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I suppose it all began in a birch bark canoe,
exploring the Carrot River in Saskatchewan with my cousin
Brian Jones – we were about 8 or 9 at the time. There
was no sail! But there was water and we were in a boat.
I loved it!
 From
the Carrot River with Brian, I graduated to rowboats and
motorboats at Waskisiew, Saskatchewan. My friends Fred and
Pete Shandro and I spent lazy days exploring the lake and
its shorelines – again idyllic. It was at Waskisiew
that I watched my Uncle Jerrold Armstrong ditch his sailboat
in the lake – he had to swim to shore – I was
impressed.
Then a long hiatus – lots of contact with water,
but not boats.
Then, in the early 1970s Maida and I bought a property
at Sylvan Lake – we also acquired a 14’ Kolibri
– a blue monohull that I thrashed about in and learned
the beginning stages of sailing – firstly, that it
was (and is) a wet sport! As I write I have this clear image
of Dad, Maida and Jeff standing on shore, watching me as
I was battered about in the winds and the waves. My memory
is that I lost and pulled the boat to shore. Memory has
it that we sold the boat when we sold the cabin.
It was then in the summer of 1977 that my friend Bill Johnson
and I bought a Fireball – this time a hull of blue
and white. Bill and I decided it was important to name this
vessel and we sent out invitations to all of our friends
to submit names – there was to be a prize for the
winner. We were overwhelmed by the entries! And it took
lots of beer to work through them all – finally it
was decided that our good ship would be christened “Aeolious”
– Greek mythical God of the winds! The name was submitted
by my sister Elizabeth (no, there was no “fix”)
and she won the prize – whatever it may have been!
The party was great!
So was the sailing of Aeolious at Sylvan
Lake.
Bill and I took every opportunity to take Aeolious out
and sail the lake. We often did it from our friend Don Gilmore’s
place. It was a rocky shore, but we loved it. And the winds
could be something else! Aeolious was somewhat unforgiving
and we often found ourselves in the water, working to get
her back upright. Even in light winds she would fly down
the lake. 
Of course, prior to that time, my friend Ross McBain
[right] had corrupted me by taking me to the Coast to sail
on his 29’ Erikson, Rosemary II – the first
trip, Sydney to Bedwell Harbor and back. It was then that
I met my friend-to-be, Elizabeth Arnold, who sailed with
us then and has sailed with me many times since! Elizabeth
and I have enjoyed sails on the O’Day 25, my next
boat, Piper, and then of course, the wonderful Scaurend.
I was honored by Ross’s family to be asked me to partake
in the scattering of Ross’s ashes last September off
Sydney Spit – my sail from Bellingham to Sydney and
return were two of the finest I ever had and Ross would
have enjoyed them immensely! Off Sydney, as we carried Ross’s
ashes to their final resting spot, I enjoyed the company
of Elizabeth, Hugh McBain, and Elizabeth Babcock, Ross’s
granddaughter as we took Ross to his final resting spot
– a very special feeling prevailed.
 After
sailing at the Coast, I had to have an “ocean”
boat and I soon found in Vancouver a 25’ O’Day
that was in dry dock, having been caught in the bankruptcy
of the dealer. I flew out to see her (in a warehouse) and
saw this poor stripped vessel, covered with dust and in
desperate need of water and tender love and care. I bought
her on the spot!
She was never named! And I don’t know why! And I
can’t find her log book. But I recall some great sails!
Perhaps the best was over to Galiano to meet with friends
and have Thanksgiving turkey at “The Pink Geranium”
– it was a heck of a sail – October, cold, wet
and by myself – no charts! I got lost on the return
trip and had to go to shore to find my way! I learned quickly
and have never been without a chart again! Another trip
was with a friend of mine from Montreal. We were ghosting
down a passage on a beautiful warm day, with main ghosting
and the outboard purring, when I fell overboard! And, got
hit in the head by the following dinghy! My friend, who
had showed up at dock in high heels, quickly assessed the
situation as she “sailed away” from me as I
was treading water. All I was able to do  was
shout “turn off the engine!” She pushed and
pulled every knob and button until at last she choked the
motor into submission and it stopped. I swam the few hundred
yards to the boat and found myself too tired and cold to
hoist myself aboard. She dropped a line and I wrapped it
around my chest and was unceremoniously winched aboard!
From this I learned not to venture away from dock without
making sure my crew knew what to do in case of emergency.
I also learned that falling overboard can elicit a certain
feminine tenderness upon rescue….
It was this boat that I had when I did the scuba spring
trip with my friend Ron Kirstein. It was this boat that
four of us were to go out on for a few days! She was moored
at Bosun’s Marina in Sydney. We were going sailing
and diving. We walked down the wharf towards the finger
where my boat was to be. I saw one  of
the locals, Ken Smith, and I asked Ken which berth I was
in – Ken replied dryly that I was around the corner,
“sinking”. I laughed, as that was certainly
Ken’s humor. As I turned the corner I stopped laughing,
as there was my beautiful boat (not yet sailed by me) sinking!
A pump was spraying water from the bilge! That ended that
sailing trip!
Let me step back – that would have been the first
sailing trip. I’ll explain. Ross and I were going
to sail my boat over from Vancouver to the Island that Easter.
For whatever reason we both got busy and could not do it.
So I had the boat trucked over and put in the water at Bosun’s.
Some interesting thoughts: The boat had no VHF radio; the
leak in the center board well was a slow leak; Ross and
I would have been drinking rum and coke; I had no dinghy….
It could have been one hell of a problem!
It was in 1982 that I decided to sell the O’Day;
at the same time my friend Tom Wegman suggested that we
buy a boat together – we did – a Crown 28 –
Piper – again we kept her at Bosun’s and enjoyed
many years and great sailing – sharing Piper with
Keir, Dougie Green, Arun, Abe, Lance, Tom’s brother
John and various others. Many stories are to be told of
our adventure with Piper; all good, except perhaps when
Tom issued his “maydays”, once in Desolation
Sound and once off Montague Bay! The Coast Guard was not
impressed!
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Beginning is easy – continuing is hard.
- Japanese proverb |
It was in 1990 that I bought Scaurend through Wes Koening
at Bellhaven Yachts in Bellingham – my life has not
been the same since – she has, until this year, provided
hours of fun, adventure and friendships to all who have
sailed upon her. Many of her trips are recorded in the excerpts
from her log.
However, it was not just my own boats that have seduced
me; it has been many of the wonderful trips taken by Keir,
Tom, Doug, Dan, Wayne, Arun, Abe, Mike, and Gerry that have
spawned this sense of lust within – places like Baja,
Fiji, Tonga, Greece, and the Caribbean have all provided
endless fascination for this child of the sea!
And so from Scaurend to Scaurend II, from Edmonton to the
other side of the world, this is the next stage of my life!
The sound of the water says what I
think.
– Chuang-Tzu
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