EARTH DAY CELEBRATION

La Sonrisa celebrated Earth Day by sailing. We try to be as environmentally responsible as we can. Though we’re still using our old diesel, both our dinghy motor and generator are 4 stroke rather than 2 stroke. And as far as the diesel is concerned, we’ve lowered our average speed by 15% and achieved a 40% saving in fuel. We sail about half of the time. Every little bit helps. We often keep our sails up when others motor on by.

This Earth Day we began our trip south sailing down Trincomali Channel. By the time we got to Nose Point on Salt Spring Island the winds were very light. We found by draping the spinnaker sheet over the end of the boom, we were able to keep sailing slowly. It was a beautiful way to celebrate Earth Day.
A seal watching us drift around Nose Point: “If you had a bum like mine you wouldn’t need a sail like yours!”

Participating in a hunter-gatherer lifestyle is one way we live in keeping with our dream of sustainability and harmony with the earth. We celebrated Earth Day by gathering firewood, clams and oysters. We didn’t pick the newly sprouted oregano and lemon balm, leaving these gone-wild greens to grow a bit bigger.

The day before we had picked miner’s lettuce and maple flowers.

Miner's Lettuce seems to like the base of fir trees
picking maple flowers

Earth Day salad

Earth Day neighbours:

Here is good news about the western purple martins, the largest and chunkiest of the swallows.
These swallows once nested in cavities in old trees and snags. With the loss of their habitat and competition from introduced species, by 1985 their numbers had reached a low of 5 known breeding pairs. Nest boxes were introduced in various sites. These "man-made snags" were built in 1995 at Newcastle Island Provincial Park.

By 2006 at 45 colony sites numbers had increased to 600 nesting pairs of purple martins. They arrive here in April, nesting starts in May. The young martins fledge in late July and in mid August begin their migration to South America. Traditionally, South America native people encouraged their numbers, welcomed as insect eaters and an intruder alert. In turn, humans may offer some protection from predators.

Harmonious neighbours

When our Earth Day wind totally died and we finally got our anchor down, we were welcomed by another Earth Day neighbour, Annette the Otter.
This otter seemed to be enjoying rolling in Canada goose droppings. She scrambled up rocks from the water's edge to the top of this vegetation covered rock mound.

When we set out by dinghy to explore some tiny islets, the gulls were swooping above us in the wind currents. Just after we the tied the dinghy and took a few steps ashore, we had to rush back and launch it against heavy wind and waves. The gulls were telling us something – we hadn’t paid enough attention. We did manage to gather a quick handful of yarrow for tea, however. It was a wet ride back to La Sonrisa.

SPRING TONIC

young stinging nettle – Urtica dioica

Among its many fine attributes, Tamaya and Josh’s beautiful home nestled in large red cedars is blessed with stinging nettles. It has the best crop of nettles we’ve found anywhere.

picking nettles

backyard full of nettles

Sadly for friends and family who love to visit this haven of peace and beauty, it is back on the market. You can see it at: http://www.gabriola-real-estate.com/pages/listings/details.php?l_id=50

Each spring we look forward to gathering our prized spring tonic.

washing freshly picked nettles
blanch quickly in boiling water
ready for the freezer

We’ve discovered a lot of information about nettles and their uses on the internet. Here is a great story called “The Nettle Solution”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTucBoeggqI

The week before Easter, the folks on Galiano had their 2nd annual NETTLEFEST, a celebration of their wondrously abundant food / medicine / fibre. Nettles have been called "Indian spinach" and were eaten by both coastal and interior First Nations. Nettle plants were a traditional source of fibre for fish-nets, snares and tumplines.

Here is a link explaining how to make nettle pesto, followed by the written recipe
Link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1nD9aDNX-k&feature=related

STINGING NETTLE PESTO
1 large bunch of stinging nettles (or 3 cups nettles cooked and drained)
2 large cloves garlic minced
1 ½ cups pine nuts
(one friend uses walnuts instead)
2 lemons, juiced
2 cups olive oil
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese tightly packed
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Fill a large pot ¾ full with water. Place over high heat and stir in ½ cup of salt. Cover and bring to a boil.

2. Fill the sink or a large bowl with cold water. Using gloves or tongs submerge the nettles in the water and let them sit for 5 min. Using tongs or gloves remove the nettles and discard water. Using gloves, strip leaves away from the stems and discard stems.

3. When water is boiling throw in cleaned nettles and boil for one minute. Strain out water and spread nettles on a pan or plate to cool. The cooking water has a lot of flavour and nutrients, and can be saved and used as stock. When the nettles are cooled, squeeze as much excess water from nettles as possible, and then thoroughly chop.

4. Place chopped nettles in a food processor with minced garlic, pine nuts, lemon juice, olive oil, and a dash of salt and pepper. Process for 30 seconds, stop and scrape down the sides of the food processor, and repeat as many times as needed until nettles are broken down and the mixture has formed a paste. Scrape into a bowl and fold in the grated cheese. Salt and pepper to taste.

5. Serve pesto tossed with raw or cooked vegetables, pasta, risotto, or stirred into soup. Garnish with freshly ground black pepper. Pesto can be refrigerated for 5 days, or frozen for up to 6 months.
Yield: 5 cups

(Thomas wonders if it will taste like pesto without basil. Another way would be to freeze or dry nettles in the spring, and use half and half with basil when it ripens in late summer.)

Keep your eyes open for this powerful spring tonic, it's one of the best sources of iron around.

WHARF STREET DOCK, VICTORIA

Wharf Street dock in Victoria’s inner harbour is a pretty special spot. The harbour is a busy one, with tall ships, tugs and barges, the Coho and other ferries to the USA, little harbour ferries, fishers, tourists, float planes, dragon boats – it’s full of the diversity of life where ocean meets land. Downtown Victoria with its attractive older buildings on the waterfront is backdrop to a people-friendly paced city, a community. On the dock people are welcoming, competent, responsible, ready to lend a hand. It feels like another era, a welcome one.


When we arrived at Wharf Street Dock we were a Seabird 37 with a centre cockpit covered in canvas. Our goal was a fiberglass cover over the cockpit with canvas sides. The design has a ledge around the top--a useful handhold and the basis of a system for collecting rainwater. We first saw this design in the fall of 07, created by Bill and Donna on their sailboat “Alia.” Thomas and Bill talked about what we might build on La Sonrisa, and in early March we joined Bill and Donna in Victoria to begin the project.

Bill and Donna

It is a wonderful kind of friendship we have with these fellow “year round cruisers”. We don’t necessarily know when or where we will connect again, but when we do, our experiences and vision in common make us feel very much at home with each other. Both Donna and Bill are masters in delighting at what sea, wind and weather bring each day. And offering their skills and sense of possibilities to whatever comes. It was a joy to watch Thomas and Bill delve into this project, imagine, test out, discuss, step back, “what if..”, with fine feasts and stories along the way.


Bill and Thomas started by measuring and figuring and measuring some more. The first step of taking off the old canvas was challenging in our March “in like a lion” weather. Then the trips for supplies. The trial ribs went on.

The top began to take shape

Pleasant as the Wharf Street neighbourhood is, cold wet weather is not a good setting for boat construction. We created a plastic cover to our work site.

The measuring and figuring continued. How to achieve the right curves and angles, enough headroom, enough strength, not too much weight.



Inside details – do we need a pair of smaller windows above the dashboard windows?

Outside details

The right curve

Elizabeth took a break from the role of worksite photographer and went to visit the legislature for the MLA's Question Period.

Parliament buildings
Parliament with her lights on (energy saving bulbs)

An interesting destination for tourists
One of the fresco's in the dome on top shows seine fishermen with salmon in the net

Unfortunately the MLA’s were having a break, so all the spring break families visiting Victoria saw only empty seats.

Along the walls are framed photographs of the members of the legislature over the years. Here is the picture from the last session with old friend MLA Chuck Puchmayr in the first seat. Chuck regrets he will not be running as a candidate in the upcoming election – all his energy is needed for his battle with liver cancer. The very good news is that Chuck has had a successful liver transplant, and is recovering well. We’ve known Chuck since the kids’ soccer days, then as a city counselor from 1996 who had a special heart for the marginalized, and for justice issues. Since 2005 he has been a hardworking MLA for New Westminster. And Chuck has been a longtime friend at the St. Barnabas Christmas dinner – often a shepherd or wise-one in the nativity pageant. We hope for more MLA’s like Chuck to be returned in the upcoming election.

Chuck Puchmayr, MLA

REMEMBER TO VOTE ON MAY 12!

One of our (several) Victoria harbour westerlies ripped the first plastic cover to shreds. We had to get more serious.

We’d already been a week longer than we’d figured and still not a day of temperature over the necessary 10 C. The weather forecast didn’t look promising and we had commitments further north. We decided to make the boat temporarily weather secure and postpone the actual fiberglassing until the “out like a lamb” end of March, April? We covered the plywood with a coat of fiberglass resin, wrapped the hardtop in plastic and put more long johns on ourselves.

sailing wing on wing, under plastic

At Montague Harbour we had a warmish, sunny day. We put on another coat of resin and took off the now tattered plastic.


To be continued…

FIRST ORCA

Orca in Georgia Strait, Nanaimo ferry dock in background

On our first day away from our Snug Cove, Bowen Island winter moorage, we crossed Georgia Strait and saw our first orca of the new sailing season. Orcas are not that common in the northern Gulf Islands, and we were surprised and delighted to see this female, traveling with another. Just before we saw her we had cruised for a few moments with some friendlier than usual harbour porpoises. It was a brisk day, but what a fine welcome to spring sailing!

First miner’s lettuce of spring

On Gabriola Island we found some early spring greens. Tamaya, Suzi and Arran joined us in

Degnan Bay for a supper of the last of our winter veggies on board.

brisk sail by Porlier Pass

Sail to Montague Harbour

Parker Island tidal spit

Sailing towards Parker Island in Montague Harbour, Galiano Island, brought back past memories. I (Elizabeth) lived for a year in a tipi on the tidal spit between Parker and Little Parker Islands. There were several families with a dream of living in harmony close to the earth, growing food, making music, learning from people who had the necessary life skills. It was a formative year for everyone – days of simple chores beside the sea, cooking over a fire, drying berries and clams, sewing and carving and learning to make the gear and tools we needed. Evenings with music around the fire, telling stories and talking about the dream under moon and stars. I remember dancing with shell rattles on my ankles, the dance a gift from the earth. It was not an easy year. More challenging than what we did without was finding the skills we needed for cooperation and making decisions.
“Where are our elders?” we said.


Here is a picture from back in those days, Dan and Francine and daughters Sarah and Tamara, Montague Harbour. Photo by Betty Fairbanks.

Thomas and Elizabeth were walking the beach at Montague, talking about those experiences, and who should appear but Dan himself! What talks we had of local edibles and wildlife. We were proud to serve Dan our salmon and crab chowder, salad of first miner’s lettuce and dandelion leaves, pie from the last of the winter apples from Ike’s orchard on Gabriola. We took a dinghy ride together to Parker spit

Dan and Thomas

Little Parker beach
Dan and Thomas examine last year's chicken's feet/sea asparagus
Dan

In seeking permission to use the picture of Dan’s family I had a wonderful phone conversation with Dan’s daughter, a professional musician. I found the picture on Tamara’s website http://www.tamaranile.com/index.php?show=music

(You can listen to Tamara's newest CD on her website)

Tamara is the young child on her mother’s lap, daughter of Dan the Man the One Man Band. We talked about her music, her life today and the sadness many of us feel when we think of the future. And Tamara told me her dream – it sounded like the same dream her parents and I tried to live years ago. Could it be that the times are coming around again, when the yearning to live in harmony with the Earth moves more of us to act, to cooperate together? Could it be that we’re the elders now?

Scruffy young eagle on Little Parker Point, probably born in a nearby nest

Golden eye ducks

Euphoria of beautiful sunny days in the Gulf Islands

Portlock Light, Prevost Island

Sunday morning sail - spinnakers in Cadboro Bay

Clouds beginning to roll in

The next day brought thunderstorms with hail, snow squalls, sailing at 7 knots – “the lion side of March!” The change of weather brought a loss of euphoria. We were back to weathering the challenges when the dream fades a bit.

Rounding Trial Island lighthouse into Victoria Harbour

Victoria Seawall

Victoria's busy harbour - float planes, tall ship and Parliament buildings

another snow squall
Mild Victoria weather?

We’re here in Victoria for a work project, if the cold and wet will allow it. Our friends Bill and Donna on the SV Alia have built a hardtop over their cockpit. Bill will assist us with designing ours. And Bill and Donna, too, have a dream – a cooperative live-aboard dock, with tools, transportation, perhaps gardens shared in common. An old dream in a new form? We’ll keep talking ….