My first encounter with a bar in Alaska was when I went there in 1965 at age eighteen to make my fortune … riiight. Along the way to not making my fortune in Alaska, I got my first job playing with a bar band. Of course, I was too young to drink and it was…

In my last post, I wrote about the great value I got out of commercial fishing. But that’s only a small part of my oceanic enjoyment. I absolutely love scuba diving in the warm blue tropical waters. In the Solomon Islands where I lived for eight years, the good news is the water is about…

Some time around 1970, I’d fixed up the old Black Panthers van for mobile living. I’d gotten the old Chevrolet panel van for free. The Panthers had abandoned it by the side of the road, likely because it had been involved in something that was somewhat less than legal. When I heard the word through…

When there’s no fog on the coast, from my kitchen window I can see a tiny triangular patch of ocean in the distance. It’s my door to adventure, emblematic of my lifelong affection for, my addiction to, the everlasting sea. I was raised on tales of my great-grandfather, who grew up traveling the world on…

Vancouver is a lovely city, whose denizens have some oddly endearing habits … like planting trees on top of buildings, and letting raccoons wander the paths … It also appears that they have some seriously overweight bicyclists … More to the point, however, there’s a lovely bridge called the “Lion’s Gate Bridge” that connects Vancouver…

Well, the house sitter is sitting our house, the security system is engaged, and Clan Eschenbach (AKA me and the gorgeous ex-fiancee) are on the road. I must confess, I’ve been lax in my writing about it, but I have a rule of thumb about writing, which is: Never start writing until you can’t stand…