The Strait of Georgia was kind to us yesterday. The forecast southeasterly winds never did fill in. Thankful dodged another bullet.
After crossing the strait the topography changed for the first time in three months. I didn't see high mountains when I looked out through the ship's wheelhouse windows. The section of Vancouver Island we were coasting along was one long low hill to our right, and empty open water to our left.
We were heading to Comox Harbor on Vancouver Island so Vicki could make a social call on Cyndy, one of her leather handbag business clients. Cyndy had a retail store in a town a few miles away. The ladies spoke on the telephone, arranged to meet for dinner, and discussed an afternoon visit to the store.
Thankful stopped in at Comox's fuel dock on our way in and we topped up her tanks with 300 liters of diesel. A thirty five foot sailboat that we had been powering next to, also on their way south, tied up next to us at the fuel dock and topped their tank off with 24 liters. Wow. That really highlighted the difference between the sailboat and powerboat programs. Sailboats end up powering almost ninety percent of the time up here because the conditions are rarely suitable for sailing. However, they are far more fuel efficient under power than we are. The added expense is well worth it for the added comfort we have though, particularly in this part of the world where it is often cold and/or rainy.
After getting settled into a slip in the harbor, Team Thankful took off to hike to Cyndy's shop. It looked to be two miles away as the crow flies, an easy afternoon stroll. Three miles and forty five minutes later we were barely halfway there. Vicki called Cyndy to fill her in on our status, and Cyndy was shocked to hear that we were attempting to make the journey on foot. She insisted on picking us up, and a few minutes later we were enjoying sitting on our butts in her air conditioned car.
We checked out Cyndy's store, which was quite nice. Her store just happened to be next door to a craft brewery, which got Matt's and my attention. It was fate that drove Team Thankful to stop in for a pint before catching a cab back to the harbor.
Cyndy joined us for pleasant dinner at a pub overlooking the harbor. A good time was had by all.
Thankful departed Comox at 630AM this morning. The dreaded southeasterlies are still forecast, and Matt wanted to get an early start to avoid the worst of them. As I write this we are pitching and heaving down the Strait of Georgia along the coast of Vancouver Island. It looks like the forecasters got it right today, but we haven't seen more than twenty knots of wind so far. We have thirty five miles of open water to cross before we get to some shelter in the Gulf Islands.
No comments:
Post a Comment