Sailpast (122/365)

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May 2, 2015 – After two days of helicopter training, really all I wanted to do was stay in bed this morning.

But we couldn’t, because today is Sailpast, the official and ceremonial opening of boating season for Burrard Yacht Club. And we were going out on the immediate Past-Commodores vessel so couldn’t drag our heels too much as their boat was to be the first vessel to pass the new Commodore’s boat and dip the ensign.

So we dragged ourselves out of the cosiness of bed on a Saturday morning, cleaned ourselves up, put on our formal whites and blues, and headed down to the Club. Someday we might take our own boat in Sailpast, but not this year as it’s still having repairs done to is. So we dropped our gear and beverages on Sol Quest and enjoyed the ceremonies on shore before heading out up through Second Narrows for the Sailpast at Boulder Island.

I couldn’t help but wonder what some of the kayakers, non-Club boaters, and people on shore thought when out of the blue, on a quiet day with few vessels….suddenly what amounted to an armada of between 75 – 100 boats suddenly materialized out of nowhere. Imagine being one lonely boat heading the other direction!

Once through the formalities of the fleet inspection we changed into more comfortable (and less dazzling) clothes and continued up to the top of Indian Arm to one of BYC’s outstations – Clementine – and the 50+ boats that opted to not head back to the Club were stuffed into the docks designed for less than half that number. Many helping hands put the boats into the space like a jigsaw puzzle. No boat was to be turned away and the rafts hung out past the edge of the dock in places, but boaters are friendly people and when rafted we just cross the sterns to reach a destination.

Actually, rafting is a great way to meet new people and often involves offers of beverages and snacks. Sometimes it takes a while to make it from one end of a raft to another. Boaters are often described as “drinkers with a boating problem”. Spend some time around a boating community and you’ll probably come to the conclusion that the description is relatively accurate. 😉

The afternoon at Clementine was filled with socializing, free beer, fantastic food (enough BBQ’d ribs for a couple of hundred people), and a live Jazz band playing on the deck.

The fire pit was filled, though it wasn’t starting fast enough so someone decided it needed a bit of fuel to get it going…. the crowd backed away but in the end it turned into a pretty decent fire 😉

We weren’t spending the night and had reserved a spot on a water taxi to take us back to the Club. The hour long boat ride back was so calm…it was a gorgeous night.

There simply isn’t anywhere else I would ever want to live.

This is home.