Blue Moon's First Snowflake

2006 has been a year of extremes - from Bikini, Marshall Islands (and bikinis) to blizzards in Victoria, Canada.

We arrived in Victoria on the first of October, where we found a cozy berth right in the heart of downtown. It didn't take long to round up enough bodies for a decent party for Blue Moon's 20th birthday (and Rob's 60th). I landed a job within a month, only 6 blocks from our marina, back in the financial planning field. My second week at work we were deluged by 'the Pineapple Express', a weather system from Hawaii known for it's warm temperatures and heavy rain. Out came the gum boots. The next week we had the most snow seen here in 10 years. Blue Moon became an ice cave, with a snow drift completely covering our side deck, above the height of the taff rail. She built her own ice sculptures in the rigging, and then amused herself by flinging snowballs at us from aloft. Giant icicles hung from the scuppers. The statistics for November said we only had 74 hours of sunlight.

When we were teaching English in the Marshall Islands (could that have been only last year?!) and I was asked by my students about the weather in my country, this is what I told them… Go down to the supermarket and go over to the freezer where they keep the frozen chickens. Take out all the chickens, climb in and lie down. Then stay there from November until March. Welcome to Canada!

As usual, Rob has a number of projects to keep him occupied, which includes building a house on our lot in Beachcomber, just north of here. (I can here you saying 'What were they thinking?') Well our lives are never dull, anyhow.

So yes, folks, we are hunkered down here in the frozen north. We have quite the wildlife show around the boat - otters, seals, giant herons and other birds. One of the seals must be an escapee from Sea World or something - he comes up to the dock for hand feeding.

We think of all you tropical travelers, and I admit to feeling just a little tearful when I passed a poster showing a photo of the Sydney harbor bridge, with the only caption "South Pacific". I wonder when we will ever be there again.

We wish you all the very best for this holiday season, and hope to share a small part of 2007 with you in some way.

   Fairwinds ~ Rob & Jo 

 

 

Music by
Kenny G
'Let It Snow'