Winter Harbour, Winter Harbour, Winter Harbour

Time and sailing have an interesting relationship when you are waiting for weather. The winds continue to blow from the SE and S at gale force and above. We sit here getting a bit uptight about having to stay at dock but then we realize that better here then getting bashed by 30-35 knot winds struggling to weather trying to get around Brooks's Peninsula. So far June has been unseasonably cold and the winds are definitely NOT typical. The surface analysis chart looks like a winter pattern. Lynn Greentree calls this the Orange Blossom Express (thanks Lynn!). Winter Harbour is a nice little place. An extensive boardwalk runs from The old BC packers dock where we are about a third of the way around the harbour. We had a great walk and it is interesting to see what has been abandoned and what is being restored. According to a few of the locals we have talked to, the property values here are on the rise like everywhere else and the taxes along with them. It is forcing out some of the older fishermen who own property here but can no longer afford the taxes to live here. Progress can be very cruel. The weather looks pretty dismal for the next couple of days but we are snug and secure and in no rush, so we will wait. This has been an great training experience in patience and waiting. Something that was related to me a couple of years ago by a British couple, Beth and Bone off Splinters Apprentice has come to mind while we wait here. They have been sailing around the world for the past 12 years and when I asked them a couple of years ago how they dealt with severe weather, they were quite straight forward in answering. "We wait for the weather to come right before we leave" was the essence of their reply. Good words and something all blue water sailors "know" but all us also need to learn it as well.

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