Too Many Miles

This was a LONG day. It was also whale-y day, but you might deduce how long of a day it was from my failing to mention the whales first… I don’t know what we did this day because I’ve blocked portions of it from my memory. I think we had some stellar sailing for the first couple of hours and I do remember spending a few hours getting some writing done. I also worked on our guestbook and had so much time to do so, that I re-did multiple pages numerous times in search of perfection. I had THAT much time. I think winds became intermittent later into the day and I remember doing some motoring to delay my rapid descent into madness when I realized we had sailed 12 nautical miles but only 3 of those were in the overall direction of our destination. We did see whales — lots of humpbacks so that was awesome.

By the time we finally made it to our destination I was on the verge of I don’t even know what? Insanity? So the second our anchor even suggested it was set, I took the dogs to shore (who were also losing their minds, by the way) for a good long walk all by myself. If I’ve learned anything this summer, it is that I love sailing… as long as we don’t have a timeline. Big, 40 nautical mile days because we have to be somewhere by a certain day or time? Nope. Hate that. The steps to sailing are as follows:

1. Choose your destination

2. Sail your boat in the opposite direction

3. Wait

When we’re wanting to sail somewhere within a pre-determined amount of time, sailing actually isn’t something I love. I am too impatient, too antsy, and too deadline oriented. I see those big power boats and sigh in yearning as they speed by, completely in control of their timeline. This day was too much and I give huge kudos to Brad for managing my emotions better than me… As we move closer to longer passages and making life on the water our full time life, it is going to take some intention around making plans to ensure we have ample time to get around because there is nothing more frustrating than wanting to get somewhere promptly and having absolutely zero way to get there any faster if required. 

But alas, we did make it to Sturt Bay but we did not make our dinner reservation. We pooled our leftovers with Ocean Spirit (hamburger patties and week-old buns) and enjoyed one final night together over a few bottles of wine and lots of laughter. 

Our morning started early, pulling anchor at Sturt and motoring the five miles over to Powell River. You know that moment in your vacation when you suddenly have less time left than more, and the days just start to completely dissolve? Well, as we said goodbye to Eric and Cheryl and left Sturt Bay, that’s how things started to feel. Time is a thief and sometimes getting back to reality is a downer. The mood didn't lighten much when we reached Powell River where we said goodbye to Nat and Al, putting all feelings aside, because by 10am we were off again to make a straight shot south to Nanaimo where we hoped to anchor at Newcastle Island for a quick overnight before heading home to Maple Bay.

This day was heckin' long also. The winds were pretty intermittent and uncooperative, and despite our efforts to get in some spinnaker sailing, we were forced to motor frequently and by late afternoon we were both feeling a bit wiped. Brad spotted a pod of orcas far off in the distance and keeping an eye on them broke up the time a bit, but after looking at the time and our progress underway, we knew something had to change to speed us up. Enter: motor sailing. We hoisted both sails, turned on the engine, and finally started making some good time. Having the engine on allowed us to sail tighter to the wind, allowing us to cover more upwind ground. It wasn't super relaxing but it was a relief to see our arrival time finally start creeping closer! By the time we approached Newcastle Island, dusk was upon us and we were looking forward to stretching our legs briefly on land before tucking in for the night. We were proud of ourselves for managing this massive day!

It was a quick night before pulling the anchor before 6am the next day to clear Dodds Narrows during slack time. Brad spoiled me and solo helmed for the morning, letting me enjoy one last sleep in cozied up with the dogs. When we started to stir around 8am, I took over the helm and Brad hopped into the dinghy to take Cinna and Lhotse to a nearby shoreline for their morning bathroom break. Splash and I didn't break stride, and it was pretty comical to watch Brad come and go with them on the dinghy while we were underway. As much as we would've liked to sail our final day, Mother Nature was having absolutely none of that -- the air was completely calm and the was ocean glassy. No wind aside, it was a stunning morning. The kind of beauty that just takes your breath away.

Before we knew it, we were back tied up on the dock at Maple Bay and hustling to get organized in time to catch our 5pm ferry to the mainland the next day. Our to-do list wasn't to be scoffed at -- it included cleaning the bilges, a deep exterior wash down, a thorough interior deep clean, emptying all perishables, and of course packing all of our personal items. For a moment we didn't even know where to start, but time was ticking so we got cracking!