What's Pete been up to these days?
October 2004
Having decided to stay in BC for another month, until the choas bestowed on Grenada by hurricane Ivan had lessened, I threw myself into a frenzy of work on my property. By the end of the month I had cleared over an acre of bush and jungle. I have this vision of my place, drawn with crayons in my mind. You turn into my driveway and as you round the first wiggle in the drive the view opens up down the property and out into the fields to the skyline beyond, all seen between the de-limbed trunks of the beautiful big fir trees rising from a sea of green grass on the gentle slope, with the cabin sitting, cute as a button, at the bottom of the park like vista. It's neatly fenced and there's a couple of sheep runnning around, mowing the lawn for me and the smoke is rising gently from the BBQ as we roast one of the old mowers..... just kidding! Ya well, I'm working on it, I cleared all the brush and alder and burnt the debris then I got an excavator in to pull all the stumps and smooth the land for grass. It's very rocky, being glacial morraine so we picked a lot of rocks, about five dump trucks full, luckily a neighbor wanted them for fill so I happily delivered them with the little tractor that my bother, Graham, and I share. Rocks, rocks and more rocks then we planted the grass seed and it was just starting to sprout when I left. Graham helped enormously once again, it's a pleasant way to spend time together - at least, it is for me!
It's always sad to lock up my little cabin in BC and head off. On my last evening there was a full lunar eclipse. I sat on the deck and strummed my guitar as I watched it rise over the fields. A great orange orb against the stark, jagged, darkness of the treeline. The scene was perfected by the two old cottonwoods looming above the rest of the trees and the pair of huge bald eagle nests outlined against the sky in the gathering dusk. A theme so beautifully depicted in BC native art.
Late that last night I lay on my couch, mellowed by just a hint of gigglebush, listening to Oscar Lopez doing things with his guitar that didn't seem possible with only ten fingers. I looked around at my cozy little home, with it's lovely woodwork, warm carpets and treasures collected all over the world. My toys surrounded me, my guitar was propped in the corner, my paraglider, my kiteboard gear and belongings were piled up, waiting final packing. A full appreciation of my life came over me like the sun coming out on a cloudy day. I'm very, very, lucky.
I don't know what the next eight months in the Caribbean will bring, but it will be an adventure!
Here's a poem by a vagabound, passed to me by a kiteboarding friend:
September 2004
Ah yes.... I won't forget this month in a hurry. I glanced at the Caribbean weather on the Net one day and a hurricane was just about to hit Grenada!
Well it did, a direct hit right over the end of the island where my boat is. The week has been a blur, I've spent most of my time searching to net for info and trying to get through to friends in Grenada. The island got trashed, 60,000 out of 100,000 are homeless. Ninety percent of homes devastated. The harbours are a jumble of wrecked boats. Ray, a familiar face from the Boatyard Tiki bar, is dead. In the aftermath, law and order has broken down and there's shooting, looting and a reported rape. It's a sad mess down there, and it ain't over yet.
Finally, after a couple days, I got through to Ian on S/Y Manxat at Hog Island. He is looking after my boat for the exorbitant sum of a bottle of rum a week. Ian was persuaded off his boat and spent the fury ashore. They locked themselves in and boarded up the door. Winds were about 150mph, he said. Two hours of fury from one direction, a lull in the eye, then two hours fury from the opposite direction, he said. When they came out of hiding (Lucky it was a bar they locked themselves into!) and Ian made his way back to Hog Island anchorage he expected the worst. The bays on either side of Hog are full of damaged boats. But Hog escaped the worst damage and boats there fared quite well, as far as I hear. Manxcat only had a broken wind generator and his dinghy was in the mangroves.
My Rocinante was moored nose into the mangroves with two lines ashore and two anchors out the back, all with chafe guards fitted. But I was sure she would be gone, so much debris flying around and other boats dragging, I thought. But Ian inspected her and she is dry inside and the batteries are fully charged. On deck, the topping lift came uncleated but no sign of damage. It's a bloody miracle I tell you!!!!! Now the danger is looters, the boats are setting up a watch system to guard the boats and people but I don't know if they can hold out. I hope things settle down and nobody gets hurt.
Ian got on the radio and got word on Tiempo. She is on her side with her rig broken, up at Grenada Marine. Pat's house is very badly damaged. The roof is off and all wooden walls are down. Friends have been saving what they can and storing it in the garage. The pool house is OK by all accounts. Pat is on her other boat in Vancouver and we are in regular contact. I'm waiting for things to settle down before I make any plans to head back. I'll still be working for Pat though we have not come up with a plan yet. Watch this space!
I was supposed to be in the UK this month. But it is so beautiful here at the cabin that I couldn't bear to leave! Now I can barely remember what I did in August. Did some work about my place and spent afternoons at a swimming hole on the nearby Oyster River. Met a spanish kiteboarder and she came to Nitnat on her way home to Whistler. Had a few days kiteboarding there then went down to Victoria for some paragliding. Then back to the cabin where I think spent the rest of the month. Some paragliding friends came up island and explored for new sites so I did a hike with them.
Kiteboarding is really taking over as my main passion. There's an awesome spot in Comox, about a 45min drive from me. I could drive 20min to the beach at Saratoga but with a southeastly wind, Goosespit in Comox is incredible. The spit forms a lagoon with the wind blowing over the low spit and road and we ride to mirror calm waters on the inside. I'm getting to know more people here in the Comox Valley through the boarding, here's a link to the local kiteshop and Ocean Rodeo dealer, Pacific Pro Dive. On a good windy day we put on quite a show as we ride and do tricks right at the water's edge. If you stand too close to the edge I might well jump right over you and do a trick at the same time! Even on a rainy day, if we get dialed up and going crazy there will be quite a crowd watching our antics. Good energy, especially if they include a few lovely ladies cheering us on!
The weather got worse and summer seemed to end in the blink of an eye but I am quite happy with that! Means more wind for kiteboarding. I had a six hour session one day!
The first week of July found me back in Pemberton/Whistler for the competition. The event was fun but the conditions were not great. The flying was more lively than I really want to be flying. I measure this with the sphincter factor ratio. Meaning that if the sphincter factor is higher than the fun factor then I'd rather do something else. For me, it's not about courage, it's about risk management. If you're not having fun, it's not worth the risk. The first day of the three day comp was windy and I watched from the launch as pilots took off into leeside rotor and were getting trashed. The experts handled the collapses, got out of the rotor and were away down the course. Lots of others got stuck lower and pinned by strong headwinds as they struggled to make it out a safe landing. I decided not to fly that day, to hell with my comp score. It was a bit of an agonizing decision with my competitive spirit urging me to fly and my common sense telling me in wasn't worth it. Then I watched as one glider got lower and lower then crashed into the trees after being tossed and spun like a leaf for the last couple hundred feet. I thought he'd had it but he was unhurt having crashed in some younger, softer trees. Thank goodness!
The second day was called off and we ended up going swimming in a moutain lake and hanging out in the sunshine - very nice! The third day was still better though pretty gnarly. I flew about thirty km's but getting back against the wind was too much so I landed out in the valley and got a ride back with some american pilots. All in all I blew the comp but who cares! Times like that I say "I may be chicken, but I'm a live chicken!"
The party at the airport hanger was awesome! Held at a small airstrip along the valley under the base of 9000 foot Mt. Currie in Pemberton. I parked the camper on the grass near the hanger and got stuck into the beer keg. The party was half in half out of the hanger and a big BBQ was fired up and all kinds of fantastic food was in abundance for the hundred or so of us. The three sailplanes were taking people up for joyrides and doing aerobatics right overhead, zooming low over the hanger with an unforgettable scream of wind over wing. At some point, late, late, someone decided to strap a paramotor on his back and zoom up and down the runway on a bicycle at a clocked speed of 83km/hr. The sound of that thing howling towards us out of the darkness and disappearing again into the blackness with a madman hanging on for dear life is also unforgettable. My fears of recordbreaking road rash were thankfully unfounded. However, the hangover the next day was very real. But I had a pulse by noon, back on solid foods by four and in the air at six, so that was fine!
After the comp I headed down to Squamish and kiteboarded for a couple days. Never boarded there before and it was good to get out and burn off some beer badness. Met a couple people I met last summer at Nitnat Lake. Squamish is on a river mouth with a thermal generated wind sucking up the valley. Water is cold but bearable with my new 5/4mm wetsuit.
Then I got the ferry back to Vancouver Island. The ferry ride itself is a joy to me as we voyage through the gulf islands, taking about an hour and a half. I always make several circuits of the upper deck, explore the gift shop again, and usually have a meal in the restaurant. Then I read and people watch. Drove home to the cabin, having been away for more than a month. Spent almost a week, fiddling about on the property. My cabin, at the bottom of my 1.4 acres, is on the edge of seventy acres of the neighboring farm's corn and hay. It is like living in a nature hide. There's Bald eagles nesting across the field, bears appearing from time to time and half a dozen deer grazing each evening as the mist slowly fills in the hollows and eventually the whole field. In the morning, as the mist slowly burns off, I shower on the deck with a garden hose fitted to a comfortable temperature of water from the kitchen. Maybe one day I will fit an indoor shower but I'm in no hurry as the view is amazing, there's not a neighbor in sight and I'm a lazy bastard!
Got restless and now on 19th July I am back in Vernon for more camping and flying. I'm sad to find my friend and instructor, Glen, had a crash while flying tandem with his dog off King Eddy. Both have a leg in a cast and Glen has a fractured Pelvis as well, and not having the advantage of four legs, is wheelchair bound for at least a couple months. That's the first broken bone Glen has had in 9 million years of paragliding. Just spent the weekend camped beside a beautiful lake, splashing around on an air matress and drinking a few cold beers and relaxing. The cry of the loons across the mirrow calm of the lake is a something to remember.
I arrived back in my little cabin on May 29th. Graham picked me up at the airport in Campbell River with my paraglider, three kites, my kiteboard and all associated gear. Great to be back, the twins have grown like beanstalks! The cabin and the VW were none the worse for wear. Next day saw me toiling on the property, clearing up fallen branches and 8 months of neglect.
On the phone to my paragliding buddies, I learned that the 2004 Canadian National Paragliding Championships were to be held the following weekend in Lumby, BC so I decided to get out there and enter the comp and see all those friends. So I raced around and got the van insured, sorted all my gear, packed the van and drove the 600km to Lumby on Wednesday to give me a couple days free flying. Some people train and I had not flown in thermals since last summer. The weather was great and I had some great free flights, one of about 6 hours and more than 50km cross country.
The comp was a six day event and pilots came from all over and camped out. It was a challange not to party too much and get enough rest! The idea of the comp is to fly a predetermined route of some 50km around the mountain region, bagging half a dozen waypoints with a GPS. The GPS units are then handed in each day and a very clever PC program worked out the scoring. Two of the days were unflyable but four were good. There were, I think, thirty-one pilots in the comp and two classes, one for high performance gliders and one for lower performance gliders. Most of my flying peers have moved to the DHV 2 or 2-3 performance gliders but I have gone with a DHV 1-2 Nova Artax to give me a more stable glider for flying alone in whatever strange places I get to in the world. I didn't even know there were two classes until the comp startd but I ended up winning 1st in the Standard Class - that makes me a national champion, ho, ho! There were three of us changing around in the top three placements every day, it was pretty neat. I won a lovely big carved wooden trophy, some money, some clothing, a paragliding DVD and a Paragliding Magazine subsciption. Cool!
I stayed around Vernon for a couple weeks, flying and camping. BC is so beautiful and the VW is the perfect way to enjoy it, I have everything I need with me, just have to find a nice camp spot, pop the top up, get the BBQ out and enjoy. Spent a weekend camped on a perfect little lake in the middle of nowwhere and fishermen delivered two beautiful rainbow trout. Wrapped in foil and delicately grilled in butter and herbsthe they might be the best I have ever tasted. I'm a very lucky boy! Then I drove up through Kamloops and Lilooet where I got a close view of a huge forest fire being fought with helicoptors. Hung out in Pemberton/Whistler for a couple days with Mike and Linda who teach paragliding there. I wanted to fly the area in preparation for a comp the next week. It's a ski area and when I flew up to 11,000 feet; the view was incredible - nothing but snowy mountains as far as the eye could see. Have a look at the link for Whistler. Then I drove to Vancouver and caught the ferry to Victoria and spent a the last few days of June catching up with friends and kiteboarding and paragliding at Dallas Road.
May 2004
We're anchored in Tyrrel Bay, Rocinante is moored nearby and looking cute as a button. I've been sailing her around the bay in the evenings, weaving through the boats and buzzing the floating bar, grabbing a beer held out by Rosie as I swoop by. Pat has been to and fro to Grenada on the ferry a few times, spending time with her house and friends and leaving me to my own devices.
Tiempo is being hauled out for the season on the 24th May so I am starting to think of my summer in Canada, back in my little cabin in the woods next to my brother and his family on Vancouver Island, BC. I'll get my VW camper on the road and go paragliding and kiteboarding in between working on various projects on my land. Sometime this summer I'll take a trip to the UK to visit family with a side trip or two to Europe to visit friends.
Then we'll launch Tiempo in the first week of November and do it all again I hope!
Sorry about the lack of pictures, my camera chip and USB reader have gone AWOL but I hope to get them back and add some pictures later.
April 2004
Well, I have been having far too much and not getting much done on the computer. Basically I should just put a sign up saying "Gone kiteboarding" cos that's pretty much been the theme of the season once again. We decided that really the Grenadines have all we need to keep us busy this year so there is no need to travel further afield. We have been basing ourselves in Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou, a tranquil bay with a little floating bar run by our lovely Scotswoman, Rosie. Many a wild night we have had on that bar ! And there's the best Pizza in the islands, made by my favorite pizza ladies, Daniella and Lucerna at the Turtledove restaurant on the beach. And Sherwin's place on the beach for local fare. Tyrrel Bay is not an exciting place, you have to make your own excitement and we get a bunch of friends and a few tourists together and do just that!
We have spent quite a bit of time kiteboarding with our friends on "Esprit du Nord", in between their charters. They had a bunch of top British kiteboarders out on a promational charter so we tagged along with Tiempo. They were Kirsten Jones, Ben Hanbury, Niel Gent and photographer Christian Black. They were pretty focused on a their photo shoot but we had a good time, nice people. I have seen a few of those pics in the magazine since then, I can't remember which mag it is. I learnt a lot just watching those guys do their stuff!
December we stayed around Grenada and I got Rocinante hauled out for bottom paint and did a whole bunch of work on her in preparation for my brother coming out to use her for six weeks starting mid febuary. I kiteboarded and wake boarded whenever I could.
In January my friend Sandra, who I have known since high school on Vancouver Island, came out for three weeks, leaving her three kids with her folks - bless them! Pat knows Sandra and her family too, by co-incidence, so it was an easy going cruise. We got up as far as St. Vincent and back. Made our seasonal visit to Bequia which was nice but it's getting a little too crowded there these days.
After Sandra left, Petra, a friend of Ellie's joined us and we went back up to the Tobago Cays for a little cruise. The truth is, of course, that I need somebody to help with my kite!!! Petra played guitar and sang like a bird!
Lets see, then what happened, its all a blur! I must have fiddled about Carriacou for a week or two, then my brother Graham came down for six weeks to use my boat, Rocinante, and do two charters. The first was two of Graham's sailing friends from BC, Rob and Charlie, and the second was Brian and Loretta Range and their daughter Lindsay, from BC. We sailed Tiempo in tandem with Rocinante and cruised the grenadines together, fishing and snorkeling and I kiteboarded to my hearts content with my brother acting as my minder. I think I can safely say we all had a great time!
My kiteboarding is getting much better with all the hours I'm putting in - one day I kited from 0730 to 1730 with a break for lunch for an hour - a good days work! I'm fit as a fiddle and doing big jumps, rolls, transitions and a few other tricks.
Every once in a while when the wind is light I hike up the hill here in Tyrrel Bay and soar the ridge on my paraglider to keep my hand in. It's nice to be in the air though a little strange to change from kitebaording to paragliding.