I am back home and trying to resume my “normal” schedule after an eventful but also relaxing summer of sailing. Like a student begrudgingly returning to school, I’m turning in my first “assignment” for our blog (albeit one day late): “what I did on my summer vacation.”
After two unsuccessful attempts over the last two years (denied by gale-force northerlies that routinely howl down the Strait of Georgia) we finally made it to Desolation Sound. The area lived up to its billing as one of the most beautiful and pristine boating destinations in North America. Truly awesome.
We also fed deer by hand on Jones Island, caught plenty of Dungeness Crab, swam in the Poet’s Cove Resort swimming pool, saw orca whales off Lime Kiln Point, and found "treasure" at Pirate's Cove Provinvial Park (the picture is of our son, Ben, a pirate-in-training). Oh yeah, and I dropped the outboard motor for our dinghy overboard in Bedwell Harbor!!
Though I took a break from writing while on the boat, I did plenty of reading and bookstore browsing. One of the yearly highlights of our sailing season is visiting Sidney-by-the-Sea, on Vancouver Island, a small town that bills itself as “Canada’s only booktown.” Not an idle boast: there are no less than a dozen independently owned bookshops within a six block area! In Nanaimo, we also spent a (rare) rainy afternoon browsing the great selection of children’s literature titles at Literacy Central VI Used Bookstore. My favorite destination in all of the San Juan and Gulf Islands, however, remains Serendipity, a used bookstore occupying an old house, just up the hill on from the ferry terminal in Friday Harbor; with a great selection and reasonable prices, it’s a “must stop” for any bibliophile.
As for reading recommendations, these titles stand out: Alabama Moon, Stop the Train, Mortal Engines, The Thief, Not Just A Witch, and Sebastian Darke, Prince of Pirates.
That’s a snapshot of my summer. Now it’s time to get back to writing!
After two unsuccessful attempts over the last two years (denied by gale-force northerlies that routinely howl down the Strait of Georgia) we finally made it to Desolation Sound. The area lived up to its billing as one of the most beautiful and pristine boating destinations in North America. Truly awesome.
We also fed deer by hand on Jones Island, caught plenty of Dungeness Crab, swam in the Poet’s Cove Resort swimming pool, saw orca whales off Lime Kiln Point, and found "treasure" at Pirate's Cove Provinvial Park (the picture is of our son, Ben, a pirate-in-training). Oh yeah, and I dropped the outboard motor for our dinghy overboard in Bedwell Harbor!!
Though I took a break from writing while on the boat, I did plenty of reading and bookstore browsing. One of the yearly highlights of our sailing season is visiting Sidney-by-the-Sea, on Vancouver Island, a small town that bills itself as “Canada’s only booktown.” Not an idle boast: there are no less than a dozen independently owned bookshops within a six block area! In Nanaimo, we also spent a (rare) rainy afternoon browsing the great selection of children’s literature titles at Literacy Central VI Used Bookstore. My favorite destination in all of the San Juan and Gulf Islands, however, remains Serendipity, a used bookstore occupying an old house, just up the hill on from the ferry terminal in Friday Harbor; with a great selection and reasonable prices, it’s a “must stop” for any bibliophile.
As for reading recommendations, these titles stand out: Alabama Moon, Stop the Train, Mortal Engines, The Thief, Not Just A Witch, and Sebastian Darke, Prince of Pirates.
That’s a snapshot of my summer. Now it’s time to get back to writing!
5 comments:
Sounds like a fabulous summer!!
It also sounds like some excellent research for writing.
Good luck, Mark, on the transition back to land.
Sounds like an absolutely marvelous summer with lots of food for future fiction. Thanks for sharing!
I agree with the posted-potatoes so far-- you have a summer of fodder for you writing. I have been having dreams of your summer- it sounds blissful.
I love the names of the places you visited: Desolation Sound, Lime Kiln Point, Sydney-by-the-Sea. I'd love to go to any of those, just because of the way they sound!
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