Millers' Time

We got up and went fishing this morning, along with all 3 of the guys in our group, but they were all on their own dinghies. No one caught a single thing!

We headed back to the dock since there were more boats coming in and some of us were leaving. The Josowitz’s and Kelly’s were heading down towards Prideaux Haven, but the Wamsley’s and Lande’s were staying one more night at Homfray. It was a little sad for me since I don’t know when or if we will see any of them this trip.

Darrel & I headed for Campbell River, but stopped briefly at Refuge Cove for gas. We had to cross the Straits of Georgia again! The Weather Girl, Yvonne, had told us yesterday it was supposed to be calm through the end of the week. But as we were leaving she said the winds were supposed to pick up this afternoon. Well, we were not too far from Homfray when it got a little bumpy. Then, going across the Straits was quite bumpy but no where near as bad as coming across last week. Darrel kept the speed and the bow down so I didn’t have too bad of a time with my back.

We checked into Discovery Harbour Marina and were given a slip on the D dock. The slips are narrow and there isn’t much room between docks, but we made it in without hitting the boat next to us. We got off and looked and realized there wasn’t any power! We couldn’t believe it! The whole dock had not power. So, we went to the office and asked for a slip with power. I was quite surprised they hadn’t asked up when we called in. But when we got to the office, they crew didn’t even seem to realize that the D dock didn’t have power and weren’t sure about a couple others! They had 20 amp on C dock and managed to find a 30 to 20 converter cord for us.

Back to the boat and pulled out of the slip, but the steering has been acting up and we had a hell of a time getting into the next slip! We made it and I was a bit of a nervous wreck so decided it was time for a drink. Darrel said it wasn’t nerve wracking but had a beer too.

We paid, then went to the Target store that is about a block away and got a few things, but they didn’t have any hydraulic fluid for the steering. Tomorrow’s adventure is to find that and a good grocery store. The Target has groceries but not as good of a selection as I would like.

We decided we better do something with the oysters and clams since the water in the marina might be a little suspect. Not everyone uses a holding tank and we are at the end of the marina where there isn’t much of a ‘flushing’ system with the tides.

Darrel shucked the oysters and I have been steaming the clams. We will have the last batch with the nectar along with a couple of stale pieces of good bread that I bought at Ganges. I checked and there wasn’t any mold! Bonus!

Darrel leaves at 3:30 to fly home for chemo. He won’t be back until Friday, so I get to amuse myself here in Campbell River. One thing I want to do is get a pedicure. I didn’t see any place in the little mall above the marina, but I am sure one can’t be too far. My birthday present to myself!

Hope all is well with you all! More posts soon now that I have internet connections again.

We left Ramsay Arm around 10:00 in the morning. Darrel and I went and pulled shrimp pots – again only 2! We then fished for more bottom fish. He caught a nice ling cod and I caught a big yellow eye.

We took off to catch up with the others, passed them, since our boat is smaller and faster, then stopped and dropped the lines in to troll for salmon.

The country up here is so amazingly beautiful. The islands are just big rocks with trees growing out of them. There are very few ‘shorelines’ like you might be familiar with in Washington or elsewhere. The Island/mountains go straight down into the water, sometimes for hundreds of feet instead of a gentle slope.

While we were trolling we went past a logging area. There was a ramp with a small dock that had a small boat tied up to it. Then there was an area that had 6 or so large split logs – and I mean like a whole tree split in two – forming a ramp . We saw a truck full of logs pull up next to it, drop it’s side rails, and a big cherry picker type vehicle gave the logs a shove and SPLASH into the water they went. There are obviously roads but you can’t see them from the water. Then, away the truck went for another load.

We went into Homfray Lodge’s dock for the night. It is a great place! Three brothers bought it about 4 years ago. There is a huge main lodge and ‘store,’ but the store is pretty bare bones at this point. They have several cabins, a communal kitchen, a party/eating area right above the water, and a fairly large dock.

The girls decided to have a pre-birthday ‘surprise’ party for me on the dock. Everyone cooked appetizers (I did find out so was able to contribute a little) and invited the 2 brothers, Scott and Dave, that were in residence along with a nice couple from Victoria, Suzanne and Richard. It was really nice and amazingly I got four birthday cards! These girls are prepared for anything, it seems. Everyone had a great time.

I forgot to post a couple pictures…here is the knee boarding:

Here is party:

And the lodge:

First thing in the morning, Bill & Darrel went to get clams and oysters. Darrel said there were tons of both. The clams were small and barely under the sand and the oysters were easily picked up and put in the bucket.

Garry and Marilee are famous for their Sunday brunches and today was the day! They cook pork chops, Garry’s special sausage, bacon, hash browns, eggs, biscuits and gravy! A lot of times, they also do chicken fried steak, but not this one.

I went over about 9:00 to help and cooked the bacon. they already had most everything prepped and ready so by 10:30 everyone was eating. Did I mention that it is also a champagne brunch? Garry opened the first bottle shortly after I got there so after a big breakfast, several glasses of champagne, most of us were ready for a nap.

After Garry took his nap, he decided it was time to go knee boarding. Garry is a very young and vigorous 76 years of age and went around the bay doing very well. Then, our commodore, Brian, decided he needed to take a turn. He also did well. Darrel thought about it but was worried about the cold and how it would affect him.

Another fun day was had by all!

We had a good run up to BC. Missed the way into Bedwell for Customs, but only a few minutes out of the way.

We smelled gas all the way after fueling up in Des Moines. Got to Ganges and Darrel checked things and decided to call the local mechanic. He happened to be a diesel mech so said he would contact the gas mech and see us tomorrow.

Won’t go into it, but the fuel pump is new, and had been worked on this week. Screen cleaned out but there is obviously a problem.

I said that at least we were in a great spot to stay for a couple of days. Tomorrow is the Ganges Farmers Market! It is a beautiful place so I am happy!

More to come tomorrow.