Halcyon News

El and Bill,

I really enjoyed your web pages! The perfect day at Glacier Bay highlights some of the rewards of cruising. Making it through the ice to see the glacier and having a sea plan land just to talk and take pictures - what fun!
Then taking the risk of Dry Strait and avoiding 40 miles of rough water is a large dose of adventure and accomplishment.
Definitely a perfect day!

Your time with the Kitasoo people at Klemtu shows the people side of cruising rewards. To be fortunate enough to meet such friendly and sharing people at just that time is very special. Being invited to the feast is an experience that you can not plan or purchase.

Thanks for the great pictures and stories.

Steve
 
El and Bill, what a wonderful set of pictures. I can imagine being with you, wish we were. Have a safe trip "home", but I think if you're on HALCYON, you're already there.

Charlei
 
We have just posted up our tale about Babine Lake, a stop in British Columbia off the Yellowhead Highway on the return from our trip to Alaska this summer.

http://www.geocities.com/bill_fiero/bab.htm

Our website just crossed a milestone: just passed the quarter million views and we average about 250 viewings/day. Many of the folks who peruse the site are not C-Dory owners -- some own other boats and are looking for cruising ideas, some hope to buy a C-Dory, and some just like to travel vicariously.

Writing up Desolation Sound now and hope to have it up in a few days -- covering for son and daughter-in-law while they celebrate an anniversary and we take the kids up to the mountains to watch the elk migrate down from the high country.
 
We started writing up our journey through Desolation Sound this summer, but became diverted with the names of the islands and straits. Place reeked of history, so did a little research on those who had explored up there before the arrival of C-Dorys. So, there's a new posting on the Halcyon Days website at:

http://www.geocities.com/bill_fiero/tribute.htm

We also posted up a tale about a grandkid's cruise to Alaska at:

http://www.geocities.com/bill_fiero/four.htm

Going over to England for some canal boating next few weeks, so no postings from us for awhile.
 
We have completed our canal boat cruise in Cheshire England and hopefully will have some time soon when we get back to CO to write up the tale. It was a great trip.

We have just been ten days driving around Iceland, visiting harbors, kicking boats, poking at the rocks and generally having a wonderful trip. Maybe we'll post a little of that, also, since Iceland is en route for those of you who might want to do some canal cruising in Europe.

We leave Reykjavik today for NYCity and then back to CO tomorrow, inshallah.
 
Hi Bill and El,

While you were on the Canals of England, we of the Eastern Branch of the C-Dory Association did the eastern end of the Erie Canal. For some reason, the food was not as good as last years Western Erie Canal trip. (No good ribs and really bad Pizza.)

You two were missed. Maybe some time in the future, you could come back, and we all could play around the Canals of New York.

Looking forward to your stories of Canal Cruising in England and the country of IceLand.

Welcome back to America, the land of the free, and great boating.

Fred
 
Bill and El,

We enjoyed the tour--as usual it was beautifully presented. You guys are the greatest and true inspirations for the rest of us! Can't wait to see you again.
 
Great post Bill and El! I'll be sure to show this to Joyce with the none-too-subtle hint of "this looks like fun". She probably won't take the bait but if I can find a similar type trip in France or Italy, she might just go for it. If you don't mind, it would be great if you could share with the group the rough cost of the boat rental/fuel etc.
 
Hey Bill and El... Great chatting with you two again briefly on the phone duirng the move process. Now..... what type of "basic geographic area" travel plans do yall have for Halcyon for 2007??? Any SE stuff? Things are starting to chatter a bit for Nashville or Gulf coast area in Jan/Feb timeframe....with a little hop cross water to Bahamas in Feb/Apr time frame...

Life is so short...with so many places to go.

See yall in Seattle...

Byrdman
 
Thanks for a truly great article and for including all the history. It brings back many personal memories as I spend a significant portion of my life in that area of the UK and some of my friends have narrow boats in the Derby area to this day. I forwarded them the link to your article and threatened then with a C-brat invasion !!
(Now there's a thought !!!)

Merv & Kathy
Kingfisher.
 
Just put up a post about our trip to Iceland -- seems like a long way away, but the forces that cause the earthquakes that sometimes shake up the Northwest and crumple the Rockies originate in Iceland (or thereabouts) so the tale could be of interest to those of you either interested in Iceland or in North American Geology. While there, El (in North America) held hands with me (in Europe).

http://www.geocities.com/bill_fiero/iceland.htm
 
El and Bill
Thanks for the report on Iceland. It is one of the places that Sher and I want to get to. We prefer the hostels as well, use the extra money to get a car and see the country, maybe get lost a time or two!! Sher was looking to pickup a lonely planet book on Iceland so we can start seeing what there is to see, your report has encouraged us to do it sooner than later.
Tnx, Jim
 
El and Bill,

Iceland looks like a very interesting place to visit.

I am curious if the people of Iceland seem to be concerned about global warming? It sounds like Iceland may be such a dynamic environment that it would be difficult to determine if changes are due to climate or volcanic.

Did you eat any interesting foods there?

Steve
 
El and Bill (or maybe Bill and El...afterall shouldn't top billing be shared!! :lol: )

Wonderful once again. Now I remember why I enjoyed my lone geology class so much.

Thanks.
 
Yes, there is concern about global warming -- should the glaciers, that cap volcanoes, melt extensively, the release of weight might generate eruptions. There is debate about whether warmer temperatures will create better agriculture or whether the warmth would generate more storms, destructive to agriculture.

The food was great -- we ate a lot of fish (of course). Also, the skyr (like a low-fat cross between yoghurt and cheese) was delicious for snacks. We had a few nips of whale (bought by a German in one of the hostels), and we tried it on a dare when no one else would do it -- mmmm -- not bad, but, as great admirers of whales, not something worth killing such a great critter.

For breakfast we had laufabrauð, a real thin crispy (usually rye) bread -- yum! We also had "flatbrauð" (a kinda rye pancake). I (bill) became rather addicted to þykmjólk -- a sorta yoghurt -- tasty and apparently nutritious.

No meat is imported to the island, so along that line you eat home-grown. No problem for El, who loved the lamb. They also have a Europe-famous hot dog (and it was good!).

Probably the worst taste we encountered (and we are food adventurers, as you can tell) was hakarl (rotten shark). This was also bought be a European tourist (he was afraid to try it after one sniff) so, on the usual dare, we did -- it tasted just like it sounds -- hack arl -- rotten fish! urg! But, fortunately, no stomach problems for me (and there are Icelanders who think it is the cat's meow). So, we tested it -- he put it outside but the cat wouldn't touch it!
 
Hi Bill,

Now that thar is FUNNY! :lol:

I am sure you two were a hit among the tourists: "Go ahead dare them. They will try anything"

I admire your courage, I don't think I could have done the rotten shark! I have read that Eskimo kids would eat whale blubber as candy. The yogurt type foods sound good and I don't mind a little lamb. It is surprising that they don't import any meats. What do they make the hotdogs from, do they have pigs and cows they use for food?

Thanks for the look at Icelandic foods,
Steve
 
You Said:

"Probably the worst taste we encountered (and we are food adventurers, as you can tell) was hakarl (rotten shark). This was also bought be a European tourist (he was afraid to try it after one sniff) so, on the usual dare, we did -- it tasted just like it sounds -- hack arl -- rotten fish! urg! But, fortunately, no stomach problems for me (and there are Icelanders who think it is the cat's meow). So, we tested it -- he put it outside but the cat wouldn't touch it!"

Oh Wow, no way, I'm not even partial to fish!. I know that's a heresy on this site but it's a fact. I am responsible for the demise of, at least, a herd of black angus cow critters, and not a single rockfish.

Anyway, Bill and El, great pix as usual, come back and see us in the Chesapeake, we're down here full time now. I will have to reluctantly committ your 40 Hp engine carcass to the deep at some point here, it's carbs/intake manifold have gone to Alaska to a Brat, the lower unit is on my Stbd engine and I've got no other takers for the other major/minor organs.

Stay safe and warm..

charlie
 
Steve --
Yep, they do have pigs and cows -- so that's the source of their tasty hot dogs (or, at least, that's all they admit to). And you're right -- our reputation as food experimenters traveled ahead of us as we circled the island -- the guy with the rotten shark was waiting for us to arrive at that hostel -- he greeted us at the door with "you must be those crazy Americans -- man, do we have something for you to try!! -- if you dare!!"

Won't get into a litany of foods tried overseas, but there ain't many critters (feathered, furred, or scaled) or plants we haven't munched on -- so if you happen to be taking a nap somewhere near us at a marina, KEEP YOUR TOES COVERED!
 
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