A quick update while we have some mediocre internets. We have almost completed our circumnavigation of Vancouver Island. We are headed out tomorrow for Port Angeles where we will check back into the US on the 5th…weather providing. We have a lot to do in the short time we are there, but will try and get some photos and videos uploaded…especially the video of the Sailor Jerry’s Kids Special Olympics that took place at Lucky Creek…good stuff there. This summer has been amazing and we have learned more about our boat than either of us thought possible…like we should know the damn thing as we have lived on her for 7 years, but something is always waiting to be learned on :-) We had great times with good friends on M/V Andante and S/V Hello World…hard saying goodbye the last few days. We will be in Port Angeles until approximately the 15th when we will start looking for a weather window to head down the coast to San Fran. Onto the next adventure. If you are in the area feel free to stop by. We will be moored at Boat Haven for a week or so. All for now…Tawn

Anyone know what the statistic is on how many people have heart attacks or at the very least shit their pants on their birthdays? Without ready access to the internet, I may never know the answer to that question. Someone google that for me.

In case you wondering why I ask that question, we will need to rewind a few weeks. Back to July 4th. My birthday.

Our friends, Jason and Christy on thier boat Hello World had just made the trip down from Alaska, and met up with us in Port Hardy. We left the day after they arrived with plans to meet up again in a few days after they reprovisioned.

Me and Tawn went to an area called “God’s Pocket” to spend a few days and do some scuba diving.

I’m no expert in theological matters. In fact, if I could muster up enough of a shit to give, I think I would be classified as an atheist. So to say that my knowledge of God’s wardrobe is abit on the thin side, is a solid understatement. But as I understand it and from all the pictures I’ve seen, most Gods are usually wearing some sort of robe (not alot of pockets in those). Maybe they were refering to the one the Church of Scientoligy prays to. I think he had some sort of polyester jumpsuit? That has pockets. But “Ron L. Hubbard’s Pocket” does not have the same ring to it…wait, he was’nt the god. It’ started with a Z. Shit, someone google that for me too.

Anyway, scuba diving was awesome. blah, blah, fish, and seaweed everywhere…….

We leave Ron’s Pocket and head to a group of islands called the Walker Group to meet up with Jason and Christy. We had 3 routes to choose from to get to where they were anchored from where we where. I chose the shortest, which meant going through a very narrow entrance into the cove.

Our boat is twelve and half feet wide. The entrance was 45 feet wide. A bit of a following swell pushing us in. On the plus side, it was deep. So no worries there. That was sarcasm, in case you missed it.

We drop the sails outside the entrance and get our charts lined up and to double check……..stuff.

Immediatly after the entrance, we enter the tiny anchorage and see Jason and Christy standing in the cockpit of Hello World. Waving, shouting and Christy is hold up something.

I cannot hear what they are saying over the wind, waves and diesel engine.

What the fuck is she holding up? Is it a piece of paper? A book? It’s a book, a big book. Oh, is it a chart book….Oh, it’s a chart! She’s holding up a chart book…..FUCK!!…..she’s holding up a chart book and yelling…..and waving!!

SHIT!!

I almost increment the birthday heart attack/pant’s pooping statistic by one as I frantically check my depth meter, double/triple check my chart and look around at the water in my immediate vacinity waiting for the crunch of boat hitting rock.

It does not happen.

We motor closer to them and I see that the “chart” she is holding up is a big “Happy Birthday” sign. They are all smiles and waving.

“Yaay, thanks”

While at the moment actually do have internet access, I am testing out my abiltiy to post blog updates via my HAM radio.

I realize a few months ago, I bragged that I could, but what I really only did was to update it via email. Not from my HAM/SSB radio.

But now, thanks to mi Amigo Eric Anderson of s/v Nantu for tracking down a cable and adapter I needed and Susan for bringing it up to Canada for me when she came up, I am able to actually and truly update via the radio waves.

That is all this post is about.

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