Blessed Lady

This is the cruising blog of the sailing yacht Mabrouka. The Favorites in the side bar allow those with discriminating taste to filter for just the stuff you want to read. Thanks for visiting, Roy.

13 September 2015
21 August 2015
21 August 2015
20 June 2015 | Marina Mazatlan, Mazatlan, Mexico
15 June 2015 | Marina Mazatlan, Mazatlan, Mexico
15 June 2015 | Marina Mazatlan, Mazatlan, Mexico
15 June 2015 | Mazatlan Marina, Mazatlan Mexico
13 April 2015 | Off Club Nautico, Mazatlan Commercial Harbor, Mazatlan, MX
15 February 2015 | Marina Mazatlan, Mazatlan, Mexico
13 February 2015 | Marina Mazatlan, Mazatlan, Mexico
25 January 2015
06 January 2015 | Mazatlan, MX
24 December 2014 | Marina Mazatlan, Mazatlan, Mexico
24 December 2014 | Mazatlan, MX
22 December 2014
21 December 2014
18 December 2014 | Playa Isla de la Piedra, Mazatlan, MX
18 December 2014 | Mazatlan, MX
15 December 2014 | Ensenada des los Muertos, Mexico

On to Desolation Sound at last (back-dated from 09/23)

13 September 2013 | Galley Bay in Desolation Sound, Canada
Roy / Who really cares about the weather?
Proud arrival on Desolation Sound

My primary chore intended for last night was to post the blog entries I'd composed aboard the boat during the day. I'd thought I would head up to Rocky Mountain Pizza to munch an Italian pie and use their internet as I'd done for lattes and rolls on two consecutive mornings, but my 5:30 start was too late for the 5 pm closing, so I had to go foraging for another place. Walking down the main thoroughfare wearing my laptop-encumbered back pack, I came across Snickers, a Greek place that I remembered to have been well-recommended by my cruising guide, so in I went.

It was without much hope that I sheepishly explained my quest for internet access to the hostess as she seated me. That sort of thing is hardly to be expected in any serious restaurant, much less a Greek one. (Did I just insult Greek restaurants? I meant no offense at all.) With a slightly conspiratorial aire, she led me to a table on one side of their vine canopied patio that was known to be a nexus for mysterious cosmic signals from some unknown neighborhood source. I sat down in happy anticipation, but then, with dawning woe, realized that there was no power outlet nearby. My old laptop is battery deficient, so requires a ready source of power and I seemed to have been foiled in my quest.

As I sat there bemoaning the sad fate of my errand, yet determined to chill and enjoy a fine, relaxing meal with nothing better to do than enjoy the ambiance, I looked up and there, among the ceiling of grape leaves, I saw the expectant female end of their mood enhancing string of white Christmas lights. It took me a few minutes, but I eventually drummed up enough courage to ask that kind hostess if she could turn the lights on sooner than their usual dusk-time appearance so I could plug in and turn on. She somewhat bemusedly said she'd have to ask the boss, but I saw they were on soon after I got to my table. It was under the curious stares of more than one fellow patron that I stood up and plugged what suddenly seemed to me to be a glaringly white power cord into the outlet, leaving it dangling shamelessly from the leafy overhead to the beaten up PowerBook G4 sitting garishly on my table.

In addition to a fine, FINE olive, mushroom, and ortega chile pizza complemented by two mugs of Snickers' finest gingerale, the evening was a complete success as attested to by the barrage of blog posts my happy readers should have noted on September 12th. I hope you all appreciate what lengths I'll go to to get out the latest word on my maritime adventures.

So, this morning it was wrapping up a few more errands, paying off the good man in charge of charging mooring fees, and I once more set off for the high seas. It was a very nice motor/sail up the Sunshine Coast past Powell River and Savary Island and through Thulin Passage between the Copeland Islands and mainland British Columbia.

Listening to the weather report along the way, I was loathe to hear that the first big storm of the season was expected to make its presence felt by mid-week. It sounded ominous, so I put that info high on my mental voyage planning list.

As I rounded Sarah Point the slight breeze and the dramatically cloud-clad mountain backdrop encouraged me to set sail, so I introduced myself to Desolation Sound with a gentle reach across the mouth of Malaspina Inlet and around Zephine Head into Galley Bay where I found a tidy little cove in the southwest corner of the bay and settled in for the night.

My first Desolation Sound anti-sunset
Comments
Vessel Name: Mabrouka
Vessel Make/Model: CT-41
Hailing Port: Seattle, WA
Crew: Roy Neyman
About:
Mabrouka and I have been partners in crime since October 1998, hanging about in West Coast waters, first in San Diego, then in Seattle. All of that time we've lived together aboard. [...]
Extra:
I've called this blog "Blessed Lady" because that's my preferred translation from Arabic for "Mabrouka". She's a 1980 CT-41, one of several clones of the original Bill Garden design Mariner ketches. At 50 feet from the tip of her mizzen boom to the tip of her bow sprit, she's 16 tons of [...]
Mabrouka's Photos - Main
Photos 1 to 10 of 10
1
On the streets of Freemont
Street art edited.
Elvis the stuffed cat is a memento of my daughters at the age of about 5.  The peace sign was a gift from good friend, Karyn Borcich.  Thanks to both!
This is Swan as I knew him, though in a more rugged environment than we ever shared.  We usually met at the coffee shop or at Voula
This is of Swan as I would also like to have known him, ...cigarettes, cameras and wine.
This is Steve hosting our Elliott Bay Design Group company picnic at his vacation home in Darington.
I never went fishing with Steve, although he let me try out his fly casting rig in the river by his house during one of the company picnics he hosted.  I
The winter slip on Lake Union
Temporary raft up with Molly Bella near my old slip at Stimson Marina
 
1
This album shares photos from mainland and Baja Mexico.
1 Photo | 3 Sub-Albums
Created 1 March 2015
The beginning of the South Pacific cruise, heading to San Diego and Mexico
1 Photo | 6 Sub-Albums
Created 15 August 2014
Killing time with local sailing and projects before heading south with the Coho Ho Ho cruiser's rally
56 Photos
Created 29 June 2014
Kathy and Karyn (with a "Y") used me as an excuse for a party. I was just fine with that!
25 Photos
Created 31 May 2014
On Lake Union where Mabrouka and I spent the winter
20 Photos
Created 31 May 2014
Shakedown cruise to Port Townsend
7 Photos
Created 25 May 2014
Gunkholing in the Seattle area, with me and Mabrouka getting our sea legs back under us.
50 Photos | 28 Sub-Albums
Created 14 April 2013
Custom made sailing skiff hand-built by NW School of Wooden Boatbuilding in Port Hadlock, WA
18 Photos
Created 21 March 2013
Pre-retirement cruising pics
27 Photos
Created 21 March 2013
Photos accompanying Projects blogs.
43 Photos | 1 Sub-Album
Created 12 March 2013