Welcome to the Boomtown

June 29, 2020. Coal Harbour to Nanaimo. 306 km by road.

0730 to 1230

Today was a reset day. We wound the clock backward by 3 and half weeks in a matter of hours, by driving back to where we started, and reliving or pre-departure days.

Leaving Monashee on the dock

It started on the dock in Coal Harbour at 0630. We got up and buttoned up the boat, closing the through hulls, turning off all the power we didn’t need, and putting away the stand up paddleboard. We zipped up the enclosure, then walked up to the top of the dock carrying all Sara’s stuff, as well as a bunch of laundry and garbage that we wanted to get off the boat.

Our cab arrived exactly at 0730 as we had arranged the day before. We met the driver, Bud, who was a really pleasant man. He gave me the new “elbow bump” handshake that COVID is imposing on us these days. As we left Coal Harbour, we saw a small bear on the side of the road, checking us out without a sign of fear. Bud chatted casually, and freely. We learned that he was about 71 years old, and had recently lost his wife to lung cancer which had metastasized to her brain. She had been older than Bud, but it was clear the loss was still fresh. I got the impression that driving a cab was helping him keep his mind off things, and the conversation we had as we drove along was somehow slightly therapeutic for him. At least I hope it was.

Waiting for the road cab at AirCab

Bud dropped us off at Budget car rental, just outside of the Port Hardy airport. We paid the $55.00 fare, and went inside to meet Rob. Rob was very organized, and just as pleasant as Bud. He knew Bud well, and filled us in a bit on his working conditions. Apparently, Rob felt that Bud would have a better time working for the other cab company in town, but Bud was too nice to switch.

Rob got us set up in a Toyota Tacoma, since the SUV we had booked wasn’t ready. Things went quickly and smoothly, without any of the usual irritating upselling that happens when you rent a car. Inside 15 minutes, we were on the road, heading south out of Port Hardy.

The road between Port Hardy and Campbell river doesn’t have a lot to see. There are thick green trees and dense underbrush within a few feet of the road on either side, the whole way down. It is also single lane, and windy, with few spots to safely pass, so we spent a fair bit of time behind some slow moving traffic. As we came into Campbell River, we were struck by the feeling that what seemed a northern outpost a few weeks ago now appeared to us as a big city. There was quite a bit of traffic as we arrived, and we gladly pulled out of it to grab a cold coffee drink and an apple fritter for a late breakfast.

Then we were on our way again. The highway moves to two lanes each way south of Campbell River, and the driving becomes very easy. It felt like no time at all before we were back in Nanaimo, having backtracked several weeks worth of sailing in just a few hours.

We had a long list of to do items in Nanaimo, mainly comprised of picking up things for the boat that we felt would help out. After living on the boat for 3 weeks, we had a better idea of what would work, and what didn’t.

The first stop was Home Depot, where we picked up a bunch of Command Strip hooks. After three weeks of hanging up wet foul weather gear and jackets, a few more hooks around the boat seem like a great idea. And the Command Strip hooks are great, since we can easily remove them without doing any damage to the wood work. We went to Staples, just next door, and bought a label maker that will work better than the one we got in Port Hardy. It is really useful to have a good label maker on the boat, especially for new owners who are still figuring out what every switch is, and where all the plumbing and wiring run.

We then drove down through Nanaimo, stopping at Canadian Tire to replace the Canadian Flag we lost off our stern in Varney Bay. We also got some extra Soda Stream syrup and a carbonating cartridge. We have been using the Soda Stream for drinks, instead of carrying a bunch of cans. We grabbed sushi for lunch, and had a quick look in Lowe’s and London drugs for some tape and Velcro hooks, for various repairs around the boat, and to hold paddleboard paddles on deck.

I had been looking for an adapter to use my battery powered air compressor to help blow up the paddleboards. We couldn’t find one in any of the stores, so I did a quick internet search, and found a fellow who runsa paddleboard rental business. I called him up, and he had exactly the adapter I was looking for. He didn’t have a store front, but invited me over to his house to buy it. It turned out he was only a few minutes away from the bank we had stopped at to get some cash, so we drove over, and he opened up his garage and sold me the piece I needed. It seems the rare exception that something works out more easily than you expect, but he was a great guy, and really nice to talk to. His name was Dan, and his business was something like Nanaimo stand-up paddleboarding.

After that, we headed down to the Harbour Chandlery, which is a store I have a love/hate relationship with. It is the biggest chandlery in Nanaimo, and they have a lot of stock there, so I end up going on a regular basis. But, for some reason, there seems to be a constant arrogant attitude amongst all their staff, which was present again today. For example, when we were looking at some spools of line, we were about three feet from a man sitting behind a desk, who could easily hear our whole conversation. We were trying to figure out what size of line it was. Eventually, we asked him, and he said “It looks like 3/8ths.” We said we thought so, too, but the label beside another line spool said 3/8ths, and it was clearly bigger than what we were looking at. “Oh,” he said, sounding exasperated. “Those labels are old and have been changed multiple times over the years. They don’t mean anything. You have to look on the end of the spool.” Anyway, small thing, but it is always like that when I go in there, and I wish there was a better place to go to buy marine things. For now, I guess I’ll do as much shopping as I can online.

After the Harbour Chandlery, we went to pick up a few more odds and ends at Stone’s marina. They have a smaller chandlery, but generally a better attitude, and I should probably start making that my first stop.

Then, we went to the marina and picked up the truck, and got a few more items out of the storage locker. They were things I had taken off the boat that I should have left on. A dolly for moving diesel cans, for instance. And some hatch covers for the forward berth that will keep the sun out in the morning, and let me sleep a little longer.

Finished with shopping and boat chores, we went and checked in to our hotel. We had long, hot showers, enjoying the unlimited fresh water. Then we got a little dressed up, and went to the Cactus Club to have a birthday dinner for Sara. We realized we had been eating less on the boat when the portions at the restaurant looked huge.

After dinner, we went for a walk along the beach in a part of Nanaimo we had never been to before. I was struck by the fact that we were already trying to get away from the crowds, and back to the quiet of the ocean.

We are now back at the hotel, and exhausted after another long day. I’ve had enough of Nanaimo, and all the usual stores I haunt whenever I’m here. I’m looking forward to heading back to the boat tomorrow, which I will do after a morning grocery shop, and a visit with my parents. It will be sad to see Sara head in the other direction, but if we’re lucky, she may be able to join me again before the circuit around the island is complete.