Something new about 2022
In previous years, come October we would tie up at the dock in Victoria’s Inner Harbour, have a real shower, maybe even splurge for eight minutes instead of the four-minute rinse that a single twoonie would get you.
From then, Lynne and I would work long days in our rented office, turning summer research into a new guide or redrawing hundreds of chartlets to fit a new format. We’d do this until early February when boat show season would force us to put down our virtual pens and turn our focus to marketing.
This year was to be different. I’d relax. Put my feet up. Drink frappuccinos. Have long showers. Two twoonies, maybe three.
Lynne was having none of it. “What about all the additions and changes you said you wanted to make to the guides if you only had time?” she said in that impatient voice I love.
So I relented and we set about upgrading the guides to overcome the short-comings which I had pointed out the previous summer with a sundowner in my hand – which is when I am at my most know-it-allish, ask anyone.
So we went about rebuilding. We started with Puget Sound, first adding Des Moines and Allyn, marinas we had not yet included for no good reason and which Covid had delayed us rectifiying. And we redrew many others, such as Eagle Harbor at Bainbridge Island, with the assistance of more precise and detailed maps we had acquired.
Then in the San Juan Islands we redrew many chartlets, based on advice from boaters and marinas, and added marina pullouts to provide more information.
In the Gulf Islands we added scores of marina pullouts. On the Sunshine Coast we did the same, and to both we added many kilometres of hiking trails.
In Desolation Sound, we enlarged and redrew the anchorages in the park and off Kanish Bay, adding hiking trails to both. As well, we added more precise information about the many shore rings for stern ties added with funding from the non-profit BC Marine Parks Forever Society.
In the Broughtons we redrew many chartlets, and did the same on the West Coast of Vancouver Island, using more precise nautical information than we had available to us on our last circumnavigation of the island.
So our holiday turned into a winter of labour, improving our guide coverage in ways we had long planned to do. It came with a feeling of accomplishment, the sort that comes with doing your best.
I know that sounds cheesy, but its true. And it’s been that way for 10 years.
If you use our guides and think there is something more we could do, some information we don’t provide, but should, please let us know.
Stay safe,
Jim and Lynne
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