Meeting Friends

July 20, 08

We left Port McNeill today and pulled in to Alert Bay once more. We returned to a run down dock with old fishing boats on it. However somebody was already in our spot so we sqeezed in on the other side. The minute we started to relax after pulling in my mom invited a large group of people to come check out our boat. They were from  boat at the end of the dock. With them came a woman named Darcy from another boat named Mycia. When you build your own boat you are supposed to name it after your eldest daughter. Hence the name "Mycia". She lived on the boat with her parents and four crew. The owner John Maher built the boat in his back yard and launched in 1997. She is a beautiful boat. I got to climb up rigging which from the ground doesnt "look" that high up but once you get there, its VERY high. Hopefully someday I will be able to be on the boat during one of there charters. Personally I would rather be crew. They left for Port Hardy at about 6:00. As did Purusha. I think thats how it was spelled. Anyway, each visit in Alert bay has been very nice. I highly recommend it. 

Jaime

Dinghy go bye bye

DrC Paddles His Way
Originally uploaded by toastfloats

We motered ashore and pulled our dinghy in while we went to dinner. What we didnt know however was how far the tide was going to come in. It was extremely far out there and dad and I had to borropw a dinghy to get to it. The dinghy of course had no oars so we, meaning Dad, had to use hands as paddles. When we finally got to the dinghy, the rock that we tied to was 5 feet down. It took about 5 minutes to get it loose and another 15 to get back to shore. Thankfully though none of us had to swim!

Port McNeill

Port McNiell. Interesting place. Sort of. No one smiles when you say hi to them here. They just nod or ignore you completely. We've only met a few friendly people. Those who are paid to be friendly and a grocery clerk. The town does have a few highlights, though. 1. A grocery store 2. A library (which satisfied Meercat until she saw it was the size of a small trailer) 3. A chocolate store. (which satisfied Aeron, period.) 4. A sports shop 5. A "movie theatre" (playing things like Aladdin, the Jungle Book, and Robin Hoods Adventure) And last but not least a vast variety of restaurants to sit at and be ignored. Overall Port McNiell is not my favorite place on Vancouver. 

  We can start to see the ocean from where we are now. You can tell were getting farther north because the water is freezing and you cant see the sun. Ever. An to put the cherry on top of this magnificent place were stuck here until my dad gets back in two weeks. 

All smiles,

Jaime

p.s. Hello to Anna, Sophia, Sophie, and any other person reading this. :)

Grandma Sue's Visit

Grandma came to visit. She was with us for 10 days.  During this 10 day period, I had to share a bunk with Meerkat (Mera). Let me tell you that was definitely NOT one of my favorite experiences. She felt the need to complain about everything, including the non-existent draft. However now that we are no longer living in each-other's pockets, we have resumed our "friendship". I still have the desire to dump water on her head but I am doing my best to refrain. Day before grandma left we pulled in to the Discovery Cove Marina where we interacted with human life forms. There was a Huge Canadian superstore (the Canadian equivalent of Wal-mart). We had lunch at an A&W, bought out the local chocolate store, and ate at the fanciest restaurant known to man. That was our second uber fancy meal. The first one was a gift from a friend of grandmas who insisted on treating us with a dinner at a 35$-40$ dollars a platter restaurant. So I ordered the prime rib special with yorkshire pudding, mashed potatoes and gravy and the best prime rib I've ever had. And as he said you can't have dinner without desert. So we ordered a Key Lime cheesecake and a Chocolate Explosion cheesecake. Thank you John. 

Grandma left yesterday to Sacramento, and we did our long haul up to Port Neville which if I might add is as remote as remote can be. We broke a Don Quixote record that day. We traveled 50 some odd nautical miles that day. Motoring against the current halfway. We left at 7:00 and arrived in Port Neville by 5:00. I unfortunately got seasick on the way up and the whole trip was rather miserable. On a lighter note we had really nice weather the entire way up. Just alot of chop. 

Jaime >^.^<