Welcome to Big Blend Radio with travel writer Linda Kasam, the food, wine, and shopping diva. All right, everybody. You know, Diva Linda is all about all in good taste. So go to our website, all in good taste.info. But she loves to travel in style and she is joining us today to talk about sailing in style. She went on an eight day yacht club, Flotilla. I want to say, Flotilla, I don't know what's right, but Flotilla, Diva Linda, this is great. But you and Alan literally do this all summer. So what's the difference between normal sailing and a Flotilla? So normal sailing would just be Alan and I on our boat. We have an ocean Alexander for those people who are in the boating. It's about 52 feet and and we just go from here to there. And the actual, we're sort of living his dreams. So in the summers, we live on this, this ocean Alexander and we go way up into Canada to fish way, way, way up. So, and that we would do by ourselves and we would likely meet up with other friends that are there, but not in a formalized manner in a Flotilla, which is organized by a organization such as a yacht club, which we are a member of now, we're trying this out this year. And so somebody is an event coordinator within the organization. They decide what the itinerary would be. This one that we joined was eight days. It started in Canada, right? Where you go to customs in Bedwell, Harvard. And then the most, the most boats they take is 10 because otherwise it gets to be really unruly because when you call and tell the harbor you're bringing in 10 boats, they, you know, during the high summer time, they, but you know, uh oh. So anyway, so if Flotilla has an itinerary, you know where you're going and everybody goes. It's kind of funny. So they'll say from Bedwell, we're going to go to the next stop and you need to be there by tomorrow. And so you have fast boats, you have slower boats, you have medium boats and everybody just gets to the point. On the itinerary and then when you get to that point, then you, there's an activity plan generally. So there's either a cocktail party or there's a, um, uh, some sort of beach, beachy thing or or something. There's something to do so that you're interacting with other members. So it is by yourself or with many others and that's the difference. And so you did this all through joining a yacht club, which is interesting to me because, I mean, there's yacht clubs around the world, right? And I have a lot of friends who are members of yacht clubs and actually are banned back in the day. Our first gig was at a yacht club in Mexico. So anyway, but the, but the regulations, how, how do you become a member of that yacht club is you either have a yacht. You know someone who has a yacht or you've seen one. It was a very interesting drinking club. Yeah. Well, it's very interesting. You have to be very careful and you'll have to research what makes sense to you personally. So having been an event coordinator myself and having lived in, um, uh, gated communities and golf communities, you begin to understand that. And if, if you're going to go with a yacht club, they're basically two types, those that own real estate. So they would own a club house and a restaurant generally that way. Now if you join one of those, you were going to, your dues is going to be supporting those two things. And that's very expensive. So you can, if those generally have a very, very, very nice events and they're made for people who can afford a higher level of luxury or want to do that. So, that yacht club might cost you 10 to $20,000 a year. Now, you know, is that, is that what you want? That not what you want. You know, there's perks on everything. We looked around and I did not want to join a yacht club that said you have to eat at our restaurant three times a year. Now, they do that because they've got to get people in there to support the restaurant. So it doesn't go under. I didn't want to do that. That's like living on a golf course and paying. And if you're not a golfer, you still have to pay for grooming of the, you know, the grounds and stuff. So we looked and we looked and we finally found one that we thought was, uh, made sense to us. They have events is called the Roche Harbor yacht club. So Roche Harbor is a very famous tourist destination in the San Juan Islands. And it, this particular yacht club does not own real estate. It doesn't have a clubhouse and it doesn't have a restaurant. It just calls Roche Harbor. It's by name. I don't know. I guess the probably the people who started it were from Roche Harbor, but there's no real estate. So I don't have to pay for that. So that's good. So, um, basically you're paying. She has to get her diamonds first. There you go. So you have to once her sparkly. So you have to pay about, um, $400 for initiation and you have to pay, uh, then every year you pay about the same amount, uh, as dues. But if you're smart and you use the benefits, here's the benefit. So if you're traveling around and you don't want to be what's called on the hook or out in the bay on anchor, which would be, I don't like that necessarily. I like to go into port. So when you park your boat in a, in a marina, it's generally about, then you know, both, they charge you by the size of your boat. So it's about $125 a night. Wow. So that's like a hotel room. It is exactly like that. So, uh, if you are a member of a yacht club, they have what's called reciprocals and outstations. And basically it just means that you can go, there's some spaces in some marinas that are set aside for your association, as well as others. Sometimes it's a joint thing and you don't pay. So, oh, that makes a good financial sense. So this year we've already accumulated our money back that we paid out for dues by using these free spaces. So that's a, that's a big deal. It's a, that's a, that's a smart use of your money and it's really nice because generally you'll see other people in the club are there and so forth and so on. But that's a, that's about how you do a yacht club. I like to call it a boating club, but so it's really social, but then also coming together over things, you know, like some churches come together for health insurance. It's weird, but it's true, right? Chambers of Commerce do this. They do fundraisers by going in on trips and getting group discounts because you have a group traveling to Italy. Now, apparently you played rubber deckies. I've been dying to ask you about this all day. I want to know about rubber deckies. You talked about the different events. That was one. I want to know about this. No, that one was, was at a very tiny marina and had one building. So you've got, you would dock and then either it's one building to go up to and that building serves for ice cream, which was very, very popular. And on your way, and it, and tiny, little tiny souvenirs and I mean, so it's like not a big building at all. So on the way up from the dock to the building, these ladies had this rubber ducky contest going on. So everybody that went by, and the other voters in our group already knew about this and they thought it was grand fun and we should do it. So, and the rubber ducky thing, I think, was to support the local schools. And so, you know, it's a regular thing you buy two for $5 to ducky. I thought it was very cute. They had a lot of little rubber ducks that you could choose from. Some of them had hats on them, some were painted, some were not. Now you don't get to keep them. You just get to choose which one is yours and then they take the numbers down. And then at the end of the day, they take all these ducks that they've sold. And they put them in the marina and sort of a downward slope and they'd be throwing them in whoever floats first to the end. So they have a net so that these things aren't going everywhere. And unfortunately, I didn't win, but it was fun to watch. You know, they dump all this stuff in and people are yelling, come on number 87, come on number 32. These are small ducks. You can't really see what the hell is happening, but it's fun. And once again, it's a group activity. It's where you get to know your people. It's all wonderful. And it raises funds, right? It raises funds and why not? And I didn't know they needed funds for Canadian schools, but I'm in for it. All good. Hey, if you're going to, I'm sorry, but if you get to play rubber ducky, I'm in 100%. I mean, did you name yours or did you just leave it at the number? Just left it at the number because it took so long to pick one because they were also down two, you know, blue hat, yellow hat. Oh, my gosh. Did you get your back when you're done or the? No, you wouldn't do that as an event coordinator. You wouldn't do that because the ducks cost a lot of money. You have to be strong enough to withhold people dumping them over the rail and into water. So they hit the water and then they go down and they're going to get hit by stuffing the marina and so forth. No. Okay. I just, I got it. I just want to know. I want to play. You want to play? It's wonderful. It's fun. And people rather, I say they're yelling, come on, number eight is seven or whatever. And it was just fun. You know, it's just a group activity. You know, you get to know your fellow people. I mean, everybody on the island could play it. It wasn't like it was just for us. It was for everybody. But it was grand fun. And that's I think for fellowship. That's it. There's fellowship. But it's also because you guys have chosen this way of life for the season. Some people do things, you know, you're around, depend and move to another location, you know, during the winter because you're in the Pacific Northwest. But this kind of lifestyle, it's the same thing as people doing the van lifestyle, the RV lifestyle. You know, look at us as the pet sitting lifestyle. We love talking to other pet sitters. Like, what did you do when this happened? You know, it's like, if you want to know about pee stains and dogs, bring it. I've got it. All I can say is travel with hydrogen, hydrogen peroxide is your best friend. But you know, you have these ways of travel and everybody does it in a different way. And on water is, I mean, you're in the elements. There's got to be a little element of fear that happens. Even so, when you get together with others, you're kind of celebrating that you're making it through. But part of the country comes from like the old oh crap moments. Am I allowed to say it? Well, it is very true. And I'll tell you, in Canada, there's, I mean, this is a huge place as everybody knows. It's a beautiful place. But the weather is a huge issue. And the wind is not a boater's friend. Wind makes choppy waves, waves make the boat go this way and that way. And I think as I was telling you on this, just like three or four days ago, we hit the weather service said you have a window to get from point A to point B. If you stay where you are, you're going to be where you are for another seven days because there's storms coming in. This is another thing you might think that you're going someplace. Yeah, but you're going to stay there. We already had stay an extra three days where we were to get through one set of storms. And so the weather service, okay, now you can go. But you get out into these straights, which are close to the oceans. And you really don't know. So this last time it was it was pretty rough. It wasn't supposed to be was supposed to be about one to two foot waves. After you get to and over it, it gets rocky. Now my husband loves it. He, you know, drove big, big commercialships for a long time and nothing bothers him. You know, who cares if the dishes are thrown out of the place and, you know, if the cabinets are flying open and the microwave is on the floor, you know, oh, well, that's okay. You know, I'm screaming, I'm going to die. I'm going to die. But anyway, this last time we lost, we didn't even know that's so funny. We lost the hole that holds up our solar panels and the American flag that was attached to this whole thing. It's floating out in the middle of Canada somewhere. But you know, that's because it was bumpity, bumpity, bumping, and you know, rattles the boat, stuff comes apart. I don't know, the other day he left a cap open on the shampoo. And of course, what happened on the first bump? Yeah, oh, just everywhere. But you know, that it is the elements just like you said. So gently be a bit flexible in that. I don't want to tell you what our car has gone through with the potholes in our country. On the roads. I know about the bumpity bumps and anyway, or squirrels trying to make a nest in my air filter. But anyway, that's a whole blast. Seriously, it is mission mission Nicole big family up there, you know, how Joshua tree is. Yeah, yeah, it was expensive. Yes. And I, yeah, I've been through that electrical thing. And at that time, you go like, do I really want this car anymore? You know, like, but I do love, I love, I'm not getting. Oh, she's my friend. But floating out on the flotilla. So when the weather changes, you're going as a group. So this becomes kind of a group element. You're all having to deal with whatever's going on. And even though they had some of the activities, there was one time that you and Ellen had to sit out because the your boat wasn't fitting in this slip. And I'm going to anchor, but that was off. Yeah, yeah. So when this is the part issue, let's say you bring in 10 boats into a marina, which that's basically what this flotilla was. So the marina has x amount of spots in the end, in high summer, the most of them are filled and they have good spots and they have bad spots. We arrived a little later than everybody else. So when we got there, we were in Ganges, South Spring Marina, for those of you who know that the wind had picked up to such an extent that boats just glide. You know, the wind hits them and they just go this way and they go that way and you can't stop them. I mean, if you have those boaters, you know, if you have thrusters, you have at least a fighting chance. But anyway, they assigned us a spot that had a large wide sailboat in it. And we're a fairly large vehicle arts boat ourselves. And with the wind, we couldn't do it. You just couldn't make that turn. And they also allowed some small boat to be too close to us so we couldn't make the turn. And so we said, well, we can't have that one. And they said, okay, well, then tie up over here. So then we go over there. Now remember, the wind is going and people are on the dock yelling here, here, go, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah. Oh, that's good. What are so right? Oh, well, you know, everybody thinks they can drive a boat when they're walking around on the the docks, you know, that's not the way it works. But and this is a big boat. So you got to be careful. So then they assigned us another spot. And lo and behold, there's another small boat that has gotten in there that wasn't supposed to be there. So we couldn't, we couldn't get in it. Wow. So this is actually kind of an issue that you guys have to face. And do you start writing letters to people going, hello, can we not have this happen? Well, as a matter of fact, so we had to back out now, remember, you're doing all this in this this wind, you know, in anyway, so good thing my husband knows how to do this anyway. So we had so everybody else got a spot that they could get in and the boats were from 39 feet to 65 feet. So whoa, so this is like size. Yeah, so there's also castle size. Yeah, so there's all different boats. So we, we had to go out on the hooks, we had to go out in the marine and the wind was blowing us and blah, blah, blah. But you know, those are just the adjustments you make. And so it wasn't great that salt spring marina charged us for that night. Uh oh, they've right, they riled the diva. Wrote them, you know, a note and they, you know, they don't care. It's your job to get that boat in there. Well, you can't get a boat in there. You can't get a boat in there. I mean, that was real silly. So then, uh, then our yacht association wrote wrote them in the letter. It was luckily the guy that was the event coordinator is also an attorney. He wrote a very nice letter just saying, you know, is this really what you want to do? You refuse to, I mean, you're going to charge them for something that they couldn't even do and blah, blah, blah. But they stuck to the gun. So we got charged for a night. But those see, those are just things that, uh, you know, every day is a new adventure. And that is travel. So I know we're talking some of the negatives here, but it's kind of part of the story. All the negative stuff ends up being part of the fun stories at a cocktail party later, right? It's so true. And that's why you have the flotilla. Somebody to commiserate with and later we found out that a couple boats had a really hard time docking as well. They finally made it, but, uh, but it was, you know, touching go for them as well. But, uh, you know, these are just, uh, like you said, they're sort of like learning lessons, right? So would we go back to that Marina? I don't, I don't know. We'd have to be very cautious. I don't know. Well, that, that's a thing. That's a thing too. It's kind of like, you can't really burn bridges and we have like that as we travel to a will never, that's not, no. We've had to do that with hurricanes this year. We've been messed over so many times one week, like go, stay, go. This is gone now. And, and, and, you know, we work as we travel. So this is not a fun thing. It can't, you know, it's like stay here longer. Okay, but where and how, what, so you have to be prepared for that as travelers. And those bumps in the road change to say, sometimes the bump keeps rolling. And then you're like, okay, I've gone through seeing three bumps now. We're done. Um, and then you go, okay, we're done, but other people who travel like you understand. So the commiserating just becomes funny. You know, it's, it's because the benefits outweigh the drama, right? The benefits are so big, the fun, and the joy. Yeah. And going to these courts and being able to just walk off and go shop, go to the farmer's market and do those kinds of things, come back and eat local and go to these little villages. It seems like each port area, you just get off and you go to a little village and you can do long. Now, do you do laundry on the boat or off the boat? I'm, I'm curious about laundry. On the boat. That's pretty. That's amazing. Well, you only have to do laundry off the boat a couple times and come back with spots on your clothing. And, you know, laundry facilities are always the best. So they make wonderful little washing machines. They're washer dryers own one unit and that are for boats and they can be outside on your back deck and they just give you a cover for it and stuff. They work. They're very slow. So one wash load will take three hours to wash and dry. But it's all on the boat. You can control it. And this year along with whatever the generator issue and the sewage issue, the door to the washing machine, a little tiny pin broke and that meant that the door wouldn't close. So, you know, God love YouTube. Just look up on YouTube. Have it, have it, anybody else solve this? And somebody said, well, drill this hole and do this. And then luckily, Alan is good at all this stuff. And he fixed it. I mean, it's not a fix forever, but it's a fix until we get back. I have learned how to change filters on washing machines, how to fix hoses and sinks, like actual faucets that I've done. I've learned how to do things to cars that I didn't know that I knew how to do. I have learned so much. And at this point, because we pets it as we travel right, I could, I need to start doing an article like a column on appliances, the good, the bad, the ugly, and all other certain vacuums that are better than others. There's certain, all I can say is when it comes to the coffee machines, though, I'm up, I'm up on a kilter somewhere going, I don't know. Because like, people will have all kinds of coffee machines that it looks like you now run a bar or something. And that's a little too much. It's like more than computers. But it's really interesting how these ways of life are, you know, and you start learning things, you had no clue you would know about. I mean, 20 years ago, do you think it'd be in a show, Tom, about having a washer dryer on your boat? No, no, no, no, no, not at all. No, but you learned that you needed one. And you also learned very quickly not to put flowers in a glass base. That was my first lesson. Oh, you know, just made this like, it's like a torpedo broke. Never did that again. So how do you handle the wine? Like, do you not get bubbly and stuff like that? Like with the wine? Because I know before you're in the other boat, you had it underneath, right? So it's keeping nice and cool. I'll go have a place like that. Yeah. So we, with this one has it is the same. So it comes out at just the perfect temperature. It's wonderful. Wow. So what if you have bubbly, like, is that a danger? I mean, with all the rocking and everything with wind. Well, you have to make sure, I mean, Alan's got some sort of system down there that holds all these bottles so they don't bank on each other or tip and all of that. So the very secure sort of looks like a shoe tree, you know, a shoe where you put your clothes in, like that sort of thing. Yeah. Yeah. So it works out. It works out just fine. The wine is ejected. It comes out chilled just just perfectly. Because I think it's kind of, you're in the water and then our veers have that same thing. Like don't, you know, you don't want your fridge flying open because you went over a pothole. You know, it's like all of that kind of stuff. But being self-contained on your own trip is pretty cool, right? I mean, if you have to sit it out during a storm, at least yourself contained when your generator works, that's okay. When it's not, and you have no solar, that's not what you could make it fun. Well, the solar is working. It's just that we can't. The solar needs to go up and the soil needs to go down depending on where you're traveling. I think the solar is up and it's not, there's no way to get it down because we lost the pole. The pole is, it was something Alan manufactured. So he's going to have to go back and do it again. I mean, it's just crazy. These are just, and I asked him, doesn't he's like, wow, are you? And he said, no, it's very exciting. It's all part of a wonderful because I get to do a whole new thing. It's boys with their toys. I love sitting. You know, I sort of, you know, hold my breath when, you know, you just say how much, how much was that? And you know, how much is this going to cost? But voting is expensive. Very expensive. And then you go, by the way, it's my birthday. Yeah. I would like my bracelet. I would like my diamond. Yeah. Yes, well, well, when you do the flotilla, so when you have the camaraderie, you have the fellowship. So when you're there connecting with everyone, are there, you know, wives more into it than the husbands at all? Or is there like any, is it like different for couples or they're just solo people? You know, what's that? Very good questions. Mostly couples. And, and in this particular one, there's we have a quite a big element of couples with children. Oh, lots of couples with dogs, wow, from cats and cats. And the age range is all over the place. And it's mostly a male oriented sport. I will tell you that. And the men just have, they're fascinated with what, what, who's doing what with their boat and all that. And Alan has a very interesting background and no, all that sort of stuff. So they're all fascinated with that. And he was in that secret part of the Navy and they all thought that's, you know, it's all very exciting. So the wives are, you have to, you have to dig a little further, you know, you have to, you have to find out who they are and how they come to this. And it's generally, it's the husband's hobby. And the, the wives either adapted or they didn't. In fact, I had to laugh. I was walking down the dock today. And I was, there was two men walking in front of me and one of them was saying, it's going to have to do something about, he has to, going to give a different boat because his wife just is over it. She's, that's the one that come out every weekend on the boat. And she does. And he likes to go out every weekend on the boat. But handling a boat by yourself is very difficult and probably, especially if you're going to take it to a marina. So docking is quite an experience, actually. It's, I don't know, I used to hide, but now that now I understand it a little bit better. But so no, so the answer is you, the husband's, the men seem to have an instant connection, an instant camaraderie. Otherwise you have to give it just a little bit deeper. Because it's like, yeah, yeah, because this is, yeah, I get it. I get it. I get it. Well, but at the same time, it's like they're out there doing the steering and everything. But to me, this is like trying to park a truck. You know, I see now I would think about truckers, like because of all the driving I do. And there's some that should just not never be allowed to even think of it again. But I'm going to say 90%, 85 to 90% are amazing on roads and have been like a guiding light in many times. And so whenever I see them park, you know, like Nancy, I'll go to a rest area and things, right? And you watch how they can parallel park and do all these different things. And I'm amazed. And then you'll see a woman get out as a driver and you're like, round of applause. You know, I get all excited. And then they just look at, you know, I'm all like, Oh, look, look. And then they give you the look like, don't you be looking at me? And I'm like, I didn't mean anything. I'm just excited. I'm excited for you. But we want to get to see the radios. Yeah, you don't see very many women. You rarely see a boat with only women. The one that almost crashed into us are actually at the beginning of the season. I posted something about it. She lost she lost her steering or something. And her boat was going all over the marine, I heading right towards us. Luckily, we're able to push it away. But that's about the only boat in the all the years we've been doing this that I've seen two women beyond there. And they have to be the ones going out of control. But I just think a lot of boating in particular is something that you that you need to get into when you're younger. So you're more flexible about it. So my husband has a boating background from from when he was tiny up to the the big ocean ships that he used to do and so forth. And then that comes me who go to the beach. That's about it, you know, the swimming pool. So, you know, he has a better appreciation and comfort level. And and sometimes you find that with the other women as well. They're all saying if he dies, the boat goes first first thing is the boat that's only going to be buried in the boat. Yeah, that's it. Take about to see, you know, I when when what is a communication like because I go saying we want to get CP radio so we can say hi to truckers, which is probably not a good idea. But I don't trust Nancy, right? I do not trust Nancy with the CP radio. But when we lived in Kenya, we had little ham radio things in the neighborhood to everybody and we were rubber decky. That was our name. See it is. That's why. So anytime I see a rubber deck, I get excited. All right, when you do a flotilla, I mean, so I know you're able to do the podcast and everything. You're doing it in video, which is amazing, right? So you you do it when you get into an area where there's Wi-Fi and all that kind of stuff. And like an RV park, they they have Wi-Fi stations. Like, well, I'll tell you this. Okay. Life has changed in the last two years dramatically. Life style has changed with Starlink. Okay, so Starlink. Okay. Everybody now has Starlink. That's what everyone has on RVs, too. Yeah, it's just changed everything because you don't need you don't need somebody else's Wi-Fi. You can on boats, you can you can be out in the middle of nowhere and you can get paid for it, of course, but you can have Starlink out in the middle of the ocean. It's Starlink is everywhere. There's there's no there's very little places that you go that don't they have a blackout. There are some some of the bays, some of the ones way up, but Starlink has really changed everything because you can have all the internet you want, all the TV you want. What you can what you can stream Netflix in the middle of the ocean on your boat. Absolutely. That's right. Yeah, every night is every night is movie night or TV night to get back to work right now. I'm getting we're recording on our birthday. We can't do that, but um but so you don't need CB radios or anything like when you're on the flotilla to keep in connection with the rest. Do you use the regular the regular thing that that's the traditional thing where you can call from boat to boat. So there's one channel that is open only for emergencies and so when anybody's in trouble everybody knows that's and that's a channel you listen to like the other day we're listening to it and somebody reported that a dock had come off through because of the wind and was floating, floating out in the middle of the water and so there's an emergency channel that you can call or you can listen to calls and then it has lots of other channels that you can go on to talk to. So the event coordinator generally says we're going to be on let's say channel 77. So if you want to talk to me just you know but is it but this thing is so well coordinated you really don't have to um do that and most everybody just sends email because we start making it send email all day all night. Wow life has really changed huh. Wow so you can do Wi-Fi calling on your phone that way. I'm on Starlink right now that's that's what allows me to do this and not break up too much. Now the only thing about Starlink is they use some sort of term about best effort or something so like when you're in a marina like I'm in almost every single boat here has Starlink and so that sucks the amount of bandwidth or whatever it's called so it can get congested so you might have a delay or two but Starlink has changed everything history I mean you can imagine the types of email assistance that that they used to have so that you can communicate with everybody so unless you're out in the middle of god knows where you pretty much have a and if your generator is working it's now the generator is working Starlink's not working so there you go got to be careful about that. Wow okay so this is very interesting to me I've been we've done live radio shows off of the generator on a farm a couple years ago because of a tornado and so things get wonky I mean we've been through hurricanes and tornadoes wildfires we've been through some of that kind of stuff. I mean a little bit of everything and when this airs hopefully it's possible you know tropical storms are not anything to sit and go it's only a tropical storm whatever's going in it picks up speed and it's like you know Nancy and I were recently on a lake and you know on the outside of the lake and it's beautiful tranquil people are boating and yawding and I was thinking I mean like Linda would like it here it's pretty you know I was we're taking care of a greyhound we're walking oh I fell in love with this dog so much anyway I love this the birds the herons the kingfishers all the bird life right and then a storm rolls in and it turned into like an ocean and the waves were spinning all over the place and now I'm going to leave a Linda what happens to you if this happens what goes on because that I was because it was weird because right before the storm all the boats stopped everybody knew and I'm like what's going on everything got quiet and then kaboom and boom and then it was went away and this beautiful sunset appeared and it was magical and the storm was epic I love storms and I track weather all the time I'm like if you don't do it you're going to be in trouble as a traveler especially these days so wow so last question so this is like an RV but you're on the water right yeah so so water tanks and all of that is like so you can take a shower if you can do your laundry you can take a shower on there and so in a way you don't have to go in and out of hotels you've got this floating your own bathroom you're on everything that's kind of cool everyone I can make a I can make a Christmas dinner in the kitchen what yeah yeah I mean it's that it's it's they've got it down to such a science now I mean I guess that's why a lot of people are turning uh to living on a boat because it's less expensive than owning a house or well not a hundred twenty-five dollars a night well isn't that and who knew about that that was the craziest thing that I had no idea because I kept saying I want to go to port I want to be in a port I want to be in a marina and finally I said you know how much these these things cost what they charge you you charge you but so this reciprocal thing that we have or out stations just mean you're at the own space there is a fabulous benefit to joining the yacht club once again it's just do your research see what's best for you and uh and then just like any other membership chamber commerce anything if you don't use it it doesn't work for you exactly yeah I you can't involve this particular um yacht club has something every single month all 12 months whether it's snowing or whatever it is that they have they have an event wow wow now what now have you ever considered going to the other coast the other side of the country I mean that would be a pain with the boat to get it there but I mean yeah yeah you wouldn't have you wouldn't see me are doing that no no no no no no no this is your thing this is gonna be ocean yeah ocean traveling on a boat is unless it's like a Viking cruise or something no thank you no no okay the waves are really bad no even even when we get close to being in the ocean here it's it's unpredictable and those just like you were saying one minute you're looking you're having a nice day in the next minute storm rolls in or the waves start coming in prior to the storm it's a very it's like a bathtub too you know it doesn't always settle so uh you might have a storm and then it's calm but the water's still in so it's very strange but it's got me so cool to just kind of it seems embryonic to me oh I love the water because that's where we come from right and in a weird way so like it's got to be calming at night to just kind of gently walk and just kind of if the winds down right get it but you know is it just kind of peaceful very peaceful and um cocoon like because you're by yourself unless you are rafting with friends or you have friends close so we've done it both ways and um I think uh you know there's a there's something to say for doing it by yourself and something just to join in a club where there's organized activities you can join or not join you can do the whole thing or part of it or some of it I mean I think uh if you if you've been boating uh a while I think it's a great thing to do to join a yock I'm really glad we did it you should have done it much earlier actually oh hey you know you got many more years to do it so you know you know it's your birthday I get to say that you got lots of lots of spinning around the water to do so I love this as jiva linda I mean I'm not going to do what you do with this but um I just find the way of life because you're living it it's you know your it's it's temporary but it's not I mean you're that you're home for a while and I find it fascinating and and awesome because there's a freeing element to it too it's very freeing but certainly uh it certainly keeps you flexible this a dual living so summer's uh here in the Pacific Northwest and winters in Arizona it's a dual lifestyle sometimes I have to think now which store am I going to here or what you know uh when you drop the country cards from around the country like the yeah because it helps you on gas and everything like safe way cards I've got Harris Street and yes Teeter in North Carolina in some areas you've got Ingles you got um I mean I have a wall and then Fred Meyer I think is up in the Pacific Northwest absolutely I like Fred Myers by the way I'm just gonna give that sorry when you can't find something any other place Fred Myers is a fabulous place to go they they're well stocked they're nice they're big they're wonderful no it's I think it's this you're living you're getting to know an area as a as a traveling and living in it and you can't get more local than that like you you know people want these experiences oh I want to meet the locals you meet the locals but when you kind of live in a place for a little bit it's just different you know a little bit more time yeah it gives you a little bit more time to to explore when you live in a place for a while and and now that we've done this a while you know I'm getting to know the different ports and and different areas that we're going to go on when I hear the word straight as in the Georgia Strait I know that's something I'm probably not going to like because that's closer to the ocean and it rocks a lot and so forth but you know this is just uh it keeps you flexible I'll tell you that I think that that would be your mantra as well you would have to be very flexible in what you do and uh an innovative so if if you're in a place where the hose goes away and you didn't know how to put the hose back in your former life you'll learn how to do it now correct you have to and and I love that part when I can turn around now and say oh I know I understand it's it's forced me to be mechanical which I have always kind of had that brain but not really I'm organizational but that doesn't mean I'm mechanical but then my brain has had to say grow up just grow up and open your mind stop your whatever saying that you can't and do and you can there's some things over our head that's when you get the professionals don't mess with that interesting how some of it actually is intuitive you've never done it before but it sort of reminds you of something else and you can put all of a sudden you put two and two together and it works that's that I find enjoyable like like if you look at a problem that you've never done before but it's it's like something else you go well if I try this and twist that don't you think it will do such and such and it does and it's amazing oh I did it yeah yeah that's the adrenaline rush right and that's a thing I mean doing things that are out of the ordinary but not because people live this way for many years too and in far harder ways right now I think about all the people out on the ocean and now dealing with orca whales I've been listening to all this stuff about orca whales playing with boats and I'm like Diva Linda do you have orca they're not whales or because they're not whales sorry killer whales but they're actually kill whales but they are not killer they're not whales thousands of rules about what you can and can't do with marine life you have to be up on those at all times oh they you'll get in big due to if you do anything stupid trouble so you have to be very careful and uh you know you just have to pay attention and the rules are there for for a reason there's tons of rules about um about the type of fish you can catch now we never had that before they shut down this year quite a few normal fishing areas that we've been to for years because the whales need more food so they just say we're setting the whales the whales need more food so you can't fish I don't think anybody goes oh you can't do that to me it's just well if not have to do that before you know things are changing that way in all over and um yeah it's changing it's changing okay yeah and it's okay and we can do things to help wildlife you know I really you know we need to do that and you're with you're coexisting with them too which I think is another crucial thing I would agree a hundred percent and uh you know you don't have to have this is just kills me you don't have to have a license to drive a boat I know right isn't that insane that's insane because there are roof rules and if the other party doesn't know the rules it becomes very scary there's all sorts of little whistle things that you can do one whistle says uh one horn says uh one blast of a horn says what are your intentions but but if you don't haven't read the guide book you think somebody's being rude to you and I can't tell you how many times you've had the finger because things were honking at them not honking at them we're wanting to know are you going to go behind us ahead of us what are you doing I mean it's very so they should have licenses you should have to have yeah you know when we started our tour of the national parks it came from going to there's so many reasons why it just all kind of hit us at once to do it but was we were in the Everglades and we went out with the National Parks Conservation Association out on the water and they were talking about boating and the gentleman that took us out he they were talking about how you can drive your boats in certain areas because of nesting so this time of year you can't do this do not honk your horns or anything then he taught us how to go trolling and polling of course Nancy and I think this is now funny you know you know us stupid so anyway but he taught us all this boating stuff and he let us know about that that anybody can just have a boat and get on a boat and go wild basically without you know there's rules and stuff but like in the National Park Service I mean you've got to think they have manatees they have crocodiles in one side crocodiles and alligators live in the same park in this country it's the only place that it occurs and there's only one section of the Everglades where the crocodiles live and that's it for our country for now who knows when hurricanes happen when animals come like lion fish and stuff like that and so you know the mangroves got destroyed other people not understanding how to be be gentle in and out as you come in be gentle as you go out be gentle you know because there's wildlife and and sawgrass I think it's sawgrass and I get river grass there's grass in the water and that was the other thing was about being good about the vegetation in the water because that feeds all the fish and the wildlife so it's really interesting to me and I do not get it why you would not I mean need a license because that is people drunk driving or boating drunk boating and stuff like that I see that stuff everywhere we go and I'm going that's not cool you know cool and it's very frustrating when I mean these boats are going at us you know a good speed right and they're very heavy they're like 44 000 tons I mean they're they're huge and you know is that what you want to you know crash into you I mean it's just because there's a misunderstanding of who gets to go first that's always the biggest deal is me first me first right just kind of like a I'd rather hang up back to the end let yeah because if people have a crash in front of you get let them do it in front of you or behind you either first or last because then you can have your distance it's like people on the road who want to tell you I'm like I'll pull off let you go I do not want anybody driving near my car period I'll tell you what's really scary is these huge fairies or you know they have these schedules and these little zippy fishing boats think it's going to be fun to go in front of them they can swim this is slow down the boats don't slow down you can't put it in reverse doesn't work that way and you know so we're shouting at them and I don't know why people take such risk but yeah you know wow well diva Linda you have quite a life I love it I love it so so you're on your way back now so back towards Arizona soon any travel plans in the future but I haven't thought about you know I'm still trying to recover from this back surgery so I think hopefully next year that we'll see some some stuff in Europe I think again I think that would be okay we'll just have to just make sure that that I'm all recovered and all that kind of stuff would he ashamed to go to Europe or anyplace actually and be limping around so yeah and you got Arizona you know to your backyard as an amazing state to explore do it step by step literally right yeah lots of lots of places to go and things to do and all I need to do is just recover a little bit more and it'll be just fine well looking forward to our next podcast chat we've got Robert joining us Robert Schuller from Melissa's produce yep and you know what I call him Roger all the time did you I know it's so funny he goes you know he says Lisa why do you always call me Roger and I said because the first time was because I was also dealing with a Roger and I deal with a Roger all the time from the Jefferson Highway Association and I get and then and I he says okay Linda and I said well people call me Linda all the time he goes no they do not the other day somebody called me Linda and I'm like I need to record this and send it to Robert she so everybody needs to make the October we've got Robert Schuller joining us and let's just see how many times I call him Roger all right well I Melissa's produce is great I can't wait all right well you take care we'll talk to you soon diva Linda bye thank you for listening to big blend radio with travel writer Linda Kazam keep up with Linda at all in good taste dot info you can read her articles in big blend magazines and keep up with us at big blend radio dot com
