We're up and running!

Hi all -

We'd love your feedback! My wife and I have finally launched our web site: Pacific NW Boater | Video Cruising Guides It's only been live for about two weeks, so we're still working on things and adding new content. Including a link to this forum!

I resigned my position at Latitudes & Attitudes (had been partners/working with Bob since 2004) and we are now concentrating full time on our own thing. We are - hopefully - surveying a 1979 Cheoy Lee 46 LRC this week here in Port Townsend. If all goes well we will start moving aboard this weekend and heading out to begin our first major project: creating video cruising guides for 46 WA State Marine Parks.

And for whoever will be interested we are going to document the entire process of moving aboard and living/working aboard our research vessel. Over time we plan on doing improvements and modifications to the boat...

It should be fun - we're pretty excited!

- Darren

This is the last thing we need up here---- more info about the area. We're trying to DIS-courage boaters from boating up here, not EN-courage them. There's too damn many as it is. (I was going to add a smiley face but I'm actually half-serious about this so I didn't.)

Yeah, it's dangright crowded there.

Marin said:

This is the last thing we need up here---- more info about the area. We're trying to DIS-courage boaters from boating up here, not EN-courage them. There's too damn many as it is. (I was going to add a smiley face but I'm actually half-serious about this so I didn't.)

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I know what you mean, Marin. However, we believe there are too damn many IDIOT boaters. One thing we're going to do is stress respect and stewardship of this beautiful area in which we live and cruise. And courtesy, rules of the road, etc. Don't know how much of an impact we'll have on the idiots around here, but we'll try. And I don't think our web site is going to bring 1,000 new boaters to our area. Same thing if someone writes a new cruising guide book or blog. It's more for the people that are already here and going to new places on their boats. I for one, am very visual and would really like to see what the harbour is like at Ganges before going there. We're going to go there anyway, but seeing ahead of time what to expect can only help.

I did have an interesting conversation with a guy in my marina recently. He said "Well if I see a place on video then I have no reason to go there now, do I?" I thought of a few comebacks, and finally settled on nodding my head and saying"OK..." and left it at that.

See? We're already having an effect on the idiot boaters around here. You're welcome!

Yes, that's a dream of mine. Everyone will be so content experiencing the world on 70" flat screens that they'll stay home and thus stay the hell out of sight and sound of the few of us that prefer the real thing to the flat-screen version.

A thousand new boaters begins with just one. Easier to discourage the one than the thousand.

One reason I'm going to vote for Obama this November is that the chances are better with him that the economy will tank again. Because when it did a few years ago, the following few years were wonderful for boating up here because so many boaters stayed home, couldn't afford fuel, or tried to sell their boats so they could pay their mortgages. It was great going out and seeing hardly any boats in anchorages and parks that in years past were always overly crowded. I want those days to become permanent so Obama's my man.

Well, I like the website.Very cool for those that will never make it to that area.


Marin,we'll see ya in a few years.

Marin said:

This is the last thing we need up here---- more info about the area. We're trying to DIS-courage boaters from boating up here, not EN-courage them. There's too damn many as it is. (I was going to add a smiley face but I'm actually half-serious about this so I didn't.)

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I can definitely relate.

One of the last times I fished a salmon hole at the end of 40 miles of gravel road on Kodiak island...I had to whack a tourist in the face with my fly rod because he couldn't grasp the concept that you need at least 20 feet between anglers FOR ANYONE to catch...it would have worked better if he could speak English but it worked out in the end when I showed him the "better idea" for all involved...

But crowds bum me out too when you aren't expecting them in such a beautiful, pristine place as you go north from the Pacific Northwest.

Moonfish said:

..........I did have an interesting conversation with a guy in my marina recently. He said "Well if I see a place on video then I have no reason to go there now, do I?" I thought of a few comebacks, and finally settled on nodding my head and saying"OK..." and left it at that.

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I'm in Charleston, SC so I won't be boating in your area.

I bought a DVD on cruising the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and it encouraged me to make part of the trip. I'll make more of it in the future. I've watched the DVD a dozen times or more.

So I guess if your buddy watched an "X" rated movie he wouldn't have the urge to ...................... ?

Best of luck Darren!
I remember you from the L&A forum and your Friday Harbor days. I also remember the kind words you said about my mom when the San Juan Journal named her Citizen of the Year. She's still going strong at 90 years young btw.
I'll be following web site and your travels.
Have fun!

It's getting too crowded here in Maine (way too many lobsters and "summer complaints"). We're packing up the boat next week and shipping it, us, the kids, the dogs, cousins, inlaws, grandma and the rest of our extended inbred family (the family tree resembles a wreath) and their single and double wides to the PNW. We hear it's beautiful out there, the streets are paved with gold and that the purported rainy weather is just a local ruse to keep people out. If questioned at the border we'll just say "Marin sent us". If that doesn't get us shot on the spot, an exponential increase to the PNW population numbers and welfare roll is on the way.

"Out on the road, we tell all the turkeys
Yes it's always raining and the sun never shines
But all the natives know when the mountain lifts her skirts
The view from home will flat-out melt your mind"

VIEW FROM HOME
(Bryan Bowers)

I hope you don't run into any confusion with the recently launched on-line publication "Pacific Nor'west Boating" Chuck Gould (formerly Nor'westing) is one of those involved. http://pacnwboat.com

dwhatty said:

If questioned at the border we'll just say "Marin sent us". If that doesn't get us shot on the spot....

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It will but not because of me. Canadian boaters like uncrowded waters, too.

Actually your biggest problems will be with the orcas. They've learned to read the hailing ports on the sterns of recreational boats. Any from towns outside Washington and BC are increasingly attacked, sunk, and the occupants eaten. The local orcas have recently enlisted the assistance and advice of some sperm whales which, as everyone who's encountered them knows, live in a perpetual state of being pissed off and have a lot of experience sinking boats.

ben2go said:

Well, I like the website.Very cool for those that will never make it to that area.

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Thank you! We're getting nice comments like yours from cruisers in other parts of North America.

Marin said:

Yes, that's a dream of mine. Everyone will be so content experiencing the world on 70" flat screens that they'll stay home and thus stay the hell out of sight and sound of the few of us that prefer the real thing to the flat-screen version.

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Good one, you made me LOL...

rwidman said:

I'm in Charleston, SC so I won't be boating in your area.

I bought a DVD on cruising the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and it encouraged me to make part of the trip. I'll make more of it in the future. I've watched the DVD a dozen times or more.

So I guess if your buddy watched an "X" rated movie he wouldn't have the urge to ...................... ?

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Exactly! And I agree. Watching a friend's DVD about circumnavigating Vancouver Island makes me want to do it even more.

Anode said:

Best of luck Darren!
I remember you from the L&A forum and your Friday Harbor days. I also remember the kind words you said about my mom when the San Juan Journal named her Citizen of the Year. She's still going strong at 90 years young btw.
I'll be following web site and your travels.
Have fun!

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Thanks, Chip - and glad to hear your mom is still going strong!

OkSkipper said:

I hope you don't run into any confusion with the recently launched on-line publication "Pacific Nor'west Boating" Chuck Gould (formerly Nor'westing) is one of those involved. Pacific Nor’West Boating

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We think there shouldn't be too much confusion. Chuck and publisher Mark Bunzel (who owns Fine Edge Publishing) and I have had conversations where we think we can actually help each other. Pacific Nor'west Boating is primarily an online magazine, and we are primarily streaming video. We're going to post articles by Chuck that will promote his site, and he will post some of our videos.

And we're going to use Mark's Waggoner Guide as our official cruising guide, so we'll help promote that, too.

Oh, and for readers familiar with the old Nor'westing magazine, we're going to feature audio podcasts by Catherine Dook!

Glad to hear Catherine is going to continue to be able to entertain us with her stories. She's the only reason we ever picked up the monthly copies of Nor'westing.

Best of luck on your exciting new venture. Marin may have a point with the growing number of vessels visiting the PNW, but it'll be a while before you guys catch-up with us down here in Miami. This is what you can look forward to on Columbus Day.

That's grim. Not sure I'd take up boating at all with that lot around all the time.

Good God!

dwhatty said:

It's getting too crowded here in Maine (way too many lobsters and "summer complaints"). We're packing up the boat next week and shipping it, us, the kids, the dogs, cousins, inlaws, grandma and the rest of our extended inbred family (the family tree resembles a wreath) and their single and double wides to the PNW. We hear it's beautiful out there, the streets are paved with gold and that the purported rainy weather is just a local ruse to keep people out. If questioned at the border we'll just say "Marin sent us". If that doesn't get us shot on the spot, an exponential increase to the PNW population numbers and welfare roll is on the way.

"Out on the road, we tell all the turkeys
Yes it's always raining and the sun never shines
But all the natives know when the mountain lifts her skirts
The view from home will flat-out melt your mind"

VIEW FROM HOME
(Bryan Bowers)

Click to expand...

Sounds like you're from my area.:lol:

Moonfish said:

Thank you! We're getting nice comments like yours from cruisers in other parts of North America.

Click to expand...

You're welcome.

healhustler said:

Best of luck on your exciting new venture. Marin may have a point with the growing number of vessels visiting the PNW, but it'll be a while before you guys catch-up with us down here in Miami. This is what you can look forward to on Columbus Day.

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HOLY HECK!
I have have been in that area before but never seen it like that.I wouldn't want to get caught in that cluster,,,,ummmm,mess.

Marin...is this what you mean when you say in the rules of the road, the concept of right of way isn't really there??? Or in this case is it strictly the boat to the right has the right of way?

It appears the boats in the photo are all or mostly anchored. Probably on one of Eric's famous short scopes. It would be cool to be a fly on the wall, or perhaps a gull in the air, if a 40 knot wind blew through the anchorage. They'd be untangling anchor rodes for months.

I think in this case the Chinese rules of the road should apply. We've been driving all over the place in China the last few days and we've learned a lot about how it all works. Turns out the Chinese are not bad drivers. Actually they are far better drivers than the typical American, which is why the lifespan of an American attempting to drive in China is measured in minutes.

The following is true---

Here is the number one rule of driving in China: a vehicle in the main flow of traffic has the right of way. Always, every time, no exceptions.

The number two rule of driving in China is: any vehicle trying to enter the stream of traffic or change lanes in traffic does not have the right of way. Ever, never, no exceptions.

The driver trying to enter the stream of traffic or change lanes has a split second to determine if the driver he's trying to merge in front of will let him in or not. Remember, the driver in the main stream of traffic has no obligation whatsoever to let the person in (and he rarely does). So the driver who wants to merge also has to judge if he can make it in if the driver in the main stream of traffic won't back off for him (which he almost never will).

If the merging driver determines he can merge in and is successful, terrific. But if he determines wrongly and either hits a car in the main stream of traffic or a car in the main stream of traffic hits him, HE is the one at fault and he gets the ticket and fine. An accident, regardless of who hit who, is NEVER the fault of the driver in the main stream of traffic. It is ALWAYS the fault of the driver who was attempting to merge.

As irrational as this sounds, it works wonderfully because the Chinese are, for the most part, extremely skilled drivers and they can pull off both the judgment of the other driver part and the operation of the vehicle part. It's all tied into the culture's perception of personal space. They are as confortable operating vehicles within inches of each other--- and I mean inches--- as we are operating them with a car length or two or three between us and the next guy.

So if all those boats in the photo were underway, a Chinese boater would feel right at home. But the Colregs would have to be rewritten to state that any boat underway in a straight line would be a stand on vessel while any boat altering course to cross that boat's projected track from either side and at any angle would be the give way vessel and if that vessel did not give way and caused a collision that vessel would be solely responsible for the collision.

Our now 21-year old daughter spent her junior year of high school in China. She decided early on not attempt to drive there... Which was wise, as even today she is a terrible driver! (Unlike her two sisters who are excellent drivers.)