July 18, 2020. Tofino Resort and Marina
Well, there goes my peace and quiet! And for the most part, I couldn’t be happier.
Here’s what I mean by that. Sara arrived back at the boat today, and it is wonderful to have her here. She is the best partner in life and as crew that I can imagine, and I feel like a weight has been lifted off me since she arrived. She is also keeping up her end of the conversation quite ably, which is one of her greatest talents.
Unfortunately, the peace and quiet actually started to disappear before she arrived, and that part is not so great. The fishing boats started coming back into the marina at about 2100 last night, and they all cleaned their catch at the station literally right next to my boat. They were out there until about 2230, hanging out drinking beer, smoking and gutting salmon, with seagulls all over my solar panels waiting for a morsel. I’m not sure if they knew anyone was on my boat, but when one of them tried to climb aboard, I came up into the cockpit. I didn’t have to say anything; they all backed off a bit, and I’m not sure which one was getting on the boat, but nobody tried again after that. I’m not sure if cruising boats are simply so rare in Tofino that no-one understands the etiquette, but I’ve never been in a marina before when someone tried to climb on my boat, at least when I was on it. Around 2230, a boat down the dock started to play come loud music (for which they apologized today). At that point, though, I was exhausted, so I put in some ear plugs and fell asleep by 2300.
Cleaning fish right next to the boat. Tofino Resort and Marina is far more about fishing than about cruising boats.
Today dawned foggy and grey. I was a bit concerned that Sara’s flight might not get in, but the fog burned off around 0900, and I was sure she would make it. I spent the morning working like crazy to try and get caught up on all my chores, and get the boat ready for her arrival. I used the decent internet here to log into the hospital computer system, and ground my way through all the PFTs in my inbox.
Then, I started with boat chores. I flushed the watermaker while we have access to fresh water. Then, I cleaned the bilge. While I was in there, I noticed that the hose clamp for the bilge pump had rusted off, and the hose was barely attached. Given that that is a potentially life saving piece of equipment, I set about replacing that. As per usual, it was a three handed job at full reach of my arms, with no visibility, but eventually, I got it done.
Then, I cleaned the floor and the rugs, filled the water tank, did the dishes, made the beds, etc. I felt like Cinderella! Once I had everything looking presentable, I had a shower, and got the blog all uploaded to my latest post.
Harbour Air lands about as close to the boat as it possibly could
The flight came in right on time. About the best thing I can say about this marina experience is that it is awfully convenient to Harbour Air. The plane landed at the end of the same dock I am parked on, and Sara came off with all the other mask wearing passengers. It was so great to see her! I couldn’t stop smiling.
Unloading the plane.
We quickly got her on the boat, and unloaded her stuff, then went for lunch up at the restaurant above the marina. After lunch, we went for a walk into Tofino to get groceries for the next week or so. We had a bit of a run-in with the bouncer at the front of the Co-op. She wouldn’t let us both go in the store, even if we went in separately, and split up the shopping. I had to wait outside while Sara shopped. She wouldn’t even let me get back in line and go in as an individual when it was my turn. Quite the tight system they have here in Tofino. I guess you can afford to be a bit more authoritarian when you are the only grocery store in town. We haven’t run into this level of rigidity in any store we’ve been in this summer. Oh well, I guess she was just doing her job.
Waiting to get into the Tofino Co-op
Tofino is incredibly busy. There are people all over town, and it looks like full on tourist season. All the restaurants are full, and have people waiting outside, and the sidewalks are packed. Most of the people in town appear to be twenty-somethings, presumably here for the surfing, the nature, and all the other millennials. It’s not really my scene, and I think I’ve aged out of this kind of place. I’ll be glad to be headed out to a quiet anchorage as soon as possible.
We headed back to the boat, and unloaded all the groceries. Sara had a nap, and I caught up on the last of my work. When she woke, we walked back in to town to get our last necessity, a couple of bottles of white wine.
Nothing better than a couch nap on the boat
We had originally planned to go out for dinner, but given how crazy things were in town, we elected to have a stir fry on the boat instead. Afterwards, I went out and did a little boat cleaning, trying to get some of the seagull offings off the solar panels and bimini. Just when I’d finished, another fishing boat came in, and the seagulls started landing all over the boat again. I hung around outside for about 45 minutes shooing them off the panels, but the fishermen are still out there now, an hour later, and another fishing boat has just come in, so I’ve finally given up. I’ll try to clean things again in the morning before we go.
Song of the day – when I was cleaning up earlier, Queen came on with You’re my Best Friend. It really hit the mark.
Oh, you're the best friend that I ever had
I've been with you such a long time
You're my sunshine and I want you to know
That my feelings are true
I really love you
Oh, you're my best friend
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