Eager for ideas to overcome hurdles

by Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt Sailing News
There’s an online story about an American couple who took a ski trip to Whistler, British Columbia in March, but on their first gondola ride up the mountain, they were seated next to a Canadian couple that expressed their anger about the US’ recent antagonism toward Canada.

“I think they’re taking it really personally,” explained the wife, who then described how they were given some advice on which ski run to try. “She sent us down the most awful way, and we were like, ‘Do you think she did that on purpose?'” she thought.

The Scuttlebutt story, Border friction leaks into the sport, which reported how some Canadian races were revising their courses to stay out of the USA, received a lot of feedback. The pretense of the course change was “safety and security” which got me wondering about the level of risk that exists on Lake Ontario.

One email to me noted how “Canadians are PISSED at Americans… we in Canada do not want to give America any of our money” while another refers to “repeated stories of ICE and US Border Patrol taking hardline stances to people within the US, and coming into the US. This obviously has people worried about the implications of crossing over the border in the lakes, and what US Border Patrol could do.”

I was accused of living in a cave, being out of touch, resorting to clickbait, and needing to get a grip. I was mocked for mentioning the USA-Mexico border, though drug-war and smuggling violence is my measure of “safety and security”. The Coasties are busy on my waters.

But people were offended, for which I apologize. There just seemed to be more to it, and that appears to be so.

I get it… there’s a lot going on in the USA, and while I am eager to keep politics out of Scuttlebutt, the issues between Canada and USA are impacting the sport. Beyond the disdain, if anyone has a playbook for overcoming hurdles – administrative or otherwise – that prevent these two nations from participating together, send to editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com.