Island in the rain

July 10, 2020. Westview Marina, Tahsis

The rain started in earnest overnight, and came down heavily through the morning. With it, the wind has picked up, and has been blowing up the inlet all day. It’s strong enough to be heeling the boat a bit against the dock lines. Occasionally, some part of the rigging gets hit with a harmonic frequency, and I can feel a gentle vibration all the way down through the cabin table.

Rainy morning out the window

It’s been a good day to be tied to the dock. I have power here, so I started the electric heater when I got out of bed, and it has been nice and warm inside. That means I also have a hot water heater, so I had a nice shower today. I’ll replace the water before I leave, so I can go with full tanks.

I’ve spent most of the day tied to the cabin table, which has been serving as a desk. I’ve been dictating PFTs all day long, and taking breaks every hour or so. In the first break, I had breakfast. I’m down to cereal, milk, and tea at this point. I haven’t really gotten into making anything hot for breakfast, since I usually feel like I need to get the day going, and I don’t want to use up a lot of time.

In my second break, as I mentioned, I had a nice warm shower, which made me feel more human. Clean clothes and a clean self make it easier to sit and work.

In my third break, around 1100, I was ready to get up and move. The rain had stopped, so I decided to head in to Tahsis and check it out. I grabbed my waterproof backpack, put on a hoodie and a shell, and started walking into town.

In a few minutes, I passed a sign that said “Cardiac Climb Trail”. I looked at it for a minute, then figured I’d rather climb it with an empty backpack than a full one, so I headed up. I was thinking maybe it would get me up high and give me a good view of the inlet, but it only seemed to go between two roads, about a block apart, and I got to the top in a few minutes. Based on the amount of growth on the trail, it doesn’t seem like many Tahsis residents take advantage of the shortcut.

 

The overgrown Cardiac Climb Trail.  A bit underwhelming.

 

I resumed my walk into Tahsis proper. It took about 20 minutes. I arrived at the little grocery store/gas station, which had a sign saying it wasn’t open until 1200. The door was open, though, so I poked my head in, and the lady inside said to go ahead and come on in, since they were there already.

River emptying into the Tahsis inlet.

It was a bit run down, with a pretty minimal selection. I bought some milk and a bit of fruit, and a frozen pizza that I figured I could have for lunch today and tomorrow. The other vegetables didn’t really look worth buying. I made the mistake of shopping hungry, though, so ended up buying some cookies and chips as well. At least now I have a full snack cupboard.

The Tashsis supermarket.  Also a bit underwhelming.

Leaving the store, I checked out a map of Tahsis. I didn’t see that there was much else to it, other than a rec centre. The weather was getting worse again, though, so I decided to hoof it back to the boat.

I cooked up the pizza and had lunch while I looked over the cruising guides, and rechecked the weather. It looks like things may settle a bit in the next day or so. My next open coast hurdle is Estevan Point, just outside of the Tahsis inlet. I need to try to hit that on a good weather day. It is really the last major point that I have to get around before I start heading south to Victoria.

Tahsis is really all about the fishing.

I spent the rest of the afternoon continuing to work on PFTs. Now, I think I’m close to being caught up, and am debating whether to try and head out tomorrow. I think it will really depend on what the weather looks like in the morning. If it stays like this, I’ll hunker down for one more day, and wait for the wind and rain to blow themselves out.

I’m listening to a Spotify playlist called “Sunny Day”. Weezer is singing “Island in the Sun”. Hoping the power of positive thinking will have some effect.