MAIACETUS: April 10 - 12: What better to do when not working as an MMO...get back on the water!

Monday, April 19, 2010

April 10 - 12: What better to do when not working as an MMO...get back on the water!

One of the greatest things about working as an MMO is that I don't work the typical 9 -5 Monday to Friday hours so I have the flexibility to travel, near and far, and I can pretty much go anytime during my weeks off. During my last break in February/March I went to the Yucatan in Mexico to take in the beach, carnaval and do some cenote diving. This break I decided to stick around British Columbia and last weekend I visited a friend living in Squamish, BC, near Whistler where this year's winter Olympics were held.

I headed up to Nanaimo, about 1.5 hours north of Victoria on Vancouver Island, and took the ferry across to Horseshoe Bay, a small town west of Vancouver. It was a beautiful sunny day and we had flat calm seas for the crossing; I spent a little time on the bow keeping my eyes open for marine mammals and saw a couple of harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) and another small group of Dall's porpoise (Phocoenoides Dalli).

When I arrived on the mainland side my friend met me and we drove the Sea To Sky Highway to Squamish. I stayed in Squamish until Monday morning during which time we hiked along the Mamquam River, hiked up part of Shannon Falls and I sailed with her in my first Regatta at the Squamish Yacht Club and we checked out a couple of the local pubs (Watershed Grill,Howe Sound Inn Pub). This was my first regatta and the boat we were on came in first after two races! It was an awesome weekend and so great to see a part of British Columbia I hadn't been to for years!

Milo, my cat who now lives at my grandparent's in Nanaimo...stopped for a visit on the way to the ferry and caught him sitting in his trademark 'recliner' pose