these last few days, temporarily breaking the heat mentioned in the last FIREWATER blog post. With these clouds came the scent of the end of summer and the changing of seasons. The snowberry & ninebark brush has turned bright red and yellow, always the first of the deciduous plants to do so. The time of daylight grows shorter. Here near the 49th parallel on the equinox we have equilibrium between day & night, both being twelve hour periods.With this coming of seasonal change so too comes a change in my interest. For this phase of the fire season in my world the firefighting tools are put aside. The days of command are assigned to others and my thoughts turn to making a long passage under sail.
To navigate saltwaters, to explore the vast archipelagos between the U.S. & Canada within the Inside Passage. While it may sound unusual, firefighting and cruising under sail have a lot in common. Both are highly weather dependent. Both can be quite technical. Tools like GPS units, VHF radios, weather kits, and many more serve both the firefighter and the navigator.
So, as the late summer mists gather around the San Juan & Gulf islands, and the tourist season ends with this coming Labor Day weekend, the plans for the sailing vessel AQUILA and crew are to set forth and make passage under sail to some remote anchorages and quaint nautical villages of the Pacific Northwest.
Fair winds. Maybe we'll see you out there...Foster
Above photo of Foster in navigation zen by Catherine Brown.
More about cruising on the S/V AQUILA:
http://forums.cruisingworld.com/videos/viewProfile.php?user=Foster%20Fanning
Additional info on the Inside Passage:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inside_Passage
Information on the San Juan Islands:
http://www.sanjuanisland.org/
And on the Gulf Islands:
http://www.gulfislandsguide.com/
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