Hello from Kamloops, British Columbia

[saltfree]

Hi there,

I'm new both to sailing (recently heavily, and I believe incurably, addicted to sailing) and to this forum. I live a few hundred kilometres from the saltwater (hence the user name), but my wife and I both love exploring our coast with our kids. We recently became 1/3 owners of a rather crusty old 1968 New Horizons 26 moored in a large lake near here. It has been a wonderful way to get involved and learn to sail, but I have to admit, I'm already dreaming/looking for the "next" boat-- something that I won't mind investing elbow grease into!

[krafthaus]

Welcome aboard Kamloops! Yes, a ways from Vancouver, but closer than me. We've chartered from Vancouver on a number of occasions and you should give that a go. Good Luck to you!

[Bill Lee]

Welcome to the forum!
There's soo much to explore in the PNW. You'll enjoy it all.
Cheers,
Bill

[Waterway Guide]

Welcome aboard! Gorgeous cruising area. Happy sailing!

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, saltfree.

[Celestialsailor]

Welcome to the forum. In my 20s, hitch-hiked through Kamloops way a lot.

[saltfree]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

Welcome to the forum. In my 20s, hitch-hiked through Kamloops way a lot.

Not what I would have expected from someone in N. Cal! I'm not sure when your 20's were, but things have changed a lot around here over the last few years.

Krafthaus, you're right, I am a smidgen closer to the ocean than you.... While I am new to actually being involved in sailing, it is something I have been dreaming about/ reading about/ going for sailboat rides (I differentiate being on a sailboat from sailing the sailboat...) for a few years. I do live close enough to the coast that I am already seriously looking into owning a boat, probably with one or two other Kamloops friends, in the near future. I'm just working out a rough cost of how many days of chartering per year the three of us might total, vs. how much it would cost to purchase/maintain/moor an owned boat. My personal favourite from what I've seen so far that would meet our goals is a Cal 29.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by saltfree

Not what I would have expected from someone in N. Cal! I'm not sure when your 20's were, but things have changed a lot around here over the last few years.

...sheepishly, it was 38 years ago I thumbed through Kamloops and a few years after that rode my Harley through there on my way to Ca. I really meant to come back to Canada where I was from but you could buy beer on Sunday, anytime in a 7/11. That was a spiritual awakening for me at the time. Today, life is much calmer but I made a life for myself here.
PS...What changed?

[saltfree]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

PS...What changed?

Kamloops would have been about 30-40,000 people when you were here. Now we're closing in on 100,000. All those taxpayer dollars have bought a lot of infrastructure...

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha and welcome aboard!
Good to have you here.
kind regards,

[xymotic]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

could buy beer on Sunday, anytime in a 7/11. That was a spiritual awakening for me at the time.

I was born/raised in Reno, I distinctly remember the TRAUMA of seeing a padlocked reefer when I visited Phoenix once. Now that WA got rid of state stores there's vodka in Costco again, and everything seems 'normal' again.