All apologies to Paul Simon….
First thing I remember, I was lying in my bed
It couldn’t have been more than one or two
Next thing I remember
I heard the scritch and scratch of and scrambling of tiny claws
After we had vacuum bagged and frozen our huge haul of Salmon, we headed over to Rebecca Spit park for a peaceful night at anchor – or so we thought. Apparently in the massive salmon processing operation, we had left a few scraps on the deck, which the resident sea otters quickly sniffed out. Like battle hardened army commandos, they timed their attack for the dead of night, and boarded our vessel from the stern – which happens to be right over our bed. It was not unlike having racoons in your garage, so I tried the age-old trick of turning on the bright deck lights to scare them off, but they merely snickered and carried on about their business. Finally we went up on deck and scared them off, and you can bet we scrubbed the deck pretty carefully the next day!
This lifestyle if full of things happening that you never thought could happen – until they do. Only a couple weeks after the sea otter incident, we were anchored nearly alone in Walsh Cove (next to cliffs with amazing pictograms). We had paddle boarded as usual that day about the coves and islands, with our lifejackets in shock cords up front. As we’ve done on many occasions, we left the boards in the water for the next day. About 3am, we heard some splashes, and Kay asked me what that was, and I said it we probably just waves (it was a dead calm night). As they persisted, once again I went up on deck to find that seals had been playing on our boards, and apparently used our lifejackets as little toys – one was completely missing and the other was nearly off the board. I pulled everything up on deck, and the next morning went paddleboarding around to try to find the lost lifejacket. I found it nearly a mile away out in the middle of the channel, and sure enough seals swimming nearby, I could almost hear them sniggering softly to themselves as I retrieved the sodden vest from the sea.
When Brett’s Dad Edward left, we went back to the guidebooks and circled all the places we hadn’t yet been that we still wanted to go. Now that we’ve been out a while, we’ve zoned in on the kind of places we like the most – lots of secluded parks with scenic beauty and great hikes, interspersed with some small cities where we can explore the local culture and have a nice dinner out.
We also took the opportunity to visit “Quadrapalooza” a 3 day music and arts fest on Quadra Island. I’m not sure what we were expecting, but it wasn’t this. There we maybe 50 people in the crowd, with a few folk singers, but the highlight appeared to be the pro wrestling (you read that correctly). It was a full 90 minutes on the schedule but we left to go get some pizza.
Lately we’ve been blessed with warm weather, so we’ve gotten some nice swims in, with occasional sailing. Interestingly, at the beginning of the summer, the other boats we saw were 75% powerboats and 25% sailboats, but now all of a sudden the ratio has flipped. Not sure why.
After a couple great weeks visiting the highlights of the Discovery Islands, we are super excited to host our final guests of the summer – Kay’s parents Dick and Joey. They will meet us in Powell River and we’ll have more than week to hopefully show them the amazing sights of Desolation Sound and Princess Louisa Inlet.
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