Old and New

I never tire of looking at these two old sailing ships owned by the Sail and Life Training Society. There is always a hint of romance and a greater air of adventure in far-away places than the huge cruise ships suggest. Victoria is home port for the two pictured above, the Pacific Grace and the Pacific Swift. The society that owns them provides sailing and life experience for young people. Whenever I see these ships I envy the young people aboard.

S.A.L.T.S.

Here's two more ships that always stir up the wanderlust in me like a whiff of a warm, spice-laden breeze. On the right is the Pacific Grace and further away just left of center is the Pacific Swift, two sailing ships owned by S.A.L.T.S., the Sail and Life Training Society. Lucky youths can learn to sail on these ships and may voyage in local waters or to some of "those far away places". The Pacific Grace was loading up for a voyage just as the Pacific Swift appeared to be arriving from one.

Bucket List

A bucket list is a list of things to do before you die. The concept is derived from the phrase "to kick the bucket" and was made popular recently by the 2007 film "The Bucket List". I'm thankful that I don't have a very long bucket list. I've been lucky enough to experience during my life most of what I dreamt of when I was young. However, whenever I spend a few minutes in the vicinity of the two S.A.L.T.S. training ships pictured above, that last bucket list item comes surging to the surface: A long sailing voyage on a ship such as this through the South Seas and on to the Orient. To wake up in the morning and look out one of these incredible windows onto some palm-fringed shore - that's my bucket list item. What's yours?

S.A.L.T.S.

Even when the weather is as gray and damp as it has been for the last few days, the inner harbor still offers some splendid sights. One or the other of these two tall ships is often moored here but they are not so often seen side by side. I'm sure modern sailboats are more comfortable and faster but there is something about these old style sailing ships that is wonderfully evocative of the sea and our close relation to it.

These ships, the Pacific Grace on the left and the Pacific Swift on the right, are used by the "Sail And Life Training Society" (SALTS) to provide sail training to young people aged 13 - 27, particularly but not exclusively those deemed "at risk." SALTS is a registered charity based here in Victoria. They have an excellent website where you can find out more about their programs: www.salts.ca and it is possible also to take virtual tours of both of these splendid ships: click here for the Pacific Grace and here for the Pacific Swift.

Old and New

Though this long weekend was mostly gray and rainy, we had a sunny day on Good Friday. I took this photo because I liked the contrast between the two means of water transport. On the far left is the Victoria Clipper, a high speed catamaran passenger ferry that operates between here and Seattle. On the far right is one of Victoria's resident tall ships, the Pacific Swift, a sail training vessel for young people.

Captain George Vancouver

We've looked at Captains Cook and Quadra and here is a third but possibly the most important early sailor to visit these shores, Captain George Vancouver. In addition to this island where I write, the metropolis across the Strait of Juan de Fuca has been named after him, probably because he was the first ever to sail into Burrard Inlet, on which shores the City of Vancouver has grown.

Captain Vancouver had an interesting career as a British naval officer. His first naval experiences were with Captain Cook, who explored this area on two voyages between 1772 and 1779. Next Vancouver served in a 74 gun ship of the line in a war with France. These were the glory days of the British Navy when their naval superiority spread the British Empire over the globe. After stints in the West Indies and South Pacific, Vancouver returned to this area on an expedition that lasted from 1791 to 1795, charting the BC coastline with such accuracy that his charts were still in use in the early 20th century. Wisely he spent his winters during this extended voyage in the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) but presumably with better diplomacy than Captain Cook, who managed to get himself fatally speared while visiting those generally hospitable islands.

Captain Vancouver was accompanied on this last lengthy voyage by Archibald Menzies, a surgeon and naturalist. Those of you familiar with the works of Patrick O'Brian and his Aubrey/Maturin series of nautical novels will find many interesting parallels with the voyages and work of Vancouver and Menzies and those of O'Brian's main characters. These characters were brought to life on the big screen a few years ago under the title, "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World," with Russell Crowe. Menzies gave his name to one of the West Coast's most beautiful trees, the Arbutus or Pacific Madrone (Arbutus menziesii).

Unlike O'Brian's literary captain and surgeon/naturalist, however, Vancouver and Menzies did not get along and when the voyage was completed Menzies' and others' complaints effectively ended Vancouver's career. He died in obscurity at the age of 40 only a few years after completing his circumnavigation of the globe. His statue, pictured above, is in need of a little maintenance but its location makes that difficult. It is, as can be seen below, on the top of the tallest dome of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly buildings here in Victoria, a fitting, if belated, honour.The magnificent figurehead above, apparently gazing at Vancouver's stature, is that of the Pacific Swift, one of the Tall Ships that is resident here when it is not away on a voyage. Below is an additional shot of this beautiful wood sculpture. Notice the BC floral emblem of the dogwood flowers.