Oooops

General Discussion of Diary Posts and Questions on Beekeeping Matters
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Countryboy
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Re: Oooops

Unread post by Countryboy »

Why then, is there such opposition to performing a harmless action that will save the lives of others? Is it not common sense, and the morally appropriate thing to do?
Here's an example of a mask helping to cause a lot of harm.

https://mountvernonnews.com/local-news/ ... bing-bank/

This is my bank. The girls who work there buy over $500 of honey from me each year. The girls are seriously shook up.

Ironically, a few weeks ago, I mentioned to the girls at the bank that used to people would freak out if you walked into a bank wearing a mask, and now people walk into the bank wearing a mask and no one thinks anything of it. (Used to, the bank required people to remove hats, sunglasses, and remove hoods from heads.)
B. Farmer Honey
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Allen Dick
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Can't we all just get along?

Unread post by Allen Dick »

Well. Let's be clear I'm not picking on anyone but this started with a statement "This is not true" in response to an observation offered by another contributor who happens to have a very strong scientific background.

The tentative conclusion in question was offered as part of our continuing discussion and examination of various articles and studies from around the world and from sources of varying credibility.

To this point I think it has been clear that we are open minded and consider all evidence and to this point find it inconclusive and confusing. We have also observed that some media, politicians, and companies are using this virus for cynical political purposes that run counter to the common good.

I understand that individuals can have strong feelings triggered by level and dispassionate discussion that includes respectful examination of ideas they would rather avoid considering and try to play a trump card to end play. Often that trump is one anecdote or a call to authority or a claimed consensus.

This trick is called 'dunking' and can ruin a good discussion by devolving what was a clinical discussion into an emotional competition.

I understand that and can't say I've never done myself. In fact I can be very good at it but I reformed years ago and try very hard not to disagree too violently or contradict others because I know the effect is to drive people away when my goal is to bring people together and hear the ideas that counter mine so I can learn.

So what I am saying here is this:

I respect everyone and especially people who disagree with me who take the time to compare thoughts and evidence with me. I write this diary to expose my confusion and doubt and silly misunderstandings and not to show that I am right or know the Truth.

I don't and I doubt anyone does so I hope we can be a bit more tactful on our inevitable disagreement even if we think we have the Truth.

I would hate for this discussion to become polarized and poisoned like social media. Can't we all just get along?

Improv theatre offers some interesting rules for cooperating and the first is never flat out disagree because that stops everything. Always find something to agree with and work from there.

That said, I agree with both of you.

But...

Here are a couple of links to improv rules. The fit is not perfect for our situation but understanding them and practicing them where appropriate can make being with others a whole lot more fun.

https://zapier.com/learn/customer-suppo ... r-support/

http://improvencyclopedia.org/reference ... mprov.html
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Tuesday July 14th 2020

Unread post by Allen Dick »

I woke up at 2 a.m. and was itchy and a bit stuffed up with a tickle in my throat and thought oh my maybe I've got the bug.

I got up, drank some water, took a couple of Benadryl and an aspirin, and went back to bed. Next thing I knew it was seven and I'm just fine.

This is day five of my isolation.

First thing, I looked at this forum and wrote an article regarding what could be becoming an argument in hopes I'm heading off conflict and in hopes that we can all get along and that nobody will feel attacked or rejected. I very much value all points of view, observations and experience to try to understand this unique and unusual point in history.

If there's one thing I have learned about this it is that what do you think and what you believe depends very greatly on where you are and who you are. What I thought and felt in Mexico is quite different from what I think and feel here so it's not surprising that we're going to have some disagreement. That disagreement can be very constructive or it could ruin this forum. Let's make sure we are supportive and constructive and let's examine each point of view, study, anecdote, and opinion without getting heated.
----

Today Ben is supposed to install the new drive into Magic Moments and the boat should be launched late today or tomorrow morning. At that point the plan is that I board that boat and take it to Powell River.

What happens then is unclear. My gear is all on board Cassiopeia and Cassiopeia is out on charter somewhere in Desolation Sound. I don't know when she returns to dock because the website does not show that detail. I do need to recover my books and supplies for my teaching which starts when this 14 days is overand they are under the forward bunk on that boat.

Am I in quarantine or am I not? I'm not sure. However I intend to observe isolation and social distancing for that period of time and wear a mask where appropriate.

I have tried to contact the authorities to clarify my status and what leeway I have but it's almost impossible. After over an hour on the phone yesterday my call was dropped. In my conversation with one agent she expressed surprise that no one has called me to confirm the details of my isolation. That would have been most helpful because reaching them is hell.

So I can either go on the phone and go through the telephone maze again and take a chance on talking to someone after a long hold or go on the assumption that if I act in good faith and don't expose other people that I will be on side.

I am not at all comfortable with the fact that the government has not contacted me to verify my isolation, as apparently they are supposed to do. I've made every effort to contact them from calling the RCMP before I came back to Canada and calling both the Federal and the provincial lines dedicated for this purpose for clarification.

At any rate, today I'll monitor the progress of the boat repair and organize my things to transfer to that boat. And wait.
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Tuesday July 14th 2020. Continued

Unread post by Allen Dick »

I got a call at two that the drive is in and the boat will splash at 230. Wow! That means I get a day's head start over what we expected. I can be at Gabriola by nightfall or maybe Nanaimo depending on when I leave and the tides.

So I packed up and am sitting here waiting. Vern will bring the boat alongside, leave, and I will board with my things and head out. I have until about nine to find my overnight anchorage. That reminds me. I'd better make sure the ground tackle works before leaving.

It's seems tomorrow I'll be bucking strong winds on the nose but the next day promises following winds. We'll see. Forecasts are often wrong.

I'm starting to feel really good about this. It's three now and no sign of Vern or the boat but I'm feeling this will all work out. I'm looking forward to transiting a favourite backyard. The Sea of Cortez is fabulous but this place has been home much longer.

Tonight I'll be anchored in one of my favourite spots. I'm guessing Clam Bay and I'm starting to get excited. I'm guessing I won't be swimming but maybe... After all it is July.

At 340 I called Vern and he is on his way. With luck I'll be out of here within an hour.

Vern arrived and tied up alongside then left in his dinghy. I move my boxes across, untied, and headed out.

The boat is running well and makes surprisingly good time. Seven or eight knots seems to be a good cruising speed. This is a new prop since the last time I was aboard. At that time the boat shook horribly and thus the new prop.

Since this boat is the same size as Baja Magic I'm surprised at the speed difference. Maybe Baja Magic needs another propeller. The prop on that boat is an expensive feathering prop but 5 knots is about max for motoring.

The trip became routine and as I had intuited Clam Bay turned out to be the best location for anchoring for the night.

I dropped anchor, had supper and went to bed.
Allen Dick, RR#1 Swalwell, Alberta, Canada T0M 1Y0
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Wednesday July 15th 2020

Unread post by Allen Dick »

I woke a little after 4 and checked the tides. It seems I can make the morning slack quite nicely at Dodds if I leave by 5.

I had breakfast, tidied up, then routinely checked the engine and the transmission. Surprise, Surprise: there is no oil on the transmission dipstick and this is a brand new transmission. It's probably not too serious but I don't want to take chances. I won't go anywhere until I get advice.

The transmission sounds normal and there is no oil slick near the boat so I am guessing the techs did not completely fill the transmission. This has happened before with Cassiopeia and no harm came of it. I guess there can be air bubbles trapped until the boat has been run a bit and the oil level then drops. I've found no oil on the dipstick in cars occasionally and after filling the oil they seemed to have suffered no ill-effects.

Regardless, I am not going anywhere until I contact Ben for advice, seeing as he just installed this new transmission on warranty, so I have two hours to kill sitting here in this beautiful calm bay. I should check the water temperature. Last year I swam here in July or August.

I also should launch the dinghy as I'll probably run through the cut to a marina and buy oil once I get advice.
Allen Dick, RR#1 Swalwell, Alberta, Canada T0M 1Y0
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Countryboy
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Re: Oooops

Unread post by Countryboy »

I noticed a little bit of emotion was creeping in here but let's let's stay friends, okay?
That assumes that everyone is friends to begin with.

My friends respect me. My friends have similar values and beliefs. My friends have a great love for freedom and liberty, and take great offense to those who wish to restrict that freedom and liberty. My friends understand that freedom and liberty come at a cost, and they do not advocate restricting the freedoms of others in the name of safety and security. My friends love other people.

BadBeeKeeper is no friend of mine. His words show that he does not have love or respect for others, and he advocates Anti-American ideals for other Americans. He advocates socialism in a country that was designed to protect citizens from Socialism.

“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.” ~ Samuel Adams
but so far I think we should consider ourselves fortunate and be considerate of others both in terms of their health and their opinions.
Where do we draw the line? Do we start restricting free speech so we are considerate of others opinions? God forbid we offend anyone. Do we ban automobiles, because people die in car accidents?

America already has a legal system designed to deal with whether or not people should wear a mask. If I am infected, and I don't wear a mask, and I infect you, then you have the responsibility of suing me for negligence. (And you will have a high burden to prove that your infection was directly due to me, and you were unable to mitigate the situation, especially considering that the worst cases of Covid are due to self-inflicted comorbidities.)
Just the same it's like wearing clothes. If you don't do it you get into trouble.
It's not like wearing clothes. You are only required to cover your genitals. The rest of the clothing is optional. (Although restaurants serving food typically require you to have shoes and a shirt on.)
Some time back I posted an article about the experience the Algonquins went through, suffering through a series of epidemics that killed as much as 90% of their populations at times.
As an aside, the word Algonquin means "bark eaters."
I'm not picking on anyone but this started with a statement "This is not true" in response to an observation offered by another contributor who happens to have a very strong scientific background.
What does that contributor's background have to do with anything? (Appealing to authority?) Nazi Germany's doctors had a very strong scientific background, and they did some absolutely heinous experiments on Jews. Having a scientific background does not make someone a good or moral person.
In law there is something known as the doctrine of the fruit of the poisonous tree. The basic premise is that if something is tainted from a source, then everything from that source is tainted.
The Christian Bible explains it that a good tree does not produce bad fruit, and a bad tree does not produce good fruit. (If you can see that a person(tree) is bad, then what comes from them is also bad....or if you see that someone is advocating bad things, you know that person is bad.)

Another thing to consider...just because someone is knowledgeable or an "expert" in something scientific, does not mean they are an expert or knowledgeable about anything else, and it is wrong to give them deference in any area other than their area of expertise.
A problem arises when we have doctors or scientists (who appear to know nothing about legal rights, economics, etc) trying to advocate policies and laws based upon "science."
Improv theatre offers some interesting rules for cooperating and the first is never flat out disagree because that stops everything. Always find something to agree with and work from there.
Cooperation is not always a good thing. You should also consider the source. Sometimes you are better off to reject everything from a source that you do not find credible or trustworthy. If you cooperate with evil, you become contaminated too.
B. Farmer Honey
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Re: Oooops

Unread post by Allen Dick »

Actually Brian i think my scientific friend was presenting info that supports your position. We are looking say so points of view here and what we do may be different from the position we argue. I have supported individual rights and responsibility and practice it. I also understand those who are not willing to die for for freedom. Of course we know that the only reason they can be so secure is that others paid the price.

Just the same we all have to get along and put up with one another.

After all it is just words.

I think this thread got hijacked so I'll be splitting it off to a new topic where those who wish to continue the new American civil war. I'm a Canuck. We have our own problems.

Here on this thread we will continue to try to understand what is really happening and kick ideas around without telling others what they should do or not do.

Moralizing and shaming can have its own thread where people can attack one another as much as they like.

As for splitting the thread and actually even posting this I am working with a telephone and not a computer. Doing anything is cumbersome so I am somewhat hamstrung. Everything is a little more difficult and some things may be impossible so it may take me a while to figure out how to do that. Meanwhile I'm at the helm of a boat and have the day ahead of me with its various tasks and challenges.
Allen Dick, RR#1 Swalwell, Alberta, Canada T0M 1Y0
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Thursday July 16th 2020

Unread post by Allen Dick »

I woke up at for and went up to look around. The night had to been reasonably calm and the boat had not moved much.

I had been up several times to check during the night because I was not sure exactly how much swing room I had.

Even though the depth was good this morning, I was concerned about the the falling tide. If I miscalculated I could be stuck there and worst case stranded tipped over on one side

My charts we're not in agreement about the depths and so in order to stop worrying I decided to leave.

I had breakfast and coffee and by 4:40 I had raised anchor and was underway.

The sun was still below the horizon and there was a bit of a haze but the visibility was good and I started for Powell River.

Overnight, the wind had shifted to the south as predicted giving me following seas and a tailwind. Following seas can be awkward as the waves toss the boat side to side as they overtake and pass ahead but the motion is tolerable.

My ETA for arrival at Powell River is 9:30. Once I arrive I really don't know what happens next. Colin has been very busy and has not provided me with many details. I assume that Larry will be there to greet me.

Well motoring along I decided to look into splitting this thread and it doesn't look as easy as I thought. Where is first went off the rails was the mention of Trump and the regurgitation of mass media exaggeration and selective reporting. This discussion is about presenting interesting facts and viewpoints and not dogma

I am not going to fall into the trap of trying to address each and every every bit of questionable information fallacy or exaggeration because that's an endless mug's game. Let's just drop it.

I don't think I'm going to be able to split this thread using my phone and so I'll leave this thread as is as an example of how how thread can accidentally get hijacked and go very wrong.

Let me repeat that I value all the contributors and hope we can stay away from hot button topics and moralizing that leads to fruitless argument and get on with presenting interesting articles and factoids.

Let's face it. You guys will never convince one another of anything by arguing so let's stay away from politics and religion at least on this thread. Please.

I arrived in Powell River and I'll be staying on the boat tonight
Allen Dick, RR#1 Swalwell, Alberta, Canada T0M 1Y0
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Friday July 17th 2020

Unread post by Allen Dick »

Well. I slept well on Maverick and woke at 8. That means I slept almost eleven hours, understandable after the long day outdoors and poor sleep the night before.

The comments have stopped which is a relief but also a little disappointing. I enjoy some feedback but I don't enjoy pointless conflict.

This question is very much like the philosophical, moral, and legal question which is illustrated by the case of a car running out of control and the driver having a choice of either running into a school yard full of kids or mowing down an old couple on the crosswalk.

It's a question that is impossible to answer without abandoning logic and retreating to dogma, and one which has kept theologians, philosophers, legislators, and lawyers occupied since the dawn of time.

One most interesting current example arises when designing software to drive cars totally autonomously. Currently each driver is responsible for each decision and no manufacturer wants to take responsibility for the decisions that a driver currently has to make on the spur of the moment, due to the inevitably of massive and interminable lawsuits.

A good example is the case where a truck driver on a downhill rounds a curve and had seconds to decide whether to plow through a group of ignorant gawking tourists in; the middle of the road on the bridge right ahead or drive the truck into the river. We had a case not long ago and the driver chose to sacrifice himself and his load.

Would people want an algorithm to make that choice? Maybe. Maybe not. Would you know when you got 'behind the wheel'?

I don't want to open the topic for more dogmatic debate but merely point out that on questions like this even the best minds can't agree. Without making value judgments there actually may not be a solution and thus the tendency to fall back on dogma.

With this virus and others like it we're faced with a bad situation where people are going to die regardless of what we do, and regardless of what we do there's going to be a harmful effect on the economy and people's livelihoods--and their assets and their futures. It comes down to whose ox is going to be gored.

Let's leave it at that


News for today: Cassiopeia has a plugged up drain on the forward wastewater tank which is backing up the toilet and the boat has to go out on charter later today. We have an appointment at 11 to go to the pumpout but there's a boat blocking the access.

So, Larry may have to shuffle boats some more. I just moved on to Maverick but may have to move back off and if I do I guess it'll be onto Cassiopeia. I can think of worse things.

This is day eight of my self-isolation after returning from Mexico and I am not noticing any signs of the virus. However, as I have promised, and I'm required to do, I m being very careful to avoid contact with people. Doing the anti-social distancing thing and I do wash my hands often and wear a mask where there's risk of getting close to others.

Assuming we can reach the pump out I will maneuver Cassiopeia over since Larry does not feel competent to do that and Larry will ride over on the foredeck and do the pumping out so that we're not close to one another and then we will return here.

After that I'm clear to leave as soon as the tide rises enough that I can get out past the other boats and I will dawdle along and isolate somewhere along the way back to Sidney. I'm planning on taking three days. That will take me to day eleven. If the pumpout doesn't work out I don't know what we'll be doing.

The pumpout worked out and we cleared the blockage. That good because the charter means a few boat bucks toward the costs of owning and maintaining the fleet.

It is good for me to get on my boats once in awhile because I noticed the steering is feeling a bit tight. I poured a cup of ATF down the shaft.

I had instructed a maintenance service to do that but of course he had a better idea, ignored instructions and used a grease. I think he was peeved because he would have preferred to charge me six grand to tear it all apart and rebuild it.

I got back to Maverick and look at the battery level again and realized I really can't go anywhere until I charge this battery. So I hunted around and found a cable that fits because the one that belongs with this boat was left in Sidney.

Then I talked to my mother. she's worried because the lawn sprinkling service wants to charge her $800 for a new pump. I think she knew something was wrong. Any new pumps I've ever bought are about 200. I phoned the sprinkler service up and had a chat with the guy. What a sleaze. Anyhow I told him to find a more reasonable option and get back to me. Then I phoned my brother who is actually in charge of things like this but of course I got his answering service.

So now I'm sitting here on Maverick waiting for the battery to charge and I tried to come back in. Believe it or not although the voltages up the state of charge on the battery is down. I think I'll be here for the night. That's fine

While charging the batteries I had a long nap. When I woke the tide was up and I could leave so I made preparations, untied, and motored out of the harbour.

By then it was six and I had no idea where I was going with about three hours until dark. I like to be settled at least an hour before last light so that meant I need to find a choice to anchor within twelve miles max.

Sturt Bay on Texada Island was not far but I wanted to make some distance and I don't especially like that anchorage so I settled on Thunder Bay on Sechelt Inlet and turned south. The wind was light so I furled the Genoa after a brief try at sailing.

Maverick is a really nice boat and very roomy for a thirty eight footer.

Looking at the wind predictions and the charts i decided to try Frolander Bay seeing as it did not require traveling out of way and it looked to have the right depths and clearances from shore and obstacles.

I anchored in fifteen feet of water and then consulted the tides. Seeing as the drop will be twelve feet by ten tomorrow I figured I'd better plan on leaving sooner since I reckon to draw at least six feet. I then checked the depth sounder calibration and found it measures from the surface not the depth under the keel meaning that the bottom clearance was risky even if I planned to leave early. What if the engine did not start or I was sick?

Bottoming on a falling tide is embarrassing at best and can lay the boat on its side, worst case. It is taking a smile to get used to five meter tides after the Baja's four feet or sp. Aldo, mixing metres and feet can be dangerously confusing.

I pulled up the anchor and moved out to deeper water and am now seeing a twenty five foot reading and that makes me feel more secure.

Although this is a nice anchorage there is little to no cellular Internet here.

The sun was setting and I went to bed early. I've discovered that listening to my Pimsleur spanish lessons on a timer on Audible is a good way to fall asleep and that is custom lately. It keeps other thoughts from keeping awake and seems to help with my adaptation to the language.
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Saturday July 18th 2020

Unread post by Allen Dick »

I'm up at 0530 after a good night's sleep at anchor in this quiet bay. We hardly moved.

This is day nine and so far no flu. Five days to go until I am in the clear.

I have to deliver this boat to Vancouver sometime before long but await instructions.

There is no cellular Internet coverage here in this bay so I'll be incommunicado until I get out and into Malaspina Channel. Otherwise I have an unplanned day ahead.On the meantime I have nothing to do but sail around and explore.

I raised anchor around 7 and motored out of the Bay and pulled out the genoa. The wind is very light but it is going my way. I'm only making less than two knots but that's fine because I have nowhere to go and lots of time to get there.

I could raise the main but this is a conventional rig and that amounts to work. Moreover I see farther down the channel there is a lot more wind so as soon as I get fully canvassed I might have to reef. just the same I should do it just to stay in practice I guess.

It's 9 now and I'm moving at 4 knots which is just fine. I was below making a stew seeing as there was nothing in sight and there aren't any logs floating around today. When I came up I was surprised to see a couple of cruisers go by so I guess I should pay more attention. What if they were below cooking too?

Moving at 4 knots one doesn't really expect to see a lot of traffic go by. It's not like flying a 747 at about 500 knots where if you spot a dot on the horizon coming your way it's passing you within a minute. Out here in the middle of the channel I expect to see anything that's going to come close at least 5 or 10 minutes away but time passes very quickly when we are busy with a distraction. It's a lesson I never seem to learn.

The day is turning out to be beautiful and I'm thinking I'll probably go check out Lasqueti and Jebediah Islands again and the areas around there. I'm still waiting to find out when I have to be in Vancouver.

I checked the scheduling for Cassiopeia online and was surprised to find the boat is suddenly booked until the end of September.

I put in a call to Genny to find out what's up. I am planning to use the boat in the middle of September and that time slot is never ever booked so I'm going to have to find out what's happening. Apparently with his virus going on and people not wanting to travel the idea of getting out and isolating on a boat a long way from everybody else is becoming very popular. I guess that's a good thing.

I got word just now. I don't have to be in Vancouver until Tuesday. That's perfecto because it gives me today Sunday, Monday, and most of Tuesday to self isolate out here on the Sunshine Coast. I have enough food to last me I think. That will take me to day 12. Then I have to somehow get to Sidney again while staying in isolation to pick up my computer and a few other things. Who knows? Every day is a surprise

Now just coming up on noon I'm halfway down Texada, making maybe two knots. I aised the main and I was surprised how easy it was on this boat. Now I'm running wing-on-wing with almost no wind. I'll be out here awhile by the looks of things unless I decide to start the engine and go exploring.

I started the engine and motored into Anderson Bay. On the way in I heard a bang and Coquille touch bottom. That's not good but at least it didn't stop the boat or cars a big bump. I consider myself lucky. That was bad luck but the good luck was no serious damage was done.

I scouted around in there and noticed that everyone was using stern ties. There were no rings on the rocks so I would have had to launch the dinghy and I decided since it wasn't even two yet that I would continue on to Lasquti Island and explore some more.

Conditions for dead calm as I motored south but when I rounded the southern tip of Texada Island the wind was quite strong so I raised sailed and crossed to Squitty Bay. I looked at going in but found the charts were very inaccurate and the tides were very low so I continued on. After an hour and a half or so I decided on a little Bay called Boat Bay for the night, went in and anchored.

I had supper then watched Barney Miller onYouTube for a while and did some more Spanish on Duolingo. I'm not very happy with Duolingo but it works for me along with other things.

I set the anchor alarms and I was in bed by 10.
Allen Dick, RR#1 Swalwell, Alberta, Canada T0M 1Y0
51° 33'39.64"N 113°18'52.45"W
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Allen Dick
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Sunday July 19th 20/20

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I woke up after midnight to the sound of a halyard slapping on the mast, then one of the alarms went off too so I got up and went up top to check the halyard.

Out here, away from the light pollution of civilization, the skies are ablaze with stars. Looking due north, I noticed what looked at first like a streak of northern lights but I thought we don't see northern lights in the summer much if ever and realized what I was seeing is a comet.

I recalled vaguely hearing something about a comet in the news so I looked it up and sure enough this must be NEOWISE which is reported to be seen in the northern sky.

I stayed up a little while did little bit of Spanish and noticed my internet had quit but I have now found an easy way to restore it and the process only took a moment or two.

Buying the large package of 8GB somehow is always refused but Telcel offers me 1.6 GB for a hundred pesos which is about seven Canadian dollars with one click. So that means I'm renewing five times more often but without the kind of agony I've gone through in the past trying to get my credit card accepted.

I went back to bed and slept well until about 8 when I got up and found the sun already shining in the portlights. The day is reasonably warm by Canadian standards.This is July. I'm wearing my long underwear and socks so I'm warm enough. By afternoon it'll be hot enough that I'll be stripping down to the minimum, or less, if I'm out of public view.

The wind is howling in the rigging and this would be a perfect day for a fast run downwind but I'm thinking I may stay here in this nice sheltered bay for the day seeing as I have several days to kill. I have internet here to keep me entertained and I can catch up on a few things. I have run out of eggs and I'm down to the last of my chicken but I have lots of other food so I'm good for a few more days and probably to the end of my isolation period. Oh yes, I almost forgot. I'm out of beer too.

I do have to return to Vancouver on Tuesday so I have to figure out how to continue my isolation after returning this boat because according to my reckoning I have two more days to stay away from others after Tuesday.

I'm assured I'll be provided with another boat and it would be really nice if it wants to go back to Sidney but I'm also told that they will have work for me after my isolation is over so I could be staying in Vancouver the two days or they could send me to Powell River or Sidney. I could be teaching lessons or skippering out of Vancouver or delivering another boat. At this point I just don't know.

Yesterday was feeling a bit depressed and a bit oppressed by the communications I've received and have not received from the government about isolating. The expectations seem to be somewhat nebulous and subject to interpretationwith occasional stories of draconian arbitrary and capricious enforcement and fines. According to the email which arrived a day late, yesterday, I'm supposed to be receiving robocalls and perhaps personal calls from whoever is managing this but so far I have not heard from them and it would have been really nice to hear from them early on to clarify things instead of my having to try to chase them down and go through long telephone mazes and eventually being dropped at quitting time.

Some aspects of this seem to be pointless and it has been revealed that in fact some 80% of arrivals in Canada are exempt due to being truckers or ship's crew or airline crew or involved in some essential service. Whether I actually qualify or not is something I tried to clarify by making phone calls with very little luck so I figure I'm in a gray area.

Just the same I am isolating and being careful. I also I'm wondering how they calculate the days.

I arrived on a Thursday at about 11 a.m. I got an email yesterday that said they send that email out on day eight. By my count yesterday was day nine. Who knows how the government thinks or if it actually does?

By my reckoning for me today is day number ten (Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday) and Thursday at eleven o'clock measures out to exactly fourteen days since arrival in Canada.


I came across a really good article about safety in Mexico today and will share it here. The article shares far more insights than the heading suggests.

Is Mexico Safe for Expats? Mexico Safety | Mexico Crime Stats

https://www.mexicoonmymind.com/is-mexico-safe/

I'm wondering if the water is warm enough for swimming. I have a thermometer here somewhere. I also have my shorty wetsuit and my snorkel gear here so swimming shouldn't be too bad as long as the water somewhere around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Around here it can be more like 50 Fahrenheit so I like to check before I go in.

I don't expect the snorkeling around here to be particularly good. I'm not expecting to see coral but I would see crabs and maybe lobsters definitely starfish.

As for the reef fish I see down south I don't expect to see any here but who knows? I actually haven't done much snorkeling here in the Salish Sea largely because of the water temperatures, and in summer when I swam it was off the boat in deep water. Here I'm fairly close to shore so we'll see what the day brings.

It's ten now and the tide is all the way out. The wind has dropped down to nothing so this may not have been a great day for a downwind. My anchoring worked out well. The boat has stayed in position very nicely and not approached the other boat or the shore.

I like to keep an open mind about various things and I came across a very interesting article here.

For Seattle’s cop-free protest zone, tech is both a revolutionary asset and disastrous liability.

https://techcrunch.com/2020/07/18/for-s ... liability/

This one strikes me as being a bit one-sided but it is a worthwhile read for perspective.

Does tech have the guts to deploy its resources against police brutality?

In my opinion the real elephant in the room is how people are sorted in two and sometimes more groups without their consent by media and many so-called gurus and the public falls in step. There's an old expression, 'Divide and conquer'. If we're being divided we should look and see who's trying to conquer us.

For example, I have never agreed to be classed as white and I don't think of myself as 'white'and I try to avoid using the 'w' word even though these days it seems to be a totally socially acceptable racial slur when other racial epithets are taboo.

I wonder how many people who get into identified as black or so-called African American these days wish to be classed as such or treated as part of a group.

From what I can see a large percentage of the 'people of color' are at least partly and often mostly of Caucasian heritage. Fifty years ago and more people talked about 'colored people'. For a while this faded but now we are expected to talk about and identify people of various ethnicities as 'people of color'. How far we come?

I think this is a real travesty and the cause of are a lot of pointless grief. We saw where this leads in fairly recent massacres in places like Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, both places where people who were happily getting along and even intermarried with other groups were suddenly forced to identify with one faction or the other and then incited to mindless and pointless violence. It's just a Shot Away. We are seeing this happening in North America right now.

Is Obama Black? What makes you think so? His skin or his actions?


Then here is a surprisingly good article about free speech from The Guardian, of all places. Maybe sanity is returning to public discourse.

It's the powerless who suffer when free speech is threatened | Freedom of speech
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... threatened

my little incident yesterday got me thinking and I began a magazine article that I will try to peddle to one of the yachting magazines out here on the west coast. Judging by the quality of their articles I think I stand a pretty good chance of being published and I write copiously anyhow as you have probably noticed if you're reading this.

Years back (2002) I used to write for Bee Culture but I quit when I started getting assignments. I'm only good at writing about what I care about and when I care about it. That pretty much describes me generally. I can't do anything unless my heart's in it. I never really could work just for the money and I've often worked for nothing just because I liked the work or the people.

Frankly, that's The Secret of My Success. Do what you love for people that you love and don't worry too much about the rewards. They come from surprising places.
Allen Dick, RR#1 Swalwell, Alberta, Canada T0M 1Y0
51° 33'39.64"N 113°18'52.45"W
http://www.honeybeeworld.com/Allen%27s%20Beehives.kmz
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Sunday, Continued.

Unread post by Allen Dick »

That last article was starting to get a bit long so I thought I'd start a new page. I'm in the saloon (main cabin) of this borrowed sailboat writing this. I'll work on my article a little more later but right now I'm taking a break.

I should count the words in that article and in the magazines, too because writers are paid by the word and magazines like a thousand or maybe three thousand words depending on the type of article.

I thought I'd look this up online to see and boy have things changed since I was writing for magazines. This article is most interesting.

What is the Optimal Content Length? - Here's What the Science Says . https://youtu.be/RbmS3tQJ7Os

Everyone is writing for the internet now and it seems the audience's attention span is really short. Recommendations in other articles that come up in a Google search are to make articles as short as 100 or 150 words.

I find that shocking. I'm also uncomfortable with the tendency to make videos rather than write articles in text. I consider many videos to be a waste of everyone's time because it is very difficult to scan for what's worthwhile and pass over what is not. I suppose reading is becoming a lost art

The wind is picking up again now and the day is warm but not hot, at least not hot enough to inspire me to go swimming yet.

A little while ago and made a salad. I thought I'd better before my lettuce gets too brown. It's over a week old and it's actually still pretty fresh but I can't count on it lasting much longer.

I have been posting much lately in the way of articles but I had sometime today so I thought I would offer a few. I have pretty much given up on the mainstream media but Zero Hedge always has some interesting stuff. You have to use your brains when you're reading it though because as with everything the writers are talking their book. Aren't we all?

Europe Uncensored: An Online Warning Shot
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/ ... ing-shot[b]

Face Masks Mandated By UK Government Specifically Say They Don't Protect Against COVID-19
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/fac ... covid-19[b]

The Clown Cars Are Fully Loaded And Dr. Fauci's Leading The Parade
Stockman is a good read but it tends to be pretty windy. I wouldn't blame anyone for quitting before the end.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/sto ... ing-parade

Face Mask Usage By Demographic
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/fac ... emographic

This one is a must to read
The Sordid History of Scam Science
https://www.aier.org/article/the-sordid ... m-science/

And here is a sad tale. I've never worried on Mexico but maybe the times are changing.

'After a 20-year relationship, I'm giving up on Mexico'

https://mexiconewsdaily.com/opinion/aft ... on-mexico/

I'm thinking now that maybe I'll leave with first light tomorrow morning or whenever I'm ready then head south. I have one more full day and an overnight before I have to be back in Vancouver.

The sun is setting and I'll be in bed before long after maybe another Barney Miller or two. But first here's a bedtime story from a reader.
...A few mornings ago I was puttering in our small storage building where we have confined our tv, with an antennae that captures a dozen or so stations for free. I turn it on if I remember while there mostly to confirm the low quality of almost everything beamed to the masses. One of those really horrible morning "news" shows was on, I think it may actually be called "Good Morning America".

The hostess happened to be interviewing Bill Nye, the Science guy in his demo laboratory, think he is Canuck. Bill was complaining of how anti science attitudes were making things so much worse for the virus response. Then he proceeded to do a couple of demos- one of the effectiveness of various masks by blowing into them with a candle in front. And then something on aerosol particle diffusion by puffing some kind of powder into the air and making it pass through a laser beam.

Nothing on the biology of the virus, infective doses, detection limits by the various tests, history of interactions of parasites with humans, importance of the immune system, improvements in patient care.

That would just not be showy enough I guess...
Sleep tight
Allen Dick, RR#1 Swalwell, Alberta, Canada T0M 1Y0
51° 33'39.64"N 113°18'52.45"W
http://www.honeybeeworld.com/Allen%27s%20Beehives.kmz
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Allen Dick
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Monday July 20th 2002

Unread post by Allen Dick »

I woke at 5:45 to the gentle rocking as swells were finding their way into the Cove from the south. At some point overnight there had been wind from the south creating a bit of swell but now just before sunrise everything is calm.

I expected the north winds to continue today and was counting on them for a ride south but we will see. In here there's very little wind.

I'm going to have to motor anyhow because I see that house battery is way down overnight, down below where it should be allowed to go.

Just before bed last night I ran the engine for 40 minutes to charge the batteries because I noticed they were low and I guess maybe the batteries are either very small or very old on this boat but whatever the reason, they don't hold much charge and they are down again already.

Possibly I've been drawing more power than I thought in that I didn't turn off the propane relay when I wasn't using the stove and maybe charging my phone and tablet are using more power than I thought, but I haven't had that problem on other boats.

I raised the anchor around 7:30 and motored out of the anchorage. Outside in the strait, the wind was blowing hard so I raised this genoa and ran downwind but I had to run the motor too because I needed to charge batteries.

Swells were coming from two different directions and after a while the tossing from two different directions was becoming uncomfortable. I was looking forward to at least five or six hours until my next stop. So, to relieve the discomfort I decided to tack across to Welcome Passage and explore a bit.

As I was crossing some busybody called the coast guard on the VHF to report a sailboat lying on its side on the beach. He reported the guy was standing beside his boat looking at things and not waving or gesticulating in any way so I gather there was no panic.

I'm guessing that the poor guy had anchored in Rouse Bay, the same bay I anchored in the other night where I had worried about bottoming and he had been stranded by the falling tide in the same manner that I had worried might happen if I was not very careful.

I had been very careful to check the depths within my swing radius and to anchor in deep water. Moreover just to be extra safe I had left early before the tide dropped very far.

Calling the coast guard might sound like a good idea, but unless there's a real need for assistance from SAR ot the coast guard, they just meddle and make a nuisance of themselves.

In my case I lost the boat that's down 85 feet at Malibu Rapids partly due to their interference with the charter client's efforts to mitigate the problem after he ran aground. Some jerk called the coast guard and they showed up. Otherwise the balloon probably still be floating.

In this case the sailor is just waiting for the tide to come back to refloat his boat and if he wanted the coast guard or rescue he would have called himself.

The fella who reported to the coast guard may have thought he was doing a good thing or maybe he was just being an asshole. I vote for the latter.

Maybe he thought he was being a 'good citizen' but facts are he was just being a snitch. The coast guard would just as soon not hear about these things because if they do procedure demands that they have to make a nuisance of themselves everybody would have been happier if this guy just minding his own business.


About now I'm coming up on Secret Cove and I haven't decided whether to go in there and poke around, whether I should just go to Smuggler Cove and anchor for the night, or head south again to Gibson's or Plumper Cove to overnight leaving me with just three or so hours for my trip into Vancouver.

Maybe heading south is the best idea seeing as I have still 45 miles to go and that means 9 hours of travel before I pull into the slip at Granville!Island sometime tomorrow.

I'm ordered into secret Cove and drop the hook for a lunch break. I had soup and a nice one hour nap, raised the anchor, and I'm heading south through welcome passage. Exactly where I'm going I really don't know. Gibson's would be nice. But I will poke along the coast and see what else I find. The wind has picked up a bit and I've raised to sail but I'm not going very fast so I'm also running the motor seeing as I have to charge batteries and this is a good opportunity.

I hope the kind of artificial intelligence that I'm using for this voice recognition dictation is not the same kind of AI that's going to make any kind of major decisions Force because it's pretty brain-dead. I don't know how many times I have to correct the word sale to sail before it gets it, if it ever does. One benefit however is that I realize I am not enunciating very well and I am forced to mprove my speech. That may or may not be a good because people may actually start to understand me and stop just nodding when I talk.

There's an awful lot of traffic out here considering we have a so-called covid emergency. after all this time cooped up in the house I guess people just want to get out and word is that the chances of contagion are very low in the outdoors especially when there's a breeze and bright sunshine.

Right now Gibson's is 20 sea miles away and I'm making about four knots, so at this rate I won't be there until six or so. I'm expecting the wind will pick up once I get through this gap, though, and maybe I'll push it a bit with the engine especially if I went the battery to last the night.

I ran out of Internet a few minutes ago and had to renew. 1.6 GB does not last me long. Renewing is a real pain but at least I can do it with a click or two now.

I pushed the throttle up to six knots or so and now Gibson's is only a little over 3 hours away. Can a car that would be a long time put on a boat I can do with various things like sight see or read or write in my diary.

At first I thought I liked this boat a lot because it's in very good condition but as I use it more I'm finding more and more things I don't like much. The host batteries are far too small and the charger does not return them to full charge quickly. I don't like the operating position. For one thing the stern benches have nothing to keep things from falling off into the sea behind and the jib sheets keep getting caught in things as well. Just the same, it's a very nice boat and for what I'm paying which is nothing, an excellent value.

As I sail along I have lots of time to think and something comes to mind is thatwhen I have women as crew, not students, I've noticed they all think they should be able to tell me what to do.

Guys mostly don't have that problem although I have had to explain to several who are experienced skippers themselves that there can only be one captain on board, but I only had to tell them once.

I can't think of the last four women and none of them justl did notseem to get it for some reason. Even women who claim to be experienced as crew quite often don't seem to have much training or any understanding of the ground rules that people must accept when they step onto a yacht.

The first of those rules is that the crew must obey the captain in matters related to operating the ship. That does not mean they cannot question if there seems to be a danger or something seems to have been overlooked, but the crew should not expect the captain to have to explain everything or to follow orders from the crew. Very curious.


There's no place to put my phone or anything else on the center cockpit table because it's so narrow and the operating gauges are divided between the two Helms and down low where they are awkward to see. the chartplotter, believe it or not is down below in the center cabin, and there is nothing at the helm so I do have to use my phone for charts.

This is been a rough ride coming down from secret Cove this time. For a while I had wind but then it died and all it was left with the swells that the wind it created. The present on motoring down to Gibson's and will be entering shoal channel within the hour. My timing should be good because the tide is coming up. That channel is fairly shallow and some caution is required. I'm not a particularly enjoying this trip. For some reason, I'm finding my food unsatisfying and right about now a beer would be nice. Being restrained from socializing and going ashore is not a lot of fun okay. I'm used to my freedom and I wonder and think about what it's like for old folks cooped up. My mother has friends and quite a few visitors but she complains about the isolation.

When I get to Vancouver I may well be moving to another boat and it sounds as if I'll be staying at the dock in Vancouver until I'm expected to go to Powell River again to deliver Cassiopeia back to Sidney on Monday. How do I get there I have no clue. Of course that's all subject to change. Everything in this business is changing daily.

I checked zerohedge.com today and surprisingly there's nothing much of interest there. Usually I find at least a few stories that are worth passing on but today, zilch. The rush to Insanity seems to have slowed.

I watched a couple of episodes of Barney Miller on YouTube and then YouTube serve me up with, of all things, Petticoat Junction. I don't like YouTube pushing things on me or automatically starting up the next item and I thought I turned it off. So, I wasn't going to watch it but I thought what the heck and it turned out to be hilarious, corny but hilarious.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7eQPm5e-lE

I went to bed sometime around 10 or maybe it was 11.
Allen Dick, RR#1 Swalwell, Alberta, Canada T0M 1Y0
51° 33'39.64"N 113°18'52.45"W
http://www.honeybeeworld.com/Allen%27s%20Beehives.kmz
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Allen Dick
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Tuesday July 21st 2020

Unread post by Allen Dick »

My anchor alarm went off at four o clock, two minutes to four actually, if we're going to be accurate.

The tablet had become unplugged and the battery went down. and although I had not moved the alarm went off anyhow because I was down to 2% battery on the tablet and the program was worried that it would turn off shortly and leave me unprotected. Great of failure is why I run the alarm on two devices, but it doubles the number of false alarms.

Goes to show I'm actually a pretty cautious guy. In spite of my rather unconventional way of living send the apparent risks I take, I do calculate the puts and try to ensure they are on my side.


This is day 12. I've looked at the numbers and it seems very clear that most if not all infectiond show up well before day 12 and typically around day 6 to 8 at the latest, so 14 days seems punitive.

I'm also seeing articles indicating that a very large number of people are ignoring the order to self isolate but in my case I'm being scrupulous. That's partly because as a sailing instructor I am in a situation where in the very remote possibility that I became ill and infected people, that would reflect very badly on the company.

British Columbia, right or wrong, has taken the approach of trying to avoid infections and largely, it has seemed to work. And, seeing as I'm in British Columbia who am I to go against their plan?

COVID-19 cases in British Columbia

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british- ... -1.5655625

Will I wear a mask, though? Not any more than I have to. Society forces all kinds of strange things on people. When I was in high school the girls had to wear skirts to school with bare legs in spite of the fact that some had to walk to school in -30 weather. I had to wear a suit to church. When I went to sit in the gallery and Parliament to observe democracy in action I was required to wear a tie or would be turned away so I had to borrow one. I guess that's sort of like a mask isn't it? In some countries women have to wear head coverings or even burkas.

To my mind and from all the good evidence I have seen, the masks most people wear are of little value in protecting against the virus. They are just a badge, a sign of belonging, virtue signaling, and a fashion statement. And worse, the evidence suggests that they are a signal of unreasoning subservience to social pressure and authority.

Why have some authorities chosen to make masks mandatory now that the worst of the pandemic seems to be over? My guess is that it's to assert control and also to provide some comfort for the kind of people who need to do something, anything, about something that they actually can't do anything about. This urge makes little practical sense but it was ever thus and those who want to retain power know it. They don't want to be accused of doing nothing even if there is nothing to be done and nothing is the proper course of action.


-------

Anyhow, I found I was up now and not tired so I'm up for the day. For now at least. I'll pack and get underway.

I'm about four hours from Vancouver and I don't have to be there until sometime after lunch so I imagine I'll stop for a nap along the way somewhere.

Surprisingly, the boat battery held up overnight so maybe I was squandering power earlier by leaving the propane solenoid on or by some other power consuming activity. I suspect these phone and tablet chargers draw a fair amount of juice.

Is COVID-19 Causing Broken Heart Syndrome?
https://www.verywellhealth.com/is-covid ... me-5071348

Does humanity have an unseen ally against COVID?
https://nationalpost.com/opinion/colby- ... inst-covid

This article is an absolute must to read and the comments are every bit was good.
The Left is Now the Right
https://taibbi.substack.com/p/the-left-is-now-the-right

By six, I had raised the anchor and was motoring across to Plumper Cove. I wanted to see how full it was and I discovered that the anchorage is quite full. It's a popular spot. I need to know this sort of thing for when I am acting as a guide for teaching a course.

The sun is just coming up and although the night was warming up that I left the hatches open I'm wearing my toque and long underwear and a jacket. I'm even wearing shoes. This is definitely not Mexico.

By seven I was rounding the northeastern tip of Bowen Island and I'm on the home stretch. I am two hours from Vancouver with as much as 10 hours on my hands. I think I may stop and drop an anchor in Mannion Bay and chill for a while.

I did not get as far as Mannion Bay. I dropped anchor just before the point and I'm going to stay here an hour or two and do a few odds and ends.

I'll be pulling into Vancouver about 2 o clock. Meantime I am anchored here in Enchanta Bay. I've been cleaning up this boat and doing a bit of reading and I came across these articles.

Considering all the other things I've read, to me these seem slanted, dishonest.

Recovering from the coronavirus has its own negative health impacts
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/ ... 442730002/

Sweden's COVID death toll is unnerving due to herd immunity experiment
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/ ... 472100002/

As is so often the case the writers seem to be cherry picking the worst examples and focusing on unrepresentative or out of context statements to make a case, rather than to discuss honestly the pros and cons and serious difficulties did every action or inaction engenders.

It seems to me that very many in the mainstream and politicians are waiting for the savior to show up to bail them out.

Typically, although not always spoken out right, they expect salvation to come in the form of a vaccine and there are many hopeful reports of partial successes. Howevert many actual experts say that developing and proving a vaccine that actually worksmore than sporadically and does not turn out to be harmful is far more difficult to do in practice than it is to do in magazine writing and TV programs.

Strangely the people who emphasize rare enduring side effects that have been occasionally associated with covid neglect the rare and enduring side effects that occasionally are blamed on vaccines. In fact the same people encourage cutting corners and accelerating the distribution of unproven vaccines.

I'm not an anti vaxxer. In fact I'm the first in line when the flu shot comes out. I'm not an anti vaxxer but I am someone who believes in looking for the whole truth and not just pieces and I know there are risks to anything if enough people are involved.

I'm starting to get fairly good at using this phone for searching writing and editing although I much prefer a grown up computer. I wonder when my laptop will show up in Sidney

Around 11 I heard a chopper overhead circling and I thought that's very close and very odd. I wondered if I should take it personally so I went up top after a while and took a look. It seems a fishing boat had pulled up to the strip of land at the head of this Bay that is joining the island to the mainland and unloaded a casualty. The chopper loaded the casualty and took off. That's all I know.

Well, that's what I thought because most of them was taking place behind the landing out of sight. soon I notice however the helicopter returned and started lifting building materials onto the island. I'm ordered around and looked at the other side and could see there was one house up there already and they're building another one. It just goes to show how easy it is to get the wrong impression.

I motored back to Granville Island. I seriously considered stopping at Bowen Island and going up to get a case of beer and some groceries cuz I know perfectly well nobody would ever bother me. I decided against it and was tied up at Granville Island shortly before 2 o clock.

I packed all my things up and found out I was having a headache so I had a nap. Has seemed to help a lot. I'm still waiting to find out whether I'm going to stay on this boat or go to another boat.

Colin says that maybe I'll be taking this boat to Sidney on Thursday in which case the side trip to Vancouver might have been unnecessary. We'll see because apparently there's a prospective buyer who wanted to see the boat.

Meantime I'm sitting here with time on my hands. It's only 5 now but I think I might just watch the rest of Petticoat Junction. I'm tired from my time out in the fresh air.

I watched more of Petticoat Junction and then started on McClintock.

Watching these old films from the 60s is very interesting and instructive. The underlying assumptions and social conventions of the time are quite different from today.

The underlying message seemed to be that everything is fine and people all get along and are tolerant of one another. Just the same watching McClintock and how this very rich Rancher was getting along with everybody and being a friend to the poor and the Indians and helping the Comanches stand up to the government was somewhat self-congratulatory and disingenuous. I assume that huge cattle ranch that he owned head belonged to the same Comanches not too long before. And there was reference to Indian wars not too far in their past.

Just the same it was a bit of a morality play that's set an example that led away from the kind of discrimination and exploitation that was and is ongoing and historical.

Personally I doubt that things will ever change, only who's on top and the mood. As the who said in their classic, Won't Get Fooled Again , "Here comes the new boss just like the old boss".

It would take a lot of thinking and a lot of words to try to tease out and explain the underlying power structure and fallacies back in those days and to get a really honest look at what's happening today.

our current Canadian government scandal is a perfect example of extreme privilege being so taken for granted that the Prime Minister and his cabinet didn't even realize what a huge conflict of interest they were in.

Looking back, things were just as confused back then as they are now. I think I'll leave that alone for now.

Regardless of what society we look at there is a hierarchy and there is a power structure and those in power don't see it as being as clear and distinct and privileged as it is or take it for granted, but those out of power are always chipping away at it. Entitlement is invisible to the entitled but much more obvious to outsiders.

One thing that's clear to me is that this will never change and any attempt to change it will just change who is privileged and who is not. It is impossible to create a level society as it runs against human nature and the nature of closely related animals. The best we can hope for is a benign intolerant and sharing society.

I heard from Colin and it seems that I am staying on this boat and sometime tomorrow I can start out to return this boat to Sidney.
Allen Dick, RR#1 Swalwell, Alberta, Canada T0M 1Y0
51° 33'39.64"N 113°18'52.45"W
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Wednesday July 22nd 2020

Unread post by Allen Dick »

I woke up at 6:30. I'm still here at the dock in Vancouver at Granville Island. The morning is cool an overcast has so many mornings are here in Vancouver even in summer.

This is day 13 of myself isolation and I'm still alive.

I'll start out for Sidney sometime later today. I'm still on Maverick, this 38.5 Dufour sailboat, and I'll anchor overnight along the way. Maybe at Clam Bay again, maybe at Montague, maybe at Whaler Bay. Who knows? I guess I'd better check the tides.

Seems my trip to Vancouver was unnecessary but that wasn't known until I'd been here a while.

Colin asked me to handle emergency phone calls today if they're directed to me and otherwise I don't have much to do except put water in the tank and wait and see if somebody comes to look at this boat. I considered getting some groceries but I think I'll just wait until tomorrow and go to the store and buy them myself. Ordering groceries for delivery is a lot less flexible and fun then going to the store and picking them myself.

If there's one thing I've learned from this experience is how accustomed I am to having the freedom come and go as I please and the health to be able to walk as far as I want to walk and sufficient money to ride if I wish and also not having to worry if I need something. Of course there are limits but there are always limits.

For some reason I'm in a philosophical mood today and I started off writing more than a few paragraphs but decided to spare the diary my nebulous and confused thoughts on the subject.

If I had to speculate why I'm in this mood I would attribute it to having uprooted myself from my pleasant life in La Paz, my travel from Mexico through five airports in three countries, and my semi self imprisonment over the past two weeks. Over recent months I have had an glimpse into the seething, confused, mind of the masses in a period of increasing political and social turmoil.

I expect I'll leave this afternoon and anchor somewhere along the way, planning to arrive in Sidney sometime around noon tomorrow at which time I will be finished my self isolation.

I learned yesterday that my laptop computer has arrived in Sidney so that will be helpful and maybe I can get this diary back into its normal form.

I wrote this little reply to a question on the Calgary Beekeepers Forum.
.
If you decide to add ventilation beyond the normal bottom entrance, be careful not to overdo it.

A lot of bee advice comes from the southern US where temperatures can be extreme. We do have some hot weather here in Alberta but we also have cold snaps even in summer and often nights are cool.

During very hot weather slightly increased ventilation may possibly be helpful for a day or two but generally if you look at what bees choose for themselves, they like fairly small entrances and they're able to ventilate very effectively without large openings in the hive.

If you decide you want top entrances, which in my opinion are unnecessary and can cause problems with bees landing on you when you try to work the hive, keep in mind that if the nights are cold and when the weather cools the bees will retreat down to the brood chamber and take honey down with them to where they can control the temperature better.

They will also be more reluctant to occupy areas in the hive which get cool even occasionally. They seem to know what parts are the hive they are able to control and what parts they're not.

Very strong hives are quite tolerant of excess ventilation but smaller hives will be disadvantaged and stressed by too much airflow. Keep in mind that not only do the bees need to control the temperature but they also need to control the humidity. They are experts and when I have measured I have found a cluster can control the temperature in The brood area within a half a degree Fahrenheit and at the same time control humidity very closely in hives with quite small entrances through temperatures that range from near freezing to the hottest weather we get in Alberta.

The long and the short of it is that all the Alberta commercial beekeepers I know just use a standard bottom entrance and that's all you need.

If there were any real advantage to additional entrances you can be sure that these beekeepers who are very well educated and observant would be using them
I checked the tides and currents and see I can get through Porlier Pass in time to anchor somewhere along the way before dark. Slack is at 7:28 tonight. Sunset is at 9:04 and last light is a while later.

It is 26 sea miles across to Porlier Pass so at 6 knots I should figure 4 to 5 hours. At that rate if I leave here around 2 I should be right on time for the slack.

'Slack' is a term that applies to the time when the tides stop flowing in or out and the water is relatively calm in narrow passages. This is the safest time for boats to go through. At other times the water may be very turbulent with whirlpools, violent eddie's, and even waterfalls. At times of large tides the currents can run up to 10 knots which is far too fast for a boat like these to overcome so timing can be quite critical. Today it looks like one of these days because we're in a period of large tides.
Allen Dick, RR#1 Swalwell, Alberta, Canada T0M 1Y0
51° 33'39.64"N 113°18'52.45"W
http://www.honeybeeworld.com/Allen%27s%20Beehives.kmz
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Wednesday, continued

Unread post by Allen Dick »

At 10:30 I untied and left Granville Island. Shortly I was motoring out of English Bay Burrard inlet and headed for who knows where? Sidney is my ultimate destination but I have until almost dark before the passes will be slack unless I can get across there in 4 hours in which case I can make an earlier slack. We'll see what kind of time I make.

The day is overcast and cool with almost no wind so I'm motoring. there are more ships than usual in the anchored in the bay I suppose partly due to the virus situation and partly due to Canada's difficulties with China

As I left False Creek I noticed a mast sticking out of the water in the anchorage outside the harbor where people trying to save money leave their boats and sometimes for a long time. Every time there's a storm one or two get blown onto the rocks or the beach and sometimes a boat sinks.

Actually it's quite a miracle that boats don't sink more often considering they're heavy and there are lots of ways that water could get in if it had a chance, and water is one of the strongest forces on Earth. The odds are actually against anyting floating for too long and eventually every boat will sink unless someone is watching over it.

Well, looking at the charts it's very clear that I'm not going to make any of the passes before the first slack because first slack is only 3 hours from now.

My phone rang and I got my first trouble call. and Of course it was a plugged toilet. I talked the fellow through it and we'll see how it works out.

It worked out just fine. Problem solved.

I have been gone an hour now and I'm probably on my way to Nanaimo. Nanaimo seems like the most sensible destination seeing as I don't really have to be back anywhere anytime soon.

By 5 after hours of motor sailing, I was nearly at Nanaimo when the wind picked up and the sailing got good.

I checked the tides and could see that to make Dodds in the morning from Nanaimo I'd have to leave at dawn. Since the conditions were perfect at the moment, I altered course for Dodds.

Tbe wind was steady but it was also against me so I had to tack six legs to make Dodds. Under these ideal conditions I found the boat is easy to single hand due to the location of the jib winches near the helm.

I made Dodds an hour early and went through with three knots against. The predictions said two but they are just predictions. Models are always wrong but some are useful. These are always close and save me from trying when the current is ten knots either direction which would be impossible and dangerous.

Once through Dodds, I motored south for an hour to North Cove on Tetus Island and dropped the anchor for the night. By then it was getting late and I went to bed. The wisdom tooth that I should have had removed and for which I saw the dentist in La Paz before I left was acting up. due to the virus situation she was not eager to do anything drastic at that time. I may have to have it removed here in Canada. I'm hoping it settles down again.
Allen Dick, RR#1 Swalwell, Alberta, Canada T0M 1Y0
51° 33'39.64"N 113°18'52.45"W
http://www.honeybeeworld.com/Allen%27s%20Beehives.kmz
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Thursday July 23rd 20/20

Unread post by Allen Dick »

Today is the final day of my quarantine. As of 11 this morning I will have been in Canada 14 days

I was up and had coffee and out of the anchorage by 6:30. Colin wants me back in Sidney tonight with the fuel filled and the waste tanks pumped out, so I have to hit the marina while it's open.

At 7:30 I'm just passing the north tip of Saltspring Island. At this rate I'll be back by noon but I expect I'll stop along the way a time or t

Now it's 8:30 and I'm approaching Octopus Point and about to enter Sansum Narrows. The tide has just started to go out and the tides are high these days so I should get a pretty good current going my way. At present rate of progress I should be back around noon. I thought of stopping for breakfast at Maple Bay but I wonder if they're open and I like to make progress.

It's surprisingly cool. Up here in the Pacific Northwest. I just put on another layer of clothing. I'm wearing my toque, my long underwear, and a windbreaker shell over top. If I had gloves I'd be wearing them. And this is summer?

I'm getting down near the bottom of my groceries and although they seemed a bit excessive at the time with the bill coming to $230 I find I don't have much left. I bought a few things I didn't need like vegetable oil but other than that the choices were pretty good.

Once I get to Sidney I'll go and buy some more but right now I don't know where I'm going to sleep tonight or what I'm going to do tomorrow.

I'm told that Monday I'll be in Powell River bringing Cassiopeia back for some charters out of Sidney.. How I will get to Powell River I don't know. Maybe the company van?

At 0930 I'm just passing the southern to of Saltspring. It is cold out here. I just put on another sweater. Days like this are why i prefer full enclosures on boats for this region.

I am only about 2 hours from Sidney now but I have to stop at Van Isle first for fuel and sewer pumpout. By the time I get there the tide will be running hard and getting near the lowest levels so going to John passage may or may not be a smart idea. I'll decide when I get there.

This is written a day later while trying to catch up.

I decided not to go through the canoe passage but John passage was a piece of cake Fred I pulled into van Island filled up and pump and flushed the waste tanks. Waste tanks a big problem apparently these days with clients calling in all the timer with blockages.

From there I returned to Port Sidney and tied up the boat.

I cut it up and moved off onto Boogie Woogie. It wasn't long before I was drafted to captain Andiamo over to Delta to be lifted because there was a problem with the through-hull. Man, this voice dictation is driving me crazy. I think I'll quit for now
Allen Dick, RR#1 Swalwell, Alberta, Canada T0M 1Y0
51° 33'39.64"N 113°18'52.45"W
http://www.honeybeeworld.com/Allen%27s%20Beehives.kmz
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Friday July 24th 2020

Unread post by Allen Dick »

Warning. This is written by voice recognition while sitting on the patio at the Rum Runner bar. I'll clean it up later. Maybe.

Well, it's Friday night and it's been quite a day. It's good to be back home. Another of my homes. I'm sitting in the patio at the Rum Runner having a beer or two, or maybe three, and fish and chips.

Colin had called me back here and I was sad to leave Mexico but now that I'm here and I've completed my penance for my travel I'm quite enjoying being here. The only wrinkle is that Colin is now sick and we're wondering if he's got the WuWHOflu. If so, it is quarantine again, but by now you should know me. I'm a fatalist and I figure there's a reason for everything.

I guess we'll find out shortly. if he has it will I probably have it too because we're bunking on the same boat. Then we work together all day.

That would be quite ironic, would it not after escaping Mexico? It will also be disastrous because Colin is the linchpin in this operation and he's been running around putting out fires, (and starting a few) and in the process has been in really close contact with all the staff and quite a few of the clients. And me. Just when I was thinking I might fly east to see my Mom.

Tomorrow we're expected to head back to Vancouver pulling Boogie Woogie. Boogie-Woogie is needed as a bunkhouse for staff at Granville Island it seems. What we'll use here I don't know.

I won't care for a few days because I'll be flying to Powell River Monday to bring back Cassiopeia. Cassiopeia is booked out of here on Thursday so I have a couple of days to bring the boat down.

Going back to this morning, I woke up at 6:30 and at 730 we got into the van and drove first to McDonald's for breakfast and then on to the boat lift where I took command of the boat and brought it back to Port Sidney Marina.

Then the work continued on the boat. The clients who are supposed to board last night we're killing time on Mistral until we finished installing the waste tank again. While the other guys were working on that I rewired the tachometer circuit seeing as I had noticed the tach was not working on my way over and back.

Then I was sent for propane and eventually, after we removed the excess oil from the engine and added oil that was missing to the transmission and a few other little tweaks, we managed to get the boat away from the dock just about 24 hours after it was supposed to have left. The client was in a good mood however after all that personal attention, and being a sailor he knew a great deal of the adventure in boating is keeping the boat functioning the way it is intended to.

I went back to Boogie Woogie, opened the computer and started catching up on all the things I couldn't do without this laptop.

Colin came back the Boogie Woogie and lay down on the floor. He said his back was killing him which makes sense seeing as he had a back injury back in his high School years he had been lying contorted in the bilge working on the waste tank. Exactly why the owner of the company is lying in the bilge doing that kind of work I have no idea except I'm the same kind of guy so I guess I understand.

By bedtime, he was looking very bad so we alled 811 in hopes of getting some assistance and to have him checked for WuWHOFlu. I was shocked at the phone maze and redundant messages and being finally told the lines were o overloaded. I called 911 and they were not helpful either so i tried 811 again and finally managed to get a nurse who did not even know where Sidney is. She asked about symptoms and did not seem concerned but gave us the address of a nearby place to be checked.

I was shocked. In Mexico, you call the number and they say don't go anywhere and send someone over to administer a test. At least that is the word. Not here.
Allen Dick, RR#1 Swalwell, Alberta, Canada T0M 1Y0
51° 33'39.64"N 113°18'52.45"W
http://www.honeybeeworld.com/Allen%27s%20Beehives.kmz
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Saturday July 25th 2020

Unread post by Allen Dick »

Five months until Christmas.
I woke up early and Colin did not look great but he got up. I drove uptown to get a breakfast sandwich and when i returned he had moved the boat and was washing it so I guess he is okay.

We have to leave here by one to make Active Pass at slack which is more important when we are towing this boat. Apparently i'll ride this boat and steer once in a while.

I walked to Fairway and bought lunch and supper, four wraps and two salads and returned to the boat. It was time to go, so I took the upper helm on this boat i have never operated with twins, which I have never operated and pulled out. I got a good start but could not make th eturn, so cut power and drifted over to where Omar could push me off. The rest was duck soup.
The two boats met outside the marina and we tied them together. I rode up in the upper helm until we had established the tow was stable, then set the VHF to 68 and went below to write this. It seems Colin has recovered.
Allen Dick, RR#1 Swalwell, Alberta, Canada T0M 1Y0
51° 33'39.64"N 113°18'52.45"W
http://www.honeybeeworld.com/Allen%27s%20Beehives.kmz
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Re:Back to the normal diary pages

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My computer is back and I have returned to the usual format at
http://www.honeybeeworld.com/diary/
Allen Dick, RR#1 Swalwell, Alberta, Canada T0M 1Y0
51° 33'39.64"N 113°18'52.45"W
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