I splurged recently and got a new camera – the Canon EOS Rebel XSI.  It’s a solid mid to high range amateur camera.  Better than any point-and-click camera I’ve used before, so it’s taken some getting used to.  It does have the really basic automatic point-and-shoot settings for quick snapshots, but there are a ton of options to really take control of the images.

I’ve just barely got to figuring out how to take advantage of some of those features, but I’m having fun so far.   The thinks I like so far are:

• The really great instruction video for amateurs like me.  It’s like a short seminar or course on basic photography as much as it is instructions on how to use this camera.
• The autofocus lens and the focus points – you can ‘point’ at something and the camera will focus almost instantly on that item.  No fussing with manual focusing.
• Simple to learn set of controls
• Awesome picture quality (well for my eyes anyways).

Here are some of my first shots with the new camera as I’m learning how to use it.

Just how big is a fish’s brain, anyway? I guess it’s not the size of the brain that counts–otherwise whales would be smarter than humans. Hmmm… But really, is a fish capable of planning and executing its own escape?

Our good friends Kate & Troy came for a visit a few weeks ago and, great fish hunters that they are, we had to head out and try our luck. Well, first the guys had to make a tackle trip and get bait for the crab trap. Just a quick trip to the nearby marina–at least that’s what they said. Two hours later, when they hadn’t returned, Kate & I gave up and drove to Madeira Park to have lunch at a local gallery/cafe (we discovered the most awesome ham/cheese/jalapeno buns!) We passed the guys on the highway…turns out they didn’t find what they were looking for locally so they drove to Sechelt. They came back with all manner of fishing accoutrements including a very nice new rod (thanks K&T!) reel, lures, tackle box, etc. No crab bait, though. I think the bright shiny lures distracted them…

The day was a bit overcast and the winds were up but we grabbed our fleece jackets, Buddy’s Ruffwear (see Dog Overboard!!! post) and headed out.

First spot–wind & waves rocked us to the point of stressing out the dog (and me, a little, I must admit). Fish finder showed fish down there but it was too hard to keep the boat in one spot. Off we went…

Second spot–we were near the cliffside but it was still pretty windy and we were bobbing around like a cork afloat. Kate & I retreated to the galley but after a few minutes my tummy was not feeling very well, so I went back up to the deck for some fresh air. Kate followed shortly thereafter. I was a little concerned about our fuel supply as I knew that we had used quite a bit of fuel when Cathy, Glenn & the kids were here and we hadn’t topped up the tank. I convinced Allan to check (well, to get Troy to check)–1/3 of a tank left. The guys tried to convince me that this was “plenty” since we were just idling. The general rule of thumb when boating is 1/3 going out, 1/3 returning and 1/3 in reserve. So much for that rule…and off we went again on the elusive search for a “better” spot.

Third spot–quite a bit calmer. We saw a seal nearby which certainly meant there were fish just waiting for us! Troy got the first bite! He very graciously handed me the rod so that I could have the privilege of landing the first fish (what a gentleman!)–a beautiful blue Ling Cod. Uh oh. We forgot to bring the cooler so where to put our catch? A quick glance around and the garbage can in the galley became our fish bucket. Kate & I were feeling much better so we called on Troy regularly to help us untangle our lines and unsnag us from the bottom. We stayed at this location for awhile but the guys were sure there must be an even better spot just a little bit further down!

Fourth (and best!) spot–the late afternoon/early evening calm set in and the weather was perfect. Kate caught a Rock Cod and then another and another and another! It seemed that every time she dropped her line into the water she got a bite. She threw a few back because they were “too small”. Are you freaking kidding me? I had the odd bite but nothing significant. Allan took a break from maneuvering the boat to drop his line in. He snagged the biggest Rock Cod of all of us and we snapped his photo as we had done for each person’s catch. This was a good thing, although we didn’t know it at the time. Troy got greedy and decided to throw in a third line in addition to mine & Kate’s. Unfortunately, he threw the whole rod in!!! Good thing it was the cheap rod; too bad it was an $8 lure! Troy was now “rod fishing” instead of cod fishing. But no luck–it’s on the bottom forever. Or at least until some other fishermen thinks he has a bite and brings it up! Although it would have been nice to stay longer, it was already 7:30 pm and we still had to get home, clean the fish and eat our catch for dinner.

When we arrived back at the dock, the guys got busy cleaning the fish while Kate & I started walking up to the house to begin dinner preparations. We had barely walked halfway down the dock when we heard a little splash and someone cry out. Allan’s nice-sized Rock Cod, dead for an hour (or so we thought) had resurrected itself and leapt out of Troy’s hands to freedom. Poor Allan! This was the second time in his fishing experience that he’d caught the biggest fish only to return home with just the tale (pun intended). If you haven’t heard his “other” story yet, ask him to tell you about the halibut that got away… Nevertheless, thanks to Chef Kate’s culinary talent, the rest of our catch tasted wonderful!

So, at the end of the day, one exceptionally intelligent fish outsmarted a few humans. But we’ve still got the advantage. Doesn’t research keep telling us that eating fish will make us smarter? Now if we can only hang on to them long enough…

Not that I wasn’t enjoying watching “Survivorman” build a shelter out of fuselage from a plane wreck but I wasn’t too terribly sad when the TV suddenly darkened and the lights went out.  When we first moved in, a neighbour warned us that power outages are not uncommon in the area in late fall/early winter but this is August!  To be fair, we’d been listening to the rain, the clanging of sailboat rigging and the howling of the wind for at least an hour but it was easy to dismiss those little hints when we were feeling snug and cozy indoors.

Allan began searching the garage for flashlight and lantern (no easy task in the dark) while I gathered some candles.  The wind continued to shake the windows and play crazed rhythms on my chime by the front door but, despite it’s rage, it was warm.  I tried to convince the dog that, regardless of the downpour, it was fine for him to go out and do his thing before we went up to bed but he was having none of it.  He ventured as far as the front garden then turned to look at me skeptically before quickly coming back inside.  After securing all of the patio furniture cushions (they could easily have becoming frisbees), we headed off to bed…to read.

Although it sounds romantic, reading by candlelight really isn’t that fun.  Shadows drift and flicker on the page and you find yourself contorting your book, your hand and then your head, to catch the light.  Allan gave up first and was softly snoring when worries began to rise and distract me from the tale I was reading.  When will the power come back on?  How long will the food in the fridge and freezer last?  Maybe I should transfer the freezer food into our 12 volt cooler and plug it into the car…  Will the bilge pump kick in on the boat, if needed?  Of course, it’s on battery power…  Enough of this nonsense–no doubt the repairmen are working away and the power will come back on soon.  I blew out the candles and drifted off to sleep.

Sometime during the night, the power came back on.  As I went about resetting all of the time displays on our appliances this morning, I imagined some poor BC Hydro man precariously hanging off a pole in the dark, being pelted with rain but, in unselfish service, desperately trying to repair downed wires so that we might enjoy our toasted english muffins and coffee this morning.  Uh huh.  Obviously, I know nothing about what it takes to restore a power outage…but I do like to think that, when the night is dark and only the wavering flame of a candle provides hope, we’ll all do our part.

On Sunday it was sunny and warm so we went out for our first exploratory cruise around the harbour. No mishaps unless you count Buddy almost drowning! Shortly after we left the marina, Bud was walking around the outside deck of the boat, which he usually does, but lost his footing when he tried to climb over the folded up swim ladder that we had forgotten to move from the port side deck. We were both on the upper bridge at the time. Naturally, I was the first to respond…by screaming! Allan flew down the stairs to the stern, reached down, grabbed Buddy’s collar and, with one hand, pulled my 55 lb dog back on board! My hero! Bud promptly retreated to the V berth where he spent the remainder of the trip. Both Allan and the dog were quite wet as a result and Buddy’s new nickname is “Salty Dog” because his fur was tipped with salt once he dried off a bit. It took me about 15 minutes to finally calm down and relax enough to enjoy the scenery. Now I know why many boaters with dogs have them wearing pet life jackets… I know this will surprise some of you, but I’ve already done my research and will be picking up a “K-9 Float Coat” (www.ruffwear.com) this Saturday.

Well, today was the first day back at work for me. it was interesting how it really felt like I was back at the office when I was buried in email for hours at a time. I managed to step out for 15 minutes for a short walk at lunchtime though, and came across a deer being fed by someone sitting on the steps of the nearby art gallery. Not something I would have come across back in Abbotsford.

I hope to be able to take some sort of a walk almost every day during good weather now that we’re settling down into a regular schedule here. We’ll see how that goes…

Can’t believe we’ve lived here for 11 days already! It’s been A LOT of work but our house is almost a home…most of the unpacking is done…just our offices and the garage to work on, now. Poor Allan–this is supposed to be his vacation and every time he turns around I’m asking him to hang pictures or install something or carry things up and down the stairs! I must say, he is kinda handy to have around.

We celebrated our 25th anniversary with a romantic dinner on the deck overlooking the ocean at the West Coast Wilderness Lodge. The ambience, food and company were lovely–25 years later and I’m more in love with my husband than ever! Our big celebration will come in September when we cruise to Alaska. My sister, Roxanne and her fiance, Brian gave us an incredibly thoughtful anniversary gift–a “Renewal of Vows” ceremony/package to take place on our cruise.

We’re looking forward to the next few weeks as we have many visitors making their way over. Allan, Noel and his friend Kyle brought the boat home last weekend so we’re ready to explore the waterways. Good company, fresh crab and a good bottle of wine…sounds like a great summer!

Well, the furniture arrived today, and now we’re officially ‘moved in’.  The movers didn’t arrive until just before noon, so we had the morning to drink some coffee on the deck, and explore the neighbourhood.  It was a bit chilly in the morning, and we didn’t bring our jackets with us, so we drove around looking for some place to have breakfast.   We found Laverne’s Grill no too far down the road, and had a wonderful homemade pancake breakfast.  Afterwards we decided to check out Madeira Park and pick up a few Groceries at the IGA. » Continue Reading

Today was moving day, and we made it!  Here we are sitting on our deck at 9pm, looking out over the water, watching the  orange light of the setting sun light up the opposite shore of Pender Harbour, and seeing the moon rise in the south-east sky.

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Well, we’ve been busy the last few weeks slowly packing our home up, and we’re almost there. Shelley has done an amazing job keeping things organized and making sure we don’t forget all of those little things, like change of addresses, etc. This weekend we’ve stepped things up another notch and have been working like crazy getting everything ready for the big move on Tuesday.

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Welcome to our new website!

As part of our move to Pender Harbour, we needed to get new personal email addresses, so we figured it was time to just get a domain name and email addresses to go with it.  Please note that someone already beat us to allanandshelley.com (we have no idea who they are) and that our domain name is allanandshelley.ca.

So our email addresses are:

allan@allanandshelley.ca
shelley@allanandshelley.ca