FROM THE HELM
A TIME FOR ACTION
If you’re anything like me by the time August rolls around, you’re already thinking ‘Summer’s half over, only one more month of nice boating.’
First of all, that’s not true: Vancouver Island Septembers are known to be pretty amazing, weather-wise, and besides, the anchorages are all less crowded once the kids are back in school.
Secondly, having that negative mindset can sometimes lead to missing opportunities that are right in front of us. Personally, Michael and I plan ‘summer’ boating activities right up until Thanksgiving - and I know of at least one Yacht Club whose biggest cruise of the year is the Thanksgiving one.
I’m on an email list for live-aboards, and the folks on the east coast have to start planning soon for their time of being frozen in for several months — not so, those of us who have the privilege of living here in paradise. I remember writing a column several years ago about swinging from the hook in Northwest Bay, in our shirt-sleeves in November.
So the boating season is not half over, and this issue is jam-packed with news of marine-related events yet to come. For those of you who haven’t had much opportunity to untie the lines, now’s a great time to start your season.
This issue also holds several calls to action …. On the opposite page, there is a news item regarding a Kohler marine generator recall; page 4 has a list of things boaters can do (and not do) to help the shorebird population thrive; page 5 holds a major Festival announcement and an invitation to get involved; page 6 includes a chance to tell Salt Spring Island what boaters think of the Saturday Market; page 7 details a new water-related event designed to help women get into the marine trades (with an invitation to participate); on page 9 there’s addresses to write letters to pressure DFO to help Luna, the ‘orphaned’ orca, reunite with his family; and page 11 has contact information for the Power Squadron’s Fall Boating Courses — coming in September to a community near you. Finally, page 12 is an invitation to join the Marina Mirror in helping with the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup, in Victoria in September.
Makes me tired just thinking about all there is to do on the water! It’s a good thing I have the opportunity to get off the dock, drop anchor somewhere, and relax. I hope you can, too, and I look forward to seeing you ‘out there.’
I could be the one trying to figure out how to cook a turkey on a two-burner propane stove — but I’ll be boating, and loving it.