It's Not Goodbye, it's See Ya Next Time!

After an hour early morning cruise over to Deep Bay to fill up our water tanks, we re-set the hook at Hornby Island to enjoy a full day on land. A LAND DAY! Land HO! Our time at Hornby passed quickly — we enjoyed a good long walk, lunch in town, and some time on the beach. Frank did his second tour up the mast and after a bit of fussing and tinkering, he FIXED IT! Huzzah! The main halyard had in fact skipped off the top block (sheave) and that obviously caused a ton of friction when we went to raise and lower the main sail. MASSIVE sigh of relief to have this problem solved and not have to pull our entire mast down to troubleshoot a larger problem. 

The next morning we said a hasty goodbye to Eric and Cheryl who had to get back to Maple Bay for a family event. After seeing them off, Frank, Jordyn, Brad and I took Patch around to the other side of the bay in hopes of accessing Helliwell Park from the shoreline. We were successful and spent an hour walking the trails and enjoying the spectacular view.  With legs adequately stretched we pulled up the anchor once again and set sail for Lasqueti Island. Boy, this place is a GEM. It feels like the sort of island that might’ve once been sanctuary for draft dodgers and hippies alike. Nowadays, I think it is mostly just hippies and quiet people who like living close to nature and off the grid #mypeople. The tiny island is home to only a few thousand people and has no vehicle ferry so it’s a pretty sleepy place and not so much of a bustling touristy hub. We went for a long walk down the main road and enjoyed placing bets on the cost of real estate. It was a bit of a long game because none of us had enough cell service to verify prices until later that evening (reasonably affordable, for the record). One thing the island does boast (in addition to its hoppin’ pub) is a website of its very own. If the Lasqueti Island website doesn’t sell you on living there, I don’t know what would. 10/10 recommend. 

A week had passed in a flash and it was the next afternoon  that we said goodbye to Frank and Jordyn in Nanaimo. I knew I would miss having a sister wife and second husband on board, but boy did Splash feel quiet for a day or two after they left! We’re already looking forward to their next trip with us. 

Once again left to our own devices, Brad and I opted to stick around Nanaimo for a few days because it was only a few sleeps until our next crew arrived. We killed an afternoon on Newcastle Island going for a big walk, made a trip to the marine store, re-provisioned, re-set laundry, re-filled water, and re-fuelled. PHEW! Before we knew it, we had the boat turned over and ready for our next adventure — Randy and Sheelagh!

Beach dog!

AM hike at Helliwell Park

Beach time with Cheryl!

Tribune Bay sunset

Tribune Bay at low tide

Helliwell Park

Cheers to a stellar week!

Splash at False Bay