So far CB and I have been gone for a little over a month and a half…in that time we only hit the grocery store once in Nanaimo for stuff we weren’t sure we could bring across the border. We have only docked for one night in the middle of nowhere Broughton’s (a necessity due to battery issues). Due to the remoteness, groceries were redonkulous and since we were a little ahead of the season, veggies were pathetic wrinkled pieces of lettuce for $15…or something like that. A carton of eggs was $7.50 and bacon was $12 =-O
By the time we left for Port Hardy (a larger town with grocery stores, bars and restaurants) I was ready to hit civilization. I grew up in Chicago and have never claimed being anything other than a city kid. I have lived in small towns in the past and always longed for the accessibility of the city. So when we started this cruise I wondered how much I was going to miss my morning coffee at the local Ballard Coffee House, how I was going to deal without having instantaneous access to whatever my heart desired and how in the hell I was going to get over not having drinky poos at all our favorite bars in Ballard with Sailor Jerry’s Kids. As it turns out, all those things can be replaced with new experiences (except for the friends of course…luv ya SJK). When we pulled into Port Hardy (an odd little fishing town) we kicked it into overdrive and started busting out all the stuff we needed to do as we thought we were going to only stay one day. We first went to a coffee shop and had fancy coffee’s. We caught up on e-mails, paid bills and divided and conquered our very extensive “need to get” list.
CB went after hardware type things, line, dinghy fuel and oil and filters for the boat. I tackled the shopping…if you have ever been grocery shopping with CB…it is a task you would rather do by yourself…20 minutes in he asks…are we done yet :-) Anyway, re-provisioning is stressful to say the least. You are buying stuff for the next month and a half and are spending copious amounts of money that is causing heart palpitations as you count down your monthly budget…turns out we did pretty good. But Canada is not cheap…and apparently they have no cows, as a block of cheese is like $25. But provisioning we did and the boat is now stocked up with veggies, fruit, snacks and booze.
After the first day we decided to stay another day as the moorage was ridiculously cheap and tackled underwear mountain; basically filling up all the laundry facilities in Port Hardy that day. Follow that up with washing the inside and outside of the boat and airing all compartments out…and your plate is full. After two days, I was ready to head out to the islands again.
Returning to all the things I thought I would miss, when the boat is at anchor and swinging freely on it’s chain….there is nothing to think about. Coffee shops are replaced by lazy mornings drinking coffee in the cockpit and reading…maybe making breakfast around 10ish. Sure, we have to fix a few things here or there or complete some projects, but that is mixed in with hiking, fishing and reading. Nights are spent looking at the sunset (if there is one), more reading and cooking an awesome dinner instead of eating out. There is something to be said about catching your meal and cooking it up to make something that would put most restaurants to shame. There is no option to go out and grab a bite and it just becomes the norm to plan your day around your meals. Life is slow on the boat and I have come to love it. Civilization is great…but overall…overrated. I still miss the nights out with friends, but now just wish they could be here cruising with us. I can’t wait for our next adventure around the outside of Van Isle where we will have Palarran on the ocean swell for the first time (for us). The boat has preformed well and takes weather like a champ…and we’ve had some doozies. It may be a while before we have internet again…but for now here are some pictures to hold you over.
Sweet spinny run up Tribune Inlet
The big old pile of fish we got from CB’s catch
Lacy Falls in Kingcome Inlet…that is what tourists call it…a local claims it really has no name…you can sail right up to it and it is still 250 feet deep
Beach Fire night…AKA…garbage burning night
The ever elusive Canadian sunset in Blunden Harbour
The conquering of island #50…oh yeah!
A pretty good catch for us…grilled these babies up with butter and garlic….ewwwyeah
