Nature’s art.

Calm water peeling away from our bow on a calm sunny morning.

Remote. Primeval. What will I remember of circumnavigating Vancouver Island?

The biggest cedar trees I’ve ever seen; Voilà “finding her groove” upwind in Johnstone Strait with lots of wind; too many coves and corners to discover in a lifetime; the cruising community; Klaskish, the Bunsby Islands, Nuchatlitz, Friendly Cove and the Broken Islands; sailing fast in big winds and seas one day; the boardwalk and forest at Hot Springs Cove; sea otters, eagles, porpoise and whales…and having much of this to ourselves.

It felt good to get beyond the securities of home, to live closer to the dynamic horizon and wilderness, to expand our awareness. There’s a saying that when you go sailing, you trade the quantity of choices for the quality of choices - there are fewer of them and they are more important to you. It becomes necessary to pay attention. Sometimes, fierce attention. To more elemental things than bank accounts and car insurance.

I brought along copies of Shanghaied to give away, asking only that readers leave a brief review somewhere. On Amazon, 100 reviews boosts promotion to their next algorithm…but we seem to be stuck at 74. I’d rather see independent bookstores making the sales anyway (you may buy at bookshop.org and still leave a review on Amazon).