This is just one of the reasons ...

... that Bruce and I moved to Nanaimo.

This is a view of our city from Newcastle Island.  A few of the boats in the front are permanent homes. My dragon boat team, the Nautical Dragons, paddled over to Newcastle Island for a picnic one bright evening; a well-deserved night off.  Right now, we're planning a September Race in Sproat Lake and have just had a successful beer and burger fund-raising night.   The team is doing well, coming along nicely, looking strong and able to kick a little butt.  Big words from the coach .. we'll see how we do come race day!

Nanaimo Dragon Boat Festival 2012

Every year, I look forward to this festival like it's Christmas weekend.  I plan for it, work for it and when it all comes around .. enjoy the hell out of it.  The Nanaimo festival is unique among the racing circuit in that it always has a  theme.  Teams dress up in costume or compete for best decorated tent.  This year, we honoured the Sixties.

The World

According to its press .. "The World is not a cruise ship. It is the largest privately owned residential yacht on earth. It might look like a cruise ship from the exterior, but that’s where the similarity ends. This exclusive community offers the ultimate combination of luxury travel with world-class dining, custom tours and enriching cultural events. It is the embodiment of a distinctive lifestyle experience.

Strata fees must be crazy!

During practice, the KVL Kruisers had the chance to get up close to this boat, seen here docked in Nanaimo for a couple of days. Yes, it was impressive. Man, there was a ton of boat traffic around her, most of it either working vehicles or, like us, just wanting to get up close enough to take a good picture. Our steersperson was kept busy trying to keep us out of trouble from the wake waves, so we skedaddled fairly quickly.

You can read more about The World by clicking this elegantly-crafted link.

Evening at the Dinghy Dock

July took off her rainhat, jacket and sloppy garden shoes to don a pretty summer dress, sandals and new sunhat ... like any lady might like to do when she wants to show off.  Oh, and she turned heads all over.

One of my favorite memories of this summer comes from practice last Wednesday night.  The KVL Kruisers has been through the big Nanaimo dragonboat festival and half the team is to continue throughout the summer, paddling our way drowsily through the heat.   We went over to the Dinghy Dock on Protection Island.   The restaurant and pub jut out proudly over the water, providing a focal point for both sets of islanders as well as tourists.  As one of Canada's only floating pubs, it draws a fair number of visitors each summer.   Wednesday night is usually regatta night and the boats of summer sail the open waters between Protection and Nanaimo.

The big deal about the pub is that to get there, you have to take a boat of some sort ... providing our own transportation is one of the highlights of any dragon boat season.  No more working hard, lungs pumping, backs pulling, shoulders reaching .. no more stern coach.  The hard work is done and relaxation becomes the order of business for the evening.

Last Wednesday, we were returning a bit late from the Dinghy Dock.  The food had been good - a new menu since I was last there - but if Nanaimo operates on Island Time, then the Dinghy Dock pub sets new standards in adaptive time zones.  Since it is an island off an island, it has the luxury of being a 'destination,' and clocks work on their own schedule.  I wouldn't have it any other way, frankly.

As we paddled homeward with a belly full of cheer of more than one sort, the cooling evening breezes brought ocean smells, the water dropped to that flat calm you have to live on the waterfront to experience often, the birds tended to their business over the shore and there was a collective sigh in the boat as the sun began to set behind the yacht club across the harbour.  It was a definitive summer moment and I only wished I was a kid again so I'd have all my years stretched out ahead to remember it.

I have to connect with one of my paddlers to get some pictures from the dragonboat festival, but I promise I'll put some up here.

Flowers to the left of me, flowers to the right ..

Dragonflies droned high above the foliage this morning, providing aerial cover for the butterfly flitting through the yard and bees caroming happily between the double mock orange and impatiens.  The baby robins are in flight training and mama is keeping busy looking for food.  All the birds were warbling tributes to the sun.  

My yard provides some real action out there for the little creatures, albeit mostly out of my sight.  Yet, I did get a really good look at the family of little critters who'd invaded my pile of two-week leftover clippings as they prepared to make it into compost and Bruce prepared to bundle it for take away.  I could have done without the sight of wiggling and crawling beasties, although I do appreciate their work.

The gazing ball sparkled behind the dazzle of the upper hedge

Today we finally moved the last plants of the spring, which is good summer became official at noon. Now we settle into the routine of watering and weeding. I have a trusty hoe which I have decided is my favorite garden tool. I may have to paint the handle in appreciation.

This is the view to the left of the lower steps with the mock orange and dogwood.

And to the right .. the mock orange takes the stage against the curtain of the Japanese elm.

I spent a few minutes talking to my Dad on Sunday .. he was in the middle of fixing one of the trucks to get it field worthy .. was checking lights and brakes and stuff before taking it into town. He and Dorothy have been out trimming and mowing the farm yards, taking down fences and replacing riding mowers. All in all, he's a happy man. Nice to see.

We trimmed back the butterfly bush and this beauty appeared into the light of day.
Not sure what its named, but I'm going to get some more.  Wowza!

Around the house, you'll find our windows open more often than not, welcoming in the breezes off the Georgia Strait. Sadly, this freshness hasn't translated into more housework being done. Although, in my defense, I did get a few batches of blankets through the washer and dryer yesterday. Maybe even a load of towels today .. you can see my ambition in the household chores is simply boundless!

More painted pots; this time out front.  I'll grab a picture later in the season when those
white flowers are really doing their stuff

I've been out on the water a couple of times a week with the Kruisers, working on developing our timing to the point where we'll be an effective group on the water. For the first time, we're looking at taking in a festival outside of Nanaimo later in the year. I'm pretty excited about it.

The back gate showing how all that campanula will look when it's had a couple of years to spread.  I hope.

I've started a six-week program at a nearby fitness facility, hoping to get me back into moving my body and incorporating some excercise daily. The trick for me is to find some time daily to get on that bike. Which I should be doing right now .. so ... ta ta.  Enjoy the sunshine!

May update

If it seems like its been forever since I posted ... well .. umm .. guilty as charged.  I have been keeping myself out of trouble, however.

I've devised a paddling program for the Kruisers dragon boat team and have been coaching twice a week since mid-May. Poor ladies went out in the pouring rain last week; fortunately it was warm.  I stayed under my rain poncho and kept warm and dry .. until we docked and I stepped into the middle of the boat to give some specific technique demonstrations and went ankle deep in the collected rain water. I helped design their new shirts and am  hoping they turn out as well as the design suggests the should.

The pinkish lines are size cut marks for the garment maker,
Hayman Sport out of Penticton

Kristen and Bruce watching me in the garden with my camera

Kristen came calling on us and brought a toy for the cats, which they promptly demolished .. with much glee and gusto.  Occasionally it rolls out from under some piece of furniture and becomes a prized possession for another couple of days until it's lost again.

Knitting seems like an Olympic sport to Mr. Tippy.  He seems pretty convinced he could do it better
than Kristen, even though she demonstrates her prowess pretty convincingly with that
pink hooded vest she's wearing.  

Other than that, I've been busy moving dirt and stuff around in my garden .. more so in May than in June .. although I did score a few flats of annuals before the May long weekend.  Here's a rundown of what was going on in May ...

The papery qualities of the birch and star magnolia make for
an interesting early May statement

Bruce and Kristen (on the patio above) caught me taking this photo.  I've since moved my
lily garden into the spot just behind the pink heather .. looking forward to some great
July or August pictures.

The wisteria seems happy enough.  Maybe one of these years it will actually bloom.

I was surpirsed (and delighted) when the bleeding heart on the front step
fought its way back from winter hibernation

Proof.  Wasps *are* actually herbivores in the spring.
I was taking a picture of the pieris flowers when this little
fellow photo-bombed me.

This friendly feline guards the front gardens.

Dragon Boat Festival 2011

The superheated sidewalk dancing days of a west coast summer have largely not lived up to the promise offered up by Environment Canada in late Spring ... but there have been moments of brilliant clarity.  Our annual dragon boat festival was one of those weekends that stretch out forever and just as in your childhood, leave the kiss of watermelon and splash of golden sun in your memories.

Surrounded by thousands of paddlers and spectators, this dog's only concern was a log sized stick and whether
his owner would throw it again.  And again. And again ...

The Nanaimo festival is also well known for one other thing that sets it apart from other festivals .. a theme, with this year's being Caribbean.  Teams are encouraged to get behind the theme, decorate their tent, dress up and enjoy the fun.  This particular Victoria team has obviously been planning for a long time .. the entire team dressed and paddled in these outfits on Saturday.   They're used to dropping jaws ... last year, they all showed up as Vegas showgirls.  This is one of the teams we raced in the final.

It's all about the drum.  Oh, and style.

The KVL team this year has not been consistent with the numbers of people who show up, mostly due to the fact that the paddlers all work at a health care facility - Kiwanis Village Lodge - and are on different shifts.  My steersperson, the team captain, would often disappear for a week as he fulfilled his obligations at work.  I remember one exceptionally calm night with barely a ripple on the water, I took a crew of only seven people out for their workout.  My coaching intentions were constantly changing due to the number of people in a boat.  I'd plan for vigorous training drills and race peices, only to find a minimum number of paddlers .. and my carefully laid out plans would go out the window.  Or I'd find practice called off at the dock because of too much wind.

Early Sunday morning, the promise of a bright day is playing peekaboo with the cloud cover.
This gives you an idea of what the docks look like during a well organized heat changeover. 
The Namaimo festival enjoys a reputation all along the coast as one of the better organized and laid out sites.

So it wasn't with a great deal of hope that I went into this year's Nanaimo Dragon Boat Festival.  I was realistic with the team when I laid out expectations, noting that I was looking for personal bests, that we'd treat this like a practice.  We'd all concentrate on the things we had to work out and we went over them carefully .. as a collective team, as a row, as a 'pod,' and as an individual paddler, drummer or steersperson.

On the way out to Saturday's first race with Kelly at the helm.

The pictures I have here are mostly from the first race of the weekend, where I was watching from shore.   We were not a seeded team and came in third in that race, I think.  On the first day, teams are seeded, meaning that many teams such as our rec team come up against the more competitive teams .. it often makes for wins by large margins.  We look at factors such as our race times vs past known times to gauge how well we're doing.  And of course, we watch the times of all the other teams.  We did pretty much as expected on the first race, then we settled in for the afternoon race where we placed third, but shaved a whopping 12 seconds off our time from the morning .. a really unexpected and encouraging sign. 

Crossing the finish line in good form!

 Collective times from the first day are used to place teams into race divisions for Sunday, where the races are much more tightly contested.  There are no runaway wins .. all the races are hard fought alongside the other boats.  This is what racing is really all about.  When there is a team alongside your boat and hungry for a win, it gives you the push to come up with surprising results.  It was with some startlement that we found ourselves placed into the Gold Division, despite our placements on Saturday .. and not only that .. but seeded as the highest placing team within that category.

Rock on girls!

Our first race, we placed second, good enough to get us into the medal round for the afternoon.  The team was plenty excited at this point, since many of them had not raced for medals before.  Nerves were well quashed with a bit of shopping at the site and the now team tradition of poutine before a big race.  (Last year, I couldn't find part of the team as we were called to marshall for racing, only to find that they'd leisurely strolled away to get poutine and sit to take in the sights, sounds and racing.  So on the way to the start line, they were still gobbling down last bites of poutine and dealing with the adrenalin of  watching their coach explode, but not before turning blue in the face, then red, then purple.  They saved grace by winning and now its a funny page in their history books.  And a must do before a big race.)  It worked really well because not only did they shave 11 seconds off their morning race time, but won by so large a margin you'd have thought we were a Saturday seeded team.  There was much dancing and purchasing of drink tickets in the beer garden .. when I left many of them were slightly weaving and parading their first gold medals.  So once again .. they showed me how much heart they had and where it could take them. Well done, ladies. I'm sooo pleased.

Sunday morning site

On the water

The last couple of weeks have been spent getting ready for the Nanaimo Dragon Boat Festival, which is, without a doubt, the nicest venue I've seen all in my years of padding -- and I've been doing it for a great number of years.  This festival, the KVL Kruisers are hosting Namaxsala mixed team out of Port Hardy and  Alert Bay ... if it turns out like other teams where I've participated in the hosting program ... this could turn into lasting friendships.  Its wonderful to travel to other venues and meet up with friends who you've not seen since the previous year.

In other dragon boat news, I rather thought Bruce was shitting me when he told me that William and Kate would be taking part in a dragon boat race.  After all, its a stroke that takes quite a long time to get right .. that, and Bruce is prone to pulling my leg -- oh hell, anyone's leg.  So yea, I call "bullshit" a lot.  It wasn't until my Aunt Sandy sent me a note that I checked in on the Royal tour and sure enough .. there they are. 

I'm impressed with how well Kate fits in wherever she goes ... doesn't seem to be 'trying' to be normal .. she just 'is.'  I'm also impressed with how much time in their schedule these two have made for ordinary things.  Should be a new huge group of monarchy enthusiasts after this visit.

Paddlefest 2011

The last couple of weeks have seen me out on the water working with my team to get them ready for racing weekends.  Saturday was Paddlefest 2011, which is a fundraiser for breast cancer, and also a warmup for the big festival on July 10th weekend.

The KVL team was terrifically undercrewed with only 16 paddlers, but we looked upon the day as an opportunity to get in racing practices and by the end of the event, we had a much more seasoned crew who are eagerly anticipating the two-day festival.

PFDs and club paddles are provided for racing crews.

 

This is the crew that will be using the boat after we dock.
Switching in and out of the boats quickly is an art form in itself.

The boat in the forefront is one of the many cancer survivor teams .. flagrant use of wild pink is encouraged!

We bring our own tents for small festivals like this and get chummy with our neighbors

KVL Kruisers (the team I coach) marshalling for races.

The view from the seat behind the drum.
This was taken on our way out to the last race of the day