happylife

A shower on the sea

I used a portable shower for the first time in this cruise. It is a plastic bag which can hold nine litter of water. One side of the bag is black and the other side is transparent so as to be heated under the sun. It has a shower hose and a handle to be suspended from a tree or something. I suspended it from the topping lift of my boat (a part of a sailing boat which holds the main boom) and took a hot shower on the sea. Of course I was fully nakid. I have never experienced such an open and comfortable shower. I enjoyed this shower many times in this cruise. Though my boat is too small to have a hot shower inside, this portable shower can compensate for the defect.

Too defective product

As I was a system engineer in Japan, I am often required an advice about PC trouble by my friends in Vancouver. I think PC has become too popular while it is still far from a perfect product. It can be broken too easily suffered from computer viruses or wrong operations. I know computer systems are too complex to be free from errors, but it is too defective in construction. I think most computer systems, especially Windows, are too greedy in their functions. I think the best way to avoid this unhappy situation is server side system. Users' computers just run web browser and all other functions are provided by server computers. In this way, users' computers can be simple and free from defects, and users are released from the operation of program installation or system repairing. In order to realize this system, a cheep and high speed Internet connection is necessary. And in some small countries like Japan or Korea, this infrastructure is already arranged. So, I guess and hope that in the next decade these complex computer systems now would be gone and Windows would become a relic of the past.

Wallace Island

The Wallace Island is one of the small but famous islands of the Gulf Islands. I stayed there in the first and last nights in this cruising. As the entrance of the cove faces towards west, we can see a spectacular sunset. The surface of the sea is like a mirror and reflects the sunset sky. The scenary is like a dream. This time of course I could enjoy the scenic beauty, but it was so beautiful that I forgot to take a picture of it. (This picture is the one which I took last summer.) I enjoyed changes of the colors of the sky and the sea. Even after it got dark about 10 pm, I could see numerous stars and some shooting stars. Moreover, I could also enjoy a number of luminous insects in the water, which glimmer like fireflies. As they give off lights reacting vibration, I was stirring the sea water for a long time in the midnight in the cove. I heard once that if we sail in the midnight and dolphins come near, their tracks glimmer like a path. I wish someday I could sea such a scenary.

The Terminal

Yesterday I watched Tom Hanks' new movie 'The Terminal'. This is a story about a poor man who lost his nationality because his country has just been in a coup just before he arrived at the JFK airport. He was obliged to stay in the transit area of the airport. Though he had no valid money and he could not speak English, he managed to live in the ariport. Inspite of some obstructions of the unkind airport director, he gradually got his friends, supporters and even a girl friend of a flight attendant. I think this is a heart-warming comedy which encourages people in adversity.

Porlier Passage

The Gulf Islands is located south east of Vancouver island and consists of hundreds of small islands. It is always calm inside the Gulf Islands even if outside of it, the Strait of Georgia, is rough. There are four main passages in the Gulf Islands, and when we enter it we have to choose one of them. This time I chose Porlier passage because it is nearest from Vancouver and is easiest to pass through. We have to take care the slack time when we go through passages. At passages, except at the slack time, water runs like a river and it is very dangerous to pass the running water. As passages are narrow and shallow, it is hard to proceed against the water flow. And it is more dangerous to run with the current because it gets too fast and uncontrolable. Anyway I safely passed the Porlier Passage and entered the Gulf Islands.

I'm back!

I came back yesterday afternoon from 8 day cruising in the Gulf Islands. Fortunately my boat and I had no serious problem. The weather was mostly fine. The wind was not too strong. So, it was a perfect cruising and I enjoyed it very much. The course I took was as follows;

1st day: Vancouver - Porlier Path - Wallace Island
2nd day: Wallace Island - Telegraph Harbour - Pirates Cove
3rd day: Pirates Cove - Dodd Narrow - Nanaimo
4th day: Nanaimo - New Castle Island - Dodd Narrow - Clam Bay
5th day: Clam Bay - Sansum Narrows - Butchart Cove
6th day: Butchart Cove - Ganges Harbour
7th day: Ganges Harbour - Wallace Island
8th day: Wallace Island - Porlier Path - Vancouver

I will write about the details later.

I'm leaving!

Tomorrow, I'm leaving for Gulf Islands. I'm going sailing around for a week. This is my first singlehanded over night sailing. I'm a little bit nervous because I met Doug yesterday. He said, 'I have just come back from Gulf Islands. It was so gusty that the boat heeled more than 50 degrees and the engine took water and stopped.' He barely sailed back to Vancouver, and at the entrance of False Creek, he called Coast Gurad and let them tow his boat to the marina. I don't expect such a tough experience for my maiden voyage. Fortunately weather forcast says it is calm wind tomorrow, but anything will happen in the sea. Anyway, I am deadly tired because I was struggling allday long to prepare for the cruising. I have to go to bed now, and I wish I could happily come back next weekend and update this blog.

Two films

Tuesday is a movie day in Vancouver, and we can watch most films at low prices. So yesterday I watched two films: 'Fahrenheit 9/11' by Michael Moore and 'The Notebook'.

Unfortunately I couldn't enjoy '911'. I know Moore is a director who stands against the power and this time he is trying to prevent Bush to be elected again. But I couldn't understand most episodes with my poor English skills. I felt lonliness while watching this movie because everyone in the theater was laughing at the episodes and I couldn't understand them. As the film itself is full of ugly faces of politicians and some cruel scenes, it is boring if you can't understand the episodes.

On the other hand, I enjoyed 'The Notebook'. This is a love story and I'm not interested in this field of movies very much. But I watched it because it was highly rated on a web site and the scene of the big wheel was taken near my apartment. The pictures were very beautiful and the stroy was easy to understand even to me. There were a lot of young girls in the theater and at the end of the movie, quite a few of them were sobbing. I was impressed more with them than the movie itself.

GPS

This is my handheld GPS(Global Positioning System) using on my boat. It is a miracle device which tells me where exactly I am, how long it takes to the destination, and when the sun sets today. It also has a simple world map and works as an easy chart navigation system. My sailing instructor used to say that we shouldn't depend on a GPS because it is a blackbox and it may get out of order anytime. Surely a GPS was unstable ten years ago, but now a days it is very reliable owing to the popularization of car navigation systems. I don't like the old method of navaigation using compass, chart, and ruler because I get seasick in a rough sea. I'm going sailing to Gulf Islands for a week from this weekend, and of course I will take this GPS with me.

Nonnative English

Canada is a country of immigrants and we can often hear nonnative English here in Vancouver. Last Friday night, I was invited to a dinner at my friend's house. He is Japanese Canadian and his wife is French Canadian. One other Japanese couple who came to Vancouver more than twenty years ago was also invited. So there were five people including me at the table. As the French Canadian lady cannot speak Japanese, the common language among us was English. I was unexpectedly immersed in nonnative English conversation and I felt that nonnative English, especially Japanese English is not bad to improve my English skills because it is easy to listen and understand for me. I could learn how to speak only with very elementary words. If you're learning English and want to improve your conversation skill, it's a good way to talk in English with your friend who speaks the same language as you.