Vacation/Vocation

Echo Bay, B.C.
N50°44.04
W126°35.12
In July, it felt like a vacation. We had warm, warm weather, sunshine, and long summer evenings. We had family along as crew members and that was cause for celebration and play.
Now it is August, and the days are ever so slightly shorter. We are further north and there is a chill in the air. It feels like it’s time to get down to business. There is the everyday business of navigation, cooking, cleaning. And then there’s the intermittent business of making plans for the future – for the next passage, then the next season and longer term destinations. If being a vagabond is your vocation, then you must occasionally think about where you will travel next.
The most persistent and soothing everyday occupation for me is drawing, in one form or another. Discovering and capturing patterns in our ever-changing surroundings allows me to make some sense of the world, to bring into focus what might otherwise be a blur, and quickly forgotten - like the white on dark mark made by the long fall of water down a tall cliff face.