Saturday 24 June 2017

Flamin'/Sarge and JT Witness The Bike Locker Blues: Friday, June 23rd!

The simplest questions are the most profound. Where were you born? Where is your home? Where are you going? What are you doing? Think about these once in a while and watch your answers change. -Richard Bach, writer (b. 23 Jun 1936)


Dear Patrick We hope you are doing well. We are coming back to our planed trip to Canada in September. As it looks we will visit you on 19.9 or 20.9 and remain until 22.9. in the morning. How far is it from you to the airport in Vancouver? We must be on the 22nd of September at 4pm at the airport. Do we have enough time at the 22nd or do we have to drive a day before to Vancouver? Is that okay for you and would you have a room for us..? Cheers Annemarie and Rudolf

Hello Annamaria Tremonte and Rudi Rudenheimer! Lovely to hear from you and know that your visit to Penticton is still on! We are very much looking forward to seeing you both. Sorry I've not responded a tad sooner but life seems to have been even busier than normal, of late. Given what you mention about your dates here, I suggest you try to arrive on 19.9, if possible. You can drive to Vancouver in five or six hours, (4.5 if there is little traffic into Vancouver once past Chilliwack/Abbotsford and over Port Mann bridge but even during the week, whether you miss rush hour or not, you cannot be certain that this will be the case. If you left Penticton on 22.9, even early enough to be at the airport by 4:00 pm and something delayed you, (high volume, traffic accident on highwy ahead, etc.), you might be late for your flight. If you are comfortable with that, fine, but I would suggest leaving on 21.9 to spend night in Vancouver with Famiglia Sutherland. 

This gives you a bit more leeway in terms of arriving at the airport when you feel you need to be there. Not that we don't wish you stay longer but I know, from personal experience, that when visiting a foreign country what takes a local a certain amount of time often takes a visitor longer, not being familiar with route, etc. As you can see, I have included Sarge in this message, so he may well have his own thoughts on the matter. At any rate, know you are welcome to stay as long as you wish to do so. Just let me know what you think and we'll plan accordingly. Fondestos from Lady Dar to you both, and to Nadienka! Cheers, Patrizzio! 

Greetings to the Penticton Palace, It was wonderful to hear your recent glad tidings - particularly the improving state of your physical well being and the impending LA nuptials. All seems well in the valley kingdom.

We are currently moored at a rather windy Ports Cove on South Pender (photo attached) - although we enjoyed a delightful hike to Greenburn Lake this morning with the hounds. We returned to the boat noon and dug into a lunch of spreads, salads, cold grilled chicken (with a shallot mélange sauce) followed by a brief nap (skipper & dogs only since Jean was deeply engaged with scouring the Internet for nuggets of info on Greek mythology). Yesterday we hiked down Gowland Point Road to the trail the Stuart Moresby View Trail - great trail for the dogs and even the possibility of Orca viewing (we saw pod a couple of years ago here.)

Your account of bike locker building vaguely reminded me of a recent oil change I completed before embarking on some summertime cruising. As you may know Commitment II is a wooden hulled Grand Banks powered by two Ford Lehman Diesel engines so the oil change is twice as much bother as our previous boat which had but one such 6-cylinder engine - and not only that but the engine-room is very cramped and so movement for a 72 year old can be overly laborious (in fact get to the starboard side fuel injector (see photo of the Simm's injector) to drain and then fill the 0.9 pint reservoir could easily lead to some kind of muscle cramp and leave me basically paralyzed and locked into position between the starboard engine and the hull - not a pleasant way to spend the hours or days waiting for help to arrive or my condition to improve or terminate.

Anyway, after an initial kerfuffle to obtain the 30 litres of 30 weight Rotella engine oil (Lordco initially tried to sell me some multi grade and then some 40 wt oil) the change went exceedingly well with new filters (photo attached) and new oil to lubricate the sturdy diesels that power our cruising the delightful waters around the Gulf Islands.

Tomorrow we untie and head for Port Browning just around the tip of South Pender, then after a few days we'll head off to Montague Harbour (and a superb little restaurant) before making our way to Siva Bay on Gabriola Island, and then - who knows?

WelI I am off for a shower before a glass of our boat red (Cameleon Organic Malbec), a walk with Benson & Tess before dinner at Syrens pub (perhaps the chicken, bacon, Brie ciabatta which Jean enjoyed last evening or a more basic but decadent fish & chips with 2 pieces of Pacific cod). I trust all remains well in the Valley, John 
 
To make it easier for all you Old Fartograms this is the complete and updated distribution list. So, whoever is organizing the next hike(s) please use this email with "REPLY TO ALL", change the subject and off you go. (hey that rhymes!)! Thank you! Aart(uro) & Jos(inta) Dronkers Hi all, have a fun time on Mondy, hope to be able to join you in July! Hanneke and Doug 

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