The Adventures of Shatoosh and Pashmina

After cruising over 6,800nm on 70 navigable waterways in the California Delta, the Columbia, Snake and Willamette Rivers, Shatoosh, an Albin 25 HN 1124, and Pashmina, an adorable Zodiac, head north along the Pacific coastal waters of Washington and gain entrance to the great Salish Sea...the Adventures continue and Pashmina is replaced with Pashmina 2, an 8 foot Porta Bote.
I always kept a type written log of the Adventures of Shatoosh and Pashmina and inserted photos, just like I do now with the blog. I would give my crew a copy so they could have their own log and I kept a copy on board so others could read it. In July 2008 my niece showed me how to create a blog and in minutes I had it up and running. The blog and having a Verizon Broadband Netbook really changed my life on the water. I could blog anywhere I had a cell signal. This summer while on land at LaPush the signal was poor, but just offshore it was good. I didn't put a counter on the blog until Sept of 2010 and while we have not gone viral by any means, there are lots of people from around the world reading the blog, enjoying it, learning from it, motivated and inspired by it. I never would have thought my simple little blog would impact so many and be read world wide. Based on present hits, I compute about 51,000 hits since the beginning of the blog.

This summer I met so many readers while cruising in Washington state and people introduced themselves as blog readers when they saw Shatoosh tied to their local dock. I even went out of my way to meet a faceless blog reader on Lummi Island, which turned out to be a wonderful side trip.Very few people cruise to Lummi as there are no marinas, but I discovered a jewel of an anchorage in Inati Bay, which I learned the Bellingham boaters have kept a tight lip on this anchorage. It is spectacular. It has been wonderful to meet and hear from so many readers, while few people make comments in the comment section, they do email me on occasion.

To date there are over 60 countries reading or checking out the blog and while most are in the USA, I am amazed and often wonder who would be reading the blog in Bangledesh, Pakistan, Slovenia, Estonia or Nepal. Whoever you are, where ever you live, please know I am forever grateful that you are interested in my simple life on board a simple boat traveling on some, not so simple, waterways.

I send you all blessings for a good life and thank you for all your support.