Well, the exuberant celebration of spring blossoms is winding down. I’ll post a couple of Dogwood flower photos,.They’re now all gone from the trees. We’re into the black cottonwood, or alder as they’re commonly known here, season of blowing seeds.
It’s clear why they’re called cottonwood. The Scotch broom is in its spring bloom, much to the misery of allergy suffers. There will be a second flowering in late summer, but for now we’ll just worry about what we’ve got on our plate. Already, there is a smell of smoke in the air which heralds forest fire season. that’s just too darned early.
Before I go further I should mention a really awesome shop I visited up in Courtenay. A good kayak store is hard to come by but Comox Valley Kayaks have been in business for many years, and for good reason. I’d never stopped in before but was looking for a couple of items I could not find anywhere in Nanaimo. Even without my kayak along they fitted me out with the perfect items and at a fair price. The service was great, the staff knowledgeable and friendly (Even the lovely black German Shepherd) and the inventory quite impressive. I’m recommending them because I am that impressed. They only offer what is reasonable to expect, and all too rare it seems. That makes it commendable.
There was a wooden boat gathering in the Ladysmith Maritime Marina last weekend where ‘Seafire’ is moored. I walked the docks early on Sunday morning before many other folks were up and about. My camera whirred. Now these folks are gone home to more varnishing and painting and I’m left here praying for some cloud cover to do my own painting out of the direct sunlight. So without any social comment (for a change) I’ll simply post my photos and hope you enjoy them. By the way, the mystery about the little aluminum sailboat in the last blog has been resolved.
Lou, one of my faithful readers sent me information which reveal the boat was sold by Aerocraft Petrel Sailboats in the US. The boat was designed by the famous Philip Rhodes and built by Alcan Limited right here in Canada. Go figure huh? One photo I found shows a boat with a Transport Canada approval that indicates it was also sold by Eaton Viking. Cool! Thanks for the help Lou.
“If you can love the wrong person that much, imagine how much you can love the right one.” …Bob Marley
Hi Fred â I love that pic of the Petrel â I used to teach at Pier Four Sailing School in Toronto where we had a fleet of Alcan-built Petrels. Every couple of years weâd have to drill out the floor rivets and replace the floatation bats hidden underneath. Weâd also sand them down and repaint them with Tremclad rust paint every season.
[Image result for petrel sailboat]
They were tough buggers too â during one class one of our boats was hit by a float plane on a take-off run â the mast and sails came right off â everyone was uninjured and hull stayed afloat. The aircraft sustained thousands of $ in damages and the pilot lost her license. We repaired the boat and put it back in the fleet.
I didnât know it at the time, but one of the other young instructors working with me on these filthy projects would become my wife in 1990. Weâre still together, sailing the BC coast when we can, almost 3 decades later.
Thanks for the great photos and words as usual. You help me make it through some days when Iâm working in Calgary and longing for the sea.
Rob Keith
Assistant Principal
Branton School
403-777-7440 ex. 2223
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Rob:
Thanks you. So good to hear from you and I appreciate your anecdotes.
Namaste
Well, you seems to have had some great days along the docks. There is an annual Colin Archer gathering in Risør, Norway. Hundreds of “Sjöas” but build in Norwegian wood. You would enjoy that too. Pär Pär DomeijYouTube / paer domeij +46702738728
Den tisdag, 29 maj 2018 7:30 skrev seafireblog :
#yiv8779745487 a:hover {color:red;}#yiv8779745487 a {text-decoration:none;color:#0088cc;}#yiv8779745487 a.yiv8779745487primaryactionlink:link, #yiv8779745487 a.yiv8779745487primaryactionlink:visited {background-color:#2585B2;color:#fff;}#yiv8779745487 a.yiv8779745487primaryactionlink:hover, #yiv8779745487 a.yiv8779745487primaryactionlink:active {background-color:#11729E;color:#fff;}#yiv8779745487 WordPress.com | Fred Bailey posted: “Well, the exuberant celebration of spring blossoms is winding down. I’ll post a couple of Dogwood flower photos,.They’re now all gone from the trees. We’re into the black cottonwood, or alder as they’re commonly known here, season of blowing seeds.” | |
Fred – what a nice tale you tell. I also love the bountiful spring blossoms which herald the start of Spring and are at the whim of the weather … one stiff wind and they are scattered here, there and everywhere.
The boat portion of your post was interesting as well. I like the Bob Marley quote – I often finish off my posts with a fitting quote as well.
It is always great to hear from you. Thanks. Fred
We are now seeing a few great classic wooden boats as we get closer to Annapolis. In Norfolk we’re seeing all the ships of war! Impressive but not nearly as pretty as the boats in your pics. Thx
Annapolis! Tony, you guys aren’t messing around. Send a blog from St. Johns.
Fred