"The most difficult part is getting started"-Ryerson Clark

I know it must seem strange to comment about another blog, especially since it is about stuff in Canada, which is a long way from Baja California. Nevertheless, Ryerson Clark's blog at URL: http://web.mac.com/ryersonclark/Site_3/Weekender_Sailboat_Blog/Entries/2008/7/17_Launch!.html about his business, his wife's job, their hobbies, and activities is interesting and well constructed; so why not share it with the folks who read this blog also?

Here is a copy of a newspaper article about his home-built sailboat:

"Sans Souci is born
Jason Emiry
Northern News Services
Published Friday, July 25, 2008

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - About 30 people attended the launch of a home-built sailboat last week.

Witnessing the Great Slave Cruising Club-hosted event were local friends and neighbours of boat-owners Annie and Ryerson Clark, and others from their hometown in Nova Scotia.

'We came here from Halifax, Nova Scotia just over a year ago.' said Annie Clark.

'We couldn't bring a boat with us so we brought some parts which included some hardware and rig.'

They spent most of last winter building the boat which, starting with plans from Stevenson Boats. The public was able to follow the progress of the boat through a blog that the couple has been maintaining throughout the building process.

'The most difficult part is getting started,' said Ryerson Clark.

'The sides were difficult too,' said Annie.

It is a problem they have dealt with well because the Clarks have built more than a dozen boats together and individually over the years.

The designs have ranged from the Weekender and Windsprints to kayaks and cruisers.

The boat launched, known as a Weekender, is 16 feet long and features two trailboards. Both sides are carved and feature images from their home in Halifax and the other side features art from their new home in Yellowknife.

'We built a demonstration project at the Maritime Museum in Halifax,' said Annie.

As tradition dictates, the boat was christened by a woman, although a bottle of champagne was not smashed over the hull. Ryerson backed the trailer into the water to wet the boat and Annie simply poured champagne on the boat. They named the boat Sans Souci, which means without worry or concern.

Fellow sailor Greg Miller gave the couple a bottle of Pusser's Rum. Miller sails a Vacationer named Jenny Rae, a 24-foot-long boat also designed by Stevenson Boats.

'There is a growing community of boat builders worldwide called The Backyard Yacht Builders Association,' said Miller. 'There are four other Weekenders in the Great Slave Cruising Club and our Vacationer. We will have another Weekender launched this Sunday.'

'Some of the boats here have been brought up to Yellowknife, but many are handed down from old sailors to new ones,' said Therese Boullard of the Great Slave Cruising Club.

Ryerson and Annie Clark were all smiles after taking the boat out for a short sea trial.

'It isn't perfect yet,' said Ryerson. 'I jerry-rigged it so we could do this launch. We'll make some adjustments and it should be good.'"

A GREAT PICTURE FROM DAWSON, YUKON TERRITORY, CANADA

Pictured are Anne and Ryerson Clark overlooking Dawson and the Yukon river in a recent photo.

Dancing with Bears
from Anne and Ryerson Clark of Yellow Knife, NWT, Canada
(Some things are universal; they went shopping)

TALES OF OUR NORTHERN ADVENTURES

Big changes here in the past few days as temps rise and snow melts! We have put our parkas away now and wear what Nova Scotians would wear in late winter, early spring. All this week days will be above freezing.

Arctic Winter Games:

We had a ball working the Arctic Winter Games as Medical First Responders. Happy to report that all we were needed for was band aids and ice packs. The games themselves were a hugh event and a great success thanks to 2500 volunteers from the community.

We were stationed at many interesting events including basketball and indoor soccer, which is a very fast sport, as well as dog mushing outside.

Teams came from Yamal (northern Russia) Greenland, Alaska, Yukon, Nunavit, Nunavik (which is northern Quebec), Northern Alberta and Sammi (what we would call Lapland years ago). Annie and I did 55 hours at the games and have since been doing some other work as MFRs in the community.

ICE ROADS:

For some, it is season’s end for the ice roads. The mines have closed the roads north and had a good year. In total more then 8000 tractor trailer loads went up to Davik and Ekati diamond mines northeast of here. The drive takes 16 hours from Yellowknife with speed limits strictly enforced for safety. Our local ice road to Dettah, six lanes wide and about 11km long is still open but this could be the last week as temps rise. In the photo below of Brenda, Connie and Annie, you can see the main ice road to Dettah in the distance, as well as smaller roads to the house boats, Snowking, and fish plant.

The weather was a bit cool for this time of year a few of the days, but that was just another new thing to feel. Temps stayed between -34C and -5C during their visit but it was sunny everyday, and lots of it to [sic]. We ate out in great places, drove on ice roads just like the “Ice Road Truckers”, stood spellbound under the northern lights on Yellowknife Bay, shopped, toured galleries, and even learned how to drive a dog team and then spent several hours in the wilderness mushing over lakes and trails. To see some of our adventures look here:

www.ryersonclark.com and click on “personal site”> Bad Girls.