Vancouver 2010

A spirited non-nautical musing.


This morning I mentioned to a group of folks that having dual-citizenship, I could root either way at this afternoon's Gold Cup hockey game, but that I did have a bias, which I wouldn't expose to them.


But now? 

OH, CANADA !!!!!!!!!!

YES !!

Oh, yes. Please excuse the shouting.

The Olympics and The Weather

OK, this is not exactly a boating post. That is, unless you decided to cruise up to Vancouver for the Olympics. On the other hand, however, I suspect that even boaters might have driven up to the Olympics. For the rest of us, we watch on the delayed (bad, bad NBC) broadcasts on TV.

But if you're waiting, and hoping, for weather that better fits what's needed and wanted for a Winter Olympics, you're probably going to be disappointed, very disappointed. Well, probably not as disappointed as our Vancouver neighbours and relatives, not to mention the local committee.

In a nut shell, it looks bad. As Cliff Mass, UW weather guru and my favorite weather authority (officially, professor of atmospheric science), describes in his latest blog posting, " the Olympics venue will be better for surfboarding than snowboarding. Heavy rain. Thick fog" for the next few days. Check out Cliff’s posting.

Ugh!

While even that most powerful International Olympic Committee can’t control Mother Nature, and slush happens, I can’t help but feel sorry for Vancouver, the athletes who won’t break world records, and my own Canadian roots - - Vancouver and North Van are probably my ancestral home.

But the Games will go on.

And we will watch and be thrilled and be amazed at the athletic skills of, oh, so many young men and women who have gathered to test their skills and delight their fans.

And thank you all for that!

And the Great Northwest will continue to be the Great Northwest, come rain or high water or slush.