Christmas 2009

The Huron Carol ('Twas In The Moon of Winter Time)

'Twas in the moon of wintertime when all the birds had fled
That mighty Gitchi Manitou sent angel choirs instead;
Before their light the stars grew dim and wondering hunters heard the hymn,
Jesus your King is born, Jesus is born, in excelsis gloria.

Within a lodge of broken bark the tender babe was found;
A ragged robe of rabbit skin enwrapped his beauty round
But as the hunter braves drew nigh the angel song rang loud and high
Jesus your King is born, Jesus is born, in excelsis gloria.

The earliest moon of wintertime is not so round and fair
As was the ring of glory on the helpless infant there.
The chiefs from far before him knelt with gifts of fox and beaver pelt.
Jesus your King is born, Jesus is born, in excelsis gloria.

O children of the forest free, O seed of Manitou
The holy Child of earth and heaven is born today for you.
Come kneel before the radiant boy who brings you beauty peace and joy.
Jesus your King is born, Jesus is born, in excelsis gloria.

This, Canada's oldest Christmas carol, was written by Jean de Brebeuf (ca. 1643), a Jesuit missionary to the Hurons. "Gitchi Manitou" is Algonquin for "God".

The carol is sung by Heather Dale, and sung in Wendat (Huron)

A Blessed Christmas to you all!

Mike

Santas & Sailors

Only nineteen days until Christmas!

Of course the merchants have been extolling all of us to start celebrating yesterday! Buy now! (and jump start the final fourth-quarter days). Seems to me that this push starts earlier each year. Soon we'll have Christmas sales starting right after Labor Day (did you just say that they already have?).

But to a deeper level. A singular character invoked at Christmas time has many, many names: Saint Nicholas; Santa Claus; Sinterklaas (also called Sint-Nicolaas or De Goedheiligman) Dutch; Saint Nicolas, French; Bishop of Myrna,

Right here in Seattle we have a constant reminder. Saint Nicholas Cathedral on Capital Hill, on 13th between East Howell and East Olive, is one of the oldest parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church outside of Russia in the United States, founded in 1932 by Russian immigrants who fled the Communism that invaded their homeland after the 1917 Russian Revolution.

But it is not just the young, and the young at heart, who celebrate St. Nicholas.

Sailors also claim St. Nicholas as their patron, carrying stories of his favor and protection far and wide, and St. Nicholas chapels were built in many seaports in the Mediterranean and beyond.

Nikolaos, is the patron saint of Greece, where his primary role is as the protector of sailors and seamen. At Christmas small fishing boats honor him, especially in the islands, with decorations of blue and white lights. Tradition has it that his clothes are soaked with brine, his beard always dripping with seawater, and his face covered with perspiration because he has been fighting storms to reach sinking ships and save men from drowning.

Greek ships carry an icon of St. Nicholas, as he is regarded as master of wind and tempest. Sailors light a candle before the icon, a small model of a ship, praying for safe passage. When a ship is in danger the captain prays making a solemn promise to bring a tamata, a model of a small ship of silver, gold, or carved of wood, if they make port safely. On return from such a voyage, the captain and sailors take the model (or painting), representing their ship, to church. In thanksgiving for their safety, they place it before a St. Nicholas icon. It is given as testimony to protection received, not as intercession for future aid

Revered as the great protector, St. Nicholas' feast is one of great devotion. The Greek Navy pays tribute to the patron saint of sailors with a special ceremony at the Hellenic Naval Academy.

Devotion to Saint Nicholas is also shown by the many small white chapels that dot the coastline. These chapels, dedicated to Satin Nicholas, have been built in gratitude to God for protection on the seas. As nearly every island family has members working in shipping, the navy, fishing or sponge diving, it is customary for folks passing one of these chapels to enter, light a candle, and pray for their friends' and relatives' protection from turbulent seas. Many families name a son "Nikolaos" in honor of the saint.

St. Nicholas, patron saint of sailors, is also part of Epiphany celebrations held by the sea. Priests bless ships anchored in harbor, in St. Nicholas' name, asking him to watch over each one, bringing it safely through storms and back to harbor. Ships then blow their whistles and church bells ring as a cross is thrown into the water. Sailors dive to see who can retrieve the cross.

So today, St. Nicholas' Day, December 6th, you sailors and mariners, remember our patron saint as you make plans to cruise the Salish Sea.

And perhaps coincidence, but tonight is also the Seafair & 76 Special People's Holiday Cruise when nearly 400 decorated boats will host approximately 4,000 developmentally disabled guests for a special cruise around Lake Union and Lake Washington, no doubt making St. Nicholas' heart glad.

Cut some slack for the commercial hype that permeates these days.

Let the young anticipate the joy of Santa Claus.

And for those of us who will celebrate nineteen days hence the birth of the Christ Child, let us one and all rejoice!

For a good telling of the legend of St. Nicholas, go to Customs of Advent and Christmas, as told by Victor Hoagland, C.P. (It's almost a 4th century economic recovery plan).

The icon is by Aristidh Milaqi "Saint Nicholas, the Patron Saint of Sailors" (Icon on wood, 2009)

Congratulations, Puget Sound Partnership!

From People For Puget Sound's excellent web site:

This week marks the one-year anniversary since the Puget Sound Partnership unveiled its road map for recovery of Puget Sound by the year 2020.

A year ago we greeted the Partnership's Action Agenda with the observation: "The main question now is the question that has been front and center throughout the whole process: Are we going to get the job done?"

A year ago, Partnership Executive Director spoke at REI and laid out the details of the Action Agenda.

This week, the Partnership listed its first year accomplishments:

"Today we celebrate the one year anniversary of the Puget Sound Action Agenda, and as we reflect back we are proud of the successes and accomplishments made in one of the hardest economic climates since the Great Depression.

Our recent successes:

• Guaranteed $50 million in federal funds for 2010, more than doubling the amount of federal money from the year prior. The money will be distributed to the U.S. EPA and other agencies for implementation of the Action Agenda.
• The U.S. EPA approved the Action Agenda as the new Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan for Puget Sound under the Federal Clean Water Act. This important approval helps direct federal funding to Puget Sound restoration, and is an important element in the Puget Sound Partnership’s role as a conduit for federal funds.

Protecting the best remaining places:
• We are leading the effort to establish Marine Protected Areas.
• With DNR, we are developing an aquatic habitat Conservation Plan to protect critical marine habitat.
• We are strengthening Shoreline Management Act statutes and regulations to require conditional use permits for all over-water structures.

Restore ecosystem function:
• Key oversight and coordination role for significant state and federal funding for salmon recovery, estuary and salmon habitat restoration. Examples include Nisqually Delta restoration, Elwha River floodplain, Fisher Slough marsh and others.

Stop pollution:
• War on stormwater. We are developing a comprehensive stormwater strategy.
• Leading the effort to develop and implement incentives and remove barriers to using Low Impact Development.

Engage the public:
• ECO Net established, with over 600 members and 500 organizations.
• Launched the “Puget Sound Starts Here” public awareness campaign.

Thank you Puget Sound for your continued support and involvement, and please share your Puget Sound success stories with the rest of our community. Let’s take a moment and celebrate everyone’s hard work to clean-up, restore and protect Puget Sound."

Reprinted with kind permission of Mike Sato, director of communications, People for Puget Sound.

Salish Sea: You're 'Official' Now!

The name Salish (pronounced SAY'-lish) Sea can now be used on maps (and, hopefully, charts) and other materials, the result of being officially adopted this past Thursday by the U.S. Board of Geographic Names. We posted on this blog on November 5th that Washington State, and earlier Canada, had approved the naming of this great body of waters from Olympia north to Canada's Desolation Sound.

Now we can watch NOAA run to update their charts.

The painting (above) by Joel Nakamaru, as reproduced on the Washington Sea Grant calendar, depicts the sea life from orca to oysters in our marine environment.

Remembrance Day 2009

This is an encore posting from last year's, updated, and now with a closing comment. Many of you commented via email following last year's posting, comments that were reflective, touching, moving, as you remembered the cost of war and your own experiences.

For me, November 11th will always be Remembrance Day. Ninety-one years ago the armistice to "end All Wars" was signed between the Allies and Germany at Compiegne, France, to take effect at eleven o'clock in the morning - "the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month." Originally known as Armistice Day, it was changed to Veterans' Day here while renamed Remembrance Day in Canada and much of the rest of the British Commonwealth.

During the late '60s, while stationed in Ottawa, Canada, on every November 11th, and as the government's chief press officer (seconded from the Army) I was responsible for co-ordinating media coverage of the observances at the National War Memorial. Dignitaries of every stripe were there, led by the Queen's representative to Canada, the Governor General. Mounted at the cenotaph were four armed sentries and three sentinels – two flag sentinels and one nursing sister – posted at the foot of the cenotaph.

The first year I had this duty the Governor General was Major-General Georges Vanier, a tall, striking figure (he had an artificial leg), a World War I hero and one of Canada's few Victoria Cross recipients, and very much a soldier's soldier. (His son, Jean Vanier, is the founder of L'Arche)

Everywhere you'd see people wearing the red poppy, the symbol of the Day, remembering the fields of poppies that grew in Flanders, Belgium, where so many of the Allied dead are buried, and which inspired the poem, which even today is almost a national treasure in Canada, "In Flanders Field", by Lt.Col. John McCrae, Canadian Field Artillery.

What captured me was the military parade to the memorial. Led by contingents from the Royal Canadian Navy (being the senior service, of course), a Canadian Army regiment (often the Canadian Guards Regiment), the Royal Canadian Air Force, there followed the veterans - - First World War, Second World War, Korea. (Since then vets from Bosnia and Afghanistan no doubt take part.) But the group that moved and cheered the crowds most were the few Boer War vets - - a very few proudly marching, albeit some with canes and crutches, some in wheel chairs pushed by Boy Scouts, some in hospital beds, again with Boy Scouts. Headgear properly worn, medals polished, mustaches waxed.

Each year this contingent grew smaller, until the last year I was there only five Boer War vets made it. And we saluted them, and we cheered them, and we wept.

Whether you call it Armistice, Remembrance, or Veterans' Day, I still wear my red poppy on November 11th, remembering the fallen.

A closing comment.

Together with the US, and over a dozen other NATO countries which together comprise the UN-authorized International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), Canada has maintained a strong commitment to the Afghanistan mission with over 23,000 having served there since 2001.Currently, 2,500 Canadians remained deployed in Kandahar province, which has been described by Afghan President Karzai as "the centre of gravity" for his country.This work has regrettably come at a high cost, however, with Canadian military personnel suffering casualty rates the highest in ISAF as a proportion of troops deployed. To date, Canadian fatalities number 135, many from the regiment I first joined in 1951, the 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry based in Alberta, four the sons of former mates I served with in the PPCLI.

The video is by Canadian singer-songwrite Terry Kelly.

The Salish Sea, Finally!

The term the Salish Sea was first proposed in 1988 by marine biologist Bert Webber, who recognized the need for a single geographic term that encompassed the entire ecosystem, spanning across the international border. Having a name to identify the entire area calls attention to the trans‐border commonality of water, air, wildlife and history. Rather than being a replacement for any of the existing names, the designation Salish Sea is an overlay which includes and unites the established and familiar names of the various water and land bodies (the Strait of Georgia, Strait of Juan de Fuca, Puget Sound, Gulf Islands, San Juan Islands, etc.). The name also pays tribute to the Coast Salish peoples who have inhabited the area since long before Euro‐American explorers first arrived.

On October 30th the Washington State Board on Geographic Names (the folk who decide what to call creeks, mountains and other natural features) named the inland waterways shared by Washington and British Columbia the Salish Sea. The British Columbia government approved the name six days earlier. Of course this still has to be OK’d by the US Board of Geographic Names to make it official and, as Mike Sato, communications director for People for Puget Sound writes, “the real official measure is its adoption into customary usage”.

Many of us have long favored the name Salish Sea, not only because it encompasses the waters that we cruise, not only that it sees all these waters as common body when we look at environmental and pollution issues, but because it simply makes sense to honor the indigenous peoples into whose lands and on whose waters we move.

But all this surfaces (no pun intended) an interesting conundrum: what exactly is Puget Sound? A popular description seems to encompass everything up to the Straits, and perhaps (with a bit of grandiosity) even including the waters up to Anacortes, if not the San Juan Islands, let alone as far north as Bellingham. Caleb Maki, executive secretary of the Washington State Board on Geographic Names, calls this the “Puget Sound Creep”, describing in an earlier email to me that Puget Sound keeps "getting larger and larger."

For the record, officially, Puget Sound starts at that body of salt water lying South of Admiralty Inlet/Possession Sound down to just above Olympia.

So, to now be really politically correct, what about all those titles that identify themselves using the descriptive Puget Sound? As People for Puget Sound’s Mike Sato opines in his blog, “renaming ‘People For the Salish Sea’, ‘Salish Sea Partnership’, ‘Salish Sea Business Journal’? Nah.”

Interesting.

Want to weigh in on this? Just post your comments and let's see where we end up.

Meanwhile, for me, here’s to the Salish Sea, at long last!

("The Salish Sea Map", cartographer Stefan Freelan, WWU, 2009")

Editor's note. Some readers have made comments on earlier blogs, but regretfully, in the editing process they were dropped. If you previously sent a comment but failed to see it, would you please resend? Thank you, and again, my apologies.

Ready to Move Up?

If you're thinking of "moving up" you might want to look at this nifty vessel which just left Turku, Finland today for Florida, all 1,184 feet of her with a 154' beam and a gross tonnage of 220,000.

Oh, yes. sixteen decks and 2,700 cabins should accommodate all 6,300 of your closest friends. But you'll have to consider that she cruises at only 22 knots.

The MV Oasis of the Seas is Royal Caribbean International's latest vessel. For great pictures go to their image gallery.

Looking for a broker to help put you at the helm? Go to Northwest Yacht Brokers Association. And you won't have to wait for the great January 29th boat show!

"That's The Way It Is", Walter Cronkite

Television pioneer, legendary and trusted news anchor, renowned journalist, intrepid sailor, Walter Cronkite died this past July.

In Waterway Guide; Navigational Advice Covering Waters of the Delaware Bay, the New Jersey Coast, Long Island Sound, the Coasts of Massachusetts and Maine, published in 1986, Walter Cronkite wrote this Introduction (my edit updating in blue and red).

Considering this was written some 23-years ago, his words still ring true today. And, like so many of you, I've admired his style!

Of all those plaques sold to brighten up one's yacht, the one that reads "A collision at sea can ruin your whole day" speaks volumes. A collision at sea, or a hard grounding in breakers, or a fire on board, or a man overboard - - any one of these calamities certainly will ruin your whole day if not your whole life.

Anyone who has nudged a dock or hit a rock at a comparatively measly speed of five or six knots knows that even a little bit of momentum can do a powerful lot of damage. Now engines and hulls are getting more and more efficient, cruising speeds of large boats are soaring into the 30s and 40s, and there is even talk of a new speedster that can exceed 100 knots. Imagine that one thundering through your harbor with a dingbat at the wheel happily waving a can of beer at friends!

Concern for boating safety is growing in direct proportion to the greater number of vessels - - from sailboats to floating palaces - - that share our waters. Anyone who spends considerable time on board is aware of the hazards of increased traffic, and few mariners, I suspect, have not witnessed either an actual accident or at least a near miss that inspired frightened awe.

In a recent issue of The Practical Sailor, the editors of that splendid publication learned just how lively the concern about boating safety is. New boat owners have been writing to the editor with the suggestion that the magazine start rating boats according to safety. Practical Sailor notes the impracticality of that and adds the sage, if obvious, admonition that "any boat is only as safe as the person driving it." Put another way: no boat is safe if you've got a dingbat at the wheel.

Greater speeds and more crowded waters may eventually force operator licensing. Now, no one but an advanced masochist favors more government regulation. We all like to think that part of the lure of the open water is the escape from land-based restrictions. Seemingly every boating organization opposes licensing, just as the automobile associations opposed drivers' licenses up until the 1930s. Now, of course, no one in their right mind opposes automobile drivers' licenses. (Washington State instituted a mandatory Boater Safety Course in 2006. Oregon and Canada also have similar requirements.)

In the past few years more and more states have responded to concerns about boating safety by licensing juveniles to operate boats. Some, like New York State, have extensive training and testing programs, and if the early evidence of success in this effort is borne out, the pressure to extend the program to adults may increase..

Any licensing procedure would encounter the problem of the shortage of enforcement machinery - - a problem that already hampers the enforcement of safe boating practices. The budgetary squeeze on national, state, and local governments has discouraged support for increasing maritime police forces, and obligated the Coast Guard to reduce its boating safety personnel to a paltry 199 nationwide. The magnitude of the Coast Guard's budget problem is underlined by the dilemma created by the 1984 federal legislation making it unlawful to operate a boat while under the influence of alcohol or other drugs. The noble idea has been stymied by Congress' inability to come up with funding for enforcement machinery.

Meanwhile, the safety of all of us on the water is up to each of us on the water. How mind-bogglingthat all those who venture forth at the helm of any vessel - - from dingy to cruiser - - don't understand that simple truth. Safe boating is no mystery: nine tenths of it is in alertness and anticipation. For Mariners, "What do I do if..." should be the question foremost in mind. An awful lot of trouble can be avoided if the helmsman is thinking and weighing the variables that cold affect the boat in the minutes and hours ahead.

The first duty of any skipper is to learn the rules of the road, pilotage, and simple navigation. Coast Guard Auxiliary or Power Squadron courses are available nationwide. Commercial correspondence courses are cheap insurance compared to the cost of ignorance. (CruiseMasters Boating Instruction has been instructing Northwest power boaters with actual hands-on experience since 1997.) At the very least, a thorough reading of Chapman's Piloting or another good book on boating fundamentals, followed by some stringent self-testing, can do the job. Some of us who might be more forgetful than others find it advantageous to do a little self-test drill at the beginning of each boating season to refresh our memories. I favor a talk session with my crew during which we throw traffic and navigation problems at each other for quick solutions.

A final word: courtesy. That curiously old-fashioned idea is one of the fundamentals of safe boating. If we keep in mind the other fellow's comfort as well as our own, a lot of the dangerous, nerve-racking situations that occur on our crowded waters could be avoided. Let him (or her) cross in front, let him get securely in his slip before you try to wedge past - - what's the hurry? Put your anchor down to give others room for theirs and to swing freely. Lack of courtesy is the sole cause of one of the most annoying and frequently disastrous incidents at sea: the tumulus wake from a passing boat can easy swamp boats, causing fires from upset stoves, or toss crew overboard.

Man wasn't meant to live on the water - - and certainly not in it. When we go boating we are venturing into a hostile world, but most of us feel the enjoyment received is worth the risk involved. But for our own sake and that of others, all of us should reduce this risk to the minimum possible.

- Walter Cronkite

And that's the way it is.

The 33rd Wooden Boat Festival

Last weekend's 2009 Wooden Boat Festival was wonderful. It had been a few years since we last made the trek to Port Townsend for this annual second-weekend-in-September event, only to discover that the Festival has increased in so many ways - - more entries, more vendors, and good crowds. Of course the weather was grand!

(Be sure to click on a picture to see it full screen)

Lines and lines waiting to buy tickets for this 33rd annual festival.

From prams to classic sedans. The 1909 Edwardian houseboat cruiser, M/V Lotus (extreme left).
We were serenaded by a band on the boat-deck of the classic M/V Lotus..

An assortment of good brass at the Davey & Co., United Kingdom booth.

The marina was full.

Wood, as far as the eye can see.

Nice. Very nice.

Kayaks awaiting.

Oh, to row in comfort.

A neat turn of wood.

A fender, please, not a bumper.

He said that he had started out to make a canoe, but then something went wrong.

At rest.

Off the beach.

A great sailing helm.

Very shiny.

Three nicely in a row.

A longboat coming in.

And kids made and sailed their own boats and dreamed daunting adventures.

They came by land and by sea.

Tall ship.

A special treat, and perhaps our highlight, was to see the almost completed 26,600 square-foot Northwest Maritime Center & Wooden Boat Foundation. Be sure to take this in when next in Port Townsend.
Inside the NWMC.
Lots of open space for boat building.

Boatwrights at the NWMC explain their craft.
Shot from a second floor balcony.
A compass-rose seen from the NWMC balcony, and looking out to the entrance of the Port Hudson Marina
Simply put.

Don't miss this annual event for wooden boat lovers worldwide. So, see you there next September for the 34th Festival?

It is simply good for the soul!