Around here the distances are just too large to make getting places on a sailboat reasonable.

On our Neah Bay trip two weeks ago all we saw were power boaters, and I have to say I was impressed by what they were doing.

I used to make fun of power boaters, but after years of sailing in the Straits and seeing only power boats for the most part, I've come to have more respect for power boaters than sailors, at least in this area.

I've worked up a certain disdain for the Seattle sailing community. When you think of what people do in sail boats in England, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa it looks like Seattle sailors are pretty pathetic. They make one trip a year around Smith Island, and Protection Island, and one trip a year out to the ocean. But then they want to act like gods gift to all things nautical when some old guy in a 20 foot runabout knows more about the area and gets out a lot more.

I'm still sticking it out with the sailboat and suffering at low speeds getting places, but given the amount of motoring we do it's not much of a stretch to imagine having a power boat.