Tuesday, July 7: Day 34: Heading for Comox today
☕ Morning on the Water
I awoke at my usual 5:20 AM with the waves slapping—or more like thumping—on the stern. I had to get up to use the head, so I thought I'd take a look out of the companionway to make sure everything looked the way it should. It was still a bit dark out, so I couldn't see that well, but from what I could discern, things looked okay. I went back to bed and tried to get back to sleep despite the occasional thumping on the stern.
I finally woke up again around 7:00 AM, used the head, and immediately headed to the galley to make coffee. By then, the thumping had stopped. I don't know if I'd recommend that Savary Island anchorage—it was fine because there was no wind to speak of, but if there had been, it could have been a lot worse. The view, though, made it entirely worth it to me.
I got the coffee going and made breakfast. Greg had a piece of Nancy's Bakery whole wheat sourdough toast, and I had Siggi's strawberry yogurt with some of our homemade granola. I figured I'd save my defrosted blueberries for later today.
⚓ Crossing the Strait
We lifted the anchor around 9:00 AM and started our journey across the strait. There was only about 1.7 knots of wind when we first started out, but it eventually went up to 6 knots, and now it's sitting around 5. It was coming directly from the northwest, making the water a tiny bit rolly, and Lil' Ollie was rocking back and forth somewhat. To help balance out our motoring and steady the ride, Greg put up the headsail. Looking up, the sky was a beautiful, broken overcast.
Just after we left Savary Island this morning, Greg called ahead to Fisherman's Wharf in Comox. The wharfinger told us they had plenty of room on the dock, and since they allow rafting there, finding a spot shouldn't be a problem at all. They told us to give them another shout once we could see the breakwater. It was a huge relief knowing we had a spot waiting for us!
Art and Paulette will be busy tomorrow morning, so that will be the perfect time for us to get our housekeeping chores done—fill the diesel jugs, top up the water tank, maybe get some ice cubes, and do some laundry. I figure it's always better to do the laundry and other tasks while at the dock rather than having to dinghy everything back and forth.
⛵ Arrival and Evening Update
We carefully came through the bar at Comox, lining up the range lights before turning the corner. If you look carefully at the photo, you will see the two lights above the shoreline that have to be lined up, one directly above the other. If they look like this, you will make it through okay. If only one light is showing, you may hit the shallow waters and run into trouble.
When we got close enough to see the breakwater, Greg called the marina and arranged our slip—a starboard tie on the end of D dock. I brought Lil' Ollie into the spot with no problem at all. Once the lines were tied, we had a quick bite to eat. It was about 2:30 PM by this time, so we didn't want to eat too much because dinner was already arranged for 5:30 PM.
When we first arrived, it started sprinkling, but thankfully that didn't last long. After lunch, we gathered our shower bundles and headed to the marina office to settle up and get the scoop on all the facilities. The shower turned out to be one of the best I have ever had at any marina! There was a great place to put your clothes, complete with hooks and a bench. It was $1 for 2 minutes, so it was only $3 for me, and Greg took a six-minute shower, too. The only thing I would add is a bath mat, but that's okay—now that I know, I'll bring a hand towel to step on next time. There was even a sign instructing you to turn on the hot sink tap and run it until hot to prep the shower. What a fantastic idea! That way, we didn't have to waste any of our paid shower time waiting for the water to warm up. It felt great to be nice and clean again.
About 4:45 PM, we left the boat for the parking lot. We were a bit early for Art to pick us up, so we hung out on a park bench and watched the kids playing in the water park. What a fantastic water park it is, and the rest of the park and playground areas were very appealing, too.
Soon, Art picked us up in his spiffy new hybrid Kia and drove us just up the street to the Off the Hook restaurant, which is right across from the Black Fin. My hip was bothering me a bit, so I gladly accepted the ride!
Paulette and I had the delicious fish tacos, which were on special—two tacos and a 16 oz beer for $18.00. You really can't beat that price, and the food was great! Greg had the chicken & ribs and Art ordered the fish and chips. Everyone enjoyed their meals, I didn't hear any complaints around the table.
After dinner, Art drove us back to their apartment, and we had a wonderful visit catching up for a couple of hours. We also got to visit their cat, Cali! Art drove us back to the marina around 8:30 or 9:00 PM. Once we were back on board, we watched another episode of The Resident. We are on a new season now, and the baby that was born at the end of last season is already a toddler. It is amazing how fast kids grow up on these shows, eh?
Soon after that, we went to bed. It was wonderfully nice and quiet on the dock.
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