Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Last night, coming back on the Apodaca from Horseshoe Bay was a study in the dynamics of katabatic winds.

I stood on the government dock at Horseshoe Bay and listened to the ocean for a while, rocking gently on the float in the calm air. I thought the water would be flat as glass, and it was until we rounded Tyee Point and got broadsided by a Squamish wind. The Queen Charlotte Channel was churning, and the Apodaca sliced through the waves dousing us with water. She's a beautiful boat...gorgeous lines and sitting high, she sprays water everywhere when she motors through a swell.

When we arrived in Snug Cove, the water was calm and glassy again and not a hint of wind could be felt. Once I got home, at midnight, I stood on the deck leaning into the air and heard the wind and spray roaring in the Channel. The steam on my tea rose straight into the air.

* * *

Of note, the skunk cabbage is coming up, several trees and shrubs are budding, most notably the alder and the salmonberries. In the garden, the osteospermum are growing and the daffodils are poking our through the leaf mould. It's a very mild winter, and there is little snow below 1000 meters. Here, 100 meters above sea level, it's as if we live 10 degrees further south on the globe.

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