Parks Bay, WA, 4-Aug-2025 – I haven’t been writing. The compunction hasn’t been upon me for a variety of reasons. The first time we went to Alaska, I wrote fifty posts in 150 days. This is my third post this year, we’re 100 days into the trip.
The reasons are manifold: It has become like work, something I never wanted to happen.* The places we’ve been to have been very much like every other place we’ve been to. Jennifer’s fears have infected me so much I have to fight against my fears to sail, which has taken a lot of life out of me.
Things have been good, however, beyond not writing.
We’ve been meeting people: Canadians and Americans, noting the differences and enjoying them. This is the topic of this blog.
But Jennifer’s timidity has been throughout this trip. Like other things, I generally go along with it, and she will snap out of it. This year I’m not so sure. We’ll change next year to what I wanted this year to be,† and see if Jennifer likes it better. We’ll see what 2027 brings.
People: There is a lot going on this year given the present American President’s rage against the world. Americans are not coming to Canada at the rate they used to, and Canadians as a group are adamant about not going to the US.
Americans are afraid of how Canadians will react to them and many have stopped flying the US flag and the Canadian courtesy flag, which makes Canadians insane. Canadians will not go into the US because of our President’s statements about Canada. Every Canadian is very proud of Mark Carney.
A brief aside, almost every country I have traveled to knows the difference between an American and American Foreign Policy. Americans they like, the foreign policy they often hate. No one confuses the two. Americans are certain that everyone will hate them because of the American Foreign Policy. Although we’ve heard about one or two Americans behaving as if they were in the US – unfortunate.
The marina and vacation industry in BC is dependent on US travelers. This lack is starving that industry. A lot closed after COVID, and more will after the absence of the US travelers this year.
This is the first year we’ve spent so much time in Canada – two and a half months. Americans are still Americans: very approachable and easy to speak with. Canadians have been a surprise for me.
When we would specifically approach their boats they would speak with us and be very social, except for times when they would disappear below. Walking around, Canadians will not make eye contact and do not as rule say hello or good morning. Something in the small anchorages with docks is customary any place we’ve been in Alaska. They wouldn’t see us.
I, at first, thought is was because they could see we weren’t Canadian because of the unfashionable hat I was wearing – I was wearing a tuque, something Canadians wear all winter, and I was out of season. Switching to a baseball cap did little to change that.
We did meet Canadians and became friends with a few. The feeling I have is that those we became friends with expect us to be good friends with a commitment to staying friends. Something I will need to work at. I want to keep up the friendship with people I have made an implied commitment.
We returned to the States a couple of days ago. We used the app to register to enter and were then called. The agent was business-like and wanted to get the call over with. We are trusted travelers, she asked each question multiple times, and if the answer stayed the same, we were done. Two minutes, six seconds.
We sailed for a while in Haro Strait. The wind was blowing and for while we sailed straight into the wind heading to our anchorage. After eight miles of beating to windward we crossed the strait and went in the back way. No wind in there and we motored.
We venture into Friday Harbor later today. We’ll shower and wander around the town as we have done at other stops on this trip. I’ll do a little more maintenance and then, after arriving in Port Townsend, start prepping the boat for guests: putting the long-term cruising gear ashore, cleaning the boat, and stocking it with things for the guests, and the next two months we’ll spend afloat before docking the boat in October. Jennifer will work at the Wooden Boat Festival in September, and I’ll be around.
We’ll fill in the days as they come.
If you’re a Canadian friend, I want to stay in touch. Please do the same.
We’ll be in South Lake Union for two nights, meeting our friends beginning the 10th of August, and doing a freshwater haul out.†† Please, contact us if you’ll be in town. We’ll travel through the locks and under the bridges, something we used to routinely do, but haven’t in six years.
We’ll travel with our friends, one of whom doesn’t speak English.
Then we’ll travel around the sound and enjoy life on Caro Babbo – perhaps I’ll start writing again.
*Generally, when this happens with any task, I just wait until I feel the need to do it and then I get on with it, which is what is happening now.
†I had planned to get a summer slip in Olympia that we could go to and leave the boat. That will be 2026 with longer shore trips.
†† Putting a salt water boat in fresh water kills all the salt water things that have grown on the hull, as they would if the boat was hauled out and scraped, hence the name, ‘‘Fresh water haul out.’’
