Passagemaker Magazine

in the darkness above, signaling we’re off our preprogrammed route. (And we’re less than an hour into our trip.)

“Let’s just slow her down for a few minutes,” I suggest. Bob, a seasoned cruiser and extremely gracious host, agrees. It always amazes me that we don’t take the necessary pause to assess a situation and remedy issues as soon as we begin to go off the rails. For me, it’s akin to the way I can aimlessly meander around Home Depot looking for window caulking while my fiancée heads off to seek help from an employee and solve the issue immediately. (She’s always looking for the easy way out.)

What were our issues up to this point? A minor one was the opening of items like the fridge. Fleming makes a beefy stainless steel clamp that holds the doors closed. However, we loaded up the shelves on the doors with a lot of weight causing the clamp to pop off with the motion of the seas. I find the rattle and banging of gear, with the occasional whizzing projectile, unnerving and distracting. I’ve learned that items can never be too secured—even a stabilized vessel is going to move around in foul weather and toss things a bit.

The other issue is the methods we
use to program our chart plotter. Life
is Short has a full array of electronics.
Peter, an experienced boat owner, knew
the system. However, his method of
setting up waypoints and electronics
is different from mine. It isn’t wrong
at all. On the contrary, he uses the
electronics to their fullest, while I stick
to my routine. Moreover, we never
communicated about the plan before
we left the sheltered anchorage.

Peter programmed a route taking Life is Short out of the inlet and we engaged the autopilot as soon as we cleared the sea buoy. Yet, the confused sea state made the rhumb line really uncomfortable and there was an unnecessary dogleg in the course. Now Peter and I are in the pilothouse, poor Bob is on the bridge wondering what the heck we’re doing below, I was just getting my bearings after fighting with the refrigerator, and I’m unclear exactly

Ten Things You DiDn’T Know AbouT CAnADA bu T shoulD.

Do you think Saskatchewan is a mythical man-ape? (It’s not.) Do you have any idea who the prime minister of Canada is? (His name’s Stephen Harper.) Have no fear; we’ve got you covered. Here are 10 interesting talking points about Canada should you ever find yourself at a loss for words when it comes to our neighbor to the north.

•Canada has more coastline than any other country on Earth, and the runner up is not even close. According to the CIA’s World Factbook, Canada has about 125,000 miles of coastline. That’s more than half of the incorporated coastline on the entire planet.

•The national motto of Canada is “A Mari usque ad Mare”. It means “From sea to sea.” •Canadians are very well represented in the entertainment industry. Canadian celebs include: Pamela Anderson, Mike Myers, Jim Carrey, Shania Twain, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young and the late Leslie Nielsen.

•The average life expectancy for a Canadian is 81. 16 years. That’s eighth highest in the world. The United States is 46th.

•The east coast of Canada was settled by Vikings nearly 500 years before Columbus sailed the ocean blue.

•The Nakwakto Rapids in the Slingsby Channel in central British Columbia have the strongest current in the world. Water there moves at speeds over 18mph during ebb tides. That’s fast enough to tie a towrope to a stationary object and water ski.

•Manitou Lake on Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron is the world’s largest lake within a lake. It’s nearly twice the size of Manhattan.

•Canada has 10 provinces and three territories. Though it’s technically considered a constitutional monarchy, it is actually governed by a parliamentary system.

•Canada’sgrossdomesticproductisroughlyequalto Texas’. •Labrador retrievers and Newfoundlands are two popular dog breeds that were invented in Canada. Ironically, Labradors are from Newfoundland, and Newfoundlands are from Labrador.

Owner Bob Short (seated) fine-tunes new electronics recently installed while the boat was in Florida. Peter Rothwell looks on, and is planning his own Bahamas cruise.