It is hard to believe it was two full years ago when I left the comforts of home and set off to sail 5,600 miles across the North Pacific from Qingdao, China to Victoria—one leg of the biennial Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. As readers may recall from the daily web postings, the trip involved 30 days of almost constant storms, snow and bitter cold. But as with most voyages plagued with bad weather, once we’re home—safe and warm, with the fireplace blazing—the bad parts are quickly forgotten. The adventure becomes another in the bank of great stories we can retell for the rest of our lives. And in my case, gazing up at the engraved glass trophy we received for the Victoria Clipper’s first-place finish has certainly helped thaw my fingers and toes.

Since September of 2007, 10 identical 68' Dubois sloops have been circling the globe once again. This month, they’ll be crossing the Pacific, but—fortunately for the crews—this time the fleet will race from China to Hawaii, then on to California; a much warmer route. Aboard for various legs are eight Canadians, who apparently weren’t scared off by my daily web and newspaper postings. I salute them. Unfortunately, this round, the city of Victoria is not sponsoring one of the yachts; instead, the Canadian crewmembers are sailing aboard the Nova Scotia, sponsored by that province. (For those interested in following the race, turn to pg. 19 of CURRENTS for more information.) Although crew pay for their berths, this race remains one of the great adventures left on earth. Good luck, Nova Scotia.

Those who follow our LETTERS section will have noticed that many readers have weighed in on the impending move by Imperial Oil to shut down its coastal fuel operations. Aside from the fact that its fuel floats make only a marginal profit (when compared with its land-based facilities), the major reason seems to be not wanting to chance lawsuits from spills. Among those most affected by the impending closures (and Imperial is getting a lot of pressure to let private companies take over the existing operations) is the Esso fuel float in Vancouver’s False Creek, which happens to be the location of this month’s cruising feature on pg. 32. If Imperial Oil can’t find a way to sell off that operation so it can remain open, it will have a huge impact on the hundreds of boaters who keep their boats in False Creek.

Imagine coming across the Strait of Georgia after a weekend of cruising; with your fuel tank almost empty, you’ll have to detour into Vancouver Harbour to fuel up before you can head to your False Creek berth. If you’re a fast powerboat, that might not be such a big deal (except on your wallet), but if you’re a sailboat that can only do six knots and you’re facing a big ebb coming out of the First Narrows, this could be a real problem.
The good news is that Imperial Oil has just worked out a deal with Bruce Falkins, longtime operator of the Fisherman’s Cove Esso in West Vancouver. Under the terms of the new agreement, Falkins will remove all the existing tanks and piping and replace it with new materials. That work is in progress, and the fuel barge should be back in operation in late March. Let’s hope they do the same with the False Creek Esso and the two other coastal stations still in limbo, Campbell River and Prince Rupert. (Port Hardy and Nanaimo have both closed.)

So let’s keep the pressure on. To make your views known, contact Imperial Oil’s public affairs office at 1-800-567-3776 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .