Grouse Grind

We have been in Vancouver for some time now and as some folks may know, my mum tends to visit Vancouver quite a bit. She has been asking me virtually every day if I have been up Grouse mountain yet. I guess she knew that I would enjoy it. Contrary to popular belief I have been busy at work so hiking up the local mountains, although high on the wish list has to be fitted in on precious time off.

Eventually we decided to go for it. Grouse mountain has two routes up, the cable car and the 'Grouse Grind' As the sign says, it is a climb 933 meters over 2.9 km, so it is quite steep. Nothing very high or very far, just a nice walk up a pretty mountain with a fantastic view! However. For some reason this is no walk. The 'Grouse Grind' is a Challenge! Something that the Sussex men's fitness league (all divisions) would LOVE! There is even a cleaver way to time yourself by obtaining a swipe card you can start your timer at the bottom and by swiping it again at the top, your time will be displayed for all to see in the cafe at the top. Probably on the Internet somewhere there are pie charts and graphs to show you how strong you are compared to others, that you could then gloat at in the pub.

I had heard about it (repeatedly) from my mum but it took me 4 weeks to find time to go and see for myself. I turned up in the car park on Sunday morning with a friend, wearing good walking shoes and with a small back pack containing a rain jacket and a picnic. The car park looked more like it was the start of the local half marathon than the foot of a mountain trail, with people everywhere in shorts and running gear. In my sensible walking attire I stuck out like Mary Poppins would at a Fat Boy Slim concert!

Anyway my first attempt (yes, I will have to go again) took me 59 minutes. Elite runners can do it in 35 mins and the average walk will take about 90 mins. So next weekend we will be up early in the car park in running gear like the rest of Canada and we are going to try and do it as fast as we can!

As this is the new bench mark for determining your position in the Sussex Men's fitness league and I currently have the fastest time up the Grouse Grind, this must put me firmly at the top of division one!? Luckily non of you have any holidays booked in Vancouver this year.

W.O.W

On Thursday Carl and I decided that we would rent some kayaks and go for a paddle at a place that is about a 10 minute drive from where the boat is parked.

I called at lunch time to book two boats and was told to arrive as early as possible as it was going to be very busy that evening. Without asking too many questions Carl and I left work as quickly as we could and by 545 we were picking up our paddles and getting ready to go onto the water. As we were adjusting our gear, one of the young centre employees came over, looked at us confused and said, "You guys are obviously not with W.O.W are you?" We were now as puzzled as he was, so at least we were even.

He continued to explain, that Thursdays is Women on the Water day 'W.O.W' and that there was about 100 ladies due to arrive at any moment for said activities. Carl and I looked at each other, thought how horrible it would be to be in the middle of 100 female, Canadian out door types and continued to prepare for our paddle. We were ready to go but suddenly Carl was having all sorts of trouble with his foot rests and then his seat and had to pop to change his buoyancy aid and then again to use the toilet. Luckily we managed to get away before the tide of girl power arrived. We paddled for 2 hours stopping on a quiet island to enjoy a cold beer that we had brought along. It was a fun evening. Carl wants to go back next Thursday but says that he has a meeting that might delay his departure from work.

British Columbia

and now.......... Vancouver

Our little cruise around the Pacific ocean has been amazing and the early morning arrival at Vancouver was beautiful. The sky started to lighten at 0345 just as I was taking over my bridge watch. It was much cooler than we have felt in a while, but then it would be when compared to Tahiti, Galapagos Islands & sunny California. The bridge doors were open though because the fresh smell of pine trees could be smelt on the morning air. As the sun rose and we progressed up the narrow channels on the swirling currents it felt like summer and looked like summer at home, apart from the snow capped mountains of course.
I am not sure if it was the stark difference in the places that we have visited so far on this voyage that has made this fresh Canadian morning so vivid, but it was incredibly vivid and everyone could feel it and smell it.

For the first time in recent history the Canadian immigration let me enter this lovely country without the slightest bother! (It has always been a little awkward here since the incident). The beautiful bit was where I greeted 3 immigration officers and enjoyed stopping them at our door to slowly and carefully check their ID. I then made them take off their big boots too. Brilliant!

Winter shorts

It is colder than a witches tit in a brass bra. It is absolutely frigid up here! After the wonderful tropical passage from Tahiti and cruising around the equatorial areas this northern hemisphere stuff sucks! The skies are gray, the sea has got rough and a bit murky, plus there are now storm warnings buzzing through on the Satellite receiver. The temperatures have plummeted.

Searching through my locker for something warm to wear, I found an un-worn fleece lurking in the dark recesses but other than that I am stuck with shorts. Taking a leaf from Cliff's book of fashion I have put on my 'winter shorts'! and as we are visiting Canada I have found some warm socks to set off the shorts with. You have got to love those Canadians.

California to Canada

After the excitements of Galapagos the long 9 day voyage north to San Diego felt like it would never end and by the time we entered the channel into San Diego Bay we were all excited to have arrived there. The headaches of arriving in the USA from overseas, on foreign vessel with an international crew, soon make you want to turn straight back around but as always hoops were leaped through and hurdles climbed, endless blokes with big boots and guns, wanting to see yet more bits of paper were sent away reasonably happy. Then we set to work. Fixing and repairing stuff.

The 5 days went quickly and without note really. We spent an evening ashore for one of the girls, who had a birthday, most folks got slightly over refreshed and there was some dancing. Then as always it was time again to leave and last night just before sun set, we slipped our lines and headed out to sea. Another 1800 miles, this time to Canada. (I hope they let me in!!!)

We tidied up the decks and secured everything for the passage, I made a cup of tea and went up to the bridge to stand my evening watch. This was the first sun set for this voyage. It was a good one.

Still Plodding North

There is nothing much to report. This is day 7 of our 10 day sail north to California, we will stop there for a busy few days taking care of essential safety, testing and annual maintenance surveys. When we arrive I will have completed over 7000 sea miles since arriving back at work in April. This is a very long way at 12 miles an hour.
The sun sets and sun rises are still spectacular daily, the weather has been good and we still have a lasting supply of tea bags on board.

and they're off!!

Tomorrow we set sail from the Galapagos. We spent just under two weeks in these most extraordinary islands. We have been incredibly fortunate and seen so much more than we had expected to. A friend of mine who has been here before said to me, " whatever you do, make sure you stick your head under the water" I am pleased that I took that advise because for me, the experience here will be marked most memorably by the sights that I saw while diving or snorkeling.

I managed four dives and three snorkeling trips each one was so incredible that I could bore you for hours with the things I saw. One of my favorite moments was with a flightless cormorant. Just to see one of these crazy birds is a thing in it self! They only live on two of the Galapagos islands and no where else in the world! I was swimming and diving down with one as it was chasing the fish. Then again perhaps it was the playful sea lions that looped and swooped around us as we swam along in their neighbourhood or it might have been the school of white tipped sharks or the community of turtles or the school of barracuda or fleet of rays that swept elegantly past on one dive.

These last couple of days we have been putting everything away and battening down again for sea. We have another long 10 day Pacific leg of over 2500 miles to California.

Giant Tortoises in the wild

After visiting the Darwin centre here in Puerto Ayora the other day, we had the chance to go out into the hills and see some giant tortoises in the wild. These creatures are massive! We had great fun wandering about in the high lands, seeing them just cruising about in their natural habitat. To give an idea of scale this is our camera man crouched to get a better angle.

the race between, No hair and the tortiose

The sussex mens fitness league will not be surprised to hear that I was no match for the Galapagos giant tortoises who, despite their age (60-90 years) and weight disadvantages, they were pretty nimble and had me struggling to keep up.