This is a pretty good neighbourhood

We’re enjoying one of the perqs of yacht club membership – reciprocal docks.  In return for our annual membership in Sidney North Saanich Yacht Club (SNSYC) we get access to the club facilities which mostly means a reasonably priced bar and fairly high priced restaurant.  For us it also means access to the club reciprocal dock whenever we are in Sidney – that’s not such a big advantage for the locals who already have a dock in Sidney but for us it comes in very handy when we need to go to Sidney.  That’s not what reciprocal moorage is supposed to mean though.

Reciprocal moorage privileges are extended from one yacht club to visiting members of another yacht club.  Typically that means one, sometimes two nights free moorage on the club dock.  Some clubs maintain a specific section of dock for reciprocal guests; others allow reciprocal guests to use club moorage while members are away.  Right now we’re on a reciprocal at Royal Vancouver Yacht Club in Coal Harbour.  They allow reciprocal stays in vacant member slots. 

RVYC is definitely the creme de la creme of yacht clubs out here.  Savvy members buy their newborns a membership so that they can go on the waiting list for moorage.  That way by the time those new members are in their 30’s they have a chance of coming to the top of the waiting list.  The location is about as good as you can get – right at the entrance to Stanley Park - and the facilities are awesome.  The location is also perfect for visiting downtown Vancouver.

Today we used public transit to make a tour of the city that included Gas Town, Chinatown and Lonsdale Quay.  Along the way we walked across east Hastings Street which is another local landmark for a very different reason.   I think the last time we were down in Gas Town Aunt Janet was still alive and the kids were 6 & 8 years old.  I remember we took everyone to the Old Spaghetti Factory and they were making a movie somewhere down there.  The Old Spaghetti Factory was still there today and they were making a movie – I assume a different one.  The set looked something like Checkpoint Charlie and the actors were wearing funny uniforms. 

Tomorrow Marilyn flies back to Regina but we won’t be apart for long this time.  I’ve got a couple of conferences in Saskatoon at the end of the month so I’ll be heading east early next week.  Marilyn moves into her house sitting gig on the first of December so she’ll take over waiting on the cat at that point.  This weekend I’ll start watching the weather forecasts to see how much time I need to allow to get over the mountains.  Last winter for one of those trips we gave Roger’s Pass a miss because of weather but I don’t think they’ve had enough snow in the mountains yet for that to be a possibility.  The only real risk is a storm while I’m actually trying to get over the passes and they can’t forecast that with any reliability until a couple of days before it happens.