Heidi
May 28, 2009, 11:13 pm, Hood River

Well, we are happy that the summer is well on the way. Winter was SNOWY and cold which meant lots of skiing and snowboarding as well as days off school and work. It's all good.

Spring brought the usual rain and grey days but it has now given way to blazing hot weather and lots of FUN: water activities rule the day... be it kite-boarding or outrigger canoeing and perhaps some sailing later in the summer aboard Pierre's Hobie 18...

Stay tuned to more fun reports and photos...
Heidi and Mark

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Heidi
December 30, 2008, 10:01 pm, Snowy Hood River

Photo above is of Mark next to the van after the snows... it snowed even after this picture was taken!!

Wow, what a fall it was.... sunny and no rain for the most part! Mark and I were hiking and mtn biking into December... of course wondering where the snow was but appreciating the SUNSHINE.

Then BAM, all of a sudden were hit with a TON of snow here in town... all the way down to the water! It kept snowing, and snowing... and snowing from about the 16th until the 26th of December... So we had a wonderful snowy white Hanukkah and Christmas... complete with getting snowed in and walking to town. I LOVED IT.

Unfortunately a sailboat sunk under the weight of the snow (we think) in the Cascade Locks marina, but Aquarius was snug as a bug in her slip with the heaters running.

The snow is now melting but not as fast as some people would like. It is a novelty for Hood River but we are used to it from back in Montreal. However, I am thankful that we won't have to deal with it for the entire winter!

The skiing & snowboarding (and snowkiting on the snowy sandbar last week) has been great and more snow is on the way... this time pretty much only up at the mtn.

SO, Happy New Year 2009 to everyone. More adventures await us in the year to come, whether afloat or ashore!

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Heidi
September 24, 2008, 3:12 pm, CL & HR

Photo of Aquarius at the guest dock in Hood River before heading back to Cascade Locks.

We had a couple more weekends in August and early September for sailing including one memorable one for Mark and Pierre. But, well, looks like it is that time of year again! Mark and I have been cleaning up the boat, and getting her ready for the winter. First thing I did was take off all the FOOOOOD.... can you imagine how much stuff was on the boat? A lot. It seems that every trip someone went on, they thought we needed MORE SOY sauce or more WASABI.... and HOW MANY cans of things (tuna... on a boat... in MEXICO where we can catch FRESH tuna?) does one actually need?? AND how MANY packages of EARL GREY TEA? And we have enough ziploc bags to outfit several boats... I got such a laugh going through it all.

Gotta do it sometime, right?

Happy Fall... more sailing adventures await us in the spring.

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Heidi
August 18, 2008, 12:35 am, Hood River...

We had the best weekend! On Friday afternoon, Mark and I shoehorned ourselves OUT of the marina at Cascade Locks... there was an east wind and NO ROOM to spare to get out but Mark did it! I continue to be impressed at the way he can maneuver the boat. The next time I can, I'll get a photo so you can see just how teeny that marina is for a 47' boat! Most people we know can't believe there was a slip big enough for us there.

ANYway, back to the weekend... Mark and I enjoyed Friday night aboard in the marina at Hood River with a wonderful almost full moon. Then Saturday morning motored out to Wells Island, found a spot a little ways out and anchored. We swam and relaxed and later on notices that another fellow Hood River boat was anchored nearby but close in on the island. We swam over, Mark dove around and we got the inside scoop about where to get in to get close to the beach. So look at the photo above and see where we ended up! We had boats on either side of us, Trent's boat Felicity and another small sailboat owned by a kiter that Mark knows. It was a snug little spot.

What an evening. Our friends Cathy and John came over for cocktails (thanks Cathy, they were GOOD) with their daughter Alicia, their exchange student, Terese PLUS Jessica, her boyfriend Louy and then to top it off another 2 friends of Jess and Louy's came aboard. Dinner and a quick game of scrabble followed. The kids went to bowl in town (Jess was happy to tear off in the dinghy) and later in the evening after John & Cathy left we were visited by a group of midnight Kayakers with glow sticks aboard! They were out for a full moon paddle. Quite interesting to see about 8-10 kayaks come out of the darkness towards shore. Kind of eerie.

Later on Jess, Louy and Alicia came back and camped on Wells, enjoying a camp-fire and midnight swim and later on Smores while Mark and I enjoyed the peace and quiet aboard Aquarius....

After a morning swim, we motored over to the Hood River marina as the winds were set to return.... and return they did. I recorded a top windspeed of 36 knots... IN the marina! Wow.

We are staying on at Hood River for a few days to enjoy Aquarius before motoring back to Cascade Locks.

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