May 11…

We woke up on board the Rainbow Hunter. We’d driven up from Edmonton and stopped in to see the boat and spend the night before catching the morning ferry to Nanaimo.

The boat creaked and smelled faintly of diesel and sleep was sporadic, but it was a successful first night. A quick shower, some tea and it was time to hit the road.

Last night we had picked up a lovely BC Riesling and had a first glass or three on board then followed up with a lovely dinner at the Sandman: wokked squid, some oysters and a bit of sushi. Nice place but I think the waiter thought we cheaped out 🙂

Downtown Vancouver traffic to Horseshoe and then we wait for the ferry. I like Vancouver, but I could never live here if I had to drive these roads everyday. At least heading north we were going against traffic. The ferry was $80. I’m starting to think flying would be cheaper.

We are having lunch with L’s parents at the White Spot then need to grab some booze and a towel for Leslie. One more ferry will take us to Gabriola and then it’s a 20 minute drive or so to Degnen Bay.

Of course we miss the 3:45 ferry by 5 minutes so we have to wait until 5 to get across to Gabriola. Right about now the lack of sleep last night has caught up to me and I am a bit punchy. So maybe I can zone out in the truck and recuperate. I took the opportunity to ditch my jeans. I definitely think I overpacked. And under-boozed. We went with a 6-pack and three bottles of red. There will be a chance to restock in Port McNeil but that will be it.

We arrived at Tim and Donna’s place and unloaded the truck. Eventually everything was hauled down to the boat and we were oriented to the boat.

Afterwards we had burgers and wine on their deck and watched the sun go down. Soon we retired to the boat to catch some sleep.

More tomorrow.