Tuesday, May 17th

May 17, 2016

Latitude 49°10’00.64” N
Longitude 123°56’04.96” W

Nanaimo

Yippee Skippee!  It looks like we are leaving tomorrow morning.  The fuel injectors have new tips on them and the dinghy motor has a new water pump.  Picturesque Nanaimo was fun to visit, but a week and a half here is a bit much!  We are all looking forward to continuing north towards Alaska. 

Vaughn doesn’t know where we will end up now.  When the engine problems started, there was talk of Ketchikan becoming our new destination.  Now who knows?  I’m just along for the ride and learning experience.  All this is new for me.  We went on a Holland America cruise to Alaska five years ago but the terrain looks much different from a 40 foot sailboat.

Just this morning I went to Starbucks and uploaded pictures from this past weekend to my blog.  Starbucks had a lightning fast internet connection which was welcomed after struggling through the molasses connection at the Guest Dock.  I wish I would’ve discovered the Starbucks at the beginning of last week.  I know there probably won’t be too many more days of having even a slow connection.  Mary told me I will lose cell phone service soon as we inch our way up the Canadian coast.  I’m going to continue to write entries for my blog and will upload them when I can.  My picture taking has ceased the last few days because I haven’t seen anything new.  Excepting Starbucks, of course!  J  I will start taking pictures again tomorrow when we leave. 

Mary is on her way back to the boat and should be here in a few hours.  Vaughn and I did a test drive on the dinghy and sailboat.  He had me start the motor and steer the dinghy saying he couldn’t keep driving me around everywhere.  I hope walking the plank isn’t in my near future.  ;)  I was told to pack a compass!  This was my first time driving a dinghy.  The dinghy motor passed with flying colors.  Next we stepped aboard the sailboat and took it for a spin around the harbor.  It too, passed the test.  I was able to dock the boat in the marina with Vaughn’s expert guidance.  I’m thrilled to be behind the helm during docking because each time I’m less scared.

 

Our next provisioning stop will be at Port McNeil.  After that, it sounds like we won’t be anywhere near civilization for a few weeks.  I can’t wait to see how everything looks and to experience being off the grid.  It is definitely a new adventure for me.  I’m looking forward to seeing a lot of wildlife.  Perhaps the Northern Lights again too.  Dare I wish to see it twice in my lifetime?