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Friday, April 07, 2006

Gentlemens Cruise A Palooza 2007

If that's me mixing martinis in the galley - hey, it must be 4:30ish!

Our vessel in a favourite one-boat bay on Kootenay Lake, British Columbia

Every summer for 9 years now, I've gone out on Kootenay Lake for 3 or 4 days with a group of men (10 of us usually). We rent these fantastic vessels from Kaslo Shipyards and head off with no plan and no worries.

What we do have is a lot of food, frothy beverages, herbal remedies (for those with special needs) and we do things like hike, fish, swim, yoga (well, not me), play cards, read, gaze at the stars, sing (sort of) around the fire and ... some of us do a lot of nothing too. This August will be the 10th cruise.

Ask me about the time we got stuck on the bottom during a storm or the time we sailed all night into huge waves to avoid being driven to shore. Ask about the exploding lasagna and the only woman we've ever permitted on board (not that many ask). But don't copy the Kaslo Shipyard Admiralty on your emails please....



Comments:
"Herbal remedies".

Ahem.

A special need, yes indeed.
 
I do hope you're going to tell us all those stories now that we've had the teaser.
 
Are you mixing martinis in a sauce pan?
If so, I may have to report you to the martini police.
Sounds like you guys have a lot of fun. That's healthy. Like madcapmum, the term herbal remedies jumped out at me too. That might explain your getting stuck and the exploding food item. LOL
 
POP - sorry about the sauce pan, but the martinis were approved under the Canadian Outdoor Mens Martini Guide of 1926.

My fellow sailors initially said, "Martinis! Not for me, this is a beer cruise."... or something like that. I announced that anyone who would like one should present themself on the main deck at 4:30. By the end of the Cruise, I had about 7 regulars... and Steve (I'll call him that instead of Steve) had 2 or 3 each time.

Jublu - I'll start with the lasagna - somehow Michael's non breakable pyrex pan in the tiny oven, did. It kind of exploded but the crew were so hungry that they sat by the fire and picked the glass chunks out and washed it down with mugs of wine. I myself stopped after finding a rather large squarish piece (of glass, not lasagna) lodged in my cheek. To make this more interesting, Michael bought a NEW pyrex pan and two years latter, it happened again. We call it glassagna.

As for the herbs, well... I can't remember what I was going to tell you. Do you have any cheezies or Dr. Pepper on you?
 
GARY! What are you doing to the Pyrex? AND WHY are you eating that stuff? You can't eat that! Don't eat that!

Okay, go on....
 
Forget the fish, I want to know more about the adventures! Tell us about the waves, Uncle Gary!
 
LOL. Yes Gary, do tell us about the waves! And the only woman you permitted on board! How come no one's asked about that yet!

Sounds like a lot of fun!!! 10 yrs running. Not bad!!
 
and which songs did you sing last 10 yrs?
 
OOh - sounds absoultely heaven! dream vacation I think.
But oh uncle Gary do tell more! *lol* I had to adopt that name, Lauren..
 
PT - when I do catch a good fish, it's a brown, lake or rainbow trout or a kokannee (freshwater salmon). They are in the 2 to 10 pound range. There's a Gerrard trout in this lake that grows to 45 pounds.

Jublu - I promise never to eat Pyrex again.

Dimitri, we're 40 to 60 years old so it's mostly old folky songs...Dylan, Beatles, Neil Young etc... songs that even a lousy voice like mine can join in on.

Nerdine and Lauren - you can call me Uncle Gary if you want to, but I'm not sure I'll think of you as nieces right away.

As for the stories...first the only woman. I'll call her Bev (since everyone else does). We beached our ship near a boat-only development to have a look at the houses being built there. Bev is the developer's wife and showed us around. We invited her to lunch onboard and she visited for an hour or so. No big deal, except the sailors all began acting like teenage boys - showing off, telling jokes, flirting and acting goofy. One attractive woman on the ship and all that change! (Not me of course.)

Not particularly exciting, but interesting, no? What is it about men and women?

I'll tell the story of the huge waves next post. I will tell you that of the 10 crew that night, only 2 of us were not sick as a sea dog. (Waves coming over the bow and over the wheelhouse...)
 
Ver-r-ry interesting, Gary. How wonderful to have friends like that.
 
That sounds like great idea Gary but are you giving us the idea you fella’s are roughing it as I understand there are plenty of licensed restaurants on the shores with home style breakfasts lunch and dinners?

Along the way!! Maybe you had some other women, join or wave at those ports of call, at least once in 10 years ?!! !

Any shots of the friendly natives? like real life cougars? and are those fish called sockeye salmon?

As far as that martini is concerned it looks more like baked beans mixed in a saucepan!!

I hear the waters are
so pure you can drink it straight (with or without the whisky)from the lake.

Best wishes
 
*lol*
Not sure I can think of you as an uncle either come to think of it.

It's interesting how one person can change the whole feel of a group, and if that one person is a woman amongst ten men I guess it would be an interesting show to see.. a bit competition - instinct I guess?
 
Wonder what happened when it was one man amongst 10 women. Wouldn't mind trying it out. Or would I..
 
Gary, you can make a martini in a sauce pan or a broken Pyrex dish or anything else you'd like as long as it has those yummy olives that are stuffed with almonds. I never liked Martinis til I had 'em like that in New Orleans while living w/my dear gay male friend. We would race home from work to see who could have cocktails chilling for the other one first.

.... and Dimitri... you are a cheeky monkey, aren't you?
 
Dimitri - you're just the guy for the 1 man 10 women experiment - women, agree?

Tina, I go for plain fat green olives, but I'll look for your style.

Susie - how could I forget not only the farting, but the farting jokes. How did you know?

Lindsay, you need to come to the wilds of Canada for a visit. The fish are called Kokannee Salmon and they are now a freshwater fish as dams have prevented them from reaching the ocean for 50 years. They still spawn up streams (and turn bright red), but live in the big lake - it's 100 mileslong and 500 feet deep in places.

We have seen eagles, bears, deer and beaver on the cruise (and naked middle aged men jumping from the top deck while hooting...)
 

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