's project.  With the concrete in hand and forms made, I relaxed a bit with music before making dinner.  Pork tenderloin, baked potatoes, and a medley of squash, onion and garlic.  Then we watched Reese Witherspoon's film 'Where the Crawdad's Sing'.  Really good movie.

Up again Sunday morning with glass like water.  Experiencing the sun coming up, trying to make a GIF of it.  The earth's seasonal movement is stunning from this vantage point.  Some year I'll take sunrise pictures on or around June 21st then again 6 months later on December 21st.  In June, the sunrise is way north and the sun goes over head.  6 months later it's far to the south and the sun hangs low all day.  Daylight goes from some 16 hours in June to 8 hours in December.  Daylight is cut in half.

There's been no boat traffic yet this morning.  Yesterday the 'Steadfast' went by, presumably on her way back from Alaska.  The big boats pass by twice a year.  Once on the way up, then again on the way back.  The Steadfast is some 150 feet long and used to be the Boeing Corporate boat.  Mom and Dad were treated to an annual dinner on that thing - the result a fund raiser that one of their friends bid on each year.  

Last night a couple kayaking went by.  From their stroke pattern I surmised they were experienced kayakers.  Beautiful night for kayaking, and I have a hunch they came in from Stuart Island as they had deck packs and appear to have been out camping.  

Morning brought another great sunrise.  Then a quick breakfast.  Then a hike.  Leigh and I had chatted about a way to lengthen our normal hike up Mt Young.  It's a good little hike, but is short with modest elevation gain of around 600 feet.  The way we used to do it was only a mile or so, starting about a half mile north of the drive down to English Camp.  Then we lengthened it to 1.5 miles by starting at the 'Y' where the West Valley road joins the Roche Harbor Road.  But with only 600 feet, we wanted a longer trail.  So today I started where Rouleau road meets the Limestone point road -- about a mile away from the house.  

The Roche Harbor Trail system is great.  I heard that it was conceived by a fellow named Brent but is maintained by several volunteers.  They do a great job and the trails, combined with GAIA GPS , make for an easy way to follow the myriad of trails.  

The trail I chose winds through the disc golf course, which probably wasn't great, but there was no one around.  After 1.8 miles rather pleasant miles the trail crosses the road and then onto the familiar trail up Mt Young.  Another 1.5 miles and then the top comes into view.  

Roche Harbor Disc Golf Course

Trails are well signed and mapped

With a great view from the top

Brought back some hitchhikers!!

All in all about a 6.5 mile hike.   I think I can improve the route a bit and we can lengthen it further (or keep the mileage but change the route) by dropping down on the other side of Mt Young and going around the lake.

Dinner followed by a couple of episodes of the 'Crown'.

The morning scene from the little cabin was peaceful, and the sunrise was especially nice.

 Back to work.  But what a nice weekend.

Iceland

 

ICELAND 2022

Leigh and I along with Vera flew to Iceland in mid September.  The arc of the trip was researched by Leigh and included getting a car, driving along the southern coast, driving the 'golden circle, and ending up in Reykjavik for 2 days staying in guesthouses and apartments along the way.  It worked out beautifully.

The southern coast drive to the first waterfall (Seljalandsfoss) may not be for everyone.  We thought it was cool, but the landscape is sparce and on the day we did it right after getting of the plane, it was foggy, and visibility wasn't great.  But as soon as you leave the airport, the landscape of iceland starts to reveal itself.  

This was our first of many waterfalls, only a short walk from the parking lot and you can walk behind the waterfall if you want (Leigh and Vera did, I didn't).  Make sure you have a good shell!

Eating is expensive in Iceland but tipping is not yet customary,  It's just not done (so say all the books and there's never an option to add a tip).  Leigh picked out the first stop and it was brilliant.  From the outside it doesn't look like much, but the inside is beautiful.  It's called Gamla fjosid which apparently translates as the old cow house.  Which it used to be.  Leigh and Vera got the Volcano Soup, I got the steak sandwich.

After being up for about 24 hours, we were tired.  It's a 7 hour flight plus a 7 hour time shift -- so we left around 4pmish or so from Seattle and and got there at 6amish then set out to have a full day.   Liegh had made arrangements to stay at the Lindartun guest house, which proved to be a great stop.  We started a routine of having a large lunch followed by eating in at night after provisioning at a grocery store.  It worked well.

While  we had our general arc of the trip in place, we balanced weather and route and called an audible to put off the golden circle for a day and take a ferry over to the Westman Islands.  With no specific plans, that was a fascinating stop.  The story of the 1973 eruption portrays nature at its worst and people at their best. The primary attractions are walking around town seeing both the destruction and the rebuilding, the museum, and hiking in the hills above the town.  A great day.

The harbor on Heimaey is a working harbor.  Threatened by the 1973 lava flow it's a vital working component of the islands economy.

Picture taken from the museum and highlighting the 1973 eruption.  The museum highlights the resilience of the town -- Turkish raiders hit the city in 1627, taking 234 captives back to Algiers.  Later in the early 1800's 60 - 70% of the babies born on the island would die within a year of birth.  Thanks to a young midwife and a Danish doctor, the problem was finally identified as neonatal tetanus infections owing to a lack of sanitary methods with handling the babies clothing.  This discovery on the islands helped other small communities battling the same problem.

Inside the small church near the harbor

We hiked up an unnamed peak above the harbor..  Steep but relatively short, the views are great.  I had wanted to hike up home rock, but we bumped into a climber from Quebec who had just come down -- time was not in our favor owing to the return ferry trip and he described safety concerns clinging onto ladders needed for the ascent with the building wind.

Leaving the island on the ferry.  We missed the puffins, but also missed hoards of tourists.  The timing of the trip was well planned.

Our 2nd night was spent in the town of Hveragerði, (or here) which could be used as a base for touring.  We ended up spending 2 nights in this area (the other in Selfross), but that first night we stayed in the 'Inn Boutique' - an excellent choice and arguably the best placed we stayed at the entire trip (they were all good, but this one was especially nice).

I didn't get any pictures of that place (I should have) but it was an ideal jumping off point for the 'golden circle'.  We ended up taking a bit of a short cut over routes 431 and 435 rather than take route 1 all the way back -- it says it's for 4 wheel drive only, but it wasn't all that bad and we saw sedans as well.  It's narrow, but smooth and easy.  Our first destination was 'Thingvellir', a national park.  The history is too detailed to go into, but this is an absolute 'must see', and reading about it in advance helps the experience.  Between the early 'parliament' of early inhabitants, the geological significance, and the views, it's a national treasure.

There are nice paths to walk around and it's easy walking.  

Next on to Gullfross (or here).  The 'Golden Falls'.  Couple of different parking lots and viewing areas, but again easy access.

Next stop was Geysir on the golden circle.  Although it's another example of geo thermal activity and yes, there's a geyser that shoots steam in the air every 10 minutes or so, it was my least favorite stop.  It's kinda cool, but there's nothing particularly stunning about it,  It shoots steam in the air. There are some great shots at either sunset or sunrise on line, but, well, it wasn't sunrise or sunset.  But steam does shoot in the air.

The last stop of the day was 'Secret Lagoon' (or Gamla Lagoon).  The oldest swimming pool in Iceland.  After driving around, I was a bit tired so I stood this one out, but Leigh and Vera went in and had a nice soak and had a great time.  I had an excellent nap and explored the new Rav4 we had rented for the trip.

Above is a shot Leigh took of Secret Lagoon

That night we stayed in Selfross at a guest house in a camping/RV park.  The cabin had its own hot tub which we made use of both that night and again in the morning.  The soaks were great.

At this point in the trip, the weather was changing.  It had been good to great, but a storm was blowing in that night with winds around 50 MPH.  We decided on a hike up to Hot Springs above Heveragerdi, to the Reykjadalur hot springs.  The link provided is an accurate portrayal of the hike, but has a negative view (the writer complained of bugs, we didn't see any)..  Ours was positive.  This is a modest hike for those who hike a lot.  It's about 5 miles round trip with a fair amount of elevation gain.  If you're not used to hiking up hills, this may not be for you.  My hunch is the reviewer did this review in summer.  Our day was misty with on again / off again rain.  Dressed properly, it was great.  We did have a choice of turning back about half way up, but Leigh wanted to press on and it was good we did.  We didn't take a soak, but it was nice exercise with nice views.  

Signs telling was what to do and what not to do.  

A weather system was blowing in with expected wind gusts of up to 50 mph hitting just after midnight.  During the hike it was evident the weather was changing, but we had sufficient window to make the hike, get back, have lunch at the bottom then press on to Reykjavik, where we would spend our two final days in Iceland.

Scenes from Reykjavik.  The town is relatively compact and very walkable.  We stuck to the older school style of shopping and museums, but there are other attractions using technology that might be fun if one was so inclined -- like the 'fly over iceland' attraction or the Perlan Museum.

 A couple of the streets were walking only which made for relaxed shopping.

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The Lutheran Church, Hallgrimskirkja, affords a great view of the city.  We were there on a Sunday, which forces the ushers to wear multiple hats.  The church converts from a church to a tourist attraction and back a couple of times Sunday morning.  The ushers wait until the last parishioner leaves the church then start letting the tourists in.

Leif Erikson is prominent in iceland.

One of the Cafe's we were in.  

On the 2nd morning Leigh and Vera left early to catch a plan to Ireland, I walked the city, hit the Maritime Museum and flew out that evening.

All and all a great trip blending outside activities with inside ones.  A nice trip to see interesting and awesome forces of nature as well as gain some insight into the icelandic culture and the tenacity of humans in general.  A great trip with an arc that Leigh designed that suited us well.

One last pastoral view from our first morning in Iceland

PODCAST FAVORITES

 

I was talking to a classmate yesterday and mentioned a podcast and woke up this morning and had two thoughts.  First, I do like working on projects listening to podcasts and learning.  Working with my hands while listening to interesting topics and learning is fulfilling.  The second thought was I’m happy with my current stable of podcasts, but always looking for more.  I don’t know what I don’t know.  So below are my current favorites.  Leave a suggestion or addition in the comments! 

 

News

The Daily – M-F, am, New York Times, deep dive on one subject the NY Times is covering

Today Explained – M-F, pm, Vox – different format than the daily but typically deep dive into one subject

Global News Podcast– I think it’s twice daily, from the BBC and a recap of world news (from a colonial power point of view)

Wonky Political stuff:

The Weeds – from Vox, various policy discussions, leans progressive, but not rabidly so

The Ezra Klein Show – Former Wapo Journalist, co-founder of Vox, now working for NY Times.  “Explanatory journalism” would be a decent description of his approach.  Wonky guests talking about policy and policy options on a wide range of subject.  Informative, low key.

Gzero World with Ian Bremmer – various guests discuss global affairs.  His specialty is global risk factors

Stay Tuned with Preet – Preet Bharara, former US attorney, breaks down legal topics – good source for separating ‘legal’ from ‘political’.

Shoe Leather Politics – the older brother of one of my sons friends puts this out.  Interesting history / political commentary ‘between the handshakes of respect’.

 

Other stuff

The Economist – Podcast from the Economist Magazine

New Yorker Radio Hour

Tides of History:  Patrick Wyman brought the middle ages and the fall of Rome to life in his podcast and recently delved into pre-civilization history and how homo sapiens, Neanderthals, and other humanoid predecessors lived and roamed the earth.  Highlights what we know – and don’t know – and does so in a highly entertaining way.

American Scandal – focused on past ‘scandals’ in history:  Three Mile Island, Exxon Valdez, Volkswagon Diesel Scandal, The Plame affair, Enron, Iran contra and others.  Usually multi part deep dive into specific stories

American History Tellers – Interesting series on past events

Ice Coffee – History of human activity in the Antarctic – the sound quality is not great, and he’s an acquired taste, but Matthew Alan McArthur gives an irreverent view of his place of employment.  Antartica.

The Moth Radio Hour – compelling personal stories

 

 

 

 

 

 

SHEARWATER PASSES BETWEEN GOOD HANDS

 

Shearwater's New Custodian

So here’s a fun small world story.  It starts with Bruce.  I can’t remember when I met him, but it was during college years and there was a group of us with a common attraction to boats, water, and Islands.  And, perhaps, just a little bit of beer.  I had made my first foray up to Alaska aboard a leaky wooden sailboat with no electronics back in 1978.  It must have been ’83 when Bruce and I hatched a plan to take his soon to be new boat up to Juneau and Glacier Bay.  He bought a 21’ Bayliner and called it “Moxee”.  We ended up taking that pocket rocket up to Juneau and Glacier Bay and started tacking more stories to our fairly long list of stories even then.  Bruce still retells them.  Some of them are actually true. 

Over the years, Moxee gave way to Moxee II, then Moxee III.  Power boats all, the last one a Trawler.  Each a platform for fun and adventure with family and friends.  Then he went back to his roots and bought a beautiful blue hulled passport 40, “Shearwater”.

I was fortunate enough to be on her during one of her first shake down cruises.  A rollicking sail over to Friday Harbor with some excitement.  We nearly dismasted it (the starboard upper was the leeward shroud and I just happened to notice it had become disconnected just prior to a planned tack), then we lost the inflatable, and when we cranked on the engine, the chop had shaken sediment laying in the fuel tank and clogged the fuel intake line.  Under sail alone we sailed into Friday Harbor for a picture perfect dead stick landing.  From our perspective.  For the crew on the ‘Silver Shalis’, it was nerve racking.   A nearly 200 feet, the brand spanking new Delta Yacht had its owner on for his first stay on his new Mega yacht.  With the Shalis crew pearing down from above, we greased down the side of it under sail alone to stick the landing in the open dock in front of the Shalis.  The owner had recently received a 4 billion dollar insurance payout from one of his properties.  The downed twin towers in New York. 

Over the years, Bruce and Carol lavished love and adventures on that boat.  It was a fresh water boat and they transformed it into a full fledge all season cruising sailboat.  6 or so years ago I was up in Desolation Sound, ran into Bruce as well as Andy and Jill Cross.  We tied the 3 boats together, enjoyed a great day – so much so we simply hit ‘repeat’ for the next day.  One of the truly great cruising memories.  For 11 years that boat was upgraded, loved, and used.

Fast forward a couple of years.  I can’t remember when I met Kristin Pederson.  It may have been at one of the Sloop Tavern Cruises, but I became a fan of hers.  Solid sailor, competent, and I followed her and Elena’s "Team Kelp" R2AK bid in 2017.  So  much so that I would wake up and yell at my screen when I saw they were sleeping way too much and not attacking the race as aggressively as I thought they should (they had no intention of attacking it aggressively and if I do that race again, I may take a page out of their book).  Kristin has been aboard Cambria with friends for dinner and helped on Race Committees aboard Cambria.  She was always thinking 2 or 3 steps ahead and had knack of being at the right place at the right time. 

My perception was confirmed when I spoke to a very tenured delivery captain with whom she had sailed.  He had a very high opinion of her seamanship skills.  Praise I don’t think he gives out often.

Up until a few weeks ago, Bruce and Kristin didn’t know each other and I’ve never mentioned one to the other.  Two completely different phases of my life two completely different groups of friends.  Bruce lives in Anacortes, Kristin in Seattle.  No overlap at all.  Until I get two messages spaced about a minute apart.

Kristin:  “I think I might buy a boat and the current owner says he knows you.  His name is Bruce Van Iterson”

Bruce:  “Do you know Kristin Pederson?”

And so the beautiful blue hulled passport 40, “Shearwater”, goes from one quality set of hands to another set of quality hands.  It’s been fun to watch.