Saturday, June 27: Day 24: Staying another day to re-cuperate

Good Morning!

Late Nights, Early Mornings, and Fuel Calculations

I went to bed late last night—around midnight—determined to get Thursday’s post published before falling asleep. Part of the reason it took me so long was that before I even started writing, I finally made the big decision to switch the blog from private to Public. After all the technical headaches my friends and I were having with those disappearing invitations, I just wanted to strip away the walls so viewing the blog will go much smoother for everyone!

Just as I was finally crawling into bed after getting it published, I went to reach for some supplies in the hanging locker and noticed a few drops of water on them. Oh oh, I thought. Another leak. I decided to tuck that stressful piece of information away and deal with it in the morning...

Naturally, I awoke early today around 6:10 AM. Right now, the marina is as calm as can be, but I can already feel a slight breeze starting to stir. We have another fairly long day ahead of us. While running on short sleep is a bit of a drag, the rest I did get was solid, so hopefully, that will power me through. I think we are leaving today before our 11:00 AM checkout.

Because Greg didn’t get a chance to top up our fuel or water yesterday, he is tackling those chores this morning. We carry jerry cans that he empties into the main diesel tank as needed, walking them over to the fuel pump to refill. Carrying three full cans all the way back to the boat would be backbreaking, but luckily we spotted a dock cart near the garbage yesterday that he plans to use.

We’ve been away for three weeks now and have only used three jerry cans of diesel. Greg poured two of them into the tank the day we arrived. If the tank swallows the third can today, he calculates our fuel burn at about 1.5 litres per hour of motoring. We pushed the RPMs higher a couple of times during the trip, which sucks up more fuel, so we'll see where the final math lands. Fortunately, the water tap is right near our boat, so topping up the water tanks will be a much quicker task.

The Late-Night Dish Rescue and a Reluctant Cat

Looking back at last night, while I was glued to the computer working on the blog, Greg was incredibly thoughtful and surprised me with another one of his custom charcuterie spreads—this time presented on a plate! Afterward, he crashed for a solid two-hour nap. I don't think he would have woken up at all if I hadn't started talking out loud to Artemus just to take a brain break from writing.

When I looked over and saw the pile of leftover dishes from lunch, a wave of exhaustion and anxiety hit me. I had secretly hoped Greg would tackle them while I was working so hard on the blog. In my tired, grumpy state, I might have made a comment about the mess. I originally just asked him to sort and stack them neatly so I could wash them in the morning, but he got right up and did the whole works. I was so incredibly grateful!

Part of me feels like I'm not quite ready to leave Powell River yet—like I still have unfinished business here. But poor Artemus is really suffering from being cooped up. He is miserable not being allowed out in the cockpit at night. Greg let him out for a bit last night, and sure enough, he headed straight for the dock without a second thought, aiming for the shore before Greg caught him and brought him back down.

This morning, I found him sleeping on the port side settee near his usual underway spot, and I assumed he had spent the night there. I was so dead to the world I never would have known otherwise, but Greg tells me he actually spent most of the night cuddled up in the V-berth with us.

Coffee, Water Triumphs, and Long-Awaited Toast

The tiredness was definitely catching up to me, so I finally vacated the settee to brew our morning coffee and heat up some soy milk, determined to tackle writing yesterday's post before the details faded.

[Photo: Our coffees I managed to make half asleep]

Greg went straight to work filling the water tanks, which meant the timing was a bit off and he couldn't drink his coffee right away. Since we don't have a microwave on board to reheat it, I was hoping he would take a break soon. Suddenly, I heard the familiar sound of running water in the galley—the overflow tap was pouring water into the sink, signaling that the starboard tank was completely full!

He moved on to the port side tank, which still had 4 out of 9 dots showing on the gauge, so I figured it wouldn’t take quite as long. I couldn't believe it when it filled up almost instantly. It is absolutely amazing how well we managed to conserve our water supply over 23 full days on the water. Yay for good conservation!

With the chores done, Greg finally came back down to enjoy his coffee and make some toast. We haven't had a single slice of toast since we ran out of bread about two weeks ago, so using our fresh bakery loaf this morning was an incredible, welcome treat!

Photo: Our long awaited toast with natural peanut butter and Craft blackberry jam.]

After breakfast, Greg took Artemus for a quick morning walk up on the dock. While out, he bumped into the woman who had been with the camera-wielding man from yesterday. She approached Greg to chat and explain that they were big "cat people" too. At least now we have some context as to why the man was so desperately determined to get a photo of Artemus yesterday, even if it did result in a freshly washed leash!

Now, with the boat fueled, watered, and fed, I am finally going to sit down and finish up writing the rest of yesterday's adventure before we slip the lines.

A Change of Plans and a Long-Awaited Reward

As the morning went on, we made a sudden but very welcome change of plans. Recognizing that I was running on empty and in desperate need of sleep, we decided to stay put in Powell River for another night!

With yesterday’s post finally published and today’s completely up to date, a massive weight lifted off my shoulders. I headed straight for the comfort of the V-berth and crashed for a solid hour or so. I woke up feeling like a completely new person. The sun is shining again intermittently, the stress has melted away, and life on board feels normal once more.

Since our chores are completely done and we have the whole afternoon ahead of us, we are going to enjoy being tourists. I’m heading out for a walk up on the main drag—a couple of streets up from the marina where the bakery is. An ice cream shop at the end of the street kept crossing my mind yesterday as we passed it twice, and I think I've officially earned a scoop!

A good restaurant we've been to before, Coastal Cookery ("Made for Gathering"), provided us with a fantastic lunch: a Chicken Sandwich for Greg and a Buddha Bowl for me. Both were absolutely tasty!

Afterward, we browsed a few shops on our way to Wild Scoop, where I treated myself to a Lemon Verbena in a cup and Greg to a Chaga Root Beer float. Along the way, I even managed to score a beautiful pair of flowy green pants!

[Photo: Wild Scoop ordering system - they also have floats!]

After the ice cream, we stumbled upon a neat little consignment store on our walk back to the marina, where I found a cute summer top.

To top off our bonus evening, we heard that there will be live music drifting over from somewhere nearby. We are guessing it might be a jazz performance, and we just might venture out tonight to go find it. After a quick rest at the boat while I caught up on this writing, we headed out to the show, which starts at 6:00 PM. It is all the way down Marine Drive at the end where the park is, so we are bringing along a blanket to sit on since we don't have our lawn chairs with us.

I took some extra-strength Tylenol to help me through the evening since my hips are a bit sore today—probably from all the walking yesterday. I thought I had done about 10,000 steps yesterday (which I haven't done in a while!), but I just checked my tracker and I actually hit a whopping 13,475 steps today! I've averaged 11,165 over the last three days, so it's no wonder my hips are talking to me. On the bright side, I definitely need to do more walking to get prepared for our trip to Italy in September, as there will be a LOT of walking there!

Back to boat stuff. We watched an episode of The Resident last night, but I was falling asleep right through it and decided to head to bed at about 10:23 PM. It had been a beautiful, sunny day for the most part with very little wind, but now all of a sudden, the breeze has decided to pick up.

This is unusual compared to what we're used to over in the Cowichan area, where the wind is usually calm at night. Greg explains that Cowichan is a local weather effect, whereas the wind we are getting here in Powell River is a regional effect. He’s the one who took the weather course and I didn't, so I'll trust his explanation—it makes total sense!

Good night!

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