Happy Father's Day for those of you out there reading this blog that are fathers.

Well we fell upon a new hobby that will go nicely with the boating in various different countries. It is fun, interesting, uses your navigational skills (actually GPS skills), educational and best of all free.

GeoCaching!

What is Geocahing? It is a term used for both hidden treasures and the use of your computer. The game began in the year 2000 and has expanded around the world. The goal of geocaching is to locate hidden containers, called caches, using latitude and longitude coordinates found on websites, such as GeoCaching.com . The containers are watertight and are hidden in the wilderness, parks or even urban locations. Some are easy to find while others have clues that lead to coordinates, that lead to the treasure. The idea is that once found you take one thing from the treasure and put one thing in with equal value.

The game gets more interesting with the use of travelling bugs. This is where my interests were peeked. You can put a bug (Metal Chain Tag with ID number) in a cache with instructions to how

A travel bug

you want the bug to travel. For example, want it to travel to as many Caribbean Islands as possible returning to Calgary. I see potential with the boating community. I went on line and found that there are many caches to find throughout the Caribbean while we travel. Why bother? It takes you on hikes to places of beauty that you may not have visited or seen otherwise.

Mystery or puzzle caches can involve complicated puzzles you first need to solve to determine the coordinates. It might also involve performing some task at the cache location and taking a photograph or writing the online log in a format or with content that satisfies the cache requirements. The challenges are quite unique.

It is a great way to get exercise and something you can do together or with friends. You could go by yourself if you wanted but sharing is more fun.

Most of all you see places you didn't know existed.

This summer the blog will consist of pictures and postings of various places in Alberta and British Columbia. Surely Geocaching will be involved.

How did you plan for such an extensive trip and do you feel safe doing it in a power boat versus a sailboat? Is a power boat not more dangerous with the seas?

Firstly we have a trawler style boat. It is a displacement hull and very seaworthy.

True or False: Sailboats rely primarily on their sails. They are not worried about fuel needs and engine maintenance and are happy in a wide range of sea conditions. Bull S-----t! Wrong answer. Not true at all. It has been our experience that except for ocean crossings, sailboats motor or motor-sail most of the time. About 75-90 percent of the time. Also the range of sea conditions that sail boaters find pleasing is even more constrained than for trawlers. I'm not a sailboat basher, most of our friends are sail boaters. What I do want to convey is that trawlers and trawler crews, both properly prepared, can safely and comfortably cruise almost anywhere in this hemisphere.

Extended cruising isn't for everyone, hands on maintenance and lots of preparation is needed. A 2 month trip in the BC waters does require preparation but 2 - 5 yrs takes on a whole different meaning. Close to home you can usually get by even with poor preparation. However, a long involved voyage to the corners of the Caribbean or beyond is quite a different animal and the happiest and successful cruiser has done their homework before leaving the home dock.
Where do you start? First have an idea of your planned cruising area. Know where your interests lie. Do you want to travel inland? What is the condition of your boat? Have an idea how much you want to spend. We have spent more than originally planned but have no regrets. What is your experience level? Take as many courses as possible prior to departure. Some people learn as they go but I don't recommend it personally.
For most of the places you might like to visit, cruising guides are available. They are invaluable as an aid in answering many or your questions as well as providing information about weather, sea conditions, safe anchorages etc. We like to carry the inland guides to attractions and accommodations as well. We started collecting guides and started to build a knowledge base.
For this type of trip we believe a SSB radio with a weatherfax is a necessity. It allows you to keep in contact with other boaters keeping yourself safe. There are many boater nets that help keep track of the whereabouts of boaters underway. Internet has a great source of information. Now you can google earth the anchorages you want to visit and have an accurate map to use alongside your charts.
You must have a good GPS and backup, a good supply of spare parts, tools, food stocks, a good dingy and motor, a clear understanding of your boat systems and an extensive maintenance checklist. Keeping track of your maintenance will help you throughout the journey. Ken keeps an extensive log book that he refers back to constantly. We have pretty much double of everything to ensure that we are covered should something malfunction.
Extended cruising is no place for someone who depends upon others to maintain their boat. Boat problems rarely involve significant engine or transmission failures and I'm not suggesting that you need to be a engine mechanic, but a reasonably good understanding of the care of your boat systems will help keep your peace of mind. You should be able to think outside the box. Often you must engineer a part from the things you have on the boat.
A cruising boat is a tiny town. You will find that there are many systems, hydraulic, sanitation, water, fuel, communications, electrical, etc. Rarely can an individual be competent in all these areas, but it is key to have some understanding and to have adequate documentation aboard to help guide you through repairs. Nigels book helps a lot and should be found on all boats.
We planned for many years and have learnt a lot however we are continually reading, and listening to fellow boaters as they are a wealth of information.
I hope this answered the question without being too long winded.

Above are the flags of the countries we have been to. See If you can name the flags. It has been a challenge just finding out which way they fly, with which colour top or bottom.

As you know we have returned to WINTER, its frigging cold here, we had a nice week in Seattle, Vancouver and Kelowna, then we ventured over to Calgary, we haven't had a day above 12C, the night temps hover around +2 and one or two days it has snowed.....welcome home eh!

Ken has started his Reno's at the Calgary Downtown business and I am helping my friend with her grandchildren. They are very active and move about very quickly. As the summer progresses we will be taking the little ones to explore Alberta, as Ken and I did with ours.

Ken is enjoying the NHL hockey play-offs, something that he won't admit too, but I think he really does miss. We have borrowed a friend's (Mark) truck for the summer, thank you to all who have offered vehicles for us to use. We appreciate it immensely.

As things progress over the summer, I will post pics from Western Canada, to share with my world viewers, and also giving me the opportunity to learn my new camera, its systems and how to attach them to my blog. Our 3 yr old camera corroded. So stay tuned for upcoming Blogs from the West of Canada.

Keep the questions coming, I will be responding to them in upcoming Blogs.

Oh yeah, Lea (our friend we are staying with) has a 12 month old Husky. Luka is a super sweet puppy, yes puppy. We have forgotten how to puppy proof your possessions; cords, socks, shoes, clothes, objects on the kitchen counter (yes she can look directly onto the counter) Paper work, yes teacher the puppy did eat my home work. Ken had to take the puppy chewed car registration back to Motor Vehicles, for a new form to be re-issued.

I still have to get at all the pictures and I will get it done.