The Sea Word

Adventures aboard ALULA the Trimaran Sailboat from a Wheelchair Sailor

[theseaword]

Summer nights #sailing #boat #orcas #trimaran #solstice (at The San Juan Islands)

[theseaword]

I am sailing in America and that tanker is in Canada. It's a murky line. Canada is also south of my position. Gotta love the San Juan Islands!

[theseaword]

Back at the boat in Deer Harbor, Orcas Island, after a quick trip to the mainland. Got myself an expensive breakwater!

[theseaword]

Heading back into The San Juan Islands to reunite with ALULA

[theseaword]

Me some 20+ years ago.

[theseaword]

ALULA

[theseaword]

The Shipping Forecast: From Britain's Seas Into Its Soul

Britain is a maritime nation that a century or two ago boasted the world's largest navy. Today, the names of shipping areas in the surrounding seas are embedded in the British national psyche — thanks to the BBC's Shipping Forecast bulletin, a cultural phenomenon beloved by seafarers and landlubbers alike.

Tis True.

[theseaword]

How I get on and off ALULA when she is tied to the dock.

[theseaword]

Shake down - heading out the marina in Anacortes and crossing Rosario Straight to the San Juan Islands. Eventually landing in Deer Harbor on Orcas Island. June 6 2014.

[squeeterbee]

Photo credits: digdeep, Aaron Given, Wikimedia

If I had to pick a favorite feather, it would be an alula feather.

The alula is a “bastard wing” or winglet, and is the bird equivalent of a thumb. It can be moved independently from the rest of the wing. Its function is to alter the bird’s aerodynamics during braking, much like airplane flaps that pop up during a touchdown. The alula feathers can be used to determining the age (young adult versus mature adult) of many songbirds, as they change in shape and color between molts.

[theseaword]

In case you were wondering what ALULA meant!

[theseaword]

ALULA in April 2014 after a lonely winter tied to the dock. Rigging a new mainsail and boom and getting ready to haul out to clean the bottom and do a few repairs.

[theseaword]

This was my first solo sail as a single handed disabled sailor. I sailed from Seattle to the San Juan Islands in July of 2013. I crossed the Straight  of Juan De Fuca in challenging conditions which tested my resolve and took a few years off my life, but I made it none the less. I spent a few weeks last summer sailing in the Islands and reconnecting with a place dear to my heart.