One of the greatest pleasures of going to the Halifax International Boat show is the chance to meet and talk to people who are passionate about the oceans we travel, live and work on. This boat show there were two men whose dreams we want to share with you.
Derek Hatfield, solo ocean racer:
Derek Hatfield is now getting ready to set out on his next great adventure, the VELUX 5 Oceans single-handed round-the-world Race. And he sees his entry into this race as important not just because he will represent the many Canadians who support him but because he will also be doing something he believes in - taking an ecologically friendly approach to ocean racing.
He talked with great enthusiasm about having the chance to enter the race in the Eco 60 class, a class which transforms older Open 60s and gives them a new life as wind, solar and electric powered ocean race boats. This gives the racers sailing them the pleasure of racing in a way that is both less expensive and more ecologically friendly. Note - less expensive. It still costs a lot, and once again Derek is offering those who support his challenge the opportunity to travel round the world in spirit with him, with their name on his hull. And more to those who are able to contribute more.
As those who have had the chance to talk to him know, Derek is both a fine sailor and a gentleman, someone who never hesitates to share both his enthusiasm and his knowledge. He represents the best of Canada both in the water and in person. I hope you’ll be able to help support him - you can find all the information you need to learn more Derek, the race and the adventure here.
Captain Art Gaetan, the Sharkman, of Blue Shark Charters:
A great story teller, and passionate about sharks, Art Gaetan has built a substantial body of knowledge about these creatures, and managed to develop businesses that respect and teach others about the oceans, sharks, and their role in the ocean environment. And to have fun doing it.
Yes, he fishes for sharks, but every shark caught is tagged and released and every detail entered into a scientific database; every experience adds to the store of knowledge about their lives; and as we found out any experience may become the fodder for a great story.
His presentation was a mixture of facts, explanation and just plain great stories. The last story had us laughing so hard there were tears in our eyes. We are not fishers of sharks, but if you ever want to catch a shark, here's the man to help you do it.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Halifax Again, February 2010
February in Halifax was a little warmer than normal, so they said. Warm or not, it was still a time when the fronts come through one after the other. February is a month when you’re glad you have a warm place to live in, and that your boat is as secure as you can make it.
And the boat show. One of the highlights of February in Halifax, for us, is the Halifax International Boat Show. It’s a chance to look at gear, attend any talks we’re interested in, possibly run into a few people who are doing the same thing. This year we were pleased to find a Canadian East Coast distributor for the electric motor we are going to buy - and to see the actual engine, up close and personal. We had a chance to learn a bit more about the heating system we’re planning to put in (Webasto) and see the heater itself as well; checked out a radio that would keep our iPod dry and safe while at sea; learned about the superwind wind generator; checked out a small butane stove, just because it looked like a good idea (but still not as safe as our Origo). We heard from Derek Hatfield about the work he is doing to represent Canadians in his next solo ocean race, the VELUX 5 Oceans Race. We were entertained by and learned from Captain Art Gaetan, who talked about sharks, shark fishing, and how he turned his passionate support for sharks into a multi-focused business. We found the Windbag Company of Nova Scotia, which makes bags out of old sails and old seat belts and other reclaimed material, and, an extra touch, includes in each bag the story of the boat whose sail went into the making of it.
Then to remind us that we should not get complacent, on the last Friday in February a strong easterly blew through, bringing rain, a high surge on a high tide, and gusts up to 135 km/h on the bridges across the harbour. In Purcells Cove, where the boat is, the wind and the surge brought waves up over the shore and into the area where the boats were stored. The water softened the ground, and the combination of wind and soft ground caused three boats to blow over. Into The Blue stayed safe on her cradle, but one of the sailboats in front of us blew over when a stand dug in, and came to rest with its mast resting on the powerboat beside it. The big docks that normally mark the outer edge of the marina, the only docks that stay in during the winter, were almost all blown off their moorings, and some of them badly damaged. The overall conditions might have been less severe but, thanks to the wind direction and the surge, the damage at the marina was worse than the damage there in Hurricane Juan. Nature is a very powerful force.
Now it’s the beginning of March, and the ice is melting out of the small lakes. The water birds are enjoying the change, feeding happily in the water, and in the mornings we can hear other birds singing, see them in the trees, on the wires, on the roofs. The days are growing longer. The Spring brush fire season has started. Time for us to start working on the boat...
And the boat show. One of the highlights of February in Halifax, for us, is the Halifax International Boat Show. It’s a chance to look at gear, attend any talks we’re interested in, possibly run into a few people who are doing the same thing. This year we were pleased to find a Canadian East Coast distributor for the electric motor we are going to buy - and to see the actual engine, up close and personal. We had a chance to learn a bit more about the heating system we’re planning to put in (Webasto) and see the heater itself as well; checked out a radio that would keep our iPod dry and safe while at sea; learned about the superwind wind generator; checked out a small butane stove, just because it looked like a good idea (but still not as safe as our Origo). We heard from Derek Hatfield about the work he is doing to represent Canadians in his next solo ocean race, the VELUX 5 Oceans Race. We were entertained by and learned from Captain Art Gaetan, who talked about sharks, shark fishing, and how he turned his passionate support for sharks into a multi-focused business. We found the Windbag Company of Nova Scotia, which makes bags out of old sails and old seat belts and other reclaimed material, and, an extra touch, includes in each bag the story of the boat whose sail went into the making of it.
Then to remind us that we should not get complacent, on the last Friday in February a strong easterly blew through, bringing rain, a high surge on a high tide, and gusts up to 135 km/h on the bridges across the harbour. In Purcells Cove, where the boat is, the wind and the surge brought waves up over the shore and into the area where the boats were stored. The water softened the ground, and the combination of wind and soft ground caused three boats to blow over. Into The Blue stayed safe on her cradle, but one of the sailboats in front of us blew over when a stand dug in, and came to rest with its mast resting on the powerboat beside it. The big docks that normally mark the outer edge of the marina, the only docks that stay in during the winter, were almost all blown off their moorings, and some of them badly damaged. The overall conditions might have been less severe but, thanks to the wind direction and the surge, the damage at the marina was worse than the damage there in Hurricane Juan. Nature is a very powerful force.
Now it’s the beginning of March, and the ice is melting out of the small lakes. The water birds are enjoying the change, feeding happily in the water, and in the mornings we can hear other birds singing, see them in the trees, on the wires, on the roofs. The days are growing longer. The Spring brush fire season has started. Time for us to start working on the boat...
2009 Ends, 2010 Begins
November there was NaNoWriMo, the month of writing 50,000 words. December there was recovering from NaNoWriMo, and getting ready to travel to Toronto for Christmas then further south after.
Before we arrive, it always feels as if there will be lots of time to do everything we want to. After we arrive, we realize that the time we thought would stretch out blankly before us is actually already full of things to do. And this time it was also shorter than we had planned, as headed south early for family reasons.
These days I am thoroughly spoilt when we go on a road trip. I never renewed my driver’s license, thinking that I would not need for it (I forgot that even when not cruising plans are carved in jelly), so I have lots of time for watching the landscape as we pass through it. There is a lot of landscape on the drive from Halifax to Toronto. Happily it includes goodly amounts of beautiful landscapes, trees and hills lit by the sun, glimpses of water, stretches of city. In places you are reminded that nature is not always benign. There are the areas where trees charred by fire below sprout green above. Then there are other areas where landscapes roughly shorn of trees and plants remind us that our behaviour is not always benign either.
We paused overnight on the drive to Toronto on the outskirts of Quebec City. The room was warm, but when we woke in the morning it was achingly cold and the car was reluctant to start. A day later, in Toronto, we used their well thought out directions to find our way to the friends we were staying with. The days passed quickly, Christmas came and went. We saw more friends, but mostly we spent time with family. Then shortly after Christmas we set off to drive further south - earlier than we had planned, called by family business in Miami.
That journey too went well. We drove during the day and stopped overnight, and arrived there late and tired on New Year’s Eve. The next three days were relatively quiet - then we drove to Atlanta one day to take one of the family to catch a plane, stopped overnight with other family, and drove back the next. It helped a great deal to have a friendly place to lay our heads overnight in between drives!
January passed in and around Miami, taking care of business. The best that could be said about the weather there for several days was that it was warmer than Halifax or Toronto - we managed to get there in time for a record-breaking spell of cold weather. We walked many days; we enjoyed the brightness of the sun. Hearing news of storms in Nova Scotia, we followed the weather reports and paid attention to the direction of the wind, cheerful when the boat would be sheltered from the gusts and worrying when it would not. But all remained well there while we were away.
Our long drive back to Halifax was made much more pleasant because we visited with more friends along the way back. But we knew we were back in the land of snow and winter the fourth day along, when the snow no longer hid among the trees, where the shade lay, but glittered at us from the sides of the roads. When we pulled into the ploughed parking lot of a snowy rest stop that completed the confirmation.
Much of our driving was through hills and mountains, especially leaving the maritime provinces and on our route through New York and Massachusetts. Some of the scenery was breathtakingly beautiful, some of the drops awe-inspiringly precipitous. One morning we looked down on the fog rising out of a valley below, lit by sun above and shading the homes and fields and roads below.
We crossed back into Canada on the evening of our last day of driving, bent on getting back in time for Richard to have a day of rest before going back to work. That last day of driving was a long one, but we looked forward to being in our own place again. A day to readjust to life in Nova Scotia, and we edged back into our land-based routine again.
Some Pictures:
Before we arrive, it always feels as if there will be lots of time to do everything we want to. After we arrive, we realize that the time we thought would stretch out blankly before us is actually already full of things to do. And this time it was also shorter than we had planned, as headed south early for family reasons.
These days I am thoroughly spoilt when we go on a road trip. I never renewed my driver’s license, thinking that I would not need for it (I forgot that even when not cruising plans are carved in jelly), so I have lots of time for watching the landscape as we pass through it. There is a lot of landscape on the drive from Halifax to Toronto. Happily it includes goodly amounts of beautiful landscapes, trees and hills lit by the sun, glimpses of water, stretches of city. In places you are reminded that nature is not always benign. There are the areas where trees charred by fire below sprout green above. Then there are other areas where landscapes roughly shorn of trees and plants remind us that our behaviour is not always benign either.
We paused overnight on the drive to Toronto on the outskirts of Quebec City. The room was warm, but when we woke in the morning it was achingly cold and the car was reluctant to start. A day later, in Toronto, we used their well thought out directions to find our way to the friends we were staying with. The days passed quickly, Christmas came and went. We saw more friends, but mostly we spent time with family. Then shortly after Christmas we set off to drive further south - earlier than we had planned, called by family business in Miami.
That journey too went well. We drove during the day and stopped overnight, and arrived there late and tired on New Year’s Eve. The next three days were relatively quiet - then we drove to Atlanta one day to take one of the family to catch a plane, stopped overnight with other family, and drove back the next. It helped a great deal to have a friendly place to lay our heads overnight in between drives!
January passed in and around Miami, taking care of business. The best that could be said about the weather there for several days was that it was warmer than Halifax or Toronto - we managed to get there in time for a record-breaking spell of cold weather. We walked many days; we enjoyed the brightness of the sun. Hearing news of storms in Nova Scotia, we followed the weather reports and paid attention to the direction of the wind, cheerful when the boat would be sheltered from the gusts and worrying when it would not. But all remained well there while we were away.
Our long drive back to Halifax was made much more pleasant because we visited with more friends along the way back. But we knew we were back in the land of snow and winter the fourth day along, when the snow no longer hid among the trees, where the shade lay, but glittered at us from the sides of the roads. When we pulled into the ploughed parking lot of a snowy rest stop that completed the confirmation.
Much of our driving was through hills and mountains, especially leaving the maritime provinces and on our route through New York and Massachusetts. Some of the scenery was breathtakingly beautiful, some of the drops awe-inspiringly precipitous. One morning we looked down on the fog rising out of a valley below, lit by sun above and shading the homes and fields and roads below.
We crossed back into Canada on the evening of our last day of driving, bent on getting back in time for Richard to have a day of rest before going back to work. That last day of driving was a long one, but we looked forward to being in our own place again. A day to readjust to life in Nova Scotia, and we edged back into our land-based routine again.
Some Pictures:
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