Although there is no possibility that the Crazy Canucks English Channel relay team will break any records, lots of other Canadians have. Maybe we are the polar bears of the swimming world.
I ran by this cool monument to Marilyn Bell in Victoria on the Dallas Road footpath east of Finlayson Point not long ago and it gave me goosebumps, probably not a common occurrence among other who take the time to read it.
It states: This cairn commemorates the feat of Miss Marilyn Bell who landed in this bay 23rd August, 1956 to become the first woman and first Canadian to swim Juan de Fuca Strait from Port Angeles, U.S.A. to Victoria, Canada.
Bell, the first person to swim across Lake Ontario in 1954, became the youngest person to swim the English Channel in 1955.
Cindy Nicholas has spent lots and lots of time in the English Channel. With her 19 crossings and five two-way crossings she earned the title of Queen of the Channel, until the record was broken by Alison Streeter with over 43 crossings. Cindy was the first woman to complete a two-way crossing and for awhile held a two-way world record time of 18:51. She still holds the record for most two-way crossings at five.
Vicki Keith has the record for the first crossing of the Channel doing the butterfly for her feat In July of 1989.
Much more recently, Wayne Strach of Leduc at 60 became the oldest Canadian to swim the Channel with his 17-hour and 15 minute trip from England to France in 2015.
Strach told the CBC News that the tidal currents were at the top of his list of challenges. Strach toughed it out saying he didn’t go there “to swim partway to France”.
The Crazy Canucks’ oldest relay team member, Janet, will be 63 on our crossing. The English Channel Swimming Association Limited doesn’t track this type of age-related record for relay teams so we won’t know how we stack up that way if we finish. Our team also has two others that will be 60 this year.
All team members have faced fear of some sort in their swimming career’s leading up to our new challenge. Janet’s came in her first triathlon in a mass start. “All of a sudden all I could see were white heels coming up through the green water…for some reason it reminded me of the bodies in the movie Titanic and I couldn’t breathe.” Despite her panic attack she finished the race, albeit embarrassed and humiliated at being one of the last swimmers to exit the lake.
That race is so much water under the bridge. Janet is training hard with a Penticton Master’s group and has completed our two local races in style, bagging a first in her age group at the 7-kilometre Rattlesnake Island Swim. “I’ve never had another panic attack although there has been some deep breathing when I’ve started a new challenge.
“Now I’m on the final leg of training for the Channel and I’m looking forward to it with trepidation and a bit of excitement.”
No more crinkly paper gowns but the, “take a deep breath in” still happens when you open the door of my former doctor’s office now gloriously morphed into a craft distillery.
Captain Nemo-looking gleaming copper and steel stills differentiate a tasting experience at 
On trend, Legend Distilling is one of only a handful of distilleries in the Okanagan and a perfect addition to the Valley’s burgeoning foodie culture and its longer winery history. Fun branding playing on the distillery’s doctor’s office past and its legend’s theme is hitting the right note as are its contemporary and unique flavour profiles.
A crew is bottling Shadow in the Lake Vodka, one of its original offerings, on the day of my visit. The bottles are so unique that they are worth keeping when the smooth, full-bodied vodka with subtle notes of vanilla and carmel is all gone. Too bad I can’t capture the wonderful aroma of the vodka as its bottled.
And my sister-in-law Mel, took this one of the tasting room window on her Thanksgiving visit from Toronto.
While our turkey was cooking in our wood-fired oven a five-minute walk away, we spent a perfect hour on the patio with family.
My Legendary Caesar lived up to its name.
They came in buses, they came in cars, they came on bikes and on foot in numbers so high that they wore a path around the garden. They asked questions and wanted latin names for plants some of which I couldn’t remember common names for. They paid money to see the garden as part of a sold-out garden tour. They even came in the rain. And I loved every minute of it.
We were pretty chuffed to learn of the win. I often wonder if it had to do with pervasive smell of chocolate coming from the cocoa hull mulch that was applied on many of the beads. Cheating? The Handyman’s hardscaping might have had something to do with it. My stone potting shed, the tall pergolas, two ponds and curved solar bank were pretty cool.
International Space Station image of the English Channel courtesy of the European Space Agency.
This is a sourdough loaf made from my own starter which takes about a week to make. The perfect loaf was kneaded and left to rise multiple times before it went in our brand new wood-fired oven. The bread-baking smell never happened. The next to meet an even worse fate was a pizza that literally went up in flames. Note the conflagration. Too much flame maybe?
OK, this was a bad idea but very hard to return. It weighs a lot. We (well the Handyman) put it in place with a forklift.
A phone call to the 
Now the only downside to our Mediterranean oven imported from Portugal is best expressed by Dan Wing in the preface to Richard Miscovich’s book From the Wood-Fired Oven, “You make delicious stuff to eat, people try it, people get used to eating it, people come to expect it, and pretty soon there are people checking surreptitiously to find out when you will be, or if you are now, or if you just have been baking something great in your oven. The only practical solutions are to make them bring the beer or wine…”
The secrets to a good crêpe are a good batter (with some nice flavouring) and a great pan. Julia Child is my batter whisperer and a wonderful houseguest provided the pan: The Rock made by Starfrit. (
naramata-blend 