I woke up at 6. Aaargh! The only good thing about going home is the hope I can sleep in again. 6 am is not an hour for anything to be stirring but cats and editors with a deadline.

I crawled out of bed at 7. A cup of coffee and a KitKat for breakfast — hey, we have to get rid of the rest of our supplies! I finished yesterday’s blog post and started thinking about packing. The plan is to catch the noon ferry to Comox and meet L’s parents there. So we have to get rid of supplies, pack, do garbage and recycling, and wipe down the boat a bit.

Mostly packed up, we created an Emporium of Mostly Good Things for R Shack to pick over and then packed some stuff to take home (chocolate and garlic: mmmmm!) and one last bag for L’s parents who are meeting us in Comox. We left Carmen (the basil) with Rosie (R Shack’s rosemary) to spread a little more flavour. With any luck she’ll still be sailing around the west coast for weeks to come.

I talked the lovely wharfinger into taking our bags in her golf cart to save us the hike since we are on the south dock again. Then we hauled SD up on the bow, said goodbye to the dumb thing and fired up the engine. Dave helped us cast off and we managed not to dent R Shack. At the fuel dock there was a lineup of powerboats, but we slipped in on the side dock and used the small pump. We were topped up, paid and were off the dock before the powerboat had switched tanks. It’s good to be a sailor…

A quick 180 and we tied up in an empty spot opposite the fuel dock and went to say our goodbyes to Corus and crew. It was a pleasure to meet Anne and Laurence, and we hope we will have the chance to sail with them again–or at least to see the famous Dreamspeaker.

We were waiting for Larry from Cooper to come check out the boat, so we headed over to R Shack Island to snag a picture of Dave, Margaret and the boat. As we were chatting below, Larry walked by headed to Shearwater. He had no paperwork, so it was sort of a pro forma checkout. I told him I would email Sam in Vancouver with my list.

Back at R Shack we chatted a bit more, grabbed some pictures (not my best work) and they reciprocated with us and Shearwater (see below). Then it was time to go. We said our last goodbyes and expressed sincere (very sincere if I get my way) wishes to boat together again, and headed down the long path to the ferry terminal.

 

I grabbed our bags at the marina office, L grabbed tickets at the ferry office and we met in the middle at the waiting room. The second-last leg of the journey home has begun.

We met Allen from Intrepid at the dock waiting for the ferry and chatted a bit, and then ran into Leslie and Charles from Arcturus on board. Seems the dock-side gossiping is not quite over.

I booked a night at the Best Western in Courtney and tix for our plane ride tomorrow. No early booking discount for us. No sirree. But soon the ferry ride was over and we disembarked to wait for L’s parents. We were about 30 minutes early for their eta so we sat in the sun (and talked to Allen some more…).

Soon the blue van rolled up and we were off. Boston Pizza for a beer for me and lunch for them; we had, not thinking ahead, eaten lunch on the ferry. We sat for a couple of hours talking and watching Costa Rica beat Greece. Seems 3 weeks out of touch isn’t long enough to completely miss the World Cup. Eventually we wandered off–thankfully because my ass was getting that stuck-to-vinyl feeling.

A drive to beautiful downtown Cumberland and a walk around the museum that was unfortunately not open. It’s an old coal-mining town with lovely old houses and tons of character. A lovely space. Back in the van we drove around a bit more and, because I was completely bagged, they took us to the hotel and bid adieu.

A 3-hour 20-minute shower followed, and I feel human again. L and I are mulling over room service, but they do have a sushi bar downstairs so…

Mmmmm… sushi! Good choice.

And now, my friends, goodnight…