It's cool and wet here, completely normal because summer weather doesn't appear around here until July 5th. Right now Port Townsend is celebrating the completion of it's main street rebuild in the drizzle. The project involved new street surface, new sidewalks, and undergrounding utilities, all without closing the street or sidewalks or stores. Today was the deadline for completion, and when I checked yesterday, they had about 50 feet to clean...
I presume if readers want to follow R2AK they have been, so I don't say much about it. But if you forgot the race is on, it's turning out to be very interesting. The lead boat, at about the 2/3 mark, is a monohull with 8 women crewing. In fact, the three leaders are monohulls, the other two are 4-man crews. It's been tight among them for three days. If you have a boat big enough to hold a large crew, it offers a lot of advantages. Like rest and...
It's legal to possess and consume cannabis in Canada now, from coast to coast. The federal government owns the means of production, but small garden grows are allowed. Sales will be regulated by the provinces, and regulations range from provincially-operated stores only, to a mixture of province and private stores, to entirely private. You won't get busted (unless you are stupid), but pay attention to local rules. Edibles won't be allowed for...
I heard a radio story today with a Vancouver, BC, commenter about Canada legalizing weed. One of his lines was "In Vancouver, we can't remember if weed is legal or not."
Next week is good for several pot-related events around the country. Those on the east coast will be watching the first fully-licensed stores open up in Massachusetts. Their program is very similar to the western states, but it took them a while to get there due to some foot-dragging by the state. I'm skeptical about how many people want to buy Massachusetts weed, but they should do well initially serving the surrounding illegal states....
So I'm back in my spot in Chimacum staring at brown sheds instead of $10 million motor yachts, ferry boats, kayaks, and seals, otters, eagles. I gotta figure out how to spend more time up there. My neighbor in dry camp (there are two cheaper spots with no hookups in the park) woke me last night with a problem. He was in a small camper, a van conversion, and had run down his engine battery so he couldn't start the van. He asked for some things...
You might recall the R2AK, where any boat you might have races from Port Townsend to Ketchikan, provided it doesn't have a motor. It's 750 miles, and presents some very difficult challenges, including completing the race. Past finishers have sailed, rowed, and paddled. It starts this coming Thursday. Usually, the "winners" are big ocean-racing catamarans, able to complete the race in just a few days; others require three weeks. I was surprised...
I'm at the Point Hudson Marina and RV park for about a week, my annual stay in downtown Port Townsend. I tried to time it so I'd be here for the run-up to the Race to Alaska, but I missed it. I'll talk more about R2AK later in the week. Weather will be some sun, some clouds, and some rain.