June 28, 2020. Coal Harbour.
As June comes to a close, summer finally seems to have gotten the notice that it’s time to put in an appearance. A high pressure system is blowing in from the North West, and we’ve had our first full sunny day since we’ve been on the boat. Temperatures got up into the 20s today, and inland, it felt quite warm.
On the water, though, the high pressure is blowing in with some powerful intent, and we’ve had strong winds all day, with gusts into the high 20s. It feels good to be secured to a dock. Giebateau is anchored out in the bay, and we saw them trying to re-set their anchor earlier today, in an attempt to get a bit more out of the wind. I’m not sure how uncomfortable they are, but it has been nice to simply put up the cockpit enclosure on the windward side, and let the sun heat up the boat.
I started the day around 0700, getting up in the quiet of the morning to finish up with hospital work. One really nice thing about Coal Harbor is the fast internet that we can get right from the boat. It is a paid service, costing $5.00 per day, but it’s totally worth it to get caught up on work for another week or so. So, I sat with a tea in the cabin as it warmed up, and worked away. Around 0800, I realized that it was a lot warmer outside the boat than it was inside, so I opened up the companionway to try and let some warm air in.
Sara stayed in bed reading until about 0900, at which point we had eggs and breakfast bagels. We then set about using our spare day to try and get some boat projects done. I have been meaning to set up some GoPro mounts on the front of the boat so that I can see the anchor, and a view ahead, when I am single-handing, without leaving the cockpit. I messed around with it for a while, and eventually got it working better than I’d hoped. I now have the option to stay at the helm, and use the remote control on the windlass to still raise and lower the anchor. I’m looking forward to trying it out for real.
The fuel dock is managed by the local First Nation
After that, we set about re-filling our diesel tanks. We didn’t really need to, as we have plenty of diesel left, but we are close to the fuel dock, and had time, so we decided to top things off. The fuel dock itself is built for small fishing boats, so bringing Mon in there wasn’t an option. Instead, we emptied our jerry cans of spare fuel into the tanks, and headed over to get them filled again. We passed the marina office at the top of the fuel dock, and popped in to let the girl working there know that we wanted to head down and fill up some jerry cans with fuel. “No problem,” she said. “There is a buzzer on the fuel dock. Ring it when you get there, and someone will come help you.” I looked at Sara, a bit puzzled, but we did as we were told. As I suspected, once we walked all the way down the fuel dock and pushed the buzzer, the same girl came out of the office to unlock the pumps for us, and we watched her walk all the way down behind us. I’m not sure why she didn’t just come with us, but the button seemed important.
One of our dock neighbours in Coal Harbour. Needs a bit of work.
We filled up the jerry cans, and started the walk back to the boat with two full 20 liter cans. They didn’t seem too heavy at first, but before long, we needed to rest our forearms, and the walk took a lot longer. Back at the boat, we topped off the tanks, then headed back to the fuel dock once again to fill up the jerry cans as spares. The girl at the fuel dock was nice enough to wait for us to come back, and let us pay the whole amount at once. That was pretty trusting, really, as she didn’t know where we taking the fuel after the first fill up. We could easily have filled up our boat and taken off without ever paying, although that possibility didn’t seem to occur to her, and obviously was not something we would ever do. Still, it’s nice to see that level of trust, which probably only comes in a small place like this.
Sara, a new friend, and the tip of my finger at the museum
After getting the diesel all sorted out, we had a quick lunch of quesadillas, pita and hummus. We then went up to the old RCAF hangar that serves as a marina office, and has a small museum inside. The man at the desk said we could go right in, so we spent about half an hour wandering through all the displays showing Coal Harbours history as an RCAF base, and a whaling station. They also had a huge collection of chain saws, with some two person saws that had handles on either end, which we’ve never seen before. Given the size of the trees around here, it makes sense that something like that would be necessary. As we left, the man at the desk mentioned that they also had a jawbone from a 100’ whale in the hangar. We popped in to see it on our way out. It is startling to think that there are creatures that size swimming around in the same water we are boating in.
All the chainsaws that would fit in a room
After the museum we went for a long walk along the waterfront road. Once we got off the water, the day really warmed up, and we started to feel hopefully that our long, cold, wet June was giving way to more seasonal weather. After almost three weeks on the boat, without our usual daily walk, and living at sea level, we could feel that going up hills was more of a challenge than usual. I’ll have to keep looking for opportunities to hike as I proceed down the Island.
Coming back to the boat, we finished up a few chores, and are now thinking about packing for our trip down to Nanaimo tomorrow. Sara just fired up the barbecue to cook the last 2-person sized steak on board. The fishing and water taxi fleet has been coming in for the last hour or so, keeping us bouncing in their wakes, but it looks like they may have finished for the day. The wind also seems to be setting a bit for the first time all day, so if that pattern holds, it will be a good night on the dock.
We have just watched Giebateau sail out of the bay and turn the corner back towards Quatsino narrows. We found out later that their late departure was caused by a stuck anchor, where they got tangled up in some old logging equipment. They ended up having to call a diver out of Port Hardy to set them free. Paul said it ended up costing a lot more than it would have if they had just stayed on the dock!
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