One guy remarked how I had a front-row seat overlooking the marina. The R2AK participants began flowing in today and I had a great time meeting the people and looking at the boats. This will be the third R2AK. The first year it didn't attract much attention. Last year it got the attention of a lot of people. Now, understand that the race organizers are extreme professional hypers, cleverly and humorously pushing their idea. So it was no surprise...

I'm at my favorite spot at Pt Hudson. Before I got here I had to go to Seattle for an ultrasonic exam of the arteries in my neck and head, which I am presuming is the target of my cardio doctor's interest. I'll find out in two weeks. It was fun to see the same technician doing the exam as 2 years ago, when she did the survey of the arteries since taken out and used for my bypasses. When she said "See you later", I said "I hope not". Over and...

I spent 2-3 weeks on North Padre Island in Texas last fall, parked at the windsurfing campgrounds on the inner channel. My neighbors were a mix of beginners there to take lessons, extremely competent boarders from all over the world, and professional boarders and snow skiers. While I sat in my chair with a book gazing out on the water, my neighbor was getting paid from a sponsor to sail around with the logo in my vision. Another neighbor from...

Last year I wrote a lot about this event, I thought "This is cool shit!" Turns out others thought the same, and it became a "thing". The very most important thing to know is the url, r2ak.com. The premise is a race, by any means, from Port Townsend to Ketchikan, Alaska. No motors, no support crew. The winner gets $10,000, second place a set of steak knives. Those are the rules, so it's a simple game to understand. No one has a tried an overland...

The color of the day this morning was sky blue, though it hazed up after a while. It looks like we'll have a few days more of dryness. I tackled the job of repairing one of my window shades today, which involves re-threading the strings that control it. After months of preparation I had a decent work space and reserved many hours for the task. It didn't take all that long, and I think it came out great. It's one of those things that once you do...

Over the weekend, Washington State added a second ferry to the Port Townsend--Whidbey Island route to handle the tourist load for the summer. I usually get here while the Brant (like a Canada goose) are still hanging out on that tiny gravel spit at Point Hudson. It's only about 100 birds, but the flock is reliable. They packed up and left for the north the other day. They won't be seen again until Fall. The boatyard is looking empty now. The...

The governor signed into law 2 bills that dealt with some miscellaneous, though important, issues dealing with the state's marijuana regulations. I highlighted the most significant points earlier. It cannot be said that the legislature is advancing the state of the art in cannabis regulation; very little will be of interest to other states in any significant way. Part of this is likely because the lawmakers are taking a wait and see approach...

I like how Nevada is handling it's new recreational marijuana laws. Like a few other states, their initiative passed last fall with a deadline of January 2018 for implementation. I think all states would say 1 year is too short a time to get operational. Nevada's approach is that the tax collection system is now ready to go, and stores can open July 1. The rest of the boring stuff can wait until January. This will create a rush to pay the...

The color of the day around here is white. It's a combination of fruit trees (apple, mainly) and ocean spray, a completely nondescript plant unless it is blooming. Some years they all seem to bloom at once, which is spectacular along the roadside, but usually the show is spread out over weeks. That looks like this year. Yellow is coming on fast, lupine and Scotch broom. The Fruit Stand has opened this year, this time in a real building rather...

When Colorado and Washington passed legal marijuana they had to write the rules from scratch. This hadn't been done since the end of alcohol prohibition, far beyond the memories of those writing the new de-prohibition rules. The first guesses and bad assumptions were quickly seen as errors, and corrections made fairly quickly. Oregon and Alaska learned from the original states, and added their own twists and turns, mistakes and accidental...

A public health office came up with the idea of distributing lockable "stash boxes" through the pot stores, particularly to homes with children. By law, the stores are not allowed to sell such things, nor can they give them away. A new law now allows both activities at the stores. First off, the retail stores (in WA) are not allowed to give away anything. This prevents the "free gift" when you buy an empty baggie for $35. Then, stores can only...

When this year's session opened, there were hundreds of bills left over from last year, including a couple dozen dealing with marijuana. With the laws and regulations on retail pot not even three years old yet, one could expect there would be many opportunities for modifications and additions to something so new. They did manage to deal with 20 items late last Friday, the last day of this year's session. The remainder, including some of the most...